The stars
Bhuvneshwar
Kumar
The Indian seamer has
been by far the best bowler this tournament, currently leading the purple cap
race.
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| Bhuvneshwar has been the undisputed best bowler this IPL (PHOTO: Ron Gaunt - Sportzpics - IPL) |
He is four wickets
clear of Pune's Imran Tahir, with his 21 wickets coming in his full quota of 40
overs from his ten games.
Bhuvneshwar has
always been known for his ability to swing the ball both ways first up, but
this year especially has seen him deliver in the death overs on a frighteningly
consistent basis.
His numbers are
outstanding, with an economy of 6.62 a testament of his control at both ends of
an innings.
David Warner
The Sunrisers captain
is having yet another stellar IPL season, with his remarkable consistency in
the competition showing no signs of slowing.
He is clear in the
orange cap standings, almost 80 clear of closest Gautam Gambhir having played a
game less.
He has only failed to
pass 30 three times and has three fifties and an incredible hundred to his
name.
That hundred came
against Kolkata Knight Riders, where he struck ten fours and eight sixes in a
mammoth 59-ball 126 to set up a crushing 48 run win for his side.
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| Morris started off brilliantly but has faded in recent matches (PHOTO: Rahul Gulati - Sportzpics - IPL) |
Chris Morris
The big South African has performed with both bat and ball for Delhi Daredevils this year, seemingly getting better year on year.
He started off in
sensational fashion with the ball, taking 12 wickets in his first five games
but has failed to pick up a single scalp in his last four.
The 30-year-old has,
however, featured with the bat in those four wicketless games, not least the 52
not out he made against Mumbai Indians as he almost pulled off a brilliant run
chase with compatriot Kagiso Rabada.
Morris remains a key
figure for Delhi and they will need him back to his bowling best if they are to
trouble the top four.
Emerging players
Rahul Tripathi
The 26-year-old
Maharashtra opener has enjoyed a stunning debut IPL season, scoring 352 runs in
just nine innings so far.
The Pune batsman has
been devastating in the powerplay this year, getting a number of starts.
Tripathi, with 251 runs, is the leading Powerplay run-scorer this season & has scored them at a rate of 10.45 runs per over. #IPL— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) 3 May 2017
In fact, he has only
failed to pass 30 twice in his nine matches, although he has only converted
those starts into 50s on two further occasions.
Tripathi's season
peaked in his last game when he finally converted his powerplay runs into a big
score, as he powered a 52-ball 93 against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Rashid Khan
Already on the minds
of many after his various exploits for Afghanistan over the past 18 months,
Rashid has firmly announced himself after a number of brilliant displays
for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
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| Teenager Rashid Khan has delivered some masterful spells in his debut IPL season (PHOTO: Shaun Roy - Sportzpics - IPL) |
The 18-year-old has
taken at least one wicket in each of his ten games so far, bar two.
Khan debuted with
2-36 and the wickets of Mandeep Singh and Travis Head, before taking an
inspired 3-19 in his next game against Gujarat Lions.
That game saw his
skills fully on display, as he picked up the prize wickets of Brendon McCullum,
Suresh Raina and Aaron Finch - all lbw.
Nitish Rana
Rana broke out
briefly last season with 130 runs in four innings towards the end of the
campaign, and that was enough for him to keep and maintain his place in the
Mumbai order.
He has seized his
chance, clearing the boundary with ease from number three.
He opened the season
with 129 runs in his first three innings, and had 255 runs as he ended his
sixth match with an unbeaten 62 in a six-filled win against Kings XI.
He has suffered a
quiet period since, but there is no doubt he has the quality to continue to
make a impact at the top of the Indians order.
Top 3 moments
Andrew Tye's
hat-trick
In his very first
game of the tournament, the 30-year-old displayed his full repertoire to claim
the season's first five-for.
Not only that, but
Tye repeated Amit Mishra's trick from earlier in the day and completed his
hat-trick when he bowled Shardul Thakur for a golden duck.
VIDEO CREDIT: iplt20.com
The Australian showed
off his impressive 'knuckle ball' to great effect, bamboozling the Pune batsmen
on his way to five wickets that included Tripathi and Ben Stokes.
He could have had a
sixth, too, if the usually-reliable Ravindra Jadeja had held on in the deep.
Ben Stokes' hundred
An incredible innings
saw Ben Stokes become just the second Englishman to hit an IPL century
after Kevin Pietersen.
He scored almost 62%
of Pune's runs, hitting seven fours and six sixes in 63 balls, after they had
been in trouble chasing 162.
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| Stokes brilliantly brought up his maiden t20 in an equally brilliant chase against Gujarat Lions (PHOTO: Shaun Roy - Sportzpics - IPL) |
The 25-year-old
strolled to the crease at 10-3 and dominated a fourth-wicket partnership of 32
between himself and Tripathi, of which the latter contributed five before
perishing, leaving the score 42-4 midway through the sixth.
Stokes then dominated
the partnership of 76 for the fifth wicket he shared with Dhoni, making 46 to
the former skipper's 26.
He then put on an
unbeaten 49 in just 22 balls with Aussie Dan Christian, as he raised his maiden
t20 century with a four off Faulkner to see his side to within four runs
needed with five balls left.
