An unbeaten 116-run opening wicket stand between Quinton de Kock and Ishan Kishan guided Mumbai Indians to a massive 10-wicket win against Chennai Super Kings in the 41st match of the Indian Premier League match in Sharjah on October 23.

After restricting Chennai to 114 for nine in 20 overs, Mumbai openers Quinton de Kock (46 runs off 37 balls) and Ishan Kishan (68 off 37) reached the target easily.

Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to field first. They were led by Kieron Pollard in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who is injured.

Man of the Match Trent Boult (4-18), pacer Jasprit Bumrah (2-25) and leg-spinner Rahul Chahar wreaked havoc with their excellent spells. Rahul Chahar got CSK skipper MS Dhoni (16) and then Deepak Chahar (0) out in quick succession. Chennai were down to 3/4 in less than three overs and 24/5 in six overs. They had only Sam Curran’s knock of 52 (47 balls) to bank on.

Mumbai are now at the top of the table with 14 points; Chennai’s chances of making it to the playoffs seem low.

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After winning the toss, RCB elected to bat and put up a challenging 169 for four wickets against a stiff Chennai attack. Though skipper Kohli shone throughout, Devdutt Padikkal (33 off 34 balls) and Shivam Dube (22* off 14 balls) also presented good batting.

Chasing 170 for a win, the three-time champions ended at 132 for eight after 20 overs. Ambati Rayudu top scored with 42. Rayudu’s 64-run third wicket partnership with Narayan Jagadeesan (33) gave hope of a good chase but once they departed, the rest of the batting crumbled under the pressure. Dhoni, who has not been playing his best game, went out for 10.

RCB bowling attack has been largely steered by Yuzvendra Chahal (1/35) and Washington Sundar (2/16). Newcomer Chris Morris, who finished with 3/19, provided valuable support this time.
CSK has now lost five out of seven matches. CSK captain Dhoni admitted batting has become his team’s major worry in the IPL campaign, and there are “too many holes in the ship”. CSK has been dependent on openers Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis or Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja, who cannot be expected to successfully anchor every chase in a long tournament.

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In Match 16 played at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on October 3, Prithvi Shaw and captain Shreyas Iyer helped Delhi Capitals move up the Indian Premier League table with an 18-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders.

Shaw (66 off 41 balls) and Iyer (88 not out from 38 balls) followed by Rishabh Pant (38 off 17 balls) helped DC register 228-4, which is the highest total of this IPL season. Kolkata could reach only 210-8, even though Eoin Morgan (44) and Rahul Tripathi (36) tried to provide a lifeline with their quickfire shots.

However, South African fast-bowler Anrich Nortje (3-33) saved the match for DC. Now Capitals have won three of four matches it has played while Kolkata has won two of four games.

Iyer, who smashed six sixes and seven fours was adjudged Player of the Match. Together with Pant, he accumulated 77 runs in the final five overs. Delhi had three half-century partnerships in the start of their innings.

The Knight Riders lost Nitish Rana (58) and captain Dinesh Karthik in successive balls of Harshal Patel (2/34) in the 13th over.

England limited overs’ cricket captain Eoin Morgan’s rapid-fire 44 off 18 deliveries raised hopes, but Nortje felled him.

Opener Sunil Narine (3) was another casualty to Nortje’s bowling. Unfortunately, Narine has made only 27 runs in all four innings at the tournament.

South African paceman Kagiso Rabada got the wicket of Andre Russell who was out for 13. Rabada is the highest wicket-taker in this IPL season with eight scalps along with Mohammed Shami of Kings XI Punjab and Yuzvendra Chahal of Royal Challengers Bangalore.

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BCCI made the decision while waiting for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to make an official decision on the fate of the T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in Australia.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah informed the members at the virtual Apex Council meeting held on July 17.

Once the ICC makes an official announcement about the fate of the T20 World Cup, the BCCI will approach the Indian government to check if they can host IPL in India. If the situation in the country regarding the pandemic remains unconducive, there are chances that IPL will shift to the UAE.

The franchise official said that they have already started preparing for the logistics and have zeroed in on the hotel they wish to stay at in AbuDhabi and how exactly they will train and prepare for the tournament.

Indian cricketers, who have not played since March due to the covid-19 pandemic, could well resume their training in Dubai, the likelihood of which will increase significantly if the UAE gets to host the IPL.

As India crossed the million mark covid-19 cases, the UAE has emerged as the top contender to host the event due to their efficient handling of the coronavirus infection. Besides UAE have the prior experience of hosting the IPL in 2014.

Camp in Ahmedabad

The world’s biggest cricket stadium at Motera in Ahmedabad couldn’t host its first game due to covid-19, but chances are India will hold a cricket camp there before the series in Australia.

The stadium has quality accommodation inside its premises where players can stay. They can also be quarantined, if needed, and contracted players can experience open spaces for a return to groove after an extended period away from cricket.

No domestic cricket

The board also informed its Apex Council that no domestic cricket would be held until December. The board took the decision owing to the current pandemic situation. Not just domestic, but no international games are likely to be played at home this year.

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