After a 2-day hiatus, MTJAG’s back with the previews and live threads!
I am running home right now , hope to log in by 8:30pm or so, get it started at the comments section folks!!
Quick Overview
After getting repeatedly flushed down the toilet by a number of teams, both these refused to go away, resurfacing with a fancy win in their last games. DD upstaged RCB in their own house, which was quite a creditable win. KKR, in the meantime, beat up the door mat in Kings XI Punjab. It remains to be seen which team will continue the trend upwards.
Bowl-O-Meter
KKR: 2.5/5
Meh is how I’d still put it. The Economist aka Murli Karthik got injured in the last game, and KKR need him back for his miserly 4 over quota. Bond , who hadn’t made the same kind of impact that some of his other speedy counterparts did, finally showed some serious force in the last game, and needs to continue on the same vein.Danda Dinda got some serious ass-whooping and was taken out after his 2 overs, and it remains to be seen if KKR persist with him. Mathews was good, and God (Agarkar) was a welcome addition to the team. If Ishant and Karthik are fit, they’d be natural replacements for Dinda and Abdulla, and the bowling suddenly has a more settled look.
Ishant and karthik for Dinda and Abdulla.
DD: 2.5/5
The bowlers did a fair job against RCB, but it was those suicidal run-outs that really tilted the game in favour of DD. After starting red-hot, Nannes seems to have mellowed down a bit, and he must fire. Yadav has been steadily improving, and Mishra has been good. Mcdonald gave away a few runs, and he needs to keep that in check. Delhi seems to have a problem with replacement bowlers (none seem to exist). For now , the best they seem to have is the current lot of Nannes, Sangwan, McD, Mishra and Yadav. If Nehra’s back, it might help a bit. What surprises me is why Karthik hasn’t used Viru’s off spin. The man can be tricky with them, and it won’t hurt to use him for an over or 2.
Bat-O-meter
KKR : 2.5/5
Yeah, Tiwary had a great game, and Dada finally came to the party, but calm down people. It was KXP, the team with 1 win and 1 old chick. So let’s not get all excited here. The good? Ganguly finally seems to be getting “it” and that’s a good sign. Gayle right up front has been a welcome boon for the team, and if David Hussey can find his rhythm, they’ve finally gotten themselves a batting unit. Tiwary showed his capabilities in the last game, but I was a little curious as to why he had to wait till the last 5 deliveries for those fireworks. He seems to be a confidence-player, and so needs to build on this to continue. Till they prosper against a team with a pulse, I am going to take the wait-and-see approach and give them 2.5.
DD: 3/5
Finally, things seem to fall into place. Warner has been giving DD some whirlwind starts,and if Sehwag gets going too, it can spell O.H..S.H.I.T for the opposition. ABdV and Karthik seem to be finding their form, but keep getting themselves out way too soon. I like the pluck shown by young Jhadav , but it was one game. The key is to get the core of the middle order going, and we all are still waiting with bated breath (almost stale now) for ABdV to take over a game or 2 , the way he is capable of.
Match-Ups
KKR Bowling vs DD Batting : Slight Advantage – DD
KKR has the task of facing not 1 , but 2 freaks of nature. Viru and his Aussie mirror image Nannes seemingly go into the field with 1 task in mind – destroy. To counter them, Bond must be at his absolute best, and if I were KKR, I’d open with Agarkar/Mathews , both of whom can be a little wily and take the pace off it. Murli Karthik, if around , needs to keep AB quiet.
From DD’s perspective, both Warner and Viru seem to have prematurity issues. Before you know it, it’s over and they both are back in the pavilion. Even if 1 sticks around till the 10th over, the game swings wildly in favour of DD, and they should realize it. Allow 1 of them to go after the openers while the other gets his eye in. I’d ask Viru to be the aggressor, and Warner to show some restraint so that he can tackle Murli Karthik’s incoming spin later. AB needs to convert his starts to finishes, and if he can do that, Delhi can get into a run , starting TODAY.
KKR Batting vs DD bowling: EVEN
There’s really not much to choose here. Nannes vs Gayle will be quite exciting, but Nannes has to be at his fiery best. I would also give Viru a shot to bowl at Gayle, and get the ball moving away from him .Testing Ganguly with some short pitched deliveries is a must, and Yadav can do that.
