The 16th season of the Indian Premier League is well underway, with a number of brilliant performances already. Defending champions Gujarat Titans have made a perfect start after winning their opening two games, while Punjab Kings have also joined them on four points through the first two. Delhi Capitals have been unable to get going so far, while Mumbai Indians' misery continued in their first outing in IPL 2023.
IPL 2023 match-by-match mini reviews
Match 1 - Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings
Mohammad Shami got the Titans off to a great start, going straight through Devon Conway for just one to claim his 100th IPL wicket. Moeen Ali then nicked behind off Rashid Khan off the penultimate ball of the sixth over for 23 off 17 as CSK ended the powerplay 51-2.
Rashid then got another English left-hander caught behind as Ben Stokes departed for seven, with Wriddhiman Saha taking a sharp catch off an outside edge. Ruturaj Gaikwad, meanwhile, got to a brilliant fifty off just 24 balls with an enormous six off Alzarri Joseph.
Irish international Josh Little got his maiden IPL wicket, castling Ambati Rayudu for a run-a-ball 12. Gaikwad's obscene striking display then ended on 92 from 46 with a close call on a full toss from Joseph as the opener clothed one to long-on. Ravindra Jadeja was then out two balls later for just a single as he was caught at deep midwicket. Shivam Dube eventually skied one off Shami for 19 from 18, before MS Dhoni fired a quick 14 from seven as CSK ended 178-7.
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| Shubman Gill was at his classy best for Gujarat Titans as he helped the defending champions chase down the target set by Chennai Super Kings in the opening match of IPL 2023 [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
A strong start from Gujarat was ended with Saha slicing Rajvardhan Hangargekar down to third man for 25 off 16 as Dube took a good catch. The Titans ended the powerplay well-placed on 65-1, with the fifty partnership between Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan up in 31 balls. Sudharsan then slashed at a wide one from Hangargekar and got a nick through to Dhoni for 22 from 17. Gill then got to his fifty in 30 balls, before Jadeja went through Hardik for just eight from 11 to pull CSK back into things. With the required rate under eight, another twist came when Gill holed out to deep midwicket for 63 from 36.
With 23 needed from 13, Vijay Shankar skied Hangargekar over mid-off but Mitchell Santner took a tricky back-tracking catch to remove him and leave the game in the balance. Rashid, though, then smoked his first ball for six and then slashed his next for four as the equation went from 18 off nine to eight off seven in the blink of an eye. Rahul Tewatia, who was on five off 12, hit the first ball of the final over for six to level the scores, with the Titans duly getting their defence underway with a five-wicket win.
Match 2 - Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders
An explosive start from Prabhsimran Singh ended after he was strangled down the leg-side by Tim Southee as he was dismissed for 23 from 12. Punjab reached 56-1 after the powerplay and soon raced to 100-1 at the midway stage, with Bhanuka Rajapaksa bringing up his fifty off 30 balls in the next over. He then skied one two balls later to long-on, before Jitesh Sharma's cameo ended after he sliced one to short third man for 21 off 11.
Captain Shikhar Dhawan's quiet innings ended on 40 off 29 as Varun Chakaravarthy bowled him through the gate. Sunil Narine then got a wicket to help his unusually expensive figures as Sikandar Raza was dismissed for 16. Late hitting from Sam Curran and Shahrukh Khan helped to get Punjab to 191-5.
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| Bhanuka Rajapaksa played a strong hand for Punjab Kings in their IPL 2023 opener against Kolkata Knight Riders as he helped his side to a match-winning 191-5 [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
Mandeep Singh went early as Arshdeep Singh grabbed a wicket with his first ball with a short ball that was pulled out to deep square leg. Arshdeep then picked up his second off the last ball of the same over as Anukul Roy was unable to clear the infield. Nathan Ellis then went straight through Rahmanullah Gurbaz with a full pace delivery after deceiving him the previous ball with a slower ball. KKR ended the powerplay 46-3, before stand-in skipper Nitish Rana sliced Raza to point, having looked good for his 24 from 17.
