How else do you celebrate your captain's birthday but by dragging your team from almost certain defeat to victory, as Mumbai did on Sunday night at the Wankhede, to celebrate Rohit Sharma's 30th birthday. Suryakumar Yadav and Tim David made sure the home team picked up the two points from the win, scoring 55 and 45 in the chase after Rajasthan posted 212/7 following Yashavi Jaiswal's century. Jaiswal smashed the season's highest individual score of 124, but Mumbai followed that up by successfull...
Apr 30, 2023•14 min•Season 2Ep. 42
Shikhar Dhawan's Punjab pulled off the highest successful run chase against Chennai at Chepauk, chasing down their 200/4 in a last-ball finish on Sunday evening. Devon Conway once again starred for Chennai with the bat as the New Zealand opener carried his bat to score 92 off 52, while Ruturaj Gaikwad made 37, Shivam Dube contributed with 28 and Dhoni hit sixes off the last two deliveries to help the home team post 200/4. Arshdeep, Sam Curran, Rahul Chahar and Sikandar Raza took a wicket each. P...
Apr 30, 2023•10 min•Season 2Ep. 41
Gujarat served a masterclass in chasing on Saturday evening at the Eden Gardens, beating Kolkata by 7 wickets. From needing 69 from 36 balls at one stage of the chase, to finishing the game with 13 balls to spare - Gujarat's middle order delivered to help the team move up to the top spot in the league standings, with 12 points. Kolkata were put into bat first by Hardik Pandya after he won the toss and the team posted 179/7 at the Eden Gardens. Jagadeesan and Shardul Thakur were out early as Kolk...
Apr 29, 2023•10 min•Season 2Ep. 39
Lucknow got the better of Punjab in match 38 of the Indian T20 League, in a rather emphatic batter. After being put to bat first, KL Rahul’s team scored 257/5, and became just the second team after Bangalore to score 250 or more in this competition. Kyle Mayers and Marcus Stoinis scored half-centuries for them. In response, Punjab were bowled out for 201, with Yash Thakur picking up a four-wicket haul, and Naveen-ul-Haq supporting him with three wickets. Among the four highest scores in this com...
Apr 28, 2023•15 min•Season 2Ep. 38
Chennai were on a three-game winning streak, and Rajasthan had lost their last couple of games before coming into Thursday's (27 April) fixture, but contrary to the popular prediction, Rajasthan emerged victorious at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Rajasthan batted first and scored 202 runs – a tournament record highest in Jaipur. In response, Chennai could only score 170 runs, with Sanju Samson's team recording a 32-run triumph. Chennai struggled with the bat right from the start, with Ru...
Apr 27, 2023•15 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Kolkata are back in the game! Nitish Rana’s team have ended their four match losing streak with a 21-run victory over Virat Kohli’s Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday night. After being put into bat first, Kolkata posted 200/5. Jason Roy gave the team another solid start, scoring his second straight half century as he and Jagadeesan added 83 runs for the first wicket before Vijaykumar Vyshak sent back both openers in the 10th over, with the score reading 88/2. Skipper...
Apr 26, 2023•15 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Hardik Pandya's Gujarat looked like the defending champions they are as they were all class in the big 55 run victory over Mumbai in Tuesday's match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma put Gujarat in to bat and the bowlers made some early inroads- Wriddhiman Saha out in the third over to Arjun Tendulkar and then Hardik Pandya too got out in the 7th over as Gujarat were 50/2 after 6.1. Shubman Gill though entertained his home crown with a solid 56 which was foll...
Apr 25, 2023•13 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Delhi have picked up their second points of the season, beating Hyderabad by 7 runs in another last-ball finish, on Monday night in Hyderabad. David Warner, returning to the ground he called home for many years, won the toss and elected to bat first but that wasn't the only big call he made. Prithvi Shaw was left out of the playing XI for the first time this season, with Sarfaraz Khan replacing him. Pushed up to open, Phil Salt didn't do much as he was out first ball. Mitch Marsh batted at 3 and...
Apr 24, 2023•10 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Chennai registered their third victory on the bounce, courtesy of a a comprehensive 49-run win over Kolkata at the Eden Gardens. The home team's skipper, Nitish Rana might regret asking Chennai to bat first as they scored 235 runs – the highest of this season. Devon Conway, Shivam Dube and Ajinkya Rahane all scored fifties. In response, Kolkata could only score 186 runs. Jason Roy and Rinku Singh scored half-centuries for them, but barring that, none of the other batters could offer any fight. R...
Apr 23, 2023•15 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Another last ball thriller in the Indian T20 League and this time Bangalore, finished on top, beating table-toppers Rajasthan by 7 runs for their fourth win of the season. Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bowl first, announcing that the team had dropped Riyan Parag for the first time this season. As Virat faced the first ball, Trent Boult trapped him lbw and one over later, he sent Shahbaz Ahmed packing as Bangalore were in trouble at 12/2 in 2.1 overs. However, after t...
