VIVO IPL 2021, MATCH 20 SRH VS DC – MATCH REPORT

First Super-Over Finish of VIVO IPL 2021!

Delhi Capitals (DC) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a Super-Over thriller in Match 20 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

Prithvi Shaw and Kane Williamson top-scored for their respective sides but the contest turned out to be a nail-biter and it was DC, who eventually emerged victorious in a close contest.

Chasing a target of 160, SRH openers – David Warner and Jonny Bairstow – got off to a watchful start, scoring 10 in the first two overs. 

Bairstow got going and smacked a four and six each off Marcus Stoinis and then clubbed Ashwin for a maximum. However, SRH lost their skipper after he was run-out at the striker’s end in the fourth over.

Bairstow continued to take on the DC spinners and added a six and a four to his count, scoring 11 runs off the 5th over, bowled by Axar Patel.

Williamson, who had joined Bairstow in the middle after Warner’s dismissal, was up and away with two fours as well. Bairstow attacked Avesh Khan’s pace and launched it out of the ground but was dismissed on the very next ball after hitting the ball straight to Dhawan at mid-on and SRH ended the powerplay with a total of 56/2.

Virat Singh joined Williamson as SRH added only 8 runs in the next two overs, courtesy some tight bowling from DC spinners – Ashwin and Mishra.

Williamson eased off some pressure and scored consecutive fours off Mishra, with required run-rate rising up. The right-hander then hit Ashwin for a four with a well-executed reverse-sweep but Virat Singh was struggling on the other end, with SRH 80/2 at the 10-over mark.

Virat Singh’s time at the crease was put to end after Avesh scalped his second wicket of the innings, thanks to a wonderful catch by Stoinis at mid-wicket.

Kedar Jadhav and Williamson added two more fours to the boundary count but Mishra cleverly deceived Jadhav with flight and scalped a timely wicket for DC. 

The pressure was building on SRH as they required 43 off the final four overs and Axar struck twice in consecutive deliveries. Both – Abhishek Sharma and Rashid Khan – were trapped in front in the 17th over.

Vijay Shankar and the well-settled Williamson added 11 runs off Mishra’s over, with SRH requiring 28 runs off the final two.

Avesh Khan bowled the penultimate over and castled Shankar’s stumps to pick his third wicket before J Suchith smashed a six and four off the final two balls of the over. 

With 16 runs required off the final over, Suchith came to the rescue for SRH and hit Rabada for a four and a six in a thrilling finish to the game. With 2 required off the final delivery, the match was tied and went to a Super Over.

DC went ahead with Axar Patel in the Super Over against Warner and Williamson. SRH only hit one four and set a target of 8 runs after a short-run from Warner on the last delivery.

SRH chose Rashid Khan to defend 8 runs against Dhawan and Pant. The DC skipper reverse swept Rashid for a crucial four on the third delivery. With one run required off the final ball, DC squeezed in a tight run and beat SRH in the Super Over.

Earlier, DC opted to bat first and made one change – Axar Patel replaced Lalit Yadav in the eleven. Shaw started the innings in style, scoring a hat-trick of fours on the first three balls of the innings against Khaleel Ahmed.

The second over was no different after Abhishek Sharma conceded 14 runs that included three fours and Dhawan was off the mark. Shaw then attacked Siddarth Kaul’s pace and scored the first maximum of the innings.

The DC openers kept the momentum going and brought their fifty partnership up for the opening wicket as DC were 51/0 at the end of powerplay.

SRH bowled a couple of quiet overs after the powerplay but Dhawan was back on the attack after scoring consecutive fours consecutive boundaries of Suchith, who was playing his first game for SRH.

SRH brought Rashid to the attack as they were searching for the opening wicket but Shaw backed his confidence and smashed the leg-spinner over extra-cover for a four as he notched up his half-century in the 10th over, with DC 81/0.

SRH finally found the breakthrough after Rashid castled Dhawan’s stumps with a quicker one. Shaw was on his way too, in the next over after the right-hander was run-out on the non-striker’s end due to confusion with his partner and the DC skipper, Rishabh Pant.

Steve Smith and Pant built a steady partnership in the second half of the innings and kept the boundaries flowing off the bat. While Pant was playing the aggressor role, Smith was smartly rotating the strike, giving the DC skipper a majority of time in the middle.

Pant smacked a six over long-on and then creamed consecutive boundaries off Rashid Khan as DC were 127 with four overs to go.

The duo added 11 runs off the 18th over by Khaleel Ahmed, hitting two fours to the left-arm seamer but the DC skipper was on his way in the next over after the left-hander holed out into the deep off Kaul, who bowled a slower delivery.

Shimron Hetmyer got out in similar fashion in the same over but Smith smashed 14 runs off the final over off Khaleel Ahmed, with a four and a six each and powered DC to a total of 159/4.

Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 159/4 (Prithvi Shaw 53, Rishabh Pant 37; Siddarth Kaul 2/31) tied Sunrisers Hyderabad 159/7 (Kane Williamson 66*, Jonny Bairstow 38; Avesh Khan 3/34)

Super Over:

Delhi Capitals 8/0 beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 7/0

VIVO IPL 2021, MATCH 19 CSK VS RCB – MATCH REPORT

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) went to the top of the points table after a victory over the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Match 19 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

Ravindra Jadeja smashed an unbeaten 62 off 28 deliveries including 37 runs off the final over and then picked 3/13 with the ball, along with a direct-hit as CSK, after scoring 191/4, restricted RCB to 122/9 to seal a 69-run win.

In the chase, RCB openers – skipper Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal – responded confidently with a solid start and were 28/0 after the two overs.

