A Royal match, indeed !!
Undoubtedly, Royals Vs Chargers was the best match of the IPL so far. It is also the first time in the contest that a team chased a 200+ score successfully. Hats off to Warne for holding the nerve and play three pure cricketing slogs off his countryman Symonds.
Earlier, Pathan virtually shattered the Chargers attack. His shots were ruthless, brutal and would have hurt any bowler's ego. Also the partnership with Smith, who himself played an anchor's role to perfection, was the decisive phase, which was well complemented by Kaif cameo.
Laxman's poor run as captain continues. He would do better to take help from Gilchrist and Kaif. He was clearly running out of ideas. Why toss the ball to Symonds for the last over, when you have two overs left for Ojha, a left arm spinner ? He could have turned the ball away from Warne, and Warne would have had to slog against the spin to hit it over longon or midwicket. Instead, Symonds' off spin was an easy pray.
Talking of Symonds, his knock was perfect for the T20 format. But, he would do better to think clearly about the line to bowl. He has conceded 101 runs in 41 balls so far in this tournament (not to forget the 4 6 4 6 4 6 over ! Thanks to Sehwag !). Perhaps a fuller length can cause some trouble to the middle order barsman.
Rohit Sharma is time and again proving his worth with the bat and cool fielding in the deep. Pity he is ending up in the losing side always. And Afridi is anytime ready to swing the match all by himself, either with the bat, or the ball . There was also the first hint of sledging, as Afridi bowled a faster one that missed Warne, and went on to say, "Flipper", to Warne. Well, selling ice to an eskimo, are you Shahid ?!
Earlier, Pathan virtually shattered the Chargers attack. His shots were ruthless, brutal and would have hurt any bowler's ego. Also the partnership with Smith, who himself played an anchor's role to perfection, was the decisive phase, which was well complemented by Kaif cameo.
Laxman's poor run as captain continues. He would do better to take help from Gilchrist and Kaif. He was clearly running out of ideas. Why toss the ball to Symonds for the last over, when you have two overs left for Ojha, a left arm spinner ? He could have turned the ball away from Warne, and Warne would have had to slog against the spin to hit it over longon or midwicket. Instead, Symonds' off spin was an easy pray.
Talking of Symonds, his knock was perfect for the T20 format. But, he would do better to think clearly about the line to bowl. He has conceded 101 runs in 41 balls so far in this tournament (not to forget the 4 6 4 6 4 6 over ! Thanks to Sehwag !). Perhaps a fuller length can cause some trouble to the middle order barsman.
Rohit Sharma is time and again proving his worth with the bat and cool fielding in the deep. Pity he is ending up in the losing side always. And Afridi is anytime ready to swing the match all by himself, either with the bat, or the ball . There was also the first hint of sledging, as Afridi bowled a faster one that missed Warne, and went on to say, "Flipper", to Warne. Well, selling ice to an eskimo, are you Shahid ?!
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