Month: April 2024

Hello and a warm welcome to another blog on the match reviews on the TATA IPL 2024. So with this short introduction, let’s get right into the content!

16. Delhi Capitals VS Kolkata Knight Riders | Dr Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy Stadium, Visakhapatnam
Shreyas Iyer opted to bat first as he mentioned the wicket was a belter. So it was for Sunil Narine, with the help of U-19 star Angkrish Raghuvanshi, scored 88 in the powerplay and laid the foundation for Shreyas Iyer and Andre Russell to break SRH’s 277 record. Shreyas Iyer couldn’t fire but did support Russell well. After the captain departed Rinku Singh, now almost stamping his post as India’s long-time finisher smoked a couple of boundaries and the rate did touch 14 an over in the 19th over but both Rinku and Russell well in succession and KKR fell short of the record but still got a huge 272 on board. But unlike the SRH game, this game had no fight as the Delhi batters, who had to hit from ball one were cheaply dismissed by Starc, who finally found his form and Vaibhav Arora, who both shared five wickets but Pant and Stubbs fought a lost battle valiantly, with both getting fifties but eventually the Capitals fell short by a huge margin of 106 runs.
In a DC disaster, they took almost 2 hours to bowl their 20 overs, the main factor being KKR hitting 18 maximums. Also, after a long break, Pant was confused about how to set his field after Narine and Raghuvanshi first started hitting the ball in all directions. Delhi will feel happy that he is good with the bat but a major drawback is that Pant missed two DRS opportunities, which proved to be almost 50 runs costly in the end. Delhi in the long run need to improve its bowling, especially Nortje who has been under par with his bowling so far. But on top of that, they need to bowl their overs quickly as Pant has already been fined for over-rate. Speaking on KKR, they played a complete team performance, with the bowlers backing up the batters and they played an almost perfect game. I am saying the word “almost” because they could have broken SRH’s record, but now again the 277 is a huge mountain for a team trying to break the new IPL record. Also, a special mention to Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who had just played his U-19 and in his debut game, playing some beautiful cricketing shots, he supported Narine well and also gave the platform for Russell to smoke some more sixes. So in a way, he had his perfect debut. So Angrish Raghuvanshi and Mayank Yadav are the exciting young talents every team needs to look out for in this IPL.

17. Gujarat Titans VS Punjab Kings | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and opted to field first. The Titans had a superb start with the bat as Gill found his rhythm for the first time this season, supported by the wise Kane Williamson and Sai Sudarsan to give a good foundation to the innings. Rahul Tewatia added a powerful finish along with his captain, Gill, who remained unbeaten till the end for his 89 to give the Titans a huge 199 on board. The Kings started very badly at the start but Bairstow and Prabhsimran did attack well but went back shortly after. Wickets started crumbling while the Kings kept the rate in check but the game felt it was heading towards the home team winning. But the talented un-capped Indians, Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma, the impact player started to play their shots and got the target well under grasp before Ashutosh fell for a superb 31. But Shashank held his nerve and the Kings chased down a huge total to win a memorable and thrilling game.

In a game where the Titans dominated nearly the entire game and still ended up on the losing side, had a superb total on board after batting first. But perhaps Williamson or Vijay Shankar, who fell cheaply, could have been more aggressive would be on the back of their mind, but at the end of it they had the runs on board and even had a good day with the ball except for the death over as they were dealt with the bat of Shashank Singh, the player who was bought by mistake by the Kings during the auction and the impact substitute, Ashutosh Sharma started to give a glimmer of hope before they eventually started to believe they could win the game and in the end they did a close match with 3 wickets in hand and just a ball spare. Maybe the promising Darshan Nalkande could have been bowled another over in the death as he almost defended 7 runs in the last over but with all being said, Shashank Singh, alongside Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Mayank Yadav are the talents to watch out for this year’s TATA IPL…

