It was another incredible week in the Indian Premier League, with a number of thoroughly entertaining matches. Nicholas Pooran scored the fastest half-century so far this season and the second-fastest fifty in IPL history.
Rinku Singh pulled off one of the most incredible wins that you are likely to ever see as Kolkata Knight Riders snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against the defending champions Gujarat Titans.
Mumbai Indians finally claimed their first win of the season as their captain Rohit Sharma finally passed fifty for the first time in the IPL since 2021. As a result, Delhi Capitals remain winless through four matches.
IPL 2023 match-by-match mini reviews
Match 10 - Lucknow Super Giants vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Mayank Agarwal chipped one straight to cover off Krunal Pandya to go early for eight in an inauspicious start for Sunrisers. Anmolpreet Singh was adjudged lbw for 31 off 26 as Krunal (4-0-18-3) got his second, before then going straight through skipper Aidan Markram first ball to get his third with Sunrisers 50-3 after eight. On the last ball of the next over, Harry Brook missed one from Ravi Bishnoi (4-0-16-1) and was stumped for three as SRH got to 63-4 at halfway.
It was slow going as SRH reached 83-4 with five to go. Rahul Tripathi's efforts ended on 34 off 41 after a good catch from Amit Mishra at short third man. Mishra (4-0-23-2) then got his first wicket in the penultimate over after Washington Sundar could only pick out long-on as he was dismissed for just 16 off 28.
Then there was an action replay three balls later as Adil Rashid perished for four. Abdul Samad provided some late impetus as he hit a couple of sixes off the last over to end on 21 off 10 as Sunrisers finish 121-8; the run rate through overs seven and 15 was just 4.44.
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| Krunal Pandya produced a great all-round display as Lucknow Super Giants claimed an easy win over Sunrisers Hyderabad [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
A decent start from LSG ended when Kyle Mayers went for 13 off 14 as he pulled Fazalhaq Farooqi out to deep midwicket where Agarwal was waiting to take the catch. Bhuvneshwar Kumar then took the wicket of Deepak Hooda for seven off the last ball of the powerplay with a sharp one-handed caught & bowled with the score 45-2. Krunal continued his strong match output to put LSG within 22 runs of victory with 46 balls to go, before he nicked one behind off Umran Malik for 34 off 23.
With eight to win off six overs, KL Rahul's innings came to end on 35 from 31 after he was out lbw off Rashid for 35 from 31. Then, next ball, Romario Shepherd was beaten all ends up by a googly and he too was gone lbw. Super Giants did indeed get home and ran out victors by five wickets with four overs to spare.
Match 11 - Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Capitals
Yashasvi Jaiswal hit five of the first six balls for four to set the tone early, with the fifty up in four overs. Royals ended 68-0 from the powerplay, before Jaiswal brought up his fifty in just 25 balls, before being caught & bowled by Mukesh Kumar shortly after for 60 off 31. Sanju Samson then skied one to Anrich Nortje at long-on off his fourth ball without scoring. Jos Buttler, meanwhile, brought up his fifty up in 32 balls.
Rovman Powell went straight through Riyan Parag for seven off 11 as the Royals innings began to stumble. Mukesh then claimed another caught & bowled as Buttler chipped one back to him for 79 off 51. However, Shimron Hetmyer's 39 off 21 helped the Royals to 199-4 as they took 16 off the last over bowled by Nortje; Rajasthan struck the last five overs for 69.
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| Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler combined at the top of the Rajasthan Royals to set up what would prove to be a match-winning score against Delhi Capitals [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
Trent Boult found the outside edge of Prithvi Shaw third ball as Samson took a stunning catch and then next ball Manish Pandey was trapped lbw as Boult began with a double wicket maiden. Rilee Rossouw mistimed a reverse sweep off Ravichandran Ashwin to Jaiswal at cover for 14 off 12 as Delhi failed to build any sort of momentum. The DC fifty arrived in the ninth over, with the fifty partnership between David Warner and Lalit Yadav up in 36 balls.
The hundred was up in 12.5 overs as Lalit continued an impressive assault before he was cleaned up next ball by Boult (4-1-29-3) for 38 off 24. Yuzvendra Chahal removed Axar Patel as he tempted him down the track before Samson completed the stumping as DC fell to 113-5 after 15. Another slow fifty from Warner saw him get there in 44 balls. Delhi hopes were then all but dashed as Powell clipped Ashwin to deep midwicket.