Knight Riders were 80-4 at halfway, but things got worse as Rinku Singh holed out to deep midwicket next ball off Rahul Chahar. Andre Russell was dropped on 20 with 87 needed from 40, before the fifty partnership between him and Venkatesh Iyer was brought up in 29 balls. However, Russell then picked out deep midwicket next ball as he went for 35 from 19, seemingly along with many KKR hopes.
Arshdeep (3-0-19-3) came back to take the wicket of the well-set Venkatesh for 34 off 28. The rain then came down and the game was called off after 17 overs, with Kolkata seven short of the DLS target as Punjab ran out winners by six runs courtesy of the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Match 3 - Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals
Lucknow captain KL Rahul went early for a scratchy eight from 12 after he could only pick out deep square leg off the bowling of Chetan Sakariya. Khaleel Ahmed then put down an absolute dolly off Sakariya's next over as Kyle Mayers sliced one to short third man when he was struggling on 14. Despite that, Delhi had contained Lucknow, with the home side just 30-1 after the powerplay. Mayers then started to make the most of his second life as he reached a 28-ball fifty on his IPL debut Deepak Hooda, though, chipped one to David Warner at long-off for 17 from 18 as Delhi got a much-needed breakthrough.
Axar Patel then got one to grip and turn past Mayers to put a stop to what ended up being a brutal innings of 73 off 38 as LSG fell to 100-3. Khaleel then made some amends as he got Marcus Stoinis nicking behind for 12. Nicholas Pooran played a brilliant hand before smoking one to Prithvi Shaw at extra cover for 36 from 21 Ayush Badoni continued the momentum with 18 from seven as LSG got up to 193-6; incredibly, the innings featured just five fours with a mammoth 16 sixes.
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| Mark Wood enjoyed a sensational debut for Lucknow Super Giants as he claimed the first five-wicket haul of IPL 2023 as he ran riot through the Delhi Capitals batting order [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
A good quick start from Delhi was comprehensively halted as Mark Wood went right through Shaw with a beauty before delivering an action replay next ball to Mitchell Marsh. He then got his third with a bouncer that tied up Sarfaraz Khan, with the ball rather bizarrely ending up being directed to fine leg. Rilee Rossouw finally struck the first six of the innings with a ball to go in the tenth. Rossouw was then out caught via the back of his bat after a mistimed sweep off Ravi Bishnoi for what was a solid 30 from 20.
Bishnoi then pinned Rovman Powell for just one in his next over as Delhi began to fall further behind, needing 100 off 38. Warner eventually brought up another IPL fifty in 45 balls as he battled to keep the innings alive. His stay then ended on 56 off 48 as he skied one to long-on. Wood (4-0-14-5) got his fourth after Axar chipped one out to deep square leg, before his fifth was collected after Sakariya clothed one to midwicket. The Capitals ultimately ended well short on 143-9 as Lucknow won by 50 runs.
Match 4 - Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals
A lightning start was made by the Royals, with Jos Buttler raising his fifty in just 20 balls. There were three fours scored in the first four balls of the sixth over before Fazalhaq Farooqi finally got the breakthrough as he got one to nip back in to Buttler to remove him for a brilliant 54 from 22. Rajasthan got to 85-1 after the powerplay, before bring the hundred up in 7.4 overs.
They were racing along at 122-1 at halfway, before Yashasvi Jaiswal went shortly after bringing up his fifty as he picked out deep midwicket off Farooqi for 54 off 37. Umran Malik then castled Devdutt Paddikal with a 149kph snorter for just two. With four overs left, Royals were 170-3 but Riyan Parag went for seven just after.
Captain Sanju Samson got to his fifty in 28 balls, but he was dismissed shortly after reaching fifty after holing out to deep midwicket for 55 off 32 with nine balls remaining, meaning another batter had got out almost immediately after passing fifty. Shimron Hetmyer's unbeaten 22 from 16 got the Royals up to 203-5, despite just 43 being scored in the last five overs.
