The run-rate in the PowerPlay is at an all-time high of 8.57, well clear of the previous peak of 8.39 of the 2018 edition. This is just the fourth time the run-rate has been in excess of eight in the PowerPlay since the 2008 season and the first since 2019.

As many as 152 sixes have been hit in the first six overs in IPL 2023, at a frequency of 3.30 per match, second to only the 2018 edition (3.75 sixes per match). With the added cushion of an extra batter, courtesy the Impact Player rule, in all probability, teams have been less risk-averse from the get-go. As a result, the average runs scored per wicket in 2023 (34.68) is the second lowest in the last five seasons played in the home and away format.

However, despite IPL 2023 being a pacesetter in terms of scoring rates across T20 tournaments, teams have found success in the PowerPlay to varying degrees.  All numbers are up to date till the SRH vs KKR game on May 4.

Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma’s travails with the bat belie the fact that Mumbai Indians enjoys the fourth best PowerPlay run-rate (8.85) in the tournament. Ishan Kishan – with 195 runs at a strike rate of 144.44 – has been the chief contributor for Mumbai in the PowerPlay while Rohit’s approach to take the bowlers on from the word go hasn’t reaped dividends. He has been dismissed seven times in nine innings in the first six overs, while averaging 19.71 and striking at 131.42. Against the backdrop of the Rohit-Kishan opening partnership blowing hot and cold, Cameron Green has stepped up in the No. 3 role. The Aussie all-rounder has averaged 52 in the PowerPlay, and his strike rate of 148.57 has ensured Mumbai doesn’t lag too far behind in maximising the field restrictions.

Punjab Kings

Like Mumbai Indians, Punjab has struck at an identical run-rate of 8.85 in the PowerPlay and has been plagued by a similarly inconsistent opening pair. Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh have cruised at a healthy run-rate of 9.50 as an opening pair, have two partnerships of over 50 but average 25.57. With a strike rate of 152.33, Prabhsimran has been the aggressor while Dhawan has been an accumulator at 135.80. In the absence of Dhawan, who missed three games due to injury, Atharva Taide and Matthew Short have lent able support at No. 3. Short has steadied the innings after the fall of an early wicket on three occasions while striking at 137.17 in the PowerPlay while Taide boasts of a strike rate of 171.42 in the limited opportunities he has got at one-drop.

Rajasthan Royals

The Sanju Samson-led RR leads the charge when it comes to maximising the field restrictions with the highest run-rate (9.55) in the PowerPlay. What is commendable is that it has managed to keep the tempo up while losing just eight wickets (second least during this phase) in the first six overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal has been the key architect for the Royals during this phase, striking at 165.69, while his opening partner Jos Buttler has played second fiddle at a strike rate of 144.24. Jaiswal and Buttler have been the second most prolific opening pair in IPL 2023.

Chennai Super Kings

The four-time champion can boast of a PowerPlay run-rate of 9.51 and a format-agnostic per wicket average of 85.66 thanks to the consistency of openers Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad. The duo has struck three fifty-plus and one century partnership

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The remaining Indian Premier League matches will be held in the UAE in September and October, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on May 29.

This is owing to the precarious spike of COVID-19 in India. IPL tournament was suspended in early May after many players tested positive.

The tournament dates are yet to be finalised. It is expected to be played in a three-week window.

The BCCI said that it was moving the remaining matches to the UAE because of the monsoon season in September-October although the monsoon generally runs from June to mid-September.

The UAE had been the stage for all of last year’s IPL matches.

The World Cup is also due to be held in India from October but it is also at risk owing to the pandemic. The BCCI has asked for more time to decide on the hosting of ICC T20 World Cup 2021. The tournament is likely to be discussed by the ICC next week.

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Mumbai Indians were crowned the champions of Dream11 IPL 2020 after they defeated Delhi Capitals in a one-sided match in Dubai on November 10.

Mumbai chased down the 157-run target set by Delhi in 18.4 overs with five wickets in hand to claim their fifth IPL title. MI skipper Rohit Sharma led from the front with a superb half-century (68 runs off 50 balls) while Ishan Kishan remained unbeaten on 33.

The captain had three good partnerships – first a 45-run opening stand with Quinton de Kock followed by another with Suryakumar Yadav, and thirdly a 47-run stand with Ishan Kishan (33 not out).

Earlier, DC won the toss and opted to bat first. It had a bad start, losing Marcus Stoinis in the first ball of the match. Trent Boult (3-30) brought Delhi to 22/3 taking the wickets of Stoinis, Ajinkya Rahane and Shimron Hetmyer.

