Almost three weeks since the league's completion, and I've finally finished the season archive!
R | CLUB | STATE OF ORIGIN | HOMEGROUND | CAPTAIN | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-▉ RAJASTHAN | -Jaipur, Rajasthan | -Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur | - MS Dhoni | |||||||
-▉ KOLKATA | -Kolkata, West Bengal | -Eden Gardens, Kolkata | - Virat Kohli | |||||||
-▉ CHENNAI | -Chennai, Tamil Nadu | -M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | - Shreyas Iyer | |||||||
4th | -▉ MUMBAI | -Mumbai, Maharashtra | -Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai | - Rohit Sharma | ||||||
5th | -▉ PUNJAB | -Mohali, Punjab | -Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali | - Shikhar Dhawan | ||||||
6th | -▉ HYDERABAD | -Hyderabad, Telangana- | -Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad- | - Eoin Morgan | ||||||
7th | -▉ DELHI | -Delhi, New Delhi | -Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi | - Darren Stevens | ||||||
-8th- | -▉ BENGALURU- | -Bengaluru, Karnataka | -M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru | - Kane Williamson- |
AWARD | RECIPIENT | TEAM | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT- | - Virat Kohli | -▉ KOLKATA | ||||
-LEADING RUN-SCORER | - Ruturaj Gaikwad- | -▉ DELHI | ||||
-LEADING WICKET-TAKER | - Shaheen Afridi | -▉ RAJASTHAN- |
PLAYER | TEAM | R | W | HIS | BBI | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-- | - Ruturaj Gaikwad | -▉ DELHI | -798- | - | -90 | - | ||||||||
- Rohit Sharma | -▉ MUMBAI | 769 | - | -129 | - | |||||||||
- Virat Kohli | -▉ KOLKATA | 778 | - | -116 | - | |||||||||
- Babar Azam | -▉ HYDERABAD- | 795 | - | -144- | - | |||||||||
- Manish Pandey | -▉ DELHI | 667 | - | -104 | - | |||||||||
- MS Dhoni | -▉ RAJASTHAN | 476 | - | -92 | -(15c/1s)- | |||||||||
- Ravindra Jadeja | -▉ RAJASTHAN | 202 | 21 | -32 | 3/53 | |||||||||
- Mitchell Starc | -▉ KOLKATA | 55 | 28 | -16 | 4/23 | |||||||||
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar- | -▉ KOLKATA | 65 | 25 | -18 | 3/17 | |||||||||
- Kagiso Rabada | -▉ RAJASTHAN | 62 | 28 | -14* | 3/35 | |||||||||
- Shaheen Afridi | -▉ RAJASTHAN | 5 | -29- | -4 | 5/53 |
-One of the most exciting games of the Indian One-Day Championship came in only the second round when Chennai hosted Delhi at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
The visiting team won the toss and elected to bat first on an evenly-balanced surface. Tamim Iqbal and Jonny Bairstow started Delhi's innings at a plodding pace.
Mohammad Amir claimed the first wicket for Chennai by dismissing Jonny Bairstow in the 10th over. Delhi's openers had picked-up their scoring rate at this point.
Making Bairstow's dismissal a welcomed disruption. Little did they know, that the next batsman to come out to bat would go onto score his highest-score this season.
Ruturaj Gaikwad played a scintillating knock for Delhi at the oh-so important number three position, scoring an 83-ball 90, but sadly missing his ton by ten runs.
Batting alongside him, Tamim Iqbal also scored invaluable runs at a slower-pace than him. These two batsmen added a 137-run partnership for the second-wicket.
A partnership that was brought to a screeching halt when Sanju Samson ran Tamim Iqbal out on a wide delivery in the 34th over, bringing his innings to a close on 81.
Manish Pandey was the next batsman in. He scored at a quicker rate, and played attacking strokes all around the park, going on to achieve a tip-top fifty as well.
After Ruturaj Gaikwad's aforementioned dismissal, which came in the 41st over, Rinku Singh came out to bat and contributed to a significant stand with Pandey.
The two pushed Delhi over the 300-run mark with exquisite stroke-play. Chennai's death-bowling failed to deliver, except for Mohammad Siraj's penultimate over.
Siraj finished with a figure of 1/48, the best amongst the wicket-takers in this game for Chennai. Only two other bowlers managed to pick wickets in this game.
Mohammad Amir bagged the wicket of Jonny Bairstow, and finished with 1/65. Shakib Al Hasan had two scalps to his name, but his economy was in excess of 6.0.
Chennai's chase was jolted from the get-go when Hardik Pandya dismissed Shubman Gill. His opening-partner, Sanju Samson couldn't stay at the crease for long either.
The two were back in the pavilion by the 9th over for scores of 14 and 24, respectively. Unfortunately for Chennai, their problems with the bat were far from over.
Steven Smith and Shreyas Iyer, their number three and four batsmen were dismissed shortly after, with inconsequential scores. Leaving them reduced to 69/4.
In a chase of 310, this spelt nothing but bad news for the hometeam. What followed next, was a truly incredible fightback from Shakib Al Hasan and Glenn Maxwell.
