Mumbai Indians become the first IPL team to enter the playoff stage thanks to an unbeaten 56 by captain Rohit Sharma to guide his team through to a five-wicket win in a tense chase against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium. Chasing 163, MI seemed on course even as they lost Parthiv Patel for a first ball duck as Jos Buttler (33) and Nitish Rana (27) added 61 in 44 balls for the second wicket. However, the habit of making a heavy weather of their chase came back to haunt them yet again as they slipped to 130/5 in the 17th over. However, playing a captain’s hand, Rohit added 35 in just 20 balls for the sixth wicket with Hardik Pandya (14 not out) to take Mumbai to their eighth win in 10 games, ensuring them 16 points, enough to take them to the playoffs. The beleaguered RCB, meanwhile, slipped to their eighth defeat in 11 games, and are in danger of enduring their worst-ever IPL season.
Ben Stokes douses Gujarat fire
A battling century from Ben Stokes helped Rising Pune Supergiant overcome a disastrous start and snatch a five-wicket victory over Gujarat Lions at the MCA stadium in Pune. England all-rounder Stokes, who had missed Pune's previous two matches, overcame a severe bout of cramps in the dying stages to hit an unbeaten 103 and help his team overhaul a tricky target after Gujarat were dismissed for 161. The 25-year old smacked seven fours and six sixes from 63 balls to see the Supergiant home after the team had lost two big wickets - Ajinkya Rahane and captain Steve Smith - in the first over of the innings. Stokes made a vital 74-run partnership with MS Dhoni (26) but Pune still needed 25 runs from the last two overs, their initial mayhem and some tidy bowling by rookie spinner Ankit Soni and promising Kerala pacer Basil Thampi making things difficult for them. But the Christchurch-born Durham player hoisted Thampi for two sixes in the penultimate over before cramps got the better of him.
Warner blitz sinks Kolkata
Sunrisers Hyderabad avenged their 17-run loss to Kolkata Knight Riders by restricting the table-toppers to 161for seven. A 48-run win for Sunrisers kept their home record intact. Chasing 10 plus an over and the highest score posted against them, the Knight Riders succumbed to the pressure. Sunil Narine (1) and Gautam Gambhir (11) perished going for the big shots with just 12 on the board. They never really recovered from those blows despite a 28-ball 53 by Robin Uthappa. With the score reading 52/2 after seven overs, rain disrupted play for 46 minutes. Earlier, Sunrisers scored 209 for three as David Warner held centre-stage for 80 minutes during which he scored 126 off 59 balls with four hits to the fence and eight over it. Kane Williamson continued with his rich form as he chipped in with a useful 40 to take the score past the 200 mark for the third time this season. This is the hosts’ best score – the earlier was 208 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2016.
Sandy storm hits Delhi
King XI Punjab crafty medium pacer Sandeep Sharma, ran through the Delhi Daredevils innings and dismissed them for a measly 67 in 17.1overs at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. The hosts rounded up the match in grand style. It was all over within 7.5 overs. Opener Martin Guptill made 50 off 27 balls and remained unbeaten with Hasim Amla (16) that enabled the Kings XI to register their biggest win in this IPL - by a 10-wicket margin. Incidentally, this was Delhi's lowest score ever in the tournament. Their previous lowest came against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013 when they had managed 80.
On a Mohali pitch, the Kings made four changes in the playing XI out of which three were bowlers. Sandeep got going in the first over of the match itself when he sent back Delhi’s Sam Bilings for a duck. In the second over, Sharma dismissed in-form Sanju Samson. When Shreyas Iyer got out in the fifth over, Delhi were in big trouble.
Bangalore suffer another collapse
There was no end to Royal Challengers Bangalore’s woes. They have been a pale reflection of the team that thrashed opposition at will last season and reached the final. This season, their famed batting lineup has failed miserably. None in the top order have delivered and no one in the middle order has pitched in either. That was the theme once again in Pune when they could only muster 96/9 in the allotted overs and suffered a demoralising 61 run defeat.
For Rising Pune Supergiants, Imran Tahir picked up three wickets while Lockie Ferguson, man of the match, took two wickets. Earlier in the first innings, Kohli won the toss and put Pune to bat. In sharp contrast to RCB, RPS were more solid and didn’t lose the plot despite a slow start. Rahul Tripathi continued his consistent batting show with 37 runs from 28 balls and made the most of Kohli dropping him early on.
