Another week is in the books for the 2023 Indian Premier League and there were some more memorable matches and performances. Harry Brook hit the season's first hundred which was shortly followed by Venkatesh Iyer's fine century a few days later.
Delhi Capitals finally picked up their first win of the season and the RCB main three of Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell continued to do the heavy lifting with the bat.
IPL 2023 match-by-match mini reviews
Match 19 - Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers got off to an electric start as they got to 43-0 in three overs thanks to Brook. Andre Russell's first ball of IPL 2023 got Mayank Agarwal nicking one to short third man for nine off 13. Russell then got another with the last ball of his first over as Rahul Tripathi mistimed a pull straight up to 'keeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz as he departed for nine from four as SRH got to 65-2 after the powerplay.
Following a slowing of his strike rate, Brook offered a return chance to Suyash Sharma while on 45 but it was put down and Sunrisers reached 94-2 at halfway. Brook then got to his maiden IPL fifty off 32 balls, despite being 31 off 11.
Aidan Markram then soon got to an excellent fifty in 25 balls with a big six over square leg but he skied his next ball to Russell at deep midwicket. Brook took 23 off the 15th, bowled by Lockie Ferguson, as he raced into the 70s.
Abhishek Sharma proved the decision to bring him in ahead of Heinrich Klaasen to be a good one before he skied Russell to long-on for 32 off 17. Brook got to a brilliant hundred in 55 balls, in turn bringing up the first individual three-figure score of the season. Klaasen ended with 16 off six as he and Brook finished the innings unbeaten with SRH 228-4.
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| Harry Brook shook off some poor early season form to strike a stunning hundred at Eden Gardens as he passed fifty for the first time in the IPL [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
In response, Gurbaz sliced one to third man third ball without scoring, before Venkatesh went for ten as he got a leading edge off Marco Jansen's bowling. There was a repeat next ball as Sunil Narine failed to clear mid-on as Markram took another catch. Nitish Rana then slapped Umran Malik for 28 off the final over of the powerplay, moving KKR to 62-3.
Narayan Jagadeesan found deep midwicket as he went for a promising 36 from 21 and Knight Riders were in slight bother at 96-4 at halfway. Russell skied one next ball as he departed for just three as Jansen settled under what was a very high ball. Nitish, meanwhile, got to his fifty in 25 balls. He eventually perished after hitting a full toss to deep cover for 75 off 41.
Incredibly, the outfield demon Glenn Phillips dropped Rinku Singh over the boundary for four to bring up Rinku's fifty in 27 balls, leaving 32 needed off the final over. It was not to be a repeat of their win against Gujarat Titans, though, as Shardul Thakur sliced the first ball to Washington Sundar as SRH ultimately won by 23 runs; Rinku finished on 58 off 31.
Match 20 - Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals
There was again a solid start at the top for RCB but du Plessis eventually perished via a great one-handed catch by Aman Khan at midwicket for 22 off 16 as Bangalore got to 47-1 after the powerplay. Kohli brought up yet another IPL fifty in 33 balls with RCB 89-1 at halfway. Next ball, Kohli skied a full toss to deep midwicket, before Mahipal Lomror was shown to have nicked one behind after successful review and he was gone for 26 off 18.
Another successful caught behind review then came as Harshal Patel was dismissed for six. Maxwell then sliced one to David Warner on the off-side as another wicket fell with the Australian gone for 24 of 14. Next ball, Dinesh Karthik picked out deep midwicket as RCB lost three in three balls, before eventually ending 174-6.
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| Vijaykumar Vyshak impressed on his IPL debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore as his three wickets helped seal victory against Delhi Capitals [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
Some brilliant fielding from Anuj Rawat saw Prithvi Shaw's barren run continue as he was run out second ball. Mitchell Marsh then got a huge leading edge to sky one to Kohli at cover for a four-baller as Delhi sat 2-2 after 2.
Mohammed Siraj produced a beauty to remove Yash Dhull lbw for one, before Warner toed one to midwicket for 19 off 13 as the Capitals ended the powerplay 32-4. Abishek Porel then chipped a Harshal slower full toss up to mid-on for five, with Delhi wavering at 59-5 at halfway.
