The local crowd remained partisan, with JP Duminy getting more applause for his single boundary than Abhishek Nayar, who turned the match around in one over by hitting Flintoff for three sixes. Chennai Super Kings, who had lost out on support because skipper Dhoni had benched South Africans Albie Morkel and Makhaya Ntini, went on to lose the match by 19 runs — a big margin in cricket’s instant version.

Kumble, Dravid shine

Later, South African-born Pietersen walked in to big boos — the crowd clearly hadn’t forgotten his citizenship switch — and there were no tears shed as he was dismissed for 32. But the defending champions Rajasthan Royals — led by Shane Warne’s still-spinning deliveries — were brushed aside by a resurgent Bangalore (who had finished seventh last year) thanks to a fighting 66 by Rahul Dravid and a five-wicket burst by Anil Kumble

As the tournament goes on, Dhoni believes the bouncer will be put to greater use than slower deliveries. “The new ball has to be respected here,” he said, while adding that he was already missing the Indian crowds. “It’s noisy here but nothing compared to playing in India. It’s a great adrenaline boost when 40,000 to 50,000 people are rooting for cricket at the top of their voices.”

The real top dog

In the midst of all the action, and all the musical performances and the celebrations, there was another thing reminding everyone about cricket in India. A dog, much healthier than those found at the Eden Gardens and Ferozeshah Kotla, wandered into the field and held everyone to ransom.

... contd.