Chappell has a field day
Both trumps extend his lead over the rest
Updated at 12.10pm IST
If day nine of the IPL saw slow movement in the Star Wars points table, day 10 proved to be very different - at least for Ian Chappell. Ian extended his lead to a nearly unassailable 604 points over second-placed Sambit Bal, thanks to 420 points from his trumps, Adam Gilchrist and Sanath Jayasuriya. "Former great Australian leg-spinner Bill O'Reilly once said, 'All left-handers should be shot at birth.' I used to agree with him but not any more, especially if they are ultra-aggressive opening batsmen. My trumps were kind to me last night but it's not time to rest on the laurels."
It was a day when almost none of Ian's picks could do wrong. While Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Rohit Sharma proved perfect choices for the Chennai Super Kings-Deccan Chargers game, Jayasuriya and Abhishek Nayar piled on the points for Ian in the Mumbai Indians-Kolkata Knight Riders match.
And then the masterstroke. Ian was contemplating going with Brendon McCullum as his trump for the second game, but at the last minute switched to Jayasuriya. And as they say, the rest is history - instead of the 52 points he would have earned had McCullum been his trump, Ian garnered 210 from Jayasuriya.
Sambit rued his bad luck. "Nothing went right for me today, and everything went right for Ian. He had the right players and the right trumps. It's a big lead he's taken now; I have to make sure that I am in the frame. I have to keep an eye on Bumble too: he is not that far behind"
And with just 478 points between Nos. 2 and 4, the battle could get more intense.
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