IPL 2018: Dhoni's tactics help CSK beat KXIP by 5 wickets; RR in playoffs

CSK beat KXIP by 5 wickets to end the round robin matches of the IPL 2018. This ensures a berth for Rajasthan Royals as well. CSK face SRH in the first qualifier on Tuesday.

In the 56th and the last league match of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, Chennai Super Kings defeated Kings XI Punjab by 5 wickets and ended the latter's journey in this year's IPL, helping Rajasthan Royals to make it to the playoffs.
Overall, after a dismal start with the batting, KXIP regained the ground through Tiwary and Miller's partnership and Nair's cameo, CSK too suffered early losses and Punjab's pace-battery wreaked havoc initially, CSK maintained a slow approach and made in road into the game.
Things came under control for Chennai, the match was already gone for KXIP as they couldn't maintain the 53-run plus margin to make it to the playoffs, CSK smashed their hopes and slowly marched towards clinching the match, Raina made his half-century and took the team towards victory, in the end he gave the strike to Dhoni to finish it, the captain ended it in his trademark style-- hitting the winning run with a six-- sealing a meeting with SRH for the first playoff on Tuesday.
On the VIVO IPL points table, SRH are on top followed by CSK, KKR and RR. All these teams make it to the playoofs.


Earlier, Chennai Super Kings won the toss and decided to field against Kings XI Punjab. Gayle perished soon, Finch and Lokesh Rahul followed him.
Manoj Tiwary and David Miller stabilised KXIP innings by adding a 50-run partnership. Jadeja dismissed Tiwary, Miller too fell. Wickets kept falling from the other end but Nair held one end and went on to make his fifty. After Nair's wicket, the innings ended soon. KXIP managed to score a decent total of 153 runs.
CSK lost its opener Ambati Rayudu off Mohit Sharma's swinging delivery. An outswinger by Rajpoot proved lethal for du Plessis and the next ball removed Sam Billings on a golden duck.
The pace battery had tightened the noose around CSK batting. Rajpoot finished his four overs, clinching 2 main wickets from it, KXIP was searching for a wicket but amidst all this, Ashwin struck on his first ball by removing Harbhajan.
The batsmen were just on a run-a-ball spree and KXIP were in a hurry to clinch more wickets as they had very less time to pull a miracle. Ultimately, KXIP were handed a defeat and this ended their journey in IPL 2018.

Read More

IPL 2018: RCB beat SRH by 14 runs, jump to 5th spot on points table

In the 51st match of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL 2018), RCB beat SRH by 14 runs to stay alive in the tournament.

In the 51st match of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, RCB defeated SRH by 14 runs in a nail-biter and moved to the 5th spot of the VIVO  IPL 2018  points table.
Kane Williamson played a great knock, scoring 81 runs, and Manish Pandey accompanied him but somewhere, de Villiers and Moeen Ali's knock overshadowed it. The suspense only ended in the last over after Williamson fell on the first ball, the match kept swinging in either direction and just when it looked that Williamson's side was closer to seal the victory, RCB swung back in, courtesy, the last two overs by Tim Southee and Mohammed Siraj.
Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and invited Royal Challengers Bangalore to bat first. Bangalore suffered an early loss in the form of Parthiv Patel, AB de Villiers was at his best today, he made his intention clear right from the start.
Rashid stunned Kohli. The dominance was oscillating from one side to the other. Dhawan committed a gaffe by crossing the boundary rope after taking Moeen's catch, AB de Villiers and Moeen made their fifties, the bowlers had no respite, Rashid finally got breakthrough, de Villiers and Moeen Ali were back into the pavilion. Sarfaraz and Grandhomme played an important cameo.
Chasing the target of 219 runs, Hyderabad had a fine start soon, Dhawan and Hales were dismissed. Williamson yet again played a great knock and Pandey accompanied him but they just fell short of a few runs.

Here are the squads for both the teams:
Royal Challengers Bangalore playing XI for today's match: Virat Kohli (C), Parthiv Patel (W), Moeen Ali, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.



Sunrisers Hyderabad playing XI for today's match: Shikhar Dhawan, Alex Hales, Kane Williamson (C), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Shreevats Goswami (W), Rashid Khan, Basil Thampi, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma.

Read More

IPL 2018: Ambati Rayudu's maiden century help CSK beat SRH by 8 wickets

Chennai Super Kings beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 wickets to gain two points. Ambati Rayudu scored his maiden IPL century.

In the 46th match of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, Chennai Super Kings won the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad and remained in the second spot in the VIVO IPL points table.

Rayudu continued his top form and smashed a brilliant century that enabled the team to reach the target of 180 runs. The usual formidable bowling attack from Hyderabad looked pale today and much of that goes to the wicket condition.
Despite the win, there was no change in the position of the teams on the VIVO  IPL points table.


Chennai Super Kings had won the toss and elected to field first against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Chennai bowlers kept trying but the partnership between Dhawan and Williamson kept going strong. Dhawan also made his fifty.

Jadeja, Watson and Bravo were on the attack yet, a wicket looked far-flung dream for Chennai. Dhawan fell and Williamson followed in the next ball but only after making his fifty. SRH made 179/4 after their 20 overs.

In Hyderabad’s reply, Ambati Rayudu  and Shane Watson opened the batting for Chennai. The two had a firm start and they did not allow any dismissal while Hyderabad bowlers were longing for a wicket.

The duo kept pushing the ball for a boundary and continuous hitting enabled the team to peak in early in the game where the target was big and against a strong team.

Read More

IPL 2018: Pant's 128 in vain as SRH hand DD humiliating 9-wicket defeat

Rishabh Pant's 128 went in vain as Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson won the match for Sunrisers Hyderabad with comfort. SRH confirm their place in playoffs

In the 42nd match of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Delhi Daredevils by 9 wickets at the Firoz Shah Kota stadium in Delhi, hitting a perfect purple patch. With this, Hyderabad ended Delhi's chances for playoffs too. SRH retain their top spot on the VIVO IPL  points table. After Rishabh Pant wreaked havoc on SRH bowlers that propelled Delhi's score to 187 runs, it was Hyderabad's time to hand a strong reply.

Master at defending low totals, SRH had a different challenge today, a long chase ahead of them and they pulled a composed one. Earlier, Delhi Daredevils won the toss and decided to bat first against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Delhi's entire inning revolved around one man --Rishabh Pant, who made a spectacular century and bailed out his team. No bowler could escape his wrath, even Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Pant emerged past everything to make a mark. No matter what, he had everyone chanting his name in the stadium and was a sheer spectacle.

Delhi openers Prithvi Shaw and Jason Roy were dismissed in consecutive deliveries by Shakib Al Hasan. Just as Delhi was on the road to recovery, Pant committed a blunder by denying a run to Shreyas Iyer at the eleventh hour, he was too late to return to the crease.

Along with Hyderabad,  Rishabh Pant  continued to give a hard time to his own teammates who were struggling to coordinate with him for running between the wickets. Pant committed another error during running between the wicket, Harshal Patel had to pay the price this time. Finding himself Guilty for the gaffes, Pant vented his anger on bowlers. He only settled for a century. Just as Hyderabad got on the job, Harshal Patel removed Alex Hales. Things went in

Delhi's direction till that far only, after that, it was Hyderabad's show. Dhawan got into the role soon and smashed some powerful boundaries. Hyderabad had taken a lead in the match by denying any wicket after the first blow.

Dhawan and Williamson saw no resistance whatsoever from any bowler. Dhawan and Williamson raised their bats for their fifty respectively. The lacklustre bowling proved harmful and the match had become a one-sided affair.

Read More