Advertisement

KKR surge to top of the table, it's crunch time

cricket09 May 2024 06:40| © MWP
By:Neil Manthorp
Share

Kolkata Knight Riders surged to the top of the log in week nine of the IPL on the back of three emphatic but contrasting victories. They are ahead of long-time leaders Rajasthan Royals on net run-rate, although the Royals have a game in hand.

Pitches being used for the second and third time are finally having an effect on a season of burgeoning scores, with the spinners finally enjoying some helpful conditions.

KKR’s leggie Varun Chakravarty (3-16) helped restrict the Delhi Capitals to 153 for nine before opener Phil Salt (68 off 33 balls) saw the Knight Riders to a seven-wicket victory but it was harder work against the Mumbai Indians after the brilliant Jasprit Bumrah (3-18) restricted KKR to 169 all out.

But the floundering Mumbai limped to 145 in reply thanks to Sunil Narine (2-22) and Mitchell Starc, who has endured a miserable tournament personally despite his team’s success, finally making a meaningful contribution with 4-33.

But it was business as usual in the leaders’ final game of the week, with Narine (81 off 39) and Salt (32 off 14) setting up KKR’s whopping 235 for six before Chakravarty (3-30) was at the heart of the Lucknow Super Giants' collapse to 137 all out and defeat by 98 runs.

JADEJA HELPS CSK BOUNCE BACK

Defending champions, Chennai Super Kings, briefly slipped out of the top four with a tepid, seven-wicket loss to also-rans Punjab Kings but regained their place in the playoff places thanks to Ravindra Jadeja, who top scored with 43 and then claimed 3-20 in a 28-run victory against the same opposition three days later.

Five-time champions Mumbai are becoming an embarrassment from which head coach Mark Boucher has been shielded by the continuing attention paid to Hardik Pandya’s unpopular appointment as captain in place of crowd favourite, and Indian captain, Rohit Sharma. Their total of 144 for seven and four-wicket loss to Lucknow was feeble.

And finally, there was a consolation victory for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who dismissed the Gujarat Titans for just 147 and then comically collapsed from 92 without loss to 117 for six before winning by four wickets to move off the bottom of the log. Captain Faf du Plessis delivered his most destructive innings yet with a bruising 64 from only 23 balls, with 10 fours and three sixes.

SA PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Faf du Plessis. The former Proteas captain still hasn’t officially retired from International T20 cricket but he must know now that his time is up. Although he is clearly still good enough…

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Kolkata Knight Riders. They won their first three games of the season before losing three of their next five and have now won three in a row once again. They are committed to a high-risk, high-reward style of play which is highly watchable.

BEST BATSMAN: Sunil Narine. The Trinidadian has consistently been among the best bowlers in the tournament for over a decade. This year he is also the third-highest run-scorer with 450+ runs at a strike rate in excess of 180.

BEST BOWLER: Varun Chakravarty. Finally, after two months of boundaries, something for the spinners to work with.

TOP TALKING POINT: The announcement of most country’s squads for the T20 World Cup – and the fact that IPL players in the tournament will have to ‘readjust’ to teams without ‘Impact Players’.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “There's no Impact Player rule (in international cricket), so whether that affects the scores is yet to be seen," said Mitchell Starc. “I think it probably will. Your allrounders come back into play. Captains have to think a bit tactically, too, when you have just 11 players. It's been interesting to experience it first-hand in the IPL.” Tactical use of the word ‘interesting’ by the struggling Aussie spearhead.

KEEP AN EYE ON: Mathematically and theoretically no team has yet been eliminated from the playoffs. By the end of the week as many as four could be. It’s crunch time.

Advertisement