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…