I still get the feeling that KKR needs to work a little harder than Delhi , simply because they have a big problem being consistent. Gayle needs to see the team through till the 13-15th over because he is the guy capable of being aggressive till then. I liked Tiwary’s innings, but I’ll hold my breath before announcing him as the man capable of carrying the innings consistently.
Predictions
The teams seem evenly matched at this juncture, and I’d love to see a closely contested game. I think DD pulls his off , and I’ll stick to ABdV , making it his night.
rather mindless stuff from viru there… charging evry single ball… gayle may be laid back but not silly
delhi still flying out of the blocks… warner slashing and slicing thru everything
delhi look a bit unsettled here… gambhir gone…
the thinking doesn’t seem to be all that clear with the batting
Why are they going all out from over 1. Now it would be difficult for them to make a decent score.
ishant really needs to be spared the punishment. pick someone else gauti..
for a li’l fella, warner can send them very,very far
Warner on a rampage! Just shows maybe why Ishant was dropped from World T20 squad. Hoping he proves me wrong though..an great talent wasted..Do DD
DD loose 3 in 3 😦 hopefully Collingwood comes good today! and Jadhav plays like he did against RCB !
dk gone now, dd in a spot of bother
despite of the wickets, delhi coasting at a sweet 11.5 per over
Is Gayle the only player to open the Batting a Bowling for a team in the IPL? Many teams using spinner 1st strategy : RR, MI,KKR etc.. Warner is on a roll!
Here now
Viru really needs to get his shit together sometimes. It looks great when he pulls it off, but crappy as crap when it doesnt. The times it doesn’t far outweighs the times it does!
Warner is a manchild.
delhi batting’s a bit like a chinese kungfu movie
3 wickets down and His Holiness The Agarkar hasn’t even gotten warmed up yet!
What was wrong with the Alphabet jumbler?
some injury i guess
Aditya , welcome to MTJAG!
Sorry, just got back in to approve the comments.
KKR have so many bowling options to choose from, 5 used already and Agarkar and Abdulla ( specilist bowlers) not used!
Angie is bowling now. He started the tournament on fire, but has slowed down a bit. Must be all the after-game parties 😉
Yeah, KKR have quite a few options, their batting though lacks a bit of fire. Angie has it, Gayle of course, but outside of them, they seem to lack 1 more guy I feel.
His Holiness The Agarkarlama can be one of them.
yeah, them ladies tend to wear u down a bit eh?…. *nudge,nudge,wink wimk*
collingwood doing the sensible thing in pulling back the run rate, delhi don’t wanna get ahead of themselves
🙂 you know it all too well bro 😉 Thats how we GET DOWN WID IT haha
Hope Collie’s english game doesn’t piss off Warner too much.
Collie getting a move-on now. 180+ should be the the target, and these 2 need to be there.
It’s going to be Daddy Time soon – Agarkar will come into bowl shortly folks. Hide the kids.
DD might as well rename themselves WAO – Warner and Others
woah! radioactivity alert on the field…
paul going irish… no place for li’l deft nurdles
hahaha
His holiness is not being shown the respect. Who woulda thought!
damn, all the beating that his holiness took, caused my cable to black out
WOW! Same here! It just got back on!
Warner come on- break the 150 barrier todaY!
Mild over there by Hussey. Warner needs to make amends.
kkr making amends here, 2 quiet overs
DD losing the plot a wee bit here.
MK seems to be getting mad respeck from batsmen of all types.
the guy’s created quite a reputation as a t20 bowler
Wow, make that 3 quiet overs. Gaylestorm doing his bit with the ball too.
3 more overs , need a whirlwind finish , or DD really are playing themselves out of the game here.
damn, another 6 run over
Warner gonner. tough to get 170+ now.
dd dont have any attacking batsmen left?
where’s dilshan, ab,
Dilscoop is regrowing his beard! Warner is back!
hang on warner’s still in… but dd’ are still kept quiet
have some of that chris
damn, these aussies seem to have figured out their juggling
Wow…..Hussey….
KKR really pulled them back man.
I think it depends on Gayle’s wicket. If they get him early, I don’t think that KKR has batsmen who can provide impetus to the chase.
Will be back in 5 .
come to think of it, kkr can afford to drop both agarkar and ishant and play 2 more batsmen who can bowl a bit
Drop Agarkar?!?!?! This is madness!!!
