The league matches of the Indian Premier League have come to an end (It should have stopped with this – It is meaningless to have knock-out matches in a League Tournament but well, it is the IPL and anything can happen in this).

Four teams have made that decisive cut to enter the semi finals, with that last league match deciding who plays who in the semi finals. Let us have a brief analysis of the performances of the semi finalists.

Delhi Daredevils – Leading the pack with 20 points. This was the team which had assured itself of a semi-final spot after its 9th match itself and had a lot of opportunity to experiment and try out other players. It’d be good for them that their openers and other top order batsmen which includes Gambhir, Warner, Sehwag, Dilshan, de Villiers, etc are all in great form and also their bowling department led by Nehra is doing particulary well. Incidentally Nehra with 18 Wkts is also a serious contender for the Purple Cap. So after getting the team to proper shape, Sehwag would be hoping that they fire on all cylinders in the first Semis to cement their finals slot.

Chennai Super Kings -After that unsteady start to the tournament the team made sure that they do well enough to secure a semis berth. They are a team which had been performing consistently with the bat and the ball in all the matches. Though their fielding hadn’t been up to the mark, they made sure that their performance with the bat and ball overshadowed their poor fielding. Their openers have been performing well and it is probably the only team to have utilised its first six overs to the full extent and also the middle order chipping in with some useful runs.

Royal Challengers Bangalore -They are the team with the maximum momentum. The team which had been written off as a test team last year and the team which had a disastrous start to this season performed extremely well to clinch the third spot in the league standings this year. They have won four matches consecutively and have the much required momentum with them. They also seem to have discovered new talent among their players. Its a positive sign and all one can expect them to do is to put on a great show against the Chennai and who knows they might even upset the Super Kings. They don’t have the pressure and reaching this position itself can be termed as an achievement and anything more would be a bonus.

Deccan Chargers – After a wonderful start to the season 4 wins from 4 matches, they just managed to get 3 more wins from the remaining 10 matches. In the last few matches the battling order of the Deccan has collapsed after the departure of the openers and they relied heavily Rohit Sharma in these matches. He did it in the match against KKR but couldn’t manage it in the other two matches. Its time the team has a reality check and make sure that its batsmen especially Symonds stay till the end and finish it off for their team.

Fixtures -

1st Semi-Final

Friday 22 May 20:00 IST  – Delhi Daredevils v Deccan Chargers
SuperSport Park, Centurion

2nd Semi-Final

Saturday 23 May 20:00 IST - Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore
New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

An exciting contest on the cards. Enjoy the Semi-Finals.

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