Tag: dream11 ipl 2020

Another desert storm at Sharjah!

Rajasthan Royal’s Tewatia shines as he makes his first IPL 50 to beat Kings XI Punjab by 4 wickets.

What a crazy match that was? 449 runs in 39.3 overs! This is IPL. This is T20 cricket for you.

Dream11 IPL 2020’s 9th match between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) was as thrilling as it could get. Sharjah Cricket Stadium being one of the shortest grounds for the ongoing tournament is a nightmare for bowlers. Mayank Agarwal’s (KXIP) century couldn’t be this exciting but Rahul Tewatia (RR) had our jaws dropped. From zero to hero, he has proved his worth.

Happy dug-out of Rajasthan Royals.

Picture courtesy : NDTV Sports

KL Rahul (KXIP’s skipper) came out to bat with Mayank Agarwal after putting to bat first by Steve Smith captaining Rajasthan Royals. The pitch seemed more favorable to batsmen so the Royals felt it would be better to chase down the total. And with Jos Butler returning, any score on the board was gettable.

Kings XI openers were off to a great start. KL and Agarwal have played together for Karnataka at domestic level which is why their coordination was on point. The two of them took quick runs by running between the wickets and also hit the ball for boundaries time and again.

Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul out in the middle.

Picture courtesy : Cricket Addictor

The 100th 6 of IPL 2020 was hit by Agarwal off Unadkat at 2.5 overs. It was 66 meters long. In the next over, Jofra Archer was given the new ball for he could bowl with a lot of variations. KL welcomed him with 3 back to back boundaries. 50 runs came up for Kings XI in the fifth over with another boundary by Agarwal. Both the batsmen played brilliantly scoring 60 runs in the power play with no loss of wickets. The highest score in the power play record was broken last night after surpassing Mumbai Indians’ 59/1.

The opening partnership kept building up. KL hit aerial shots being in the perfect position to do so and Mayank hit the gaps very well. Soon Mayank reached his 7th IPL fifty with a six off 26 balls. A couple more runs and another 6 in the next ball bought up 100 for Kings XI Punjab. That was 84 meters long. This also meant that the partnership has also hit a century off 54 calls. More than half of the innings was underway.

The lush green and fast outfield supported the batters for they were playing at a run rate of more than 10 per over. A target of 220 (minimum) was the projected score.

The KXIP skipper reached his 17th IPL 50 off 35 balls in the 12th over. He started slow but now had joined the party with hitting sixes all over the park. He maintains the highest strike rate of 369.2 in ‘the slot’ (length of the pitch) vs seamers in this season. He surely is a KLassic hitter with Mayank Agarwal playing all shots (reminds us of Mr. 360) including the famous Nataraj shot played by Kapil Dev and what a ground to play such a shot at!

These two lads out there had the absolute freedom to hammer but they kept their innings under control. They rotated strike soon after hitting boundaries for simple reasons like – they didn’t want to drain themselves and hit a loose shot and wanted the bowler and fielding unit to get annoyed of changing line and length and fielding positions for these 2 batsmen. Nevertheless, they broke another record of scoring not only the highest partnership in all IPL but also highest opening partnership at 183 runs.

Agarwal scored his maiden IPL hundred with a boundary. He did so in just 45 balls. He hit 10 4s and 7 6s.This was the 8th fastest IPL century. The first one is by his teammate Chris Gayle who scored a 100 from just 30 balls against Pune Warriors Sahara in 2013. Agarwal’s century is also the 2nd fastest century by an Indian in IPL after Yusuf Pathan who played for Rajasthan Royals back in 2010. He did so against Mumbai Indians in 37 deliveries.

Mayank Agarwal celebrating his century.

Picture courtesy : My Khel

A good 16th over by Ankit Rajoot bought things under control for it costed just 6 runs. And bang! Here comes the breakthrough they worked for. Mayank walked back to the dugout scoring 106 runs off 50 balls. He batted everywhere but a badly timed shot made the ball land safely in Sanju Samson’s hands.

