IPL final

Though Rajasthan Royals have won the IPL final,
and though they were expected to win it quite easily,
the fact is throughout the match they seemed the
underdogs.

Those big bags under Warne's eyes loudly proclaimed
that he hadn't slept well, when he came for the toss.
Then Chennai under Dhoni kept their cool and played
slightly beyond their potential to reach 162.

Chennai team gave the impression that they had peaked
at the right time. And, they had indeed. Just that Yusuf
had other ideas.

And, when Rajasthan came out to bat, they were 44-3,
not long after their chase began. Akmal was injured at
least thrice during the match,Kaif once and Greame
Smith didn't even play due to injury. All of which made
Rajasthan's journey difficult. And when Yusuf was having
a hell of a time playing a confident Murali, it seemed that
all was over for Rajasthan. But, thanks to some loose deliveries
by Murali, and Pathan's ability to control his nerves,
his confidence was back with two consecutive sixes off him.

What might go unnoticed though is Kaif's innings. He made
only 12, but what he did was he made runs in Murali's over,
which would have most likely not been made by anyone else.
And had that last over by Murali been a tight one, game
would have been very different.

All in all, the final was between two of the best captains
of the tournament, no one would be able to contest that
claim.