Apr 23, 2023•11 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Another last-over thriller but this game between Mumbai and Punjab lived true to that 'thriller' description with Sam Curran's Punjab collecting the two points from the win, with a 13 run victory. Mumbai had Jofra Archer return as Rohit Sharma elected to field after winning the toss. Arjun Tendulkar started the innings by bowling a tight first over, conceding just 5, before Cameron Green sent back Matthew Short in the third over. Piyush Chawla bowled a double wicket 10th over, sending back Liam ...
Apr 22, 2023•11 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Hardik Pandya's Gujarat are now tied with three other teams on 8 points as the Indian T20 League nears the half-way mark. On Saturday, playing in Lucknow, Gujarat pulled off a last-ball victory that Lucknow dominated for over 80 percent of the game. Hardik won the toss and for the second time this season, elected to bat first. Wriddhiman Saha and the captain got among the runs, scoring 47 and 66 but the rest of the batting order didn't get going. Shubman Gill was out on a duck in the second over...
Apr 22, 2023•10 min•Season 2Ep. 30
MS Dhoni's Chennai now are tied with Rajasthan and Lucknow at 8 points in the league standings, following their 7 wicket victory over Hyderabad in Friday’s fixture at their home ground. After winning the toss, Dhoni elected to chase and Harry Brook was the first wicket to fall - out on 18 in the 5th over. Abhishek Sharma, given the opening slot, top scored with 34 as the rest of the batting order just about chipped in a few runs. Mayank Agarwal was moved to number 6 in the order from his opening...
Apr 21, 2023•12 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Five defeats to start the 2023 season and Delhi finally managed to open their account on Thursday night, with a 4 wicket win over Kolkata in New Delhi. The manner in which the match was won though would leave many refusing to address any 'resurgence' questions regarding the franchise. Delhi started the match very strong, taking control in the second over itself, sending back Litton Das on 4. Venkatesh Iyer, centurion from the last game, got out on a duck to Anrich Nortje while Jason Roy, making ...
Apr 20, 2023•11 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Virat Kohli returned as Bangalore’s captain, just for the game, and the team marked the occasion with their third win of the season, beating Punjab in Mohali by 24 runs in Thursday’s evening fixture. Bangalore were put in to bat first by Sam Curran and there was a mammoth 137-run opening stand by Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli. Virat and then Maxwell though both fell in the 17th over but Faf continued on, eventually getting out on 84 off 56. Only 44 runs were made in the final 5 overs, despite t...
Apr 20, 2023•10 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Lucknow and Rajasthan now both have 10 points from their six outings this season with KL Rahul's team beating Rajasthan in Jaipur by 10 runs on Wednesday night. Returning to Jaipur for the first time in three years, Sanju Samson won the toss and, unsurprisingly, put Lucknow in to bat. The start was slow but openers KL Rahul and Kyle Mayers made 79 by the end of 10 overs before KL got out on 39. Mayers went on to score a half-century and 20-plus scores late in the game from Marcus Stoinis and Nic...
Apr 19, 2023•10 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Mumbai have recorded their third straight victory of the season with a 14 run victory over Hyderabad in Match 23 on Tuesday night in Hyderabad. Home skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and put Mumbai in to bat first. Rohit Sharma made 28, Ishan Kishan added another 38 but it was Cameron Green who came good for his team on the day - making 64 off 40 to help Mumbai post 192/5. In the chase, Mayank Agarwal managed his highest score of this season so far, making 48 off 41 while Harry Brook got out on...
Apr 18, 2023•10 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Chennai held on to their nerves to secure a hard-fought eight-run victory, in what was a high-scoring encounter against Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. After being asked to bat first in match 24 of the competition, they scored 226 runs, with both Devon Conway and Shivam Dube registering half-centuries. It was the second consecutive half-century for Conway, whilst he also scored 47 runs against Lucknow. What stood out in today’s knock is his repertoire of shots – as the Kiwi pulled off a ...
Apr 17, 2023•13 min•Season 2Ep. 24
Rajasthan picked up their fourth victory of the season, courtesy of a three-wicket win in what was a humdinger against Gujarat, in match 23 at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Batting first after losing the toss, Gujarat scored 177 runs. In response, Rajasthan chased the total down in the last over. Hetmyer was the star with a 56-run knock. For Gujarat, Shubman Gill provided a good start with a 45-run knock, before it was time for David Miller and Abhinav Manohar to call the shots. The pair scored 23 ...
Apr 16, 2023•14 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Mumbai, captained by Suryakumar Yadav, picked up their second victory of the 2023 season with a 5-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in Sunday's evening fixture at the Wankhede Stadium. With Rohit Sharma nursing a stomach bug, Suryakumar was handed the captaincy duties and he elected to put Kolkata in to bat first. In 5.3 overs, the visitors' score was 57/2 with both openers out but then, number three bat Venkatesh Iyer took charge, scoring 104 at a strike rate of over 200 as Kolkata posted 1...