While the RCB skipper started the innings with a four, Padikkal smacked two sixes and a four, continuing his fine form from the last game.

The left-hander then creamed three fours in an over off Deepak Chahar but RCB lost Kohli after he edged one to Dhoni off Sam Curran. Shardul Thakur then got rid of the dangerous Padikkal, who was caught inside the circle.

Maxwell started his innings with a couple of fours and joined Washington Sundar on the other end. Jadeja struck twice in his two overs, scalping the wickets of Sundar and then Maxwell.

While Sundar holed out into the deep, Maxwell was castled by Jadeja after the right-hander tried to play across the line.

There was no stopping the CSK all-rounder as a bullet throw by him wrapped things for Dan Christian, who got out for a single-digit score.

In the very next over, Jadeja bamboozled AB de Villiers with a beauty, deceiving the right-hander with flight that went on to hit the stumps.

Imran Tahir joined the wicket-taking party after he dismissed Harshal Patel and Navdeep Saini and RCB were reduced to 94-8 at the end of 14 overs. While the leg-spinner disturbed the timber to dismiss Patel, Saini edged it to Raina at slips.

Kyle Jamieson smacked a six off Bravo in the 16th over but was on his way, courtesy a successful direct-hit from Imran Tahir.

Siraj and Chahal continued taking the singles and remained unbeaten at the end, carrying RCB to 122/9 at the end of 20 overs.

Earlier, CSK opted to bat first, with both sides making two changes each – Bravo and Tahir replaced Moeen Ali and Lungi Ngidi – while Christian and Saini replaced Kane Richardson and Shahbaz Ahmed in their respective sides.

Openers – Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis found it difficult to attack initially and RCB seamers started well with the new ball. But, it didn’t take too long for du Plessis to hit the first maximum after he came down the track to Mohammed Siraj, followed by a four by Ruturaj, who hit the ball in similar fashion.

du Plessis then creamed two fours off Jamieson in the fourth over and CSK were off to a fine start.  Ruturaj added two more fours on the other end as CSK finished the powerplay, scoring 51 without losing a wicket.

Ruturaj then attacked Chahal and smacked his first six, straight down the ground. CSK openers continued playing the aggressive shots in the middle overs but RCB finally found the breakthrough after Ruturaj tried to slog Chahal but was caught in the deep.

Raina came in at number 3 and was straightaway on the move after he smacked a maximum each against Chahal and Sundar along with a four off Christian as CSK brought their 100 up in the 13th over that was bowled by Saini, who conceded 13 runs, including a six from Raina. 

While du Plessis reached his half century, Harshal Patel struck twice in the same over, scalping the wickets of Raina and du Plessis, both getting caught in the deep.

The two new batsmen – Jadeja and Ambati Rayudu counter-attacked and stitched a quick partnership as RCB misfielded on a couple of occasions. Jadeja hit two fours while Rayudu hit one out of the ground in the 16th over by Jamieson, who conceded 17 runs. 

Siraj conceded only 6 runs in the next over and bowled excellently. Harshal took advantage of that pressure and dismissed Rayudu, who tried to clear the boundary.

Jadeja finished off in grand style, that too off the bowling of Harshal and completely changed the course of the game, smashing 37 runs off the final over, clobbering five sixes and one four as CSK finished the innings with a commanding total of 191/4 on board. 

Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings: 191/4 (Ravindra Jadeja 62*, Faf du Plessis 50; Harshal Patel 3/51) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 122/9 (Devdutt Padikkal 34, Glenn Maxwell 22; Ravindra Jadeja 3/13) by 69 runs. 

VIVO IPL 2021, MATCH 18 RR VS KKR – MATCH REPORT

Rajasthan Royals (RR) returned to winning ways after a victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 18 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.

Chris Morris shone with the ball with figures of 4/23 before skipper Sanju Samson led from the front with the bat and helped RR register a convincing victory over KKR.

Chasing a target of 134, RR had a new opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was brought into the team, replacing Manan Vohra, and Jos Buttler in the middle.

Jaiswal started confidently and scored consecutive fours off Pat Cummins in the second over and later took on Shivam Mavi to produce the same result.

Varun Chakaravarthy was given the ball in the third over and the spinner trapped Buttler in front to provide an early breakthrough for KKR. Sanju Samson was off the mark with a four and joined Jaiswal, who was striking the ball well.

However, the left-handed opener played one into the hands of deep-cover and was back to the pavilion after Mavi struck in the fifth over.  

Shivam Dube, who joined the skipper, smacked a six in the final over of powerplay as RR finished with 50-2 after 6 overs.

Dube and Samson added some crucial runs in the middle and didn’t shy away from playing the big shots. The duo smacked a six each and the required run-rate dipped below six at the end of nine overs, with RR at 77/2.

Chakaravarthy came back to bowl the 11th over and broke the 45-run stand after Dube found a leading edge that flew into the hands of the short-third man. 

RR were searching for boundaries in the middle over and the pressure got the better of Rahul Tewatia as the left-hander was caught at fine-leg after trying to take on Prasidh Krishna.

KKR pacers – Mavi and Prasidh Krishna – were bowling their heart out and kept the pressure on Samson and David Miller as RR took the chase deep, with 21 required off the final four overs.

Miller took the pressure off the RR skipper and took charge of finishing the innings for RR, with Sanju smartly rotating the strike on the other end.

Miller and Samson finished the chase with a clear and calm intent as RR reached the target in the penultimate over, with six wickets in hand.

Earlier, KKR, who made one change to their playing XI – bringing in Shivam Mavi in place of Kamlesh Nagarkoti, were put in to bat first.