MADNESS??!! THIS IS KKR!
i can imagine you saying that like leonidus
this is spartaaaaaaaaaa
Man, that was some movie!
If i was left to do the IPL marketing for 1 of the teams, I’d really turn the stadium into a cauldron, with the right kinda music, atmosphere and pump up the crowd energy.
Dada against Nannes, hmmmmm, gimme some of that rib-cage stuff!
dashin to office, be back in 40 odd mins
Do you think that we’d have the honour of seeing Agarkarness as a floater up the order? 🙂
Alrighty man!
KKR starting indifferent. I want to see when they plan to start hitting away.
Woah, Gayle just helped himself to a big MaC!!
Bye dada, never looked comfy out there. Nannes worked him out.
Little Mandeep walks in! Baptism by smokin hot volcano my friend.
He never got named, he’s a gonner.
Piss-poor planning by KKR, why would you hold back a guy like Tiwary or Mathews, who are seemingly in good nick, but send in an 18 year old who has hardly had a look in!
Nevermind , tiwary sucks 🙂
Gayle time now. He has decided enough is enough.
Bhatia getting is quota of hits.
Mishra in the last few games sure has been quite a handful for the batsmen.
3 overs , 1 wicket , 9 runs so far! are you kidding me?!
Oh thank god Gayle is gone! Not that I am supporting DD. I just want them to top the table and then crash out in the semis again.
hahaha! which teams are you favouring purna? I’m assuming DC because of gibbsy.
The T20 is unpredictable, but KKR must be one of more boring teams out there.
DC and RBC or RCB…whatever they are called. KKR should stop being a team. Their players should just be taken in by the other teams as refugees. Unless Pune and the other new franchise is even worse.
Purna, you’re forgetting that His Royal Highness The AgarkarLama is part of the KKR. Did you see the article I put up on him just before this thread?
No! Will do that now. What’s your obsession with Agarkar anyway?
What a snoozefest is this one. Please just focus the cameras on Agarkar for the next 1 hour and let us humble viewers have our money’s worth.
Vicky guess what, there are three AB’s in this game. AB de Villiers, AB McDonald and AB Agarkar!
Well , the dude stayed on the Indian team for what seemed like light years without really doing much (after his fastest 50 wickets in an ODI farce). I had no idea why he’d keep getting selected time and again without really doing much. On top of that, he was made out to be THE ALL ROUNDER everyone would want to either be , or sleep with or something (not his fault, the media screwed up on that). But his continuous selection had me convinced that He’s of a greater force and of a different type. He needs to be there because his existence is crucial to the survival of mankind. There can be no other explanation.
Agarkar , to me, is divine, pure and and the ultimate symbol of love.
Close! I don’t think ABdV is playing this game though. Not in the starting XI!
100 + to get in 8 overs. YAWN!
NO?! Are they resting him or have they dropped him? That’s strange…
And that Agarkar explanation was so funny!
6 sixes in the next 3 overs, C’mon Dussey entertain us!
From what I know, Collie took AB’s spot.
oh boy, he sure did :-)!
kkr must have some really twisted mind sorting the batting order, what’s with hussey and The Other Guy batting so low?
HAHA. Colly took AB’s spot?!!??!!
Oh AB…that’s gotta hurt…
I have no idea either prafs. What were they saving Hussey and Mathews for?? Christmas?!
Nothing works in KKR. Nothing!
no, vicjy, it’s not matthews, its The Other Guy… ask dav
Who Prafs? McDs?
oopsie, that was supposed to be vicky
Watmoreeeee…I miss him 😦
radioactivity alert on the field!!
umpires cant stand the awesomeness, timeout taken
no vicky, angelo IS the other guy
legend has it, that during one of those days of kkr obliteration,
dav was being interviewed on the sidelines owasi was batting with angelo,
and dav wanted owais and the ‘other guy’ to string a partnership together.
since then the legend of the ‘other guy’ was born
Clearly, even the keeper is having trouble viewing the ball because of the brilliance
Ahh, nice catch on that one Prafs, I missed out on the Interview. Angie will henceforth be known as the other guy!
People are taking cover – even 10 meters thick lead wall cant help you folks. Agarkar’s emissions are too much.
Oh my god this is putting me to sleep
He placed that so beautifully between karthik’s legs.
DAmn, the previous comment of mine looks extremely porn now.
ahahahaha….
How does agarkar scratch his toes?