The new man in Glenn Maxwell was expected to play unorthodox shots like Agarwal and score quick runs. But Rajpoot compelled KL to change his game and produce shots instead of playing his natural game. This led to KL hitting a slower ball and getting caught by Shreyas Gopal at third man. The skipper played a slow innings scoring 69 off 54 balls. But this had the orange cap get back on his head from Faf du Plesis (Chennai Super Kings). Whereas, Rajpoot was the only cheapest bowlers from the Royals side and yet had the economy of more than 9 runs per over.

Next, Nicholas Pooran played a couple of good cricketing shots. He continued where KL and Agarwal left off. And set a mammoth target of 223 runs for the Rajasthan Royals to chase down at the run rate of 11+ per over.

With openers Jos Buttler and Steve Smith, the intentions were made clear. They wanted to go big every over and they never put their heads down. Mohammad Shami, a great rhythmic bowler fell prey to Smith’s straight head and good footwork which had the ball sailing towards the boundary rope. But Buttler had to depart in the 3rd over, Cottrell’s second after making 4 runs off 7 balls.

The new man in Sanju Samson hit a 6 off the 2nd ball he faced off Cottrell. He too continued from where he had left against the Chennai Super Kings.

Sanju Samson, what a player he is. I have said for a long time and I think Sanju Samson is probably one of the most exciting players I have seen for a long time. I am surprised that he is not playing all forms of cricket for India, said Shane Warne, former Australian spinner, former RR captain and current brand ambassador for Rajasthan Royals on Instagram live session done by the franchise.

The Kings XI fielded exceptionally well because such was the urgency. Smith and Sanju kept dealing in boundaries. At the end of 4 overs, KXIP were 40/0 whereas RR were 44/1. Speaks volumes on how desperate are the Royals to win each game they go out to play.

Sanju Samson and Steve Smith out in the middle.

Picture courtesy : India Today

Samson hit his 100th 6 in IPL which also bought up 50 for Rajasthan Royals in the 5th over. Sanju had now scored 880 runs for his franchise since 2018. By the end of 6th over, we also witnessed a budding partnership of 50 runs from 24 balls. The score was 69/1 at the end of power play. Another highest of IPL.

It is rightly said that records are meant to be broken.

The 8th over was given to leggie Murugan Ashwin. And what happened on his third ball has widened our eyes. Samson pulled over deep mid-wicket where Pooran leaped full over the ropes to flick the ball inside, just a millisecond before falling on the ground. He saved 4 runs for his team and what an effort! He received a standing ovation from their fielding coach Jonty Rhodes. He definitely can’t get a better student!

“That’s the best I have seen,” Kevin Pietersen said on air.

“This is the best save I have seen in my life. Simply incredible!!” tweeted Sachin Tendulkar.

The next over by James Neesham was full of drama too. The Royals were battling the huge total in a convincing manner. Smith reached his 10th IPL half century. The next ball, 100 was up for the batting side. And just the next ball, Smith was caught by Shami at deep cover. He had to depart with 50 runs off 26 balls. At this stage, the Kings XI had not only broken the partnership but also the momentum for the opposition.

The best and the worst thing was that Samson was yet out on the crease. After M.S. Dhoni’s retirement, Samson could be a huge prospect for the Indian Cricket Team because Samson can keep wickets too. In this innings, Samson effortlessly found the slot and kept hitting the ball. On the other end, Rahul Tewatia kept struggling. He was expected to play a cameo here, instead, he took singles which added pressure on Samson. They together could be a part of a record breaking run chase.

Sometimes the teams get too obsessed with the lefty and righty combination. May be this was the reason to promote Tewatia before Robin Uthappa. Consequently, the Royals management didn’t send their best batters up the order. Which is very crucial because you want your best players facing maximum deliveries. Good fielding by the Kings XI kept building pressure and this made sure that Tewatia’s singles to go in vain.

Tewatia scored in single digits even after facing 20 odd balls. Out of no where, he hit a 6 off Ravi Bishnoi in the 15th over. This must have relived Tewatia but he had to go through the same trajectory back to back for his team to win. In the next over, Glenn Maxwell was hammered for sixes by Samson. With Samson’s 15th maximum this season, 150 was up for RR. The partnership also reached 52 of 39 balls. This was just a glimmer of hope for the Royal fans.

Now I am better. The worst 20 balls I have ever played. The dugout knows I can hit the ball long. I knew I had to believe in myself. It was a matter of one six – said Rahul Tewatia at the post match presentation ceremony.