Axar showed promise of another good innings but he skied Vijaykumar Vyshak for 21 off 14. Manish Pandey was one of the few Delhi batters to show any sort of resistance as he brought up fifty in 37 balls, but he was out next ball as Wanindu Hasaranga claimed the lbw after a review. Vyshak (4-0-20-3) got his third after Lalit Yadav picked out Maxwell at long-off. Delhi ultimately ended 151-9 as RCB won by 23 runs, extending the Capitals' wait for their first points of the season.
Match 21 - Lucknow Super Giants vs Punjab Kings
A solid start for LSG saw them get to 49-0 after the powerplay. Shortly after, though, Kyle Mayers failed to clear deep square leg as he went for 29 from 23. Deepak Hooda's poor tournament continued as Sikandar Raza got him lbw for two as Lucknow reached 74-2 at halfway. KL Rahul finally got to his first fifty of the season in 40 balls, but Krunal Pandya was unable to get going and holed out to deep midwicket where Shahrukh casually took a great catch.
He then took another next ball as Pooran was gone first ball. Sam Curran successfully reviewed a caught behind with Marcus Stoinis departing for 15 with a feather off the glove. Arshdeep Singh then got Rahul caught at long-on for 74 off 56, before Curran (4-0-31-3) got a couple more in the final over as LSG finished on 159-8.
Atharva Taide's debut ended after three balls as he got a leading edge to third man off Yudhvir Singh. In his next over, he went straight through Prabhsimran Singh for four as Punjab began to falter early. The last ball of the powerplay saw Short out softly after he chipped one straight to mid-off for another good innings of 34 from 22 as Kings reached 45-3. Harpreet Bhatia then swung one out to deep backward square leg for run-a-ball 22.
Raza hit three consecutive sixes in the 13th, all out to deep midwicket, with Yudhvir only just failing to prevent the maximum on each occasion. The hundred then came up off the first ball of the 14th. Ravi Bishnoi was finally introduced in the 15th and got Curran for six with his third delivery. Raza got to his maiden IPL fifty in 34 balls, before Jitesh Sharma was unable to time one off Mark Wood and Rahul took a brilliant diving catch at mid-off with 38 needed from 25.
The big wicket fell with 21 needed from 14 as Raza swept Bishnoi out to Stoinis at deep backward square leg as his innings ended on 57 from 41. Shahrukh Khan and Harpreet Brar helped get the equation down to seven off eight before the latter nicked Wood behind as Punjab went eight down.
There was a rarity in the final over being bowled by a spinner as Bishnoi sought to defend the small target in the last six balls but Shahrukh went 2,2,4 to end 23 from ten as the Kings edged the win by two wickets with three balls to spare.
Match 22 - Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders
There was a five-baller for Jagadeesan as Hrithik Shokeen just about got his fingers under the ball to take the catch at cover. Gurbaz then sliced one off the bowling of Piyush Chawla to short third man for just eight off 12. KKR reached 57-2 after powerplay with Venkatesh going very well.
Another player was unable to get going as Nitish skied one to long-on for just five off ten. Venkatesh, though, was in another world and he got to fifty in 23 balls. Tilak Varma put down a tough chance to dismiss Venkatesh at deep midwicket but took a tricky low one next ball to remove Shardul Thakur for 13. Venkatesh's sublime one-man show saw him bring up his hundred in 49 balls - it was the first KKR hundred since Brendon McCullum's back in 2008.
He perished shortly after, though, following a reverse scoop to Duan Jansen at short third man. Rinku went for a run-a-ball 18 off the penultimate ball of the 19th as he failed to clear long-on. Russell ended 21 off 11, which was the second top score of the innings, as KKR got to 185-6; there was just 45 scored off the last five overs.
The Mumbai fifty came up in just 3.5 overs with an enormous six from Ishan Kishan as he moved to 38 in no time as 22 came off Narine's over. Rohit Sharma then chipped one to mid-off where Umesh Yadav took a good catch to dismiss the Mumbai captain for 20 from 13. Kishan got to his fifty in 23 balls, before he was bowled via his pads by Varun Chakaravarthy for 58 from 25.
Mumbai stormed to 110-2 at halfway, before Suyash (4-0-27-2) got Tilak to chop on for 30 off 25, though the equation was still simple at 39 needed from 37. Suryakumar Yadav found some form before feathering one behind for 43 from 25 with just ten needed.
