The Indian Premier League has been producing some nail-biting contests everyday. In this season, 24 matches are already done, and we are gearing up for 50 more. Here, we shall take a look at how the games on April 15, 16 and 17 turned out, and will also try to predict the outcomes for the matches on April 18 and 19.
Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals - April 15
In Match 20 of IPL 2023 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Delhi Capitals by 23 runs, bouncing back from their previous loss to Lucknow Super Giants. RCB captain Virat Kohli played a sparkling innings of 50 off 34 balls, helping his team post a competitive score of 174/6. In response, Delhi Capitals were restricted to 151/9, with Vijaykumar Vyshak taking three wickets on his debut and RCB's collective bowling and fielding effort contributing to the victory.
DC's chase of 175 runs started poorly with early wickets, including a spectacular direct-hit run out by RCB's Impact Player Anuj Rawat to dismiss Prithvi Shaw. Despite some resistance from Manish Pandey and Abhishek Porel, DC lost half their side inside nine overs. Axar Patel and Nortje tried to put up a fight, but DC ultimately fell short by 24 runs.
Earlier, DC captain David Warner won the toss and chose to bowl first. RCB made a brisk start with Kohli and Faf du Plessis, but Du Plessis was dismissed in the powerplay. Kohli carried on and hammered a fifty off 33 balls, with support from Mahipal Lomror and Glenn Maxwell. RCB set a challenging total of 174/6.
In the end, RCB's dominant display with both bat and ball secured their victory over a struggling DC team, marking their third win in five matches.
Lucknow Super Giants vs Punjab Kings - April 15
Punjab Kings secured a much-needed victory, ending their two-match losing streak, as they defeated Lucknow Super Giants in Match 21 of TATA IPL 2023. After limiting LSG to 159/8, PBKS chased down the target with two wickets to spare, thanks to a composed 57 off 41 balls by Sikandar Raza and a quickfire 23* off 10 by Shahrukh Khan.
PBKS had a slow start, losing opener Atharva Taide in the first over, but Matthew Short and Prabhsimran Singh put them back on track. However, the LSG pacers made quick work of Prabhsimran, and Short was caught at mid-off. PBKS struggled to score freely and reached 68/3 at the halfway mark, but Raza's knock and Shahrukh's cameo took them over the line.
Sam Curran's captaincy was noteworthy, and he also picked up three wickets. Kyle Mayers and KL Rahul gave LSG a brilliant start, scoring at a brisk pace, but PBKS made a comeback as Mayers was dismissed, followed by Deepak Hooda, and Rahul's fifty went in vain. Punjab Kings made four changes to their XI, while LSG made two.
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians - April 16
Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, winning their second game in a row. After KKR put up a challenging total of 185/6, thanks to a maiden century by Venkatesh Iyer, Mumbai Indians started their chase with a bang as Ishan Kishan scored 58 off 25 balls. Suryakumar Yadav contributed 43 off 25 balls and Tilak Varma adding 30 off 25.
MI won the game with 14 balls to spare, with Tim David scoring the winning run. KKR used five bowlers to try and stem the flow of runs, but Mumbai Indians won comfortably in the end. Debutant Arjun Tendulkar opened the bowling for Mumbai and gave away just five runs in the first over, while Cameron Green took the first wicket of the innings.
Suryakumar Yadav captained Mumbai Indians in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who was suffering from a stomach bug. The victory saw Mumbai Indians move up to fourth place in the standings, with KKR remaining in fifth place.
Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals - April 16
Rajasthan Royals defeated Gujarat Titans in Match 23 of TATA IPL 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad to move to the top of the table with four wins out of five. Gujarat Titans set a competitive target of 177/7 after Shubman Gill's opening act of 45(34) and David Miller's finishing act of 46(30). However, Rajasthan Royals achieved the target with the help of the spectacular half-centuries from Sanju Samson (60 off 32) and Shimron Hetmyer (56* off 26).
RR started with a stuttering start and lost Yashasvi Jaiswal early, followed by Mohd Shami cleaning up in-form Jos Buttler. RR was trudging at 26/2 at the end of powerplay. The introduction of Rashid Khan resulted in Padikkal and Riyan Parag's dismissals as the runs dried up, and RR reached 53/3 at the end of ten overs.
Samson then upped the ante, going after Rashid Khan, hitting him for four sixes, including three consecutive maximums in one over. Hetmyer joined the party and smashed one over deep backward square leg for a six off Joseph and then for a four over mid-wicket. Noor Ahmad, the debutant and impact player for GT, had the last laugh, dismissing Samson for 60(32). Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel kept the runs flowing, and RR won the match with two balls to spare as Hetmyer smacked a six over deep mid-wicket.
Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore - April 17
Chennai Super Kings won their TATA IPL 2023 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in a close finish by eight runs. The CSK team scored 226/6, powered by Devon Conway's 83 off 45 and Shivam Dube's 52 off 27.
The RCB bowlers could not stop the CSK onslaught, and the team had to chase a target of 227. RCB lost their captain, Virat Kohli, early, and two wickets fell quickly. However, Glenn Maxwell and Faf Du Plessis took charge and had a 102-run partnership, helping their team reach 121/2 at the end of ten overs.
The partnership ended when Theekshana dismissed Maxwell for 76 off 36. Moeen Ali then dismissed Du Plessis for 62 off 33, and the RCB team was left to chase 68 off six overs. Dinesh Karthik scored 28 off 14, and Suyash Prabhudessai scored 19 off 11. However, they could not take the team over the line, as the last over bowled by Pathirana allowed only nine runs, with Prabhudessai caught at deep mid-wicket off the last ball.
Predictions
Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians - April 18
The Sunrisers Hyderabad will be looking to make it a hat-trick of wins as they take on five-time champions Mumbai Indians at home on Tuesday evening. SRH started off with consecutive losses in their first two matches, but they have gone on to win two matches in as many games since then. They have looked really strong since the arrival of their South African players, particularly Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen.
Indian wrist-spinner Mayank Markande's performances have been a real boost to the side as well. Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, have also registered back-to-back wins after starting the season with consecutive losses. However, SRH look like the stronger team on paper and well-balanced in all departments. Their bowling attack is really strong and batting is quite formidable as well. While MI do match them in terms of batting strength, their bowling doesn't inspire any confidence against such a strong SRH batting unit. That's why SRH have a massive edge going into this contest.
Rajasthan Royals vs Lucknow Super Giants - April 19
Rajasthan Royals take on second-placed Lucknow Super Giants at home on Wednesday evening. The Royals will look to keep their winning streak going and strengthen their position at the top of the IPL 2023 table. The team is coming into this game after three wins in a row. They won their last match in a challenging situation, which must have boosted their confidence.
RR's batting unit is their real strength but the bowling packs a punch as well, as it is full of experienced international stars like Trent Boult, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Adam Zampa. The Super Giants, on the other hand, also have a pretty good squad at their disposal. Their batting is quite strong with players like skipper KL Rahul himself, Marcus Stoinis, and Nicholas Pooran.
The bowling is also quite good, but Rahul's captaincy has come under scrutiny on some occasions due to his poor usage of bowling resources. How they fare in this match will depend a lot on his captaincy again, but the Royals will start as the favourites to win owing to their current form and home advantage.