Shami came back hard in his third over, taking a wicket of Samson on the first ball itself. There was no pace in the ball which led to no contact and an easy catch for KL behind the wickets. A splendid innings of 85 off 42 balls came to an end. With the set batsman walking back, the Jaipur based franchise seemed hopeless for they had to make 51 runs in the last three overs.

This feeling of hopelessness and wasting a lot of deliveries sparked a light in Tewatia. With the old ball to Cottrell, Tewatia hit 4 sixes! You read it right! 4 sixes in a row. One of them went straight out of the park. Strong emotions from both the dug outs. We were on the edge of our seats, especially former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh

Thanks for missing out on one ball – said Yuvi who hit record-making six 6s off Stuard Broad at 2007 T20 World Cup

The fifth ball was a dot ball. Great comeback by Cottrell but at what cost? It was a relief particularly for Yuvraj Singh but the damage had been done. The last ball also went racing for 5th six in that over. Tewatia transformed his strike rate from 60 to 160, real quick.

Rahul Tewati hitting back to back sixes.

Picture courtesy : The Times of India

The 19th over to Shami was a big blow for both the teams. It involved 2 wickets of Robbie at 9(4) and Tewatia at 53(31) on the first and last ball respectively but it also included 3 sixes, one of them from the new man Jofra Archer. Pushing the Royals to chase down just 2 runs from the last over, the viewership on the digital platform reached a whopping 5.4million.

The last over was given to leggie Ashwin at a very wrong time. He bowled out Riyan Parag for a duck on his second ball googly. Next ball went for a 4, closing the game for the Royals. They won by 4 wickets with 3 balls to spare.

The Kings XI skipper played a great innings the other day, inspite of another 100 from the lion’s den, the show belonged to Rahul Tewatia. This is the most dramatic cameo IPL has ever witnessed and highest successful run chase. Sanju Samson was awarded the Man of the Match award for his crucial knock of 85 runs.

I was hitting it well since the past one year. So I was just sticking to my routine and feeling confident. I am happy to win a few games – Sanju Samson at the post match presentation ceremony.

Pooran’s gravity defying catch was not enough for Tewatia to lose his hope and lose his nerve. Sad day out for Anil Kumble for his team did everything right yet ended on the losing side.

We have to keep our chin up and come back stronger – said KL Rahul, skipper of Kings XI Punjab at the post match presentation ceremony.

Match Summary :

Kings XI Punjab 223/2 (20)

Playing XI – KL Rahul (C & WK), Mayank Agarwali, Karun Nair, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Sarfaraz Khan, James Neesham, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammad Shami and Sheldon Cottrell.

Rasjasthan Royals 226/6 (19.3)

Playing XI – Steve Smith (C), Jos Buttler (WK), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Tom Curran, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Ankit Rajpoot and Jaydev Unadkat.

Winning team – Rajasthan Royals (by 4 wickets and 3 balls to spare)

Points Table – Rajasthan Royals at #2 and Kings XI Punjab at #3

Man of the Match – Sanju Samson

Dream11 Game Changer – Mayank Agarwal

Altroz Super Striker of the Match – Mayank Agarwal

Unacademy Let’s Crack it Sixes – Sanju Samson

CRED Power Player of the Match – Steve Smith

This mysterious game came to an end in favour of the men in pink but we have another nail-biter coming up in a couple of hours.

Will the Royal Challengers Bangalore come back stronger or will the Mumbai Indians continue their winning streak? Great action coming up. Stay tuned!

MSD’S PLAN TO BAT DOWN THE ORDER BACKFIRES AS DC BEAT CSK BY 44 RUNS

Chennai Super Kings lost against Delhi Capitals by 44 runs. DC’s victory marked their second win this season while CSK has lost both their games so far.

On 25th September 2020 seventh match of Dream11 took place between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Team DC were forced to field after losing the toss.
CSK decided to make one change in their team, replacing pacer Lungi Ngidi with Josh Hazlewood.

Team DC made a few changes changes of their own owing to the circumstances wherein Ravichandran Ashwin was replaced by Amit Mishra as he was injured and Mohit Sharma replaced speedster Avesh Khan.
DC opener Prithvi Shaw gave their innings a good start, hitting two fours and one six in the first over, while in the next over, when CSK’s Sam Curran was bowling, Prithvi Shaw continued adding fours.

