Hello and a warm welcome to yet another blog on the daily match reviews on the IPL this season. These 3 games saw a thriller in Delhi, RCB win a game and a six-hitting fest in Kolkata. So without any further delays, let’s get started!
Delhi Capitals VS Gujarat Titans | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to field first on a flat track. The DC innings started poorly as they lost 3 wickets in the powerplay. But Rishabh Pant and a promoted Axar Patel steadied the ship, playing the GT spinners carefully and also playing some big hits. Axar fell after his fifty but Pant was in beast mode and along with Stubbs, they amassed a huge 224 on board, with the last 5 overs going for a massive 97 runs. The Titans lost their skipper early with Sudarsan at his prime and steadied the innings with Saha. But Kuldeep and youngster Rasikh triggered a collapse and the innings fell. But Miller came back to form and gave an outside chance for the Titans, along with Rashid Khan, the latter fighting till the last ball but the Titans fell short and handed the Capitals a hard-fought 4-run victory.
In another 400+ match in the IPL, I feel was a good chance for the Capitals to promote Axar because they knew the Titans had some world-class spinners. It was necessary to avoid playing the big shots and keep building the innings against them, which Axar and Pant did perfectly, taking some boundaries with them as well. But I would want to criticize the use of Sai Kishore in the 19th over was unnecessary, with Pant and Stubbs playing at top gear, which cost them 21 runs that over and Pant finished with a 32-run over bowled by Mohit, which cost the game for GT. But even in their batting, the Titans crumbled at the worst possible moment but would be happy to see Miller play at his best and Rashid continue his form. The Capitals and the whole of India would be so happy seeing the way Pant has played in his comeback IPL after whatever has happened to him in the last 12 months or so, inspiring not only cricketers, but the common people to never give up and keep fighting like a champion. So a superb all-round performance by DC, led by their skipper but the Titans gave them a huge scare in the back end of the innings, but in the end, Mukesh held his nerve in the last over, giving the Capitals their first win at Delhi.
Sunrisers Hyderabad VS Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Uppal Stadium, Hyderabad
Faf du Plessis won the toss and opted to bat first at Uppal. Kohli and Faf started quickly but in the back end of the powerplay, Faf fell and shortly after Jacks fell. Kohli struggled after the powerplay but Patidar continued his form and belted Markande for 4 sixes to give the momentum back to RCB and notched a brilliant fifty. But he fell after hitting his fifty and the Sunrisers built the momentum soon after and picked up Kohli as well. Green finally had a good hit and Swapnil pitched in 2 boundaries to give RCB 206, which is a small total compared with the Sunrisers. But Head and Abhishek fell early and soon after Klaasen and Markram fell, all within the powerplay to give the advantage to RCB. Pat Cummins and Shahbaz played a last hand but when Cummins fell, the match was over, with RCB shocking Uppal with a massive 35-run win.
On a memorable day for me and the RCB fans after a month, this win was even sweeter because we defended 206 with the mighty Sunrisers, the team which hit 287 at the Chinnaswamy. In the batting, a concern is Kohli’s strike rate, hadn’t been for that Patidar special, RCB would have maximum hit about 180. Patidar’s knock was a game-changer because it was a slower pitch at Uppal and he hit the same man who dismissed him in the reverse fixture at the Chinnaswamy, hit him mercilessly for 4 sixes, reminding me of that Ravi Bishnoi over, where he hit him for 28 runs in our famous Eliminator win 2 years ago, and smashing the joint-fastest fifty by an RCB batter in the IPL. For SRH, it was just an off day at the office, nothing wrong with the team and showing how they fell to the pressure the opposition created in the first innings. So overall, on a slower wicket where Patidar’s knock and Swapnil’s crazy 2-wicket over, where he even conceded 19 runs making the difference, handing RCB and the fans a memorable day, which the team deserves for the hard work and have to continue the momentum they have created in the last 3 games.
Kolkata Knight Riders VS Punjab Kings | Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Sam Curran won the toss and opted to field first, in a game which would be a record-breaking one after a few hours. KKR openers had a usual, explosive start in the powerplay but they didn’t lose a wicket. Salt, Narine, Shreyas, Venkatesh and Russell, all contributed and were looking set for about 280+. But the Kings pulled things back by removing Russell almost before the death-overs but Iyer gave the perfect finish and gave the Knight Riders a massive 262, the highest at Eden. But they wouldn’t have imagined in their wildest nightmares what happened. The Kings’ openers finally had an explosive start with Prabhsimran notching a superb fifty but was run out in the back end of the powerplay. But then Bairstow started smoking sixes with Rossouw giving him good company. Narine bowled beautifully as he was the only bowler spared and gave his team some hope. But he bowled out soon after and then came one of the young superstars of the Kings, Shashank Singh, the moment he came, this man hit sixes for fun, no matter where the bowler bowled. Bairstow also continued and hit a brilliant 100, with his partner getting a fifty and giving the Knight Riders an absolute thumping by 8 wickets and chased a huge 262 with 8 balls spare.
In another insane game in the IPL, holding the record for maximum sixes hit in a T20 game (42), the bowlers had no clue what happened in this game. I guess except for Narine and Rahul Chahar, not even a single bowler was spared and taken to the sword. Don’t mind if I am feeling harsh, but I have to because of T20 cricket, with the impact sub-rule, having a huge change, KKR were 10-15 runs short considering the start they had. They should have maybe 290-300 but as I said, the Kings pulled things back. But I have to praise the commitment of the PBKS top-order, completely washed away in the previous games, chasing 263 as if nothing happened. But for those aspiring to be bowlers and bowling-all-rounders, I would say not to give up on your journeys as this is the IPL, not international cricket, where the impact-sub rule doesn’t exist. Even in the IPL, I would say the pace bowlers to take inspiration from Bumrah, who is going below 10 over almost every game and for spinners I would say starts like Narine and Harpreet Brar, who continue to bowl match-winning spells for their respective teams. If you guys give up and change your profile to be a batter, then there won’t be any good bowlers in the IPL in the future and that 300-run barrier can be easily breached in this league… So overall, a six-hitting fest at Eden, as it holds the record for the maximum sixes hit in a T20 game and the bowlers again getting a huge thumping in a game in this season of IPL
So here we come to the end of the blog. The blog on the 4 weekend games, 2 of which are already done, will come tomorrow evening. So stay tuned!