In what was a strange occurrence, Warner failed to clear cover and Jaiswal took another catch but replays showed he had started the delivery standing outside the circle, which in to turn lead to a no-ball and a reprieve for Warner. The Delhi captain did eventually depart, with Chahal getting him lbw for 65 from 55. Delhi ended 142-9, with the Royals taking the win by 57 runs.
Match 12 - Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings
Rohit Sharma began well but he ended up beaten by a beauty from Tushar Deshpande for 21 from 13 but Mumbai still reached 61-1 in the powerplay. Shortly after, though, Ishan Kishan mistimed Ravindra Jadeja to long-on for 32 off 21, before Mitchell Santner got Suryakumar Yadav sweeping down the leg-side as MS Dhoni took the catch and reviewed successfully.
Cam Green smoked one straight back at Jadeja who took a brilliant reaction catch to remove him for 12 from 11. Arshad Khan was then dismissed lbw for two off Santner to leave Mumbai in some bother. Tilak Varma's promising innings came to an end on 22 from 18 as Jadeja (4-0-20-3) got another. Tristan Stubbs could not get going before he skied one down the ground as Dwaine Pretorius did incredibly well to catch and throw the ball back to Ruturaj Gaikwad to complete the catch.
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| Ravindra Jadeja celebrates taking one of three wickets in a tidy spell for Chennai Super Kings as they brushed aside Mumbai Indians [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
Mumbai's crumbling innings was summed up by their score of 48-5 through overs 7-15. Tim David went 6,4,6 before smashing Deshpande to Rahane at deep midwicket for 31 off 22 to limit hopes of a strong total. Hrithik Shokeen, though, managed to find three boundaries in the final over to get Mumbai to 157-8.
Jason Behrendorff got Devon Conway to chop on fourth ball without scoring as Mumbai made an early breakthrough. Ajinkya Rahane, though, got off to a flyer that included taking 22 off Arshad's first over. He brought up an astonishing fifty in just 19 balls, before he holed out to long-on for 61 from 27. Shivam Dube chopped on for 28 off 26 after getting CSK into a strong position. Gaikwad finished unbeaten on 40 from 36 as CSK ultimately eased to victory by seven wickets with 11 balls remaining.
Match 13 - Gujarat Titans vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Sunil Narine made the breakthrough as Wriddhiman Saha was out for a run-a-ball 17 after he top edged a sweep, with Narayan Jagadeesan taking a brilliant catch over his shoulder. A good partnership ended when Shubman Gill failed to clear the boundary off Narine as he went for 39 from 31. Gujarat reached 101-2 after 12, with a quick 14 off eight from Abhinav Manohar ended via a great ball from Suyash Sharma.
Another fifty for Sai Sudharsan was brought up off 34 balls before he holed out to long-off off Narine (4-0-33-3) four balls later. Vijay Shankar brought up a brilliant fifty of his own off just 21 balls with a big six over deep midwicket. He then hit two more maximums to justify coming in ahead of David Miller as the last 15 balls go for 51, with the Titans finishing 204-4 and Shankar 63 off 24.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz miscued a pull and Yash Dayal managed to complete the catch despite clashing with substitute 'keeper Srikar Bharat as he goes for 15 from 12. Jagadeesan then picked out deep midwicket for six as Josh Little finished off his second over well. Venkatesh Iyer finally found form and got to a great fifty in just 26 balls. Nitish Rana popped one to mid-off with the partnership on 99 as he departed for 45 off 29 with Alzarri Joseph making the breakthrough.
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| Rinku Singh hit the final five balls of the match for six as he helped seal an incredible victory for Kolkata Knight Riders over defending champions Gujarat Titans [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
A quite brilliant innings from Venkatesh ended on 83 from 40 as he clipped Joseph to long-on with 51 needed from 25. Then the drama began. Andre Russell was out first ball of the next over as he got a slight edge into his pad that popped up for Bharat to take a simple catch off Rashid Khan. Then, next ball, Narine located deep midwicket before Shardul was sensationally trapped lbw with a googly as Rashid took the first hat-trick of IPL 2023.
