CAPTAIN COOL: SAMSON EYES SUCCESS AS IPL KICKS OFF
CAPTAIN SAMSON HITS FIRST TON OF SEASON
THIS year despite a raging second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League has started on schedule behind closed doors.
Like always it has kicked off with edge-of-the-seat action from game one, involving Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 9.
Not even a week old but the start has been promising. A recap of the matches gone by. Match 1 - Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: Mumbai Indians’ track record in their opening matches have not been great and this year too it was no different. Put in to bat, with Chris Lynn top-scoring (49 off 35 balls), Mumbai scored 159 for 9. The Rohit Sharma-led team did well while defending but luck favoured Royal Challengers Bangalore, as they clinched a two-wicket win off the last ball.
Virat Kohli opened the innings with Washington Sundar, scoring 33. But it was Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers who shouldered the chase until it got a bit tight with the dismissal of the South African in the last over.
Harshal Patel, who took a fivewicket haul earlier, took a single off the last ball to win the game for Bangalore. Match 2 - Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Capitals: Chennai Super Kings are seeking redemption after a horrid show last year. But their IPL 2021 got off with a defeat against Delhi Capitals.
Rishabh Pant is leading the side in the absence of Shreyas Iyer due to an injury. Suresh Raina, who missed the last season, made a brilliant return with a 36-ball 54. Moeen Ali promoted up the order ahead of Raina at No 3, scored a fluent 24-ball 36. Ambati Rayudu (23) and Ravindra Jadeja (26) made handy contributions as Chennai reached a competitive total of 188 for 7. Openers Prithvi Shaw (38-ball 72) and Shikhar Dhawan (54-ball 85) blazed away as Delhi gunned down the target in 18.4 overs. Match 3 - Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: Put in to bat, Kolkata Knight Riders got their trusted batsmen firing, as Nitish Rana (56-ball 80) and Rahul Tripathi (29-ball 53) took the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers to the cleaners. Eoin Morgan was dismissed for 2, but Dinesh Karthik batting down the order chipped in with a brisk nine-ball 22 to take Kolkata to 187 for 6.
Hyderabad were off to a jittery start with openers Wriddhiman Saha (7) and David Warner (3) falling cheaply. Manish Pandey remained unbeaten on 61 off 44 balls, supported by Jonny Bairstow (55 off 40 balls), but with wickets still in hand failed to time the run-chase. Hyderabad lost the match by just 10 runs. Match 4 - Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals: Punjab Kings scored a big enough total of 221 for six, but Sanju Samson gave them a scare. KL Rahul scored 91, Deepak Hooda and Chris Gayle got 64 and 40, respectively, as Punjab set up a massive target for Rajasthan Royals to chase.
Rajasthan got off to a bad start with Ben Stokes (0) and Manan Vohra (12) falling cheaply. Samson, on his captaincy debut, wanted to make a point and did it in style by slamming the first century of the season and his third overall. Jos Buttler, Shivam Dube and Riyan Parag batted well as Samson took the match to the last over. Rajasthan needed five off the last two balls. He turned down a single off the fifth ball before getting out off the last delivery. Punjab won by a slender four runs.