18. Sunrisers Hyderabad VS Chennai Super Kings | Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
Pat Cummins opted to bowl first in a sea of yellow (CSK fans). But they witnessed a disappointing show with the bat as Rachin and Ruturaj were slow at the start on the ground, where more than 500 runs were scored in the last game. Rahane as well was slow but the only man who was aggressive was Shivam Dube, who hit a superb 45, on the other hand, Jadeja hit a 23 ball 31, giving CSK 165, which was almost 30-40 runs under par. The SRH openers just continued from where they left from their previous home game against MI, where the openers put the CSK pacers to the sword and scored 78 in the powerplay, finishing the game effectively here. The other batters, especially Markram, who hit a fifty, consolidated the innings well and SRH were comfortably home with 11 balls spare and 6 wickets in hand.
In this one-sided game., the main difference is the intent of the SRH batters, they attacked from ball one and got the results they wanted, unlike CSK, who were more conservative and scored only 48, the difference in the powerplay between the two teams being a massive 30 runs. Ruturaj maybe could have used his spinners a bit earlier in the powerplay but by the time they started bowling well and controlled SRH, the rate was already below a run-a-ball. So both SRH and CSK have won 2 and lost 2, with both teams winning at home and losing their away games played so far, a thing which both teams would love to improve as they move on into the tournament.

19. Rajasthan Royals VS Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Sanju Samson won the toss and opted to bowl first in a ground where they had won defending totals. The RCB were off to a fantastic start with Kohli in his supreme best and supported well by Faf but the RR spinners kept these two in check. At the halfway mark, they should have got 200-220 with all 10 wickets in hand but when Faf left, Maxwell continued in poor form and there was no support for Kohli, but he still held the innings again and scored a scintillating 113, giving RCB 183, a par total in this ground. RCB did start well with the ball but Samson and Buttler completely dominated the RCB attack, the spinners were ineffective and for a brief period, RCB did come back but it was too late as Buttler finished the game and got his 100 as well.
In RCB’s fourth loss in their first five games, either Faf or Kohli should have switched gears after the 8th over and it wouldn’t matter if one of them got out because there was enough firepower left. And when Saurav got out in the 17th over, Green was sent in, instead of DK, which was a surprise as DK has had a good season so far and 183 was a good total but for a bowling line-up of RCB, even 200 didn’t look enough. There is no proper spinner for the RCB except Maxwell but he couldn’t be used as two right-handers were on the crease. But the Pacers had a good game, especially Reece Topley. I also feel Faf is not using Siraj more frequently in the powerplay, a phase where he was at his prime last year. So the Royals are unstoppable and along with KKR, are still unbeaten but the RCB have a lot of problems, with Maxwell, and Green yet to show their potential, the quality of bowling and the fielding was also absolutely pathetic in today’s game as well, with no one backing up or no one calling the ball near the boundary. For the Royals, they would want to just continue their winning streak…

Hello and a warm welcome to another blog on the match reviews on the TATA IPL 2024. Apologies I couldn’t post a blog for the past 5 days because I was travelling but I will still cover every match of this year’s IPL as promised. So let’s get started.

10. Royal Challengers Bengaluru VS Kolkata Knight Riders | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to field first on a tricky Chinnaswamy surface. Once again Faf departed cheaply but Green played a good hand alongside Kohli and Maxwell also played a good 28. But after Green and Maxwell got out, Patidar and Rawat fell cheaply but a great flourish by DK and a masterful 83 by Kohli propelled RCB to 182. This looked like a good total for the RCB but Sunil Narine had other plans as he ripped through the RCB seamers supported by Salt to finish the game in the powerplay itself as KKR raced to 85 in the first 6. Even though the openers departed shortly after, the two Iyers, Venky and Shreyas guided KKR home comfortably by 7 wickets.
Speaking about the tactical aspects, even though Kohli’s knock was masterful, it was very slow with a strike rate of just 140 and the top order has still not fired for the RCB. Also the KKR seamers bowled a lot of cutters as the wicket was on the slower side but the RCB were very poor with ball, except Vyshak who just gave 23 runs in his 4 overs, the others getting absolutely whacked around the ground. So to overall review this game, RCB did have the total on board to defend but the bowlers especially Siraj, who went for 46 in his 3 overs and Alzarri Joseph, who went for 34 in just 2 overs are some worrying signs for RCB in the upcoming matches. KKR were undoubtedly the better side with Narine again getting a 47, and everyone else also did contribute equally and quicker than the RCB batters, which ultimately made a huge difference between the two teams, and breaking the jinx by becoming the first away team to win a game in this year’s IPL.