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| Yuzvendra Chahal produced another brilliant spell of leg-spin bowling to add another four wickets to his ever-growing tally of IPL wickets [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
Abhishek Sharma was gone early for a three-ball duck after Trent Boult delivered a beautiful swinging yorker. Two balls later, Rahul Tripathi danced down to Boult (4-0-21-2) and nicked one behind with Jason Holder taking a great catch at slip to leave Sunrisers 0-2 in the first over. The home side made their way to 30-2 after the powerplay, but Harry Brook's IPL debut proved to be a disappointing one as Yuzvendra Chahal got him with a quicker one for just 13 off 21.
Washington Sundar then mistimed one off Holder as the Sunrisers began to sink further. Things get even worse as Glenn Phillips picked out cover off Ravichandran Ashwin for eight. Sunrisers were 48-5 at halfway, before the main resistance in Mayank Agarwal was removed after skying one down the ground for Buttler to pouch as Chahal got another. There were just four fours and two sixes in 12 overs as Adil Rashid pumped Ashwin down the ground for a maximum.
Chahal then got a third after he outfoxed his fellow leg-spinner Rashid to see him stumped for 18 from 13. Chahal's genius then got him his fourth with Bhuvneshwar bowled by a googly. Abdul Samad and Umran provided some late fireworks to give some sort of respectability to the score, but Sunrisers could only get up to 131-8 as the Royals won by 72 runs.
Match 5 - Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians
A slow start from Mumbai got worse when Ishan Kishan edged Mohammad Siraj all the way to third man for ten off 13. IPL debutant Cam Green was then knocked over by Reece Topley for just five. Skipper Rohit Sharma then skied one but bowler Siraj collided with 'keeper Dinesh Karthik and what was a simple chance ended up going down.
Rohit, who was one off seven at that point, could not make the most of his second chance. He ended up nicking off to Akash Deep three balls later without troubling the scorers further as his IPL struggles continued and Mumbai slipped to 29-3 after the powerplay. Suryakumar Yadav then cut one straight to backward point for 15 off 16 as MI's woes did not cease as they got to 55-4 at halfway. Back-to-back sixes off Karn Sharma from Nehal Wadhera brought up the fifty partnership between him and Tilak Varma in 30 balls but he holed out to long-on next ball.
Karn then got the big wicket of Tim David for just four midway through his final over. Tilak then brought up his fifty in 32 balls with a big six over square leg. A brilliant catch from Faf du Plessis removed Hrithik Shokeen for five. Siraj then bowled four consecutive wides before Tilak added a couple of boundaries heading into the final over. An incredible six off the last ball completed an incredible innings from Tilak as he ended unbeaten on 84 off just 46 as he helped Mumbai climb up to an improbable 171-7.
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| Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli made light work of the chase during their scintallintg opening partnership for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2023 [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
The RCB fifty was up in 5.3 overs as du Plessis and Virat Kohli made a classy yet speedy start. Green's first over went for 17 as the Royal Challengers reached 75-0 after eight. Du Plessis brought up his fifty in 29 balls with a lovely slog sweep over deep midwicket. The hundred came up midway through the tenth, before Kohli got to his fifty in 38 balls.
A brilliant stand finally came to an end after du Plessis skied Arshad Khan to long-on for an exquisite 73 from 43. Karthik then went for a three-baller as he picked out deep square leg. Kohli finished the game with a six down the ground, ending unbeaten on 82 in 49 balls as RCB convincingly won by eight wickets with 22 balls left.
Match 6 - Chennai Super Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants
The fifty was brought up in 4.4 overs for CSK thanks in large part to Gaikwad, who brought up another brilliant fifty in just 25 balls. The hundred was soon up in eight overs, before Bishnoi got Gaikwad for 57 off 31 after he sliced one to short third man where Wood took a good catch. With CSK 114-1 at halfway, Super Giants needed a breakthrough and they got just that when Conway miscued a pull off Wood out to deep midwicket where Krunal Pandya took a superb catch to remove the New Zealand international for 47 from 29.
