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Surprises galore. That has been the story so far in the second season the IPL. The pundits have been proved wrong as the bottom rung teams of last season have made a march throwing the tournament wide open.

The smiles were there in plenty as the Deccan Chargers romped home against Kolkata Knight Riders. For a team that won just two matches last time around, a new change of guard and the timely addition of a few key personel seem to have done the trick. Their captain though did see the irony of it.

Also getting a move on since last year seem to be the Bangalore Royal Challengers. Though their batting failed against Rajasthan, inRahul Dravid and Kevin Pietersen they have two men who know that Twenty20 is not always slam bang cricket.

Rahul Dravid who powered Challengers to victory against Rajasthan Royals says: "Conditions like this in South Africa will give me a chance. You have got to play some good cricket shots on wickets like this. You have to really play some good cricket, proper cricket here."

Spare a thought for the defending champions. Getting bowled out for the lowest score ever in the IPL is not a great start, their charismatic skipper though is optimistic.

Delhi Daredevils is the only top team from last year that has bucked the trend and started on a winning note. Sachin Tendulkar's Mumbai Indians too seem to have the arsenal to go all the way. But one bad match does not necessarily write off the other teams. Looks like it's going to be quite a close tussle this time.

THE Eastern Cape is bracing itself for an invasion of Indian culture, Bollywood glitz and glamour and fiery cricket action as the much-anticipated Indian Premier League (IPL) kicks off in the province.

Cricket fans will be treated to the first of 10 matches to be held in the province from Monday when the Chennai Super Kings take on the Bangalore Royal Challengers at Nelson Mandela Bay‘s Sahara Oval St George‘s.

The national IPL tournament kicks off with a lavish opening ceremony at Cape Town‘s Newlands stadium today.

“We‘re in frighteningly good shape ahead of Monday‘s first match,” said Bay IPL tournament manager Tony Gavin. “Cricket fans will have a very good chance of seeing Bollywood stars travelling with their teams.”

Gavin said fans would be able to soak up unique entertainment as well as Indian cuisine, specially added to the catering menu for the event.

“Preparations have gone much more smoothly than we thought. The hospitality and help at the stadiums has been immense and our hats go off to EP Cricket,” he said.

“The involvement of local stars has certainly boosted appeal. Who doesn‘t want to see Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher playing on the same team and there are also going to be some great showdowns, such as (England player) Kevin Pietersen facing (teammate) Andrew Flintoff.”

Billed as the world‘s greatest cricket spectacle, the tournament – relocated to South Africa after security fears in India – will see glamorous Bollywood stars accompany the massive media and management entourage following each of the eight IPL teams.

With tickets selling fast, organisers are expecting full stadiums for the seven matches to be held in the Bay and the three at East London‘s Buffalo Park, with Bollywood-flavoured carnivals planned to back up the on-field action.

The strong presence of top international and local cricketers in the event had further boosted local interest, said Gavin. Playing for the Bangalore Royal Challengers, ousted England captain Pietersen – who hails from South Africa – will face Flintoff who is playing for the Chennai Super Kings. Flintoff was rumoured to be behind Pietersen‘s public axing as captain earlier this year.

Other big names involved in the tournament include South Africa‘s Kallis, Boucher, Makhaya Ntini and Proteas captain Graeme Smith, while Australian cricketers taking part include such greats as Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds. Aside from Pietersen and Flintoff, other England teammates participating include Ravi Bopara and Paul Collingwood.

IPL newcomer Tyron Henderson, of East London, will also be in action when he plays for his team, the Rajastan Royals.

But it is the fireworks off the field in the form of players‘ wives and girlfriends – or Wags – which has local glitterati-watchers in a frenzy. Already glamorous Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab, has wowed Bay residents after she touched down in the city earlier this week before heading to Cape Town to watch her team take on the Delhi Daredevils tomorrow.

Top Bollywood actor-producer Shahrukh Khan is also bound for the Bay when the team he part- owns, the Kolkata Knight Riders, take on the Mumbai Indians on April 27, while starlet Shilpa Shetty will most likely follow the team she has shares in, defending champions Rajasthan Royals, when they face the Deccan Chargers on May 2.

Zinta will return in early May when her team takes on the Kolkata Knight Riders. She will be accompanied by action hero Akshay Kumar, brand ambassador for the Delhi Daredevils, and movie heartthrob Hrithik Roshan, who is flying the flag for the Mumbai Indians.

