1. DC vs CSK

CSK won the toss and asked DC to bat first. Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan opened the innings for DC and made a cautious start scoring just 36 runs in 6 overs of powerplay. They di however lose no wickets and capitalised on that by scoring freely for the next four overs. Shaw led the charge from front smashing the CSK bowlers to all parts of the ground, bringing up his half-century in the meantime.

He and Dhawan added 94 runs for the opening stand before Piyush Chawla dismissed Dhawan and then Shaw in quick succession to keep CSK in the game. The foundation was set for Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant to propel DC to a high score. However, the CSK bowlers bowled brilliantly to restrict the team from Delhi to 175-3. It was a decent score looking at the pitch but with the start DC had, they would have liked to add a few more runs to the total.

Chasing a target of 176, CSK needed a good start. That wasn’t to be as both the openers were back in the pavilion at the end of powerplay with the score 34-2 at the end of 6 overs. The wickets continued to tumble at regular intervals and Faf du Plessis was the highest run-scorer for CSK with 43 runs. In the end, they could manage just 131-7 at the end of 20 overs.

A worry for CSK would be that their batsman have just not been able to fire. For the second consecutive match they left it until late to show the aggression and reach the target. The strategy clearly isn’t working and something needs to change if CSK want to keep their record of qualifying for the playoffs in each season intact.

My Ratings

• CSK – 7/10
• DC – 9/10

2. SRH vs KKR

Both the teams came back from loss in their first match. SRH won the toss and elected to bat first. David Warner and Jonny Bairstow opened the innings for SRH. They were not of to a great start as IPL’s most expensive player in the auction Pat Cummins dismissed Bairstow early to give a setback for the team from Hyderabad. Manish Pandey came in to bat next who along with skipper Warner built up a decent partnership before the left-handed batsman was dismissed by leg spinner Varun Chakravarthy. The middle-order built partnerships but were not able to switch up a gear and go on the aggression. After 20 overs they ended up with a total of 142-4 which was a below par score.

If SRH wished to have any chances of defending that total, they needed some early wickets and they started on the perfect note. Left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed dismissed Sunil Narine in his first over. Nitish Rana came in and scored a brisk 13 ball 26 which included 6 boundaries before he was dismissed caught behind by T Natrajan. Skipper Dinesh Karthik was the next one to depart as he was caught LBW by Rashid Khan even before he could open his account. At 53-3 after 6 overs, SRH felt they were in with a chance. However, opener Shubman Gill and experienced campaigner Eoin Morgan had other plans as they played exceptionally well to achieve the target with 2 overs to spare. Youngster Shubman Gill proved once again why he is considered one of the best young talents in the country with a mature knock of 70* of 62 balls.

SRH have lost their 2nd game in a row and will go back to the drawing board to see what they can rectify to start converting those losses into wins.

My Ratings

• KKR – 9.5/10
• SRH – 7/10

3. RR vs KXIP

RR won the toss and asked KXIP to bat. The match took place at Sharjah which is a ground with small boundaries and matches are usually high scoring games. In-form batsman Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul opened the innings for KXIP.

As expected, they began dominating the bowlers from the start, hitting all around the park. The two openers added an astonishing 183 runs for the opening wicket. Mayank Agarwal scored a brilliant century ending his innings with 106 runs of 50 balls which included 10 fours and 7 sixes. Rahul, on the other hand, scored 69 off 54 balls continuing his good form after a century in the previous match. Nicholas Pooran and Glenn Maxwell added the finishing touches to the innings taking the team total to 223-2 after the end of 20 overs.

RR were boosted by the return of their star player Jos Buttler who opened the innings along with Captain Steve Smith. Left-arm pacer Sheldon Cottrell dismissed the dangerous Buttler cheaply to give an early breakthrough for the team. Steve Smith was joined by in-form batsman Sanju Samson as they both stitched up a brilliant partnership to steady the innings. Captain Smith scored a 27 ball half-century before being dismissed by James Neesham.

Sanju Samson was dismissed by Mohammed Shami which signalled the end of Rajasthan’s hopes but as they say, “In cricket, you never know until the last ball is bowled “

Rahul Tewatia struggled to get going initially scoring just 17 runs off the 23 balls he faced, much to the annoyance of RR fans. However, what followed thereafter was something no person could have imagined. RR needed 51 runs off 18 balls to clinch the match. Rahul Tewatia who was initially struggling to get bat to a ball hit left-arm pacer, Sheldon Cottrell, for 5 sixes in an over, much to the amusement of everyone watching.

Tewatia along with Jofra Archer added the finishing touches to complete the highest ever run chase in IPL history. It was a match which will be remembered by everyone for a long long time.

My Ratings

• KXIP – 8.5 / 10
• RR -9.5 / 10

4. RCB vs MI

The battle of the big guns, RCB vs MI is always a fixture to look out for and it didn’t disappoint. RCB were batting first and opened with Aaron Finch and Youngster Devdutt Padikkal. They got off to a flying start, adding 81 runs for the 1st wicket before Finch was dismissed by Trent Boult. Skipper Virat Kohli was next but he was dismissed before he could get going, much to the relief of MI fans.

AB De Villiers came in next and he along with the youngster continued the charge for the team from Bangalore. Trent Boult got a breakthrough for MI again as he dismissed the youngster Padikkal for a well made half-century.

ABD and Shivam Dube added the finishing touches to the innings as they smashed the MI bowlers all around the park to finish with an impressive total of 201-3 after 20 overs.

For MI to chase down 200+ they needed to get a great start, but that wasn’t the case  as the top order which included one of the most dangerous batsmen in world cricket, Rohit Sharma was gone without troubling the scorers much. After 12 overs MI were languishing at 83-4.