Apr 16, 2023•9 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Punjab Kings have moved to the top half of the league standings with the help of a 2-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants in Saturday's evening fixture. After winning the toss, stand-in Punjab skipper Sam Curran put Lucknow into bat first and captain KL Rahul top-scored for the team with 74, which was also his first half-century of the season. Kyle Mayers was the second-highest scorer with 29 as Sam Curran picked 3/31 and Rabada 2/34. Lucknow were restricted to 159/8. Punjab had a new opener...
Apr 15, 2023•10 min•Season 2Ep. 21
David Warner's Delhi continue to remain winless as Bangalore have beaten them by 23 runs to hand them their fifth straight loss of the season. After being put into bat first, Bangalore opener Virat Kohli scored his third half century in four matches this season. He and Faf du Plessis gave the team a strong start, scoring 42 in 4.3 overs, before Faf fell to Mitch March on 22. Virat smashed Mustafizur for 19 runs in the 10th over before losing his wicket to Lalit Yadav in the next over, on 50. Gle...
Apr 15, 2023•9 min•Season 2Ep. 20
We finally welcomed the arrival of Harry Brook to the Indian T20 League! So much was riding on the English 24-year-old with Hyderabad breaking the bank to add him to their line-up during December's auction, and it took him a few matches to get used to the Indian conditions. But on Friday, against Kolkata, at the Eden Gardens, Brook was absolute class as she scored an unbeaten 100 to help Hyderabad post the season's highest total - 228/4. Kolkata's chase was dealt an early setback with Bhuvi pick...
Apr 14, 2023•11 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Gujarat were involved in yet another last-over thriller, except this time, they were on the winning side. Hardik Pandya’s team defeated Punjab by 6 wickets in match 18, at the IS Bindra Stadium. Punjab were asked to bat first and they could only score 153. Matthew Short top-scored with 36. In response, Gujarat got over the line in only the penultimate delivery of the game. Shubman Gill scored another half-century. Punjab had a difficult time with the bat, except Matthew Short, who scored 36 runs...
Apr 13, 2023•13 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Yet another last-ball thriller to decide the outcome of a match and on Wednesday night, it was MS Dhoni's Chennai that finished on the wrong end of the result, losing to Rajasthan by 3 runs at the Chepauk. Playing his 200th match as Chennai captain, MS Dhoni won the toss and put Rajasthan in to bat. Jos Buttler once again top-scored for the team with 52 and Devdutt Padikkal added another 38 to help the team post 175/8. Ravindra Jadeja finished with 2/21. Chennai’s chase saw Devon Convoy top scor...
Apr 12, 2023•11 min•Season 2Ep. 17
It was a match between the two bottom-ranked teams and Mumbai managed to defeat Delhi to pick up their first points of the season, on Tuesday night in Delhi. David Warner's Delhi now are the only team to yet win a game this season, following four defeats. Earlier today, Rohit Sharma won the toss and put Delhi in to bat first and there were contrasting half-centuries by their two top scorers as opener David Warner’s fifty came off 43 deliveries while Axar Patel made his in 25 balls. The pair’s si...
Apr 11, 2023•10 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Lucknow have pulled off a complete heist in Game 15 of the 2023 season against Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday night. The two points from the match were headed Bangalore’s way for about 70 percent of the game, till Nicolas Pooran entered the pitch and smashed his 19-ball 62. After his wicket, Lucknow inched closer to the target but the match seemed to be headed for a Super Over, before Avesh Khan and Ravi Bishnoi managed to steal a run off the last delivery. From needing 122 from ...
Apr 10, 2023•12 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Hyderabad have finally moved out of the bottom of the standings, with an 8 win over Punjab at home in Sunday's night fixture. Aiden Markram won the toss and elected to chase, and Punjab’s innings was all about their captain Shikhar Dhawan who carried his bat to finish one run short of a century. Apart from him, only Sam Curran scored in double figures, making 22, as Punjab posted 143/9. Interestingly, their ninth wicket partnership between Shikhar and Mohit Rathee was also the team’s most produc...
Apr 09, 2023•12 min•Season 2Ep. 14
In an extraordinary game of cricket, Kolkata defeated Gujarat by 3 wickets in match 13, with Rinku Singh going gung-ho in the last over and hitting five consecutive sixes. Deputizing for an unwell Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan won the toss and opted to bat first. They scored 204 runs, with Sai Sudharsan and Vijay Shankar scoring half-centuries. Sai Sudharsan did show glimpses of brilliance last season but is playing with more maturity this time around. Second consecutive half-century for him, as he...
Apr 09, 2023•10 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Mumbai have been handed their second straight defeat of the season, by Chennai, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai that saw a sea of yellow turn out to cheer for MS Dhoni. Chennai have moved to the fourth spot in the standings with the 7-wicket victory that saw Ajinkya Rahane scoring the season’s fastest half-century - off 19 deliveries. MS Dhoni had won the toss and elected to chase and Rohit Sharma made a solid start, hitting a few boundaries to start Mumbai's innings before Tushar Deshpande go...
Apr 08, 2023•9 min•Season 2Ep. 12