Having been 0-35 off his first three, Rashid struck with the first three balls of his fourth. It looked set to be a routine win for the Titans after that Rashid magic, with Rinku struggling to find the boundaries and number nine Umesh Yadav at the other end.
With 29 needed off the final over and Umesh on strike, it seemed like what should have been a simple task for Dayal to defend. Rinku, though, had other ideas. He unbelievably struck the last five balls for six to end 48 off 21, having been eight off 14, as KKR sealed an astonishing win by three wickets.
Match 14 - Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings
Bhuvneshwar pinned Prabhsimran Singh lbw first ball, before Marco Jansen then removed debutant Matthew Short third ball lbw as Kings slipped to 10-2. Jitesh Sharma could then can only find mid-off as he departed for four from nine with more good bowling from Jansen. Punjab got to 41-3 after the powerplay, with Sam Curran playing some good strokes. He then ended up slicing one to short third man for 22 from 15.
Punjab decided to make their Impact sub early with Sikandar Raza introduced instead of Kagiso Rabada. While a good idea to try to get runs on the board after a poor start, Raza went for just five after uppercutting Umran Malik to third man. Punjab were 73-5 at halfway, as Shahrukh Khan was then adjudged lbw for just four before Umran went straight through Harpreet Brar with a snorter as Kings slipped to 77-7 in the 13th.
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| Uncapped leg-spinner Mayank Markande was the star of the show for Sunrisers Hyderabad as they kept a dangerous Punjab Kings batting lineup quiet en route to a win [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
Mayank Markande got his third with Rahul Chahar out lbw before Nathan Ellis was bowled after missing a reverse sweep with Markande (4-0-15-4) getting his fourth. Captain Shikhar Dhawan continued his lone hand and got to fifty off 42 balls. His incredible quality continued as he ended on a sublime 99 off 66 as Punjab ended 143-9; the last wicket partnership was 55 from 31 with Mohit Rathee scoring just one off two.
A steady start from Sunrisers ended as Arshdeep went through Brook with a slower one as the Englishman departed for 13 off 14. Agarwal then skied one to long-on as the required rate continued to grow, with Chahar getting the wicket of the ex-Kings skipper as he went for 21 off 20. SRH got to 67-2 at halfway just as Tripathi began to find his touch.
He then got to his fifty in 35 balls as he helped get the equation down to 50 needed from 43. 21 came from the 15th as Sunrisers began to ease towards victory. Tripathi finished not out on 74 from 48 and Markram 37 from 22 as SRH won by eight wickets with 17 balls to spare; the pair brought up their hundred partnership for the third wicket via the winning runs.
Match 15 - Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Lucknow Super Giants
The RCB fifty came up midway through the 6th courtesy of an incredible six off Mark Wood by Virat Kohli. The Indian maestro's fifty then arrived in 35 balls after a couple of quiet overs. He was then dismissed by Amit Mishra as RCB lost their first wicket on 96, with Kohli picking out Marcus Stoinis at deep midwicket for 61 from 44. The 15th over from Ravi Bishnoi went for 20, including a 115m six from Faf du Plessis.
Du Plessis, having been 33 off 31, then got to his fifty in 35 balls with a brilliant shot over long-off via the bowling of Wood. The fifty partnership between the captain and Glenn Maxwell came up in 24 balls, before a mammoth 23 came off the 18th from Jaydev Unadkat.
Maxwell brought up his half-century in just 24 balls with back-to-back sixes. The hundred partnership was then soon brought up in 44 balls before Maxwell was eventually knocked over for 59 off 29 by a 150kph delivery from Wood off the penultimate ball of the innings. RCB ended on 212-2 with du Plessis 79 off 46.
Mayers played on third ball without scoring as Mohammad Siraj made a thumping breakthrough in the first over. Hooda then got a feather through to Dinesh Karthik off the bowling of Wayne Parnell as he departed for for nine from ten.
Two balls later, Krunal nicked one behind for nought as LSG stumbled to 37-3 after the powerplay. The fifty partnership for the fourth wicket arrived with Stoinis scoring 44 of them, before reaching his half-century in 25 balls, helping LSG get to 91-3 at halfway.
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| Nicholas Pooran struck a spectacular 15-ball half-century to set up a brilliant win for Lucknow Super Giants away at Royal Challengers Bangalore [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
The Australian finally failed to properly get hold of one and he sliced a Karn Sharma delivery out to deep point for 65 from 30. Skipper Rahul then flicked one to deep square leg for 18, having incredibly only faced 20 balls out of the 11.1 overs bowled.
