IPL - Indian Premier leauge 2013

Owing to the rush and frenzy of today’s fast-paced world, cricket-world too has weaned away from the longer and sometimes duller 5 day Test format and even the 1-Day format. With the T-20 game version, cricket, a few years back, stumbled on a new and exciting avatar. And, then came the IPL – the Indian Premier League! IPL is the instant cricket served to the impatient and cricket-hungry!

Since its inception in the year 2008, IPL has witnessed a phenomenal popularity all around the world. It has brought glamour, fame and fortune (to the tune of millions) for the players and unparalleled entertainment to the viewers. Brainchild of Mr. Lalit Modi, the controversial, now-fallen visionary entrepreneur, IPL was the first sporting event to be broadcast live in the history of YouTube.

This year, the Indian Premier League (IPL) in its 6th edition was held from April 3 to May 26, with Kolkata Knight Riders, the defending champions, hosted the opening ceremony at the Salt Lake Stadium. Kolkata on April 2nd 2013. This year IPL had a new sponsor. DLF were the title sponsors till last year, when their contract expired and they chose not to renew it. Soft drink giant PepsiCo willingly filled in their shoes and their contract will run through to 2017.

In IPL 2013 nine teams fought between each other for the tittle. These were

Bangalore Royal Challengers

Chennai Super Kings

Deccan Chargers

Delhi Daredevils

Kings XI Punjab

Kolkata Knight Riders

Pune Warriors

Rajasthan Royals

Mumbai Indians

Sunrise Hyderabad

The season began on 3 April with the defending champions the Kolkata Knight Riders defeating the Delhi Daredevils. Twice runners-up the Royal Challengers Bangalore won six of their first eight matches with a six-of-six home record. This was credited to good death-over bowling from Vinay Kumar and prolific and quick run-scoring from captain Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers. Twice champions the Chennai Super Kings are similarly dominant, with good batting from captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina and an all-round bowling attack.The Mumbai Indians, who made playoff-stage appearances in each of the past three years, were inconsistent with both batting and bowling. The Sunrisers Hyderabad produced results contrary to the poor performance last season by their predecessors the Deccan Chargers. With no stand-out individual batting performances, Hyderabad managed to win five of their first seven matches. Rajasthan Royals won matches with cohesive batting and bowling where different players would deliver match-winning contributions. The Pune Warriors India and the Kings XI Punjab continue their form from 2012. 

In the second half of the season, Chennai continued to be dominant and held their number-one position on the points table while Mumbai, Rajasthan, Bangalore and Hyderabad were evenly matched as they switched between the positions of second to fifth. Mumbai excelled to win seven out of eight matches with improved bowling performances around Mitchell Johnson and Pollard. Rajasthan were also strong and had four consecutive victories and a perfect record at home. Bangalore's schedule had them play six consecutive away matches, of which they could only win two due to their bowling attack struggling on away surfaces and repeatedly failures to defend high scores. Hyderabad's bowlers continued to perform while their batting was strengthened. Bangalore and Hyderabad slowly fell behind Mumbai and Rajasthan in the points table, allowing a chance for other teams.Delhi and Pune failed to recover from their poor starts to the season and were the first to be eliminated from the tournament, similar to their performances in 2011. Punjab's form deteriorated as they faced teams at the top-half of the points table. Kolkata showed signs of improvement as their bowlers limited the opposition to low scores but this only lifted their position to sixth. With ten matches remaining in the group stage, Chennai, Mumbai and Rajasthan were first to earn playoff stage berths while a few losses by Bangalore and Hyderabad gave Kolkata and Punjab a slim chance of competing for the final spot. Kolkata was eliminated after suffering an upset at home by Pune. Punjab, despite finishing their season with three straight wins, failed to catch up. The tie between Bangalore and Hyderabad came down to the final match of the group stage, between Hyderabad and Kolkata. Hyderabad won to place themselves narrowly ahead of Bangalore by one win and qualify. But in final Mumbai won the match and took IPL 2013 title and Chennai become runner up.

 here is final match highlights

References  : http://www.espncricinfo.com/indian-premier-league-2013/engine/series/586733.html