CSK’s spinners were below par and both Shaw was determined to stay at the crease for a big innings. In seventh over, he was on the offensive against CSK’s Piyush Chawla. Meanwhile DC’s Shikar Dhawan went after CSK’s Jadeja.

With a strong opening partnership things were in DC’s favour till the 10th over. But soon the game changed for Capitals as Chawla dismissed both Dhawan (35 off 27 balls) and Shaw (64 off 43 balls). Chawla had Dhawan was stumped by Dhoni in the 10th over, while Shaw ended up lbw in the 12th over.

In the 13th over we saw Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer on pitch. Pant and Iyer both added 58 runs to the score and played relatively safe till 19th over.

Picture courtesy: NDTV

It was then, when CSK captain Dhoni took a wicket and Capital’s pacer exited. After the last over, Delhi Capital’s posted 175/3 on board.
While on the field, DC has decided to not give away runs easily. And DC’s Kagiso Rabada and Azar Patel kept the bowling lines tight giving away only a couple of runs from their opening overs. While CSK’s Shane Watson was looking set to let loose both him and Murali Vijay were back in the hut by the six over with only 34 runs of the board for CSK.

Following the disaster, Faf du Plessis (43 off 35 balls) and Kedar Jadhav (26 off 21 balls) tried to plough the game back with a strong partnership and kept the hope alive for the team. But the wickets kept falling and Nortje bowling got Jadhav was out in the 16th over when Dhoni walked in. Despite the situation, there still seemed space for Dhoni to break even. But in the 18th over, Kasigo Rabada dimissed du Plessis.

Picture courtesy: Hindustan Times

The pressure kept mounting and all hope was lost when CSK needed 45 to win off the final over. Both Dhoni and Jadeja were dismissed by Rabada in the final over.

With this the Capitals sealed their second win this season in a row.
The Man of the Match was titled to Prithvi Shaw. His determined and focused batting in first over itself not only gained score but motivated the teammates too. Overall it was a nail biting match between the youngest one and oldest experience of the field.
Now, it would interesting to how it turns out to be between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Do let us know in the comments below.

KL Rahul’s century sails victory for Kings XI Punjab against Royal Challengers Bangalore!

Happy Kings XI dugout for beating RCB with a huge margin of 97 runs.

Kannur Lokesh Rahul. What an innings by this young man! He stole the show with his KLassic power strokes making 132* off 69 balls. After putting on to bat first by Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Kings XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul played an anchor role to take his team towards victory.

KL Rahul opened the innings alongside Mayank Agarwal. Both of them got to a decent start. They batted throughout the power play and built a partnership of 57 runs in 7 overs after which Agarwal was bowled out by Yuzvendra Chahal. Agarwal contributed 26 runs off 20 balls.

Chahal strikes early, dismissing Agarwal

Picture courtesy : Instagram/@iplt20

Another partnership was built up between the skipper and the left handed Nicholas Pooran. They added 57 runs off 37 balls. This gave Pooran the license to hit biggies but failed terribly as the ball safely landed in Ab de Villiers’ hands at mid-off. Pooran badly executed the over pitched delivery by Shivam Dube.

Glenn Maxwell came in at number 4. Chahal was put to bowl for an interesting contest between the two lads. Maxi and Chahal have played 8 innings against each other out of which the leggie has dismissed Maxi on 5 occasions. However, Maxwell sneaked a single of Chahal’s only delivery to him, which was also Chahal’s last over for the innings. Anyway, Maxwell had to walk back cheaply in the next over off Dube. The Australian batter scored just 5 runs off 6 balls before he was caught by Aaron Finch at covers.

Karun Nair was the new man to support his captain playing beautifully on the other end. Nair scored 15 off 8 balls that he faced, for he gave maximum strike to his Kannada companion.

Rampant Rahul was playing exceptionally well. He hit his 17th IPL 50 in 36 balls, 68% of those runs came in 4s and 6s. Being the quickest runner that he is, he took runs in singles and doubles without getting tired. His performance on Dubai’s batting pitch was above par. The RCB bowlers struggled to dismiss him for when he played a loose shot, he was dropped by Virat Kohli twice (83 and 89 respectively) at the boundary between 6 balls.

