Gaurav Live

IPL 2009 had seen it all – Hattricks, Cameos, Upsets & if there was anything to miss it was completed today. The Grand Finale scheduled at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg promised a good game since it was going to be fought between teams who finished on the bottom of table last year. At last, it was were the Deccan Chargers who stole the show. The underdogs, the champions – Deccan Chargers lift the IPL 2009 Trophy.

Winning the toss, Royal Challengers Bangalore decided to bowl first. Deccan Chargers opened with their seasoned pro Adam Gilchrist along with Hershelle Gibbs. Gilly could not turn on the magic he displayed in last match & got out clean bowled for a duck off Anil Kumble. This early breakthrough charged up the Royal Challengers & they made the most of it. Heavyweights – Andrew Symonds, Sunny Suman, Rohit Sharma could not play a big part & scored 33,10 & 24 respectively. Hershelle Gibbs(53 runs off 48 balls, not out) anchored himself at one end but that was not enough to get Deccan Chargers to a big score. In the end, the Deccan Chargers managed just 143 runs. Yes that’s right, just 144 to get at a rate of 7.2 R.P.O. All the credit goes to Anil Kumble who scalped 4 wickets giving just 16 runs while Vinay Kumar took 2 wickets which prevented Deccan Chargers going berserk.

Opening the innings with Jacques Kallis & Manish Pandey, Royal Challengers Bangalore appeared in a cautious mode. They got off to a slow start just as Deccan Chargers but they failed to find a player who could keep their innings together as Gibbs did for Deccans. The wickets fell at regular intervals but still the game was in perfect balance. There were also those moments in the game when the fortunes kept dwindling. Both the dugouts appeared tensed throughout as the game went down the wire. Last over demanded 15 runs but Royal Challengers Bangalore felt short by 6 runs as R.P Singh the purple cap holder bowled another top class over. What followed then was worth a watch as the Deccan Chargers rushed all around the park and celebrated their victory with huge enthusiasm. Adam Gilchrist & his camp then started their victory sprint round the Wanderers which was full of energy & vigour. The energy was splendid & even I could realise how wonderful it must be when you come from bottom of the table & go on to win the tournament. Adam Gilchrist was awarded the golden player award while Rohit Sharma got the U3 Player of the tournament.

On the other side, Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Anil Kumble banged his bat after they lost displayed the frustration. The Royals could do nothing but accept the defeat & then go along to shake hands with the victorious Deccan Chargers. On positive side, they must note that it wasn’t a bad defeat since they kept fighting till the very end. After all in a game, one side has to lose so the other side to emerge victorious. Anil Kumble (Man-of-Match today) is a strong man & he will take this defeat in his pride. If one looks back, they too showed a remarkable progress as they rose from seventh poition (last year) to the second position in IPL 2009.

Post match there was a huge closing ceremony arranged. It provided ample entertainment for the big crowd gathered at the stadium and also for the stressed out players. Highlights of the event were the cool lamps sent off in the night sky, a rock on performance from the one & only Akon. Akon performed to all time hits like Smack that, Beautiful, Right Now (Na Na Na) which kept all the crowd cheering & screaming. He even went & performed standing on the boundary fence shaking hands with people & entertaining them with his sweet voice. As usual there were the lasers which always look beautiful at night time. Katrina Kaif performed to Jai Ho by Pussycat Dolls clad in a beautiful white dress which was breathetaking. She appeared a bit upset over their loss but she did mesmerize a lot under her magical spell. Then there was also an Indian African Fusion which was performed brillianlty & lived up to it’s name in a true manner. Fireworks lit up the sky once the performance was done in similar fashion like the ones lit during Olympics games. An array of hilarious , shocking, sad, mischievous moments were played back which brought back the memories of the wodnerful IPL 2009 which just unfolded in the short period of one month.

One could not ask for more. Intense cricket for a month followed by a well conducted closing ceremony is sheer brilliance. All credit goes to the South African organisers, they managed all things well & embraced the Indian Premiere League in their country with open hearts. I enjoyed this years IPL to the hilt inspite of my favourite Mumbai Indians not putting up a good show. As always, the hope is always there in my heart that they will bounce back the next year. Also I feel I would be able to experience the IPL 2010 live here in India. As I end up this post, there is Mumbai Indians anthem playing in the background. Gearing up for the IPL 2010

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