Dube finally got going before perishing to Bishnoi for 27 off 16 in a similar dismissal to that of Gaikwad. Bishnoi then got his third after coaxing Moeen down the track before Pooran completed the stumping with the England man gone for 19. Stokes couldn't get going as he was dismissed for a run-a-ball eight as another delivery was sliced, this time to point. Rayudu's unbeaten 27 from 14, along with a couple of last over sixes from Dhoni, helped CSK up to 217-7.
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| Moeen Ali produced the goods with the ball as he took four crucial wickets as Chennai Super Kings picked up their first win of IPL 2023 [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
Another quick start saw LSG bring up their fifty in 3.4 overs as Mayers began to get stuck into the CSK bowling. The West Indian got to fifty in just 21 balls courtesy of five overthrows, before he holed out off Moeen to deep midwicket next ball. Hooda then did the same off Santner for just two as Stokes took the catch running around from long-on. Next over, another wicket fell as Rahul picked out Gaikwad running round from deep midwicket for 20 off 18.
Krunal then mistimed Moeen for nine as Jadeja took the catch at long-on. Despite the fall of wickets, LSG still got to 105-4 at halfway. Moeen, though, got his fourth as Stoinis was dismissed for 21 off 18 after missing a big swing to the leg-side. Pooran provided a strong contribution but he went shortly after an incredible 97m reverse slog sweep six off Jadeja, smoking one to Stokes at long-off for 32 off 18. That all but sealed the end of Lucknow's hopes, despite some good contributions from Badoni and Gowtham, as CSK ultimately won by 12 runs.
Match 7 - Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Titans
Shami got the breakthrough after an incredible first two overs where the ball was moving all over the place, with a number of wides conceded. Eventually, though, Shaw miscued to mid-on for seven. Marsh then chopped on in Shami's next over for four as Delhi made it to 52-2 after the powerplay. Joseph then got Warner to play on for 37 off 32 as the dismissal of the captain left the Capitals three down in the ninth. Then, a brilliant 146kph bouncer from Joseph next ball got Rossouw first ball after he could only fend the ball off to point where Tewatia took an equally brilliant catch.
Rashid, after coming into bowl unusually late in the 13th over, bowled debutant Ishan Porel for 20 off 11 with his second ball. Sarfaraz then skied one off Rashid to deep midwicket for 30 off 34 before the Afghani picked up his third as Aman Khan sliced one up to Hardik on the edge of the circle for run-a-ball eight. Axar played an excellent hand of 36 from 22 to help lift Delhi to 162-8.
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| Sai Sudharsan played a composed anchor innings before David Miller played one of his great finishing knocks as Gujarat Titans made it two for two in IPL 2023 [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
Anrich Nortje's introduction to IPL 2023 was instant as he got one to jag back in and knock over Saha for 14. He then also got Gill for 14 with a very similar delivery at 149kph with the first ball of his second over. A beauty from Khaleel induced a nick behind from Hardik off the last ball of the powerplay as the Titans end it 54-3. The fifty partnership between Sai Sudharsan and Shankar was up in 39 balls as they moved the Titans into a solid position.
Shankar was then removed after a successful review showed him plumb lbw to Marsh for 29 off 23. David Miller then smote two consecutive sixes and a four to bring the equation down to 26 needed from 24. Sudharsan brought up his fifty in 44 balls as he in turn brought the asking rate to under run-a-ball. The young left-hander was involved in another fifty partnership, this time with Miller as the landmark was brought up in 28 balls. A classic Miller innings saw the Titans home up in 39 balls with his unbeaten 31 from 16 and Sudharsan's 62 not out from 48.
Match 8 - Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings
The Punjab Kings fifty was up in 4.2 overs as they made it to 63-0 after the powerplay, with Shikhar taking a backseat to Prabhsimran, who got to his fifty in 29 balls. Prabhsimran then top edged one off Holder, with Buttler taking a stunning running and diving catch to remove him for an excellent 60 from 34. Shikhar, who was 30 off 30, got to his fifty in 36 balls.