Quite honestly I was nervous but I knew if I spend time in the middle, hit a few balls from the middle of the bat, it will all settle down. – KL Rahul at the post match presentation ceremony.

A few more stylish shots kept the scoreboard ticking. The Kings XI touched 150 runs in the 18th over. And then it was KL’s show for he scored his 2nd IPL century with a boundary over short third man. He took off his helmet and appreciated the applauses from his team mates and owners and did the “I don’t hear anything” celebration. KL Rahul has certainly, shut the noise with his hundred.

KL Rahul celebrating his century in style

Picture courtesy : Business Standard

Consequently, the wicket-keeping opener set a standard for all batsmen. KL completed 2000 IPL runs in 60 innings beating master blaster Sachin Tendulkar (63), which is the fastest by any Indian batsman. KL’s 132* is the highest score in IPL by any Indian and any Captain. The rightly admired leader of the pack is also the current holder of the orange cap with 153 runs, given to the batsman with highest runs in the tournament.

Playing with a strike rate of over 190, KL Rahul made sure that all the bowlers are punished and made RCB pay the price for winning the toss. While Umesh Yadav and Dale Steyn were brutally punished, the young boys Dube and Navdeep Saini controlled the run rate. Chahal gave his best giving away just 25 runs and picking a wicket of Mayank Agarwal in his quota of 4 overs.

Yet, the Royal Challengers had a mammoth total of 207 runs to chase.

The second innings started with left handed Devdutt Padikkal and right handed Aaron Finch. After a great debut in the first match, Paddikal was caught out after making just one run from 2 balls in the first over by Sheldon Cottrell. The new batsman Joshua Philippe was plumbed for a duck in the next over by Mohammed Shami. Virat Kohli, in at 4, fell prey in the 3rd over. The pressure built up on the skipper made him play big shots leading to mistakes. He was caught by Ravi Bishnoi after making just 1 run from 4 balls.

Virat Kohli’s early dismissal turned out to be fatal for RCB

Picture courtesy : Twitter/@RCBTweets

A partnership was forming between ABD and Finch. Finch was caught leg before wicket but a review by RCB at the right time changed the original decision by the on-field umpire. With 2 great batsmen at the crease, the pressure was on the young bowler Bishnoi. His first over turned out to be very expensive for he gave 2 extras and 3 boundaries, totaling at 15 runs. Perhaps, Bishnoi with a big heart came back stronger and bowled Finch for 20 runs off 21 balls. Murugan Ashwin on the other end dismissed ABD for 28 runs off 18 balls. Both these batsmen were looking very dangerous but the spinners had their work done.

Ravi Bishnoi celebrating Finch’s wicket.

Picture courtesy : Twitter/@KingsXIPunjab

The score was 60 for 5 at the end of 9 overs. The next 5 wickets also fell down in the following 8 overs. The total was too big for the tailenders to chase down. After ABD was dismissed, just three 4s were hit by the RCB batsman. Whereas, KL Rahul had single handedly hit thirteen 4s and four 6s in his innings. He never lost his balance in doing so.

All in all, a very bad day for RCB especially the skipper for dropping catches and getting dismissed for just a run. Virat will have a few things to think about before his next game against Mumbai Indians, who are returning after a huge win over Kolkata Knight Riders.

I take brunt of it, I dropped some chances. Maybe if we had restricted them under 180, we would not be under pressure from ball 1 in the chase. – Virat Kohli at the post match presentation ceremony

With Anil Kumble alongside, the Kings XI Punjab are on top of the points table with +2.43 net run rate. Special mention to the captain for hitting in the gaps and playing with a straight bat, rousing us with the sweet noise of the bat and ball. Rightly deserved, he was lauded with awards at the post match presentation including the Man of the Match award.

Mohammad Shami and KL Rahul posing with their coloured caps for taking highest wickets and scoring highest runs, respectively, in the tournament so far.

Picture courtesy : Twitter/@KingsXIPunjab

Match Summary :

Kings XI Punjab 206/3 (20)

Playing XI – KL Rahul (C & WK), Mayank Agarwali, Karun Nair, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Sarfaraz Khan, James Neesham, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammad Shami and Sheldon Cottrell.

