Between the last edition of the IPL and now, Virat Kohli hasn’t been a regular in T20 cricket. With a T20 World Cup berth at stake, he did not fire against Chennai Super Kings in the opener. But on Monday, as Royal Challengers Bengaluru began their home stretch of the competition, the opener signalled his return to form with a sparkling 49-ball 77 against Punjab Kings. Kohli laid the foundation for the 177-run chase, but RCB did not finish the four-wicket win without stretching it to the last over. As Kohli brought up his 100th T20 half-century in 31 deliveries, there were no celebrations, instead the seasoned campaigner focused on the run chase.
Asked to bat first, Punjab were restricted to 176/6. The home team reached the target with four balls to spare.
Gujarat pip Mumbai by 6 runs
At 107/2 in 12 overs chasing 168 set by Gujarat Titans, five-time champions Mumbai Indians were looking to kill the chase with balls to spare. But, the Titans, like they have done in their previous two seasons, applied the squeeze by delivering tight overs and eking out a six-run win in their opening match of the 17th edition at the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad. Left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore (1/24) trapped a dangerous-looking Rohit Sharma (43) in front in the 13th over. Veteran pacer Mohit Sharma (1/32) had Dewald Brewis (46) caught off his own bowling while Afghan leg spinner Rashid Khan threw in two miserly overs to apply the choke on Mumbai Indians, who lost yet another opening match. Earlier, Mumbai Indians’ pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah delivered four masterful overs of T20 bowling to stifle Gujarat in their much-anticipated clash. Bumrah showed what the five-time champions missed in the last edition as the local boy recorded figures of 3/13 to help restrict the Titans to 168/6 in 20 overs.
Rajasthan win their opener
Jaipur : Rajasthan Royals tasked Sandeep Sharma with a tough job - to stop the growing partnership of 85 off 51 balls between KL Rahul (58) and Nicholas Pooran (64 not out) as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) needed 49 from 24 balls. The seamer did not disappoint and eliminated the threat in the 17th over with Rahul’s wicket. Ravichandran Ashwin followed it up with Marcus Stoinis’ (3 off 4 balls) scalp before Avesh Khan successfully defended 27 runs in the last over to ensure Royals opened their campaign with a 20 runs victory at the SMS Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday. Pacers Trent Boult and Nandre Burger got the Royals’ defence off to a perfect start. Bowling in tandem, the duo reduced LSG to 3-11 in 3.1 overs. Earlier, having elected to bat first, it was Royals skipper Sanju Samson who propped them up with a smartly curated unbeaten 82 off 52 balls to help set a solid target of 193/4 in 20 overs.
Capitals suffer 4-wicket loss to Punjab
With world cricket’s eyes on their captain Rishabh Pant, Delhi Capitals went in for the match against Punjab Kings with more supporters in the stands than the hosts. But that was all that was different from their last season’s script. At IPL’s newest venue in Mohali’s Mullanpur stadium, PBKS’ Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone exposed Capitals’ lack of potency as they knocked off the 174-run target with four balls and four wickets to spare. Curran’s 63 off 47, coming in at No. 4, coupled with Livingstone’s unbeaten 38 off 21 displayed how seasoned T20 players go about their business. Livingstone’s muscled six over long-on off debutant medium-pacer Sumit Kumar to finish the game was a statement in itself.
Knight Riders escape to victory
Andre Russell was at his belligerent best to bring Kolkata Knight Riders out of the woods with the bat before he came good with the ball to help the hosts record a narrow four-run victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening IPL match at the Eden Gardens. The Knights’ poor batting and bowling Powerplay records returned to haunt them as the hosts were reduced to 32/3 in the fourth over after SRH skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to bowl first. But Russell got his half-century off 20 balls and stayed undefeated on 64, hitting three fours and seven sixes, as KKR collected 85 runs off the last five overs. KKR’s star of last season Rinku Singh too found the boundaries with some good placements before falling for 23 off 15 balls.
CSK beat RCB in IPL opener
Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six wickets in the IPL opener in Chennai on Friday. RCB recovered to 173 for six against CSK after opting to bat. Skipper Faf du Plessis (35 off 23) got his team off the blocks before the visitors collapsed to 78 for five. Anuj Rawat (48 off 25) and Dinesh Karthik (38 not out off 26) shared a 95-run stand off 50 balls for the sixth wicket to give some respectability to the total. Mustafizur Rahman was the stand out bowler for CSK taking four wickets before Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube got the job done with their superlative finishing skills to script a comfortable six-wicket win for Chennai Super Kings.
