Matters get worse for RCB and RR!
Two low scoring games didn’t live up to the expectations of the viewers on the Sunday night. Both the games were completely one sided and the set targets were easily chased down in both games.
In the first game, RCB faced yet another loss. This time, they didn’t even come close to winning at any point. Their start was very slow and Parthiv didn’t get going today. Ab de Villiers too, fell on the last ball of the powerplay. Trying to clear the infield, he gave a catch to mid-on. Virat batted really slow at the start. It was visible that he wanted to stay in the middle till the end of the innings. Stoinis came to the crease at №4 ahead of Moeen Ali, stabilised the innings but couldn’t continue for long and got dismissed for just 15 runs. Moeen Ali came and hit some big blows and helped to increase the run rate. A volley of wickets in the end stopped the run flow and RCB ended at 149–8 at the end of 20 overs.
Delhi’s chase seemed to be in trouble because Shikhar Dhawan fell on his very first ball. But from then, Prithvi Shaw and Shreyas Iyer scored some quick runs and brought Delhi very close to the win. Sensible innings from Ingram and Pant helped Delhi chase the target with 7 balls to spare. Shreyas Iyer top scored with 67 runs off just 50 deliveries.
Man of the match went to Kagiso Rabada for his figures of 4–0–21–4 which included the wickets of de Villiers, Kohli, Akshdeep and Pawan Negi.
RCB are virtually out of this competiton because now they have have to win all of their matches to confirm a playoffs spot which is a very difficult task. Although, they will surely play better in the next games as they have almost nothing to lose now. They will look to give chances to the youngsters as much as possible. For the RCB fans though, it’s getting frustrating as they haven’t won a single IPL in 12 years. Let’s see what they have in store for the subsequent games.
Delhi are back on track now after two humiliating defeats againt SRH and Kings XI. It was a clinical performance from the bowling unit of Delhi. They still have some doubts in their batting as they are highly dependent on their top 4 to score most of the runs. The lower order of DC is very weak and it may be exploited by the other teams. They now go to Kolkata to face KKR at the Eden Gardens.
In the second game of the day, KKR cruised to an easy win over the Rajasthan Royals. The RR batsmen couldn’t score runs on the sluggish Jaipur wicket. The gentle nudges on the on side to get the necessary ones and twos are pretty imporatant on this wicket but the RR batsmen weren’t able to capitalise. Smith carried the team on his shoulders and remained unbeaten on 73 at a strike rate of 123.73. Ajinkya Rahane failed yet again and I feel that he has lost all hopes to get into the India squad for the World Cup. Rajasthan finished at a total of 139–3.
Smoking starts from Lynn and Narine led to an easy chase chase for KKR. Rahane missed a trick today by allowing Narine to face spin in the powerplay. He scored 22 runs in the 2nd over of the innings which was bowled by Krishnappa Gowtham. The onslaught didn’t stop till the 9th over when Narine got out to Shreyas Gopal. Lynn scored 50 and Narine scored 47. A quick innings from Uthappa in the end ensured that KKR reached the target with 37 balls to spare.
Man of the Match went to the debutant Harry Gurney from England for his spell of 4–0–25–2. He has played 10 ODI’s and 2 T20’s for England at the international level.
KKR would be really happy. They look the best side in this year’s IPL by far. They will just concentrate on building on this momentum and getting as many wins under their belt as possible. They now face the formidable CSK at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai.
Like RCB, the tournament is almost over for the Rajsthan Royals. They needed to get as many wins as possible in April because they will lose most of their foreign players like Buttler, Stokes, Archer and Smith for the World Cup at the start of May. Now, they are stranded at the bottom of the table and require to win 7 of their last 9 games.
Today, the Kings XI Punjab face the SRH at Mohali. Both teams are coming after a defeat on Saturday. Both teams will be eager to turn the momentum in their favour and get a win on Monday night. Interesting contest!
