Hello and a warm welcome to yet another blog on the daily match reviews of this year’s IPL. I will cover the game played between the Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede here. So let’s get started!
Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to field first, having just two overseas players in the playing 11. SRH were off to their usual blazing start but Bumrah’s wicket of Abhishek turned the game as SRH let the game slip with Hardik and Chawla picking 6 wickets together. Some fireworks from skipper Cummins gave SRH a respectable total of 173. However, their bowlers gave the perfect start as MI were reduced to 3 wickets by the powerplay. Still, Surya and Tilak didn’t provide anything much to cheer for the SRH bowlers as SKY was high and notched up a scintillating ton, with Tilak giving him good company by playing a good 37 and fittingly both were there till the end to finish the game for MI, winning by 7 wickets and 16 balls spare.
In a SKY scoring game, SRH would be disappointed with their middle-order not providing stability for the batting after the openers departed and their no.3 seems to be a problem as Agarwal also got out cheaply, replacing a struggling Ammolpreet. MI have bowled superbly in their last three games and would be happy that their captain played a big part in today’s game as he picked up 3 wickets and was economical and along with Chawla, they staged a collapse of the powerful SRH middle-order. SRH would be happy with their new ball bowling as they exploited the conditions superbly and Naman Dhir’s 9-ball duck helped them to get a superb start. And speaking about this, I feel that MI could have given a chance to Brevis instead of Naman Dhir as they fielded just 2 overseas players in their 11 and had an opportunity to give Brevis a chance at no.3. Last game against KKR, Surya had an opportunity to give his team a much-needed victory single-handedly but got out for a full toss, but today SKY made sure he didn’t leave anything behind, as he masterfully put back the pressure on SRH and comfortably got his side home. Even though MI are out, this win will mean a lot, especially to the Wankhede crowd as they finally saw their new captain perform superbly and everyone would have a good night’s sleep. So overall SRH should have hit 180-190, but Hardik and Chawla destroyed the SRH middle-order and MI’s top-order faltered, but SKY ensured that his team would not throw another game and in the process, notched an impressive ton.
So that’s it for today. Tomorrow, the game is between DC and RR, which will be an exciting and high-scoring game maybe. So stay tuned for that!
Month: May 2024
TATA IPL MATCH REVIEWS: MATCHES 53-54
Hello and a warm welcome to yet another blog on the daily match reviews on this year’s IPL. I will cover the games held on the double-header Sunday, where CSK took on PBKS at the most picturesque ground at Dharamshala and LSG took on KKR at the Ekana, so let’s get started!
Punjab Kings VS Chennai Super Kings | H. P. C. A Stadium, Dharamshala
Sam Curran won the toss and opted to field first in the first game played at Dharamshala this year. Rahane fell early but Ruturaj and Mitchell stitched a good partnership but this time Ruturaj fell right after the powerplay, which was followed by a flurry of wickets. Some useful contributions from Jadeja and Shardul gave the Super Kings 167, a below-par total. But Tushar got Bairstow and Roussow early, but Prabhsimran and Shashank counter-attacked beautifully. However, similar to the CSK batting collapse, when Shashank was caught, a wicket fell almost every over and the Kings were reduced to 139, as the Super Kings won by 28 runs, taking them to the 3rd spot.
In a chaotic game at Dharamshala, both CSK and PBKS would be disappointed with their batting as it was a 180-190 track and both teams had batting collapses. The Kings would be happy with the performances by Rahul Chahar and Harshal, the latter deceiving MSD first ball and silencing the yellow army. But CSK won the game comfortably, even though getting a below-par total and the main reason I feel is this masterful strategy: They got in Santner instead of the Fizz and also brought in the extremely talented Simarjeet, who impressed with his pace. Santner was brought in at the perfect moment in the tournament as he is a smart bowler and like how Harpreet Brar, except this game, wins the game for his team by bowling many dot balls, Santner does exactly the same thing. He was super economical and also got a wicket in the process, which released the pressure off Jadeja as well, who was at his supreme best today. Even without their best pace bowlers, this team, the Fizz and Pathirana looks far more balanced as Santner adds another batter for CSK. So CSK were reduced to 167 thanks to some slower ones by Harshal and some beautiful spin bowling from Chahar but Tushar getting two big wickets early, Santner putting the breaks and Jadeja and Simarjeet running through the middle-order clamped the scoring rate of a batting side that is fresh from chasing 263 at Eden were humbled to 139. PBKS now are playing at a different home ground, and am observing that this is happening quite often for them in the IPL, which should be taken care of and won’t give them the home advantage to win their first title in the future.
Lucknow Super Giants VS Kolkata Knight Riders | Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
KL Rahul won the toss and opted to chase in another high-scoring track at the Ekana. The KKR top-order took complete advantage of this and scored at about 12 an over, with Sunil Narine supported well by Salt and Raghuvanshi. KKR lost a flurry of wickets once Narine departed, but cameos from Shreyas and Ramandeep gave KKR a massive total of 235, about 40-50 runs above par. LSG lost Arshin early but KLR and Stoinis played an eye-catching 50-run partnership but KLR left soon and his side completely collapsed since that and were bundled out for 137, giving KKR a massive win by 98 runs, jumping to the first spot in the points table.