KKR openers Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill were watchful at the start against the two left-armers – Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya, scoring 14 in the first three overs. 

Gill hit a four in the fourth over and was given a life off Mustafizur Rahman’s bowling after the right-hander was dropped on 6 by Jasiwal.

RR were right on the money with the new ball and the pressure they applied helped them to scalp a wicket.

Gill tried to sneak in a single in the 6th over but Jos Buttler’s sharp fielding inside the circle denied a run to the opener and his excellent direct-hit sent Gill was on his way, with KKR 25-1 at the end of powerplay.

Rahul Tripathi, who came in at 3, was off the mark with a four while Rana finished the over in style with a six off Unadkat.

Rana tried to go hard and up the scoring rate in the 9th over but ended up edging the ball back to the keeper as Sakariya picked his first wicket of the innings.

KKR sent Narine in at 4 to increase the scoring rate through his fearless shots. The left-hander hit a four but was soon on his way after he top-edged a slower delivery by Unadkat to Yashasvi Jaiswal, who redeemed himself with a blinder. 

Not much later, KKR skipper Eoin Morgan was run out in an unfortunate manner following a bit of miscommunication with his partner Tripathi as KKR lost their fourth wicket.

Tripathi smacked two sixes and was going strong on one end as Dinesh Karthik joined him. KKR were striking a tad over 6, with five overs to go after Karthik hit two fours.

Mustafizur was back with his slow cutters and the left-armer scalped an important wicket of the well-settled Tripathi who holed out in the deep after scoring.

KKR smashed 12 runs off the 17th over by Sakariya, who overstepped and conceded a four off a free-hit followed by a couple of wide deliveries.

Morris scalped two wickets in the eighteenth over. First, he got the better of Andre Russell, who just started to explode, and then the wicket of Karthik as both the batsmen couldn’t clear the fielders at long-on and extra-cover respectively. 

After 9 runs coming in the penultimate over, Pat Cummins started the final over with a maximum. However, Morris added two more wickets to his tally with his impressive bowling. Cummins hit straight to Riyan Parag while Shivam Mavi was castled off the final delivery as KKR ended with a total of 133/9.

Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 134/4 (Sanju Samson 42*, David Miller 24; Varun Chakaravarthy 2/32) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 133/9 (Rahul Tripathi 36, Dinesh Karthik 25; Chris Morris 4/23) by 6 wickets.

VIVO IPL 2021, MATCH 17 PBKS VS MI – MATCH REPORT

Punjab Kings (PBKS) returned to winning ways in the tournament after a victory over the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 17 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday.

After the bowlers restricted MI to 131/6, a captain’s knock from KL Rahul guided PBKS to a 9-wicket victory.

Chasing 132, the PBKS openers – Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul – got to a flier after Krunal Pandya was asked to bowl the second over with the new ball.

PBKS skipper started the second over with two fours while Agarwal finished it with a remarkable extra-cover lofted shot for six. Rahul then pulled Bumrah in the next over for a six over fine-leg.

Mayank smashed 12 runs off the fourth over by Trent Boult with a couple of fours and PBKS were on the move as they raced to 45/0 at the end of powerplay.

The fifty-run partnership was up for the opening wicket and the chase was going smoothly for the PBKS.

It was Rahul Chahar again who turned out to be the solution to MI’s worries as the leg-spinner dismissed Agarwal after the right-hander was caught in the deep.

Punjab Kings were 62/1 and MI capitalised on the breakthrough by adding pressure with spinners Chahar and Jayant Yadav, who kept things tight from both ends.

Gayle got going for PBKS and was taking calculated risks against the MI spinners as he struck three boundaries.

Rahul then attacked a loose delivery from Pollard and hit a flat six over fine-leg while Gayle smacked his first six of the innings against Jayant Yadav in the next over. 

The ask for PBKS was run-a-ball with 9 wickets in hand and four overs to go. Bumrah conceded only seven runs in the next over.

The Punjab Kings skipper then brought up his half-century and both Gayle and Rahul smashed a six each off Boult in the 17th over. Rahul finished the chase in style with a four as PBKS successfully chased down the target with 14 balls to spare.

Earlier, MI, who were put in to bat first, remained unchanged from their previous game against Delhi Capitals. They were in early trouble after Quinton de Kock was caught inside the circle in the second over off Deepak Hooda.

PBKS put MI to the backfoot with the new ball and didn’t allow them any opportunities to score until the 5th over before the MI skipper put a full-toss away for four. At the end of powerplay, MI were restricted to 21/1.

Ravi Bishnoi was introduced to the attack and the right-arm spinner got Ishan Kishan out with a googly after the left-hander edged one to Rahul behind the stumps.

MI skipper, who was joined by Suryakumar Yadav, then creamed two fours off the first two balls of Fabian Allen in the eighth over.

While Bishnoi was bowling tight lines from one end, Rohit continued attacking Allen as he cleared the ropes for a maximum and MI were 49-2 at the 10-over mark.

Rohit then took on Hooda to produce the same result. Surya joined the party with a four and a six each off his blade as the fifty partnership was up between the two.

Rohit notched up his first fifty of the season in style with a four and Surya continued to bat with freedom, with MI scoring 12 off the 14th over by Bishnoi.

The 100 was up for MI, with five overs remaining in the innings and the well-established duo of Rohit-Surya was ready to accelerate.

Bishnoi was back to bowl the 17th over of the innings and broke the dangerous partnership after Surya mistimed a reverse-sweep that went straight to the hands of Chris Gayle. 

PBKS then got rid of MI skipper after Rohit was caught in the deep by Allen off Shami.

