Things We've Learned From The IPL Today (30/04)

April 30

Delhi v. Bangalore


Star among stars... Daniel Vettori (Delhi D'devils)
It was a toss-up between Vettori -- with his crucial Kallis wicket, his one solitary boundary conceded in 4 overs, and his ridiculously low economy rate (4.75) -- and Glenn McGrath, who nabbed the most wickets in a game so far during the tournament, and seems to get treated by the rest of the team like a Conquistador first landing off a boat by the American Indians. (Farveez Maharoof sounded like he'd be ready to offer up his first born in sacrifice just at the mere chance of pissing in the same urinal as McGrath.)

In the end, the decision came down to Pigeon's long history as a heartless destroyer of all that is good in this world (we're not that quick to forget... the man did ruin international cricket for a decade, after all), and the fact that this was Vettori's farewell game of the season.

Old-timer on an egg-timer... Shoaib Malik (Bangalore Challengers)
He's not that old, really, but he was sure made to look it at the crease today. That ball by Dale Steyn that bowled him was one of those clear "my dick is bigger than yours" deliveries, and there was nothing Malik had to compete with it. He was so slow to react to a hint of real pace, all that he could do was walk away as briskly as possible and hope no one remembers the event even happened.

Catch from the catchment... Shikar Dhawan (Delhi D'devils)
He seemed to be riding a little on Gambhir's wake during their partnership, but he still got a fifty at good pace, and he also saved a lot of runs at midwicket and in the outfield (creating a nice legside partnership with McGrath and his tight, short stuff at the body).

3 Bullets to the head...

• I have to say, I really like the post-modern architectural stylings of the stadium in Delhi.  The seemingly sloping stands at the bowler's ends are strangely pleasing to the eye  -- almost hypnotic and Escher-like at four in the morning, which is when I've been forced to watch most of these games. (I hope that explains why these round-ups take so long to make it onto the site.)

• The Kallis/Dravid partnership turned out out to be incredibly revelatory -- you could see the difference in mentalities between the two perfectly during their stay at the crease, and it helped to explain why so many more people hate Kallis with a passion than they would ever do Dravid. After all, both have very rigid, conservative instincts which they consciously have to curb to some extent in this format. The big difference is that Dravid is actually a team man, as well a smart, self-aware player. At one point, as the required rate was climbing, he knew he had to try something different... so he raced up the pitch to loft Malik over his head, then even tried a reverse sweep to force the pace. Meanwhile, at the other end, Kallis was just tickling half-volleys to the legside for singles.
  
  
• Favourite crowd moment: The camera panned through a section of the stands as people cheered,  waved and made loads of noise. Some guy in the middle wanted to get into the spirit of things and join the rest of the crowd, but he also happened to be holding a baby at the time. So what did he do? He just held the infant up in one hand like it was a sack of potatoes and waved at the camera with the other. Who says people have no passion for the IPL?