The beauty of Newlands has always been its spectacular backdrop, with Table Mountain hanging over the lush ground, making it the most picturesque cricket stadium in the world. With black clouds hovering on Saturday morning, however, the flat peak wasn’t clearly visible, and a direct repercussion was that the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) would not start with a flurry of sixes but with the ball darting past the batsmen to lower the par score for Twenty20 cricket.

This is autumn in South Africa, not yet the time for rains or chill, but the weather has been moody this week — much like the English conditions that the IPL organisers were so keen to avoid. The weather did deter the paying public initially, but as evening approached, they had packed in their umbrellas and queued up for their first taste of what everyone in these parts has been talking about. Once they got in, some credit should also go to Mumbai skipper Sachin Tendulkar and Chennai’s Matthew Hayden, both of whom treated the crowd to some delectable shots despite the conditions in the opening match to keep the spirit of T20 cricket alive.

Early observations

New Bangalore Royal Challengers skipper Kevin Pietersen and coach Ray Jennings settled in the top tier early to get an overview of the proceedings before they could get down to business in the second match against defending champions Rajasthan Royals. “Nothing too short or too full, I guess,” said Jennings as KP nodded in agreement after Sanath Jayasuriya got Mumbai off to a quick start. “It’s holding up a bit mate, maybe later it’ll be be better,” KP observed in his reply.

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