Delhi Capital’s aggressive batting resulted in a 17-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad. With this, Delhi has entered the IPL final for the first time.

Man of the match Marcus Stoinis’ all-round performance (38 off 27 balls and 3/26) fashioned Delhi’s win to a large extent.

Delhi won the toss and opted to bat first. Openers Stoinis and Shikhar Dhawan (78 off 50) posted an 86-run first-wicket stand in 8.2 overs. Shimron Hetmyer (42 off 22) provided the finishing touches to make a total of 189/3 in 20 overs. Hyderabad’s fielding was sloppy and cost it runs.

Chasing 190, Hyderabad lost early wickets. Captain David Warner’s wicket fell in the second over. Kane Williamson (67 off 45) provided the lone support. SRH was restricted to 172 for 8 as Kagiso Rabada claimed 4 scalps for 29 and Stoinis three, including the wicket of Williamson.

The final will be played in Dubai at 6 pm on November 10.

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Sunrisers Hyderabad posted a six-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the eliminator of the Indian Premier League 2020 in Abu Dhabi on November 6. Kane Williamson (50* off 44 balls) and Jason Holder (24 off 20) steered Hyderabad to victory with two balls to spare. Holder also made three-wicket haul that helped restrict Bangalore to 131/7.

While RCB has been knocked out of the league, Hyderabad will now face Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 on November 8. The winners will clash with Mumbai Indians in the final on November 10.

Earlier, SRH won the toss and put RCB to bat. RCB had a bad start against the SRH bowling attack. Jason Holder (3/25) and T Natarajan (2/33) bagged the wickets. Devdutt Padikkal (1) and RCB skipper Virat Kohli (6) fell to Holder’s attack. Aaron Finch’s 32 off 30 balls and AB de Villiers’ 56 off 43 balls gave RCB a respectable score.

Hyderabad had a shaky start and were 67/4 at one point. New Zealand skipper Williamson and West Indies’ captain Holder played a 65-run partnership for the fifth wicket to save SRH from the brink of defeat. Kane Williamson was declared man of the match.

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Defending champions Mumbai Indians registered a 57-run win against Delhi Capitals in the first qualifier to storm into the final of Indian Premier League 2020 at Dubai International Stadium on November 5.

Earlier, after being sent into bat, Mumbai posted 200/5 helped by an unbeaten 60-run partnership by Ishan Kishan (55 off 30 balls) and Hardik Pandya (37 off 14).

In reply, Delhi could make only 143 for 8 with Jasprit Bumrah (4/14) registering his best bowling in T20 cricket. Bumrah was adjudged man of the match. He also has the Purple Cap for the maximum wickets (27 wickets).

Trent Boult (2/9), Krunal Pandya (1/22) and Kieron Pollard (1/36) were the other wicket takers.

Delhi had a disastrous start losing three wickets for nought by the second over – of openers Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane. A valiant partnership between Marcus Stoinis (65) and Axar Patel (42) eventually helped Delhi reach a respectable 143 /8.

Delhi will now clash on November 8 with the winners of the Eliminator round between Bangalore and Hyderabad. The winner of that match will go into the final.

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Ishan Kishan’s unbeaten 72 (47 balls) helped give Mumbai Indians a comfortable nine-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals, in the in the 51st match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on October 30. Delhi badly needed a win to ensure their last-four spot in IPL 2020.

Chasing a target of 111, Kishan and Quinton de Kock put together 68 for the first wicket. Anrich Nortje (1/25) removed de Kock in the 11th over. Man of the match Ishan guided MI to victory with 34 balls to spare.

Put into bat earlier, Shreyas Iyer-led Delhi were restricted to 110 for 9 in 20 overs with Trent Boult (3-21) and Jasprit Bumrah (3-17) wreaking havoc on the DC batting lineup. Boult claimed the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan (0), Prithvi Shaw (10) and Ravichandran Ashwin (12). Bumrah got the Purple Cap after claiming the wickets of Rishabh Pant (21), Marcus Stoinis (2) and Harshal Patel (5). Nathan Coulter-Nile (1/14) and Rahul Chahar (1/24) took a wicket each.