Skipper Shreyas Iyer (65 off 50) and Rishabh Pant (56 off 38) then had a 96-run third-wicket stand that gave Delhi a fighting total of 156/7.

MI brought in off-spinner Jayant Yadav in place of leg-spinner Rahul Chahar while DC had an unchanged XI. Jayant Yadav took the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan (15 off 13) to strengthen MI’s position in the match.

Trent Boult was adjudged player of the match and Jofra Archer of Rajasthan Royals the player of the tournament. Archer, the  England fast bowler, took 20 wickets in 14 matches, five catches and some excellent batting cameos with his five fours and 10 sixes.

Delhi’s Kagiso Rabada won the Purple Cap for the most wickets (30) in the tournament. Kings XI Punjab batsman KL Rahul took the orange cap for leading run-scorer, amassing 670 in 14 matches, including a century and five half centuries.

Royal Challengers Bangalore opener Devdutt Padikkal won the Emerging Player award. The 20-year-old scored 483 runs and scored five half-centuries.

This was the toughest and most evenly contested IPLs in the history of the tournament. The 13th edition of Indian Premier League saw all 8 teams winning six matches each for the first time.

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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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The 23-year-old Ruturaj Gaekwad once again became the top performer of Chennai Super Kings as they wrested a nine-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab in the 53rd match in Abu Dhabi and finished their IPL 2020 campaign in style.

It was Ruturaj Gaikwad’s third consecutive fifty and he was unbeaten with 62 off 49 deliveries. Chasing 154, Chennai had Gaekwad and Faf du Plessis (48) giving the team a flying start with an 82-run stand for the opening wicket. Later, Ambati Rayudu (30 not out) helped young Gaekwad finish the job with seven balls to spare.

Earlier, CSK won the toss and put KXIP to bat first. Punjab went through a batting collapse after a good start. Deepak Hooda’s unbeaten 62 off 39 balls gave KXIP a late push to finish with 153/6.

CSK’s Lungi Ngidi had commendable bowling figures of 3/39 in four overs. He removed Punjab openers KL Rahul (29) and Mayank Agarwal (26) and later James Neesham (2). Shardul Thakur (1/27), Imran Tahir (1/24) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/17) picked up a wicket each.

The loss has spoiled Punjab’s dreams of making it to the play-offs as they have finished their campaign with only 12 points.

Meanwhile, CSK captain MS Dhoni has stated that he will not be retiring from IPL and will return the next season. Players from different teams were seen collecting a signed MS Dhoni jersey from him almost after every game in the second half of the Indian Premier League.

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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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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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Royal Challengers Bangalore routed Kolkata Knight Riders in the 39th match in Abu Dhabi on October 21 piggyriding on Mohammed Siraj’s brilliant spell of three wickets for the loss of 8 runs. Kolkata could make only 84 for 8, the lowest total of the season, despite winning the toss and batting first. Bangalore easily chased the target at the loss of two wickets.

Right-arm pacer Siraj who replaced Shahbaz Ahmed in the team took three wickets in consecutive overs. He dismissed Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana in his first over and then Tom Banton in his second. He also had two consecutive maiden overs, thus creating a history in the IPL.

This was followed by leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s onslaught destroying Kolkata batting line-up beyond repair. Washington Sundar (1 for 14) and Chahal (2 for 15) destroyed KKR middle order.

Captain Eoin Morgan (30 runs off 34 balls) alone made a valiant attempt to save the innings for KKR.

Bangalore’s chase was aided by Devdutt Padikkal (25 off 17). Virat Kohli (18 off 17) and Gurkeerat Singh Mann (21 off 26) remained unbeaten to ensure an easy 8-wicket win for RCB with 39 balls to spare.

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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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Royal Challengers Bangalore registered a massive 82-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on October 12.

RCB captain Virat Kohli had opted to bat, reasoning that the pitch will be slower in the second half.

Man of the match AB de Villiers and Kohli had a 100-run partnership that steered the side to 194 for two. The South African batsman played an aggressive 73 off 33 balls (five boundaries and six sixes) while Kohli hit 33 off 28 balls.

This was followed by RCB spinners tightening the chase. Washington Sundar (2/20) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/12) gave KKR a hard time and they could never really score on a sluggish wicket. The success of the spinners was partly down to the tiring pitches and the absence of grass.

For KKR, Shubhman Gill topscored with 34 off 25 balls, and the team finished at 112 for nine.
Rahul Tripathi, who had played brilliant innings against Chennai and Delhi, was shuffled to the lower-middle order, this time to accommodate IPL debutant Tom Banton at the top. Banton could make only 8 off 12 balls. Tripathi batted at No. 7 and by the time he came in, the game was up for the Knight Riders.

