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.

Experimenting didn’t pay well for CSK skipper MS Dhoni.

Chennai Super Kings fall short of 16 runs.

Dhoni & Smith are the two most successful captains in IPL with win% of 65.5 and 60 respectively, competed with their teams yesterday. It was high scoring match which Chennai super kings (CSK) fought till end. Rajasthan Royals (RR) had Scored 216 runs and CSK tried their best and reached till 200 & fallen short for just 16 runs. Sanju samson played destructive innings with fastest fifty of this IPL and also did great job with wicketkeeping . Jofra came out to be the game-changer with his batting and even bowling too which lead royals to win.

Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah it’s significant as that place has been very important for Indians. Because in 1980s and 1990s a lot of ODIs were played there and most of them against Pakistan and Australia. Sharjah’s ground is smaller than the other two grounds at UAE. So hitting boundaries will be easy but as the ball gets old, the pitch will grip it so a total like 160 could also be defendable. It’s totally different surface to Dubai or Abu Dhabi in terms of runs and the size of the venue. It is challenging situation for bowlers. As an high-scorer game is on the cards.

Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Picture courtesy: Gulf news .

“We saw grass at Abu Dhabi and Dubai. There is no grass on this wicket. I can’t predict any sideways movement. You will be thinking low bounce when you prepare to play on this wicket. Once you get a pace of the wicket, you can score quickly. So, the guy who wins the toss will like to chase,” reads Kevin Pietersen.

Chennai Super Kings had won the toss and have opted to field first, “due to dew as one of the factors,” as skipper MS Dhoni said.

Jaiswal and Smith were at the crease to open the game. No sooner then they were ready for the chase, Chahar broke the partnership by taking a wicket of Jaiswal. Later Samson coming into the picture who gave a hitting start supported by Smith. Samson completed his half century in 19 balls which made him the Man of the Match.

Picture courtesy: IPL twitter handle.

“50 from just 19. Such pure, clean, elegant hitting. I could watch Sanju Samson bat all day, every day.” – Harsha Bhogle.

Stats time:
Fastest 50s for RR in IPL
18 J Buttler v DD Delhi 2019
19 O Shah vs RCB Bengaluru 2012
19 S Samson vs CSK Sharjah 2020

After time-out Jadeja came back into attack and compensated for his last over by giving just 4 runs in this over. Here come one more big over by chawla giving 19 runs and got hit couple of six by Samson-Smith. Samson was unstoppable even Jadeja’s good bowling couldn’t stop him from hitting maximum. Ngidi came back into attack in 12th over and here he takes wicket of Samson who was ruthlessly playing. Miller, who came in to bat got run out without even playing a single bowl. It was 134-3 after 12 overs. Robbin uthappa stepped in to bat. Chawla who had given 47 runs in two overs was back and this time he compensated a bit by giving just 3 runs. It was 147-3 after 14 overs and here was the time for a strategic break. Chawla was back into attack and with first ball of the 15th over and he took uthappa’s wicket by bowling decently.

Yashasvi jaiswal after watching cricketing legend MS Dhoni in front of him.

Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.

Ngidi came into attack and was beaten with a couple of fours. It was 166-4 after 16 overs. Sam curran was back and he took a couple of wickets in this over and bowled a decent over by giving just 7 runs. Chahar was back into attack in the 18th over and played in a fantastic manner in his bowling by giving just 3 runs in an over. After 18 overs it was 177-6. Now Sam curran was back into attack and he managed to get the big man Smith out by giving his efforts for the team He contributed 69 runs in 47 balls. It was 186 for 7 wickets after the 19th over and here was the batsman Jofra archer on strike with Ngidi bowling into attack but this over changed everything thing for Rajasthan Royals from 186 to 216 runs with the help of Ngidi and Jofra.

Some interesting stats of this innings were

17 sixes were now most hit by rajasthan royals.
This was the fourth highest total for RR in IPL.

Picture courtesy: ESPNCRICINFO twitter handle.

