David Leggat: Great news about IPL series - it's nearly over

A BIG weekend for sport, with something to whet most appetites.

The Super 14 semifinals, the NBA conference finals, the Monaco Grand Prix, the Indy 500 and ... the final of the Indian Premier League.

This might come as a surprise to those who have been vaguely aware of the second edition of the Twenty20 slog tootling along in South Africa and, rather like being stuck in a lift with music piping through the ceiling, switched the mind off.

Good news. The 59th and final game in the space of 37 days is upon us.

Early on Monday morning, the final will be staged in Johannesburg. As you read this, the Delhi Daredevils, the top qualifiers and including New Zealand captain Dan Vettori, will have just completed their semifinal against the Deccan Chargers, for whom Scott Styris was required twice in the 14-game regular season, as the Americans would put it.

Tomorrow, the Bangalore Royal Challengers - including Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder, the former for most of the competition, the latter for only five games - play second-placed finishers Chennai, who include New Zealand allrounder Jacob Oram.

The smart money would be on Delhi and Chennai contesting the final. But really, who cares? It has been desperately hard viewing. Sure the crowds were impressive but the buzz - the electric atmosphere of Eden Gardens or the Chinnaswamy Stadium last year - was missing.

In a form of the game whose appeal lies in rattling along to keep the attention, having strategic time outs - ie, ad breaks - for several minutes in each innings are a turnoff.

The only people to have taken more than a mild passing interest, and been up watching in the wee smalls, will have been the fanatics, the late workers, insomniacs and the saddos with nothing better to do at 3am.

Here's a thought: how many players, when discussing their recent activity, might say: "To be honest, I had a pretty average international season, but the IPL went well."

It was all a bit of a yawn. When sixes become hum-drum you've got a problem. How often can you put up with a well paid flunk ... er, commentator, exclaiming: "Whoa, that is enooormous!" as the eighth six of that innings zooms into the crowd.

The IPL commentary teams may as well have wandered about wearing "I am an IPL promotional tool" shirts, so frequently and shamelessly did they hawk the competition.

Not only that, there seemed a desire to out-puerile their colleagues. Rock bottom came when former Indian spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan clambered to the top of a kids blow-up slide, microphone clutched in one hand, then slid down, losing sunglasses and dignity all in one go, while the obviously riveting action carried on in the middle. Perhaps it was all a huge in-joke. They knew that was the way to treat the IPL. Even the players, judging from the quality of many performances, were happy to take the money and move on without losing much sleep. NZ were minor contributors. Brendon McCullum played the most games, 13, as captain of the ill-starred Kolkata Knight Riders, who finished last by a mile. Kyle Mills didn't get a start for the Mumbai Indians. The rest were in between.

The world Twenty20 championship starts early next month in England. If the players have any pride, it will mean more. For a start they will be representing their country, not an Indian construction magnate, or movie star. If you were in the crowds in South Africa, the appeal of this round of the IPL might be different. But through the square box, the pizzazz was absent, and no amount of cheerleaders shaking their bits whenever a boundary was struck could change that.