The Mumbai Indians are through to the semi-finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the King's XI Punjab are through, period, and half a dozen teams are left to fight it out for one of the three places still up for grabs in the final four.
Two matches tonight will shed considerable light on the situation. The Delhi Daredevils visit Mumbai in the opener, followed by the Chennai Super Kings versus the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Chepauk Stadium.
"This is the most important game for us because we don't want to get into a desperate situation of having to win two out of two," Gautam Ghambir, the Delhi captain, said in a television interview after Sunday's defeat by Punjab, who are still having fun spoiling the chances of other teams.
"We need to pull our socks up and play as a team, not only in one department but all three. So it is important to give everything to win this game and get the momentum back as we come to the business end of the tournament."
Sachin Tendulkar, the Mumbai captain, has no such problems - but he still wants his team keep maintain their performances in front of the Indians' home crowd.
His classy 89 not out against the Rajasthan Royals on Sunday sealed Mumbai's place in the last four, but Tendulkar has no intention of stepping off the gas.
"We are happy to become the first team to reach the semis but we want to continue and win as many games as possible," he said in a television interview. "Obviously there is no pressure on us but we would like to win as many games as possible. It is a good habit."
Tonight's second game has the makings of an epic battle, with Chennai and Kolkata going into the match on 10 points each.
The Knight Riders have had a roller-coaster ride and Sourav Ganguly, their captain, was fuming after their defeat by the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
He dubbed his team's effort on the field as "absolute rubbish" and even went to the extent of saying they did not deserve a place in the last four if they continued to play ordinary cricket.
His tirade may have shaken up his players as they prepare to take on another team trying to get their game right.
"This is the critical part of the tournament and we need to be at our best," said Ganguly in a television interview. "Our performances have been in patches with one good game followed by an ordinary effort. We just need to go out there and win the remaining matches, possibly go all the way from now on. We need little contributions in all three departments and from all the players. All these add up at the end."
MS Dhoni, the Chennai captain, had similar thoughts. "We would like to win all three games from here," he said in a television interview. "We have a superior run rate but it's still better to win all three games. It's already tight for the six teams but should get a little clear after this game."
* Compiled by Amith Passela, with agencies
Watch Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils, 2.30pm, and Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders, 6.30pm, both on Cricone
IPL statistics
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Iraq negotiating over Iran sanctions impact
- US sanctions on Iran’s energy industry and exports took effect on Monday, November 5.
- Washington issued formal waivers to eight buyers of Iranian oil, allowing them to continue limited imports. Iraq did not receive a waiver.
- Iraq’s government is cooperating with the US to contain Iranian influence in the country, and increased Iraqi oil production is helping to make up for Iranian crude that sanctions are blocking from markets, US officials say.
- Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped last month at a record 4.78 million barrels a day, former Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said on Oct. 20. Iraq exported 3.83 million barrels a day last month, according to tanker tracking and data from port agents.
- Iraq has been working to restore production at its northern Kirkuk oil field. Kirkuk could add 200,000 barrels a day of oil to Iraq’s total output, Hook said.
- The country stopped trucking Kirkuk oil to Iran about three weeks ago, in line with U.S. sanctions, according to four people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because they aren’t allowed to speak to media.
- Oil exports from Iran, OPEC’s third-largest supplier, have slumped since President Donald Trump announced in May that he’d reimpose sanctions. Iran shipped about 1.76 million barrels a day in October out of 3.42 million in total production, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
- Benchmark Brent crude fell 47 cents to $72.70 a barrel in London trading at 7:26 a.m. local time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was 25 cents lower at $62.85 a barrel in New York. WTI held near the lowest level in seven months as concerns of a tightening market eased after the U.S. granted its waivers to buyers of Iranian crude.
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Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