These two added a brilliant 108-ball 127-run partnership for the 6th-wicket. Both batsmen achieved their fifties during this stand, from 46 and 43 balls respectively.
A timely strike from Hardik Pandya broke this partnership and asserted Delhi's dominance back on the game. Leaving all the burden of this game on Glenn Maxwell.
Mohammad Amir, the next man in, was dismissed two balls later. As Glenn Maxwell carried on, he was in dire need of a partner that could keep the other end safe.
Yuzvendra Chahal couldn't be that man, as he too was dismissed after a short while of resistance. Hardik Pandya struck again, with some assistance from his brother.
Chennai at this point were 220/8, requiring ninety more runs for victory with seventy-six deliveries remaining. It seemed like Delhi had already won the game.
But Glenn Maxwell was on another playing-field today. And credit where credit is due, 'cause Deepak Chahar stood his ground against all odds and kept his end safe.
The two added fifty more runs to the scorecard by the 46th over. Pushing Chennai much closer to the target. They now required forty runs from the last 4.0 overs.
It was achievable, but Delhi's bowlers were the most-successful at this point. Their death-bowling was going to make things very difficult for Chennai to finish.
And they did exactly that when Pat Cummins got rid of Deepak Chahar with a little bit of luck by his side in the 48th over, bringing Chennai down to their last man.
With twenty runs required in the last two overs, Glenn Maxwell's first priority should've been to retain the strike at all costs, but instead, he made a major mistake.
Mohammad Siraj took a single and gave Glenn Maxwell the strike, but on the very next ball, Glenn Maxwell took a single and gave the strike right back to him.
Granted, Glenn Maxwell was actually looking for a two that he couldn't achieve. Mohammad Siraj was exposed once again to Delhi's uber-successful death-bowling.
Dhawal Kulkarni capitalised on that mistake and caught Siraj plumb in front of the wicket to get him out and win the match for his team by a narrow 16-run margin.
Glenn Maxwell just stood at the non-striker's end, contemplating the decision he took to give the strike back to Siraj and how the result could've been so different.
-Kolkata and Delhi gave us a scintillating game of cricket in their first encounter against each other. It was hosted by the latter at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
The hometeam won the toss and elected to bat first. Their openers started Delhi's innings well until Mohammad Nabi found the big breakthrough in the 14th over.
Delhi's were on 67/0 when Jonny Bairstow fell for 37 to Mohammad Nabi. Soon after, his partner Tamim Iqbal followed suit and went back to the pavilion as well.
Tamim Iqbal played at a snail's pace, scoring just 29 off 48 deliveries before being bowled, clean by Mohammad Shami. Delhi were 90/2 in 17.1 after this dismissal.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Manish Pandey were the two batsmen at the crease. Both of them were new, and were tasked with the job of building a steady partnership.
Amit Mishra foiled those plans when he dismissed Manish Pandey in the 23rd over with a great delivery, that went straight through his gates, sending him back for 8.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, however, played very sensibly and cautiously. He played the best bowling-attack of the league all across the ground. Impressively, albeit slowly.
He was fortunate that he had a partner in Rinku Singh, that could hold his own against the likes of Amit, Shami, Bhuvneshwar and Starc and keep the other end safe.
The two added a 146-ball 118 stand for the 4th-wicket to take their team to 231/4 before the end of this partnership. Ruturaj Gaikwad passed fifty in the meantime.
Rinku Singh was dismissed soon after, for 48. Just two runs short of a well-earned fifty. With 16 deliveries left in the innings, Delhi were looking for a fiery finish.
Kolkata had restrained them from achieving said big-finish until the last over, where Amit Mishra conceded 12 runs as Delhi barely managed to pass the 250-run mark.
Giving Kolkata the task of chasing a 252-run target on a somewhat bowler-favouring wicket. Kolkata's batsmen were more than equipped to carry this task out.
Jason Roy and Murali Vijay started Kolkata's chase steadily, but Delhi's captain Darren Stevens found an early breakthrough, dismissing the latter in the 9th over.
As Delhi's captain took all the limelight, Kolkata's captain was the next man to come out to bat. Jason Roy and Virat Kohli was a pairing that Delhi couldn't let thrive.
But even the most proficient bowling lines have crumbled in a situation like this, so it was no surprise that Delhi were overwhelmed by the sheer skills of the two.
Because these two went onto add a 134-run partnership for the 2nd-wicket, completely deflating Delhi's morale. A stand during which, both batsmen achieved fifties.
The stand did end when Virat Kohli was caught plumb in front of the wicket off of Krunal Pandya. Delhi saw a glimmer of hope that they wanted to capitalise on.
Jason Roy nicked one straight to the 'keeper on the very next ball. All of a sudden, Kolkata got stuck in a vulnerable position with two new batsmen at the crease.
Dinesh Karthik and Joe Root tried to rebuild Kolkata's momentum, but Pat Cummins broke through Karthik's defense and ended that before it really even started.
After this, Kolkata just crumbled under the pressure and against a formidable bowling attack. Akshay Karnewar took two wickets in two balls in the 40th over.
