This Is The End

GH on a one-sided conclusion to a one-sided tournament

You can come out now, it’s over. The Indian Premier League, that is, which began some time in the Cretaceous Period, and concluded last night with no advance on last year: Royal Challengers Bangalore claimed their second consecutive title at a canter. Gujurat Titans, gifted a home final, sent the six-figure crowd away with a few reproachful glances at the pitch, which provided bounce for Josh Hazlewood, Bhuveneshwar Kumar and Rasikh Salam if not great pace.

There was some scintillation from Virat Kohli - ‘King of Chase’, as the scoreboard announced him - who took 4, 4, 6 and 4 from the first four balls of Kagiso Rabada’s second over with shots of vintage virility, en route to a twenty-five-ball half century, his swiftest in IPL. Otherwise it was a bit of a squib, RCB ending their powerplay needing a walk-in-the-park run a ball, duly achieved. This was also the ninth consecutive year in which the winner of the first qualifier has won the final: say it soft, but could the IPL be becoming just a little predictable?