11. Lucknow Super Giants VS Punjab Kings | Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
Nicholas Pooran, captain of the LSG this game, playing KL Rahul has an impact sub, chose to bat first in a track which suited batting, a rare track at the Ekana. de Kock and Rahul started well but soon the latter and Padikkal fell but de Kock was on song but once he departed, the innings started to fall a little bit with even Stoinis and Pooran getting out by the 16th over but an aggressive Krunal Pandya gave the LSG a superb total of 199, but still they would feel they missed out 10-15 runs. The Kings’ openers completely dominated the first 10 overs but were shocked by the speed of Mayank Yadav, bowling even above 155 km/hr, and the Kings just crumbled after this, giving LSG a huge comeback victory of 21 runs.
Eventhough LSG did get 199, still Padikkal hasn’t fired with the bat as well as Badoni, which are some of the batting concerns for LSG. But they would be happy that Krunal Pandya now at 7 hit a 43 to give them 199. The Kings would still feel they left an easy win out there with everything going smoothly until the speedster from Delhi, Mayank Yadav, not only shocked the Kings but also the entire world with his express pace and height was able to completely exploit the rule allowing 2 bouncers, got 3 wickets and giving just 27 runs and other than that, the Kings did absolutely nothing wrong with the bat but the damage inflicted by this young man was more than enough to give Lucknow their first home win. But the Kings can take a lot with this game as Bairstow had his first good hit and Livingstone with bat and Sam Curran with ball were some very good positives going into the tournament for them.

12. Gujarat Titans VS Sunrisers Hyderabad | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Pat Cummins opted to bat on the second day game of the season. The openers started slowly but gave SRH a steady start but soon Agarwal and Head, unlike last game didn’t fire. Abhishek Sharma also played a good 29 but with him, Markram played very slowly with a 19 ball 17. Some good cameos from Klassen and Samad gave SRH 162, which was easily chased by the Giants, with all the top 5 batters playing a good, especially the partnership between Sudharsan, who has had a splendid season so far with the bat and Miller gave the Titans a confortable win by 7 wickets and with 5 balls spare.
After posting 277 their previous game, not even one SRH batter crossed 30 and the batting was below average, which they would want to improve next game. The Titans had a near perfect game as even their bowlers weren’t hit that much, and Mohit Sharma was the best of them, giving just 25 runs and getting 3 wickets gave the batters a relatively easy score to chase unlike their game against CSK, where they had to hit more than 200, also they did give Sudharsan a good platform to play anchor comfortably and some aggression from Miller and finished off by Vijay Shankar ended this almost one-sided encounter, eventhough the game ended in the last over

13. Delhi Capitals VS Chennai Super Kings | Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Stadium, Visakhapatnam
Rishabh Pant won the toss and opted to have a bat in DC’s new home ground in Vizag, bringing in Shaw as well. This proved to be a good decision as Warner with his new opening partner, Shaw decimated the CSK attack in the powerplay followed by Pant getting an emotional and important 50, appreciated well by the DC and Indian fans, which gave DC a superb total of 191. CSK started with one of the worst starts of the season with Ruturaj and Ravindra following cheaply and consuming a lot of balls as well. Even though Rahane and Mitchell played quickly, it wasn’t enough, and a final act from MSD alongside Jadeja also couldn’t get the Super Kings over the line and fell short by 20 runs.
This game was won by DC because they had dominated the powerplay in either innings as in their batting Warner and Shaw were brilliant, giving the Capitals 62 runs in the powerplay and they reduced CSK to a cheap 32 also for the loss of 2 wickets. But the main positive for the management was MSD who is still at his best and the way he played and the power he generated, it didn’t look like he is going to retire from the IPL next year. So the CSK fans did have a smile on their faces even after losing the game by a big margin of 20 runs, seeing their “Thala” bat for the first time.

