Duminy (and Shaggy) rock the party at the Champions League opener
Ratnakar Polisetti09-Oct-2009Choice of game
Bangalore launched the IPL in 2008 and I missed it. Second time lucky and what a spectacle it was.Team supported
I supported Royal Challengers, ended up being a fan of JP Duminy, but would love to see Adam Gilchrist lift the trophy. I thought Jacques Kallis and Anil Kumble would combine to beat a Smith-less Cobras, but Duminy had all the venom that was needed.Key performer
Robin Uthappa opened and Ross Taylor kept it going, but Duminy finished and how.When Herschelle Gibbs got out early, the crowd was on their feet and Bangalore fancied their chances. But Duminy played some delightful shots, and one of them, the reverse sweep off Anil Kumble to get to his fifty, evoked cheers even from the home crowd.One thing I’d have changed about the match
This match started with a spectacular opening ceremony but it may as well have been Akon instead of Shaggy, because the crowd response was really poor. As for the match itself, I would have loved to see Duminy get to three figures. With 2 required for a win he was on strike on 98 and took a single, leaving the winning run to Rory Kleinveldt.Face-off I relished
Duminy v Kumble. Cobras needed 29 off the last three. The crowd wanted Kumble and got him. But he was taken for 11, including a huge six, and that’s when some people started leaving the stadium.Wow moment
The PA begging the crowd to do a Mexican wave not once but thrice, but the crowd didn’t oblige. They did do the Mexican wave, but on their own. The crowd’s the boss!Shot of the day
Dravid and Taylor hit superb sixes, but none was bigger than the one by Duminy’ off Roelof van der Merwe, which disappeared high into the stands next to me.Crowd meter
Loud-O-Meter, should I say. Huge cheers for Dravid and Kumble and even Ross Taylor, when the names were flashed on the giant screen before the match commenced. Most stands were packed to capacity. Kids, youngsters, families – no different from the audience for a typical Bollywood movie. Now I know why Twenty20 is such a commercial hit.The crowd supported Bangalore. Period. There were a few foreigners cheering the Cobras, but they were somehow muted by the silence of the RCB fans.Fancy-dress index
Plenty of RCB jerseys, and those who weren’t wearing them seemed to have come in red t-shirts.Entertainment
This being the opening game, there was everything from Shaolin monks to Shaggy. Pity Shaggy did not get the response he deserved.Everybody was expecting fireworks at the end, so it may have been the surprise element that threw the crowd into a frenzy when they went off and lit the sky just before the toss.IPL v Champions League?
When the captains of the competing teams came on to the dais, only Gilchrist, Kumble, Gauram Gambhir, Justin Langer and Daren Ganga (someone whispered, “He is from India”!) got much of a response. That’s the Champions League, at least for now, before the Putticks and the Mubaraks make a name for themselves. There are no neutral teams in the IPL but it will be interesting to see how the crowds turn up to watch, say, Eagles v Blues.Overall
Duminy’s innings may not eclipse Brendon McCullum’s on the first day of the IPL in 2008, but unlike in that match, the game was on till the last over here.An amazing opening ceremony followed by a befitting game of cricket. Couldn’t have asked for more.Marks out of 10
Any high-scoring game should rank up there, and this one, with the sixes competing with flying monks, was a perfect 10.
