Krunal's All-Round Show Helps Lucknow Trump Hyderabad

Chennai are Indian T20 League champions once again, completing a dream comeback - from finishing ninth last season to winning the title in 2023. On Monday night in Ahmedabad, on the reserve day of the final, MS Dhoni's team overcame more than a few odds to defeat defending champions Gujarat by 5 wickets in a last-ball thriller.

Sai Sudharsan top-scored for Gujarat with 94 as the team posted 214/4. Three balls into Chennai's chase, rain once again came into the picture, and after hours of delay, Chennai's updated target was 171 in 15 overs. Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad gave the team the perfect start, scoring 74 runs but Gujarat got back into the game with Noor Ahmed sending both of them back in the 7th over. Eventually, Chennai needed 10 runs off the last 2 balls and Ravindra Jadeja smashed a six and then a four to get Chennai past the finish line.

This is their fifth championship win.

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Shubman Gill continued his century-making spree, scoring a match-winning 129 against Mumbai in Friday night's Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad to help Gujarat record a 62-run victory.

The defending champions will now play Chennai for the title on Sunday night.

Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to chase in the must-win game but Shubman Gill pretty much single-handedly took the game away from Mumbai with his century - his third this season. Gujarat posted 233/3 which proved too tall a task for Mumbai, even though Suryakumar Yadav fought a lone battle, as the five-time former champions were knocked out of the tournament.

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Rohit Sharma's Mumbai have sailed into Qualifier 2 of this T20 season after completely destroying Lucknow in Wednesday’s Eliminator, with the help of some super tight bowling and fielding!

Rohit Sharma elected to bat first at Chepauk and his team scored 182/8 with Cameron Green top-scoring with 41 while the pick of Lucknow's bowlers was Naveen ul Haq who finished with 4/38. In reply, Lucknow's chase just never took off and the three run outs didn't help much as the team was bowled out for 101. Akash Madhwal finished with stunning figures of 5/5 in his 3.3 overs.

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Gujarat have looked the most dominant team this season and entered the playoffs as the top ranked team following the league stage, but if there was any team that knows how to play the playoffs - it's Chennai. MS Dhoni's team had the added advantage of playing this first Qualifier at home at the Chepauk and they made the most of it, winning the match by 15 balls to spare.

First things first, Shubman Gill did not score another century, since he does seem to be on such a streak. He made 42. MS Dhoni also got to bat and scored 1 off 2 as Chennai posted 172/7 after being put into bat first by Hardik Pandya. That, however, proved more than enough as Gujarat lost by 15 runs.

Chennai now go through to Sunday’s final but Gujarat aren't out of the tournament, but have another shot at reaching the final when they play Friday's Qualifier 2 against the winner of Wednesday night's Eliminator between Lucknow and Mumbai. 

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In 2015, Mumbai did the Indian cricket team a great favour, by providing an unknown youngster from Baroda with a platform to shine. Eight years later, the player, Hardik Pandya, returned Mumbai the favour, as his team, Gujarat knocked Bangalore out with a six-wicket win in the last league-stage match of the season.

Put to bat first, Bangalore scored 197 runs, as Virat Kohli scored his seventh century in this competition, and subsequently, creating a new record. But from the opposition, Shubman Gill not only matched it, but he even bettered it, as his unbeaten 104-run knock took Gujarat over the line.

Barring Kohli, none of the Bangalore batters turned up, with the experienced batters now being subjected to a few difficult questions. Having scored only 140 runs this season, Dinesh Karthik was dismissed on a golden duck, whereas an in-form Glenn Maxwell scored merely 11 runs.

Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad starred with the ball for Gujarat, combining effectively to pick up three wickets, and concede just 63 runs in their eight overs. The visitors lost Wriddhiman Saha early, but Shubman Gill and Vijay Shankar built a 123-run partnership, which eventually proved to be match-defining.