Pollard, who was the next man in, clubbed a six on the first ball of the penultimate over by Arshdeep Singh. However, the left-arm pacer found success in the same over after scalping the wicket of Hardik Pandya, who was holed out into the deep.

Shami bowled an excellent last over, conceding only 6 runs as well as found a breakthrough in form of Krunal Pandya as MI put 131/6 on the board in the first innings.

Brief Scores: Punjab Kings 132/1 (KL Rahul 60*, Chris Gayle 43*; Rahul Chahar 1/19) beat Mumbai Indians 131/6 (Rohit Sharma 63, Suryakumar Yadav 33; Ravi Bishnoi 2/21, Mohammad Shami 2/21) by 9 wickets

VIVO IPL 2021, MATCH 16 RCB VS RR – MATCH REPORT

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) continued their winning run with an emphatic victory over the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 16 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.

Devdutt Padikkal slammed his first IPL hundred while skipper Virat Kohli scored a remarkable 72* as RCB dominated in the truest form, chasing the target of 177 with 21 balls to spare and ten wickets in hand against RR.

Chasing a total of 178, RCB openers – Kohli and Padikkal – got off to a solid start.

Kohli smacked a six down the ground to get off the mark after RR opened the bowling with Shreyas Gopal. The leg-spinner was then hit for two fours by Padikkal and conceded ten runs after he was back to bowl the third over.

The RCB duo also put Chris Morris under pressure and scored 15 off the fourth over. Padikkal started the over with two fours and Kohli ended the over in style, producing the same result. 

Padikkal capitalised further and it was Mustafizur Rahman,  who was at the receiving end, conceding 10 runs. The left-handed opener finished the powerplay in style with a maximum as RCB raced off to 59/0 at the end of six overs.

RCB smashed 48 runs in the next four overs and it was Padikkal, who owned the explosion for RCB in the middle overs. He slammed his fifty in style with a boundary off Riyan Parag and then hit the spinner for a maximum straight over the head to end the over.

The very next over saw Padikkal smash consecutive sixes off Rahul Tewatia’s bowling followed by yet another maximum off the left-handers bat in the 10th over as the hundred partnership was up for the opening wicket.

Kohli took charge of the hitting after the ten-over mark and was dealing in boundaries, which also included a lofted six over long-off off the bowling of Morris.

Not only did Kohli notch-up his first half-century of the season, he also became the first batsman to score 6000 runs in IPL.

The RCB skipper then hammered Shreyas Gopal for two fours and a six as the Royal Challengers were closing in to the total without losing any wickets.

With just eight runs required off the final four overs, Padikkal ended the chase in style with a top-class century that proved to be the icing on the cake for RCB as they chased down the total, without losing any wicket.

Earlier, RR, who were put in to bat, made one change – Shreyas Gopal replaced Jaydev Unadkat in the playing XI.

Jos Buttler struck two fours towards the leg side in the very first over off Mohammed Siraj. Manan Vohra opened his account with a four against Kyle Jamieson at the other end after the right-arm pacer troubled the opener with bounce.

However, Siraj found an early breakthrough after he disturbed the timber to dismiss Buttler.

RR then lost the wickets of Manan Vohra and David Miller in the next two overs and were in early trouble. Vohra lofted the ball in the air but didn’t find the required distance to clear mid-on as Jamieson found his first wicket.

Siraj then scalped his second wicket with a toe-crushing yorker that surprised Miller after the left-hander was trapped in front and RR were 32/3 at the end of 6 overs.

RR skipper Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube were the two new batsmen in the middle. Samson smacked Sundar for a maximum after RR were struggling with the scoring rate. However, the right-hander fell to a soft dismissal and was caught by Maxwell inside the circle in the same over.

The breakthrough didn’t affect Dube’s approach as the left-hander scored 19 off the Chahal over that included two huge sixes and a four.

Dube then attacked Kane Richardson, creaming two fours off the right-arm pacer and RR were back on the track with 81/4 after 11 overs.  

The next over went for 15 runs as Harshal Patel conceded 3 fours in his first over of the innings and Riyan Parag was playing a good hand, supporting the well-settled Dube.

The Dube-Riyan Parag pair completed a fifty-run partnership. But the right-hander tried scooping Harshal Patel, only to find an edge that carried to Chahal at third-man.

Rahul Tewatia came to the crease with an aggressive mindset and was off the mark with a maximum over the fine-leg fielder. The left-hander added two more fours to the total and RR were in a strong position approaching towards the business end of the innings.

RCB however got the timely wicket of Dube after Maxwell took a brilliant catch in the outfield to dismiss the left-hander, who fell four short of his fifty. 

RR reached to the 150-run mark in the 18th over with Chris Morris and a well settled Tewatia at the crease. Morris hit his first six, courtesy a full toss from Jamieson.     

Tewatia was striking it clean as he smashed Siraj for a four and six each before the right-arm pacer got the better of the left-hander and ended his fine knock of 40(23).

Patel added two more wickets to his tally after he got rid of Morris and Chetan Sakariya in two deliveries. A six at the end from Shreyas Gopal helped RR post 177-9 on the board.

Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 181/0 (Devdutt Padikkal 101*, Virat Kohli 72*) beat Rajasthan Royals 177/9 (Shivam Dube 46, Rahul Tewatia 40; Mohammed Siraj 3/27) by 10 wickets.

VIVO IPL 2021, MATCH 15 KKR VS CSK – MATCH REPORT

What a thriller we have had at Wankhede!

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) registered their third successive win after overcoming a spirited Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) unit in Match 15 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Faf du Plessis scored an unbeaten 95 while Deepak Chahar picked 4/29 as CSK held their nerves against KKR in a run-fest.  

