Cape Town Tourism’s IPL photographer Greg Beadle has collated his top ten shots of IPL cricket action in Cape Town.

All photos by Greg Beadle.

Cape Town Tourism’s IPL photographer Greg Beadle has collated his top ten shots of IPL cheerleaders.

All photos by Greg Beadle.

Mark Boucher batting for the Royal Challengers. Photo courtesy SJ Jagadeesh

Today’s match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Kolkata Knight Riders will be the last for Challengers’ captain Kevin Pietersen, who returns to England to play in a series against the West Indies.

Pietersen said earlier this week that he wanted to leave on a high, after what has been a disappointing start to the 2009 season. The Royal Challengers Bangalore have won just one of their five matches so far.

Speculation has already started as to who will be captain when Pietersen leaves, with local bets placed on Protea Jacques Kallis.

Coach Ray Jennings said that the decision is not set in stone.

“If Jacques plays, obviously he might be captain,” said Jennings. “If he doesn’t play we have Mark Boucher, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid who are capable of leading the team. After Pietersen we have to look at the performance of the side and then see who is the best guy to lead.”

Uraysha Ramracheya

Last weekend’s IPL matches produced two new entrants for the Miss Bollywood SA competition.

Miss Bollywood SA is a search for an IPL fan with star quality who stands out in a crowd. The winner will receive a guided trip through Bollywood, a business-class trip to India, R50 000 in cash and other prizes.

At the Deccan Chargers and Chennai Super Kings match held in Durban, 19-year-old Uraysha Ramracheya of Westville, Durban was selected.

Chantelle Elk

In Port Elizabeth, 18-year-old Chantelle Elk from Uitenhage was identified during the match between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai Indians.

A total of 50 winners will be chosen from the crowds at South African-hosted IPL matches. Winners are shown on the big screen at every match during the second five-minute break and welcomed onto the performers’ stage at the grounds.

With every DLF IPL match having a designated “home team” the Miss Bollywood SA winner of that match will be associated with its home team.

Later phases of the competition will involve internet and SMS voting.

Photographs taken at each match of the entrants are available on http://www.iplt20.com.

The Kings XI Punjab’s two left-arm seamers, Yusuf Abdulla and Irfan Pathan, created havoc among the Rajasthan Royals’ top-order at Newlands on Sunday night to push their side to a second win in three days and the third spot on the DLF IPL table.
 
This time the victory margin was 27 runs, and Kings XI Punjab were delighted at the turnaround which saw them climb from bottom spot into the top half so quickly.

Kings XI Punjab Captain Yuvraj Singh, choosing to bat first, would not have been too happy to find the team on 48-4 in the ninth over. Thankfully he could count on the determination and application of man-of-the-match Kumar Sangakkara, who crafted a 75-run fifth-wicket partnership off 60 balls with Irfan Pathan, which helped get the side to 139-6.

Then Kings XI Punjab’s bowlers created early carnage to have the Royals on 42-6 shortly before the mid-innings break. A 60-run seventh-wicket stand between Ravindra Jadeja (37 off 45 balls, two fours) and Shane Warne (35 not out off 33 balls, three fours) was too late in coming and the Royals could only manage 112-7.
 
Royals Captain Warne again lamented the poor form of his side’s top-order, suggesting changes would have to be made. “It was a combination of the conditions and poor form. We haven’t found the right combination at the top,” he added. “We’ll have to have a serious look for the next game. We can’t keep doing it [failing] every game.

It was the last IPL game in Cape Town and the Mother City crowd was out in full force to catch their last glimpse of the DLF Indian Premier League.

Photos by Greg Beadle.

Although organisers had planned Cape Town’s IPL games to avoid the rainy season, their luck ran out on Saturday when the game between the Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders was rained out without a ball being bowled. Cape Town’s die-hard cricket fans braved the weather until the game was called off.

See more photos in our exclusive IPL photo gallery here.

Adam Gilchrist, photo courtesy The Eternity

During a concert in Glasgow, Irish super group U2’s front man Bono called a halt to proceedings.

