The 18th edition of the Indian Premier League is in its infancy after just three matches so far - Neil Manthorp picks out some of the highlights from the opening weekend.
Best South African: Heinrich Klaasen was bumped down to No 5 in the SRH middle order but he wasted no time picking up where he left off in the last season with 34 from just 14 balls (5x4, 1x6) in their whopping 286-6.
Match of the Week: If run orgies are your thing then Sunrisers Hyderabad (286-6) and Rajasthan Royals (242-6) setting a new IPL record aggregate of 528 at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad would have been pretty exciting, if a little one-dimensional.
Best Batter: Ishan Kishan has always been precociously talented but a little ‘willful’. Like so many of the cast in this year’s tournament a change of franchise after the mega auction saw him move from Mumbai to SRH where he fitted into the top order quite perfectly with a monstrous 106* from 47 balls with 11 fours and six sixes.
Top Bowler: Afghan left arm wrist-spinner Noor Ahmad’s 4-18 (g)ripped the guts out of the Mumbai Indians’ middle order restricting them to a distinctly under par 155-9 allowing Chennai Super Kings to cruise to a four-wicket win with the five balls to spare in the battle of the Galacticos.
Peak Performance: Kolkata Knight Riders were flying towards a total in excess of 220 when they reached 107-1 at the halfway stage of their innings in the opener match against the Royal Challengers.
Left arm spinner Krunal Pandya applied the handbrake with guile claiming 3-29 in his four overs and turned the match on its head with RCB winning comfortably having restricted KKR to just 174-8.
Clanger: Jofra Archer is one of the best fast bowlers in the world but ‘most expensive spell in IPL history’ is not a record he’ll be proud of. Everyone has a bad day at the office but figures of 4-0-76-0 was cause to leave early for the day and go home for a lie down.
Best Overseas Player: Phil Salt (56 from 31 balls) and Travis Head (67 from 31) have one job – to open the batting and do it as fast as possible. RCB and SRH got their money’s worth in the first game, but there’s a long way to go.
Top Indian Player: Let’s see how many of these awards Virat Kohli can win this season. Yep, yet another cool, calm and collected run chase innings of 59* from 36 balls doing exactly what needed to be done with four fours and three sixes for RCB against KKR.
Talking Point: The Impact Player. There are many who don’t like the ‘innovation’ and there number is growing. Cricket was never meant to be a 12-a-side contest but the IPL is committed to keeping the format until at least 2027.
Look out for: Gujarat Titans v Punjab Kings on Tuesday. Punjab are the perennial under-achievers but they have (yet again) completely rebuilt under new coach Ricky Ponting and their XI is also likely to include Marco Jansen. Could this be their year? Probably not.