Royal Challengers Bangalore 109/10 (17)

Playing XI – Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, Josh Philippe (WK), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn, and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Winning team – Kings XI Punjab (by 97 runs)

Man of the Match – KL Rahul

Dream11 Game Changer – KL Rahul

Altroz Super Striker of the Match – KL Rahul

Unacademy Let’s Crack it Sixes – KL Rahul

CRED Power Player of the Match – Sheldon Cottrell

Unquestionably, a perfect day for the Preity Zinta owned Kings XI team. But, it also happened to be one of the darkest days for the entire cricket fraternity. We lost Dean Jones earlier in the day. All the players wore a black band on their sleeves to show respect to our beloved Prof. Deano. The cricket world will never forget Australia’s greatest batter and fielder who set the bar for generations to come.

As the showman Prof. Deano was, the show must go on. With just a few hours remaining for another interesting match between the experienced, Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings and the youngest captain Shreyas Iyer’s Delhi Capitals.

Dean Jones

Picture courtesy : The Indian Express

Who’s your pick for tonight? Let us know in the comments below!

Setting the sun of the Risers, RCB won by 10 runs.

Yuzvendra Chahal and Navdeep Saini changed the game for RCB.

The third match of Dream11 IPL 2020 played between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) took-off in Dubai on 21st September. A happy day for all the RCBians! The team had a very difficult start last season but they bounced back starting with a winning match this year.

Taking a perfect estimation of the new ground, the Sunrisers chose to bowl first. However, they had a bad start amidst power play when they saw an astonishing opening partnership between Devdutt Padikkal and Aaron Finch.

Picture courtesy: The Quint

Aaron Finch was supposed to take the pressure off the young debutang. But no, it was the other way round. Hitting a huge six on Abhishek Sharma’s ball, Padikkal made his first half century at IPL in 37 balls. Sunrisers bowler Vijay Shankar came back into the attack by taking the wicket of unstoppable Padikkal and breaking the partnership.

Devdutt Padikkal said, “It was great to get the half century out of the way. It was the first game and I wanted to start of well. I am happy to have done that. So happy to be training with Kohli. I was just eating his ears trying to pick up as much as possible. He said who you face doesn’t matter as long as you have confidence in yourself. I enjoyed batting with finch. I was comfortable from the word go batting alongside with him.”

Picture courtesy: Sportsgrasp.com

The match was taken ahead by the fastest run taker AB de Villers and RCB captain Virat Kohli. Taking the responsibility of the team, De Villers scored his half century in 30 balls later hitting two sixes back to back on Sandeep Sharma’s over and setting a higher score for the Risers to chase. ABD also hit 200th six for the Royal Challengers.

Bowlers from Sunrisers were bowling pretty well after the power play. When Abhishek Sharma took wicket of Finch and Rashid Khan got the catch of the skipper Virat Kohli, the Risers built a little pressure on Challengers.

The conditions would have best suited the Sunrisers bowler Mitchell Marsh but succumbed to injuries, he had to walk-off the ground due to a limp in his leg. This brought a twist into the match and affected the best bowling side lethally.

Picture courtesy: DNA India

Royal Challengers set a target of 164 which looked 20 runs short until Yuzi Chahal and Navdeep Saini came as a savior with their fantastic bowling. This match has given a feeling that RCB is now a well balanced side with the likes of 4 good batsmen in the top and middle order and a great mix of spinners and pacers in their team.

With the opening partnership of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow, Sunrisers were all set to chase the score made by the Royal Challengers. In the very first over by Dale Steyn, Warner started-off the chase by hitting a boundary.

RCB bowler Umesh Yadav who wasn’t bowling good, fortunately ran-out Warner at the non-strikers end. Bairstow who scored a half century, managed to do that because of the weak fielding by RCB where he got saved thrice from a catch out. Manish Pandey and Bairstow had built a good partnership which could have led to a win.

However, it was then the RCB’s bowlers show. Yuzvendra Chahal came into the picture by taking Manish Pandey’s wicket in his 3rd over and stumped Bairstow and Vijay Shankar back to back. Another bowler from RCB, Navdeep Saini who stumped Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan one after the other.