KKR snuck another wicket after successfully reviewing for a caught behind for Nehal Wadhera. Tim David, though, finished 24 off 13 as Mumbai seal what turned out to be an easy victory by five wickets with 14 balls to spare.
Match 23 - Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals
There was an extraordinary dismissal in the first over as Wriddhiman Saha got an enormous leading edge straight up with three Royals players going for it including Shimron Hetmyer and 'keeper Samson. They all collided, with the ball bouncing out of Samson's gloves and popping up simply for Trent Boult to claim a caught & bowled as Saha went for four.
Another fairly strange dismissal followed as Sai Sudharsan departed for 20 from 19 after he was run out - Shubman Gill's shot was deflected off the bowler Adam Zampa and Sudharsan, at the non-striker's end, hesitated as a result as Buttler ran in from mid-on to launch a good throw into Samson to catch the left-hander short.
Gill and Hardik Pandya began to score quickly as GT reached 88-2 at halfway. Midway through the next over, Hardik skied one off Yuzvendra Chahal to cover as Yashasvi Jaiswal completed the catch as the skipper went for 28 off 19. Zampa then dropped a return catch chance offered by David Miller on six early on in the South African's innings.
Gill then picked out Buttler at long-off as he went having faced just 34 balls for his 45 out of 15.2 overs. Abhinav Manohar launched three sixes in his innings of 27 off 13 before slicing Zampa to point off the last ball of the 19th. Miller once again showed his quality at the back-end of an innings as his 46 off 30 helped the Titans to 177-7.
Early on in the reply, Jaiswal guided an outswinging ball from Hardik to Gill at first slip as he went for an uncomfortable-looking one from seven. Next over, Mohammad Shami got the big wicket of Buttler for a five-ball duck as he completely missed an attempted lap shot which left the off stump out of the ground and Royals 4-2 after three.
Gill dropped Devdutt Padikkal on 13 at slip after he slashed at a wide one from Shami, as Royals limped to 26-2 after the powerplay. Rashid Khan got the breakthrough with the wicket of Padikkal for 26 from 25 after he sliced one to short third man. Rajasthan were struggling at 53-3 after ten and things got worse when Rashid got his second in his next over as Riyan Parag failed to get past Miller at long-off.
With 100 needed off 7.3 overs, the Royals faced an uphill battle but captain Samson was still there and he got to a 29-ball fifty that sensationally included three consecutive sixes hit off Rashid. He hit another maximum to bring up the fifty partnership between him and Hetmyer in 25 balls to truly put Royals back in the running.
But, with 64 needed off 31, Samson finally failed to connect properly as he hit one to Miller running in from long-off off Noor Ahmed. 20 comes off the 16th, though, as the equation moved to 44 needed from four. After brilliantly striking a big six down the ground, Dhruv Jurel top edged one off Shami (4-0-25-3) down to fine leg for 18 with 17 required from ten.
Then, Ravichandran Ashwin smoked one through point for four first ball and then pulled the next for six over deep midwicket to boost the Royals' winning chances. He then guided one straight to Rahul Tewatia at backward point the ball after.
Noor was tasked with bowling the last with just seven needed. Hetmyer cut the first ball away for two to bring up a tremendous 25-ball fifty and then slapped the next ball over deep midwicket for six to produce a sensational finish as the Royals incredibly won by three wickets with four balls to spare.
Match 24 - Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings
Siraj produced another wicket in the powerplay as Ruturaj Gaikwad flicked one out to deep square leg where Parnell took the catch as he went for just three from six. It was 53-1 after the powerplay as Ajinkya Rahane continued his impressive form and aggression to reach 28 off 14, before Devon Conway took over the scoring. Hasaranga then went through Rahane for 37 from 20, before the fifty was up for Conway in 32 balls as CSK reached 97-2 at halfway.
The fifty partnership between Conway and Shivam Dube was up in 27 balls as Super Kings scorched along to 165-2 with five overs to go. Conway was then bowled by a slower ball yorker from Harshal for an excellent 83 off 45. Dube then hit another six to get to his fifty in 25 balls but was out two balls later as he found Siraj on the boundary. Ambati Rayudu then skied one to Karthik as Vyshak got somewhat of a consolation wicket after an expensive night; Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja helped CSK to 226-6.
