Season 9 of the Indian Premier League has warmed up well with some entertaining cricket amidst controversies surrounding Harsha Bhogle's ouster from the BCCI's television commentary panel and the Bombay high court's verdict on restricting the number of matches in the drought-hit state of Maharashtra.
On the cricketing front, new entrants Gujarat Lions hit the winning note right from the start and head the points table with three victories from as many games.
As the season moves into its second week, Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com lists six memorable moments in Week 1 of IPL 9.
1. The Watson-Wiese relay catch
Relay catches seem to be the toast of the new IPL season. In Week 1, we have some mind-boggling catches.
This stunning relay catch by Shane Watson and David Wiese on the boundary ropes in the Royal Challengers Bangalore versus Delhi Daredevils encounter in Bengaluru has to be right up there.
Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders' Andre Russell and Piyush Chawla displayed acrobatic skills and presence of mind to pull off an outstanding relay catch against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
2. Pune Supergiants surprise Mumbai Indians
The most successful skipper in IPL history, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, after eight seasons with the now suspended franchise Chennai Super Kings, kicked off Season 9 with the Pune Supergiants.
One of the two new entrants, along with the Gujarat Lions, the Supergiants were off to a winning start, beating the defending champions in their backyard, courtesy their Mumbai-based star Ajinkya Rahane.
PSG played the Gujarat Lions and Kings XI Punjab thereafter, but ended up on the losing side both games and find themselves with two points from three outings.
3. Brad Hogg's youthful exuberance
Kolkata Knight Riders were without premier spinner Sunil Narine who returned to the West Indies after his father's demise and had to fall back on the experience of 45-year-old Brad Hogg, the oldest player to play the IPL.
With his tongue-out action, the former Australia spinner made the ball talk. He bagged 3/19 from four tidy overs of unorthodox left-arm spin at the Eden Gardens and proved that age is just a number as KKR, champions in 2012 and 2014, thrashed the Delhi Daredevils by 9 wickets.
4. Sarfaraz comes of age
Riding on the batting exploits of A B de Villiers and Virat Kohli, the Royal Challengers Bangalore rolled over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Bengaluru.
But one of the main talking points of the game was the entertaining cameo by India's Under-19 star Sarfaraz Khan.
The 18 year old smashed 35 runs off just 10 balls.
5. Finch and local boys sink Mumbai Indians
Defending champions Mumbai Indians suffered another setback at the Wankhede Stadium, as Aaron Finch produced a special knock against his former IPL side.
What must have hurt Mumbai fans more were inspiring performances by local boys, Dhawan Kulkarni and Praveen Tambe.
Kulkarni and Tambe claimed two crucial wickets as the Gujarat Lions registered their third straight victory that kept them atop the points table as the only unbeaten side in the competition thus far.
6. De Kock ton spoils RCB party
Not many would have given the Delhi Daredevils a chance after the Royal Challengers Bangalore posted 191/5 at their home ground.
The Daredevils needed a tremendous batting performance and Quinton de Kock provided it with an electrifying 108 (51 balls, 15x4, 3x6), the first century of IPL 9, to spoil RCB's party.
In the company of young Karun Nair (54 off 42) the South African added 134 runs off 12.4 overs for the third wicket to help the Daredevils overwhelm the target with five balls to spare.
6. Maxwell stuns PSG
Glenn Maxwell turned a tight chase into a canter in Kings XI Punjab's match against the Pune Supergiants.
The Aussie smashed 32 off 14 balls, including three fours and two sixes, as the Kings chased down Pune's 153 and won by six wickets to register their first victory in three matches.
Kings XI were put in a spot of bother, having slumped to 119/4 in the 17th over after a fluent opening stand of 97 between Manan Vohra (51) and Murali Vijay (53). But Maxwell stepped in and steered the team home, 8 balls later, in 18.4 overs.