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Rajasthan Royals won against Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in an exciting match in Dubai on October 11. Royals now have three wins from their seven matches.

The first game of the day saw an 85-run sixth wicket partnership between Riyan Parag and Rahul Tewatia that clinched the match for RR. Parag took 42 off 26 balls played the winning shot – a six with one ball remaining – while Tewatia who smashed 45 off 28 balls won the man of the match award. Tewatia turned the match in Rajasthan’s favour by hitting Rashid Khan for three successive fours in the 18th over. They finished the game with a score of 163/5.

Chasing 159 on a slow wicket, Royals did not seem to have much chance after they lost Ben Stokes, Steve Smith and Jos Buttler with just 26 runs on the board. It then recovered from 78-5 to chase down Hyderabad’s 158-4 claiming victory from the jaws of defeat.

Parag, 18, who hails from Assam, celebrated with an impromptu ‘bihu’ jig as he hit the winning shot. Bihu is a traditional dance from Assam.

RR had made three changes to their playing XI – Ben Stokes, Riyan Parag and Robin Uthappa replaced Andrew Tye, Yashashwi Jaiswal and Mahipal Lomror. Sanju Samson playing his 100th IPL match scored 26 off 25 balls and took a brilliant catch.

Earlier, Sunrisers had won the toss and decided to bat. Captain David Warner scored 48 off 38 balls. Manish Pandey was the top-scorer with 54 off 44 deliveries, which was his 17th half century in IPL. Kane Williamson remained unbeaten on 22.

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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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Champions Mumbai Indians posted their third win in three matches on October 4 at the afternoon game in Sharjah Cricket Stadium against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Chasing a target of 209, captain David Warner (60 off 44 balls) did not get enough support from his batsmen in tackling the Mumbai bowlers save for Manish Pandey (30). The 2016 champions ended at 174 for seven after their stipulated 20 overs.

Though Mumbai lost their captain Rohit Sharma early in the match, Quinton de Kock (67 off 39 deliveries) and Ishan Kishan (31) listed a 78-run partnership to gift the team 208 for five wickets. Sunrisers pacemen and Rashid Khan did a good job, but Pandya brothers and Kieron Pollard caused maximum damage in the final four overs.

Trent Boult was declared Player of the Match for his 2/28 spell in 4 overs.

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Chennai lost Shane Watson (1) early; Faf du Plessis (22) then gave hope but was run out soon. CSK slumped to 42/4 when Ambati Rayudu (8) and Kedar Jadhav (3) left in quick succession. It was left to the captain to save his ship. The 72-run fifth-wicket partnership between Ravindra Jadeja (50 off 35) and Dhoni (47 off 36) renewed hope of a CSK and Dhoni magic. However, Jadeja’s exit extinguished the prospect of a last-minute win. CSK wound up at 157/5 in the face of SRH’s top-notch bowling especially from Afghan Rashid Khan (4-0-12-0).

Early in the match, the David Warner-led Sunrisers won the toss and decided to bat. Youngsters Priyam Garg (51 not out off 26 balls), Abhishek Sharma (31 off 24 balls) clinched the match for the team. SRH collected 53 runs in the last four overs to reach 164/5 in 20 overs.

Garg, a former U-19 captain, scored his maiden IPL half century and was crowned Player of the Match.

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Dhoni’s wife Sakshi is the managing director of this production company, and during an interview with Mid Day, she revealed that their banner will soon produce a web series based on an unpublished book.

“We have acquired the rights of an unpublished book of a debutant author. We will adapt it into a web series. It is a mythological sci-fi story that explores the journey of a mysterious Aghori and is set at a high-tech facility on a remote island,” Sakshi told Mid Day.

Dhoni Entertainment is also bankrolling another web series named ‘Roar of the Lion’ which will be premiered in Disney’s Hotstar.

“When we were developing Roar of the Lion, we thought it was the perfect time to venture into the entertainment industry. We aim to give a platform to deserving talent to showcase their skills along with providing fresh and original content to the audience. Mahi will be partially involved,” added Sakshi.

Sakshi also added that the ultimate aim of this production company is to make good stories in the future, and she made it clear that they are trying to ensure the quality of web series coming out in their banner.

On the other hand, MS Dhoni is currently going through the roughest patches of his career, as it has been a tumultuous start for him and his team, as Chennai Super Kings is currently seated at the bottom half of the points table.