Then came the second innings, where Watson and Vijay were in the crease for opening and Unadkat was opening for the attack.
The 1st over was a decent one with 5 runs for unadkat as CSK needed to start hitting from the start to chase this huge run total. 2nd over by Jofra was again a great over in terms of bowling giving just 3 runs. Second over for Unadkat and Murli vijay opened with back to back boundaries and it was a decent over for CSK to be in the game. In the 4th over Jofra archer was welcomed by the maximum from Watson but other 5 balls were dot deliveres and Jofra compensated in this over itself. Shreyas gopal came into attack for 5tg over he gave 11 runs in this over. Hence it was 5 overs 36-0 Vijay was on 19 runs and Watson was on 16 runs. Watson hits a couple of sixes and one boundry for tom Curran’s over. 17 runs from 6th over was an hope for CSK to fight and be in the game strongly. Here comes first wicket taken by Rahul tewatia in 7th over of Watson who was at 33 runs. 8th over by Gopal got another shock with wicket of another opener vijay who scored 21of 21 balls. Du plessis was on the crease with Sam curran on the other end started hitting those risky shots. Where sam Curran scored quick 17 runs from just 6 balls and Tewatia took his wicket in the 9th over and there was a time out after 8.5 overs. Rituraj gaikwad a debutant came in to bat and went for a duck. Then shreyas gopal put a very decent over by giving just 5 runs. It was just 82-4 after 10 overs and all hopes were going away but there was one big hope alive as the skipper of CSK was yet to come.

Sanju samson flying to take catch.
Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter

Even Du plessis was settling down with kedar jadhav. Here comes the hatrick boundaries by kedar jadhav to bowler Shreyas gopal. It was 101-4 after 12 overs but had long way to go.

The Game was going away as there were a few dot balls poured. In the 14th over tom Curran took kedar Jadhav’s wicket who had scored 22 runs of 16 balls. But making the way for captain itself, MS Dhoni comes in and hopes rise again. In the 6th ball of 14th over Dhoni took his first run in the international cricket since the worldcup2019 semi-final.

It was 14 overs 115-5, And now Du plessis started hitting sixes to the stands in 15th over. Dhoni started batting without helmet which means he wanted to go for some big hits with Du plessis. 16 runs from 15th over showed some hopes alive for CSK. Again Jofra came into attack with his brilliant bowling figures giving only 7 runs in 16th over. 17th over Du plessis welcomed Unadkat with maximum and ended hitting two more sixes. It was 14th fifty for Faf duplesis, he was at 55 runs made by just 29 balls.

Faf du plessis hitting the ball.
Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.

Needed 58 runs from 18 balls and Tom curran was back in to attack. He did decent bowling by giving 10 runs during death over. Here comes the star player Jofra into attack, giving just 10 runs and taking the wicket of another star player Du plessis. This stretched the game more towards rajasthan royals. Jadeja come to bat and 38 runs were needed from 6 balls which was impossible. Tom Curran was back in to attack but now Dhoni settled and started hitting biggies. 2runs in two balls and then Dhoni hits 3 back to back sixes from which one of it went out of the park. It was a 92 meters long six. He finished with single run and CSK fell short of just 16 runs.

Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.

That 30 runs in last over of first innings, given by Ngidi to Royals, later took toll on CSK. Although the match results gone into hands of RR but CSK gave their 100% efforts and reached till 200 runs. As Dhoni’s experimental efforts with batting order didn’t showed results as he thought but learnings are the part of game and as we know CSK is such team they can come back stronger whenever they want.

“Steve and Samson batted very well. Need to give credit to their bowlers. I haven’t batted for a long time. 14-day quarantine doesn’t help (why he isn’t batting higher). Also wanted to try different things, give opportunities to Sam. Have the opportunity to try different things. If it doesn’t work, you can always go back to your strengths.” – skipper of CSK MS Dhoni.

MS Dhoni during post match presentation.
Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.

Man of the match was given to Sanju samson for his extraordinary innings.

Sanju samson during post match presentation.
Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.

“My game plan is stand and deliver. I’ve been working hard on my fitness, diet and training, and on my strength, because my game relies a lot on power hitting. I had time to work out in these 5 months, and I think I’ve increased that ability. We are happy to bring smiles on the fans’ faces and we hope to continue doing so.” – Man of the match Sanju samson.