LEFT ARM OVER
NEIL MANTHORP: IPL is cricket’s centre of excellence and SA is joining the trend
As much as the first sentence may sound like a cheap pun, it was not intended
It’s been the usual slog getting there but, once again, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has finally reached the finals week so even the most sceptical and T20-weary can have a quick look now. The play-offs use an excellent format, which keeps half of the eight teams involved. The top two play each other, with the winner progressing to the final. Third and fourth play each other and the loser is eliminated. The remaining two teams then contest the third match for the remaining place in the final. It rewards the top two teams with a second chance at making the final, while the others have to win two "semifinals" to make it. As much as the first sentence may sound like a cheap pun, it was not intended. It was meant to reflect the relentlessness and bizarrely haphazard nature of the league matches in which teams can play up to four times in a week and then not at all for a week — and in which the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai Indians played their home and away matches against eac...
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