Kohli was unfortunate to be out early in first over as Akash Singh got him to hit one into his foot and back onto his stumps. Maheesh Theekshana then dropped Lomror second ball but he then sliced one away off last ball of the second over to depart without scoring. RCB recovered very well, with the fifty partnership for the in 22 balls as Maxwell and mainly du Plessis helping Bangalore to 75-2 after the powerplay with some incredible strokeplay.
The hundred then came up in 8.2 overs with another maximum from Maxwell, before du Plessis brought up his fifty in 23 balls. Maxwell followed shortly with a 24-ball half-century, before he was put down by Theekshana on 61 off the Sri Lankan's own bowling. Maxwell duly struck the next ball for six. Maxwell eventually perished as he skied one off Theekshana for Dhoni to complete the catch as he went for 74 off 33 with 89 needed off 52.
Match 25 - Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Rohit got off to a good start before he got a leading edge to Markram at mid-on for 28 from 18 as T Natarajan claimed his first IPL wicket against Mumbai. MI got to 51-1 after the powerplay before a bit of a lull in the scoring as they reached 87-1 after 11. Next ball, Kishan failed to clear the infield properly as Markram took a great catch with Kishan gone for 38 from 31.
The Sunrisers skipper then snatched another stunner three balls later as Suryakumar chipped one to mid-off for seven, with Markram flying to take the catch to bring Jansen his second. Tilak provided some brilliant impetus before slicing one out to the cover boundary for 37 off 17. Cam Green brought up his maiden IPL fifty in 33 balls with the third of three consecutive boundaries before striking the next for six as 20 came off the 18th. The Australian ended 64 from 40 as Mumbai got to 192-5.
Brook played a couple of lovely shots before he skied Jason Behrendorff to Suryakumar at cover for nine off seven. In his next over, Behrendorff found the outside edge of Tripathi's bat as Kishan took the catch as Sunrisers got to 42-2 after the powerplay.
Markram then picked out deep midwicket for 22 off 17 as the fourth wicket came shortly after as Abhishek found long-off for one. SRH were in a spot of bother at 76-4 at halfway, with the hundred up in the 13th with 91 needed from 46.
Klaasen brought up the fifty partnership with a reverse sweep for six as 21 came off the first five balls of the 15th. However, the last ball of the over got the wicket of Klaasen for 36 off 16 as he holed out to David at long-on. The Australian then took another at long-on in the next over as Mayank fell short of a fifty for 48 off 41. Then, there was yet another catch to David at long-on as Jansen holed out for 13 with 44 off 20 needed.
With 33 needed off 14, Behrendorff bowled five wides to raise SRH hopes but next ball Sundar was lazily run out as David provided an impact once more with the direct hit; 19 still came off the 18th.
With 20 needed off the final over, Arjun Tendulkar was tasked with completing the win after Green conceded just three off the penultimate over. The key man Samad was run out coming back for the second as SRH hopes faded further and they ultimately ended 178 all out as Tendulkar claimed his first IPL wicket, with Mumbai winning by 14 runs.
Match 26 - Lucknow Super Giants vs Rajasthan Royals
Rahul was put down off Sandeep Sharma by Jaiswal on six and was dropped again on 12 after Jason Holder put one down running back from mid-off. Despite the drops, Rajasthan managed to limit LSG to 37-0 after the powerplay before Mayers and Rahul accelerated a bit to 79-0 at halfway. Four balls later, Rahul picked out long-on for 39 from 32 before Ayush Badoni went fourth ball after he missed a lap shot as Boult bowled him for one.
Mayers then got to fifty in 40 balls but Hooda failed again after he skied one out to deep midwicket for two off four. Ashwin then got his second in four balls, bowling Mayers for 51 off 42 with LSG 104-4 in the 14th. They were unable to get going and reached 129-4 with two to go. Sandeep then got Stoinis via a nick through to Samson for 21 off 16 before Samson brilliantly ran out Pooran for 29 off 20 off the penultimate delivery; LSG ended 154-7.
Royals got off to a solid start and were 47-0 after powerplay, with Jaiswal and Buttler continuing to reach 73-0 at halfway. Jaiswal then cut one straight to Avesh Khan at short third man for 44 off 35 as Lucknow finally made a breakthrough. A mix-up between Buttler and Samson then saw the latter run out for just two, before Buttler picked out deep midwicket for 40 off 41. Then, Hetmyer went next over after being caught at long-on for two with 56 still needed in 29 balls as the chase began to get away from the Royals.