Chasing a mammoth target of 221, KKR didn’t get the desired start. They lost Shubman Gill in the first over after the right-hander produced a thick edge that travelled straight to the third-man, giving Chahar his first wicket of the match.

Nitish Rana creamed two boundaries before he made his way back to the pavilion. The left-hander hit the ball in the air and the CSK skipper MS Dhoni safely collected the ball as Chahar picked his second wicket.

The right-arm pacer was back to bowl the fifth over and struck twice to get the big wicket of KKR skipper Eoin Morgan and then of Sunil Narine. While Morgan edged one to Dhoni, Narine was dismissed to a sensational catch from Ravindra Jadeja in the circle.

With 31/4 after 5 overs and Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik at the crease, KKR batsmen had no options but back their natural abilities in order to get close to the steep target.

Russell started the exploits in the sixth over after the right-hander smashed two fours and a six off Ngidi and gave a hint of what’s coming next in the upcoming overs.

Karthik also didn’t hold back and smashed Chahar for a massive six in the eighth over followed by a four off Jadeja.

Russell then hammered 24 runs off the ninth over bowled by Shardul Thakur where the West-Indian all-rounder tonked three sixes and a four as KKR moved to 97/5 after the end of 10 overs.

The Karthik-Russell duo then added 14 off the Jadeja over and with Russell taking advantage of the free-hit with a gigantic six and notching up his half century in style, off just 21 deliveries.

Sam Curran returned into the attack in the 12th over and put an anticlimactic end to the Russell show after the right-hander was bowled around his legs. Karthik though carried on the hustle and hit a four and a six in the same over.

Pat Cummins, who had replaced Russell in the middle, was on the move and was dealing in boundaries from the other end but Karthik got dismissed after he completely misjudged the slower delivery from Ngidi and was out LBW.

However, Cummins had his plans in place and scored 30 runs off the 16th over by Curran that included four sixes and a four in the cleanest form of striking the ball.

Ngidi, who bowled the 17th over of the innings scalped the wicket of Kamlesh Nagarkoti before Cummins reached his half-century in 23 balls.

With 28 required off the final two, Cummins started the over with a maximum but lost yet another partner in an attempt to take a double as KKR lost their ninth wicket.

KKR required 20 off the final over. CSK, on the very first delivery completed a run-out on the non-striker’s end and managed to defend the total in the end. 

Earlier, CSK were put in to bat first and made one change to their XI – Lungi Ngidi played in place of Dwayne Bravo.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis started on a confident note and smashed 15 runs off the second over by Pat Cummins. du Plessis began the over with a four while Ruturaj smashed a four and six each.  

The opening duo didn’t let the KKR spinners – Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine settle with the new ball.

The fifty partnership was up for the opening wicket and both du Plessis and Ruturaj made full use of the pace and lightning-quick outfield at Wankhede as CSK were 54/0 at the end of 6 overs.

Ruturaj welcomed Russell to the crease with a glorious pull over deep mid-wicket that went for a maximum and closed the over with a four, played in the same fashion.

CSK were going strong at the end of the ten-over mark, scoring 82 runs without losing any wicket.

They hammered 16 runs off Kamlesh Nagarkoti, who was bowling his first over of the game after Ruturaj cleared the ropes twice with his hard-hitting and completed an impressive fifty off just 33 deliveries.

The next-over was even better for the batting side after Prasidh Krishna overstepped twice and gave away 17 runs that included a four and a six, courtesy Ruturaj’s brilliant striking.

Chakravarthy came in to bowl the final over of his spell and got the breakthrough that KKR were looking for. Ruturaj’s fine knock of 64 off 42 deliveries ended after the right-hander played it straight to the hands of Cummins, who took a sharp catch in the outfield.

Meanwhile, du Plessis brought up his half-century with a four and was joined by Moeen Ali with CSK eying a big total.

Cummins then gave away 14 runs and the pressure levels were up for the KKR. Moeen and du Plessis then smacked a six and a four each off the bowling of Prasidh Krishna in the next over.

Moeen then took on Narine for a four and six in the first two deliveries before Narine got the better of the left-hander who was stumped on the next delivery.   

CSK skipper MS Dhoni promoted himself up the order and hit two fours and a six before du Plessis creamed three fours in a row to Russell in the penultimate over. KKR found success in the 19th over, thanks to a sensational catch from KKR skipper, Eoin Morgan to get the wicket of Dhoni.

CSK finished in grand fashion after du Plessis smashed two sixes while Jadeja cleared the ropes on the final ball of the innings as CSK put 220/3 on the board.

Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 220/3 (Faf du Plessis 95*, Ruturaj Gaikwad 64; Varun Chakravarthy 1/27) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 202 all out (Pat Cummins 66*, Andre Russell 54; Deepak Chahar 4/29) by 18 runs.

VIVO IPL 2021, MATCH 14 PBKS VS SRH – MATCH REPORT

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) claimed their first victory of the season after comprehensively beating the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Match 14 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the M. A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday.

Jonny Bairstow top-scored with the bat and successfully led the SRH chase after PBKS were bundled for 120, thanks to Khaleel Ahmed’s impressive figures of 3/21. 

Chasing a target of 121, openers David Warner and Bairstow got off to a solid start to their innings. PBKS started early with spinner Fabian Allen, who was hit for four and a six by Bairstow in the second over.

The right-hander then flicked Mohammad Shami for a four in the next over before Warner played the cut off the seamer to produce the same result.

All-rounder Moises Henriques was greeted with a maximum by Bairstow, who took full advantage of the loosener. Warner scored 10 runs off Arshdeep Singh in the 6th over to bring up the fifty partnership for the opening wicket and SRH were 50/0 at the end of powerplay.

