IPL 2014
Frayed tempers, and a Royal heist
For the second time in the tournament against Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders suffered a batting meltdown, creating a dubious record of sorts in the process. Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa put on an opening stand of 121 but a batting brain-freeze saw them lose six wickets for two runs and eventually lose by 10 runs. Pravin Tambe was the key man for Royals, picking up his first hat-trick. •BCCI
A clash between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings, the top two teams of the IPL, was expected to be a close one. Instead, it was carnage for Super Kings, expectedly at the hands of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller. Kings XI scored 69 in their first 10 overs batting first. The next 10 yielded an astounding 162. Maxwell fell for 90 but the score of 231 was enough to give Kings XI a 44-run win. •BCCI
A rain-hit T20 game can severely test your patience as fans at the Feroz Shah Kotla found out in the match between Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Four rain stoppages stretched the game well past the finish time and Sunrisers had to navigate varying targets of 117, 97 and finally 43, which they got to in the fifth over. Earlier, the Sunrisers bowlers, helped along by a rain break and Daredevils' decision to hold JP Duminy back, restricted the hosts to 143. Daredevils' awful run this season continued - this was their fourth loss at home•BCCI
A scintillating knock with the bat? Check. A four-wicket haul with the ball? Check. His place in the team and his Rs 14 crore value under question, Yuvraj Singh did nearly everything that was asked of him against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. He cracked a 38-ball 83 and in the company of AB de Villiers took Royal Challengers to 190. Then he turned his arm over and got the Royals top order early. For 36 overs, the game belonged to Royal Challengers, until…•BCCI
Dale Steyn plucked an incredible catch on the boundary against Daredevils, arching backwards, catching the ball from over the boundary and then landing with the adroitness of a gymnast•BCCI
Ball thrown, bat flung and heated words exchanged. The Mitchell Starc-Kieron Pollard altercation was one of the ugliest in the IPL but both players involved were merely handed fines. The acrimonious match at the Wankhede Stadium ended with a 19-run win for the home side, Mumbai Indians, but the game is likely to be remembered for the hot-headed actions of the players involved•BCCI
Shane Watson took the second hat-trick of the season for Rajasthan Royals but they came up against a disciplined bowling effort from Sunrisers Hyderabad, who rediscovered their ability to defend low totals. Chasing 135 for a win, Royals were bowled out for 102. •BCCI
A chase heading for a tight finish, so who ya gonna call? MS Dhoni, of course. Possibly the best finisher in limited-overs cricket right now, Dhoni calmly provided the big hits in the final over to guide Chennai Super Kings to a four-wicket win over Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. The last time Mumbai had lost a match at the ground was in May 2012, when their openers were Sachin Tendulkar and Herschelle Gibbs•BCCI
… two Australians - Steven Smith and James Faulkner - catapulted Royals home in one of the best chases of IPL 2014. So remarkable were their knocks that Royals, who needed 65 off the last four overs, were home with seven balls to spare. The pair struck 21, 23 and 21 runs in the 17th, 18th and 19th overs to decimate Royal Challengers at home•BCCI
Faf du Plessis, meanwhile, went airborne to pull off this save against Mumbai Indians•BCCI
A battle of the big hitters was on the cards when Royal Challengers Bangalore took on Kings XI Punjab. Instead, Kings XI's young seamer Sandeep Sharma stole the limelight - getting Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli out for the second time in a tournament. David Miller blasted 66 off 29 balls to propel Kings XI to 198 but Royal Challengers were kept to 166 despite a fifty from AB de Villiers•BCCI
He started the IPL with three consecutive ducks but Gautam Gambhir quickly forged a turnaround to strike three successive fifties. The third of those knocks anchored Kolkata Knight Riders to a calm nine-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab that helped them break into the top four of the points table•BCCI
There were high-adrenaline moments on the field, too. David Miller almost pulled off a stunner against Royal Challengers Bangalore•BCCI