A brilliant bit of athleticism of Jonny Bairstow, Delhi's 'keeper saw Bhuvneshwar Kumar lose his wicket in the next over. Kolkata floundered on 223/7, at this point.
Things only got worse for them when Krunal Pandya picked two wickets in two balls, replicating Akshay Karnewar's feat. Amit Mishra blocked the hat trick ball.
And though Krunal Pandya was denied the hat trick, he had done his job spectacularly as Kolkata were staggering on 232/9. With exactly 20 more runs required.
Fortunately for Kolkata, Joe Root was still at the crease having witnessed all the chaos from the other end. His partner, Amit Mishra was no rabbit with the bat.
The two somehow took Kolkata over the line with a wicket and three balls to spare. Amit Mishra, quite surprisingly, scored 11 off the 20 runs that were required.
Delhi were disappointed to have gotten so close and yet, lost by such a narrow margin. Delhi managed to dismisses everyone except Joe Root and Amit Mishra.
Kolkata avoided an embarrassing defeat as they went from being 175/1 to being 232/9, but then scored the victory after a valiant fightback from a tough position.
-This was the second game between these two teams, and it was just as thrilling if not more, as the first one. Yet another close-encounter between Kolkata and Delhi.
Kolkata, the hometeam, won the toss and elected to bat first on an evenly-balanced Eden Gardens surface. They lost their first wicket in only the second over.
Jason Roy was struck by misfortune when he inside-edged Josh Hazlewood's delivery and had his stumps rattled, going back to the pavilion after scoring a 2-ball duck.
Josh Hazlewood struck once again in his very next over, forcing Murali Vijay to hit one straight to Jos Buttler, dismissing him after a sedated 12-ball 2-run innings.
Kolkata were 12/2 at this point, with both their openers dismissed. Virat Kohli and Joe Root were at the crease, and Kolkata couldn't have asked for a better pair.
The two started playing their natural game, and it seemed like Kolkata's innings was on the path of being rejuvenated until tragedy struck and Joe Root was run out.
A sensational bullet-arm throw from Ruturaj Gaikwad, and some miscommunication between Virat Kohli and Joe Root saw the end of this oh-so important pairing.
Cheteshwar Pujara, the next batsman in, couldn't stay at the crease for much long either. He was dismissed by a deceptive Pat Cummins' delivery in the 9th over.
Virat Kohli carried on with his class and scored runs without letting the fall of these wickets bring his scoring-pace down. He moved past 30 as Kolkata reached 50.
Soon after Kolkata reached 50, Akshay Karnewar dismissed Dinesh Karthik as the batter edged one straight to the wicket-keeper Sheldon Jackson, on 11 from 13.
Kolkata's score after Dinesh Karthik's dismissal was 61/5. Kohli was still at the crease, but he was joined by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. It was evident the tail had started.
Bhuvneshwar showed some resistance albeit being unable to score runs as Virat Kohli reached his fifty. After which, he continued scoring runs at the same pace.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar's resistance was broken by Josh Hazlewood, leaving Kolkata 108/6. It was a 47-run stand between the two where only Virat Kohli contributed.
Lockie Ferguson lasted 16 balls before being caught, plumb in front of the wicket by Akshay Karnewar. Kolkata moved to 134/7 with Kohli still unbeaten, on 81*.
Mohammad Shami showed more fight than both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Lockie Ferguson. He played out 25 balls, allowing Virat Kohli to muster up some more runs.
Krunal Pandya struck to remove Mohammad Shami when Virat Kohli was on 92*. Amit Mishra, the next batsman in, also blocked instead of going after the bowlers.
As Virat Kohli reached 99*, Amit Mishra chopped-on Pat Cummins' delivery, exposing the number eleven batsman, Mujeeb Ur Rehman to the pace of Pat Cummins.
Mujeeb survived four balls to end the over. Virat Kohli reached his ton on the next ball he faced, taking a single, but giving the strike back to Mujeeb Ur Rehman.
Krunal Pandya had the wicket of Mujeeb Ur Rahman on the 5th ball of the 37th over, wrapping-up Kolkata's innings for 176. Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 100*.
Delhi started their chase cautiously, adding 32 runs in the first 10.0 overs, without losing any wickets. Kolkata failed to find an early breakthrough in defense of 177.
They did, however, find two breakthroughs in quick succession when Mujeeb Ur Rehman dismissed Ruturaj Gaikwad and Hardik Pandya in the space of four deliveries.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, bowling his successive 7th over, dismissed Jonny Bairstow, ending his sedated innings. Delhi, after the fall of this wicket were left on 49/3.
In the following overs, the game went a little quiet as Delhi slowed down and Kolkata's bowlers were trying to build pressure even with just 176 runs in the bank.
Luckily for them, they bagged a wicket before Delhi's batsmen exploded into runs when Rinku Singh was caught plumb in front of the wicket off Mujeeb Ur Rehman.
Darren Stevens, Delhi's captain, lasted only 8 deliveries and scored 1 run before being clean-bowled by an absolute ripper from Amit Mishra in the 25th over.
