22 April,2009 08:49 AM IST | | Iqbal Khan
When Lalit Modi made the decision to stage the lucrative and money-spinning Indian Premier League in South Africa he had not bargained for rain interruptions.
So far in the opening games, rain has put paid to one game the Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals match at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead last night. The weather had also interrupted two other games, which had to be decided via the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Modi said that South Africa was chosen ahead of England to stage the glitzy and glamorous event because he feared the weather conditions in the UK would disrupt the smooth running of the IPL.
Now just four days into the 37-day tournament, rain has played a major role. It restricted the games between Delhi Daredevils and the Kings XI Punjab in Cape Town, the tie between the Kings XI and Kolkata Knight Riders last night and forced the umpires to abandon the Mumbai Indians' tie against Rajasthan Royals without a ball being bowled.
It's a sad state of affairs and the weather in Durban, unpredictable at most times, is unlikely to change later in the week when the Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings do battle here.
Meanwhile Brendon McCullum, who was forced into the captaincy of KKR, was a delighted man as his side scored an 11-run win over the Kings XI Punjab yesterday.
"I don't know how long I'll last in this job but I must admit I'm beginning to enjoy captaining the team. I'm fortunate that I have a lot of experience around me and I call upon men like Sourav, Chris Gayle, Irfan to a few tips. But there will come a time when I will have to make the crucial decisions for the team. Until then I will call on these men who have played a lot of international cricket."
On the other hand, Yuvraj Singh, captain of the Kings XI, sulked after the defeat and sneaked out of the stadium instead of facing the media.
The match was rain-marred the Kings XI Punjab had batted their full quota of overs with Yuvraj (38), Mahela Jayawardene (31 not out) and Irfan Pathan (32) as their main contributors in their total of 158-6.
And it looked a defendable total on the Kingsmead track which has not seen too many big scores this season whenever the Nashua Dolphins had played at home.
But when KKR, who were beaten in their opening game by the Deccan Chargers in Cape Town, began their innings, steady rain fell but before they were taken off the field by the umpires they had scored 79-1 off 9.2 overs 11 runs more than what was required by the Duckworth-Lewis method for a victory.
Chris Gayle was the man who devastated the Kings XI bowling he struck four towering sixes and two fours in his 26-ball innings to set it up for the Kolkata side.
