Having won six of their first seven matches with one washout, Punjab Kings enjoyed a four-point lead at the top of the log at one stage of the season. But if you can win six in a row, then you can lose six on the bounce, too. And they have. They remain in fourth place but have just one match remaining. Their fate is now out of their own hands.
Defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, became the first team to qualify for the playoffs and look good for a top-two place with a two-point lead over the second-placed Gujarat Titans. One win from their remaining two games should be good enough for Sunrisers Hyderabad to finish in the top four, but five more teams are, mathematically, still able to finish third or fourth.
Match of the Week: Punjab Kings looked like reversing their horrendous run of defeats when they put 210 for five on the board against Delhi Capitals and then claimed four quick wickets in the run chase which slumped to 74 for four. But Axar Patel (56) and David Miller (51 from 28) rebuilt the innings and numbers 7, 8 and 9 contributed 42 from 20 while Punjab’s struggling attack conceded 17 wides as Delhi snuck home.
Batter: Mitchell Marsh walloped 90 from 38 balls with a withering nine fours and seven sixes to mince Chennai Super Kings' total of 187 for five and win the match by seven wickets with 20 balls to spare. Too late for Lucknow Super Giants to qualify, of course, which takes away some of the gloss. Kolkata Knight Riders are barely alive in the race for the playoffs and Finn Allen’s stupendous 93 from 35 balls with 10 sixes was too toxic for Gujarat, who could only muster 218 for four in response to KKR’s 247 for two.
Bowler: Mitchell Starc was twice brought back into the attack for a single over earlier than planned and twice took a vital wicket on his way to 4-40 as the Delhi Capitals stopped a rampant Rajasthan Royals in their tracks as they appeared to be heading for 220+. Big name, big bucks, big results. That’s the way it’s supposed to work.
Performance: One of the hardest and most underrated skills for batters and captains is judging a fair or ‘par’ score. Sai Sudharsan (61 of 44 balls) and Washington Sundar (50 off 33) may have looked a little pedestrian during Gujarat Titans' modest-looking 168 for five against Sunrisers, but they knew better. On a lively pitch they backed Kagiso Rabada and Mohammad Siraj and they duly delivered with 3-28 and a remarkable 3-1-11-1 respectively, while Jason Holder claimed 3-20 as Sunrisers were blown away for 86.
Indian player: Delhi Capitals captain Axar Patel led from the front as his team desperately cling on to remote hopes of a playoff place. 56 off 30 balls helped them to 216 for seven for a three-wicket victory against Punjab Kings and he promoted himself to No 4 and made 34* from just 18 for another five-wicket victory against Rajasthan Royals. Virat Kohli was, well, just being Virat Kohli with his NINTH century, and unbeaten 105 from 60 balls as the rampant Royal Challengers Bengaluru hammered KKR.
Overseas player: Cameron Green looked burdened by the “most expensive players in IPL history” label for the first few matches, but he appears to have cast off the extra ‘pressure’ and was instrumental in KKR’s 29-run victory against the Titans with 52* from 28 balls and a tidy return of 3-0-25-1.
South African: Kagiso Rabada is quietly having an outstanding tournament for Gujarat Titans and another 3-28 went a long way towards their 82-run demolition of Sunrisers. David Miller (still got it!) contributed 51 from just 28 to help Delhi past Punjab and Lungi Ngidi was outstanding with 2-24 to steer the same team past Rajasthan.
Ouch: Anshul Kamboj has been in the race for the purple cap for the last month but, boy, his wickets can be expensive. During his spell of 2.3-0-63-0 for Chennai Super Kings against LSG he became the first bowler ever to concede over 60 runs in less than three overs and the first to be hit for four sixes in two overs. Eleven of the 16 balls he bowled were hit to or over the boundary.
Best loser: Kartik Sharma (71 off 42) and Shubman Gill (85 off 49) batted pretty well considering their teams (CSK and GT) were hammered by seven wickets and 29 runs respectively.
Talking point: Tristan Stubbs has helped to win a couple of thrilling games for Delhi this season by ‘anchoring’ the innings and relying on a late catch-up. It’s a high-risk strategy which leaves his teammates to do more of the heavy lifting when it doesn’t work. Scores of 12 from 17 balls and four from six didn’t backfire against Punjab and Rajasthan this week, but the best ‘finishers’ usually start their innings by scoring at least a run-a-ball.