Gujarat Titans extended their dominance at the top of the table with a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday and inched closer towards clinching a play-off spot in their inception year. After failing multiple times, Virat Kohli finally came out out of a prolonged slump in form by registering his first IPL 50 in 14 matches, including nine this season, as Royal Challengers Bangalore posted a challenging 170 for six. In reply, Rahul Tewatia (43 not out) and David Miller (39 not out) did the job for GT after the table toppers were struggling at 95 for four in the 13th over. With 16 points which has been the magic mark, Titans are well on course towards a top-two finish at the end of league stage.
Comeback by Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders beat Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets to stage a comeback after five consecutive defeats in this IPL. The purple brigade made two changes to the playing XI, trying out their fifth opening pair of the season. Although KKR lost both openers Baba Indrajit and Aaron Finch inside the Powerplay, the good work done by their bowlers to restrict RR to a below-par 152/5, after Shreyas Iyer won the toss and put the opposition in, helped them to get 158/3 in 19.1 overs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday. RR’s heroes in their last match against KKR – Jos Buttler, who got 103 off 60 balls and Yuzvendra Chahal, who claimed a fifer – came a cropper, which made a big difference to their fortunes.
LSG take a step towards play-offs
Unheralded Uttar Pradesh leftarm pacer Mohsin Khan put up an exceptional bowling performance as Lucknow Super Giants beat Delhi Capitals by six runs on Sunday, thereby taking a giant stride towards qualifying for the IPL play-offs. It was skipper KL Rahul’s 77 off 51 balls and newly promoted Deepak Hooda’s 52 off 34 balls that propelled LSG to an imposing 195 for 3 despite stuttering towards the end of the innings. In reply, Mohsin (4/16 in 4 overs) got breakthroughs exactly when things seemed to spiral out of control as Delhi Capitals finally managed 189 for 7 in the end. LSG now have 14 points from 10 games and another win out of the remaining four games would seal a play-off spot for them considering 16 being the magic number in most years.
Gaikwad, Conway set up CSK’s 13-run win
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway’s effortless six-hitting exhibition was well complemented by a four-wicket haul from Mukesh Choudhary as Chennai Super Kings notched up a 13-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL match here on Sunday. Gaikwad (99 off 57 balls) and Conway (85 not out off 55) put SRH’s attack to the sword, notching up a scintillating 182-run partnership, the highest opening stand of the season, as CSK posted an imposing 202 for two after being invited to bat. In reply, SRH fell short, reaching 189 for 6 in 20 overs despite late heroics from Nicholas Pooran (64 not out) and a 47-run innings by skipper Kane Williamson at the top.
Comfortable win for DC
Delhi Capitals made rough weather of an easy chase due to a middle order collapse before recording a comfortable four-wicket victory over a lacklustre Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday, keeping their IPL play-off qualification hopes alive. Chasing an easy target of 147, DC were 84 for five and 113 for six at various stages of the innings before Rovman Powell (33 not out) once again displayed his big-hitting prowess to get DC past the target with an over to spare. The hero of the win was certainly Kuldeep Yadav, with a game-changing 4 for 14 when KKR batted. While DC with 10 points are placed sixth, KKR remained at third from the bottom. Defending a total of 146 wasn’t easy but Umesh Yadav (3/24) did try his best as he started brilliantly with a diving return catch off the very first delivery of the DC innings to sent Prithvi Shaw (0) back.
Parag, bowlers take RR to victory
Riyan Parag smashed an unbeaten half-century before the bowling unit lived up to its reputation to hand Rajasthan Royals a 29-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday. Parag (56 not out off 31 balls) single-handedly took his side to 144 for 8 with his unbeaten half-century, which is his highest score in IPL. He struck three boundaries and four sixes during his knock. But RCB’s chase never got going as RR bowlers, led by young Kuldeep Sen (4/20), Ravichandran Ashwin (3/17) and Prasidh Krishna (2/23), bundled out RR for 115 in 19.3 overs. Opening the innings on the back of two consecutive first-ball ducks, Virat Kohli started on a cagey note but lit up the stadium and raised hopes of his fans when he struck two back-to-back boundaries of Trent Boult to start his innings. But as it has been happening in the tournament, Kohli flopped once again when a Prasidh Krishna bouncer got the better of him in the next over.
