IPL 2019, 4-5 May: Reviewing the decider weekend
After the ups and downs of 52 league games, the playoffs lineup boiled down to the final four matches of the past weekend. Top four teams in the points table took on the bottom half and we witnessed power-packed action. With playoff spots on the line, teams fought with extra vigor. With the last ball at Wankhede Stadium yesterday, the top four were sealed and stamped.
Final four matches featured Delhi Capitals hosting Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kings XI Punjab’s face-off with Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians’ battle with Kolkata Knight Riders. CSK, MI, DC and SRH entered the playoffs while the remaining teams headed home. Here are the talking points from the bygone weekend –
So close yet so far – Amit Mishra’s hattrick
Amit Mishra missed his hat-trick
A win against Delhi Capitals would have taken RR closer to the playoffs berth. In hindsight, they would have qualified had they defeated Delhi Capitals. RR won the toss at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium and opted to bat first. Ishant Sharma wrecked them early and reduced the Royals to 30/4.
Shreyas Gopal and Riyan Parag undertook the rebuilding job. After reaching 57/4, they ran into Amit Mishra. He enticed Shreyas Gopal into coming down the track and got him stumped. The leggie then dismissed Stuart Binny on the following ball as Pant held on to the outside edge. Mishra almost claimed his fourth IPL hat-trick when K Gowtham skied the next ball. Trent Boult spilled the high catch, and the leggie was denied the hat-trick. RR only posted 115/9 and Delhi Capitals won by five wickets.
Shimron Hetmyer keeps Sunrisers Hyderabad on the edge
Shimron Hetmyer
A win against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru almost guaranteed Sunrisers place in the playoffs. Batting first, Hyderabad’s captain led from the front. Kane Williamson’s 70 from 43 balls helped SRH post 175/7 in their 20 overs.
In reply, RCB lost their Mister Consistent, Parthiv Patel, on the third ball. Both Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers were back in the hut and at 20/3, RCB was in trouble. Shimron Hetmyer had a disappointing season, but he redeemed himself in this match. Scoring 75 from just 47 balls, the Guyanese batsman ended RCB’s campaign with a four-wicket win.
Harbhajan Singh experiences failure and success – in one spell
Harbhajan Singh celebrating after a wicket
Kings XI Punjab played for pride versus Chennai Super Kings at the PCA Stadium, Mohali. After starting the season well, KXIP nosedived and lost the playoff berth. R Ashwin won the toss in KXIP’s last league encounter and inserted CSK to bat first. The Yellow Army posted 170/5 in the first innings.
KXIP openers, KL Rahul and Chris Gayle, scored only six runs from the first over. Harbhajan Singh bowled the second over. Gayle and Rahul extracted 17 runs from his over. The off-spinner continued and KL Rahul hammered him for 24 runs with three fours and two sixes. Harbhajan returned to bowl the 11th over and dismissed both the openers. After conceding 41 runs in his first two overs, Harbhajan finished with the figures of 3/57. Nevertheless, KXIP pocketed the encounter with six wickets in hand.
KKR hit and miss
Andre Russell was dismissed for 0(1) Photo: IPLT20
In the last league match of the IPL 2019, Kolkata Knight Riders needed nothing but a win to qualify for the playoffs. At the Wankhede Stadium, KKR was asked to bat first. While Gill struggled to score runs, Lynn got off to a flier and scored a quick-fire 41(29). Both were dismissed soon and Robin Uthappa-Dinesh Karthik found themselves in the middle.
Mumbai Indians bowlers did not allow them to run away and kept KKR under pressure. Mitchell McClenaghan bowled a maiden over while Krunal Pandya and Lasith Malinga applied the choke. Only Nitish Rana managed to provide some momentum to the innings. Robin Uthappa 40(47), Dinesh Karthik 3(9) and Rinku Singh 4(6) all struggled. KKR ended up losing with 23 balls remaining. Mumbai Indians with this win topped the points table.
The first qualifier will be played between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at the M Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on 7th May while Delhi Capitals will be facing Sunrisers Hyderabad at Vizag on 8th May.
