Three days after losing his father, Mandeep Singh showed his grit with a fine half century to guide Kings XI Punjab to a commanding 8-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in Sharjah on Monday. This was Punjab’s fifth victory on the trot and kept their playoff hopes alive as the Mohali-based franchise rose to fourth in the IPL points table. Chasing a modest 150, KL Rahul and Mandeep saw off the initial overs quietly before setting the tone with a steady 47-run opening stand before the KXIP skipper was trapped by mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. Mandeep (66 not out), who looked rusty at the start, however, carried on without much fuss and together with Chris Gayle ensured the Kings’ innings crossed the line with seven balls to spare. In the process, the right-left combo forged a 100-run stand for the second wicket. Gayle scored a brisk 51 off 29 balls, comprising two boundaries and five sixes.
Ben Stokes slams 107 for Royals
Steve Smith’s stubborn decision to make Ben Stokes open the innings for Rajasthan Royals finally paid big dividends at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night. Stokes slammed an incredible 107 not out of 60 balls to drive Royals home by eight wickets against the Mumbai Indians. Chasing a mammoth 196, the 29-year-old gave the Royals a solid start and anchored the chase with Sanju Samson (54), who too played a remarkable innings. Apart from making the tall chase look all look easy, Stokes also made history, becoming the first batsman in the IPL to hit two hundreds in successful chases. Earlier, Hardik Pandya (60) picked up the slack to help Mumbai post a challenging total on the board. After deciding to bat first, Mumbai were 121/4 at the end of 16 overs when Pandya and Saurabh Tiwary (34) added 44 runs in the following two overs, taking the total to 165/4 at the end of the 18th. Their 64-run partnership end in the 19th over, but by then it had changed the complexion of the MI innings. Pandya carried on the onslaught, hitting 26 runs off the last five balls.
CSK beat RCB by 8 wickets
Coming into the contest against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chennai Super Kings were the wounded lions. They had little to lose and pride to restore. It’s not for nothing that they say a wounded lion is more dangerous than a hungry one, as Virat Kohli and his men learnt the hard way at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Faced with the first early exit from the competition, Dhoni and Co. snapped their three match losing streak with a clinical eight-wicket victory. After their disciplined bowling attack - led by Sam Curran (3/19) - restricted RCB to 145/6, Rituraj Gaikwad struck form with his unbeaten 51-ball-65 to help the struggling side overhaul the target with eight balls to spare.
Varun makes Knights’ day
A clinical performance was required to keep their playoff hopes alive and Nitish Rana, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy rose to the occasion as KKR beat Delhi Capitals by 59 runs in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. While Rana (81) and Narine (64) helped KKR post a winning total of 194 in 20 overs, mystery spinner Chakravarthy bagged 5/20 to choke the Capitals middle order. Put in to bat by Capitals’ skipper Shreyas Iyer, KKR once again changed their opening pair, with Rana walking in with Shubman Gill. Rana revelled in his role as an opener and hit 13 fours and a six in an aggressive knock. The left-hander, who didn’t have a good start to the season, scored his second half century, his first having come against the same opponent in their away tie in Sharjah.
Sunrisers beat Rajasthan Royals
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by eight wickets in the IPL match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar scored unbeaten half-centuries to help SRH get across the line, after the Hyderabad-based franchise was handed a target of 155 runs. Manish scored 83 runs off 47 deliveries in an innings comprising of four boundaries and eight sixes. Shankar accumulated 52 runs off 51 deliveries, hitting six fours. Pacer Jofra Archer picked two wickets. Earlier, RR finished with a total of 154 runs for the loss of six wickets. Sanju Samson was the highest run-scorer, accumulating 36 runs off 26 deliveries. The rest of the batsmen failed to make their presence felt, with a lack of acceleration at any stage. Ben Stokes scored a 32-ball 30 looking extremely uncomfortable at the top of the order. Windies all-rounder Jason Holder was the pick of the bowlers for SRH, accounting for three wickets while conceding 33 runs. Rashid Khan and Vijay Shankar further picked a wicket apiece.
Siraj's impressive show for RCB
Fast bowler Mohammed Siraj's fiery opening spell, accentuated by two rare wicket-maiden overs, set up Royal Challengers Bangalore's dominant eight-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders, on Wednesday night. Siraj virtually killed the contest, running through the KKR top order in a stunning display of swing bowling. He ended with enviable figures of 4-2-8-3 and in the process emerged as the first bowler in the history of IPL to bowl two wicket- maiden overs. Siraj’s impressive bowling saw Kolkata meakly folding at 84-8. Only captain Eoin Morgan showed some resistance with a top-score of 30. In reply, RCB completed the formalities in 13.3 overs, securing their seventh win from 10 matches and moved up a place to second in the table with 14 points. Ich award.
KXIP beat DC by five wickets
Nicholas Pooran smashed a 28-ball 53 as Kings XI Punjab defeated Delhi Capitals by five wickets in an IPL game on Tuesday. Pooran hit three sixes and six boundaries in his knock as KXIP scored 167 for five in 19 overs to notch up their third successive win in the tournament. Earlier, opener Shikhar Dhawan blasted a second successive unbeaten hundred but KXIP pulled things back in the death overs to restrict Delhi Capitals to a below-par 164 for five. Dhawan, who had scored an unbeaten 101 off 58 against Chennai Super Kings in their last match, clobbered 12 fours and three sixes in his 61-ball 106-run knock to become the first batsmen to score back-to-back centuries in IPL. On way to his innings, Dhawan also became the fourth Indian batsman to cross 5,000 runs in IPL.