Following Shankar’s dismissal, Gill took the onus on himself to get his team over the line, which he did by scoring an unbeaten 52-ball 104. Not only did his knock secure a couple of points for his team, but it also booked Mumbai’s place in the playoffs, subsequently calling curtains to Bangalore’s campaign.

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Mumbai needed to win to keep their playoff hopes on track and Rohit Sharma's men did just that on Sunday, in their final league stage match, beating Hyderabad by 8 wickets.

The win now takes Mumbai to fourth in the standings with only Bangalore now having a chance to overtake them, with Faf du Plessis's men playing the last league match of the season, tonight against Gujarat in Bengaluru.

At the Wankhede on Sunday afternoon, Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first. Hyderabad’s openers thanked him for that call by scoring 140 runs together. Mayank Agarwal is earning some redemption after a below-par season, that saw him dropped and on the sidelines for most of this month, top-scored for the team with 83 off 46. 23-year-old Vivrant Sharma, batting for the first time this season, also defied the Mumbai bowlers to make 69. Akash Madhwal was the pick of Rohit's bowlers, finishing with 4/37 in his four overs.

In reply, Ishan Kishan got out in the third over but skipper Rohit Sharma rose to the occasion to score a solid 56 to provide Mumbai's chase the perfect foundation. Cameron Green though starred with the bat, scoring the fastest century of the season to get the team past the finish line in the penultimate over.

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Lucknow became the third team to qualify for the 2023 Indian T20 League playoffs, courtesy of a hard-fought one-run triumph over Kolkata, at the Eden Gardens. Subsequently, the two-time champions’ campaign also comes to a conclusion.

Put to bat first, Lucknow scored 176 runs, with Nicholas Pooran’s half-century, and Ayush Badoni’s supporting act rescuing the team from a precarious position. In response, Kolkata were just a run short, with Rinku Singh’s 33-ball 67 not yielding two points.

Lucknow had a difficult start with the bat, as Kolkata’s uncapped pace pairing of Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora did a decent job. They combined to bowl seven overs, wherein they conceded just 51 runs and also picked up three wickets.

At one stage, Lucknow were reeling at 73/5, but Pooran and Badoni’s sixth-wicket stand changed the complexion of the game. The Caribbean wicketkeeper-batter was the star of the show, scoring 58 runs in 30 deliveries.

Kolkata had a flying start with the bat, until the introduction of the spin trio of Krunal Pandya, Krishnappa Gowtham and Ravi Bishnoi. They worked wonders for the team that donned green and maroon in this game, as a tribute to ATK Mohun Bagan, with Rinku ending up on the losing side, despite yet another herculean effort.

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Rajasthan have had a messy May in this Indian T20 League which meant they needed a win on Friday night to stay alive in the tournament and they managed that, beating Punjab by 4 wickets in Dharamsala.

It was both teams’ last league stage match which means Punjab are out of the tournament and Rajasthan now move up to the fifth position in the points table. Their qualification hopes will depend very heavily on the result of RCB and Mumbai's games over the weekend as victory for either team will mean automatic elimination for Sanju Samson's team.

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Bangalore needed to win both their remaining two league stage matches this week for the best chance to enter the playoffs and Virat and Faf Du Plessis ensured they completed half the assignment on Thursday in Hyderabad as they chased down Hyderabad’s 186/5 with ease to lock two points in style.

South African wicket-keeper batter Heinrich Klaasen was the star of the Hyderabad team, scoring his maiden century in the tournament as the team posted 186/5 after being put into bat first by Faf du Plessis.

In reply, Virat Kohli too smashes a century, his first in the tournament in four years while being supported very well by Faf who himself scored 71 as the team won the match with 4 balls to spare.

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Delhi played, and Delhi won like they should have all season as David Warner’s men defeated Punjab Kings by 15 runs on Wednesday night in Dharamsala.

Delhi are already out of the running for a spot in the playoffs, but the defeat now means Punjab remain at the 8th position in the standings with 12 points and will not struggle to reach the knockouts with just one game left to go for them this season.

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