With 26 needed from nine, Parag hit a six to bring the equation down considerably, but the match was all but sealed after Padikkal reached for a wide one from Avesh and got a nick through to Pooran for 26 off 21 to leave 14 needed off just three. Jurel then hit the next ball to Hooda who did well to hold his balance on the long-on boundary; LSG took the win by ten runs.
Match 27 - Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
It was yet another strong start from the RCB opening pair of du Plessis and Kohli. There was then yet another fifty brought up for du Plessis, this time in 31 balls. RCB got to 108-0 after 13, with Kohli bringing up his fifty in 40 balls at the end of the next over.
Jitesh spilled a high ball from du Plessis, but redeemed himself in the next over with a great take to remove Kohli for 59 off 46 and end the opening stand at 137 off the first ball of the 17th over. Next ball, Maxwell sliced one to cover where Atharva took the catch. Du Plessis' fine innings then ended after he could only pick out Curran at long-on for 84 off 56 as RCB finished on 174-4.
Atharva was dismissed second ball lbw for four via the bowling of Siraj after a successful review. Hasaranga got the wicket of Short for eight with his first ball, before another successful review for Siraj saw Livingstone out lbw for just two. More trouble followed for Punjab as brilliant work from Siraj s saw Bhatia well short as he was run out for 13 with Punjab ending the powerplay 49-4.
Another direct hit had Curran gone for ten off 12 following some poor running as Punjab lost half their team before the halfway point of the innings as they reached 77-5 after ten overs. Prabhsimran then lost his off stump as Parnell got the breakthrough with the opener gone for 46 off 30. The hundred was up after 12 overs via a big six down the ground from Shahrukh but Hasaranga had him stumped for seven next over.
With 32 needed off 19, Jitesh skied one to long-on but Kohli and Prabhdessai almost collided, leading to Kohli putting the chance down. Siraj (4-0-21-4) then went straight through Brar for 13 followed by Nathan Ellis off the last ball of the 18th to leave Punjab on the brink of defeat. The RCB win was completed after the last hope Jitesh toed one to point for a battling 41 off 27; RCB won by 24 runs despite ten balls still remaining.
Match 28 - Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders
On IPL debut, in-form Bangladesh batter Litton Das skied one straight to Lalit at midwicket for four, before Nortje (4-0-20-2) had Venkatesh caught at first slip second ball. Ishant Sharma got his first wicket of the season after Nitish failed to clear mid-on and fell for just four.
Jason Roy, making his first appearance of the season, was dropped on 24 by Marsh off his own bowling with KKR 49-3 after eight. Mandeep Singh then got a bit too clever as he missed an attempted lap off Axar (3-0-13-2) and departed for 12 off 11.
Two balls after the midway point, KKR fell to 64-5 after Rinku could only pick out deep square leg for six, before Narine then went for four after he pulled Ishant (4-0-19-2) to Warner at deep midwicket. Roy's innings ended on 43 off 39 after top edging a slog sweep off Kuldeep to deep square leg.
Kuldeep (3-0-15-2) then removed Impact player Anukul Roy first ball after he was adjudged lbw. The ninth wicket then fell as Nortje's pace was too much for Umesh as he mistimed one straight back to the South African. Russell hit three consecutive sixes during the last over to finish 38 off 31 with KKR falling to 127 all out.
In response, Prithvi chopped on for 13 off 11 as Chakaravarthy got the breakthrough. Marsh again failed, picking out long-off for just two from nine as part-timer Nitish picked up a wicket. Phil Salt then offered return catch for Anukul for five off three as Delhi made their way to 73-3 at halfway.
Two balls later. Warner brought up another fifty in 33 balls but was then dismissed lbw by Chakaravarthy for 57 from 41. To make winless Delhi slightly more nervous, another wicket fell after Pandey was caught at long-on with Anukul (4-0-19-2) picking up a second with 18 needed from four overs.
Nitish then got his second after he went right through Aman as Delhi found themselves six down. Lalit then survived a missed stumping with 14 required from 17 before the Capitals got the equation down to seven needed off final over.
Two twos, with the second being a no-ball, set the equation to two off five and Axar duly sealed the win via the free hit. He finished on 19 from 22 as Delhi took their first win of the season at the sixth attempt by four wickets with four balls to spare.
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