The Stoinis dismissal brought Pooran to the crease and he smoked an unbelievable 15-ball fifty as he helped to move LSG to within just 42 of the target with five to go. He eventually perished via a borderline high full toss for a sensational 62 from 19 with 24 needed from three.
Badoni played a great hand of 30 from 24 before scooping a ball for six with seven needed off nine, but hitting his stumps in the process as he was unfortunately out hit wicket. If Badoni had not crashed his own stumps, just one would have been needed but LSG were now seven down still needing seven to win. With four needed off five, Wood was bowled with a slower one from Harshal Patel. Bishnoi did well to get three off two and get Unadkat on strike.
With just one needed off two, though, Unadkat clothed one to mid-on where du Plessis took the catch. There was then drama off the last ball as Harshal tried to run out Bishnoi during his delivery stride but missed, with the umpire calling a dead ball.
The actual final delivery was missed by Avesh but Karthik fumbled as the final wicket pair managed to get through for the winning run to win by just one wicket. Incredibly and importantly, the Super Giants scored 148 during overs 7-16 helped immensely by the brilliant knocks from Stoinis and Pooran.
Match 16 - Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians
After a strong start, Shaw departed after sweeping one straight to backward square leg for 15 from ten deliveries. Delhi reached 51-1 after the powerplay, before Pandey holed out off Piyush Chawla to long-off for 26 from 18. Yash Dhull then flicked Riley Meredith out to deep midwicket for two as the Capitals got to 85-3 at halfway. Powell was trapped lbw by a googly from Chawla (4-0-22-3) in the next over, before the leg-spinner then produced a similar delivery to go straight through Lalit who lost his leg stump.
Warner again took his time in getting to fifty, this time in 43 balls. Axar's impressive late assault should have ended with Suryakumar taking a catch at long-on but it burst straight through his hands for six more to bring up the fifty partnership in 27 balls between Axar and Warner, with the former dominating. Axar's brilliant counter attack saw him bring up his maiden IPL fifty in just 22 balls before he was out three balls later for 54, flicking one out to deep square leg.
Warner then sliced one to short third man two balls later as he was dismissed for 51 from 47 before there was a run out next ball as Nehal Wadhera struck to remove Kuldeep Yadav. Then, the fourth wicket of a action-packed penultimate over, bowled by Behrendorff (3-0-23-3), came when Abhishek Porel mistimed one to mid-off as Delhi collapsed to 166-9 with one over left. They were ultimately all out for 172 as Nortje lost his leg pole via Meredith.
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| Piyush Chawla (R) was outstanding with the ball, allowing captain Rohit Sharma (L) to blaze away to his first IPL fifty in two years as Mumbai finally got off the mark for the season [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
MI raced to fifty midway through the fifth and were 68-0 after powerplay. Kishan slowed up fairly significantly before the pressure told as a hesitation saw him run out for 31 from 26. Mumbai, though, were well-placed at 91-1 after ten. Rohit got to his first fifty in 25 IPL innings in 29 balls, but Delhi's bowlers continued to put the pressure on; the requirements went from 56 in seven to 50 in five.
Tilak then took 16 off the first three balls of the 16th before he holed out to deep midwicket for 41 from 29 off the penultimate ball of the same over. Then, next ball, Mukesh produced the wicket of Suryakumar first ball as the India star could only flick the ball down to fine leg. Then, a stunner was produced from Porel as Rohit clipped one behind off Mustafizur for 65 from 45.
With 18 needed from nine, Green found a huge six to calm the MI nerves before David did the same off the final ball of the 19th. Mukesh then dropped David with four needed from five as the game looked set to go down to the wire. David and Green then dramatically scrambled two off the last ball to seal a very narrow first win of the season for Mumbai by six wickets.
Match 17 - Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals
Chennai got an early breakthrough, as Deshpande got Jaiswal to slice one up to Dube running in from mid-off for ten from eight. Royals recovered well to get to 57-1 after the powerplay, before the fifty partnership was brought up in 27 balls via five wides from Jadeja.
