The Deccan Chargers were on cloud nine as they were crowned Indian Premier League Champions in the second season of IPL cricket in 2009.
The Indian Premier League, played in a Twenty20 format, has opened up a world of new cricket betting possibilities on Sky Bet. The Indian Premier League had a fabulous outing in 2008 with Rajasthan Royals the deserving champions after a hard fought win against Chennai Super Kings.
After concerns were raised over the security of holding the tournament in India, it was decided that the tournament would be held in South Africa. However, this had no adverse affect on the popularity of the tournament, and IPL 2 was seen as an extraordinary accomplishment, and was praised for bringing cricket to a wider global audience.
The 2009 Indian Premier League followed the same format as the previous one, with a double round robin group stage, with each of the eight teams playing both home and away against each other.
The Chennai Super Kings and the Delhi Daredevils were installed as the ante-post Indian Premier League betting favourites with odds of 7/2 at Sky Bet, as both were seen as being very strong in all departments. This predication proved to be accurate, as they finished second and first in the group stages respectively. They were joined in the semi finals by the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Deccan Chargers.
However, the semis didn’t go with the cricket betting form book, as the Chargers beat the Daredevils and the Challengers toppled the Super Kings. The final was a closely fought affair, and like the previous year it went down to the final ball. However, this time it was the team that batted first that won the game, as the Chargers emerged victorious by a margin of 6 runs.
Two Australian legends scooped awards, as Matthew Hayden was awarded the orange cap for scoring the most runs, 572 at an average of 52, and Adam Gilchrist was awarded the Player of the Series, after scoring 495 runs, taking 18 dismissals and captaining the Deccan Chargers to the title. RP Singh, also from the Chargers, was awarded the purple cap for taking the most wickets with 23 at an average of 18.13.
IPL 3 is sure to be as much a success as the previous two, and Sky Bet will have a number of cricket betting markets available, including outright winner, leading run scorer and highest wicket taker.
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