IPL 2021 | SRH vs PBKS: What Experts Said after Holder's efforts go in vain against Punjab

IPL 2021 | DC vs RR: Hits and Flops as red-hot Capitals wallop declining Royals

Establishing their supremacy in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League, the Delhi Capitals walloped the Rajasthan Royals to wake them up to harsh reality after a dream come true win over the Punjab Kings in their last game. Albeit the margin of win for the Delhi Capitals were limited to 33 runs but it was more a reflection of the batting conditions at Abu Dhabi than their dominance as the Royals were more or less out of the game halfway through the second innings. Here, we’ll analyse the best performances that turned the tide in the Capitals’ favour along with some under-par performances that limited both the Royals and the Capitals in a vital mid-tournament clash. Hits Anrich Nortje When the Capitals had paired Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje in the last edition of the IPL, it was more of a forced-choice after Chris Woakes had pulled himself out of the tournament. If the Capitals were told that they were on to building something special and that would make them a side to beat over the course of the next many games, they would laugh it off. However, they will have to realise it and would love to pat themselves on their back for asking the Proteas duo to unleash all their fire and pace on opposition batting lineups. Nortje has had a stellar run for the Capitals and his love affairs with the pitches of the UAE continued in the ongoing edition. He was on the money from the word go to derail the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last game and the trend continued when he sent an enterprising Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had held the Royals batting order like a glue, back to the pavilion even before he could set his eyes in. His jolt came after Avesh Khan dismissed Royal’s biggest match-winner with the bat in Liam Livingstone and hence his wicket of Jaisawal put them on the back foot right from the start. His first two overs yielded only seven runs and the pressure started to tell on other batsmen as David Miller ran out of patience and ran out of the crease against Ravichandran Ashwin to never come back to the crease. By the time he was brought on for the second half of chase, the game was already slipping out of their Royal’s grasp albeit their hopes were alive in the form of Sanju Samson and Rahul Tewatia. He closed that door as well by dismissing Tewatia, who was beaten for pace and found fine leg positioned perfectly for his swivel pull. Nortje’s spell read 4-0-18-2 but the domino effect of his bowling on Royal’s fortunes and Capitals’ dominance should not be underestimated. Shreyas Iyer It has been tough for Shreyas Iyer this year but he is answering all the harsh calls and criticism with the bat. The career has gone downhill for him since the time the Indian team management had a doubt about his place in the T20I side against Australia and the shoulder injury against England right before the IPL completed the circle of unfortunate moments and missed opportunities. The IPL had to be another success story for him to stake a claim for a spot in India’s World T20 squad but the dislocated shoulder denied him that opportunity. Now, as the IPL has come back from the Covid scare, he too is back to do what he does the best for the Capitals, albeit being a leader of the side. In the game against the Royals, the Capitals found themselves in a precarious situation after the loss of both Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw. Iyer, for a long time, has been blamed for batting like an “anchor” and throwing caution into the winds but the game situation demanded such carefulness from him. However, as soon as he got the pace of the pitch the fluent run-scorer was back with crisp shots off-spinners. He has been known for his brutal game against the spinners and all of that was on display when he started toying with the spin twins of the Royals. He was playing with the minds of both spinners and played them superbly both off the back and front foot. He was picking the number one T20I bowler Tabraiz Shamsi from his hand and was picking the areas to hit instead of reading it off the pitch and playing a guessing game. He was lured into driving by Rahul Tewatia and although he tried all his best to drag his foot inside the crease, he went back to the pavilion. His wicket fell at the most wrong time for the Capitals but thankfully for him and the side, Shimron Hetmyer stood up with his firepower and provided them with momentum to ensure they went past the 150-run mark. Ravichandran Ashwin While the pace battery of the Capitals attracts a lot of headlines more often than not, there’s one man who has been in headlines in the recent past albeit not due to his performance but his selection and non-selection. Earlier last month, he was in the headlines for his non-selection into the Indian Test team against England and later it was his selection in the World T20 squad that attracted quite a bit of attention. However, the bowling was to be done and the second phase of the IPL is the perfect place for him to justify his selection. The game against the Royals was a dream situation for any spinner having been asked to bowl in the middle phase. The opening balling pair of Avesh Khan and Nortje had sent the openers back and the Royals middle order was in search of runs after silent first few overs. He also got a left-hander in David Miller to bowl at and he enticed him straightaway into playing a big shot. Miller obliged but only to miss the ball completely and allowing Rishabh Pant an easy stumping chance. Another left-hander Mahipal Lomror reluctantly tried to break the shackles against him but his immense control and mastery over bowling in such conditions made him unhittable. Later, in his final over, he flummoxed Samson and denied him any scoring opportunities when the Royals skipper was in desperate search of runs. His 3-run over in the 13th over of the game more or less pushed the Royals away from the path of victory and set up a perfect platform for the pacers to complete a convincing win. Ashwin would be delighted to get on top of his bowling prowess in the shortest format and his control will give a lot of heart to the Indian think tank and fans for the marquee global event that will follow the IPL 2021. Flops Liam Livingstone There are not many things that have gone in the favour of the Royals this season but the form of Liam Livingstone certainly looked like a welcome sign for them ahead of the second phase of IPL 2021. However, the promise of blitzkrieg has been ruined to pale dismissals and the right-hander has struggled to carry his extraordinary form from the Hundred and international cricket to IPL. Earlier, he had withdrawn from the tournament citing bubble fatigue and the development had came as shock to the Royals after the absence of Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes. The men in pink started the second phase also without Jos Buttler and hence Livingstone had to be their best batting star if they were to dare to turn things around in the second half. The Royals suffered another setback as Evin Lewis, who started his journey with them on a promising note in the last game missed the Capitals challenge. Suffering from lack of options, the Royals tried to maximise his potential by sending him at the top of the order to make a light work of the chase of 156 runs. What they got in return was another lackadaisical outing for the right-hander. He could not get the pace and bounce of the pitch and Avesh Khan got him with a one that bounced a bit more than he anticipated while dancing down the track and the team suffered the same fate that they have been suffering at the hands of international stars who shine bright in all tournaments except when playing for them. David Miller If all of the England stars such as Stokes, Archer and Buttler would have been there in the UAE, the Royals would not have been playing David Miller, who appears to be batting past his prime. He is playing in the IPL more on the basis of past laurel than contemporary promises. On the day against the Capitals, the Royals needed him to bat smartly against the wiliest bowler from the opposition camp. The chase was not out of their grapes in terms of required runs but the early wickets made things tough for them. After the first four overs, the Royals were just 17/2 and Pant asked his talisman against left-hander—R Ashwin to roll his arm over as soon as Miller walked out to bat. The Pant-Ashwin partnership threw dice at him and defying all his game sense and wisdom of experience, he danced down the track to hit the toughest bowler to hit for him at the start of the innings. There was no way he could have timed his jump and shot in the face of a delayed and slower delivery from Ashwin and was left embarrassed out of the crease while Pant was whipping the bails off. With the win, the Capitals are all but qualified for the playoff phase of the tournament and the Royals have suffered another setback and may well be a stumbling block in the path for qualification to the final four.

