IPL-8 - Match-54 - Watson takes Royals to the last four

Rajasthan go past KKR through to the last four, thanks to Shane Watson's heroics

IPL-8 Match-51 - Mumbai beat KKR

Though KKR maintained a steady run-rate, Mumbai through Pollard kept them at bay till the end.

IPL-8 - Match-44 - Narine pulls one back for KKR

Sunil Naraine showed that he was still a force to reckon with, against Kings XI Punjab.

IPL-8 - Match-42 - Chawla takes KKR home

KKR's bowlers led by Piyush Chawla led their team to a convincing win over Delhi.

IPL-8 - Match-38 - KKR crush Sunrisers

KKR also seemed to be progressing towards a last-four berth after their win over Sunrisers.

IPL-8 - Match-30 - CSK lose for once

CSK were defeated after a long time that people had forgotten when! Thanks to Uthappa.

IPL-8 - Match-28 - CSK pip KKR

Chennai pipped Kolkata by one of the most tightest margins in their revenge win.

IPL-8 - Match-19 - Rain helps Sunrisers

Sunrisers put KKR out of the match with help from rain and D/L score

IPL-8 - Match-17 - DD lose against KKR

Delhi lost their way once again against Kolkata - Gambhir and Yusuf took KKR to safety in a chase that was controlled.

IPL-8 - Match-14 - Russell leads KKR to easy win

Despite a wobble at the top, Russell ensured that KKR managed to win against Kings XI.

CLT20 2014 Finals - CSK halt the KKR juggernaut

Thanks to Suresh Raina's blistering century, CSK chased down the target set by KKR who were themselves helped by Gambhir's return to form. Without Naraine, KKR were hampered badly in their bowling but that should not stop the praises for Raina's knock. The R-B chart has never  looked so evenly balanced for a 180+ score. Ever!

IPL4 - Mumbai beats KKR again

Mumbai Indians, thanks to the blistering start by Blizzard and Sachin Tendulkar, managed to defeat Kolkata once again. KKR tried their best to delay the inevitable but Mumbai found their hero for each mini-crisis that came up during the batting innings. Earlier in the day, KKR suffered a mini-collapse only for their import, ten Doeschate, to get them to a decent score. On a pitch that was helpful to batsmen mostly, this score was not enough in the long run. Mumbai added to the pressure by gifting wickets away in their chase but finally managed to qualify for the next match against RCB.

IPL4 Match 65 - Kolkata almost through to last 4

Kolkata overcame their ex-captain Ganguly (as part of Pune Warriors now) to win their match easily. The IPL is becoming a boring interlude now - seriously something has to be done next year or else this will eat into the profits being made so far.

IPL4 Match 42 - Yusuf comes to the party

Yusuf Pathan has had a relatively quiet IPL so far - he decided that Deccan Chargers presented the right opportunity for him to flex his muscles. His knock helped KKR reach a target that was always difficult for Deccan to chase down. Kolkata are almost on the verge of qualifying for the next stage, thanks to this win.

IPL4 Match 33 - Tiwary and Abdulla take KKR through

Manoj Tiwary played probably his best innings in IPL so far to take KKR to a total that was going to be challenging for Delhi. Despite the efforts of Virender Sehwag and James Hopes, Delhi failed to get past the bowling of Iqbal Abdulla.

IPL4 Match 22 - Kochi keep winning

Kochi Tuskers, thanks to their bowling, managed to keep their winning streak going. Against a spirited Kochi bowling, KKR could not reach the modest target put up by the batsmen. Good last over by Vinay Kumar restricted the scoring and won the match for his franchise. The worm below shows the way the match tilted in each team's favor until the last two overs.

IPL4 Match 17 - KKR crush Rajasthan

Rajasthan rested Rahul Dravid and Johan Botha (due to an toe injury), resulting in a weakened batting line-up. The Rajasthan bowlers, led by L Balaji and Iqbal Abdulla, ran through the batting to restrict them to a paltry 81. Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary led KKR to a comfortable victory despite the attempts of the three Aussies - Watson, Warne and Tait. Balaji's delivery to dismiss Watson was a treat to watch - dont miss it in the highlights section.

IPL4 Match 12 - Kallis and Gambhir take KKR home

Thanks to exploits of Kallis and Gambhir, KKR reached a stiff target of 160 in a canter. Trivedi and Warne tried to pull back in the middle overs but could not restrict the two stalwarts. It was surprising why Shane Warne did not make Shane Watson the opener during Rajasthan Royals innings.

IPL4 Match 6 - KKR notch up first win

KKR notched up their first win in IPL4 and put points on the table thanks to the exploits of Jacques Kallis and Iqbal Abdullah. As you can see in the chart below, the two overs of Bhatia and Iqbal (13th and 14th) increased the difference after which whatever Deccan Chargers tried to do, the (R-B) could not come close.

IPL3 - 12 matches completed by all teams

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

For the first time in the tournament, all the teams have played the same number of matches - a good basis to compare the teams. Pity there is just one more match that they are expected to play - two more matches each, in fact.

The status after the 48 matches so far, gives the table a muddled look. Mumbai has qualified while Punjab are definitely out. KKR is on the way out while the other 5 have a chance to get the 3 remaining slots.

A thought occurred to me - why is the points table so muddled at the center? Is it because of the format of the game? Is it because of the team composition where all the teams are more or less equal (have a mix of overseas and domestic players)? I would have thought that the answer would be a combination of these reasons.

But, again, I had a re-think. Punjab started winning while Mumbai started losing. The others anyway were inconsistent as usual. Then, today, Lalit Modi's past history incident came to the surface while his fight against Shashi Tharoor is in the open. Of course, Shashank Manohar of BCCI is also against LKM.

The English Premier League is something hard to miss in the United Kingdom - each year the matches are held dime a dozen - in fact, more than what are being played in this year's IPL. But, the top teams mostly are at the top and keep winning consistently. Why does it not happen in IPL? Should the games be more, for these two formats to be compared? Of course, it is just a thought and one could always argue that this is a case of comparing oranges and apples. But, why not?

The Twitter search here will show you how many twitterers think differently. Of course, Rahul Mehra has been suggesting what could be the possibilities. It is time Modi creates a unit for Anti-Corruption that works with ICC and gives the entire IPL circus a clean chit.

What do you think might be happening behind the doors?

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