DLF IPL Season 5
It might be
Day 44 of this season. But I am tempted
to call it as Day 66 after seeing the flurry of sixes from the blade of Chris
Gayle.
Today we
witnessed two crucial matches and saw unexpected results, though any team can
win T20 on a particular day.
Match 66
Kings XI Punjab Vs Chennai Super Kings
at HPCA Stadium, Dharmsala
KXIP won the toss and elected to field. Adam Gilchrist made a comeback in place of
Shaun Marsh. Justifying Gilchrist's
decision the ball was doing much and CSK made things worse by playing some reckless
shorts and losing patience. Vijay got
out for 10, Mike Hussey for 7, Raina for 17 and Dhoni for 6. Ravindra Jadeja and Albie Morkel could not
contribute much. Dwayne Bravo was the
only batsman looking to stay at the wicket and scored 48 for 43 balls. Chennai managed to post just 120/7 that too
because of Bravo's heroics. Parvinder
Awana was very economical capturing 2/12 from 4 overs.
KXIP had a reasonably good start of 51 runs before Mandeep Singh
fell for 21 runs. Nitin Saini departed
immediately after that scoring a solitary run.
David Hussey disappointed the spectators getting out for 9 runs. Siddharth Chitnis got out after making 11
runs. Gilchrist was playing beautifully
at the other end. Azhar Mahmood joined
him and stood till the end. Thanks to a
brilliant innings of 64 off 46 balls from Adam Gilchrist KXIP finished the
match in 16.3 overs, winning the match by 6 wickets. CSK's NRR took a beating because of the
early finish.
Match 67
Delhi Daredevils Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Delhi Daredevils played without their skipper Virender Sehwag
and Mornie Morkel. Mahela Jayawardene
led the side and Andre Russell got a chance to play. Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to
field. In a must win situation, that too
against the might Daredevils, RCB needed to post a mammoth total. RCB did exactly that. Though RCB lost Tilekeratne Dilshan cheaply,
Chris Gayle played in his own style smashing the bowlers all over the
park. Gayle's innings resembled a
cricket video game consisting of an array of 4s and 6s. Virat Kohli played an excellent innings
giving him the right company to achieve a unbeaten record partnership of 204
runs. RCB posted a mammoth 215/1 in 20
overs. Chris Gayle remained unbeaten on
128 off 62 balls (7 fours and 13 sixes).
Kohli remained unbeaten on 73 off 53 balls (9 fours and 1 six). There was nothing to cheer for the bowlers as
they were dealt with similar respect by Gayle.
Facing a Herculean task of scoring 216 runs, Daredevils lost
their openers Warner (15 runs) and Unmukt Chand (18 runs). Though they lost 2 wickets cheaply, the run
rate was healthy. Venugopal Rao played
well scoring 36 off 24 balls. But
Jayawardene was a real disappointment scoring 9 off 14 balls. Then came the real surprise. Ross Taylor who was sedate throughout this
season chose this match to come back to his style. He played a brisk innings of 55 off 26 balls
(7 fours and 2 sixes). Ojha was
struggling for runs at the other end.
After Taylor's fall things looked beyond Delhi's reach. Even Russell's cameo of 31 off 15 balls could
not help Delhi reach the target. Delhi
could make 194/9 and RCB won the match by 21 runs. RCB's NRR came out to positive figures.
The effect of today's results on the teams struggling to reach
the playoffs is:
- RCB need to win against Deccan
to reach 19 points and qualify.
- KXIP need to win against Delhi
to reach 18 points. For them to
qualify, RCB must lose to Deccan.
- Rajasthan Royals need to win
both the matches (one against Deccan and the other match against Mumbai)
and reach 18 points to qualify. They
would expect RCB to lose against Deccan and KXIP to lose against Delhi.
- Mumbai need to win against
Rajasthan to reach 20 points and qualify.
While doing so, they will also stop Rajasthan from getting 18
points.
- CSK have played 16
matches and there is nothing they can do at this stage. They will be silent spectators expecting
RCB to lose against Deccan, KXIP to lose against Delhi and Rajasthan
Royals to lose at least one match.
5
matches remaining before the Play-Offs and this is the current status:
|
TEAM
|
Points
|
Mathes
Left
|
Opponents
|
Possibilities
|
|
DELHI
|
20
|
1
|
19/05 Punjab
|
Have qualified for the play-offs irrespective of the result of
the last match. Would do a great favour to CSK by knocking off KXIP. It would
stop KXIP from crossing CSK's 17 pts. Delhi would also top the table if they
win against KXIP.
|
|
KOLKATA
|
19
|
1
|
19/05
Pune
|
With no threat for them in the Top 4 positions, they have to
win against Pune to move to the top spot in the Points Table.
|
|
MUMBAI
|
18
|
1
|
20/05 Rajasthan
|
Must win the match against Rajasthan to confirm their position
in Top 4 and pack off Rajasthan as well.
|
|
CHENNAI
|
17
|
0
|
|
They have nothing to do in the field of play. Need some
results to go in their favour to qualify. RCB must lose to Deccan, KXIP must
lose to Delhi and Rajasthan Royals should lose at least one match.
|
|
BANGLAORE
|
17
|
1
|
20/05
Deccan
|
Must win against Deccan to qualify. Other results won't bother
them if they complete that task.
|
|
PUNJAB
|
16
|
1
|
19/05
Delhi
|
Must win against Delhi.
Then RCB should lose against Deccan and Rajasthan should win just one
match to stay below KXIP.
|
|
RAJASTHAN
|
14
|
2
|
18/05
Deccan
20/05 Mumbai |
Must win both the games and expect Bangalore to lose against
Deccan and Punjab to lose against Delhi.
|
Match No.68
|
FRI
|
18-May
|
2000
|
DECCAN
|
Vs
|
RAJASTHAN
|
Hyderabad
|
Must win game for Rajasthan Royals. If they lose this match, they are out of
contention, as simple as that.
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