The opening duo played out a couple of quiet overs bowled by PBKS spinners, who conceded only sixteen runs in the next 3 overs.

Warner hit his first six of the innings against Deepak Hooda over extra-cover as SRH were 73 for no loss at the end of ten overs.

PBKS finally found their first breakthrough after Allen got rid of the SRH skipper, who holed out to deep in the 11th over which was a wicket-maiden.

Kane Williamson, who joined Bairstow in the middle, kept rotating the strike with the opener. While the boundaries weren’t coming off the bat, the required run-rate was less than 6 for SRH.

The 100 was up for SRH in the 16th over and they were closing in to the target comfortably without having to take any risks.

Murugan Ahswin continued bowling tight lengths and conceded only 4 runs in the 17th.

Bairstow brought up his fifty in style with a four off Hooda and further smacked Arshdeep for a maximum with a clean strike as SRH chased down the total in the 19th over with 8 balls to spare.

Earlier, PBKS decided to bat first on a dry Chennai surface and made two changes as Allen and Henriques made their PBKS debuts.

Agarwal, who opened alongside PBKS skipper KL Rahul, got an early life after Rashid Khan spilled the right-hander’s catch in the deep in the first over as the PBKS got off to a watchful start.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck early for SRH and bagged the important wicket of KL Rahul, who was caught inside the circle.

Agarwal and Chris Gayle got PBKS to 32/1, scoring below 6 runs an over at the end of powerplay as Bhuvneshwar bowled 3 overs on the trot, inside the powerplay.

Agarwal fell right after the powerplay, in similar fashion to KL Rahul after Rashid took a sharp catch at mid-wicket and made up for his earlier drop.

PBKS lost yet another wicket to an excellent piece of fielding from SRH after a direct-hit from Warner ran Nicholas Pooran out. The left-hander was dismissed without facing a delivery.

Things went from bad to worse for PBKS after Gayle was trapped in front by Rashid, reducing them 53/4 at the end of the 10-over mark. 

Shahrukh Khan and Moises Henriques added 19 runs between them. But Abhishek Sharma ended the partnership to pick up his second wicket of the innings after Henriques was stumped in an attempt to clear the ropes. 

PBKS crossed the 100-run mark in the 17th over and Shahrukh added some vital runs to the total but SRH picked their seventh wicket of the innings after Allen was dismissed after Warner, at extra-cover, took an athletic catch. 

In the penultimate over, Shahrukh tried to go big against Khaleel but was caught in the deep by Abhishek, who completed a simple catch. PBKS lost their final two wickets in the 20th over and were bundled out for 120. First, Murugan Ashwin nicked one to the keeper off Siddarth Kaul’s bowling and then Shami was run out on the final delivery of the innings. 

Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 121/1 (Jonny Bairstow 63*, David Warner 37; Fabian Allen 1/22) beat Punjab Kings 120 all out (Shahrukh Khan 22, Mayank Agarwal 22; Khaleel Ahmed 3/21) by 9 wickets.

VIVO IPL 2021, MATCH 13 DC VS MI – MATCH REPORT

Delhi Capitals (DC) registered their second consecutive victory in the season after beating the Mumbai Indians (MI) by six wickets in Match 13 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the M. A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.

Amit Mishra scalped four important wickets while Shikhar Dhawan led from the top with the bat to get DC over the line against MI. 

DC, who were chasing a target of 138, made two changes from the previous game, bringing in Shimron Hetmyer and Mishra.

In the very first over, Dhawan survived a close call despite a stunning fielding effort from Hardik Pandya in the covers.

MI though got an early wicket in form of Prithvi Shaw after the right-hander was caught and bowled by Jayant Yadav in the second over.

Dhawan, who was joined by Steve Smith in the middle, carried his rich form into the innings and built a steady partnership with the right-hander.

The duo denied MI an additional wicket in the powerplay and DC finished with 39-1 at the end of six overs.

Both Dhawan and Smith kept rotating the strike and refrained to play risky shots, keeping the target in mind.

Smith creamed two fours off Krunal Pandya in the ninth over and brought up the fifty partnership along with Dhawan for the second wicket.

Kieron Pollard, who bowled the 11th over of the innings, provided the all-important breakthrough of Smith after the right-hander was trapped in front for 33.

Dhawan continued playing with confidence, hitting two fours in the next two overs as he was joined by Lalit Yadav, who kept rotating the strike.

While MI didn’t strike in the middle overs, they kept mounting the pressure on Dhawan and Yadav as DC required 48 off 36.

Dhawan smashed a four and six respectively on the first two deliveries off Rahul Chahar’s bowling but the leg-spinner bounced back with a wicket after the DC opener was caught in the deep to a good low-catch by Krunal Pandya.

DC skipper, Rishabh Pant was the next man to get out as Bumrah’s slower delivery did the trick. The left-hander was dismissed after hitting one four as DC required 22 off the last three overs.

Shimron Hetmyer, who joined Yadav in the middle, got off the mark with a four as DC were closing in to the target. Bumrah conceded ten runs in the penultimate over after overstepping twice as DC required 5 in the last over.

Hetmyer kept his calm and chased down the total with a crucial four after Pollard bowled the final over of the innings.

Earlier, MI opted to bowl first on a dry wicket in Chennai and made one change – Jayant replaced Adam Milne in the playing XI. 

Marcus Stoinis handled the new ball responsibility very well and got an early wicket for DC after de Kock edged one to the wicketkeeper and walked back to the pavilion. 

But the MI skipper and Suryakumar Yadav struck 3 fours and a six between them as they backed their aggression and took on Ashwin’s bowling variations.