MI vs GL super over
The first super over
of the tournament came in Match 35, where Jadeja made up for his aforementioned
fielding blunder to pull out a blinder and run out Krunal Pandya off the last
ball of Mumbai's innings.
Gujarat had set their
visitors 154 to win after Krunal had produced a miserly spell of 4-0-14-3 to
restrict them to under eight an over.
Mumbai had looked in
control at 109-3, but faltered dramatically after Parthiv Patel was dismissed
for 70, with 44 needed off 37 balls.
The wickets kept
tumbling as Ankit Soni applied the pressure with a superb spell of 4-0-16-1 and
the fourth run out of the innings saw the match tied.
Mumbai batted first
in the one over eliminator, with Kieron Pollard striking ten of their 11 runs
off James Faulkner's over.
Death bowling expert
Jasprit Bumrah came up trumps for the away side as he restricted Lions to just
six runs.
Top 3 disappointments
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Virat Kohli's late
return from injury somewhat set the tone for Bangalore's dismal season so far.
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| It has not been a good season for Virat Kohli and RCB (PHOTO: Rahul Gulati - Sportzpics - IPL) |
Their main stars have
failed to get going for a variety of reasons, with Chris Gayle, Kohli,
and AB de Villiers having all failed to pass 250 runs so far.
That being said, the
latter duo have only played seven games, while Gayle has played just six.
The positives for
Royal Challengers to take would be through the performances of spinners
Yuzvendra Chahal and Pawan Negi, the latter having contributed with the bat
also having suffered a turbulent 2016 campaign.
Rohit Sharma/Lasith Malinga/Ajinkya Rahane
The Mumbai Indians
captain has passed fifty twice in his last three innings, but he had scored
just 54 runs in his six previous innings.
His two recent
half-centuries are signs that he could be coming back to form, and he will hope
to see similar signs from Lasith Malinga.
The leading IPL
wicket-taker has been below-par this season, taking just six wickets in as many
games as well as seeing his tournament economy rate skyrocket to a shade under
ten.
Rohit's international
teammate, Ajinkya Rahane, will be thankful for the emergence of his opening
partner Tripathi.
The 28-year-old has
racked up 228 runs in 11 innings, but has not looked his fluent best, averaging
just 20.54 and striking at a lowly 120.
Chris Lynn
This is not so much a
disappointment as the others, but instead one that stems from the Australian
picking up yet another injury.
He started as he had
finished the BBL, as he blazed an incredible unbeaten 93 off just 41 balls to
see Kolkata Knight Riders home by ten wickets in a chase of 184, with a huge 31
balls to spare.
The Australian
powered six fours and eight sixes as he shared a record opening stand with his
captain Gambhir.
He began well against
Mumbai before succumbing lbw to Bumrah for a 24-ball 32 with three fours and a six
at the top of the order.
The 27-year-old then,
however, picked up a shoulder injury in the field and has not played since, although he is hoping to be back for the play-offs.
Three things to watch
Can the top four be caught?
Kings XI Punjab can
move to within a point of Sunrisers if they win their two games in hand, while
Delhi Daredevils have won their last two.
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| Glenn Maxwell and KXIP have the smallest of chances to sneak into the top four, but are best placed to do it (PHOTO: Deepak Malik - Sportzpics - IPL) |
Kings XI probably
have the best outside chance, although the top four have pulled away fairly
emphatically.
Mumbai, Kolkata and
Hyderabad have all been there before, so perhaps catching Pune would be the
best shot for the chasing pack as they seek their first crack at the play-offs.
Can RCB escape their rut?
They have three games
to try and recover some pride, starting with a game with Kings XI at Bengaluru.
Bangalore have a
second home game in succession when they take on Knight Riders on Sunday, their
second game in three days.
Royal Challengers
then finish off what will be a disappointing campaign in Delhi in what will be
the final game of the league stage.
They can get their
road to relative recovery started with a win against an inconsistent Punjab
side, before looking to upset the Knight Riders' chances at the Chinnaswamy.
Who'll come out on top in the race for the purple/orange cap?
It's looking like a
double for Sunrisers Hyderabad, with Bhuvneshwar and Warner looking set to take
home their respective caps with large leads on their competitors.
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| Something special will have to deny these two getting their hands on the orange and purple caps (PHOTO: Indian Express/BCCI) |
Warner is a whole 78
runs ahead of Gambhir and with a match in hand, while Suresh Raina and Robin
Uthappa remain further back, having not yet passed 400.
Kumar and Warner have
clearly been the best in their respective disciplines this season and as such
it would not be a surprise if they were to guide Hyderabad to a successful
defence of their title.
Team of the tournament (so far)
1) David Warner
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| Tripathi has impressed tremendously in his debut IPL season (PHOTO: Prashant Bhoot - Sportzpics - IPL) |
3) Robin Uthappa
4) Manish Pandey
5) Ben Stokes
6) Moises Henriques
7) Krunal Pandya
8) Chris Morris
9) Bhuvneshwar Kumar
10) Rashid Khan
11) Jasprit Bumrah
bench: Nitish Rana,
Kieron Pollard, Yuzvendra Chahal
*Statistics correct as of 22:00 04/05/17*
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