South Africa gets first taste of Indian Premier League masala

Two days before the actual action gets underway, the second Indian Premier League got off to a rousing start here on Thursday with some of the best cricketers and Bollywood actors lending sheen to the gala event.

Colourful tableaux of eight IPL franchisees passed the city centre with fans lining up either side of the roads to get a glimpse of the cricket and entertainment glitterati who converged here for the carnival.

Having arranged the logistics in just three weeks after the event was shifted out of India, IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said he was happy to have overcome the challenge. “It was a huge challenge but we turned it into an opportunity,” a beaming Modi said.

“We got approvals in minutes, not even in hours. Everything went extremely smooth and it’s amazing to put everything in place in such a short time,” he said.

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Gilly's Danda Powers Bull Run

After lying low for three matches, the Deccan Chargers came out in full force on Sunday to maul Mumbai Indians and record their first win of the IPL tournament at the D.Y. Patil Stadium here.

After restricting the home side to a modest 154, the Chargers made mockery of the Mumbai total courtesy Adam Gilchrist’s savage 47-ball 109 not out to overhaul the target in just 12 overs without losing a wicket. The win took DC from eighth to sixth on the points table, which has Bangalore and Mumbai languishing at the bottom.

Gilchrist exploded like a dynamite, cracking 10 soaring sixes and nine boundaries to batter the Mumbai bowlers, in the process recording the fastest century in Twenty20 cricket (42 balls). The previous fastest hundred, off 47 balls, was set by Gilly’s teammate Andrew Symonds during the Chargers’ last game against Rajasthan Royals at home last week.

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