This is how the IPL teams stack up after 2 years of the Indian Premier League.

Its good to see the Rajasthan Royals at the top of this table since they were far ahead of all the teams last year.

They also have an IPL trophy to show for that.

On the other hand you have a Deccan Chargers, who have almost the lowest win %, and have lost the most number of matches among all IPL teams.

Yet they have an IPL trophy to show for that!

How cruel is this game of cricket?

Chennai, Delhi, and Punjab should be kicking themselves up their backsides. They have surely been the stronger and better sides, but on the days when it has mattered, they have not been up to the task.

Not to take anything away from the Chargers however.

They have just completed what probably was one of the best turnaround stories, if not the best, in cricket history.

Yes I know you have heard it everywhere, but I want to say it again - from the bottom of the table, to the top of the pile!

Last year it was the team with the lowest odds that won the final; this year it was the same.

Last year it was a purple cap winning left arm pacer that led his team to the title; this year it was the same.

Last year it was a retired Australian who captained his team to victory; this year it was the same.

Last year it was the Royal March; this year it is the Deccan's Charge!

Both the IPL finalists won the toss in their respective semi finals and elected to field.

Both of them restricted their opponents to chaseable targets and then went about their business with ease.

The targets were chased down without a problem.

On one hand there was the awesome belligerence of Adam Gilchrist and the finishing touches of Andrew Symonds, while on the other there was the youthful exuberence of a Manish Pandey (for some reason I feel like Harsha Bhogle as I say that) and the calm of a Rahul Dravid.

What happens tonight?

Will both the Deccan Chargers and the Royal Challengers come out with the same strategy of looking to chase?

The Rajasthan Royals did that last year. They chased and won the IPL.

With 2 resurgent teams, experienced captains leading from the front, both hungry for the title, along with a similar strategy, it all points towards a gruelling contest.

Lets hope that is what we get.

I'll be going LIVE with my comments along with the rest of the crew at BCC! - Naked, SP, Som, Achettup, John, Ankit & Ankit, Ottayan, and many others.

Do join us!

Who would have thought that the final of IPL 2009 would be contested between the Deccan Chargers and the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Did you?

Yeah, I thought so.

Call it irony, call it coincidence, call it a little bit of fixing, call it what you may; its surely caught a lot of people off guard.

Just a week ago, no one would have thought of this, but here it is.

The Final of the IPL 2009: Deccan Chargers vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

What is the History: Bangalore won both their matches against Deccan in 2008, while in this year's IPL it stands at 1-1.

What is the Present: Bangalore are on a 5 match winning streak that includes victories against all the teams that made it into the semi finals. Out of the 9 matches that Anil Kumble has captained, Bangalore have lost only 2.

Deccan are the dark horses here having had an up and down group stage winning 7 matches and losing just as many.

Some Thoughts: Adam Gilchrist holds the key for the Deccan Chargers. If he fires tomorrow, which he is likely to do since its a big game, then he could take the match away from Bangalore very quickly.

On paper, Deccan is the team with the better batting line up and bowling attack, but Bangalore have surprised a lot of better teams, including Chennai and Delhi.

It has the potential to be a cracker this battle of the bottom 2, or top 2, which ever way you look at it.

What is the Future: In my semi final preview, I was spot on in calling both Deccan and Bangalore. Hence I'm going to stick to the team that I want to hold that trophy - The Deccan Chargers.

Some facts that may or may not interest you:

- RP Singh has pretty much sealed the purple cap, unless he doesn't pick any wickets and Anil Kumble takes atleast a 5-for.

- Matthew Hayden has been leagues ahead of a lot of batsmen in the IPL, but his former opening partner Adam Gilchrist is not that far behind. Another 78 runs in the final tomorrow, and Gilly walks away with the Orange cap.

- A purple cap holding left arm pacer from the subcontinent took his team to the finals last year. Another one has done it this year.

- If Deccan wins tomorrow, everyone will say that an Australian captain won the IPL in both years; if Bangalore wins, they'll say a leg spinner captain did.

- If Deccan wins tomorrow, both the IPL seasons will be about the teams with the lowest odds to win the tournament, actually winning it! - Irony, fairy tales or fixing?

Karma - Bottom 2 from last year, top 2 this year.

Battle of the top 2 - Australia vs South Africa. Gilchrist, Symonds, Harris up against Kallis, Boucher, and Van Der Merwe. Not to forget, Lehmann vs Jennings.

Balls - Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers were the only 2 teams who had the balls to emulate last year's champions by appointing retired international cricketers as their captains.

They are in the IPL Finals!