A counterattack from youngster Ishan Kishan and veteran Kieron Pollard followed as they started dealing in boundaries and sixes to inch closer to the target. Ishan Kishan fell short of a well deserved century after being dismissed on the second last ball of the innings. His knock of 99 included 2 fours and 9 sixes. MI needed 5 runs of the last delivery to win the match with Pollard on strike. The hard-hitting Pollard could only manage a boundary to take the match into super over. This was the 2nd super over of this years IPL in just the 10th match.

Navdeep Saini bowled a brilliant super over for RCB as they restricted MI to just 7 runs. The target for RCB was 8 runs who sent into two of the most feared batsmen in world cricket.

Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers against Jasprit Bumrah, a battle every cricket fan would pay to watch. With just 8 runs to defend, there wasn’t much even a bowler of Bumrah's standards could do as both the RCB players chased down the target with ease to register their second victory in the tournament.

My Ratings

• RCB- 9.5 / 10
• MI – 8.5 / 10

5. DC vs SRH

Delhi Capitals went into the match on the back of two straight victories while SRH were still looking for their first victory in the tournament.

SRH batted first and skipper David Warner along with Jonny Bairstow opened the innings. The duo werent able to take off in the powerplay but they managed to come unscathed at the end of the powerplay. They slowly managed to up the scoring rate before Warner was dismissed by Amit Mishra to end a 77 run stand for the opening wicket.

Manish Pandey followed soon, without troubling the scorers much but Kane Williamson along with Bairstow ensured the scoreboard kept ticking. Bairstow departed for a well-made half-century with two overs to go. Debutant Abdul Samat showed no pressure whatsoever as he along with Williamson finished the innings on a good note. SRH finished with a total of 162-4 at the end of 20 overs.

DC didn’t start the second innings on a great note as they lost the last match star performer, Prithvi Shaw cheaply. Shikhar Dhawan and captain Shreyas Iyer stitched up a partnership but none of them really got going. The team from Delhi constantly kept losing wickets at regular intervals making it hard for themselves to chase down the total.

Rishabh Pant hit a couple of sixes to give the DC fans some hope but he too departed soon after. Bhuvaneswar Kumar chipped in with two wickets and Rashid Khan finished with his best bowling figures in IPL history, taking three crucial wickets to hand SRH a much-needed victory and their first in this years IPL.

My Ratings

• SRH – 9 / 10
• DC – 7 / 10

6. KKR vs RR

RR won the toss and elected to bowl against a KKR side who had their confidence high after a victory in their previous match.

Shubman Gill and Sunil Narine started the innings for KKR on a bright note scoring some quick runs before Narine was dismissed by Jaydev Unadkat. The KKR middle-order batsman got starts but no one really went on to get a high score. The highest run-scorer for KKR was Gill who departed after a well made 47.

Andre Russell looked dangerous after he hit a couple of them out of the park but Ankit Rajpoot made sure Russell did not cause any more damage. Eoin Morgan made a well made 34* not out to ensure that the team got to a decent total of 174-6. Jofra Archer was the pick of the bowlers for RR as he bowled a fiery spell dismissing two important KKR batsman finishing with figures of 4-18-2 .

RR needed a good start chasing a target of 175 but were off to a bad start with skipper Steve Smith back in the pavilion in just the second over. In-form Sanju Samson was next to depart without making much difference to the scoreboard. The KKR bowlers were on fire as wickets continued to tumble on regular intervals reducing RR to 42-5 after 8 overs.

Last match hero Rahul Tewatia played a few shots before leg spinner Varun Chakravarthy clean bowled him denting a further blow to RR’s hopes of chasing the target. KKR’s spinners came into the act as they spun the web around the RR batting lineup. Tom Curran was the lone warrior as he scored a well made half-century at the end of the innings.

The RR batsmen never got going and losing 5 quick wickets under 50 runs meant they were never really in the chase. A good victory for KKR who have done well to rise from their first match defeat to win two in a row now.

My Ratings

• KKR – 9 / 10
• RR – 6 / 10

7. MI vs KXIP

KXIP won the toss and elected to field first. Their decision paid off as Sheldon Cottrell dismissed Quinton de Kock in the very first over for a duck. Suryakumar Yadav was the next one to depart as he was run out by a direct hit from Mohammed Shami. Skipper Rohit Sharma looked in fine touch as he continued scoring from one end.

Last match’s hero Ishan Kishan struggled to get going throughout his stay at the crease as he managed just 28 runs off 32 balls before he was caught in the deep by Karun Nair. Rohit Sharma was the next one to depart for well made 70 which included some eye catching shots.

Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya once again proved why they are considered two of the most lethal finishers, as they smashed the KXIP bowlers for 89 runs in the last 5 overs. The late fireworks propelled MI to a total of 191-4 at the end of the innings.

Sheldon Cottrell was the most economical bowler conceding just 20 runs in his quota of 4 overs while taking one wicket.

Chasing a target of 192, KXIP got off to a great start with both the in-form batsman, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal continuing from where they left off. However, MI’s main man Jasprit Bumrah stepped up to the task as he dismissed Mayank Agarwal in the 5th over. What followed was a fall of wickets at regular intervals which dented KXIP’s hopes of chasing the target.

Nicholas Pooran was the highest run-scorer for KXIP with a well made 44. He looked in great touch and had he stayed a little longer at the crease, the result could have been different.

In the end KXIP could only manage 143-8 at the end of 20 overs. The victory meant MI went straight to the top of the table. All the MI bowlers chipped in with wickets as it was an all-round team effort against an inform Punjab side.

My Ratings

• MI – 9.5 / 10
• KXIP – 7 / 10