IPL Week 6: Crunching times ahead

We are finally at the business end of the tournament with the teams scrambling to make the final four playoff spots. Delhi and Kolkata are already in to the play offs while the other two seats are being contested by Mumbai Indians , Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chennai Super Kings , Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab. All the five teams have a chance to make it and the next week will be a tense and an interesting one with Pune Warriors and Deccan Chargers already out of the race.

Last week has been yet another outstanding week of cricket and there were plenty of on field and off the field action. Here are some notable ones worth mentioning.

Ganguly to mentor Pune next season

Pune Warrior’s captain, Sourav Ganguly’s playing days are nearing the end. Pune Warriors India’s owner, Subrata Roy spelt it out in a press conference where he said that Dada will be the team’s mentor next year and might even be sitting the last few matches out to give youngsters a chance. Ganguly’s poor run in the tournament and his failure as a captain to lead the Warriors to a play off spot has resulted in this step.

Gayle Storm continues

RCB’s opening batsman, Chris Gayle continued his rampage with the bat adding another couple of half centuries. He is the current Orange Cap holder and also became the first person this season to cross the 500 run mark. He also holds the record for the most sixes in all editions of the IPL.

T20 Centurions

Scoring a century in T20 cricket is a difficult task and when the rare feat does occur, it is a very memorable and cherished occasion. Two such occasions occurred this week as Delhi Daredevils’ David Warner and Mumbai Indian’s Rohit Sharma managed to cross the triple figure mark. While Warner scored 109 of just 54 balls with 10 boundaries and 7 sixes against Deccan Chargers, Rohit Sharma scored 109 runs of 60 balls with a dozen boundaries and five sixes. Both of the centurions starred in the winning team and won the MOM awards.

Sid Mallya’s IPL parody

Siddhartha Mallya, the director of RCB who was hosting his own special online talk show with various cricketers involved in the IPL, came out with a very special episode parodying the entire tournament. From making fun of the Set Max crew to the players involved, none were spared in this harmless joke that was well received.

You can watch the episode here.

Brilliance from Botha and Rahane in the field

In the Rajasthan Royals versus Pune Warriors clash, Botha and Rahane were involved in a brilliant piece of fielding display. The two Rajasthan fielders played tag team to pull off a stunner of a catch.

You missed it? Watch the video of the moment of brilliance.

Chandila’s Hat-trick

Ajit Chandila, the tall Rajasthan Royals’ off spinner managed to grab the headlines with a spell bound hat trick against Pune Warriors at home. He managed to bag the wickets of Sourav Ganguly, Jesse Ryder and Robin Uthappa to complete his hat-trick and also enable his team to win a vital match to stay alive in the tournament. He finally finished with figures 4 for 13 of his 4 overs.

Those were the highlights that caught the eye last week and as the tournament nears the end, there’s bound to be plenty more.