14. Mumbai Indians VS Rajasthan Royals | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to field first at the Wankhede, with Hardik getting booed by the crowd during the coin toss, showing the divided fan base of MI. The bowlers didn’t disappoint Samson by picking up Rohit, Brevis and Naman Dhir, all for a golden duck before Hardik and Varma stitched stitched an important partnership for the 5th wicket to try and rebuild the innings but when Hardik fell for 34 to Chahal, the innings completely collapsed giving the bowlers only 126 to defend. Akash Madhwal bowled a fiery spell to give MI some hope, picking up 3 wickets, but this wasn’t enough to stop the in form Parag, who notched up a fine fifty and guided the Royals to a massive win with 26 balls spare. In the most controversial match of the season, I feel Trent Boult exploited the track which did help seamers so did Nandre Burger and they had severely dented MI’s chances to win. The only positive for MI in this Wankhede disaster was Akash Madhwal, who was absolutely perfect with his lengths and pace, which gave the crowd some sort of hope but 125 is never enough at the Wankhede any day. MI would be wanting Suryakumar back as soon as possible as he was an absolute beast at the Wankhede last year. But more importantly, I have to write on the divided fanbase of the Mumbai Indians. If Rohit Sharma has no problem, then why are Rohit fans wanting him to be the captain? This is a huge problem for the management as their banner #OneFamily has divided and all fans aren’t united. But I feel that the management should support Hardik, who still had a smile after being booed, which shows his strong and humble character as well and encourage the fans to be united once again mainly through social media. But for the Royals, it was just a fun day, with everyone coordinating with each other and the team bonding looks strong as well.

15. Royal Challengers Bengaluru VS Lucknow Super Giants | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Faf du Plessis won the toss and opted to field first in a packed RCB crowd. The Lucknow openers were aggressive at the start but when KL departed, Padikkal also departed, showing signs of an RCB comeback but de Kock, the batter in form scored a quick 80 followed by 5 sixes by Pooran, giving LSG 181 on a sticky wicket. The chase started well as Kohli and Faf looked aggressive, but soon Kohli was caught, and Faf run out due to some horrendous running. But the flurry of wickets never stopped as even Maxwell and Green departed, both by the young Mayank Yadav. Patidar did play some good shots, but still, the required run rate was climbing, and when he fell, all hopes looked to be gone. But Lomror started blasting almost every ball in his short stay, but when he departed, the game was effectively over as LSG bowled out RCB in the end and gave them an all-round win by 28 runs. Even this game was completely one-sided from start to finish. RCB dropped the two big prizes, de Kock and Pooran, which proved to be about 30 runs costly. Also, I was baffled why Vyshak, who was the only good bowler against KKR wasn’t included in the starting 11 and still Green, Faf and Maxwell, the big Aussies haven’t fired yet and it is high time they do so, followed by some horrendous bowling in the middle overs, not exploting the sticky track by not bowling cutters. But Patidar had a good day with the bat, and Lomror proved he is the perfect impact sub for RCB are some promising takeaways from this game. Speaking about LSG, I just want to write on one man, the immensely talented and speedster, Mayank Yadav. The heavy RCB batting line-up was absolutely no match for his pace and bounce and similar to how he won the game for his team in the PBKS clash, he did exactly the same thing and won the game for LSG this time around. But in the back of their minds, KL would be thinking of a 40+ win margin but Siraj had some fun and reduced it to 28, still satisfying the skipper but still a dismay for RCB fans all around the world…