With the never say die attitude, Mitchell Marsh came to bat but his injured leg did not allow him to stay on the pitch for long. He got a catch out by Virat Kohli after hitting the first ball. Pulling up the score to 146 SRH needed 18 runs in the last 6 balls. But with a brilliant show put up by RCB bowlers, the tailenders were dismissed soon and consequently lost all 10 wickets.

Picture courtesy: Moneycontrol.com

The man of the match award was given to RCB spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for taking 3 wickets and giving just 18 runs in his spell of 4 overs.

Yuzi Chahal said, “When I bowled my first over, I realized I need to bowl stump-to-stump line and backed myself. When Vijay came Virat and AB told me to go for a googly and it worked. I put some mud on my hands to make sure there is no dew.”

Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings defeated Mumbai Indians by 5 wickets with 4 balls to spare.

The yellow army cruised to victory after 5 straight losses against the men in blue!

Dream11 IPL 2020 kick started with the mother of all clashes. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) beat the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the final over after losing 5 consecutive matches in the past tournament. Dhoni’s Super Kings put up a brilliant show on a Saturday night to win over the IPL 2019 winners. It was the skipper’s 100th win for the CSK franchise since the inception of IPL in 2008.

After 437 days of no cricket, Dhoni returned with a bang. After recently retiring from International cricket, he looked fitter than ever.

Picture courtesy : Business Standard

With empty stands, no display of placards and banners, it was odd not just for the players but the audience as well. The governing body did make an attempt to replicate the atmosphere by playing pre-recorded audio of fans hooting from previous matches, but it didn’t create much of a difference.

Correct decisions made by the winning captain turned the match in their favour with splendid batting performance by Ambati Rayudu (former MI player) and Faf du Plessis. Faf also contributed with 3 out-of-the-world catches down the part. Sam Curran also displayed an all-round show with both, bat and the ball.

The “opening match jinx” continued for MI as this loss was their 8th consecutive loss at their opening match. The last time they won their opening match was back in 2012 when the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar was still playing for the franchise.

“Something for us to learn. Still early days in the tournament where momentum is important. A few things for us to learn in this game, we did make a few mistakes. Hopefully we’ll rectify those and come out smarter in the next game” – Rohit Sharma, the losing captain, at the post match presentation.

Picture courtesy : Inside Sport

Mumbai Indians are known to bounce back, for they’ve won all 4 titles after losing the first few matches. However, Shaikh Zayed Stadium is the one with biggest dimensions. So hitting some shots here isn’t easy like back home at Wankhede in Mumbai.

The match started with Dhoni winning the toss and putting Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians to bat first. The grassy pitch told that there’s something for the new ball. An average scoring game with 160-180 runs was on the charts.

The new normal… (at the toss)

Picture courtesy : Instagram/@iplt20

MI’s skipper opened the innings with a boundary alongside Quinton de Kock. But they got out cheaply at 12(8) and 33(20) respectively. At the end of 10 overs, everyone felt that Mumbai can take the total to 180-190. But after the De kock departed at 121/3, no partnership was built. Suryakumar Yadav 17(16) and Saurabh Tiwary 42(31) tried to carry on the momentum only to be put down by the bowlers in yellow. Saurabh, who was picked against Ishan Kishan was bang on business. Hardik Pandya with SR 140 and Pollard with SR 129 did hit a couple shots in the park. They made their intentions clear and targeted Lungi Ngidi to do so.

The wickets kept toppling for MI as they put 162 on board at the loss of 9 wickets. Clearly, 15-20 runs short of what they should be with such a great batting line up. They lost 7 wickets in the second half of the second innings with 3 in the death overs. Scoring just 2 runs off the final ball, Mumbai Indians put up 162 for 9 on board with CSK to chase it down at the asking rate of a little above 8 runs per over.

Mumbai Indian’s Rohit Sharma in action

Picture courtesy : Gulf News

Meanwhile, CSK’s bowlers kept impressing. They kept hitting the right line and lengths. CSK took advantage of the pitch and the outfield. It was a Faf-ulous show for Faf du Plessis took 3 brilliant catches at the boundary to dismiss Tiwary, Hardik and Rahul Chahar. While in his lucky headband, Sam Curran joined the party and took 2 catches to dismiss Rohit early in the innings and then SKY. Sam also played decently with the ball to give CSK a breakthrough by taking de Kock’s wicket who seemed dangerous in the powerplay. Bringing back Piyush Chawla to the franchise also proved to be a good pick. He dismissed Rohit early on in the innings with his smart bowling.

