Paul Valthaty, the modest, mystery Mumbai marauder.. The party has only begun in Mohali. Jayasuriya dances in the Sony MAX studio, that's how big this is! Sid Talya is stamping out a bulletin worthy of the game. Meanwhile, Pune v Kochi gets underway. The party continues. This is Nitin Sundar signing off after a thoroughly enjoyable game of T20 cricket. Here's to more thrills.. Cheers!

Presentations, at long last.

Man of the Match, and claimant of the Orange Cap - Val, of course, Valthaty: "It was a belter of a track, and it was a dream come true for me. The team management backed me, and it came off. I had started preparing for the IPL two months in advance and it paid off. Getting a 100 meant a lot to me. It was really a belter ... I am modest! I was in the India U-19 team in 2002 and then got an eye injury, and my career took a down turn, but it looks like things are coming together again."

Gilchrist: "Paul hit some nice shots in the first match but unfortunately got out. He showed some talent in the warm-up games .. That was an amazing innings, yeah! We were indisciplined with the ball in the end, but Chennai played really well from 0 for 2. I loved standing around and watching Paul go today! I hope to see Sanath Jayasuriya dancing, he said he will dance if we win today."

Dhoni: "You win some games, at the same time you lose some games. The important thing is to learn lessons from this defeat. After the start we got, we could not have got more runs. Our bowlers could have bowled smarter, and we should not have dropped three catches. Paul batted really well. He was at his best, a challenge was thrown at him and he was up to it. He went on till the end, which is very important - he did not leave it for others."

Valthaty's 19 fours is a new IPL record. Take that, Shane Watson! ;-)

Dinesh Karthik: "The way one individual stood up was great, and the whole team backed him. The way he batted, a lot of legends would have been proud of that innings. Even last game we thought of opening with him, but last minute we thought of Marsh. Today we decided it was Valthaty."

Amirawan: "@Yavan-Are you fired/still in job? Valthaty must have saved you!"

Vij: "Chennai doesn't have enough South African players to be the new England! :)"

Kushan: "Has Chennai become the new Enlgand? Lose against minnows, win narrowly against better teams?"

Nishit: "Let all the terrible "Val" and "Thaty" pun begin! Today they're forgiven." Too late, already started!

Prasanna: "Chennai always produces the best cricket matches, doesn't matter if they win or lose"

Vij: "This game is like Val-ium.... Valthaty & Almooonium all rolled into one! :)"

Karthik: "Mr Potnis should change his first name to Sid, if he loves Cricinfo so much, he stand a chance to get into Cricinfo."

S Potnis: "So I told my girlfriend that I'm going to change my name to Subramanium Potnis. She called me an inane child and told me to make a final decision : "It's either me or Cricinfo. You can't have both. I can't stand Cricinfo!" Err, Mr. Potnis - what about renaming yourself Valthatnis?

Valthaty was on fire today, but make no mistake - Chennai were abysmal with their lengths and on the field. Albie Morkel had a horror evening, and R Ashwin wasn't at his best either.

Vij: "Val Played! Really!"

Abhimanyu: "Din't someone say at the end of the Chennai innings that they look like the Aussies of 2000-07?? Epic Jinx!!"

Ram: "Aaah.. dhoni's human afterall. he is no Rajnikanth"

Abhi: "Now dhoni surely will say val-off course."

Saumya: "Val-thaty odd runs could have saved MSD n co!"

Yavvan: "Even Paul the Octupus wouldn't have predicted Paul Valthaty's century!"

Karthik and Valthaty hug midpitch. Ms. Zinta jumps up and down incredulously. Dhoni removes the helmet tucks it under the arm, and marches away with his equanimity still in place. The Midas touch wore off a bit today.

Jakati trots in to the slaughter.

Southee comes on. Can he take it to the 20th? If so, who will bowl the 20th ...

Shardul: "And Dhoni was questioning SA selection committee for not selecting A. Morkel for WC"

Addanki: "Ashwin made Valthaty play a dot ball. I recommend him for MOM"

Armstrong: "Paul Chandrashekar Valthaty - an eye injury forced him to leave the U19 World Cup 2002 mid-way... "today surely he has got a GOOD EYE"

Ashwin back on. 21 off 3 overs.

Sunil: "Paul Valthaty !! Did anyone said he is from Mumbai .. Surely Ambanis have missed a trick here!!"

22 off 19. Walk in the park. Even Dhoni can't pull this back can he?