We eventually reached the business end of IPL 5 as 2/3rd of the matches has been completed. Yesterday after the 51st match of the tournament, the top two teams came face to face for the battle of ultimate supremacy. Well at the end we saw the swapping of first and second places of the table and the victorious KKR has made their point as they thrashed the daredevils with an easy 6 wickets win.
Now take a look at the points table and you seem to have a feeling that the water is still mirky. With 17 & 16 points respectively KKR and DD are sitting on the top of the Table. With 8 points from 12 matches and 5 points from 11 matches Pune Warriors and Deccan Chargers has confirmed that they are not at all in the race for a place in the play offs. Now for the remaining two places we have 5 strong teams claiming their share.
Most likely of all of them are the Mumbai Indians. With 14 points from 11 matches they are very close to the top two teams. They have started IPL 5 with a majestic victory over the defending champions CSK, lost thier way in the middle and finally peaking up at the right time. They have the ability to win close encounters as we have seen in the matches against DC, PWI, King's XI and more recently against CSK. They have a powerfull batting line up with the little master in the lead and very strong bowling line up consisting of malinga, RP, Munaf, Harbhajan etc. Pollard's injury was a cause of concern, but Dwayne Smith's heroics against CSK might make him a clear favourite for the place of big west Indian. Overall I think they need only 2 more wins in the remaining 5 matches to secure a place in the play offs.
The next contendor for the spot is definetely the men in red. RCB has 11 points from 11 matches and has a formidable batting line up. Eventhough they have world class bowlers like Dan Vettori, Muralitharan and Zaheer Khan, thier bowling never looked threatening in any match. But with a batting line up with Gayle, AB, Dilshan and Kohli they can chase any target that has been set by the opposition. My next favourite would be Rajastan Royals. They have 10 points from 11 matches so far in the IPL. With the inclusion of Shane Watson in their line up, both thier batting and bowling has been strengthened. They might not have any big stars in thier bowling line up, but disciplined bowling can get them home. So as the Great Wall recently said taking them light is a big risk that you might take.
Now we are left out with CSK and King's XI Punjab. Both these teams has a great wicket keeper batsmen as their captain. Now with the injury of Adam Gilchrist and Poor form of Paul Valthaty has made King's XI batting line up a little on the defensive. Shaun Marsh and David Hussey has huge burden to bear on thier shoulders. But the brighter thing from thier side is the consistency of their Indian bowlers. As for the defending Champions CSK, you never know what would happen. They have 11 points from 12 matches and 4 matches remaining. If they can win 3 out of that 4 matches. I think they are still in the race. They have a great side but apart from couple of players nobody has been consistent. CSK has always made it to the semifinals of IPL as they were the winners of last two times, finalist of IPL 1 and semifinalist of IPL 2. So do not write off the most consistent team of the history of IPL yet. As they say " you never know what will happen in a T20 till the last ball".
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| KKR takes the top slot of the points table |
Now take a look at the points table and you seem to have a feeling that the water is still mirky. With 17 & 16 points respectively KKR and DD are sitting on the top of the Table. With 8 points from 12 matches and 5 points from 11 matches Pune Warriors and Deccan Chargers has confirmed that they are not at all in the race for a place in the play offs. Now for the remaining two places we have 5 strong teams claiming their share.
Most likely of all of them are the Mumbai Indians. With 14 points from 11 matches they are very close to the top two teams. They have started IPL 5 with a majestic victory over the defending champions CSK, lost thier way in the middle and finally peaking up at the right time. They have the ability to win close encounters as we have seen in the matches against DC, PWI, King's XI and more recently against CSK. They have a powerfull batting line up with the little master in the lead and very strong bowling line up consisting of malinga, RP, Munaf, Harbhajan etc. Pollard's injury was a cause of concern, but Dwayne Smith's heroics against CSK might make him a clear favourite for the place of big west Indian. Overall I think they need only 2 more wins in the remaining 5 matches to secure a place in the play offs.
The next contendor for the spot is definetely the men in red. RCB has 11 points from 11 matches and has a formidable batting line up. Eventhough they have world class bowlers like Dan Vettori, Muralitharan and Zaheer Khan, thier bowling never looked threatening in any match. But with a batting line up with Gayle, AB, Dilshan and Kohli they can chase any target that has been set by the opposition. My next favourite would be Rajastan Royals. They have 10 points from 11 matches so far in the IPL. With the inclusion of Shane Watson in their line up, both thier batting and bowling has been strengthened. They might not have any big stars in thier bowling line up, but disciplined bowling can get them home. So as the Great Wall recently said taking them light is a big risk that you might take.
Now we are left out with CSK and King's XI Punjab. Both these teams has a great wicket keeper batsmen as their captain. Now with the injury of Adam Gilchrist and Poor form of Paul Valthaty has made King's XI batting line up a little on the defensive. Shaun Marsh and David Hussey has huge burden to bear on thier shoulders. But the brighter thing from thier side is the consistency of their Indian bowlers. As for the defending Champions CSK, you never know what would happen. They have 11 points from 12 matches and 4 matches remaining. If they can win 3 out of that 4 matches. I think they are still in the race. They have a great side but apart from couple of players nobody has been consistent. CSK has always made it to the semifinals of IPL as they were the winners of last two times, finalist of IPL 1 and semifinalist of IPL 2. So do not write off the most consistent team of the history of IPL yet. As they say " you never know what will happen in a T20 till the last ball".
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