Johannesburg: For the second year in a row, the Indian Premier League was won by a team that had a fairytale run to the title. If it was Team Jaipur that went from underdogs to champs last year, this time it was the turn of a squad that could do nothing right last year, Team Hyderabad, to pull off an amazing turnaround.
Hyderabad rose from rock bottom, shaken and stirred, to pull off a sensational victory in the final here at the Wanderers, thus adding another chapter to the sweet irony of lastyear’s wooden spoon holders. If 2008’s number seven and eight teams were destined to make the final, it was perhaps only apt that the number eight won the title. Knight Riders may well derive some hope for next year.
The IPL ended in spectacular fashion as one IT city barely held off the other in a match that went down to the wire. Defending a mere 143 runs, Adam Gilchrist’s men provided the much needed spark to swing their side’s fortunes in an exceptional manner. Some electric fieldwork by Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma and Herschelle Gibbs, excellent left-arm spin from Pragyan Ojha and aggressive captaincy by Gilchrist worked wonders. Gilchrist’s hurricane innings in the semifinal had single-handedly given his team a ticket to the final. On the flip side though, it burdened his team with the expectation of a repeat performance. In retrospect, it seemed like the third ball of Hyderabad’s innings had decided the fate of the final when Gilchrist was clean bowled by Anil Kumble, trying to come down the track and completely missing the line.
Kumble’s genius needs a mention despite his team losing at the end. He reserved his best for the allimportant clash and when it came, his figures of 4-16 from four overs grabbed the opposition by the throat.
After Gilly left, scoring runs became tough hell for a seemingly mentally-subdued side. Herschelle Gibbs batted through the innings, anchoring one end. But there was no acceleration forthcoming from the other end. Andrew Symonds briefly flourished, but Kumble cut his innings short. Rohit Sharma too did his bit, but Hyderabad’s 143/6 seemed barely adequate.
The Challengers began their chase well. with Jaccques Kallis providing a stable start, Roelof van der Merwe’s run-rate boost adding meat to the effort and Ross Taylor indulging in some sensible strokeplay. FINAL HYD VS ROYAL CHALLENGERS HYD RISE LIKE A PHOENIX ... End IPL II In A Blaze Of Glory
Johannesburg: To the credit of Team Hyderabad, they did not flinch when faced with a situation in the final of IPL II at the Bull Ring on Sunday.
They did it once before against Mumbai Indians in the league stage when they did well to hold their nerve and they did it again when it mattered the most.
Ball by ball they gained in confidence with each falling wicket just as Royal Challengers dug a hole which they found tough to get out of. A target of 144 from 120 balls came down to 100 from 82, 65 from 48 and the sequence remained in that order till the
end. There was always the need to surge but a vigilant Hyderabad, also a bit lucky, never provided the chance.
Two stumpings by Gilchrist, the second one a stunner, along with excellent spells from Ojha and Symonds further dented Royal Challengers. Vijay Mallya's outfit, though, bat deep with the
likes of Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar no mugs with the bat. Not to talk of Robin Uthappa, who till recently was in the Indian scheme of things.
But the tide had turned clearly in favour of Hyderabad with the wicket of Rahul Dravid.
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