From Saturday: 14,160 balls of IPL cricket

The IPL gets down to its core business of cricket in Cape Town from Saturday; this after an impressive parade of Bollywood stars, street parades and an education sponsorship of R9-million.

But if you think that, from now on, all that remains of the IPL are a scheduled 14,160 balls to be delivered over the next 36 days, think again. There’s still plenty of glitz and glamour in store.

On Saturday evening, after the two opening matches, fans will be treated to what looks to be an entertaining opening ceremony, which will include fireworks, acrobats, fire dancers and the rock group Snow Patrol, famous for hits such as Chasing Cars, Run and Signal Fire.

Running throughout the tournament will be the Miss Bollywood SA competition, where the successful entrant will win a role in a Bollywood movie, plus R50,000 in cash and other prizes.

IPL boss Lalit Modi will undoubtedly think of a few more marketing gimmicks along the way, especially if ticket sales start declining at any point.

It’s going to be a fascinating ride.



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HOW TO WIN THE IPL IN 2009 ?

We all know the Rajasthan Royals, with the likes of Shane Warne and Graeme Smith, are the defending IPL champions. But what does it take to win the competition?

Certainly not the highest innings total.

The most runs amassed in 20 overs during the inaugural tournament was 240, courtesy of the Chennai Super Kings, last year’s losing finalists. The next best were the Kolkata Knight Riders (222), the Kings Punjab XI (221) and only then, Rajasthan (217).

The Delhi Daredevils (194) and the Bangalore Royal Challengers (181) were the only two sides not to reach the 200-barrier. There seems to be a slightly closer correlation between lowest score and lowest position on the log - the lowest all-out total was 82, achieved by the Royal Challengers in the tournament opener. They, of course, finished second last.

A total of six batsmen smashed centuries during last year’s IPL - and all but one were top international players. They were Black Cap Brendon McCullum, who hammered that unbeaten 158 against the Royal Challengers, followed by Aussie Andrew Symonds (117 not out), Aussie Michael Hussey (116 not out), Shaun Marsh (115), Sri Lankan legend Sanath Jayasuriya (114 not out) and Aussie keeper Adam Gilchrist (109 not out).

Marsh, the son of opener Geoff, went on to represent Australia soon afterwards.

In international Twenty20 cricket, however, only one man has reached three figures, and that’s Knight Rider Chris Gayle, who smashed 117 off 57 balls for the West Indies against South Africa in 2007.

Just one day to go!