IPL 2021 | DC vs RR: What Experts Said after Delhi take away valuable two points

Delhi Capitals registered a comfortable 33-run win against Punjab Kings in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Chasing 155 in 20 overs, RR were restricted to 121/6. The Royals had a dismal start to the proceedings after they were left tottering at 17/3 to eventually get reduced to 55/5 before Sanju Samson and Rahul Tewatia tried to steady the ship. The left-right batting duo put up 44 for the sixth wicket before Tewatia departed for 9 off 15. But captain Samson continued to score runs from one end and he notched up an unbeaten 70 off 53 that included a maximum and 8 fours. Anrich Nortje once again was the pick of the bowlers after he returned with 2/18 in 4 overs while Avesh Khan, R Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada and Axar Patel picked up one wicket apiece. Earlier, DC too had a struggling stat after they lost openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw early in the innings but Shreyas Iyer and captain Rishabh Pant struck 62 runs for the third wicket. Pant scored run-a-ball 24 while Iyer put 43 off 32. Shimron Hetmyer was another DC batsman who scored runs at a brisk pace and notched up 16-ball 28 as the side eventually scored 154/6 in 20 overs. Mustafizur Rahman and Chetan Sakariya picked up a couple of wickets each for RR. The Rajasthan side captain Sanju Samson admitted that the target of 155 was in the reach with the kind of batting line up that the team possesses. “A target of 155 with the quality of batsmen we have, I thought it was chaseable. We had the batting to go after it. I think we will come back stronger in the next game. The emotions are on the higher side, we'll think about it tomorrow morning,” he said after the match. Experts’ Opinion Commentator Harsha Bhogle lavished praise on Sanju Samson for his innings. “Top class innings from Sanju Samson. The gulf between him and the other batsmen has been there to see,” he tweeted. Former India player Aakash Chopra was all in praise of Delhi Capitals and even suggested that the side will play this year’s final as well. “Second consecutive finals for Delhi Capitals,” he wrote on Twitter. Journalist Ayaz Memon also lauded Samson for his knock. “Sanju Samson’s playing a brilliant hand, but by himself may not be able to turn the tables on DC. Tewatia must come to the party too. Match has been infused with life, whatever the outcome,” he tweeted. Former India wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel hailed Delhi Capitals after the win. “Delhi Capitals take home two valuable points as the first half of the double header comes to an end! Now on to,” he wrote on Twitter. RR will now play SRH on Monday in Dubai while DC will be up against KKR in Sharjah on Tuesday.

