IPL 6's three biggest upsets thus far

up·set [v., adj. ; n.] - to overturn, to disturb mentally or emotionally, to disturb or derange completely, to defeat or overthrow an opponent that is considered more formidable.

There are multiple shades to ‘upset’. This IPL, we have seen most of those shades in quite some intensity. We have seen smaller teams overturn the results. We have seen the upsets emotionally and mentally disturb the pundits as much as it disturbed franchise owners, especially those who let cash do all the thinking, while ‘frugality in buying’, took a back seat. Three upsets this season proved it isn’t always what we see on paper that rules; that cricket, at the end of the day can complicate matters and throw the kitchen sink at calculations, odds and estimations.

Sunrisers Hyderabad inch marginally ahead of Royal Challengers Bangalore

It was the 7^th match of the tournament, well before Sunrisers started getting the attention, well before their main batting reinforcement arrived in the form of Shikhar Dhawan. Sunrisers impressed everyone with their bowling in this match – 19-year-old Hunama Vihari got Chris Gayle with his first ball and Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra suffocated the top heavy RCB.

The Sunrisers outfit doesn’t boast of the strongest batting line-up but it was Vihari’s day with the bat too. He remained ice-cool and buffered the chase striking vital partnerships with Akshath Reddy and Kumar Sangakkara to tie the game. Vinay Kumar, who bowled a brilliant last over to defend 6 runs, couldn’t repeat the magic. Cameron White clobbered him to give Sunrisers’ Dale Steyn 20 runs to defend, which the latter did. The Hyderabad crowd couldn’t have been more enamoured as the Sunrisers held their fort at their home ground.

Pune Warriors stun IPL heavyweights Chennai Super Kings

CSK are miles ahead of their competition in the IPL at this juncture with 8 wins in 10 games and the best net run rate in the tournament. Their determination was probably kick-started after the rude jolt they received in the hands of Pune Warriors. The Warriors have a decent outfit but have been languishing at the bottom of the table. Their performance in the 19^th match of the tournament at Chennai’s home ground draws even more focus on the mysterious failure of such a good outfit.

It was Aaron Finch who used the opportunity to smash 67 off 45 balls to help Warriors post an imposing 159 at Chennai’s bastion. CSK made a mess of the chase in spite of batting as deep as No. 10, eventually finishing on 135. Bhuvanesh Kumar bowled a dream spell of 4-1-12-2. Steve Smith came straight from the bench to win the Man of the Match for his blitzkrieg cameo of 39 from 16 balls and 3 catches.

Delhi Daredevils thump Mumbai Indians

Delhi Daredevils, prior to the 28^th match of IPL 2013, was out etching a baffling and embarrassing losing streak. With 6 losses, Delhi was testing the patience of its fans, but the Feroz Shah Kotla crowds kept turning up match after match. Against Mumbai, they might have turned up to watch Sachin Tendulkar, instead – who didn’t disappoint, stroking a decent half century. Rohit Sharma piled on the misery scoring a breathtaking 73 to set the Daredevils a tough target of 162.

Mahela Jayawardene and Virender Sehwag had other plans though. Sehwag showed he can still take a team to the cleaners. Viv Richards’ motivational speech probably had something to do with that though. It could have even been the pent-up anger or frustration of continuous losses. Whatever was the cause, Delhi made sure they got on the points table with a massive 151-run first wicket partnership. Sehwag smashed 95 off just 57 balls, supported by Mahela who scored a brisk half century. Delhi chased down the target with 3 overs to spare.

Dishonourable Mention

Mumbai Indians seemed to be doing well under Rohit Sharma, their new captain, after Ricky Ponting dropped himself to let Dwayne Smith partner Sachin at the top. After winning 3 good matches in a row, Mumbai were firm favourites against Sunrisers Hyderabad, whose batting was no match for MI’s star studded line-up.

On a pitch that looked tough to bat on, Mumbai laboured on to reach 129, thanks largely to Ambati Rayudu’s 34 and Smith’s 38 at the top. That Kieron Pollard scored just 14 in 19 balls, made everyone believe it was indeed a tough pitch to bat on. Ishanth Sharma was clinical with figures of 4-1-15-2 picking Sachin and in-form Dinesh Karthik in the same over. He was ably supported by Mishra who finished with 2-24 off his 4 overs.

Sunrisers made light-work of the target, chasing it down in 18 overs. Dhawan remained unbeaten on 73 off 55 balls, making the pitch look absolutely placid. Ishant won the Man of the Match on a day where he castled the master’s stumps.

All the teams have at least 6 more games to play (some have 7). With the table still wide open, it would really be fun to witness a few more upsets to liven up the tournament. As Ravi Shastri would thunder into his mike, another upset or two will ‘really set the cat amongst the pigeons.’