The IPL 2023 season has been producing some intense battles now that it has entered the business end. While Gujarat Titans have already secured a playoff berth for them, nine teams are still in contention to claim the remaining three playoff spots.
We saw some great action over the weekend. In the first game of Saturday, Chennai Super Kings emerged triumphant over Mumbai Indians. Youngster Nehal Wadhera shone with an excellent knock of 64 after MI suffered an early collapse. His knock propelled MI to 139/8, but CSK chased the target down with six wickets and more than two overs to spare. Devon Conway was the top scorer for CSK with 44 to his name, whereas Matheesha Pathirana shone with the ball, claiming figures of 3/15.
In the second game of Saturday, Delhi Capitals carried their good run of form forward as they got the better of Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB posted a competitive total of 181/4, riding on fifties from Virat Kohli and Mahipal Lomror. But Phil Salt produced a majestic 45-ball knock of 87 to help Delhi chase the target down with more than three overs to spare. Rilee Rossouw also played well for his 22-ball 35, whereas Mitchell Marsh and David Warner contributed 26 and 22 runs respectively.
Sunday produced a couple of high scoring thrillers again. Gujarat Titans did the double over Lucknow Super Giants this season in the first game of the day. Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha's superb knocks of 94* and 81 respectively helped the Titans in posting a massive total of 227/2 on the board. Lucknow, in response, could muster only 171/7. Quinton de Kock played a good knock of 70 in his first match of the season while Kyle Mayers also made a 32-ball 48. But there wasn't much to look at from other batters. Veteran pacer Mohit Sharma shone again as he registered figures of 4-0-29-4.
In the second game of Sunday, Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled off an unbelievable chase as Abdul Samad hit a six off the last ball to help them chase down a target of 215. Rajasthan Royals posted a total of 214/2 earlier in the match, riding on superb knocks of 95 and 66* from Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson respectively. SRH made a good start to their chase with opener Abhishek Sharma scoring a fifty. Rahul Tripathi also struck form with a well-made 47 and Heinrich Klaasen gave them the impetus in the middle-overs with a 12-ball 26. But it was really Glenn Phillips' seven-ball knock of 25 and Samad's seven-ball 17 that helped SRH over the line. Yuzvendra Chahal claimed four wickets but it went in vain.
We witnessed another last ball thriller on Monday as Rinku Singh hit a boundary off the last ball to help KKR chase down a target of 180 against Punjab Kings at the Eden Gardens. Punjab posted 179/7 in their 20 overs riding on a fifty from Shikhar Dhawan and useful lower-order cameos of 21, 19, 17 from Shahrukh Khan, Rishi Dhawan, and Harpreet Brar respectively. But the KKR batters were up to the task. Jason Roy got them off to a solid start with a 23-ball 38 and skipper Nitish Rana also made an excellent fifty. But it was really Andre Russell's 23-ball 42 and Rinku Singh's 10-ball 21* that made the difference for KKR.
Predictions
May 10: Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Capitals
Chennai Super Kings will be looking to go one step closer towards playoff berth confirmation when they take on Delhi Capitals at home on Tuesday. CSK are currently sitting in second place with six wins in 11 games. But they need to win a couple of games in their remaining three matches in order to guarantee a playoff berth for themselves. The Capitals, on the other hand, are sitting right at the bottom of the table but they have also won four out of their last five matches, making a late charge towards the playoffs.
But, if we compare the overall strengths of the two teams and the conditions they are going to play in this match, CSK are the clear favourites to win. This will be a home game for them and the Capitals batters will find it hard to deal with their spin trio of Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali and Maheesh Theekshana. Moreover, the CSK batters have also been in terrific form and that places them in good stead going into this contest.
May 11: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals
Now this is a battle between two teams with contrasting fortunes of late. KKR have registered three wins in their last four games, which has helped them to jump up to fifth place in the table. Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, have lost four out of their last five games and they are now sitting in fourth place. KKR and RR are only separated by NRR right now, and a loss here for RR would mean KKR's entry into the top four.
The two teams are pretty much on par with each other in terms of overall strength. But KKR are the in-form team now. Their batting is firing on all cylinders and their bowlers have stepped up big time as well. Although Rajasthan's batting is doing well, their bowling has been underwhelming and cost them a few matches of late. KKR also have home advantage in this battle and the kind of form they are in, they will start as clear favourites to win once again.