The Indian Premier league (IPL) has approached its final bend. This now is the business end of the tournament and so any glitch or hiccup henceforth may have a team licking its wound as an 'also ran'. This year's edition has shown that all the teams are evenly matched and several of the games have had very close finishes. The two tied matches last Sunday were just what the doctor ordered. To have one of the matches, which were decided by two Super Overs, with the ever smiling face of Kings XI Punjab's owner, Priety Zinta, was delightful to watch. The three wins in a row have catapulted the Punjab team, to perhaps sneak into a qualifying position.

They seem to be a team buzzing with confidence. With captain KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal in good form, the emergence of the 'Universal Boss' Chris Gayle and power hitters in Nicholas Pooran and Glenn Maxwell to support them, Punjab look like a very good batting outfit. For KXIP and Rajasthan Royals, each match is similar to a knock-out, as one defeat will be sufficient to eliminate them from qualifying for the final leg of the tournament.Their league encounter between each other could become the deciding factor in their way forward.