In an embarrassing loss for LSG at home, it felt that they never came up with a proper plan for Narine, who plundered 7 sixes on a ground which is considered to be a huge one. A main problem for LSG this game was their fielding which was definitely under-par. Another thing they would want to address is that once Stoinis or KLR get dismissed, the middle-order should still hold fort and control the innings, but today they were completely destroyed by some disciplined bowling by KKR, led by the two lethal spinners, Chakaravarthy and Narine, who again were economical and took 4 wickets together and hats off to their consistency. LSG would just summarize it as an off-day, but this game is very important to them, as a win would almost ensure qualification but now have to win 2 of their last 3 games. So overall, a complete all-around performance by the Knight from Kolkata, destroying the Super Giants in their home ground by 98 runs.
So that’s it for today. Tomorrow I will cover the game between MI and SRH, which will be an entertaining one. So stay tuned for that!
TATA IPL MATCH REVIEWS: MATCH 52: – RCBvGT
Hello and a warm welcome to yet another blog on the daily match reviews on this year’s IPL. I will cover the game played between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Gujarat Titans at the Chinnaswamy, which by far was the most one-sided and also a dramatic game. So let’s get started!
Faf du Plessis yet again won a toss and opted to field first on the same track where SRH plundered 287 runs. But things were completely different as the pace bowlers gave no room for the batters to hit boundaries and reduced the Titans to 23/3 in the powerplay, a dream at the Chinnaswamy. Crucial partnerships between Miller and Shahrukh, and between Tewatia and Rashid did increase the scoring rate but Vyshak, Siraj, Dayal and Green were simply outstanding and restricted the Titans to 147. The chase started as if RCB were chasing 288, as Faf just smoked everyone to the fence with Kohli giving him good company. But what followed next was almost impossible as when Faf fell, the middle-order, in order to boost the team’s NRR, picked out fielders everywhere as RCB lost 6 wickets, but DK and Swapnil ensured that the drama which was created couldn’t take the game away from RCB as we got home comfortably by 4 wickets and 38 balls spare.
In RCB’s 3rd consecutive win, the win was set up primarily by the pace bowlers, executing their plans, especially with their short balls, cramping the GT batters and the wicket surprisingly did give some assistance. But Faf was absolutely brilliant with the bat, along with Kohli set the tone for a big win, chasing the total in about 12 overs I would say. But once Faf got out, RCB should have put on some brakes and moved on as the Titans also used the short-ball ploy with Joshua Little picking up 4 wickets in quick succesion followed by Noor’s 2 wickets put RCB in a spot of bother as they had only DK and Swapnil as respectable batters and needed about 31 runs to win. But Rashid Khan’s shoulder injury played a vital role for RCB as he couldn’t bowl properly and DK smartly targeted him to remove RCB from the flurry of wickets falling and Swapnil played two important sweeps of Noor to get RCB home. But another huge factor was RCB’s fielding today, except one drop catch from Karn, they were outstanding as Kohli produced a superb run out of Shahrukh and Vyshak picked up a blinder near the boundary to remove the dangerous Tewatia. The Titans need to address how to play aggressively in the powerplay with bat, which RCB are doing so well, but would be proud of the way they staged a stunning collapse and making them keep leg slip and short leg in a T20 game. But in the struggle to gain NRR dominanace, RCB finally did go just ahead of Punjab, sitting on 7th as the Titans are second from bottom. So overall, an all-round performance from the men in red and blue, but in the necessity to boost their NRR, they gave Titans an outside chance but in the end were comfortably home.
So that’s it for today. Tomorrow is a double-header Sunday as CSK play PBKS and LSG play KKR. So stay tuned for that!
TATA IPL MATCH REVIEWS: MATCH 51: – MIvKKR
Hello and a warm welcome to yet another blog on the daily match reviews on this year’s IPL. Today I will be covering the match played between the Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wamkhede, a rare game which was not high-scoring and both teams were bowled out. So let’s get started!
Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to field first not on a high-scoring track. His decision was right as the KKR openers and middle-order did go aggressive but lost their wickets as MI were on top, forcing KKR to use another batter as the impact sub in the form of Manish Pandey. He and Venky Iyer played a solid partnership before Pandey fell, but Venkatesh kept going on and fought till the end as KKR posted a respectable total of 169. MI had a similar start to that of their counterparts but their run rate was slower and they lost 6 wickets for just 71 runs. SKY tried his best to win the game along with David but he fell on a full-toss and David couldn’t strike the ball properly, as the bowlers gave KKR a huge win by 24 runs, practically eliminating MI from the competition.
