The 13th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has come to an end. The Mumbai Indians became five-time champions. Due to the difficult situation in their country with the coronavirus, it was decided to hold the tournament outside India in the UAE without spectators. We want to say special thanks to the Cricket Control Council of India (BCCI) for their courageous and firm decision not to cancel the main and favorite event of the year for Indians and cricket fans from other countries.
From the first days, a record number of viewers watched the IPL. In the first week of the IPL alone, 269 million viewers were recorded. That’s 11 million more per match compared to 2019. Now the final count is underway, but preliminary figures indicate an increase of 30%. Also, bookmakers showed record numbers during the event. For example, the local Indian bookmaker 4rabet.com has doubled the number of bets compared to last year!
Each match was virtually voiced by the crowd: shouts in response to 4 points or 6 points; outs; catches and so on. The athletes, despite the long isolation, showed good shape. We saw amazing ketch, saves, long-range shots outside the stadiums. Of course, there were miss-fields, simple drops and others.
Thanks to the organizers and everyone involved in this event! We are saying goodbye to IPL 2020 and are already looking forward to the new tournament of 2021! In the meantime, let’s remember the best playoff and group stage matches.
The first match which we want to see more than several times is how Kings11 were eliminated from the tournament.
Kings 11 Punjab finished second not to qualify for the IPL 2020 playoffs. They were deprived of their chance by the team that was left behind two rounds ago, namely Chennai Super Kings.
Kings 11 managed to score 153/6 over 20 overs. Mayank Agarval returned to the ranks, together with KL Rahul they became the opening batsman. Bowler Lungi Ngidi stood in their way. First knocked out by Mayank (26 runs), then KL Rahul (29 runs), later knocked out by Jimmy Neesham.
Big Boss Chris Gayle was only able to score 12 points back then. He received LBW from Imran Tahir.
Only Deepak Hooda handled Chennai’s bowlers. He took 62 innings with no strike in 30 innings.
Faf Du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad begin the pursuit. Plessis attacks, Ruturaj plays calmly and 5th over and 50 points out, run rate is excellent.
Faf leaves at the end of the 9th over with 48 points. The score by that time is 82. New batsman Ambati Rayudu, together with Gaikwadem they finished off Kings 11. It all ends at 18.5 over. 30 at Ambati and 62 at Raturaj. It’s a pity both teams. We are already used to the fact that Chennai will not be, now also Kings 11, which we will obviously miss. Gail, Mayank, Shami and KL captain Rahul – you are brilliant.
The second match worth your attention will be Sunrise Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore which will decide who is worthy for the IPL 2020 semi-finals. Three wins in a row put the Sunrise in the playoffs. Royal Challengers, on the contrary, were at the top of the championship, but by the end, they could not win in the last four games and dropped to 4th place.
Sunrises take the toss and decide to start with bowling. Their rivals are gaining only 131 runs, having lost 7 batsmen. The best bowler was Jason Holder. It is he who takes the opening betters Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal. Captain Kohli took only 6 runs, and his partner only 1. Later, Holder takes Shivam Dube’s wicket.
At the Royal Challengers, two batsmen were able to take good innings. Aaron Finch took 32 innings and AB de Villiers was able to make a half century with 56 points.
Hyderabad’s turn. Wriddhiman Saha and Jonny Bairstow didn’t play back then, and captain David Warner was used to opening betting with them. They are being replaced by Shreevats Goswami. The first out came to Goswami, he leaves with nothing.
Warner lasted 5 overs and earned 17 points. Manish Pandey worked with him and their run-rate was around 9. After the departure of Warner and Pandey (24 runs) the run-rate began to sag, and much more. 3 outs early on could have stopped Sunrise despite having a small target of 131 runs.
New Zealand player Kane Williamson had to keep the wicket. His new partner, Priyam Garg, left early, with Jason Holder being the new one.
By the 15th over the score is 87/4. With 30 innings, 45 runs are needed. Sunrises take an inning from the ball, and on the last Kane they do a 6! 97/4, needs 35 runs with 24 innings. There were 7 runs, one 4 of Kane. There are 18 innings and 28 runs left to win. Again, one 4-ka Kane and dashes, took 10 runs.
The last two overs, they will decide the fate of the teams. 12 innings remain. Sunrise needs 18 runs to win. Bowler Mohammed Siraj, by that time he had the best record in the team – 2 wickets. Holder takes 4 and the partnership of the two Sunrise bets reaches 50 points. For an over, 9 runs are taken, from the last over you need the same amount.
The ball goes to Navdeep Saini. He has no wickets, for 3 overs he gave 23 innings. First serve and Kane makes a run – half century! The second ball to the holder is a dot ball. They need 8 runs from 4 innings. The third inning is 4 from Holder. 3 balls and 4 runs to win! Follow the submission and again 4 Holder! Victory!
Basically, the second match will be the semifinals of the Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, where the teams fought to reach the final, where the Mumbai Indians were waiting for them.
Toss for Delhi and they decide to start with betting. Shikhar Dhawan and Marcus Stoinis open the innings. Markus previously came out 3rd, 4th batsman and always achieved good results. In previous games, opening batsmen were pouring in, so the idea is clear, especially since Stoinis has no problems with the new ball.
The move was justified. Rashid Khan in 8 over) knocks out Marcus (38 runs in 27 innings). The score by that time was 86, the run rate was 10! Shreyas Iyer’s next out was in the 13th over, with a total of 21 innings. And from Shikhar he played almost to the end, leaving only in the 18th over, he scored 78 runs in 50 innings. Shimron Hetmyer makes 42 runs with no strike in 22 serves. The total is 189/3.