As he stood in the spotlight on stage, Bono’s Irish brogue echoed through the venue, asking for silence from the 30 000-strong crowd at the concert.

Slowly the crowd fell quiet until complete silence had descended on the concert.

Bono slowly began to clap.

“Every time I clap my hands,” he said, “a child in Africa dies.”

The audience watched spellbound as the vocalist paced the stage, clapping his hands.

Suddenly, from the front row of the venue, a voice broke out, “Well stop doing it then!”

Or so the story goes.

“What does this have to do with cricket?” you ask. Well, during the 2009 IPL, Australian batsman Adam Gilchrist will be aiming to hit 25 sixes to help fund 25 modified bikes for children with disabilities.

Every time he slaps one over the boundary to thunderous applause, a child in Australia will receive a modified bike through Amway’s Freedom Wheels programme, which the direct selling company runs in partnership with Technical Aid to the Disabled (TAD). Amway is one of the largest marketing companies in the world, committed to giving something back to the community.

This time, people clapping signifies the arrival of an individually modified bike allowing children with disabilities to enjoy riding – often for the first time in their lives.

“As a father of three kids, I know how much fun riding a bike can be for a child. Now, every six I hit means a smile on a child’s face,” said Gilchrist, the captain of the Deccan Chargers.

The Deccan Chargers have played one game, an eight-wicket victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders, with Gilchrist scoring just 13 with no sixes.

However, the Chargers captain will have the opportunity to bring smiles to people’s faces today when the Chargers take on the Royal Challengers at Newlands.

The match starts at 16h30 local time.

For more photos of the opening day of the IPL tournament, see our IPL photo gallery.

The opening match of the 2009 IPL tournament in Cape Town on April 18 saw the Mumbai Indians score the first victory against the Chennai Super Kings.

Fans of Sachin Tendulkar’s team were happy to see the Mumbai Indians score 165/7 from their 20 overs, restricting the Chennai Super Kings to 146/7.

Later that day, in the second game of the double header, the Rajasthan Royals were soundly beaten by the Royal Challengers Bangalore. With a score of 58 all out, the Rajasthan Royals set a new record for the lowest innings total in the DLF IPL yet, performing even worse than the Kolkata Knight Riders’ score of 62 all out against the Mumbai Indians in Mumbai last year.

The excitement in the stadium throughout the day was terrific, with fans dressed to impress.

Photographs by Karin Schermbrucker 2009

Shilpa Shetty, photo courtesy Sonal Bahl

The search is on for a South African lady with the potential to take Bollywood by storm. One lucky fan stands the chance to win a role in a Bollywood movie, R50 000 in cash, a business class trip to India and other prizes. 

The 2009 tournament’s Miss Bollywood SA competition was announced in Cape Town yesterday by IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi and Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Preity Zinta.

Modi said, “We’re looking for someone who has the star quality to stand out in a crowd, probably without even trying that hard. It’s that special, almost indefinable, quality that makes someone a star more than a beauty queen that we are looking for.”

According to Modi, the fun and excitement at IPL matches make them an excellent environment in which to identify those ladies who naturally stand out in a crowd.

The crowds at each of the eight venues around the country will be scanned and 50 winners will be chosen from each venue. The winners will be shown on the big screen at every match during the second five-minute break.

There will be one finalist per match and their photographs will appear on the official IPL website, where fans from all over the world will be able to cast their votes. 

Photographs will not be uploaded on the site before each winner has verified that she agrees to enter, that she is at least 18 years old and that her photograph can appear on the website.

The field will then be whittled down to eight finalists – one from each venue. The winner of the Miss Bollywood SA crown will be announced during the final of the IPL 2009 tournament on May 24 at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.

The launch of the 2009 IPL tournament yesterday saw the streets of central Cape Town bursting with colour and a festive parade of IPL cricket players, Bollywood stars and Cape Minstrels.

Antonella Ragazzoni captured the festivities from above.

Images © Antonella Ragazzoni aka Giraffrica 2009