Who would have thunk.

They have turned it around full circle.

From bottom of the table to a shot at the Cup.

If Rajasthan Royals were a fairytale last season, Deccan is one this season.

Delhi lost it after the mid-way tactical bullshit. Just could not get the ball away.

Then the Adam Gilchrist show kicked in!

And what a show it was.

More on that later.

Till then, rejoice the Deccan Charger's Charge!

Deccan Chargers have never beaten the Delhi Daredevils in 4 matches between the two teams.

Will it be any different today in the 1st IPL Semi Final?

Delhi have finally understood what I have been talking about all along - open with Gambhir and Warner, Sehwag come one down.

They tried it last match and it worked and they're doing the same today.

Deccan's fielding first, which is a bit surprising in a pressure game.

Gilchrist did say that it was their strategy, and it might as well be, but I think it has someting to do with the Daredevils being very good at chasing.

With the 2 batting line ups of Deccan and Delhi, it promises to be a high scoring match.

Stranger things have happened though in the IPL.

Can Deccan do it?

Can they beat Delhi?

Can they get a crack at the title after finishing at the bottom last season?

Here's hoping they can.

Gambhir GONE and Game ON!

In the race for a spot in the IPL Semi Finals, the Royal Challengers Bangalore were once in a position from where they had to win every single match in order to qualify.

They did just that starting with their victory against the Kolkata Knight Riders and going on to win their next 3 games as well, making it 4 wins on the trot.

Their next 3 wins came against:

Chennai Super Kings

Delhi Daredevils

Deccan Chargers

That's right, the other 3 semi finalists.

Food for thought?

The 4 semi finalists were disclosed yesterday after the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab royally messed up.

Who the semi finalists were going to play against was left to be decided on the final day of the group matches.

We know that now with the Delhi Daredevils taking on the Deccan Chargers, and Chennai Super Kings taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Before I give my few cents on these matches, I would like to know if anyone predicted these 4 teams to be in the semis.

Did you?

I've seen a number of predictions on blogs and in the comments, but I'm not sure if I came across one that got all the 4 teams - DDD, CSK, RCB, and DC - right.

For if anyone did, they made one hell of a prediction considering that the Royal Challengers and the Chargers were the bottom two teams in the IPL last year.

Who would have thought they would make it to the semis this time round.

Semi Final 1: Delhi Daredevils vs Deccan Chargers

What is the History: They have played 4 matches in the IPL so far and Delhi has won all of them!

What is the Present: Delhi started this year as the favorites, and they played like them too. While Deccan have been the turnaround team of the season after their woeful 2008.

Some Thoughts: It says a lot about Delhi that they have managed to top the table without Sehwag or Gambhir being in any kind of form. On the other side though, Gilchrist and Gibbs have been one of the best opening pairs in the IPL.

Both teams have very strong batting line ups - probably the best in tournament, hence at the end it will all be about whose bowling does better.

RP Singh is the leading wicket taker in the IPL, while Nehra is 2nd on the list. Ojha and Nannes are both among the top 10 wicket takers with the same number of wickets.

That leaves very little to chose between the 2 teams.

What is the Future: The tide has to turn so I say that Deccan will win their first ever match against Delhi and make it to the finals, making a complete turnaround!

Semi Final 2: Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

What is the History: Even stevens, with both teams winning 2 matches apiece out of the 4 they have played each other in. Surprisingly Bangalore beat Chennai last year as well as this year.

What is the Present: Chennai were always expected to make it into the semis, however Bangalore have been the surprise element. Their luck changed completely as soon KP left, and with Kumble at the helm they look like a completely different team.

Some Thoughts: You talk about Sehwag-Gambhir, Gilchrist-Gibbs, and the likes, but Chennai have 1 man who is equivalent to an opening pair all by himself - Matthew Hayden! He stands far ahead of the rest of the batsmen when it comes to the number of runs scored in the IPL this year; the gap would have been more had he not rested out the last 2 matches.

For Bangalore to have any chance against them, they need to get Hayden early.

Bangalore have chopped and changed their opening pairs as well as their batting line up, giving them an uncertain look. Their bowling has also lacked the bite despite a few bursts here and there from Kumble and Praveen Kumar.

Chennai look far too strong in front of them.

What is the Future: Talking about turnarounds, a Deccan-Bangalore final will make it just that! The bottom 2 from 2008, ending as the top 2 in 2009. So while I think they don't stand a chance, here's rooting for Bangalore.

I'm postponing my Q4 report till after the finals, because it doesn't make sense to do one now with just 3 matches to go.