In the second innings, Mumbai came back hard. They attacked early and dismissed both the openers Murali Vijay and Shane Watson in the first 12 balls itself. Perhaps, Vijay was plumbed off James Pattinson, result of bad decision by the on-field umpire S. Ravi.

Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis took control of the match. Both of them hit half centuries to chase down the scoreboard. They put up a good partnership of more than 100 runs. This shows the strength in Chennai’s batting line up and the way these two batsman controlled the innings speaks volumes. Panic and CSK don’t go hand in hand. The Captain’s coolness sweeps through the players.

Picture courtesy : India Today

Mumbai Indians could have beaten Rayudu early on if they hadn’t missed opportunities after opportunities. Rohit’ team failed to field tightly and kept falling short of catches. They also gave away easy runs with sloppy fielding. This in turn helped CSK build their inninings. The men in blue couldn’t build any pressure on the batters.

After Rahul Chahar’s unorthodox bowling approach, Rayudu got out after making 71 runs from 48 balls. The gun of CSK Ravindra Jadeja came out to bat when his team needed just 29 of 18 balls. Hitting the gaps well, he got off the mark with the boundary. He was soon plumbed by Krunal Pandya who pitched the outside outside off stump.

We could see Dhoni warming up in the stands and to our surprise, with less than 3 overs to go, Sam Curran was put up the order. Was it for the left and right hand combination with Faf or was it Dhoni just being Dhoni, always giving youngsters a chance to become better cricketers?

“One thing we haven’t done is giving a chance to Jadeja and Curran to come up the order and express themselves which is what we did today. It was a psychological thing of saying that okay, we have batsmen down, so we’ll send one or two of them up to hit a few” – M.S. Dhoni, the winning captain at the post match presentation.

Jasprit Bumrah, arguably the best bowler in the world right now, also fell prey to Chennai’s batting line up. He had started his spell with 4 dot balls but ended up giving 43 runs in his quota of 4 overs. Bumrah was given the 19th over to show some luck. The first ball to Curran went for a six and just the next ball was caught at covers. The English youngster departed after making 18 runs off 6 balls with one 4 and two 6s under his belt.

Picture courtesy : Business Standard

Faf’s half century came up on the 4th ball of the over. Playing with a strike rate of 119, that was Faf’s 13th IPL half century so far. Dhoni was new to the crease. The first ball that he faced could have been the last ball he faced that match if Dhoni hadn’t taken the DRS. He was caught behind but as a keeper himself, Dhoni knew that the noise was not from bat touching the ball. The next ball was a dot ball but hadn’t CSK sealed it already?

Just two balls in the final over were enough to clinch the game. The yellow army had a convincing win over the Mumbai Indians whose losing streak in the opening match continued.

Picture courtesy : Instagram/@iplt20

Rayudu was rightly awarded the man of the match award for his brilliant batting performance. He will turn 35 next week is the 8th member of the CSK squad to be 35 or plus and yet, the spirits are as high as they can get.

“I kept training in the lockdown. It was a stop-start but I was really eager” – Ambati Rayudu, MOM, at the post match presentation.

Match Summary :

Chennai Super Kings 166/5 (19.2)

Playing XI – Murali Vijay, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, M.S. Dhoni (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Deepak Chahar, Piyush Chawla and Lungi Ngidi.

Mumbai Indians 162/9 (20)

Playing XI – Rohit Sharma (C), Quinton de Kock (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah

Winning team – Chennai Super Kings

Man of the Match – Ambati Rayudu

CRED Power Player of the Match – Quinton de Kock

Dream11 Game Changer – Faf du Plessis

Unacademy Let’s Crack it Sixes – Ambati Rayudu

Altroz Super Striker of the Match – Quinton de Kock

The El Clasico of the cash-rich league may have come to an end but we are looking forward to another thriller between Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab which is just a few hours away from now.

Picture courtesy : Inside Sport

Is it going to be Shreyas Iyer’s young blood or KL Rahul’s sheer passion for the game? Leave a comment down below and let us know who you will be supporting tonight!