Game 33
Chennai Super Kings 156 for 7 (Rayudu 40, Dhoni 28*, Sams 4/30) beat Mumbai Indians 155 for 7 (Tilak Varma 51, Suryakumar Yadav 32, Choudhary 3/19)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s love affair with heroic finishes in the 20th over continued as he wound back the clock to score 16 runs of the last 4 balls of the match and helped CSK snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The team on the receiving end, the Mumbai Indians have now lost all 7 of their matches this season. Dhoni is 40 plus and played his last international game almost 3 years back. He announced his retirement from international cricket 2 years back and only plays in the IPL every year. Yet he still managed to deliver a performance which reminded everyone of the Dhoni of old. Honestly speaking I don’t know how he does it but all I can say is that I am privileged to have witnessed another heist by the ageless MSD.
Game 34
Rajasthan Royals 222 or 2 (Buttler 116, Padikkal 54, Samson 46) beat Delhi Capitals 207 for 8 (Pant 44, Powell 36*, Prasidh Krishna 3/22)
Requiring 36 to win of 6 balls Powell muscled the first three balls over the fence. The third one was a waist high full toss which wasn’t called a no ball by the on field umpire. The Delhi dug out was furious and demanded that it be referred to the third umpire and in the heat of the moment Pant also started gesturing the batters to leave the field of play. Pravin Amre the Delhi assistant coach then ran onto to the field to plead Delhi’s case. The scenes were ugly and should never be seen on a cricket field. The sad part is that this drama completely overshadowed the brilliant performance of Jos Buttler who scored his third hundred of this IPL and a brilliant spell of bowling by Prasidh Krishna.
Game 35
Gujarat Titans 156 for 9 (Hardik Pandya 67, Southee 3/24, Russell 5/4) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 148 for 8 (Andre Russell 48, Rinku Singh 35, Shami 2/20, Rashid Khan 2/22)
Table toppers Gujarat Titans somehow manage to find a way to win. This time against KKR they defended a below par 156 with accurate bowling and sharp fielding. KKR on the other hand lost a game that they should have comfortably won but they seem to be experimenting a lot with their batting order this year which is not working for them. With 6 wins from 7 games Gujarat have strengthened their lead at the top of the table whereas with 5 losses from 8 games last year’s runners up KKR need to pull up their socks if they want to qualify for the playoffs.
Game 36
Sunrisers Hyderabad 72 for 1 (Abhishek Sharma 47, Patel 1/18) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 68 all out (Prabhudessai 15, Natarajan 3/10, Jansen 3/25)
When the highest individual score in your innings is 15 and extras with 12 are the joint second highest scorer you know that you have had a terrible match. RCB hold the record for the lowest team total in the IPL i.e. they made 49 in 2017. Exactly 5 years after that day they had another forgettable day making only 68. None of their batters could face the swing, movement and pace of the Sunrisers and collapsed in a heap. Sunrisers on the other hand have risen from the ashes and with their 5th victory in a row are now in 2nd place on the ladder behind the Titans.
Game 37
Lucknow Super Giants 168 for 6 (KL Rahul 103*, Pollard 2/8) beat Mumbai Indians 132 for 8 (Rohit Sharma 39, Tilak Varma 38, Krunal Pandya 3/19)
What’s worse than losing all 7 matches of the season so far? Ask Mumbai Indians and they will tell you that the answer is losing all 8 matches of the season. This is a game Mumbai should have won easily. Even after KL Rahul’s brilliant second hundred of this year’s tournament Mumbai Indians definitely had the fire power to chase down 168. But as has been the problem with them all season their experienced batters failed to deliver when it mattered most. With their 2022 IPL season now well and truly over Mumbai should focus on giving more youngsters chances to display their skills and start rebuilding for 2023.
Game 38
Punjab Kings 187 for 4 (Dhawan 88*, Rajapaksa 42, Theekshana 1/32) beat Chennai Super Kings 176 for 6 (Rayudu 78, Rabada 2/23, Arshdeep 1/23)
This was a really important game for both sides to keep their hopes alive in the tournament. It turned out to be the battle between two veteran batters from either side. First Shikhar Dhawan smashed 88 not out to help Punjab post 187 in their 20 overs. Chasing 188 Ambati Rayudu smashed 78 to take CSK within striking distance. CSK needed a final push to get over the line but 27 in the last over were too many for even the great M S Dhoni to get and in the end CSK fell short by 11. Punjab live to fight another day whereas CSK’s challenge in this IPL is now almost over.
Game 39
Rajasthan Royals 144 for 8 (Riyan Parag 56*, Hazlewood 2/19, Hasaranga 2/23) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 115 all out (du Plessis 23, Sen 4/20, Ashwin 3/17, Krishna 2/23)
While the whole world questioned the presence of Riyan Parag in the Rajasthan side they kept backing him and when it mattered most he delivered in fine style. Coming in at a precarious 68 for 4 Riyan weathered the storm and took his side to 144 with a sublime 56 not out. In reply Bangalore’s batting that collapsed in the last game for only 68 runs had another horrible outing being bowled out for 115. Parag was magical in the field too picking up 4 catches. Royals now are second on the ladder whereas Bangalore will need to do some soul searching after back to back failures with the bat.
Game 40
Gujarat Titans 199 for 5 (Saha 68, Tewatia 40*, Rashid Khan 31*, Umran Malik 5/25) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 195 for 6 (Abhishek Sharma 65, Markram 56, Shashank 25, Dayal 1/24)
It is not often that your team batting first puts on 195 on the board, one of your bowlers picks up a 5 wicket haul for only 25 runs and yet you end up on the losing side. Until the last over of the game Sunrisers Hyderabad looked like they were in control but Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan smashed 4 sixes between them in the last over of the match to literally snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Heart break for Umran Malik. In a game where both sides scored at almost 10 runs an over he bowled his four overs for only 25 runs and picked up 5 wickets. The win helped Gujarat maintain their top position on the points table and Hyderabad swallowed a bitter pill after five victories on the trot. Bring on week 6.
Points Table as at 28/04/2022
