And so, after a month and half of pulsating action, the final chapters of the first IPL season are about to be written. The first semi-final is between the league-topping Rajasthan Royals, led as ever by the wily Shane Warne, and the big-hitting Delhi Daredevils, led by the explosive Virender Sehwag. The match is to be played at the neutral venue of Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in front of a sell-out 45,000 crowd. Having been the class team of the regular season, the Jaipur side were favorites to win, but they can’t have forgotten the 9-wicket hammering they got from Delhi in their first game of the tournament.

Sehwag won the toss and elected to field. Warne said he would have done the same had he won. The fact that the team batting second won both of the two previous encounters between the sides will have been in both captains’ minds.

Smith and Asnodkar got the Royals off to the usual fine start, scoring at 10 an over during the 6-over power play. But then Maharoof took a hand, dismissing both openers in the same over. Fortunately for the Royals, Shane Watson and Yusuf Pathan both came good in the middle order. However, no one from the Royals side was able to completely dominate the bowling. Watson’s 52 was the highest score, and a fine last over from Mohammad Asif prevented the Royals from getting to 200. The highlight of the innings, from Delhi’s point of view, was a magnificent two-handed diving catch from Sehwag to dismiss Warne first ball.

The pitch had look fairly easy to bat on. Even Glenn McGrath had been unable to stem the flow of runs, and the outfield was very fast. At the break, the commentators were speculating as to whether 192 was enough runs. Certainly the Royals were up against the best opening partnership in the competition. We all settled in for a dramatic run chase.

What we got was a complete anti-climax. The Royals bowled and fielded brilliantly. All of the seamers were beating the bat. Warne turned the ball prodigiously. Watson became the first player in the tournament to score 50 runs and take 3 wickets in the same match. For Delhi Dilshan was the only player to score more than 20, or last more than 20 balls. In the end it was a rout. The Royals won by a whopping 105 runs.

So, Preity m’dear, you’ve seen what my boys can do. Now your lot have to turn up and play. The Punjab Kings XI take on the Chennai Super Kings in the second semi-final tomorrow. Here’s hoping for a better game, but I’m still hoping we get Punjab in the final.

In the meantime here, through the magic of YouTube, is the great man himself announcing himself on the world stage with the famous “Gatting ball”.