The Super Over

Last night we saw the first super over being bowled in the IPL 2.0 cricket tournament. The one over tie match was played between the Kolkata Knight Riders V/s the Rajasthan Royals. The tie breaker rule of bowlers hitting the wicket was replaced by a 1 over match. I think this rule is more interesting that bowlers bowling at empty wickets. We saw first hand how Yusuf Pathan won the tie-breaker match for the champions with a couple of huge sixes.

Here are the rules of the super over: -

* After a tied match, each team selects 3 batsmen and a bowler, and plays one over each. The number of runs scored and the wickets lost calculates the winner.
* If the number of runs scored and wickets lost in one over are equal, then the total number of sixes hit in the match by each team decides the winner.
* If the sixes are equal, then the number of fours decides the winner.

Please leave your comments on your views regarding this innovative super over rule.

The effect of rain on IPL

The change in venue has bought another factor into the IPL tournament, the rain. The South African weather is unpredictable and is affecting the results of many matches. We recently saw the washout of the cricket match between the Mumbai Indians V/s the Rajasthan Royals. But what worries me more is the Duckworth Lewis method. Even the pundits of cricket have been unable to figure this method out. Like the cricketers, we merely follow the target score achieved by this method. However, once the opposition sets the scores onboard, this method supposedly favors them, especially in T-20. Target run rates are high in these 20 over games. This pressure is further increased by the Duckworth Lewis method. No matter how many wickets you have in hand, it does get difficult when the required run rate is extremely high.

Today’s match features the Delhi Daredevils V/s the Chennai Superkings. This will be a match where the bowlers from both sides will be taken for a ride. Both teams consists of explosive batsmen, thus the team bowling with the best discipline will hold the upper hand. The pitch does look flat for this match and the skies look clear from the dark clouds. Even though the Delhi Daredevils have the most dangerous opening pairs in the form of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, expect the momentum of the Chennai Superkings to see them through this match.

IPL trends

The inaugural IPL cricket match at South Africa brought some interesting factors into play. The change in venue has definitely altered the basic idea of the 20-20 game. The South African pitches are definitely not as flat as the pitches at home, and making big scores like 200 will be a rare feat in the upcoming games. The first few matches highlighted that even a meager score of 140 can be easily defended on these seaming spinning tracks.Short bursts of rain and batting under the lights with the dew around the ground has made matters worse for this entertaining game. Most teams will have to alter the way they approach the game; thus expect the batsmen to give a little more respect to their bowlers in the future games.

IPL match preview day 1

The IPL 2 is on its way and most of the cricket fans can’t wait for the inaugural match between the Chennai Super Kings v/s the Mumbai Indians at Cape Town. 20-20 cricket is very entertaining because of its short duration but it still requires discipline to dominate the game. We witnessed this factor first hand, when the Rajasthan Royals, with their less renowned cricket players, won the first IPL. Most teams had a mixed bag of international players and that makes it difficult to gel as a team. The Rajasthan Royals were under a renowned cricketer and team leader, Shane Warne, who was able to command the team to a series of great victories. I think a successful leader brings the best out in a team. I am skeptical about the policy of rotating captains, but one thing is certain; this policy has certainly brought the morale of prospective captains to an all time low. Hence, we will see how this policy affects the team where it counts; on the pitch.