In another failure in the chase for MI, they were absolutely spot at the start of the game, with Thushara picking up 4 wickets and Bumrah, again picking 3 wickets but let the game slip with their batting, as I feel they should have handled the mighty KKR spinners properly as they changed the game after the powerplay, picking up wickets in quick succession. But another thing I was baffled about in MI’s playing 11 was there were only 3 foreigners involved in the game and I feel they should have played Brevis or Shepheard instead of Naman Dhir this game as these two are wonderful players and have experience in these stages of a tournament where you need to win every game. SKY and Bumrah are the only things MI can cheer about but Hardik has still not even hit 3rd gear this tournament and got out for hitting just a run, a problem which is not been solved so far. For KKR, they would be happy that finally Venkatesh had a good game and Pandey played a vital role in the batting. But their spinners won the day as they were once again outstanding and backed up by the pacers led by Starc, giving KKR a win at the Wankhede after 12 years. MI have some crazy scenarios for qualifying, which is practically impossible. If you want, the link is below…
Mumbai Indians’ chances hanging by a thread | Cricbuzz.com
So that’s it for this blog. The next game is between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and the Gujarat Titans at the Chinnaswamy. So stay tuned for that!
TATA IPL MATCH REVIEWS: MATCH 50: – SRHvRR
Hello and a warm welcome to yet another blog on the daily match reviews on this year’s IPL. Today I will cover the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Rajasthan Royals at Uppal, which unexpectedly proved to be a thriller. So without any further delay, let’s get started!
Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first mainly because that is their strength. But again SRH were off to a slow start but lost only 2 wickets, much better than their previous 2 games, so Head and Nitish Reddy put up a solid partnership and the firework services were provided by Klaasen as the Sunrisers posted a formidable total of 201. RR lost Buttler and Samson in the first over but Parag and Jaiswal made it seem that nothing happened and were in cruise control. Both the set batters were dismissed but the platform was set for the other batters to finish it, but RR’s middle-order shockingly collapsed at the death and Powell played some wonderful shots and it looked like RR would be home but Bhuvneshwar held his nerve in the last over, giving the Sunrisers a memorable win by a run.
On another thrilling game at Uppal, the Sunrisers should feel they need to return to their usual ways, firing in the powerplay, which they haven’t in their last three games. But the difference in today’s game was that Head wasn’t dismissed in the powerplay and stitched up a brilliant partnership with Nitish Reddy and Klaasen returned to his usual days, smoking the ball in all directions. But the main positive for SRH was Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who bowled at his vintage best in the opening over and defended just 13 runs in the final over with the dangerous Powell still on the crease. I have absolutely nothing to say about RR because they have virtually qualified and their middle order had an off day because of the brilliance of Cummins, Nattu and Bhuvi at the death, defending just 45 runs in the last 5 overs, giving SRH a very important win by a run. So overall, 2 massive partnerships by either team defined the batting, but SRH’s death bowling proved to be a huge difference as the Sunrisers jump back into the top 4 with ease…
So that’s it for today, I will next cover the game between the Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders, where MI will be fighting for not getting eliminated. So I will catch you on that and see you soon!
TATA IPL MATCH REVIEWS: MATCH 49: – CSKvPBKS
Hello and a warm welcome to yet another blog on the daily match reviews on this year’s IPL. Today I will be covering the game played between the Chennai Super Kings and the Punjab Kings at Chepauk, where the result was quite unexpected. So let’s get started!
Sam Curran won the toss and opted to field first, with Ruturaj losing his 9th toss, maybe equalling Kohli’s record. CSK were off to a flyer for a change as Rahane returned to form and Ruturaj was once again fluent, both unbeaten after the powerplay. But then came Brar and Rahul Chahar, who completely cut down the scoring, due to which Rahane threw his wicket and Dube and Jadeja fell cheaply. Ruturaj and Rizvi did stabilise the innings but still, the rate massively dropped after 7 overs of spin since the powerplay. Rizvi fell shortly, but Moeen and Ruturaj took on the pacers and Dhoni, not at his best, gave CSK a total of 162, something for the bowlers to defend. Both the Punjab openers fell early but Roussow and Shashank took on the spinners as well and Sam Curran came to deliver the finishing touches as the Kings, uneventfully, won the game by 7 wickets and 11 balls spare.
On a rare thumping for CSK at their den, this whole game was won by the Punjab spinners, Brar and Rahul Chahar who were absolutely brilliant with the ball, keeping things tight and applying pressure on CSK. Brar’s mantra of focusing on dot balls more than wickets should be ideal for all spinners in this league, as when you acquire those dots, you automatically get wickets. But I was baffled with CSK’s strategy by not bringing Mitchell at 3, who proved to be so effective in the last two games and using Rizvi as the impact sub because they still had the batters who could play rearguard along with Ruturaj and get a 180+ score, which came to bite them as Deepak Chahar was injured in the opening over itself, and they were a bowler short. I still cannot understand why CSK changed their batting tactics, which worked so well in the previous two games as they hit 210+ scores. These bizarre tactics and Pathirana and Deshpande not being available for the match contributed to this CSK disaster. So to summarize this game as a historical siege, the pesky PBKS spinners were patient and tried to starve out the CSK defenders, the defenders had no choice but to attack after some time and did have some chances to save their fort but Roussow and Bairstow led the artillery regiment, and Shashank and Curran led the infantry with not much resistance from CSK, breaching fortress Chepauk with ease…
So with that fun line being said, we come to the end of this blog. The next one will be on the match between SRH and RR. So stay tuned!