We may just have watched the dress rehearsal. The leading men learned their lines and played their parts, but will the final act be rewritten for closing night?
In two weeks time the Indian Premier League will be over for another year. The frantic final week of the regular season is upon us, featuring no less than 11 games in just six days. It may go down to the very last match before we know, for certain, which four teams advance to the 2013 playoffs.
Two of them are already in prime form and position. The Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals must complete their schedule in the coming days but both are already set for the knockout stages to begin.
Their weekend head-to-head was a fascinating pointer to what may lie ahead in the post-season. The contest reaffirmed what we already knew — the Lions and the Royals both have match winners in the form of big hitting Australians.
Mike Hussey and Shane Watson have both earned their sizeable salaries this year. The pair are enjoying their most productive IPL seasons to date — Hussey is the league’s top scorer having topped 600 runs, while Watson, having played a game less, is close to breaking the 500-run barrier.
When the two Aussie stars last met in opposition, Watson celebrated his first IPL century for Rajasthan, only to be trumped by Hussey’s match-clinching 88 as Chennai got home in a high-scoring affair with a single ball to spare.
The two were again in the spotlight as the Super Kings made the long trek to the northern Indian city of Jaipur. Hussey helped lay the foundation with a run-a-ball 40 but his dismissal sparked an uncharacteristic Chennai collapse. In the end, thanks only to a late Dwayne Bravo cameo, CSK was able to post a semi-respectable total.
On a bowler-friendly track, the Royals’ chase quickly ran into trouble. Watson was deliberately held back in the batting order and strode the crease with his team struggling at 19 for 3. Saving the game for the home team would rest chiefly on his broad shoulders.
Watson failed to score off his first three deliveries. New batsmen are at their most vulnerable but the 31-year-old Queenslander was just getting settled. He proceeded to take the Chennai bowlers to the cleaners, hammering 70 off just 34 balls with a blistering array of strokes featuring six sixes and six more fours.
Watson and the Royals had their revenge in spectacular fashion. The victory came at a psychologically important time since Chennai and Rajasthan are highly likely to meet again in the playoffs. The outcome may just give the Royals the edge in the next encounter.
The playoff equation remains unresolved. Essentially there are five teams battling for four spots. Mumbai, with two of its final three games at home, is well positioned to join Chennai and Rajasthan, while the Royal Challengers Bangalore also enjoy home advantage in their last two matches.
Sunrisers Hyderabad could have the last laugh. With a game in hand over RCB, the league’s newest franchise could pip Virat Kohli’s team and complete the schedule with back-to-back home games. Any team with South African paceman Dale Steyn in the lineup will always have a chance.
The sprint for the line is on. In an IPL season where last-ball deciders have become commonplace and Super Overs have been required more than once, anything is possible — anything but certainty.