At the end of the 25h over, Delhi were 79/5. All of a sudden, Kolkata's 177-run target seemed like it was actually going to cause a little bit of trouble in achieving.
A gritty and valiant fightback from Manish Pandey and Krunal Pandya pushed Delhi towards the target. The pair added 41 runs from 64 deliveries for the 6th-wicket.
The pairing came to a screeching halt when Amit Mishra bagged the wicket of Krunal Pandya when Delhi were on 118/5. Leaving them with 59 more runs required.
Manish Pandey was playing the same role for his team that Virat Kohli played for his. He stood firmly at the crease, whilst every partner he had lost his wicket.
With 59 runs required in 88 balls and just 4 wickets left, all of the pressure and the burden was on Manish Pandey's shoulders. It was going to be a close finish.
A brilliant effort in the field from Lockie Ferguson brought an end to Sheldon Jackson's underwhelming knock. Mohammad Shami claimed his first wicket of the game.
Manish Pandey reached his 50 in the penultimate over of Mohammad Shami's spell. After which, Lockie Ferguson bowled his last over, finishing highly economically.
The next over was Mohammad Shami's final over. Kolkata had exhausted their spearheads' overs in hopes of getting Manish Pandey's wicket, but he survived.
Delhi needed 31 runs from 42 ball, and had only 3 wickets in hand. Kolkata had used-up pretty much all of their firepower. It all came down to Mujeeb Ur Rehman.
Mujeeb Ur Rehman bowled the next over, conceding only 3 runs. Kohli then had to give Joe Root the ball for the next over. Joe Root conceded 9 runs, including a six.
Pretty much undoing the good Mujeeb Ur Rehman's 3-run over had brought. Kolkata then had a glimpse of hope when Mujeeb Ur Rehman dismissed Pat Cummins.
This was Mujeeb Ur Rehman's 4th-wicket of the game. Delhi were 166/8 with 11 runs needed, and just 2 wickets left. Luckily for them, Manish Pandey was on strike.
Joe Root was once again trusted with the ball since no other proper bowler had any overs left. Joe Root conceded 7 of the required 11 runs. Delhi only needed 4 now.
Manish Pandey took a single on the first ball of Mujeeb Ur Rehman's over, giving Akshay Karnewar the strike. Karnewar managed to take a single, and avoid calamity.
With 2 runs required to win, Manish Pandey went for the glory shot and it connected! That last-ball six gave Delhi a narrow 2-wicket win with 15 balls to spare.
-It could not have gotten any better than this! Rajasthan and Kolkata gave us the most scintillating of the entire season, and it was in The Grand Finale of the league!
Rajasthan won the toss and elected to bat first. Their openers started the innings well. Martin Guptill and David Warner brought Rajasthan's 50 up in the 8th over.
Virat Kohli fluffed a rather simple catch as Martin Guptill and David Warner scampered through for a single. That was the single that brought Rajasthan's 50 up.
An absolutely brilliant throw from Jason Roy ran Martin Guptill short of his crease by just a few inches with an excellent bit of groundwork and an accurate throw.
Rajasthan lost their first wicket because of some amazing fielding. Jason Roy provided Kolkata with the first breakthrough, and boosted their morale exponentially.
Then, Mitchell Starc struck. He got his first wicket because of another blinding fielding effort from Jason Roy. He dove to his left and held onto a one-handed catch.
Nitish Rana perished after scoring only four off eleven deliveries, succumbing under the pressure of the big game. He failed against an intimidating bowling attack.
A well-placed shot and excellent running between the wickets brought up David Warner's fifty. He squeezed runs while playing the Kolkata bowlers cautiously.
David Warner was cruising smoothly until Amit Mishra picked up the wicket of the big fish. An unconvincing shout from the bowler, but the umpire raised his finger.
David Warner walked back after scoring 79 off 64 balls in a knock that set the tone for Rajasthan's innings. Unfortunately for them, he fell slightly short of his ton.
Rajasthan lost another crucial wicket when MS Dhoni unluckily inside-edged the ball back onto his stump, whilst attempting to block a wrong 'un from Amit Mishra.
Amit Mishra picked-up two important wickets back-to-back. First he got rid of the well-set David Warner, then he neutralised the threat that is called MS Dhoni.
In amidst of all this chaos, Rajasthan moved past the 150-run mark with four wickets down. Their scoring rate was commendable, but they needed a partnership.
Losing a few more wickets before a solid partnership could've deflate their innings completely. All eyes were now on Dhruv Shorey and Ankit Bawne; the local stars.
But a timely strike from Mohammad Nabi put Kolkata in control. Ankit Bawne had a fantastic season, but he failed to deliver when his team needed him the most.
Rajasthan were 164/5. They needed a strong partnership to take them to the end. The new batsman; Ravindra Jadeja was more than capable of achieving that.
Until his partner was dismissed. Rajasthan were falling apart. One more wicket, and they would've come down to their tail. Amit Mishra claimed his third wicket.
It's almost as if they were overly-cautious of Starc, Shami and Bhuvneshwar, completely underestimating Amit Mishra. And Amit Mishra had made them pay for it.
