The last three days in the IPL produced intense and high-scoring battles. It started with a match where a youngster propelled the Gujarat Titans to a tense victory over the Delhi Capitals and ended with two high-scoring games over the next two days. Here, we shall look at how these matches went and which players made their name to bring glory to their teams.
Gujarat Titans vs Delhi Capitals
The Gujarat Titans defeated the Delhi Capitals by six wickets in Match 7 of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, making it two victories out of two. A disciplined bowling effort led by Rashid Khan (3/31) and Alzarri Joseph (2/29) restricted DC to 162/8.
B Sai Sudharsan played a composed inning of 62 runs off 48 balls to lead the successful chase. He partnered with Vijay Shankar (29 off 23) and David Miller (31 off 16) to achieve the target with 11 balls to spare.
During the run chase, GT opener Wriddhiman Saha got off to a good start, hitting a couple of fours and a six in the first over from Khaleel Ahmed. Shubman Gill started well, smashing two fours off Mukesh Kumar's bowling. Anrich Nortje then dismissed both Saha and Gill in quick succession.
Another bowling change by DC captain David Warner resulted in Khaleel taking the wicket of Hardik Pandya. At the end of the Powerplay, GT had reached 54/3. Vijay Shankar, who was introduced as the Impact Player in place of Josh Little, helped steady the innings along with Sudharsan.
Sudharsan scored his half-century off 44 balls and hit three consecutive boundaries in one over to make 20 runs with Miller, shifting the momentum in their favour. The pair completed a 50-run stand and secured the victory for their team.
Earlier, the GT captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl. They made two changes to their team, with Sudharsan and Miller replacing Shankar and Miller. DC made three changes, with Nortje, Aman Khan, and debutant Abhishek Porel replacing Powell, Ahmed, and Sakariya.
Despite losing an early wicket, Warner and Marsh played well until Shami removed Marsh. Warner played a decent knock of 37 runs off 32 balls, but the team struggled to score after his dismissal.
Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings
In the eighth match of IPL 2023, Punjab Kings (PBKS) defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by five runs at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. The win took PBKS to second place in the table, having won two out of two matches. PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan played a crucial knock, scoring an unbeaten 86 off 56 balls.
Prabhsimran Singh's quickfire 60 off 34 balls set the tone for the team as they posted 197/4. Nathan Ellis was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4/30, while Curran defended 16 off the last over. RR's chase of 198 started with a bang as Yashasvi Jaiswal hit a six off the first ball.
However, Arshdeep Singh dismissed him in the same over. RR's opener, R Ashwin, was also dismissed without scoring, and they lost Buttler at a crucial moment, reducing them to 124/6 in the 15th over. Riyan Parag hit a few boundaries to release the pressure but was dismissed for 20(12) by Ellis.
Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel tried to bring RR back into the game, hitting 16 runs off Ellis' final over. Hetmyer continued the onslaught, hitting Curran for two sixes and a four, reducing the equation to 34 needed off 12. Dhruv Jurel joined the party, striking four, six, and four off consecutive balls.
Hetmyer was dismissed in the 19th over, run out while attempting a risky second run. Curran held his nerve with 16 needed off the last over, giving away only nine runs, and PBKS won by five runs. Dhruv Jurel remained unbeaten on 32 off 15 balls. RR captain Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bowl, and both teams went unchanged.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 81 runs in Match 9 of the TATA IPL 2023 at the Eden Gardens. KKR's Shardul Thakur scored 68 runs off 29 balls, Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit 57 runs off 44 balls, and Rinku Singh scored 46 runs off 33 balls. KKR recovered from 89/5 to post a daunting total of 204/7.
KKR's spinners Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, and newbie Suyash Sharma then bowled out RCB for 123 runs. Chakravarthy took 4/15, Narine took 2/16, and Sharma took 3/30.
Chasing 205, RCB's Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis scored quickly, but KKR's spinners turned the game around. Narine cleaned up Kohli for 21 runs, and Chakravarthy had Du Plessis drag one onto the stumps.
Chakravarthy knocked back Glenn Maxwell's off stump with a googly and removed Harshal Patel. RCB's Anuj Rawat was sent to bat at No.8, but Suyash Sharma made an impact, picking up three wickets in an over. He finished 3/30 on debut. Chakravarthy came back to wrap up the RCB innings with a brilliant catch bowled by Akash Deep as KKR won the match by 81 runs.
Earlier, RCB won the toss and elected to bowl. They made one change to the side, replacing the injured Reece Topley with David Willey. KKR made one change, replacing Anukul Roy with Venkatesh Iyer. RCB's Mohd. Siraj had a mixed start, and Willey bowled a double-wicket maiden to peg KKR back.
However, Gurbaz played attacking strokes and helped KKR reach 47/2 at the end of the Powerplay. Willey ended up with figures of 3-1-9-2 in the first six overs. Bracewell struck off the first ball of his spell, dismissing KKR captain Nitish Rana. Gurbaz was given out LBW off Shahbaz Ahmed but successfully reviewed it.
Overall, KKR put in an excellent performance to bounce back after their defeat against Punjab Kings in their opener.