Fellow screen icon Katrina Kaif will follow the Bangalore Royal Challengers on Monday. Adding international “Wag” flavour will be UK reality TV star Jessica Taylor, wife of Pietersen, as well as blonde bombshell Katie Johnson, voted Australia‘s fairest cricket Wag in a recent internet poll, as she keeps an eye on boyfriend Symonds, playing for the Deccan Chargers.

Thousands of loyal Indian IPL fans are expected to follow their teams over the next five weeks with a staggering 40000 hotel rooms countrywide said to be booked, while IPL chief executive Lalit Modi said he expected 10000 fans to fly in during the course of the tournament.

Gavin agreed with Modi‘s predictions, saying: “We‘re expecting large contingents of fans who have followed their teams.”

Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam also joined forces and said the ICC's decision had left the players in a state of utter depression. "The news took all the players by surprise and the atmosphere was pretty gloomy after the news came through. But after an off-day today, we have told the players to start concentrating on the matches against Australia as our immediate aim is to win the series," Alam said.

Match facts

Could the script have been any different from last year's start for the Kolkata Knight Riders? Brendon McCullum's intoxicating 158 had taken them to an enormous victory a year ago, but they were outplayed by an efficient Deccan Chargers outfit on a juicy pitch in Cape Town. It has been a weekend to savour for bowlers, and each member of Deccan's attack did their bit to leave Kolkata scrambling to reach triple-digits. Herschelle Gibbs, coming off a triumphant series against Australia, and Rohit Sharma, back in the country where he made his name in 2007, then made sure Deccan's campaign didn't begin in the dismal way last season's had.

Kolkata had packed their batting with foreign players, but it wasn't enough to prevent a hapless batting performance. Their formidable top order was handcuffed by Deccan's new-ball bowlers. Fidel Edwards was fast and frugal - consistently around the 140kph mark, he gave away only six runs, the lowest conceded in a completed IPL spell - and RP Singh evicted the Kolkata openers early.

Everything went right for Deccan. With Kolkata on 2 for 1 after three overs, Gayle broke free with a crash past point for four and a mow over midwicket for six. Then Adam Gilchrist pushed a fielder back to long-on, where Gayle promptly holed out next ball.

Sourav Ganguly had a short-lived and uncomfortable stay, beaten several times, and was unable to find the gap through the off side when he connected. Even fans protesting his removal from the captaincy can't defend the shot that brought about his dismissal - backing away and then stabbing at a wide, full delivery, only to nick it to slip.

Despite rain and a floodlight failure causing the game to be delayed by nearly an hour-and-a-half, the organisers decided to have the seven-and-a-half-minute interval after the tenth over. Aakash Chopra and Brad Hodge had dragged Kolkata to 31 for 3 by then, but also found Pragyan Ojha's left-arm spin a handful. Both Chopra and Laxmi Shukla perished giving Ojha the charge, only to be undone by the turn.

Hodge, the leading run-getter in Twenty20s, played a sensible hand. He entered in the fifth over and knocked around the singles before opening out in the 16th. Hodge slammed a couple of boundaries before slapping Scott Styris straight to Herschelle Gibbs at point. The tailenders threw their bat around but RP took two in three balls to deny Kolkata even the modest satisfaction of playing out their 20 overs.

A target of 102 was never going to be too big a challenge, especially as Kolkata had left out Ajantha Mendis on a pitch spinners have thrived on all weekend. Adam Gilchrist hit a couple of trademark boundaries before top-edging to square leg and VVS Laxman, after bludgeoning an out-of-character pull for six, was dismissed due to an old failing - poor running between the wickets.

That brought together Rohit and Gibbs, who knuckled down to work a few singles and steady the innings. Gibbs then started playing some inventive shots, a bent-knee sweep off Ganguly for four followed by a deft dab towards third man. Any pressure that Kolkata had built up vanished, and neither batsmen was afraid of lofting the ball after that.

Rohit joined in the fun once Ajit Agarkar was introduced, a huge six over long-off and a couple of boundaries helping take 17 runs off his first over. Some more merry hitting from the pair finished off the game with nearly seven overs to spare.

Kolkata had talked of a radical multiple-captain theory before the tournament, but they need to come up with some fresh ideas if they are improve on today's dreadful show.