Maybe baby

Talk about hits and misses. Yesterday's Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers match had plenty of both. It's hard to believe that exactly a week ago, in Durban, these very same teams were pitted against each other and it was the Super Kings who were left floundering. Of course, it's not exactly the same team. There's been a fair bit of tinkering with the final 11. Shadab Jakati has entered the arena (all those football-playing Goans must be ecstatic) along with Sudeep Tyagi and Murali Vijay, while Parthiv Patel, Joginder Sharma and Manpreet Gony have been made to sit out. The Deccan team isn't the same either. Mainly, they are missing fiery Fidel Edwards, who really made a difference to their bowling line-up, but the way the Super Kings batsmen were going yesterday, it might have taken a lot more than a tornado from Barbados to stop them.

Chennai posted a very healthy score, but the real cause for celebration has to be MS Dhoni's unbeaten 58 off 37 balls. If I were a commentator, I'd have said, "MS Dhoni has finally come to the party," but I'm not, so let me just say this: thank god he's back, because it sure has been lonely without him. Like everyone has been saying all along, on paper the Super Kings are a super strong team, but without that vital ingredient of the captain leading from the front, it's difficult to motivate the troops. Look at Adam Gilchrist - throughout this tournament he's been on top form with an amazing strike-rate. Yesterday he went for a duck, to Albie Morkel's first-ball yorker, and from then on out, the batting order collapsed. At some point in the third over, when they had about two-and-a-half runs posted on the board, I thought, right, it's time to do some ironing.

But then, the joy of Twenty20 cricket: the unpredictability. In came Dwayne Smith with his three Mario Brothers lives, and for pure entertainment value, I think he should have been given Man of the Match. He was fearless: 49 off 23 balls. And five sixes to boot. The real entertainment came when the Super Kings failed (spectacularly, I might add) to catch him twice in a row. And then the piece de resistance: the run-out that never happened. Ah, if we weren't winning, it wouldn't have been funny in the least, but as it played out, it was like one of those old silent comedy shows that requires perfect timing from all the characters involved. This was so ridiculous, I don't think anyone could have scripted it better. But you know, maybe it was because of all that wind in East London. Maybe.

Twenty20 cricket is all about the maybe, and I guess that's what keeps things interesting. Maybe Dhoni read my piece about chakra realignment, and they've found the right circuit board? Maybe it just took a few tweaks and turns for them to get into their stride? Whatever it was, the Chennai Super Kings are now sitting at the top of the table and they can stay there if they keep the momentum going, and if they work on their communication skills some, like, as Sunil Gavaskar repeatedly pointed out last night, shouting "mine" if a catch comes their way.