They further attacked Rabada’s pace and brought up 14 runs off the fifth over. While Surya played with soft hands for four, Rohit smacked the pacer down the ground for a maximum.

Surya struck two boundaries in the sixth over off Amit Mishra as MI were 55-1 at the end of powerplay.

Rohit was dealing in boundaries but Surya on the other end nicked one to Pant and Avesh Khan broke the 58-run stand, scalping his first wicket.

Amit Mishra came in to bowl the ninth over that started MI’s collapse. The leg-spinner picked the well-settled Rohit and Hardik Pandya in one over after both right-handers holed out to Smith at long-on.

MI were 78-4 at the 10-over mark before Lalit Yadav struck as Krunal Pandya chopped one on to his stumps. DC spinners continued their good work against the MI batsmen as Mishra scalped his third wicket, trapping Kieron Pollard before the wickets for 2. 

Ishan Kishan was joined by Jayant Yadav out in the middle as they formed a steady partnership and brought MI to 101-6 at the end of 15 overs.

Kishan brought an end to the boundary drought and went down the ground for a maximum off Ashwin in the 16th over. Both Kishan and Jayant Yadav added useful 39 runs before Mishra bagged his fourth wicket of the innings and brought an end to Kishan’s stay in the crease.

Rabada dismissed Jayant Yadav in the penultimate over while Avesh Khan got the better of Rahul Chahar in the final over as MI ended their innings with a total of 137-9. 

Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 138/4 (Shikhar Dhawan 45, Steve Smith 33; Kieron Pollard 1/9) beat Mumbai Indians 137/9 (Rohit Sharma 44, Ishan Kishan 26; Amit Mishra 4/24) by 6 wickets.

VIVO IPL 2021, MATCH 12 CSK VS RR – MATCH REPORT

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) registered their second consecutive victory in the season after beating Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 45 runs in Match 12 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.

Moeen Ali starred with the ball while Ravindra Jadeja grabbed 4 catches, adding to his two crucial breakthroughs that powered CSK to a comprehensive win over RR.

Chasing a target of 189, RR openers Manan Vohra and Jos Buttler got off to a solid start, scoring 11 runs off Deepak Chahar in the first over before Sam Curran bowled a tight second over.

Vohra then took on a short one and deposited Curran for a maximum before the right-hander holed out to deep mid-wicket, providing CSK their first breakthrough in the fourth over.

Buttler on the other end, played fearless shots and attacked the pace of Chahar straight down the ground, with a four and a six off the wicketkeeper batsman’s blade.

However, Curran managed to get the RR skipper Sanju Samson out cheaply with a slower one as RR ended their powerplay with a total of 45/2 on board.

Shivam Dube joined Buttler at the crease and the duo steadily played the middle-overs, with Buttler playing the aggressor role. The right-hander put away Jadeja’s deliveries for two fours and later smacked a six off a free-hit.

RR were placed at 81/2 at the 10-over mark and that’s when the game turned around completely in CSK’s favour.

It all started with Jadeja castling Buttler’s stumps that landed in the perfect stop as the right-hander fell one short of a fifty. The CSK all-rounder then trapped Dube in front, in the same over.

David Miller, who was the hero of RR’s previous game, could only score 2 runs this time around after Moeen Ali got the left-hander out for LBW.

The right-arm spinner then picked two wickets in the 15th over, with both dismissals almost identical to each other. Riyan Parag and Chris Morris tried to launch Ali out of the park but ended up handing it straight to Jadeja at deep mid-wicket. 

With the pressure of chasing a big total, RR collapsed in no time and lost vital wickets in the middle-overs, slipping to 95/7. 

Rahul Tewatia (20) and Jaydev Unadkat (24) helped RR recover to a certain extent and smashed 3 sixes between them before becoming victims of the slower balls by Bravo and Shardul Thakur respectively as CSK sealed a win. 

Earlier, CSK, who were put in to bat, and RR remained unchanged after securing victories in their respective games.

Openers Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad got off to a watchful start against the left-arm quicks Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya, before du Plessis charged down and cleared the ropes in the second over against Sakariya.

Ruturaj looked rusty against the pace variations of Mustafizur Rahman and was dismissed after top-edging one to extra cover as the left-armer scalped his first wicket of the match, providing an early breakthrough for RR.

du Plessis wasn’t affected with the wicket though as he brought his paddle-scoop into display and smashed three fours and a six off Unadkat, scoring 19 off the fifth over.

Chris Morris was brought on to bowl the final over of the powerplay and the pacer brought an end to du Plessis’ dangerous knock after the latter sliced it to Riyan Parag in the outfield.   

CSK were placed at 46-2 at the end of powerplay. Moeen Ali continued his rich form and clobbered 2 sixes early in his innings, playing with full freedom.

The left-hander tried to further damage RR’s bowling after adding 33 runs with Suresh Raina but ended up mistiming a wider delivery from Rahul Tewatia that brought an end to the left-hander’s innings.

Ambati Rayudu joined Raina at the crease and the duo went after the part-timer Riyan Parag, smashing two sixes each and brought up 16 off the eleventh over. The result was no different in the next over after the right-hander smacked Tewatia for consecutive sixes.

Sakariya came back to bowl the 14th over and shifted the momentum back to RR after scalping two wickets with both Rayudu and Raina looking to go big against the left-arm seamer.

RR managed to add some pressure after the double-wicket over and forced CSK to play a quiet couple of overs. CSK skipper MS Dhoni smacked two boundaries before Sakariya dismissed the wicketkeeper-batsman and scalped his third wicket of the innings.