Delhi’s big score can be seen not as their merit, but as Sunrise’s omission. The impression was that they left all their strength in the past games. Drop-catches, miss-fields, incomprehensible throws to run-out, when the batman has almost reached, and in return there are extra runs.
Hyderabad needs to take 9.45 on each over. David Warner and Priyam Garg open the chase. First inning of Kagiso Rabada’s second over on Warner. The ball flies to the Yorker and at the end turns to the side of the batman’s feet, Warner tries to jump off the ball, but too late – the ball breaks the wicket from the shields! Only 2 runs were taken today by the captain.
Garg lasted 4 overs. Marcus Stoinis knocks him out. 43 runs and 2 outs. Two goals pass and Manish Pandey is out with 21 runs.
Kane Williamson and Jason Holder are in a bunch again. Will they be able to drag the team in the same way as they did in the last match?
The middle of the game is 75/3. The required run rate is 11.69. Kane is playing, there are two 6s in two overs, Jason also tries to attack at 6, but he is caught, only 11 runs. Abdul Samad comes out to Kane to help.
Sunrise scores one hundred points on the first serve of the 12th over, Kane makes a 6 on the serve of Marcus Stoinis. They need 89 runs from 47 innings. Kane needs 3 more runs before the half-century and by 13.3 over he deservedly gets his 50 runs.
They have 36 innings but need 77 runs.
Suddenly, Samad joins in the pursuit, 6,4,4 in a row. Now with 30 innings you need 61, quite close, quite real.
With 43 runs from 20 innings left, Marcus Stoinis came out on the attack. He shoves wide for Kane, he goes 6 and Rabad catches. Kane took 67 runs for his team. They have 3 overs left, the new batsman Rashid Khan. Rashid does 6 and 4 in overs, with the last 12 balls needing 30. Only 1 run from Rashid, 6 from Samad and a catch-out. The batsman earned 33, the new one – Shreevats Goswami. Rashid goes straight to the attack and catches out again! 167/7. Shahbaz Nadeem comes out, and Goswami goes for a big shot and … a catch-out. There are 3 outs from Kagiso Rabad in over!
In the last over the Sunrise needed 22, and they only took 4 runs. The end for Sunrise, and Delhi reach the IPL Finals for the first time in their history!
Also I think the match between Sunrises and Mumbai Indians is worth your attention.
This is a story about the team captain who is half of the team. The ideal captain, the one who does not just tell his partners, not the one who makes changes on time, but the one who takes and drags the team along like a locomotive! This story is about David Warner, a brilliant captain.
The Mumbai Indians have solved all their questions long ago, they unconditionally go to the playoffs from the first place. The Sunrise Hyderabad team only needed a win, they were 5th and did not advance further.
Beat the first Mumbai. Rohit Sharma returned to the ranks, though he played so-so – for 7 innings only 4 points. Just David Warner caught him!
Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Kieron Pollard performed well without a half century, but were gaining points. Sandeep Sharma took 3 Wickets, Jason Holder and Shahbaz Nadeem took 2 each.
149 runs for 20 overs and 8 outs. Even these points are quite enough to win, as the practice of recent games shows.
David Warner was paired with Wriddhiman Saha. Two batsmen made only one 6 each. But they threw 4-k on Mumbai: 10 Warner and 7 Sakha. Two batmen played wisely, somewhere neatly, but without fear of an opponent and with complete faith in victory. Both defended on the beat until the winning score of 151 runs.
Warner has 85 runs in 58 innings, Saha has 58 runs in 45 innings. Brilliant victory! Rajasthan’s teams with star captain Steve Smith, Kings 11 Punjab with talented KL Rahul captain were unable to jump into the game at the right time and bring things to a victory. Warner did! He took and made the team win. He brought the matter to the desired result. The team took 3rd place in the group and then played the match for reaching the semifinals with Royal Challengers Bangalore, with the team that could have been higher, but at some point the game did not go to the captain Virat Kohli.
And of course, we cannot pass by the final of the tournament. Delhi Capitals Team vs. Mumbai Indians. The team from Mumbai has won victories in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019. For Delhi, this is the first ending in their history.
Luck is on Delhi’s side. They take the toss and decide to start with betting.
Trent Boult knocked out Marcus Stoinis from the first serve, Delhi’s bet, like in the semifinals, didn’t work. Shikhar Dhawan is discouraged and is now paired with Ajinkya Rahane. Bolt again through over, he takes Ajinkya’s wicket, 16 runs and 2 outs! Another over passes and Dhavan leaves – 22/3.
The time of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant comes. Captain Shreyas was unlucky with betting this year, he scored a little, not at all the score that was expected from him. But not today! In the final, he showed all critics why he was the captain. He reflected 50 innings, earned 65 points from them and finished the game to the last goal!
His partner, Rishhab, also made a half-century. 56 runs from 38 innings. For 20 overs, 156/7 are scored.
The goal for Mumbai is clear. To the 4th over, a run-rate of 10. After serving Marcus Stoinis, the Delhi team made Quinton De Kock, in 12 innings he had 20 runs. His team-mate and team captain Rohit Sharma, like the captain of Delhi, is on strike today – 68 runs from 51 goals, he leaves only in the 16th over. By the time the game is done, 137/3, there are only a few innings left.
Ishan Kishan has the second best score on the team with 33 wins without a strike.
157 runs were taken already on the 4th ball of the 18th over. Mumbai Indians winners of the 2020 IPL, now five times champions!