Washington Sundar was the next man in. The last recognised batsman. Rajasthan desperately needed for Him and Ravindra Jadeja to take down towards the end.
But Mohammad Nabi struck once again. Washington Sundar was completely outplayed. He set him up to play this shot, and then cleaned him up through the gates.
Kagiso Rabada, the next man in, was also dismissed after a brief stay at the crease by Amit Mishra. He fell to Amit Mishra's wrong 'un as Rajasthan slipped to 199/8.
Yet another case of the batsman inside-edging the ball straight onto his stumps because he could not intercept the wrong 'un. Amit Mishra claimed his fourth victim.
Rajasthan were on 199/8. This had been a major collapse, because at one point they were cruising. They were on 138/2, but they then lost 6 wickets for just 61 runs.
Just one run off the 40th over from Mitchell Starc. Rajasthan were 201/8 at the end of that. Ravindra Jadeja had the burden of carrying his team to the finish now.
Ravindra Jadeja had all the right tools to strap a rocket to his team and play a sublime knock to take them to a competitive total against a formidable opposition.
But, he too, was dismissed! Rajasthan had a glimmer of hope, but that's been snatched away as well. He was playing cautiously alongside Navdeep Saini, his partner.
He was probably looking to take his team into the last five overs without losing any more wickets, and then putting his foot on the pedal to finish off the innings.
Amit Mishra struck once again, claiming his fifth wicket of the game. Only the sixth five-wicket haul in the league's short history, and what a moment to achieve it.
Apart from Rajasthan's openers, no one really got going. Rajasthan crumbled against Kolkata's bowlers, only to be bowled-out on a below-par total of 227 in 45.4.
Kolkata started very poorly, losing a wicket in the very first over when chasing a 228-run target. For Rajasthan, this was just what they needed. An early wicket.
Shaheen Afridi provided Rajasthan with the crucial wicket of Jason Roy. A batsman that is capable of swinging the game in his team's favour almost singlehandedly.
Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara normalised Kolkata's start after the early dismissal of Jason Roy. Rajasthan were going to need wickets, especially of these two.
An incredible throw from David Warner caught Virat Kohli short of the crease by a few inches as he was trying to sneak through for a single off Shaheen Afridi.
This was the potential game-changer that Rajasthan desperately needed. The wicket of Virat Kohli in the final of a tournament was always going to be important.
Soon after his dismissal, Kolkata brought-up their fifty. They were 54/2. Kolkata were ahead of the required run-rate, but they were jolted by two major dismissals.
Virat Kohli and Jason Roy were vital in this run-chase, but they were limited by Rajasthan brilliantly. Joe Root now had the burden of making this chase successful.
But another wicket fell for Kolkata shortly afterwards. Cheteshwar Pujara was crafting a partnership with Joe Root, but Ravindra Jadeja dismissed him prematurely.
Even though it wasn't a convincing appeal to the naked eye, the hawkeye confirmed that it was just about clipping the stumps. Ravindra Jadeja struck a crucial blow.
Kolkata moved past 100, despite losing wickets early on in the innings, Kolkata carried on with their business as usual with Joe Root at the helm of all operations.
Dinesh Karthik chipped in with valuable runs too, bringing this stand closer to the 50-run mark. These two batsmen needed to carry on with this for much longer.
Joe Root brought up his 50! And what a knock it was! Under pressure, he rescued his team from a near-collapse state and brought them closer to the championship.
This was exactly the kind of innings Kolkata required. On the other hand, Rajasthan were fuming at the fact that they could not capitalise on their early strikes.
They were fuming until Joe Root threw his wicket away three balls later. He was playing so well and had already achieved a fifty, but he threw it all away.
Chasing a wide delivery off Ravindra Jadeja's bowling, Joe Root edged it straight to the 'keeper. A simple catch for MS Dhoni, but a major setback for Kolkata.
At the end of the 30th over, Kolkata were 134/4. Dinesh Karthik is playing swiftly but Deepak Hooda has just come out to bat. These were hard times for Kolkata.
Virat Kohli will be disappointed with how successful Rajasthan had been in mitigating Kolkata. They now needed 94 runs to win, and they've had 6 wickets left.
A display of raw power and brutality from Dinesh Karthik as he smashed Washington Sundar for a massive six over mid-on. All of Kolkata's hopes were on this man.
David Warner held onto a difficult catch in the outfield to ensure Deepak Hooda's dismissal that Kagiso Rabada beautifully set-up. This was a major breakthrough.
Was this the moment that turned the game in favour of Rajasthan? It would be safe to say that all of Kolkata's hopes, truly lied on one man now - Dinesh Karthik.
Another wicket fell as Mohammad Nabi was sent back for a duck! Kagiso Rabada struck yet again, and it was accompanied by another amazing catch in the outfield.
Two back-to-back wickets put Rajasthan in command. Kolkata's tail was now exposed to the fired-up Rajasthan bowling attack with Mitchell Starc walking out to bat.
