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April 21, 2008 By News Desk  The first weekend at the IPL got over last night with 3 of the 5 matches seeing the guests proving to be stronger over the hosts.
Kolkata Knight Riders are at the top of the table with 2 wins out of 2 matches, while Banaglore Royal Challengers, Delhi Dare Devils, and Chennai Super Kings are at second, third and fourth positions respectively - all with one win.
The international stars dominated the weekend, although younger Indians also made their mark wherever their teams needed. While the first match saw a brilliant knock of 158 by the Knight Riders opener McCullun, the second match saw Mike Hussey's not-out 116 help Chennai Super Kings register their first win over the hosts Kings XI Punjab. Delhi Dare Devils dominated over the Rajasthan Royals by an unbeaten partnership of 122 runs between the young pair of Gambhir and Dhawan and an excellent bowling spell by the Srilankan allrounder Farveez Maharoof. The two matches on Sunday were nothing less than dramatic, with the hosts Knight Riders registering a win over the guests Deccan Chargers in a nail-biting finish. When the game had reached a climax of 22 runs needed in 20 balls, the floodlights decided to play spoilsport and plunged the ground into darkness for over 20 minutes. When the play resumed, David Hussey finished it off with huge shots to get Knight Riders to the top of the points tally. The last match at Mumbai started off with a mixed bag, as the fans were disappointed due to absence of Sachin, but the fireworks before the start of the match were fabulous. So much that the debris of the fireworks took 20 minutes to be cleared, stalling the start of the match by the same period. This match was also decided in the usual fashion with each team appearing to be promising till the last couple overs when Royal Challengers clinched it with the help of an excellent partnership between South Africans Boucher and Kallis, and a sparkling innings by the Indian U-19 captain Virat Kohli. The weekend was full of star studded presence with Knight Riders cheered by the likes of the owners Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, accompanied by Arjun Rampal, Viveik Oberoi, Karan Johar, Riteish, and the Gandhis - Rahul, Priyanka and family. While Mumbai Indians roped in stars like Anil Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Poonam Dhillon and Simi Garewal, Bangalore roped in Katrina Kaif and Delhi Dare Devils have roped in Akshay Kumar as their brand ambassadors. Kings XI Punjab was ofcourse cheered by the co-owner Preity Zinta.
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