Royal Challengers Bangalore bowlers demolished the Kolkata Knight Riders’ hope of their third win on the trot. At the halfway stage of their IPL campaign, Virat Kohli’s men, powered by a red-hot AB de Villiers, first fired with the bat before spin duo Washington Sundar (2/20) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/12) strangled the former champions with guile and control. The pacers didn’t disappoint either. Chasing 195 for victory, the powerpacked KKR batting line-up failed to stand up to the count and mustered 112/9 as the fiery Bengaluru team cruised to an 82- run victory to collect two points.
Opting to bat in their maiden outing at the venue, RCB recovered from mid-innings blues to post 194 for 2 in 20 overs. The score was courtesy De Villiers daredevilry and skipper Kohli’s (33 n.o ) support.
MI batting delivers again
Mumbai Indians’ batting continues to light up IPL-2020. On Sunday night at Abu Dhabi, they chased down 163 to beat the Delhi Capitals by five wickets and snatch back the No 1 spot from their rivals. It was their fourth win on the trot, and fifth overall, with each win erasing their poor memories of UAE, where they lost all five in a row in the UAE in 2014, before the tournament was moved to India. MI’s bowlers did their job well to restrict the Capitals’ to 162 for four, which was built around an unbeaten 69 by Shikhar Dhawan and 42 by skipper Shreyas Iyer. Half centuries by Suryakumar Yadav and Quinton de Kock and quick-fire cameos by Ishan Kishan and Krunal Pandya then saw them home despite a few hiccups. In the end, they needed seven from the final over, but two fours by Krunal Pandya off Anrich Nortje sealed the issue.
Parag & Tewatia power RR home
Desperate situations call for desperate measures. Rajasthan Royals were in that sort of a situation as they made four changes to the team. Ben Stokes came into the team after just one training session and was quickly in the middle to open the innings along with Jos Buttler. The situation necessitated it as Sunrisers Hyderabad weathered their worst power play this season - 26/1 - to post 158 for four.
Ryan Parag was another change and he made light of the target in the company of Sharjah hero Rahul Tewatia as Rajasthan Royals cruised to 163 for five, a five-wicket win and the two points that they desperately needed. The duo smashed 85 runs in 49 deliveries when it nearly looked over for their team. Rashid Khan went for 17 in the 17th over as they pared down the chase to 22 from the last two and wasted no time in closing out the match.
Kohli shines in RCB super show
After a slow start to his IPL season, Virat Kohli seems to have got into his stride in the UAE. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper led from the front and hit an unbeaten 90 off 52 balls in challenging circumstances to help his side notch up a 37-run victory in Dubai on Saturday. The win was RCB’s fourth in six matches while MS Dhoni’s boys slumped to their fifth loss in seven games. In response to RCB’s total of 169/4, CSK limped to 132/8 in 20 overs. Ambati Rayudu was not at his best in his innings of 42 while the rest of the batsmen did not produce a meaningful contribution. Aside from Kohli with the bat, all the RCB bowlers did their job. Chris Morris and Washington Sundar were particularly impressive.
Rahul struggles for answers
Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Sunil Narine said he was feeling the pressure but managed to keep his calm while bowling a successful final over that earned his team a narrow two-run win against Kings XI Punjab in an IPL match here on Saturday. KKR were seemingly down and out when KXIP needed 22 from the final three overs but Narine tilted the match in his side's favour by dismissing Nicholas Pooran and conceding just two runs in the 18th over. Narine also bowled the final over of which KXIP needed 14 runs. They needed a six off the final ball to take the match to Super Over but Glenn Maxwell could only score a boundary to hand KKR a two-run win.
Good show by Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals overwhelmed Rajasthan Royals as Steve Smith’s team sank to a 46-run defeat on Friday. In a surprising turn of events, Sharjah didn’t resemble the batting paradise it has proved to be so far in this IPL, and after Delhi had done well to post 184 on the board, thanks to Marcus Stoinis and Shimron Hetmyer’s heroics, the Royals batsmen put in a stop-start, perplexing performance against a formidable bowling attack to be all out for 138 in 19.4 overs. Royals opener Yashaswi Jaiswal never really got going, chewing up the strike for poor returns before being bowled by Stoinis. Rabada, Nortje and Ashwin all contributed to the spoils but the all-round star of the show for Capitals was once again Stoinis (39 off 30 balls; and 2/17 with the ball), who is fast turning this IPL into his own spectacular success story.
Hyderabad leave Punjab powerless
Sunrisers Hyderabad openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow scored 160 in their opening stand to leave Kings XI Punjab with no hope of a victory. The duo had scored nearly 60% of the runs - 786 - for Sunrisers last season but endured an indifferent start in the current edition. They came into this match with a half-century each under their belt and it was only a matter of time before some team bore the brunt of their fusillade. In getting out for 97to a Ravi Bishnoi delivery, Bairstow became the second batsman to succumb in 90s in this edition of IPL, but his 160-run partnership with Warner (52) took Sunrisers to 201 for six. The KXIP innings was in total contrast to the manner in which SRH went about their task.
KKR steal a win
Kolkata Knight Riders beat Chennai Super Kings by 10 runs in their IPL-13 match in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Defending a modest total of 167, KKR bowlers pulled things back after Chennai openers Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis got them to a steady start. Shivam Mavi (1/32) had Du Plessis caught behind off a short and wide delivery. But it didn’t deter Watson (50). The Australian played some exquisite shots to lead the charge along with Ambati Rayudu (30). Pat Cummins’ inability to pick wickets did hurt the Kolkata outfit but skipper Dinesh Karthik did a smart job in rotating his bowlers. Despite being 101/2 in 13 overs, CSK lost track when Kamlesh Nagarkoti dismissed Rayudu. Very soon, Sunil Narine had Watson trapped leg before. Skipper MS Dhoni (11) was left with the finisher’s job once again but to no avail.
