Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni's changes in the order of playing XI helped his team to score a 13-run victory over Delhi Daredevils. It all started with Dhoni’s decision to make four changes to the playing XI. While Faf du Plessis, who was drafted in to open the batting with Shane Watson blunted out Delhi pace attack, pacer Mohammed Asif in place of Shardul Thakur accounted for the dangerous DD openers Prithvi Shaw and Colin Munro. After Watson and Du Plessis put up 102 for the first wicket, it was Dhoni’s magical finishing touch that took the game away from Delhi. When Dhoni had walked in, CSK were 130-3 but he had the company of in-form ‘opener’ Ambati Rayudu. The two launched a brutal assault on the Delhi attack in the finishing stages and the likes of Boult just didn’t know where to hide. The Kiwi pacer who was looking impressive till then went for three sixes and once the score soared to 211-4, there was no looking back. Delhi’s only hope was Powerplay, but there too, Dhoni’s tactical changes stifled the visitors.
Sunrisers batsmen fail to strike
Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers once again proved lethal and defended yet another low score against Rajasthan Royals at Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Sunday. After setting a target of 152, SRH bowlers applied the choke on the Royals with crucial wickets and some tight bowling to leave hosts skipper Ajinkya Rahane a task that was too tall. Rahane, unbeaten on 65, was a lone warrior, with accomplished batsmen failing to fire. A partnership of 59 with Sanju Samson for the second wicket was the only notable point of mention as the Royals finished at 140 for 6, 11 runs short. Sandip Sharma and Siddharth Kaul were the pick of SRH bowlers, giving away just 15 and 23 runs in their four overs each.
Lynn powers KKR to six-wicket victory
An unbeaten 62 off 52 balls by opener Chris Lynn took Kolkata Knight Riders to a comfortable six-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday. Chasing a target of 176, KKR reached the target in 19.1 overs. KKR captain Dinesh Karthik relishing his new found role as a finisher, played his part with a 10-ball-23 to make it easy in the end. KKR with eight points remained in fourth place while Virat Kohli's men slumped further with their fifth defeat in seven games.
Rohit keeps MI breathing
With 22 to get off 12 balls, the match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians could have gone either way. But CSK skipper MS Dhoni, hoping that he will have at least 10 to play with in the last over, threw the ball to Shardul Thakur to bowl the 19th. Rohit was waiting for this opportunity. He didn’t lose his cool, nor did he try any monstrous shot. He just looked for the gaps in crunch moment and threaded three beautiful boundaries that tilted the game in MI’s favour. In all, Rohit (56 not out off 36 balls) got 17 off Shardul’s over that virtually made the last over academic. Dhoni gave the ball to leggie Imran Tahir with the hope that he could take a couple of wickets, but Rohit and Hardik walked away to the victory target.
Delhi beat Kolkata by 55 runs
Thrust into leadership role in a grim situation, young Shreyas Iyer responded with a whirlwind 93-run knock as Delhi Daredevils hammered Kolkata Knight Riders by 55 runs, on Friday night. Sent into bat, the Daredevils batsmen fired in unison to put on board a massive 219 for four with the two young batsmen Iyer (93 off 40) and Prithvi Shaw (62) enthralling the fans with their elegant knocks. Iyer and Shaw added 68 runs for the second wicket after the latter had shared a 59-run partnership for the first wicket with Kiwi batsman Colin Munro (33). Batting like a man-possessed, Iyer hammered young pacer Shivam Mavi for four sixes and a four in the last over of the innings as Daredevils collected 76 runs from the last four. Knight Riders batsmen failed to rise to the occasion except Andre Russel who scored a 36 ball 88 to take knight Riders to 202.
Sunrisers prove master defenders again
Sunrisers Hyderabad yet again proved that they are master defenders. After scoring 132 runs, a vibrant bowling performance, led by Rashid Khan, helped Sunrisers to defeat Kings XI Punjab by 13 runs. Despite a half-century opening stand between KL Rahul and Chris Gayle, Kings XI could manage only 119 runs, because of accurate bowling by Sunrisers. In doing so, they snapped KXIP's four-match winning streak and swapped places with them on the points table, moving up to second.
Rayudu, Dhoni floor Royal Challengers
The 34-year-old AB de Villiers slammed a 30-ball 68 to power Royal Challengers Bangalore to 205 against Chennai Super Kings. It, however, was not enough as CSK opener Ambati Rayudu and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni took the fight to the opposition camp and emerge victorious. CSK initially lost four wickets for 74 before Rayudu (82) and Dhoni (70) took the game away from the hosts. Needing 16 runs off the last over, CSK coasted home with two balls to spare.
Sunrisers score sensational win
Sunrisers Hyderabad under the leadership of Kane Williamson proved that no total was small enough if a team was willing to bowl its heart out. SRH on Monday defended a paltry 118 runs and pulled off a 31 run victory over Mumbai Indians. Opener Suryakumar Yadav top-scored for Mumbai with 34 runs. He was the sixth man out with the score on 77. The hosts found themselves in a tight spot straight away when they were reduced to 21/3 in the middle of the sixth over. The collapse also meant that Yadav and Krunal Pandya, who came into bat at No. 5, were forced to play the waiting game before they could score freely. They withstood some nervous moments but a flurry of strokes ensured that Mumbai reached 50/3 in nine overs.
