Hello and a warm welcome to yet another blog on the daily match reviews on this year’s IPL. Today the Kolkata Knight Riders locked horns with the Mumbai Indians at the iconic Eden Gardens, which ended up being another thriller at this incredible venue. So let’s get started!
Before Hardik won the toss and opted to field, the rain poured at Kolkata, forcing a shortened 16-over game. KKR were not off to a flyer similar to the reverse fixture between these two teams as their openers departed by the second over but again Venky Iyer stood up and Nitish Rana gave him good company. But the MI bowlers were superb and some cameos from Russell, Rinku and Ramandeep got KKR a par total of 157 in their 16 overs. MI’s openers surprisingly were off to a flyer and they easily got 59 in the powerplay (5 overs, since it is a shortened game). But then came Narine who got the important wicket of Kishan followed by Chakaravarthy, as they gave nothing to offer for the MI batters, who constantly kept throwing their wickets away. There were some hopes for them in the end with Tilak and Naman batting well, but they were comfortably short, giving KKR a brilliant comeback win by 18 runs AND ARE OFFICIALLY THE FIRST TEAM IN THE PLAYOFFS!
In another masterclass by the KKR bowlers at their fortress, once again the batting was poor by both teams but the difference was the KKR middle-order batters played short but useful cameos but for MI it was just Kishan and Rohit who gave the start and no one capitalised on it. But the most important difference was the KKR bowlers were able to completely choke down the scoring rate and credit for this goes to Chakaravarthy who was absolutely fantastic and has had some good matches recently after a very poor start to the season and his performance deserves to be on this blog’s title. But things became a little nervy when the equation came down to 22 off the last 6 balls and credit to Shreyas for reserving his last over specialist, Harshit Rana who also has been mentioned along with Chakaravarthy in the title because he went with pace on first delivery, foxing Naman who was expecting a cutter and smartly bowled a bouncer away for Tilak’s body and since he had to slog, he was edged and taken by Salt as calmly he delivered the win to his captain. And also a special mention to the other Rana, Nitish, who played a superb hand along with Venky to give some stability to an unstable innings as they lost 3 wickets in quick succession, one among them was their captain. So overall, an average game by both teams in terms of batting but KKR’s bowlers picked up wickets and shot down the run rate, unlike their counterparts, giving MI’s miserable campaign a 9th loss.
So that’s it for today and this match didn’t impact the chances of the other 7 teams in the playoff race. But tomorrow is the most important day in the race as CSK take on RR at Chepauk and RCB take on DC at the Chinnaswamy. Two very very important games as these games will have a huge impact on the playoff race. So see you on that and have a great day ahead!
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A Massive Win In Front Of A Massive Crowd: MATCH: 59: – GTvCSK
Hello and a warm welcome to yet another blog on the daily match reviews of this year’s IPL. In this blog, I will cover the game between the Gujarat Titans and the Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. So let’s get started!
Ruturaj won a rare toss and opted to field first in front of a gigantic crowd engulfed in yellow mainly. However, the Titans had a new opening pair, with Sudharsan and Gill as they dropped the struggling Saha and this worked wonders as they just kept going and got some help by some pathetic CSK fielding. Both openers got their 100s, striking over 200 but once both got out, CSK clawed their way back and restricted the Titans to 231. Chasing, CSK lost 3 wickets, the main one being their captain who has been in sublime form. From here the game was almost done. Moeen and Mitchell played a very good counterattack, but Mohit Sharma came in and took both of them in quick succession and CSK comfortably lost the game by 35 runs, keeping both GT and RCB’s hopes alive.
In an embarrassing thumping for CSK in front of a massive yellow crowd, their bowling was definitely below par but similar to how PBKS performed yesterday, CSK were sloppy on the field, which cost them about 10-15 runs but credit to their death bowlers to finally use the slower ball, which maybe they would think they should have operated well before the death overs but nevertheless, the Titans who were on par to 250+ were reduced to 231, still a massive score. Rahane’s and Rachin’s woes continued but the thing which surprised everyone was that Ruturaj fell for a duck on a very important day. But the Titans would feel they should have one this game by about 60+ runs, quite similar to RCB’s win yesterday but they gave CSK some chances in the middle and even though they got the job done by a huge margin of 35 runs, crucial NRR points were being missed by them as they have the worst NRR out of all the teams. So overall a pathetic performance by the defending champions, who are not playing like a champion side and GT completely dominated the game. CSK did have some chances but in the end, the result was obvious by seeing the quality of CSK’s play today. Still, a win with RR will probably book their playoff ticket and eliminate some other teams and also they have a game at their second home indirectly, at the Chinnaswamy, so I feel they are still comfortably placed to qualify. Practically GT cannot qualify because of their NRR thumping by RCB twice but mathematically they are still in. But this game has thrown the tournament open for the 4th spot as SRH would mostly grab the 3rd playoff ticket and 5 teams compete for the 4th spot.