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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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In the 10th match of the Dream 11 IPL tournament, played at Dubai on September 28, Royal Challengers Bangalore won against Mumbai Indians in the Super Over. While Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard scored 7 runs for Mumbai Indians in Super Over, AB de Villiers and RCB skipper Virat Kohli chased down the target, scoring 11 runs in fact with boundaries to boost.

Earlier, AB de Villiers remained unbeaten on 55 as he and Shivam Dube took RCB to 201/3 in 20 overs, setting Mumbai Indians a target of 202 to win. The South African player hit four sixes and four fours. Villiers went on to win the Player of the Match for his superb performance.

Devdutt Padikkal’s 54 (40) and Aaron Finch’s 52 (35) also helped RCB cobble up a decent target.
MI had won the toss and decided to bowl. Later in Mumbai Indians’ run chase, Rohit Sharma and Surykumar Yadav were dismissed cheaply. Ishan Kishan’s 99 (58 balls) and Kieron Pollard’s unbeaten 60 runs took Mumbai to a tie. The contest then went to the Super Over.

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Virat Kohli put down two crucial catches off rival skipper KL Rahul, who went on to score an unbeaten century , and then was himself dismissed for just one run off five deliveries against Kings XI Punjab in Dubai on September 25.

In the commentary box, Gavaskar came up with a comment involving Anushkar Sharma. “He only practiced against Anushka’s bowling during the lockdown. See the video. That won’t help,” Gavaskar is heard saying during commentary.

Many videos of Sunil Gavaskar’s remarks were doing the rounds on social media. The remark was in bad taste and did not go down well with the RCB skipper’s fans, with some of them urging the BCCI to remove Gavaskar from the commentary panel.

Reacting to Gavaskar’s comment, Anushka Sharma responded saying, ”Mr. Gavaskar your message is distasteful is a fact but I would love for you to explain why you thought of making such a sweeping statement on a wife accusing her for her husband’s game? I am sure over the years you have respected the private lives of every cricketer while commentating on the game.”

Over the years, on quite a few instances, the Bollywood actress has been blamed whenever Kohli under-performed on the cricket field.

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K.L. Rahul, the Kings XI Punjab skipper, smashed an unbeaten 132 off just 69 deliveries – the first century of the 2020 season and the highest in IPL by an Indian so far – to help his team post a massive 206 for 3 and a 97-run win.

The Karnataka batsman also recorded the highest score ever by a captain in the IPL, and broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record to become the fastest Indian to reach 2,000 IPL runs, achieving the feat in 60 innings compared to Tendulkar’s 63 innings.

India as well as RCB captain Virat Kohli dropped Rahul twice – on 83 and again on 89 one over later – in the match in Dubai on September 24. Rahul, who hit 14 fours and seven sixes in his blistering attack, was adjudged player of the match. For RCB, Ravi Bishnoi took three wickets for 31 runs and Murugan Ashwin 3 for 21.

Kohli, who elected to bowl after winning the toss, acknowledged that he did not have the “best day of the office”. While he was dismissed for 1, his team was packed off for 109 in 17 overs.

Dean Jones’ death

The game started on a sombre note on account of the sudden death of Australian batsman and cricket commentator Dean Jones, who had been covering the IPL tournament from Mumbai, from a heart attack.
Players from both teams wore black armbands to honour Jones and in a pre-match show, fellow commentator and Australian Brett Lee praised the late 59-year-old as an “absolute legend”.

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The world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, lit up in purple and gold to wish team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) good luck ahead of their first IPL match on September 23 against Mumbai Indians. The LED display had the faces of the KKR team members including its captain Dinesh Karthik, and played their anthem.

However, luck was elusive as the team lost to Mumbai Indians by 49 runs in the match at the Abu Dhabi cricket stadium. Captain Rohit Sharma’s opening knock of 80 off 54 balls steered MI to a convincing victory.Rohit’s knock included six sixes and three fours.

Rohit’s90-run second-wicket stand with Suryakumar Yadav (47) frustrated the Knight Riders. Next came Saurabh Tiwary (21) and Hardik Pandya (18) who helped MI reach 195-5 in 20 overs.

Kolkata could post only 146-9 in reply, way short of their target.Jasprit Bumrah (2-32) dismissed KKR’sstar batsmen Andre Russell (11) and Eoin Morgan (16).Russell and Morgan seemed capable of resuscitating KKR, which had slipped to 77-4, back Bumrah broke up their partnership in the 16th over.

Trent Boult, James Pattinson and Rahul Chahar also finished with two wickets each in an all-round effort from Mumbai’s bowling team.

MI has thus rebounded from the opening loss to Chennai Super Kings.

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