It is Delhi’s fourth straight loss, but they can still grab a playoff spot if they beat Royals Challengers Bangalore in their last game.

Sunrisers seal a five-wicket win over RCB

Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers helped gain a five-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the evening match of the day. The win took them to fourth spot in the table.

West Indies Test captain Jason Holder’s three sixes gave SRH the edge as they chased the modest target of 121. Holder also took 2/27 from his four overs.

After Sunrisers lost captain David Warner to Washington Sundar cheaply, Wriddhiman Saha and Manish Pandey put a 50-plus partnership for the second wicket. The fall of Saha (to Yuzvendra Chahal’s bowling) and Kane Williamson to Isuru Udana put SRH under some pressure.

Earlier, Sandeep Sharma took the wickets of Devdutt Padikkal and the in-form Virat Kohli cheaply. It was the seventh time in IPL that Sharma picked up Kohli’s wicket. Young Josh Philippe was the highest scorer for his team with 32 off 31 balls. Rashid Khan picked up his first wicket getting Josh Philippe out, soon after AB de Villiers fell to Shahbaz Nadeem.

Rashid was economic as usual with figures of 4-0-24-1, while Sandeep and Jason Holder claimed two wickets apiece.

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Delhi Capitals had an impressive 13-run win over Rajasthan Royals at the Indian Premier League match in Dubai on October 14, which has now taken the former to the top of the points table with 12 points from eight matches.

Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bat first. Jofra Archer’s brilliant bowling (3/19) ensured Delhi could manage only 161 for 7. Shikhar Dhawan (57 off 33 balls) and Shreyas Iyer (53 off 43) had an 85-run stand that helped build the DC innings.

The Delhi total seemed within Rajasthan’s reach as Jos Buttler (22 runs off 9 balls) and Ben Stokes (41 off 35) shared a 37-run first wicket partnership. Stokes was later assisted by Sanju Samson (25 off 18), but after their wickets fell, RR had a tougher task ahead.

Delhi bowlers showed their class in defending the modest total. Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Norje, and Tushar Deshpande held their nerves and played brilliantly giving away only 25 runs in the last five overs. In fact, RR lost a match from a winning position.

South African fast bowler Anrich Nortje, who won the Man of the Match award, has been a valuable addition for DC. He has picked 10 wickets from six matches so far. In match 30, Nortje created an IPL record when he bowled the fastest ball ever, at 156.2 km/hr, in the tournament’s history. He broke his own record off 155.21 km/hr. Nortje’s record fastest delivery sent back Royals opener Jos Buttler for 22.

But on being asked about his record-breaking delivery, Nortje was surprised and said that he was “hearing it for the first time”.

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Mumbai Indians registered a five-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals in Abu Dhabi on October 11 in the 27th match of the IPL season.

Chasing a 163-run target set by DC, Quinton de Kock (53 runs off 36 balls, 4×4, 3×6), Suryakumar Yadav (53 off 32) and Ishan Kishan (28 off 15) achieved the goal easily. Man of the match Quinton de Kock’s powerful shots gave MI a fine start. He also reached his second half century in IPL 2020. Yadav also hit his second fifty in a row.

Despite the Delhi bowling being helped by Ravichandran Ashwin and Kagiso Rabada taking key wickets, the target seemed like too little for the reigning champions who knocked off the last seven runs with two balls left.

Delhi won the toss and elected to bat, but the early dismissals of Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane was a setback. Skipper Shreyas Iyer took 42 off 33) had an 85-run third wicket stand with Shikhar Dhawan (69 off 52) to reach 162/4 in 20 overs.

MI’s solid batting line-up took them to 166/5 in 19.4 overs. MI has now replaced DC at the top of the table owing to better net run rate.

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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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Finally, Sunrisers Hyderabad had their first win in the T20 IPL season in the UAE. SRH won by 15 runs in the match in Abu Dhabi against Delhi Capitals, which ironically had its first loss this season.

Tabletoppers DC, which won the toss, had elected to bowl. Jonny Bairstow (53), David Warner (45) and Kane Williamson (41) put in good displays with the bat for SRH while debutant Abdul Samad (12 not out) opened his batting account in the IPL. Kagiso Rabada and Amit Mishra took two wickets each for DC.