So that’s it for today. Tomorrow it is between MI and KKR at Eden, a result which will not impact the points table at all and the other teams and their fans can have a breather. So I will catch you on that one!
Loser Gets Eliminated: MATCH 58: – PBKSvRCB
Hello and a warm welcome to yet another blog on the daily match reviews on this year’s IPL. Here I will talk about the game between the Punjab Kings and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the iconic H.P. C. A. Stadium in Dharamsala which as the title says was at a high stake, the loser would be out of contention for qualifying for the playoffs. If you are wondering why I have changed the title since the last game is because of the impact the last game created and I was compelled to change it but I thought maybe for content I could continue this new trend in the upcoming blogs. So the long intro is done and let’s get started!
Sam Curran won another toss and opted to field first on a track which offered some swing initially and Kaverappa used them superbly, creating many chances and got just 2 wickets in his opening spell. Since that, Patidar went beast mode with Kohli playing second-fiddle and when Patidar fell, rain with hail started to pour down. After resumption, Kohli took charge and played some scintillating shots and was supported well by Green and DK as RCB posted a mammoth 241. Prabhsimran fell early in the chase but Roussow and Bairstow were tonking everything to the fence, but the game tilted when Bairstow and Roussow fell and Shashank’s run-out was the final nail in the coffin as RCB won by a huge margin by 60 runs, eliminating the Kings and kept their slim hopes alive.
In another massive RCB win, I feel the real difference between the two teams was their quality of fielding. Kaverappa bowled an outstanding spell in the powerplay, picking up Faf and Jacks but should have had Kohli and Patidar, the latter’s drop being rather easy. This proved to be costly, the cost being PBKS’ hopes of qualification as Patidar called the big shots against Chahar and once again changed the momentum of the game and let the pressure go off Kohli. I still cannot understand why the Kings dropped Brar, who has a phenomenal record against RCB and was the only bowler who wasn’t hit in the reverse fixture at the Chinnaswamy. Kohli took full advantage of this and since Kaverappa also bowled out early, he played some eye-catching shots and also at a strike rate just below 200 and RCB would be happy with the contributions by Green. But PBKS was going superbly after Prabhsimran fell early as Roussow regained his lost form and was smoking them cleanly, but the RCB pacers used a lot of slower balls and made good use of the knuckleball as the pitch was holding a bit. Faf smartly used Swapnil by bowling him in the middle overs as well and they clamped down the rate. But still, as the Kings were losing wickets, they picked up the boundaries regularly and had a genuine chance with Shashank looking good. But then came one of the craziest mid-air throws by Kohli, a direct hit that got Shashank and the innings fell apart after this. So overall as I said in the beginning, the fielding proved to be difference as the Kings dropped sitters while RCB were catching blinders and saved about 10 runs.
So that’s it for today. I am happy that RCB are still fighting and not giving up winning 4 on the trot. Tomorrow we may see the biggest crowd in a match in this year’s IPL as GT take on CSK at Ahmedabad and expect more than 3/4 of the stadium to be filled with yellow. So I will catch you on that one
The Biggest Trashing So Far: MATCH 57: – SRHvLSG
Hello and a warm welcome to yet another blog on the daily match reviews on this year’s IPL. Here I will cover the crazy game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Lucknow Super Giants at Uppal. So let’s get started!
KL Rahul won the toss and opted to field first, the main strategy being to put pressure on the SRH openers when they chase. But this tactic proved to be a huge failure as Bhuvi bowled an amazing spell and it looked like he was at his prime best, reducing LSG to 27 runs in the powerplay and KL’s wicket just worsened their batting. But a useful knock by Badoni, supported by Pooran gave the Super Giants a “respectable” total of 165 on board. But this wasn’t the case as the SRH openers were better than their supreme best and in about an hour of play in the chase, with 10.3 overs spare, SRH won by 10 wickets, improving their NRR as well.
