IPL Roundup – week 10

The qualifying positions in the 2021 edition of the IPL finally became a little clearer during the penultimate week of group matches – although not by much.

While the Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore all know they will be competing in either the Qualifier or Eliminator matches, four more teams all still have mathematical chances of finishing in the top four with Kolkata Knight Riders on 12 points with one group match remaining, Punjab Kings two points behind with one match remaining and Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians also on 10 points with two matches left.

Sunrisers Hyderabad defied their basement dwelling with an unexpected seven-wicket victory against the Rajasthan Royals in the first match of the week and it was largely down to the overdue decision to drop Australian David Warner and replace him with England’s Jason Roy.

Royals captain Sanju Samson yet again played a largely lone hand with 82 from 57 balls (7x4, 3x6) in steering his fragile top order to 164 for five but Roy’s 60 from 42 balls and captain Kane Williamson’s unbeaten 51 guided SRH to a consolation victory with nine balls to spare.

Delhi Capitals endured a rare ‘bad day at the office’ in the second match when they slumped to 127 for nine with Steve Smith (39) and captain Rishabh Pant (39) unable to kick on to a meaningful score in the face of persistently accurate bowling from the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Anrich Nortje (1-15), Kagiso Rabada (1-28) and Avesh Khan (3-13) ensured regular stumbles for KKR but Nitish Rana’s unbeaten 36 and a quickfire 21 from 10 balls by Sunil Narine ensured victory by three wickets with 10 balls to spare.

Mumbai Indians enjoyed a welcome return to form after three successive defeats in the UAE leg of the tournament with a six-wicket victory against the Piunjab Kings for whom Aiden Markram once again top-scored with 42 from 29 balls (6x4) in a modest total of 135-6. Kieron Pollard bowled just one over and persuaded two batters to miscue long-hops for a return of 2-8.

Quinton de Kock (27 from 29 balls) steadied early concerns at 16 for two in the run chase before Saurabh Tiwary (45), Hardik Pandya (40 from 30 balls) and Pollard (15 from seven deliveries) clinched the win with an over to spare.

Royal Challengers Bangalore steadied their qualification jitters with an emphatic, seven-wicket victory against the Royals who made a cracking start to reach 100 for one in 11 overs before subsiding to 149-9.

West Indian opener Evin Lewis cracked 58 from 37 balls but the only double-figure score outside the top three was the 14 from 11 balls by Chris Morris.

Glenn Maxwell’s unbeaten 50 from 30 balls (6x4, 1x6) saw RCB gallop home with 17 balls to spare. AB de Villiers accompanied him, hitting his only delivery to the boundary.

The brief revival in form of the eliminated Sunrisers was crushed by log-leaders Chennai Super Kings who prevailed by six wickets in a one-sided affair after SRH struggled to just 134-7.

Chennai’s overseas stars, Josh Hazlewood (3-24) and Dwayne Bravo (2-17) were especially impressive in their four overs.

KKR KEEP PLAYOFF HOPES ALIVE

Faf du Plessis (41 from 36 balls) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (45 from 38) continued the most successful opening partnership of the tournament with 75 for the first wicket to lay the platform for a win more comfortable than the two-ball margin suggested.

CSK became the first team to officially reach the qualifiers.

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians came wickedly close to defending a modest 129 for eight when they reduced the Delhi Capitals to 93 for six but Delhi’s Shreyas Iyer (33* from 33 balls) found an able partner in Ravichandran Ashwin (20* from 21 balls) and they steered the Capitals to a four-wicket win with five balls to spare.

Quinton de Kock limped to 19 from 18 balls on a treacherously slow pitch and only Suryakumar Yadav’s 33 exceeded 20 for Mumbai.

Anrich Nortje (4-1-19-1) continues to be one of the bowlers of the tournament but Kagiso Rabada (0-33) had a quiet night by comparison.

Log leaders CSK appeared to have produced the perfect batting performance with opener Ruturaj Gaikwad’s maiden century (101* from 60 balls) leading them to a formidable 189 for four but the Royals, fighting to stay alive in the tournament, delivered a formidable run chase to win by seven wickets with a remarkable 15 balls to spare.

Openers Evin Lewis (27 from 12 balls) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (50 from a mere 21 balls, 6x4, 3x6) added 77 in just five overs and the Royals never looked back with Shivam Dube’s 64 not out finishing the job.

Faf du Plessis earlier made 25 from 19 balls for CSK and remains in the chase for the orange cap as he nears 500 runs for the tournament.

On Sunday RCB posted the highest total this season at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, 164-7, and then held their nerve to win by six runs with Mohammad Siraj (0-33) and Harshal Patel (0-27) both bowling brilliant death overs and proving that bowlers can win T20 matches without taking wickets.

Glenn Maxwell (57 from 33 balls) scored his third successive half century for RCB and shared in a 73-run partnership with AB de Villiers (23 from 18) after the first three wickets fell in the space of five runs from 68-0 to 73 for three.

The final game of the week saw KKR keep their hopes of a playoff place revived with a six-wicket victory against basement dwellers Sunrisers Hyderabad for whom Kane Williamson top-scored with a meagre 26 in a feeble total of 115-8.

KKR made hard work of the modest run chase with opener Shubman Gill requiring 51 balls for his 57 and Nitish Rana even more sluggish 25 from 33 balls but they got there in the end with just two balls to spare.