A cricket final that had everything. The very last ball required to decide the winner, a crowd
on the edge of their seats and two teams determined to win. This form of cricket is exciting
and very popular and has everything for the sports fans. Big sixes, run outs, great bowling and great fielding. The entertainment provided at the venues stirred the crowds and had them fully involved in every game, no matter which side was on the field.
The final started with fireworks and finished that way, a fabulous night.
The royals have proved that they knew what they were doing when it came to buying talented cricketers. Shane Warne and Shane Watson proved to be exceptional buys, not to mention the young talent that has emerged because of IPL 2020. Cast as walkovers and chastised by officials for not spending enough on players, look who’s smiling now. GO ROYALS !!
What happens next season ? With talk of more and more money to spend, will teams be able to retain their players?
Once again congratulations to the Rajasthan Royals and Shane Warne, great win.

Now that the inaugural IPL series is over and the victorious Rajasthan Royals, led by their Captain and Coach, Shane Warne, are still celebrating. The least expensive team in the series ( $3 million) showed all others how to play the game. A great victory.
What next ? There is a lot of talk around about who will be starting 2020 teams and who will be playing where, but it seems that nothing is settled. The West Indies, backed by billionaire,Allen Stanford, is well on it’s way to get 2020 up and running. It has been reported that he has proposed a competition between West Indies and a side from Great Britain.
Is the future 2020WI or 2020GB ? Whatever happens this form of cricket is here to stay. With great cricketers like Shane Warne leading the way, it looks like a long and profitable future.

Rajasthan Royals win Indian Premier League final by three wickets.
Their victory in the inaugural IPL series, after being considered as underdogs prior to the
start of this revolutionary new form of cricket, must go down to the leadership of Shane Warne.
Many thought that this form of cricket would be a “Bollywood Spectacle” and not succeed, but
it has been a huge success, giving young unknown players a chance to play against some of the best
in the cricketing world. It also proved that these players could do the job. Not all the million of dollars
spent at auction on big name players could secure the final victory.

Shane Warne won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Chennai Super Kings could only reach a modest total 163 for five. The Royals were inspired by a
brilliant all round display by Yusuf Pathan who took three wickets and top scored with 56 runs off
39 balls. Sohail Tanvir hit the winning run, with Shane Warne at the other end. The Royals finished
with 164 for seven to take home the trophy and $1.2 million. The Kings as runner-ups take home
$600,000.

It was a great final, going down to the last over, before a great crowd. A lot of money has been
spent on players, but I think the huge tv audiences, the way the crowds have responded to players
from other countries has made IPL a fantastic success.

The top teams in the IPL would appear to be the Delhi Daredevils, Chennai Superkings and Rajasthan Royals each with eight points each after four games each. The Punjab Kings also have eight points, but they have played six games. The Deccan Chargers and the Mumbai Indians have only won one game each and are on two points each. At this stage the Daredevils look the team to beat with the highest net run rate of 1.263.

The 22nd. Match of the IPL cricket tournament was a one sided event as Punjab went on to win their forth consecutive win of the series. At the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, kolkata were left with a chase of 179runs and after falling to 50 - 5 in the 10th over it was always going to be a hard slog. Australian David Hussey was hitting whatever came his way and finished up with a very determined 46 runs off 71 balls, including four boundaries and four sixes. Saha also batted very well to finish up with a very good innings of 59 not out.

With the Australian Cricket Team preparing for the up coming tour of the West Indies the IPL will be without some of their top players returning home to Australia, this will mean many of their positions are being filled by up and coming young Indian players who are not very well known or unknown on the International cricket scene. Twenty 20 has given these players the chance to play with or against the worlds best, the likes of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Virender Sehwag. This opportunity will give them the chance that would probably take years to get if it was not for the IPL.
For this I think that the IPL has been a great success.