In an SRH demolition, LSG have to be aggressive with the bat moving forward, especially their top order and they should make sure the innings keep going even if KL or Stoinis are dismissed cheaply. Badoni played some wonderful shots to give LSG 165 and he said it was a tricky wicket and was very confident that their bowlers would defend it. His speech is down below…
And yes, there wasn’t any dew but the SRH openers, Head and Abhishek had none of it and after the first over which went for just 8 runs, almost every single ball was a boundary henceforth. The openers do give SRH a big powerplay but they soon get dismissed and their middle-order gives them the fireworks in the end. But this time it wasn’t, as Head and Abhishek plundered 107 runs in the powerplay and at this point, I thought at least one of them would be dismissed. Still, they just kept going, continuing the carnage or bombardment, giving absolutely no mercy to the LSG bowlers. They chased 166 IN JUST 9.3 OVERS AND FINISHED THE GAME BY ABOUT 10:20! This was the EA Sports version of batting, completely crazy, unreal, mad, entertaining and there will be 100s of adjectives to follow this kind of batting. I was completely left speechless by this level of batting against a very good bowling side. KL’s words best describe this game:
LSG would need some time to first mentally recover from this massive defeat and their NRR has almost been murdered due to this game, so to ideally qualify, they need to win their two games. So this game shows the reality of when a team, in this case, LSG, playing the T20 game say in 2019, where even though they had a terrible start, they recovered well and got them to 165, which in 2019 is a very good total. But the modern level of T20 cricket was shown by the SRH batters, finishing the game in 9.3 overs and the answer we get is in flat wickets, like at the Chinnaswamy, Uppal, Delhi and Eden, a team needs to score 220+ to feel a bit save. So teams need to ensure that they need to get a flying start and their middle-order converts it into a big score and that is the only way a team can win in the IPL, where generally all wickets are flat.
So that’s it for today. It was a long one because this game was absolutely ridiculous and insane, another two adjectives to describe this batting masterclass by SRH, playing EA cricket in real life. So tomorrow it is PBKS taking on RCB, and the loser will officially be eliminated from the tournament. So stay tuned for that!
TATA IPL MATCH REVIEWS: MATCH 56: – DCvRR
Hello and a warm welcome to yet another blog on the daily match reviews on this year’s IPL. I will cover the game between the Delhi Capitals and the Rajasthan Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Sanju Samson won another toss and opted to field first in a usual high-scoring Delhi track. The DC openers were off to a flyer with Fraser-McGurk notching up a quick fifty, inside the powerplay while his partner Porel brought up his a few overs later. RR fought back with the ball, with Ashwin and Chahal keeping things tight but a late surge by Stubbs gave DC a massive 221. RR lost Jaiswal early but Buttler and Samson were playing well. Buttler fell and soon Parag, but Samson kept batting, notching a superb fifty partnership with Dubey. But the game tilted when Samson got out for his 86, and the RR middle-order once again fell apart, giving the Capitals a massive and important 20-run victory.
In another game where RR threw it in the end, it started with the fireworks of Fraser-McGurk, who is consistently providing DC with a headstart in the powerplay and DC would want him to play at his best in their remaining two games because the last one they played in Kolkata, he feel cheaply and the Capitals were restricted. So he plays that X-factor for DC. RR would be happy that finally, Ashwin had a good game, both economically and by taking 3 crucial wickets. And credit to the DC management for continuously backing Porel, because he has had a rough start to the season but his recent performances have helped DC win games. So I would describe this game which was completely in RR’s control but they faltered not only once but twice during their 222-run chase. The first one was when they were cruising after Jaiswal’s wicket, Axar and Kuldeep bowled a magical spell, taking only a wicket, but didn’t allow Samson or Parag to get two or more boundaries an over, a vital factor when a team is defending 221. The second was when Samson continued tonking the ball along with Dubey mainly because Axar had bowled out but Samson’s wicket, another controversial and nervy call, completely turned the game on its head as Pant masterfully used Kuldeep the next over because he knew that RR were under pressure and this proved to be gold as he got 2 wickets and just conceded 4 runs and these two overs completely changed the game. So RR would be disappointed they let go of another comfortable chase. Still, this win for DC makes the tournament very interesting as 4 teams are tied for 12 points and am sure there will be a dramatic end to this wonderful tournament.
So that’s it for today. Tomorrow is a highly volatile clash, maybe the most important one in the tournament so far, where the Sunrisers take on the Super Giants at Uppal. So stay tuned for that result!
TATA IPL MATCH REVIEWS: MATCH 55: – MIvSRH
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!
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!