What follows is a collection of live blog posts I conducted on the opening day of the 2009 Indian Premier League, just as I was on the brink of seriously adopting Twitter. These entries were originally blogged separately, I have combined them all here. All times are based upon Sydney timezone, GMT+10, eight hours after South Africa. - RE, 19.3.13
The Not-so-IPL Game One: Oh the agony
9.08pm
Six overs down in game one of the Not-so-IPL, Chennai v Mumbai in Cape Town. A ground probably two-thirds full and sounding very subdued when a wicket falls (maybe they're all expat Mumbaikars). So much for security, there's a dog on the field. It may be fun to know that I can watch a live game at 8.30pm four nights a week on One Digital (and sleep through the 12.30am game seven days a week), but I have no idea whether I have the endurance to watch something that is likely to be closer to a painfully-bad "reality" TV show than a genuine sporting event.
In the time that I have been writing this post, one ball has been bowled and play has ground to halt because of a dog on the field. No one wants to go near it.
Yes, this already makes a joke of security.
The Not-so-IPL's first toilet break
9.37pm
Ten overs down in this funereally slow game of Indian domestic cricket being played in Cape Town. The Cleveland Mumbai Indians are 64 for 1 against the Chennai Sub Super Kings. And now we have the 7.5 minute toilet break... the Modi Mafia call it a "tactical time out", but it's really just an excuse to squeeze an extra five minutes of ads into each innings. Here in Australia it means more prattle from Huddo and Campbo on One Digital (part of the soon-to-go-bankrupt Channel Ten empire).
Oh the agony. Twenty20 is supposed to be a fast game. All I can say after the first hour is that this is shaping up as a Dog of a Tournament.
Duminy and Duminer
10.05pm
Less than 24 hours ago, Jean-Paul Duminy made a tidy 3(8) in South Africa's 47-run loss to Australia at The Wanderers. Today it's an even tidier 9(7) for Mumbai before swatting a short ball back to Chennai's Manjpreet Singh Gony in the Indian domestic game at Newlands.
Meanwhile, remember the media reports on January 13 that Matty Hayden had "retired from all levels of cricket"? Perhaps they were right. He's just taken his second catch of the innings for Chennai (Dwayne Bravo, following Sanath Jayasuriya a bit earlier).
The IPL-following twits are twittier at http://search.twitter.com/search?q=IPL+OR+%23IPL. Last I saw, the official IPL website was down. Good.
Vocabulary enhancement of the day: the number formerly known as six
10.19pm
It's no longer a six. It's a DLF Maximum. And we had to wait until the eighteenth over of the Mumbai innings for the first DLF Maximum of the 2009 Not-so-IPL, tonked by Abhishek Nayar off Andrew Flintoff.
Not content with that, Nayar clubbed another two DLF Maximums (or is that DLF Maxima?) off Flintoff later that over.
And if that's not enough, Mark Bloody Nicholas was the commentator.
Mumbai 166/7
10.39pm
Simon Doull an Official IPL Commentator. What Is The World Coming To?
Tendulkar's career best T20 score of 69 is yet to be conquered as he completes a neat 59*(49) despite not achieving a single DLF Maximum.
The big question now... will the Change of Innings be longer than the Ten Over Toilet Break?
OBO of the game at The Guardian, while the live comms at the cricketing arm of ESPN are as stodgy as ever.
Chennai 167 to win. Easy peasy I reckon.
Matthew Hayden's life after cricket
11.01pm
"Today I'm announcing my retirement from representative cricket effective immediately."
- Matthew Hayden, 13.1.09 (source: ABC)
He's played charity matches for bushfire and flood victims, and he's been the off-field ambassador for the Imparja Cup, but as I speak the Queenslander with "Indian Cements" and "29" on his back is about to take strike against Zaheer Khan. And gets a single straight away, but not before he had to watch Parthiv Patel fall to a Tendulkar catch off Slinger Malinga at the other end.
Matty clubs two fours in a row off Malinga. Next over he skies one to the keeper who puts it down. Currently 10*(8), CSK 19/2 from four overs.
Meanwhile, in real cricket...
11.06pm
Somerset currently 653 for 4 in reply to Worcestershire's 500 all out on day four of the County Championship Division One game at Taunton. James Hildreth 290 not out.
(Freddy Flintoff edges a DLF Maximum over slips off Bravo.)
Hildreth!
11.21pm
Congratulations to James Hildreth, the first triple-centurion of the 2009 county season. Somerset has declared on 672 for 4 with Hildreth on 303 not out. His partnership with wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter (150*) yielded 318* for the fifth wicket.
Meanwhile, Matthew Hayden is playing for a draw at Newlands.
Potty time
11.35pm
Toilet break time for Not-so-IPL viewers the world over, CSK 70 for 3 needing another 97 to win. No DLF Maxima yet for Matty Hayden, he's 30*(26). Can he beat his T20 PB of 81, also scored against Mumbai last year?
Oh there's some chap called MS Dhoni 0*(0) at the other end.
Already this game is three hours old. Gimme baseball any day!
11.38pm
Ha! Channel One missed the first ball after the toilet break!
Matty's out
11.52pm
A good wicket for the Mork and Mindians, as Matty Hayden swats Jayasuriya to Zaheer Khan who takes a good low catch. Hayden 44(35b, 6x4 1xDLFMx).
At what point can we proclaim a Twenty20 game a GOTLD? As I speak CSK need 75 to win from 42 balls at a RRR of 10.7.
This is my last post of the evening, maybe I'll see this game out and maybe even see some of Warnie's Rajasthanis. Or maybe not. Adieu for nieu.