Jasprit Bumrah seals the deal in Super Over
Jasprit Bumrah emerged the unlikely hero as Mumbai Indians emerged triumphant over Gujarat Lions in IPL 10's first Super Over, scoring 11 runs to Gujarat's six. Mumbai appeared to be coasting to victory in a chase of 154 but Gujarat put in a brilliant performance in the field, effecting four direct hits, to tie the game and take it into the Super Over. Pollard struck a four and six for MI but McCullum and Finch came a cropper for Gujarat in the Super Over. Needing 11 off the last over, MI started off the right note when Krunal Pandya, who'd earlier taken three wickets, smashed a six off the first ball from Irfan Pathan, making his IPL 10 debut, but managed to only equal the Lions' score after Ravindra Jadeja came up with direct hits to leave first Jasprit Bumrah and then Pandya short of their crease.
The visitors needed only one off the final ball, but Pandya's run out took the game to the Super Over. In the penultimate over, Pathan had done brilliantly well to run out Mitchell McClenaghan with a direct hit from third man. To make things difficult for them after they managed only 153 for nine after choosing to bat first, the Lions' lost their best bowler Andrew Tye, who was injured badly in the while fielding in the deep, but fought valiantly.
Dhawan & Warner punch out Punjab
Kings XI Punjab's Glenn Maxwell must have gone through a dilemma when he won the toss and opted to field first in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. His decision backfired as Hyderabad openers David Warner (51) and Shikhar Dhawan (77) toyed with Kings bowlers and shared a magnificent 107-run opening stand to drive home the advantage at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. If that wasn't enough, Kane Williamson then scored a 27 ball 54 to guide Hyderabad to a mammoth 207-3 in the 20 stipulated overs. In reply, Kings XI could manage only 181-9, falling short by 26 runs. For the hosts, Shaun Marsh top scored with 84. He took a particular liking to his Australia teammate Moises Henriques, blasting three fours and a six in one over, but couldn't take his team over the line.
With the ball, it was again Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan who made the difference for Hyderabad. Earlier, Hyderabad captain Warner seemed in peak form, hitting through the line and using the pace of the ball to intelligently negotiate the gaps. He was fortunate to have been dropped on 25 by Wriddhiman Saha off Axar Patel. Dhawan, meanwhile, batted as if the Indian selectors were picking the team for the Champions Trophy on Friday night itself.
Kolkata do a Delhi `double'
In a show that justified their position at the bottom of the points table, Delhi Daredevils suffered a humiliating seven-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. The visitors were found wanting in all departments of the game and lacked proper game plan and intent. The team failed to build up on a solid foundation laid by Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer to finish at 160-6 after being put in to bat by Kolkata skipper Gautam Gambhir.
Robin Uthappa (59; 33b, 5x4, 4x6) could have departed for only nine but Amit Mishra and Sanju Samson allowed a skier to drop in between them at square leg after the wicketkeeper-batsman mistimed a flick off Rabada.
Bangalore Tyed and Finched
There seems to be no end for Royal Challengers Bangalore's struggles in IPL-10. On Thursday, in a must-win contest against Gujarat Lions, a fired-up Aaron Finch's astounding 34-ball 72 piled more misery on Bangalore, handing the beleaguered side a devastating seven-wicket defeat at the M Chinnaswamy stadium. Coming into the contest with a string of poor performances, the Aussie returned to form and virtually knocked out Bangalore from playoff contention. Bangalore have now suffered six defeats after nine outings to drop to seventh in the table with five points.
After Andrew Tye snared three wickets to bowl out Bangalore for a paltry 134, the Virat Kohli-led side needed something magical to turn the match in their favour. Samuel Badree offered hopes of a turnaround with quick wickets of openers Ishan Kishan and Brendon McCullum within five overs but it soon faded away as Aaron Finch and Suresh Raina took the game away from the host.
Gambhir's boys rout Pune
Gautam Gambhir's Kolkata Knight Riders chased 183 runs to beat hosts Rising Pune Supergiant by 7 wickets. The way Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir played, it never appeared they were playing away. The wicketkeeper batsman scored a 47-ball 87 runs while Gambhir made 62 in 46 balls. The duo shared a partnership of 158 runs in 85 balls. It was a perfect gift for the Kolkata skipper, who was leading the side in his 100th Indian Premier League match. While chasing 183, Gambhir came in with off-spinner-turned-opener Sunil Narine. Him coming up to open the innings wasn't surprising any more, but Narine's 11-ball 16 didn't hurt Kolkata either. On the other hand, Pune, who were defending a decent target, looked out of options in absence of Ben Stokes, who was nursing a sore shoulder. Other than a poor show by the bowlers, it was a lack-luster fielding that pushed the hosts down further.
Uthappa was dropped by Jaydev Unadkat at deep midwicket in Imran Tahir's first over and Pune's seventh.Uthappa was at 12 then, and withn minutes, he reached his 50 in 26 balls. Gambhir too was dropped at 32 by off-spinner Washington Sundar.