In all this chaos, Dinesh Karthik moved to his fifty with a single that followed a six. Kolkata now required 68 runs from 88 balls. Achievable, but quite difficult.
40.0 overs have gone by, and Dinesh Karthik is still standing. Kolkata needed exactly 50 runs to win the Championship, and they had 60 balls left to get there.
Mitchell Starc at the other end was playing well too. Showing great resistance, holding his own. Rajasthan were unable to break this partnership in its initial stage.
But he fell as Kagiso Rabada struck in the 43rd over, ending his resistant, and picking the much-needed wicket. An unfortunate way to lose your wicket, via chop-on.
For a split-second, it seemed like Dinesh Karthik wasn't alone in his endeavour as Mitchell Starc was fighting valiantly to keep his wicket safe, and his team alive.
Dinesh Karthik, even after the fall of Mitchell Starc's wicket carried on with his innings. An innings too sublime for words, really. It truly was the innings of his life.
Rajasthan desperately needed wickets. The wicket of Dinesh Karthik would've been the game for them, but running him out of partners was also an option for them.
With 25 runs needed off the last 4.0 overs, Dinesh Karthik struck a majestic six over mid-on. Despite his brilliant stroke of play, only seven runs came off that over.
The equation for Kolkata had come down to 18 runs from 18 balls, and it was instantly made worse by Navdeep Saini when he conveniently removed Dinesh Karthik.
Navdeep Saini's wicket of Dinesh Karthik was nothing short of a game-changer! He might've just picked-up the most important wicket in the entire tournament.
Even though Navdeep Saini conceded more runs in that over than his team would've liked him to, he also managed to get the game-changing wicket of Dinesh Karthik.
Kolkata now needed 11 runs from 12 deliveries. Could Kolkata's tail push them over the finishing line, or were Rajasthan's bowlers going to prevail once again?
This question was probably answered instantly when Shaheen Afridi removed Mohammad Shami, bringing Kolkata down to their last pair with 11 runs still needed.
Shaheen Afridi struck at such an opportune moment for his team. Rajasthan were just one wicket away from winning the inaugural Indian One-Day Championship.
And they got that last wicket when Shaheen Afridi dismissed Bhuvneshwar Kumar, after Bhuvneshwar Kumar had given Rajasthan a bit of a scare with a boundary.
Kolkata required 6 runs from 9 deliveries, but they ran out of wickets. Their tail could not push them over the line and give them the ultimate glory of the title.
For Rajasthan, this was the perfect end to a near-perfect season. They narrowly escaped defeat and won not only the match, but the Indian One-Day Championship.
A 5-run victory which represented Rajasthan's entire campaign. A campaign where Rajasthan went against all odds, and emerged victorious in all of the situations.
MOST RUNS | TEAM | RUNS | AVE | 50 | 100 | HIS | MOST WICKETS | TEAM | WKTS | AVE | 4WI | 5WI | BBI | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
- Ruturaj Gaikwad- | -▉ DELHI | 798 | -61.38- | 8 | 0 | -90 | - Shaheen Afridi | -▉ RAJASTHAN | 29 | -20.89- | 1 | 1 | -5/53- | |||||||||||||||
- Babar Azam | -▉ HYDERABAD | 795 | 61.15 | 1 | 5 | -144 | - Mitchell Starc | -▉ KOLKATA | 28 | 20.71 | 2 | 0 | 4/23 | |||||||||||||||
- Virat Kohli | -▉ KOLKATA | 778 | 59.84 | 5 | 2 | -116 | - Kagiso Rabada | -▉ RAJASTHAN | 28 | 22.25 | 0 | 0 | 3/35 | |||||||||||||||
- Rohit Sharma | -▉ MUMBAI | 769 | 51.27 | 6 | 1 | -129 | - Rashid Khan | -▉ HYDERABAD | 26 | 26.03 | 1 | 1 | 5/36 | |||||||||||||||
- David Warner | -▉ RAJASTHAN | 765 | 51.00 | 5 | 2 | -121 | - Mohammad Amir | -▉ CHENNAI | 26 | 27.46 | 1 | 1 | 5/25 | |||||||||||||||
- Joe Root | -▉ KOLKATA | 733 | 81.44 | 5 | 1 | -107 | - Bhuvneshwar Kumar- | -▉ KOLKATA | 25 | 23.76 | 0 | 0 | 3/17 | |||||||||||||||
- Prithvi Shaw | -▉ MUMBAI | 708 | 50.57 | 4 | 1 | -122 | - Akshay Karnewar | -▉ DELHI | 23 | 25.21 | 1 | 0 | 4/68 | |||||||||||||||