Jadeja was dismissed in the very next over and Morris bagged his second wicket of the innings. Although RR picked wickets at the death, Dwayne Bravo played an entertaining cameo, scoring 20 off only 8 balls and helped CSK finish with a flourish with a total of 188/9. 

Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 188/9 (Faf du Plessis 33, Ambati Rayudu 27; Chetan Sakariya 3/36) beat Rajasthan Royals 143/9 (Jos Buttler 49, Jaydev Unadkat 24; Moeen Ali 3/7) by 45 runs. 

VIVO IPL 2021, MATCH 11 DC VS PBKS – MATCH REPORT

Delhi Capitals (DC) bounced back with a victory after beating the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Match 11 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

Shikhar Dhawan’s magnificent 92(49) at the top helped DC edge out PBKS as they chased down the target of 196 in a run-fest at Wankhede.

In the chase, the DC openers got off to the desired start, with Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw taking on the new ball and adding 21 runs in the first two overs.

Shaw took charge of the attack as he lofted Mohammad Shami for a six over long-on in the second over. The DC openers then hit a couple of fours off Jalaj Saxena, who came in to bowl the third over.

DC were going at over 10 runs per over at the start and Shaw went after the length deliveries of Jhye Richardson as he flicked the pacer towards the leg side for four and then lofted him over long-off for maximum.

It was then time for Dhawan to exhibit his range of shots after hitting Shami for three fours in an over. PBKS got rid of the dangerous Shaw and the short ball did the trick for Arshdeep Singh as the right-hander edged one to Gayle at square-leg.

Steve Smith joined Dhawan in the middle as the two worked around the ball and played out a couple of quiet overs, with Deepak Hooda and Saxena bowling from each ends.

Dhawan then broke the shackles and hit two consecutive fours off Hooda before notching up a half-century. In the 10th over, he launched a maximum off Richardson as DC moved to 99/1 at the halfway stage of the chase.

Riley Meredith’s short ball did the trick for PBKS, as he dismissed Steve Smith for 9.

Dhawan carried his rhythm and accelerated by smashing Shami over long-on for a six and then creamed three fours in a row off Meredith in the 14th over, helping DC score 18 runs in that over.  

Rishabh Pant joined the party and smashed his first six of the game before Richardson brought an end to Dhawan’s fine knock of 92 after the DC batsman played a premeditated shot to a delivery that crashed into the stumps.

DC got close to the target but the job was yet to be done as they required 36 off the final four overs.  

Shami bowled a long 17th over that included a front-foot no ball followed by a delivery that was above waist height.

Stoinis made full use of the free hits, hitting two fours and a six to bring up 20 off the over.

However, Richardson scalped his second wicket in form of the DC skipper, who miscued the shot that went straight to Hooda at long-on, who took a juggling catch.

Lalit Yadav, who walked out to bat after Pant’s fall, supported Stonis with 2 boundaries after the latter finished the run-chase in style with a boundary and DC chased the total of 195.

Earlier, PBKS, who were put in to bat first, were off to a flying start after Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul took on the debutant Lukman Meriwala in the second over and scored 20 off the left-arm pacer, smashing three boundaries and a six, courtesy a free hit that pushed the PBKS openers to accelerate early on.

Mayank then creamed two consecutive boundaries off Chris Woakes and backed his shots with solid timing.

The 50-run stand was up for the opening wicket and the Mayank-Rahul duo was striking the boundaries in plenty on a belter of a wicket, scoring at nearly ten runs per over at the end of the powerplay.

Regardless of the surface, PBKS batting got even easier because of the number of easy-scoring opportunities offered by the DC bowlers, right from the start.

R Ashwin and Lalit Yadav couldn’t make a difference in the middle overs and with the foundation that was set for the Punjab Kings, they were eying a huge total.

Mayank brought his fifty with a four with an edge over the keeper’s head off Avesh Khan, who bowled his first over of the innings and DC were 94/0 at the 10-over mark.

Mayank and Rahul were dealing in boundaries at the Wankhede as the 100 partnership was up for the opening wicket as well for PBKS.

The eleventh over of the innings saw Mayank and Rahul hammer Kagiso Rabada for three sixes in an over with three quality strokes that cleared the ropes with ease, thanks to Rabada’s pace and the DC pacer was under the pump.

Avesh Khan on the other end, bowled tight lengths and had Shaw held onto a sharp catch, he would have dismissed KL Rahul.

Meriwala came back to bowl the 13th over of the innings and provided the all-important breakthrough as Mayank chipped a catch straight to Dhawan at deep point and got out for 69 (36). 

KL Rahul, on the other end, slammed a half-century and continued with his superb batting, hitting Avesh Khan for a boundary and a six in the 15th over. However, the right-hander got out for 61 in the next over as Rabada gave DC their second wicket.

Deepak Hooda, walked in next, smashed the first ball that was aimed at his ribs, for a maximum.

Woakes, who bowled the 17th over, ended up overstepping and paid full price for it as Chris Gayle sliced the free-hit over the ropes. However, on the very next delivery, the West Indian left-hander couldn’t connect the slower ball and gave away a simple catch at covers. 

Hooda continued with his explosive shots against Avesh Khan but DC got yet another breakthrough in form of Nicholas Pooran.

The last over of the innings, bowled by Woakes, went for 16 runs, courtesy Shahrukh Khan, who played a nice cameo with 2 fours and a six as the Punjab Kings posted 195/4 on board.

Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals (Shikhar Dhawan 92, Prithvi Shaw 32; Jhye Richardson 2/41) beat Punjab Kings 195/4 (Mayank Agarwal 69, KL Rahul 61; Lukman Meriwala 1/32) by 6 wickets

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