IPL Weekly review – Rajasthan & Kolkata stay on top, Mumbai register first win
Source – ESPNcricinfo
Teams at the bottom will look to bounce back this week and shuffle this points table.
As we witnessed another week of exciting cricket in the Indian Premier League. We saw many exciting games and witnessed the second-highest total of the league when Kolkata scored 272 against Delhi in Vishakhapatnam. The record of 277 looked in danger at a point in time but somehow DC pulled back and restricted KKR to 272.
At the end of 21 games, Rajasthan Royals are still unbeaten and have won all their 4 games. Sanju Samson-led side is ticking every box right now. Jos Butler also returned to form scoring 100* against RCB. Their lead spinner Yuzi Chahal holds the purple cap with 8 wickets
On the other hand, KKR is also unbeaten with 3 wins in 3 games. The team is looking rock solid and with the kind of combinations they are surely the strongest sides right now. “Sunil Narine the Opener” has finally returned and roaring. His ability to strike the new ball certainly puts KKR in a strong position in the powerplay. He is accompanied by Philip Salt who also enjoys hitting boundaries. This duo and the presence of Rinku and Russel at the end is currently proving to be the toughest challenge for the bowlers. The bowling unit also looks complete with the mix of Starc, Rana, Narine, and Varun.
Hardik Pandya and his team finally registered their first win on Sunday. They defeated Delhi in their 2nd home game. Even after winning a game, they remain 8th on the points table with 3 defeats in 4 games. Their star batter Surya also returned to the field but had a poor outing getting dismissed for a duck the team has got their first win and MI are usually known for their slow starts in the league. It will be interesting to see whether MI will be able to catch up this season or not.
The absence of their core players Shami, Miller, and Pandya has surely hurt Gujarat as they are placed 7th on the table after 3 defeats in 5 games. Rashid who has also returned from an injury does not look as sharp as he was in previous seasons.
RCB is again having a poor season as they have lost 4 out of 5 games. Although, Virat Kohli on Saturday scored his first hundred of the League scoring 113* against Rajasthan still their team is placed 9th on the table. Virat is also the orange cap holder with 316 runs at an average of 105.
The Punjab team has found 2 new heroes. Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma got them a magical win against Gujarat. Will these players change the fortunes of Punjab this season who are placed 6th on the table with 2 wins in 4 games?
This is how the points table looks after 21 games.
