Top 5 performances from week 5 of IPL 9
May 17, 2016 at 3:23 PM
The fifth week of IPL 9 has seen some of the world’s fearsome batsmen at last come to the fore. As the tournament approaches towards the play-offs, the top players are really proving their worth for their respective teams.
Cricket lovers all over the world enjoyed a memorable evening as Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers smashed a century each in the same match in one of the finest attacking displays in recent times. Hashim Amla also proved his utility as a batsman in the shortest format with a sensational 96 off 56 balls for the Kings XI Punjab.
You have mention Yusuf Pathan also, he continued with his attacking display to make the ultimate difference for the Kolkata Knight Riders in their fight for a play-off berth while Krunal Pandya managed to keep Mumbai Indians in the hunt with an inspiring effort with his bat.
5. Yusuf’s hard-hitting
Yusuf Pathan showed his fireworks on a rain-hit evening at the Eden Gardens, blasting an unbeaten 37 runs off only 18 balls, to power the Kolkata Knight Riders to a convincing 8 wicket win against Rising Pune Supergiants.
KKR were set a run target from 9 overs via the Duckworth-Lewis method on a pitch offering a lot of assistance to the spinners.
Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed both the KKR openers in the first over of the innings, dismissing Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir.
But Yusuf’s counter-attack proved too much for the Pune bowlers. His blazing knock was laced with 3 sixes and 4 boundaries as KKR chased down the target with four overs remaining.
His knock ensured that Mahendra Singh Dhoni will not be a part of the play-offs for the first time in IPL history. Dhoni led his previous (now banned for two years) team, the Chennai Superkings into the play-offs every IPL season.
It was one of Dhoni’s worst knocks in T20 cricket. The Supergiants skipper struggled, scoring 8 from 22 balls.
4. Amla silences critics
Ironically, South African run-machine Hashim Amla was completely ignored at the IPL Players Auction and only joined the party as a replacement for injured Shaun Marsh at the Kings XI Punjab.
It was only his 4th IPL match and he proved that he has the credentials to succeed even in the T20 format after smashing his way to a brilliant 96 from 56 balls.
The right-hander was really a treat to watch when he ripped apart the famed Sunrisers bowling attack with 14 boundaries and 2 sixes.
Amla got into the act from the second ball of the innings, hitting Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a four. He then came down heavily on Ashish Nehra, smacking the left-arm pacer for 3 fours in his first over, and then followed it up with 2 hits over the fence in the bowler’s next. He brought up his 50 off just 30 balls.
The 33-year-old fell agonisingly close to a century to Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the final over.
Amla could only watch in dismay as the Sunrisers Hyderabad produced a collective batting performance to clinch a 7 wicket victory with 2 balls to spare.
3. Zampa takes 6 wickets
Australia seems to have uncovered another blonde leg-spinner in Adam Zampa, who claimed 6/19 runs in his 4 overs, the second-best bowling figures in IPL history.
Sadly, his team, the Rising Pune Supergiants were defeated at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Zampa’s magnificent spell helped Pune restrict the Sunrisers to a modest 137/8. The struggling Supergiants were unable to script a successful run chase, finishing with 133/8 in 20 overs.
Zampa’s scalps included Yuvraj Singh (23) and Kane Williamson (32), two of the best batsmen in limited-overs cricket. He also accounted for Moises Henriques (10), Deepak Hooda (14), Naman Ojha (7) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1).
2. Krunal Pandya steals the show
When IPL 9 started, Hardik Pandya was reckoned as one of the players to watch out for, but in reality, his elder brother Krunal has grabbed the headlines.
Krunal came up with one of the best attacking innings of this edition, slamming 86 runs off only 37 balls, as Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Daredevils by 80 runs to keep their hopes alive in the tournament.
When asked to bat it was not all ok for Mumbai as they lost captain Rohit Sharma (31) despite a steady start, but Pandya and Martin Guptill’s aggressive mindset didn’t give Daredevils the chance to take advantage, adding 98 runs off 50 deliveries for the second wicket.
Pandya was promoted to No 3 for that particular match and the left-hander threw his bat at everything while displaying great control and finding the boundaries with consummate ease. He punished anything short smashing 7 fours and 6 sixes, most of them over the leg side.
Krunal also did well with the ball claiming 2/15.
- De Villers and Kohli steal the limelight
In T20 cricket a century always proves a decisive one. But what happens when two batsmen from the same side reach three figures? it’s like game almost over for the opposition.
It was a complete massacre at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru on May 14 as Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers blasted their centuries.
The bowlers from Gujarat Lions almost surrendered as de Villiers notched a breath-taking unbeaten 129 off 52 balls, inclusive of 10 fours and 12 sixes. Kohli joined the party hitting a brilliant 109 off 55 balls, with 5 fours and 8 sixes.
RCB set up a massive 248/3 with some unbelievable records . This is the second highest score in IPL history behind RCB’s 263/5 against the Pune Warriors.
Kohli and de Villiers surpassed their own partnership record in destroying the Lions with a staggering 229 runs from 98 balls for the second wicket.
The previous best was 215 against Mumbai Indians in IPL 8.
Gujarat Lions hardly threw a challenge and were bowled out for a paltry 104 in 18.4 overs.
RCB won the match by a huge 144 runs and broke the record for the biggest margin of victory in the IPL history.
Kohli became the first player to score two centuries against the same opponents in the same IPL season and the first batsman to hit three hundreds in the same season.