- Steven Smith | -▉ CHENNAI | 694 | 46.27 | 2 | 3 | -109*- | - Jofra Archer | -▉ MUMBAI | 23 | 32.86 | 1 | 0 | 4/32 | |||||||||||||||
- Manish Pandey | -▉ DELHI | 667 | 60.63 | 6 | 1 | -104 | - Kuldeep Yadav | -▉ PUNJAB | 22 | 21.45 | 1 | 0 | 4/44 | |||||||||||||||
- Ross Taylor | -▉ MUMBAI | 638 | 45.57 | 4 | 1 | -101 | - Pat Cummins | -▉ DELHI | 22 | 25.54 | 0 | 0 | 3/37 | |||||||||||||||
- Martin Guptill | -▉ RAJASTHAN | 602 | 35.41 | 6 | 0 | -86 | - Navdeep Saini | -▉ RAJASTHAN | 22 | 32.00 | 1 | 0 | 4/45 | |||||||||||||||
- Shikhar Dhawan | -▉ PUNJAB | 594 | 42.42 | 5 | 1 | -105 | - Axar Patel | -▉ BENGALURU- | 21 | 21.90 | 1 | 1 | 5/22 | |||||||||||||||
- Eoin Morgan | -▉ HYDERABAD | 578 | 52.54 | 6 | 0 | -84* | - Amit Mishra | -▉ KOLKATA | 21 | 23.80 | 0 | 1 | 5/33 | |||||||||||||||
- Kane Williamson | -▉ BENGALURU- | 574 | 44.15 | 6 | 0 | -81 | - Mohammad Shami | -▉ KOLKATA | 21 | 29.00 | 0 | 0 | 3/41 | |||||||||||||||
- Jason Roy | -▉ KOLKATA | 570 | 40.71 | 5 | 0 | -93 | - Ravindra Jadeja | -▉ RAJASTHAN | 21 | 35.33 | 0 | 0 | 3/53 |
-Jos Buttler's 32-ball 60* overshadowed Kedar Jadhav and Shikhar Dhawan's impressive 82 and 93 respectively. And Mumbai's top-order excellence in the same game.
After being given a massive 352-run target to chase, Punjab started said chase brilliantly with their openers putting-up a 150-run stand for the first wicket.
However, a collapse in their middle-order left them in a predicament with 101 runs needed in the last 9.0 overs. Jos Buttler's extravagant batting made that possible.
He smashed Mumbai's bowlers all around the Wankhede Stadium in an impressive match-winning cameo. Jos Buttler finished the job, even with Dre Russ remaining.
Punjab made a comeback in quite the fashion by chasing down a 352-run target after having been skittled for a mere 72 in the game previous to this against Kolkata.
-Axar Patel recorded the best figures of the Indian One-Day championship against a formidable Chennai batting line. He bagged 5 wickets for just 22 runs in 6.2 overs.
As a result of Axar Patel's brilliance, Chennai were dismissed for 180. A total that Bengaluru chased down quite comfortably, with 7 wickets and 125 balls to spare.
If it weren't for Axar Patel setting-up this successful run-chase for Bengaluru on a batsman-friendly wicket, Chennai's bowlers would've overwhelmed Bengaluru.
The most important wicket in Axar Patel's 5-fer, was of Steven Smith, which ended-up completely deflating Chennai's innings along with their morale, on a whole.
-Glenn Maxwell got the perfect revenge when he pushed Chennai over the line against Delhi, after previously having failed in doing the same, against the same side.
In the aforementioned game, Glenn Maxwell single-handedly brought his team close to victory with a scintillating hundred, only for him to run out of partners.
This time, he made sure to completely take on the mantle of responsibility and ensure what he couldn't ensure in the last game. He won the game for his team.
Glenn Maxwell smashed a 27-ball 42* that saw Chennai achieve the 257-run target that Delhi had set them. Unfortunately, he withdrew from the league after this.
-This was a dead-rubber for Hyderabad because they had already been eliminated from contention for the play-offs. But that did not demotivate Babar Azam at all.
He played strokes all around the Wankhede Stadium, gathering 144 runs from 121 balls before being dismissed in the 37th over by a subliminal Jofra Archer delivery.
Even though Rishabh Pant went onto score a hundred in the same innings, Azam's knock was of more significance since it became the highest-score in the league.
-Kolkata bowled-out Rajasthan for just 227 in The Grand Finale of the league, all thanks to Amit Mishra's 5-wicket haul. Unfortunately, his efforts were all in vain.
David Warner and MS Dhoni were amongst the five victims he had. Both of whom, had been the most-important players for Rajasthan throughout the season.
Even with Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mitchell Starc in the team, Amit Mishra easily had the standout performance in this all-important matchup.
