JOIN USStruggling to digest the six-run defeat in the see-saw final, Mallya said, “I’m proud that we reached the IPL final. We were cruising to victory in the 15th over but lost the plot in the last five overs.”
With Anil Kumble leading from the front, the Bangalore outfit did well to restrict the Deccan Chargers to 143 for six but faltered in their chase to fall seven runs short of the victory target.
“We were not beaten by six runs, we gave the match away by six runs,” Mallya said.
Gala closing ceremony
Meanwhile, a glittering closing ceremony, with a dash of glitz and glamour, drew curtains on the second edition of the IPL razzmatazz.
Soon after the Adam Gilchrist-led Chargers pipped Kumble’s Challengers, cricket paved way to entertainment at the Wanderers Stadium.
South Africa President Jacob Zuma thanked the organisers for choosing the country as venue of the Twenty20 league which was shifted out of India after it coincided with the Lok Sabha election.
“I thank the organisers for showing trust in South Africa’s ability to host the event in such a short notice. We had to prepare eight stadiums in three weeks’ time, besides arranging extra hotel rooms and air tickets,” Zuma said.
“I also thank the Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty for coming here,” he added.
IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi took the occasion to thank the government and the cricket board here and said IPL II would not have been a success but for their cooperation.
Modi said, “I promise you all that we would return to India bigger and better.”