Answer: He deliberately plays an inside edge to a yorker on his boots.
Is Agarkar in the WC T20 squad for India? He should be.
Because the Saffers are in the same group 😀
@Purna, he opted out of selection.
Apr-May-June is the mating season of Agarkararians.
BAHAHAHA. What a stupid shot…even Colly knew it :P.
Vicky, I am grateful to you for parting with your infinite knowledge on Agarkararians.
It is but my duty Purna!
As for KKR, the Fat Lady has officially screamed her throats out. OVER.
this one’s done and dusted… comment of the day nominations?
Yessir!
Any votes?
How about Purna’s : KKR should stop being a team. Their players should just be taken in by the other teams as refugees.
I second that one!
ginger power wraps this one
yessir i’m in agreement
Ishant Sharma showing his awareness and IQ. Comes out to bat AFTER the last ball has been bowled.
I can rest in peace knowing that our country’s pace bowling attack is in safe hands.
Purna a:AbD wont get his spot soon as COlly has performed well today! If only they can get this AB McD out of this team! hate him….IMO good for nothing, Can’t wait for vettori to join the Playing XI and KKR’s NRR will hit new lows and good for Delhi!
ADitya, when does Vettori get in?
After his second test in NZ.I guess next match or surely the one after that for DD!
ABd and Moises should be banned even from Aussie domestic cricket!
omfg, ishant was heading out to bat, … after the last ball
Prafs , i don’t know whether to laugh or cry when i saw Ishant walking out there.
the future is safe vicky,
it’s full of little ishants, jogis and lots of radiation
Add the Munafs and Praveens to the Mix and you have the bowling attack with most IQ and intelligence!
@ Prafs ! :)))))) That will be a sight to behold!
@ Aditya- you seem to really not like McDs man! :))
-Insert one of our famous commentators here who’d jump in and say Praveen Kumar has a lot of Common sense 🙂
man, people who read this site will think of us as complete nutjobs who worship the mediocre.
talk about having a reputation
OH! Did I win something??? YAY!!
Ishant for President!
Adi, me thinks this is good. Now AB will fight for his spot.
hahaha, prafs, let fear not come in the way of devotion man.
Congrats Purna!
Ishant Rocks! the whole KKR team is a bunch of jokers! Ganguly needs to be out of the playing XI!( misfit)
By the way, purna, congrats ! your comment was chosen as the comment of the day by ALL (2-3) of us :-). It’s right there on the front page , right side – as an honor.
Thank you, thank you. I am touched!
alright guys, time to go… catch y’all tomorrow… good night!!!
So where is the after awards party 😛
and I hate the McD’s and ABD will make a good substitute fielder! 🙂
Prafs: very true! But this is way more fun than discussing about the greats!
all hail Agarkar!
I know. Enough love has been shown to those who are good at cricket. Now it’s time to love those who suck.
After awards party, right here. Have a drink Adi. Catch!
Hic 🙂
@Aditya, you’d wanna get in touch with Mallya , Sreesanth, Bhajji, Yuvi and friends for the after-hours party man 😉
Thanks all for tuning in, great time here, hope to see you all in another day, another edition!
Damn, I’m beginning to sound like Shastri in the post-match presentation.
Must……cleanse….self…
Oh! I caught it just like the one handed catch of Ganguly and the drink was well worth it! Cheers!
hi guys,
missed yesterdays live thread… it was a good match. Anyone else noticed?? is Viru seriously interested in this years IPL? I mean he looks totally out of focus and just stands there..
But overall a good game for DD. Im super seriuosly impressed with this guy Umesh Yadav. Hope he makes use of this opportunity and establishes himself.
KKR..huh.. what a team!!!!.. They have to get their line up right..
Kanda!
Welcome back sir! Yeah it was a seriously 1 sided match with a few awesome moments- Warner’s century and Hussey’s catch stood out to me . DD can string a few wins together. Good point on Viru, he seems quite bored with the proceedings, but you know the media, 1 good innings and he’s on top of the world again.
I like how Yadav’s looking, but let’s give it some time. In the last 4 games , I’ve seen his average pace drop by 5km/h! 🙂 Yeah, speed isn’t everything, but we’ve got nothing right now!
KKR, like you pointed out, looks horrid again. I think their bowling might be ok, but their batting stinks like nobody’s business. Looks like they are destined to be in the bottom 3 again this time, barring a miracle.