- Pinch hitter/PresidentEvil - M. Chinnaswamy Stadium |
Shai Hope Imam-Ul-Haq Prashant Chopra Ajinkya Rahane Kane Williamson Mayank Agarwal Faf du Plessis Wriddhiman Saha Ben Stokes Rishi Dhawan Jalaj Saxena Axar Patel Chris Woakes Jasprit Bumrah Ishant Sharma Shardul Thakur Harshal Patel Piyush Chawla |
- Naman Thakur - M.A. Chidambaram Stadium |
Shubman Gill Steve Smith - Right-arm legbreak Shreyas Iyer Karun Nair Sanju Samson Marnus Labuschagne - Right-arm legbreak Mandeep Singh Mushfiqur Rahim Srikar Bharat Anukul Roy Imad Wasim Jason Holder Mohammad Amir Deepak Chahar Siddarth Kaul Mohammad Siraj Kulwant Khejroliya Yuzvendra Chahal |
- Aislabie - Arun Jaitley Stadium |
Tamim Iqbal Ruturaj Gaikwad Jonny Bairstow Sheldon Jackson Sam Hain Manish Pandey Rinku Singh Darren Stevens Hardik Pandya Krunal Pandya Ashutosh Aman Krishnappa Gowtham Pat Cummins Josh Hazlewood Kamlesh Nagarkoti Dhawal Kulkarni Vinay Kumar Akshay Karnewar |
- X Factor - Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium |
KL Rahul Ankush Bains Babar Azam Rishabh Pant Puneet Bisht Abhinav Mukund Eoin Morgan Rassie van der Dussen Vijay Shankar Hanuma Vihari Stuart Binny Rashid Khan Hasan Ali Umesh Yadav Matt Henry Varun Aaron Sandeep Sharma Rahul Chahar |
- The Deadman/VC the slogger - Eden Gardens |
Murali Vijay Jason Roy Parthiv Patel Virat Kohli Joe Root - Right-arm offbreak Cheteshwar Pujara Anmolpreet Singh Deepak Hooda Dinesh Karthik Mohammad Nabi Pawan Negi Shivam Mavi Mitchell Starc Mohammad Shami Lockie Ferguson Bhuvneshwar Kumar Amit Mishra Mujeeb Ur Rahman |
- NilayShah60/Sinister One - Wankhede Stadium |
Quinton de Kock Rohit Sharma Prithvi Shaw Peter Handscomb Karn Veer Kaushal Aditya Tare Ross Taylor Ishan Kishan Baba Indrajith Shivam Dube Colin de Grandhomme Mayank Markande Jofra Archer Khaleel Ahmed Avesh Khan Sandeep Warrier Shahbaz Nadeem Adam Zampa |
- ABDULLAH/CerealKiller - PCA IS Bindra Stadium |
Shikhar Dhawan Aaron Finch Robin Uthappa Suresh Raina - Right-arm offbreak Jos Buttler Manoj Tiwary Gurkeerat Singh Mann - Right-arm offbreak Kedar Jadhav Naman Ojha Jimmy Neesham Andre Russell Ravichandran Ashwin Barinder Sran Trent Boult Mustafizur Rahman Mohit Sharma Jaydev Unadkat Kuldeep Yadav |
- Life Warrior/User2010 - Sawai Mansingh Stadium |
David Warner Martin Guptill Ambati Rayudu Nitish Rana - Right-arm offbreak Dhruv Shorey Ankit Bawne Suryakumar Yadav - Right-arm medium Alex Carey MS Dhoni Ravindra Jadeja Shreyas Gopal Washington Sundar Kagiso Rabada Navdeep Saini Prasidh Krishna Ankit Rajpoot Shaheen Afridi Imran Tahir |
Q | TEAM | M | W | L | T | P | NRR | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-▉▉ KOLKATA | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 27 | +0.611 | ||||||||||
-▉▉ CHENNAI | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 24 | +0.313 | ||||||||||
-▉▉ RAJASTHAN | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 24 | +0.288 | ||||||||||
-▉▉ MUMBAI | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 | -0.289 | ||||||||||
-▉▉ PUNJAB | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 | -0.364 | ||||||||||
-▉▉ HYDERABAD | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 18 | -0.029 | ||||||||||
-▉▉ DELHI | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 18 | -0.099 | ||||||||||
-- | -▉▉ BENGALURU- | -14- | -5- | -9- | -0- | -15- | --0.368- |
Yep, it looked like it'd be a Kolkata-Chennai final at one point but Chennai losing two of their main players and Rajasthan's unbelievable comeback changed everything!Shakib & Maxwell out of the squad really derailed us ...
You're getting Hyderabad since there is no way their old manager is returning.Hyderabad
Punjab or Delhi
And I would retain , if the teams are same ...
Yes, we will be doing team retentions, so you guys get to keep yours, no probs.I am sticking with Kolkata
Thank you so much for showing interest! I haven't confirmed with the old managers of either teams yet, but as soon as either of them pulls out, you're getting that team between Bengaluru and Delhi.Banglore or Delhi
@NilayShah60 has retained Mumbai but he's open to having you as his co-manager. Or if you want to manage solo, you can wait and see if a spot opens up for any of the other teams.Mumbai
Who was the old?You're getting Hyderabad since there is no way their old manager is returning.
Yes, we will be doing team retentions, so you guys get to keep yours, no probs.
Thank you so much for showing interest! I haven't confirmed with the old managers of either teams yet, but as soon as either of them pulls out, you're getting that team between Bengaluru and Delhi.
@NilayShah60 has retained Mumbai but he's open to having you as his co-manager. Or if you want to manage solo, you can wait and see if a spot opens up for any of the other teams.
I should say, it'll be a good few weeks before I start this. Still have a couple of rounds left in HCP, and after that I'll take a little break, so just as an FYI.
Ooooo don't knock that door.Who was the old?
Looks like I am missing outOoooo don't knock that door.