After SRH set a target of 162, DC could only cobble up 147 in 20 overs. Wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant’s batting prowess (28 off 27) came too late for DC. SRH deserved the win as they were better in both bowling and batting departments.

For Sunrisers, Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar shone with the ball. Rashid won the Player of the Match for his brilliant 3/14 while Kumar bagged 2/25.

For SRH skipper David Warner, leading an IPL side for the 50th time, the day turned lucky.

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On-field umpire Nitin Menon had called a one-short when Chris Jordan and Mayank Agarwal ran two in the penultimate over of a tense chase, before replays emerged that Jordan had in fact made it to the crease.

The game eventually went into a Super Over where Delhi Capitals won.

Kings XI co-owner Preity Zinta seemed furious with the decision and the Bollywood actress took to Twitter to share her insights on the incident. In her tweet, Zinta called out to BCCI asking the board to implement new rules in the sport, so these errors are avoided in the near future.

“I travelled enthusiastically during a pandemic,did 6 days of Quarantine & 5covid tests with a smile but that one Short Run hit me hard. What’s the point of technology if it cannot be used? It’s time @BCCI introduces new rules. This cannot happen every year,” she wrote in a tweet.

I travelled enthusiastically during a pandemic,did 6 days of Quarantine & 5covid tests with a smile but that one Short Run hit me hard. What’s the point of technology if it cannot be used? It’s time @BCCI introduces new rules.This cannot happen every year. #DCvKXIP @lionsdenkxip https://t.co/uNMXFJYfpe

— Preity G Zinta (@realpreityzinta) September 21, 2020

Preity was reacting to Virender Sehwag’s tweet which said that the umpire should have been awarded the Man of the Match for his short-run decision. Sehwag’s former teammates Irfan Pathan and Aakash Chopra also shared similar opinion regarding the decision.

She then went on to stress that she’s moving on from the past and remaining positive.

“I’ve always believed in being graceful in a win or loss & in the spirit of the game but it’s also important to ask for policy changes that improve the game in the future for everyone. The past has happened and it’s imp to move on. So Looking ahead & being positive as always.”

I’ve always believed in being graceful in a win or loss & in the spirit of the game but it’s also important to ask for policy changes that improve the game in the future for everyone. The past has happened and it’s imp to move on. So Looking ahead & being positive as always 👍

— Preity G Zinta (@realpreityzinta) September 21, 2020

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In the second match of IPL 2020 at the Dubai Cricket Stadium, Delhi Capitals pulled off a convincing win over Kings XI Punjab in the Super Over after the match went into a tie. DC won the cliffhanger by 2 wickets with four balls remaining.

Both teams had scored 157 each in the stipulated 20 overs, taking the match towards a Super Over – an additional over of 6 balls each to determine the winner in case of a tie.

Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis was adjudged Man of the Match for his scintillating 53 off 21 balls. He also claimed 2 wickets yielding 29 runs.

Earlier in the day, KXIP, led by their new captain KL Rahul, won the toss and sent DC, captained by Shreyas Iyer, to bat.

For Kings XI, Mayank Agarwal scored 89 off 60 balls. After opening the KXIP innings with KL Rahul, Mayank was finally dismissed in the final over by Marcus Stoinis.

Delhi Capitals spinner Ravichandran Ashwin wreaked havoc on the Punjab middle-order by dismissing Nair and Pooran in the sixth over of the innings with two beautiful deliveries. But the joy was short-lived as Ashwin hurt his right shoulder while trying to field off his final ball, raising doubts about his fitness for the rest of the tournament. DC Fast-bowler Mohammed Shami claimed 3 for 15.

South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada dismissed Kings XI Punjab skipper KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran in the Super Over, giving the Delhi Capitals a target of three runs off six balls. Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer achieved the formalities for Delhi Capitals giving it a winning start.

Fantasy cricket league platform Dream11 is the title sponsor for IPL 2020, after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Chinese smartphone-makers Vivo suspended their contract for this year.

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