TimesofIndia.com here takes a look at some of the more clinical performances of a team in IPL 2020 up to this point:
October 24th – Kolkata Knight Riders (194/6) beat Capitals of Delhi (135/9) for 59 runs
Having been reduced to 84/8 and then suffering a crushing 8 wicket defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore In their previous game, Kolkata Knight Riders struggled again at 42 of 3 after 7.2 overs against Delhi Capitals. But Nitish Rana and Sunil Narine launched a scathing counterattack to lead KKR’s recovery. The duo put up a 115-run position on 56 balls. The Knight Riders scored 194-for-6. Bowlers also congratulated their batters’ efforts, with Pat Cummins finding form after running out of ground in six of his previous seven games. He caught Ajinkya Rahane up front for a first-ball duck and then fired fit Shikhar Dhawan to leave Delhi reeling in a great chase. And then it was all the mysterious Varun Chakravarthy spinner. The architect turned cricketer surpassed DC’s middle order and became the first bowler to receive a five this season from IPL. He had an incredible 5-for-20 from his four overs and helped Knight Riders to a comfortable 59-race victory.
October 23 – Mumbai Indians (116/0) beat Chennai Super Kings (114/9) by 10 wickets
Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah justified their alternate captain Kieron Pollard’s decision to pitch first by dismantling the Chennai Super Kings with high-quality, accurate bowling. The Super Kings were 3-for-4 in the third over, the second-lowest score at four fewer wickets in IPL history. Boult scored in his first two overs, Bumrah made successive deliveries in his first over. Boult would go on to take one more power play wicket and finished Super Kings innings by posting a career-best 4 of 18 in the IPL. Sam Curran fought a long battle for the Super Kings with 52 well compiled and led his team to 114/9. The brilliant show of the bowlers was followed by a dominating batting display from Ishan Kishan and Quinton de Kock. In the absence of the usual Rohit Sharma pattern, Kishan was sent to his Kock partner on top and seized the opportunity with both hands. He worked his way to an undefeated 68 to 37, while De Kock played second fiddle with a 46 of 37 balls, while Mumbai closed out an impressive 10 wicket victory.
(Photo by BCCI / IPL)
Oct 21: Royal Challengers Bangalore (85/2) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (84/8) by 8 wickets
October 12: Royal Challengers Bangalore (194/2) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (112/9) by 82 runs
Royal Challengers Bangalore sealed their authority on the two occasions they faced Kolkata Knight Riders this season. In the second leg, Mohammed Siraj shook up the KKR top ranking with a mind-boggling 4-2-3-8. Siraj became the first bowler to throw two maidens in IPL history. He got the outside edge of Rahul Tripathi’s bat and then cast Nitish Rana on the next ball in the second over, throwing a double wicket maiden. He then fired Tom Banton to leave KKR reeling at 4/14 in 3.3 overs. The Knight Riders were unable to recover from early setbacks and were only able to collect 84/8. RCB completed the puny chase with eight wickets and 39 balls to spare.
Riding Villiers’ AB 73 and not 33 balls, Royal Challengers recorded 194/2 in their first outing against KKR this season. De Villiers held a 100-run undefeated position with skipper Virat Kohli. Starters Aaron Finch (47) and Devdutt Padikkal (32) also contributed helpful contributions. The RCB bowlers also exhibited a disciplined effort to restrict KKR to 112/9 and deliver their team an 82 run victory.
(Photo by BCCI / IPL)
October 8th – Hyderabad sunrises (201/6) beat Kings XI Punjab (132) by 69 runs
Jonny Bairstow and Captain David Warner (52) led the Kings XI Punjab bowlers to the cleanup with a 160-run opening grandstand, while Sunrisers Hyderabad scored an impressive 201 of six after opting to hit first, despite that KXIP made a brilliant comeback by taking six wickets in the last five overs. Chasing a stiff target of 202, KXIP was off 132 at 16.5 overs. Rashid Khan was SRH’s most impressive bowler, scoring 3/12 from his four overs. Only Nicholas Pooran (77 of 37 balls; 5 fours and 7 sixes) fought for KXIP with his first half century and the fastest fifty of the season, with only 17 balls. He hit six fours, three of them trotting, to take 28 runs from a hapless Abdul Samad. But that was not enough to prevent Hyderabad from recording an impressive 69-run victory.
(Photo by BCCI / IPL)
September 24: Kings XI Punjab (206/3) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (109) by 97 runs
Punjab captain KL Rahul’s sublime hundred was the great highlight of a full performance by Kings XI Punjab this time around. Rahul beat up RCB players until they submitted to help KXIP post a daunting 206 for three. He scored an undefeated 132 of 69 balls intertwined with 14 limits and seven sixes. With his spectacular blow, Rahul edged out Rishabh Pant (128 in 2018) to post the highest individual score by an Indian in IPL history. Punjab bowlers also made a disciplined effort to serve Virat Kohli’s side by just 109 with three overs to spare. Murugan Ashwin was the bowlers’ choice for KXIP, picking up three wickets and giving away just 21 runs. Ravi Bishnoi also claimed three plots of land and was impressive once again. Sheldon Cottrell (2/17), Mohammed Shami (1/14) and Glenn Maxwell (1/10) all cast economic spells as Punjab thrashed RCB 97 runs to complete what was a very clinical victory.
(Photo by BCCI / IPL)
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