Could this arguably be the greatest game of the IPL so far ? When Yelgati played out VRV Singh's last ball he started out on the single knowing fully well that this run would take the game to a bowl-out. What he didn't factor in was a Jonty Rhodesque-flight from Yuvraj Singh with ball in hand to dislodge all three stumps fraction of milliseconds before he made it to safety. This was only the thrilling climax in what had been a dramatic match full of tense and exhilarating moments.
It all started really when Mumbai began their batting. Up until then it had been a fairly normal T20 game with another good innings by Marsh and some lusty if unattractive hitting by Pomersbach. When Jayasuriya gave Mumbai another flier, that was the first indication that we would have an exciting game on our hands. And when Sreesanth got him completely outfoxed by a slower one, the excitement really began. For a while there was good strokeplay by Smith and some superb batting by SRT. And when SRT and Nair were going well together, in particular Nair hitting those towering sixes it looked like Mumbai would ramp home.
Enter Piyush Chawla - who got rid off the dangerous Nair with a perfect googly. And then, more importantly Utthappa. It is hard to describe exactly what Utthappa was trying to do on the wicket today. It wouldn't be too harsh to say he fairly sucked miserably at whatever he did. Uthappa in the past few months has become fat, developed a most hideous hairstyle, reduced himself to a two-shot wonder and if reports are to be believed is enjoying life and taking his cricket too lightly. Not only did he royally mess up, he showed an astonishing incompetence in handling pressure and in doing so commited the cardinal sin of running out a well-set Sachin Tendulkar !
When Pollock got out one thought that it was over at that stage but then VRV Singh nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. It required some comedy from Nehra and a brilliant combination fielding effort from Srivastava-Jayawardene-Uday Kaul to get the match to a situation where 2 runs were needed from one ball. And then, as mentioned before, Yuvraj took off in flight and finished it.
With this win, Punjab more or less guarantee themselves a semifinal slot. Mumbai will have to slog it out but with 3 more games to go they still have a very even chance. Of course considering what happened later in the day, this tournament may have just blown wide open at the very moment we thought it to be closing in.
Revenge Battle Results
Pathan v Nehra - Draw
Sangakara v Pollock, Kulkarni - No show
Yuvraj v Pollock - No show
Sreesanth v Kulkarni - No show
Sreesanth,VRV v Uthappa,Pollock - No show
Pathan v Nayyar - Draw
It all started really when Mumbai began their batting. Up until then it had been a fairly normal T20 game with another good innings by Marsh and some lusty if unattractive hitting by Pomersbach. When Jayasuriya gave Mumbai another flier, that was the first indication that we would have an exciting game on our hands. And when Sreesanth got him completely outfoxed by a slower one, the excitement really began. For a while there was good strokeplay by Smith and some superb batting by SRT. And when SRT and Nair were going well together, in particular Nair hitting those towering sixes it looked like Mumbai would ramp home.
Enter Piyush Chawla - who got rid off the dangerous Nair with a perfect googly. And then, more importantly Utthappa. It is hard to describe exactly what Utthappa was trying to do on the wicket today. It wouldn't be too harsh to say he fairly sucked miserably at whatever he did. Uthappa in the past few months has become fat, developed a most hideous hairstyle, reduced himself to a two-shot wonder and if reports are to be believed is enjoying life and taking his cricket too lightly. Not only did he royally mess up, he showed an astonishing incompetence in handling pressure and in doing so commited the cardinal sin of running out a well-set Sachin Tendulkar !
When Pollock got out one thought that it was over at that stage but then VRV Singh nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. It required some comedy from Nehra and a brilliant combination fielding effort from Srivastava-Jayawardene-Uday Kaul to get the match to a situation where 2 runs were needed from one ball. And then, as mentioned before, Yuvraj took off in flight and finished it.
With this win, Punjab more or less guarantee themselves a semifinal slot. Mumbai will have to slog it out but with 3 more games to go they still have a very even chance. Of course considering what happened later in the day, this tournament may have just blown wide open at the very moment we thought it to be closing in.
Revenge Battle Results
Pathan v Nehra - Draw
Sangakara v Pollock, Kulkarni - No show
Yuvraj v Pollock - No show
Sreesanth v Kulkarni - No show
Sreesanth,VRV v Uthappa,Pollock - No show
Pathan v Nayyar - Draw
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