A vital breakthrough was made by Jadeja as Padikkal failed to clear Conway at deep square leg with a slog sweep for 38 off 26. Two balls later, Jadeja (4-0-21-2) went straight through new man Samson and next ball Moeen dropped Ashwin at slip.
Rajasthan did get to 95-3 at halfway, before Ashwin skied Akash Singh to cover as Magala took the catch; two sixes in the over helped mask Ashwin's slowish innings of 30 from 22. Buttler then eventually brought up his fifty in 32 balls in the 16th after being relatively starved of strike. Moeen then made up for his unusually bad day (18 off his first over, two catches put down and a poor throw to miss a run out) as he bowled Buttler for 52 off 36; Royals ended 175-8.
To begin the chase, in-form Gaikwad skied Sandeep Sharma for eight off ten as Jaiswal took the catch. CSK reached 45-1 after the powerplay, before Ashwin had Rahane lbw for 31 off 19. It was slow building for Super Kings as they arrived at 80-2 at halfway. Not for the first time this season, Dube was unable to get going and he was dismissed for eight from nine as Ashwin claimed another lbw; replays did, though, suggest it was missing leg stump.
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| Sandeep Sharma removed in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad early on before eventually holding his nerve in the final over while under-fire from Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
Moeen's indifferent day came to an end as he slog swept down to backward square leg for seven from ten, with Sandeep taking a good catch. Ambati Rayudu was next to go after holed out to deep midwicket for just one as Chennai failed to build any significant momentum. Conway did get to fifty, off 37 balls, but he skied Chahal next ball with 63 needed from five. That equation climbed despite Jadeja and Dhoni being at the crease and it soon reached 38 needed off ten.
Jadeja and then Dhoni managed to get the equation down to 21 off six and hoping to pull off something similar to what Rinku Singh and KKR managed a few nights previously. Dhoni looked set to seriously threaten the Royals as he hit consecutive sixes to get it down to a very manageable seven off three. With five needed off the last ball, Sandeep nailed the yorker for the second ball in a row as Royals won by three runs; Dhoni finished 32 off 17 and Jadeja 24 off 14.
Match 18 - Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans
Just two balls in, Prabhsimran clipped Shami straight to midwicket. A short while later, Shikhar chipped Little over mid-on but Joseph managed to take a good catch running back as the Orange Cap holder departed for a run-a-ball eight. Punjab got to 52-2 after the powerplay, but Rashid undid Short with a googly that went straight through the Australian as he went for a well-made 36 from 24. The strangle began to be applied by the Titans, with Punjab 75-3 at halfway.
Saha convinced Hardik to review a caught behind which did indeed turn out to be successful as the replay showed that Jitesh got a feather through for 25 off 23. Rajapaksa's struggle ended as he clothed a full toss from Joseph to deep midwicket for 20 from 26.
Gill then claimed another catch at deep midwicket as Curran was unable to clear the ropes following a slower ball from Mohit Sharma (4-0-18-2) as he went for 22 off as many deliveries. Shahrukh played a great hand towards the end before being run out for 22 off just nine balls as Punjab finished 153-8.
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| Mohit Sharma returned to IPL action with a flourish after completing an impressive four-over spell for Gujarat Titans as they defeated Punjab Kings [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
There was a strong start made by the Titans in response, as Saha took18 off the third bowled by Arshdeep. He then pulled Rabada to deep square leg where Short took the catch as the former Punjab man went for a brisk 30 from 19. A solid if unspectacular partnership ended when Sudharsan pulled Arshdeep to fine leg for 19 from 20, with the Kings beginning to build pressure.
The Gujarat hundred came up in 13.5 overs, before Hardik holed out to long-on for eight from 11 after he could not quite get going. With 43 needed off five, Gill got to fifty in 40 balls with a typically classy loft over cover for four as he and Miller set about finishing the job. They could not quite get it done before the final over arrived, with seven needed off the final six balls of the match. Rishi Dhawan saved what looked to be a certain four off the first ball with a brilliant stop at cover.
Next ball, Curran produced a beauty to go straight through Gill for 67 off 49, with what could have been argued as being an unnecessary option from the India international. Curran then got another two brilliant yorkers in as the equation moved to four off two. Not for the first time, Rahul Tewatia scored the dramatic winning runs with a contextually ridiculous lap shot for four down to fine leg as the Titans won by six wickets with a ball remaining.
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