But as far as the Orange and Purple Cap are concerned, it is the left handers yet again who are in contention for that. Its highly doubtful that anyone will overtake Hayden in the runs tally, while RP Singh and Nehra are in the race for the purple one.

Quarterly Reports: Q1, Q2, Q3.

First Shahrukh Khan, and then today Shilpa Shetty and Priety Zinta - the bollywood gang is on their way to where they belong - Mumbai!

The day began quite badly and continued to get worse.

First the news of Symonds not making it to the Ashes squad. How sad.

Then the Fake IPL Player proving that he is a coward.

Then the Rajasthan Royals, the defending champs, being kicked out by the worst team in the IPL. No more Shane Warne. Complete sadness!

Thank heavens for the Chennai Super Kings putting the brakes on the Kings XI and bringing some semblance of excitement to the day.

This more or less means that both the Deccan Chargers and the Royal Challengers Bangalore are on their way to semi finals.

I really don't think that a loss for either of them will drop their respective net run rates from +0.265 and -0.253 to below -0.483.

I don't believe its possible, unless Deccan inflict a heavy defeat on Bangalore.

Doubtful.

So what could have been a potential cracker of a do or die match for both teams, will now be a relatively insignificant one.

The only thing at stake would be who faces who in the semis.

The winner of the Deccan-Bangalore match will take on Chennai, while the losing side will take on the Delhi Daredevils.

Who do they fancy?

In the overall scheme of things, how the Semi Final plot was unraveling, tomorrow is quite a downer as the last day of the group stages.

Still, here's rooting for a Deccan win so that a potential Deccan-Delhi final could be set up.

Here's also rooting for Glen McGrath to finally get a game and do battle against Sachin Tendulkar once again.

What a way for the defending champions to go crashing out of the tournament.

They lost to the worst team in the IPL this season.

That too for the first time.

Rajasthan Royals had beaten Kolkata Knight Riders in all the 3 games the teams had played so far - a 45 run victory, a 6 wicket win, and a Super Over demolition.

What a time to lose your first match to someone.

When the bloody semi finals are on the line.

They didn't go down without a fight though, but at the end it just wasn't enough.

Now only 3 teams are left in the race to the semi finals - Kings XI, Deccan, and Bangalore.

Its quite straight forward from here for these 3.

But the champs are out. Damn it!

This was Well Pitched giving their head spinner, on the race to the IPL semi finals, yesterday.

and

This is Cricinfo giving the same, today.

Well well well, what do we have here.

The Kolkata Knight Rider have won a game, and how.

I think that's one of the highest totals chased in this year's IPL.

Forget the celebrations in the KKR camp tonight, think about the celebrations in the camps of Priety Zinta, Vijay Mallya, Shane Warne, and Adam Gilchrist.

Boy does this open up the race to the semis or what!

From Chennai at 2, to all the way down to Bangalore at 6, only 2 points separate the teams.

2. Chennai Super Kings - Played 13, Points 15
3. Deccan Chargers - Played 13, Points 14
4. Kings XI Punjab - Played 13, Points 14
5. Rajasthan Royals - Played 13, Points 13
6. Royal Challengers Bangalore - Played 12, Points 12

Bangalore is the only team that has 2 matches in hand, so they are probably in with the best chance out of the lot.

Realistically, they can even go ahead of Chennai.

Who would have thought!?

There are so many possible scenarios for the semis right now that its thrown my head into a tizzy.

I'm working on them and will have them up soon.

But gotta tell you - its one hell of a RACE!

Do you want to know which teams stand a chance to make it to the semi finals of the IPL?

Do you want to know which team's chances are better than others?

Do you want to drown yourself in some complex mathematical calculations and projections?

If yes then I suggest you hop over to Kridaya's cricket lounge and take a look at his IPL 2009 Projections.

Using all the different permutations and combinations of the 11 matches left in the IPL, Kridaya applies probability and statistics and all those mathematical tricks to come up with the chances of each team finishing at a certain position on the points table.

According to Kridaya's projections, Delhi have a 91% chance of finishing 1st and a 6% chance of finishing 2nd.

We didn't need so many calculations to figure that one out.

But it gets interesting.

Chennai have a 46% of finishing 2nd and a 24% chance of finishing 3rd.

While Deccan and Rajasthan have the best chance of finishing 3rd and 4th respectively.

Those are the respective positions of the 4 teams as of now, but Kridaya's done some great work here, which I reckon is worth a look.

See how your team's chances stand.

Mumbai and Punjab won't be too happy.

And Kolkata?

They are the only team that score 100% in Kridaya's table. A 100% chance of finishing 8th!