IPL 2021 | Nathan Ellis to make IPL debut against Sunrisers Hyderabad

Australian pacer Nathan Ellis is all set to make his Indian Premier League debut for the Punjab Kings in tonight’s game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at Sharjah. Ellis was picked as a replacement for his countryman Riley Meredith, who pulled out of the second phase of the tournament. Ellis rose to prominence on the back of hattrick on his T20I debut against Bangladesh just before the IPL 2021 started in the UAE. The Punjab Kings may well replace Adil Rashid with Ellis in the game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad as they are known to be hard-hitter of spin bowling. Along with the match-up games, Rashid had an unceremonious IPL debut in the last game against the Rajasthan Royals that the Kings lost by mere two runs. Both the Kings and the Sunrisers are languishing at the bottom of the table and a win will lift their spirit with the situation of every game becoming do or die contest looming large on them.

IPL 2021 | CSK vs KKR: Reviving Kolkata face uphill task against consistent Chennai

If ‘revival’ was a Bollywood movie, Kolkata Knight Riders would have been the front-runner for grabbing the lead role. The Eoin Morgan-led side has just been one dominant force in this second leg of IPL 2021 beating heavyweights like Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians with convincing margins. They just made a mockery of the star-studded RCB batting line up and then hammered MI bowlers all around the park to notch up a second win in the second match in the second half of the competition. But just like every Bollywood hero who faces some problems during the course, KKR too have an uphill task as they now play Chennai Super Kings in the next fixture in Abu Dhabi. The Chennai side has been on song throughout the tournament in this edition having won seven out of the nine matches that they have played so far which includes thumping wins against MI and RCB. The Super Kings had some early hiccups during the clash against Mumbai when they were reduced to 24/2 but Ruturaj Gaikwad’s unbeaten knock of 88, Ravindra Jadeja’s responsible innings and a late surge from Dwayne Bravo helped them post a decent total. Later, the bowlers did the job and restricted MI to 136/8 in 20 overs. Chennai were next up against Virat Kohli’s RCB. The Bangalore team was off to a steady start after Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal put up 111 runs for the first wicket but the Chennai bowlers pulled back the things in a brilliant manner and RCB could only manage to score 156/6 in 20 overs eventually. Later, the batsmen did their job and won the match for the side by 6 wickets and 11 balls to spare. This will be the second time when KKR will be playing CSK. The two teams met each other in a high-voltage drama in Mumbai during the first leg. CSK posted a mammoth 220/3 in 20 overs while KKR witnessed a batting collapse in the early stage of the chase but some fine piece of batting from Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell and Pat Cummins scripted brilliant fightback for them. The Knight Riders though eventually lost the match but managed to cross the 200-run mark despite being left tottering at 31/5 at one stage. Match Details: Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Match 38 Venue: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi Date & Time: September 26th at 3:30 PM IST, and at 2:00 PM local time Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Disney+Hotstar Pitch report The track is likely to provide some help to the bowlers especially in the initial phase of the game. The spinners might have something on offer in the later stage. So, if you win the toss, elect to bowl first and try and restrict the opposition for a lesser total. Andre Russell vs Dwayne Bravo The two West Indies giants would be up against each other in the clash on Sunday. The talent that these two all-rounders possess is just an asset to their respective teams. While Bravo has proved his worth with both bat and ball in the second leg as well, Russell was clinical against RCB with the ball but was expensive against the Mumbai Indians team. Bravo’s slower ones in the death overs has fetched him wickets in number and the CSK team management and Dhoni himself would want him to continue with what he has been doing for ages now. Russell’s consistency has been a question mark for KKR after he went for runs in the game against MI while he is yet to bat in the second phase of the cash-rich league in this edition. Though, he was among some runs when KKR last faced CSK in Mumbai but a ‘Dre-Russ’ calibre knock is still awaited. Openers on song The Kolkata Knight Riders has found a superb batsman in Venkatesh Iyer for the opening slot along side Shubman Gill. The left-right duo of the two batters has been successful so far in providing the side with positive starts on both the occasions. The left-handed Iyer has some good strokes in his armour and can accelerate once he gets his eye in. Gill on the other side has been known for his aggressive batting. On the other side, CSK have Ruturaj Gaikwad who played a vital knock for the team against MI and gave them a good start. Faf du Plessis though had failed to leave a mark in that particular encounter but he was back among some runs against RCB. The two players stitched a partnership of 71 runs for the first wicket. So as they say, well begun is half done, both KKR and CSK would be wanting their opening pairs to give their respective sides a positive start. Probable XI CSK: Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gawked, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood RCB: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna Fantasy XI Dinesh Karthik, Faf du Plessis, Venkatesh Iyer (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy, Lockie Ferguson