Jitesh provided another good contribution of 27 from 16 before mistiming one to long-off off Chahal. Ashwin then went straight through Raza for just one as the Kings sought to pile on more runs in the final four overs. Shikhar continued his acceleration and ended unbeaten on 86 off 56, with Punjab finishing 197-4.
Jaiswal went early as he picked out Matthew Short at cover off Arshdeep for 11. Harpreet Brar was unable to hold on to a catch offered up by Buttler at deep midwicket with the star batter on five at the time. The Royals' experiment of opening up with Ashwin ended very early as he miscued one to Shikhar at mid-on as Arshdeep got his second, with Ashwin gone without scoring.
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| Australian international Nathan Ellis picked up four wickets as Punjab Kings won their first two games for the first time since 2017 [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
Nathan Ellis then took a sharp caught & bowled to dismiss Buttler for 19 off 11 after he struck the ball into his pad. Despite the fall of wickets, Rajasthan had made their way to 57-3 after the powerplay. Samson then picked out long-off for 42 off 25 as Royals were dealt a devastating blow, moving to 91-4 after 11. Parag threatened with some good blows but he eventually skied one to long-off for 20 off 12 as Ellis picked up his third, before cleaning up Padikkal for 21 off 26 with 74 needed from 30.
With 53 needed from three, Dhruv Jurel and Hetmyer got the equation down to 16 off the last over. Hetmyer was run out for 36 off 18 with 13 required from four. Curran, though, kept his cool and defended the requirement as Jurel finished unbeaten on an encouraging 32 from 15. Punjab won by five runs, the first time in six years that they had opened with two wins.
Match 9 - Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
David Willey got his customary early breakthrough with one that came back in to dismantle Venkatesh Iyer's stumps for just three. Then, next ball Mandeep was beaten all ends up as Willey claimed his off pole. RCB recovered well after those early strikes to reach 47-2 after the powerplay. Immediately after, Nitish gloved one behind off Michael Bracewell for just one. Gurbaz bided his time before bringing up his fifty in 38 balls with a slog sweep for six off Karn Sharma.
Knight Riders got to 79-3 at halfway, but Gurbaz fell for 57 from 44 shortly after to Karn after failing to get a reverse sweep past short third man. Next ball, Russell tried to go big down the ground but could not get past Kohli at long-off and was out first ball. The fifty partnership between Shardul Thakur and Rinku was brought up off just 21 balls, with Shardul smashing 41 of them.
He brought up a brilliant maiden IPL fifty in just 20 balls to give KKR some much-needed momentum. The hundred partnership was soon up in 48 balls as Rinku joined in on the action, but shortly after he gloved one behind for 46 off 33. Shardul's assault finally ended on 68 off 29 after he skied one to Glenn Maxwell at mid-on as KKR close in on 200, ultimately ending on 204-7.
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| Shardul Thakur led a brilliant comeback, with KKR going from 89-5 to 204-7 as Shardul crashed his way to his maiden IPL fifty [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
RCB got off to a flyer, with 23 coming off the fourth over from Southee. Narine then got the breakthrough in the next over, knocking over Kohli for 21 off 18 with one that turned sharply back in. Chakaravarthy then produced an action replay of that Narine delivery to dismiss du Plessis for 23 off 12. Next over, he got the big wicket of Maxwell for just five with yet another similar delivery, with this one skidding on a bit more. Then, Harshal Patel met the same fate two balls later for a duck as RCB began to seriously falter.
Narine then removed Shahbaz Ahmed for just one after he reverse swept one out to Shardul at deep square leg and Royal Challengers were soon 69-5 at halfway. Things then got worse when Bracewell miscued one to short fine leg for 19, before debutant Suyash Sharma dismissed Anuj Rawat next over to claim his first IPL wicket. He then got his second in identical fashion as Karthik sliced one to short third man for nine. Suyash got his third with Karn gone for one, before Chakaravarthy (3.4-0-15-4) sealed the win with a great caught and bowled as KKR won comprehensively by 81 runs.
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