IPL: Capitals keep playoff hopes alive thanks to Stubbs' quick-fire knock

RESULT

Tristan Stubb's quick-fire 41 helped propel the Delhi Capitals to a 20-run win as they restricted Rajasthan Royals to 201-8 in their IPL encounter on Tuesday.

Chasing a competitive 222 to win, Rajasthan Royals got off to a see-saw start as Yashasvi Jaiswal's early demise brought captain Sanju Samson in.

Samson and Jos Buttler put on a 63-run second wicket stand before Buttler was bowled out for 19 off 17 balls.

Samson was the only batter to show fight for Rajasthan as he brought up his fifth IPL half-century of the season.

Samson was controversially caught on the boundary rope off Mukesh Kumar as he departed for a lovely 86 off 46 balls (hitting eight fours and six sixes).

With Samson gone and wickets and runs drying up, Rajasthan fell 20 runs short of their target and 

After being sent to bat first, Fraser-McGurk and Porel got Delhi Capitals to a fast start, sharing a 60-run opening stand.

Fraser-McGurk was the main attacker as he smashed a 19-ball IPL fifty before he was caught off the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin (3/24).

Porel shouldered the middle of the Capitals innings as he brought up his maiden IPL half-century before he got a leading edge to point and departed for 65 off 36 balls (hitting seven fours and three sixes).

Proteas batter Stubbs took Capitals over the 200-mark as he shared a 45-run stand with Gulbadin Naib (19) before Stubbs was trapped LBW by Sandeep Sharma for a handy 41 off 20 balls (hitting three sixes and fours).

Scores in brief:

Delhi Capitals 221-8 in 20 (Porel 65, Fraser-McGurk 50, Ashwin 3/24, Sandeep 1/42)

Rajasthan Royals 201-8 in 20 (Samson 86, Parag 27, Kuldeep 2/25, Mukesh 2/30)

Result: Delhi Capitals won by 20 runs

OUT

Mukesh Kumar gets the massive wicket! Sanju Samson is out as he is caught on the boundary rope for 86 off 46 balls (hitting eight fours and six sixes).

Is that it for Rajasthan or can they push over the line?

RR 170-4 in 16

Rajasthan Royals 52 need off 24 balls

Rasikh Salam struck in the 11th over as he removed Riyan Parag, who was bowled for 27 off 22 balls.

However, captain Sanju Samson has led from the front, bringing up his fifth IPL half-century of the season. The in-form batter has continued to pick up boundaries, but Rajasthan are still two runs off the required run-rate of 13.

RR 131-3 in 13

Samson 74*

Shubham 3*

Rajasthan Royals need 91 off 42 balls

10 overs left

Axar Patel breaks the 63-run second wicket stand as Jos Buttler edges the ball onto his stumps and is bowled out for 19 off 17 balls.

However, Rajasthan have just dipped down the run-rate of 12.10 as Samson inches closer to a fifty...

RR 93-2 in 10

Samson 47*

Parag 20*

RR need 129 runs off 60 balls.

5-over update:

After opening their run chase with a boundary, Yashasvi Jaiswal is caught off the second delivery of the first over.

Khaleel Ahmed strikes early as Jaiswal stepped back and slapped it to the fielder at mid-on for four.

An unbeaten fifty-ran stand has formed between Jos Buttler and captain Sanju Samson as Rajasthan keep up with the required run-rate of 10.94.

Samson has been the main aggressor and has already reached his forties.

RR 57-1 in 5

Buttler 9*

Samson 41*

Rajasthan Royals need 165 off 90 balls.

INNINGS

Half-centuries by openers Abishek Porel and Jake Fraser-McGurk propelled Delhi Capitals to 221-8 in their IPL encounter against Rajasthan Royals.

After being sent to bat first, Fraser-McGurk and Porel got Delhi Capitals to a fast start, sharing a 60-run opening stand. Fraser-McGurk was the main attacker as he smashed a 19-ball IPL fifty before he was caught off the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin.

While a few wickets fell, Porel shouldered the middle of the Capitals innings as he brought up his maiden IPL half-century and went onto 42-run stand with Axar Patel (15).

Ashwin strikes as Porel gets a leading edge to point and departs for 65 off 36 balls (hitting seven fours and three sixes).

Proteas batter Tristan Stubbs took Capitals over the 200-mark as he shared a 45-run stand with Gulbadin Naib (19) before Stubbs was trapped LBW by Sandeep Sharma for a handy 41 off 20 balls (hitting three sixes and fours).

Ashwin was the pick of the Rajasthan bowlers as he took three for 24 in his four overs.

Scores in brief:

Delhi Capitals 221-8 in 20 (Porel 65, Fraser-McGurk 50, Ashwin 3/24, Sandeep 1/42)

Rajasthan Royals need 222 runs to win

15-over update:

Two more wickets fall for the Delhi Capitals.

Ashwin gets his third scalp and the big wicket of Abishek Porel, who brought up his maiden IPL fifty. Porel swings and gets a leading edge to point for 65 off 36 balls (hitting seven fours and three sixes).

Skipper Rishabh Pant swept straight to fine leg and hand Yuzvendra Chahal his 350th T20 wicket. Pant departed for a 13-ball 15.

DC 156-6 in 15

Stubbs 5*

Naib 4*

10-over update:

Two quick wickets have fallen as Shai Hope is run out for one. Ashwin gets his second scalp as Axar Patel is caught at long-off for 15.

Opener Abishek Porel continues to go strong and is four runs away from an IPL fifty.

DC 115-3 in 10

Porel 46*

Pant 2*

5-over update:

Opener Jake Fraser-McGurk was in blistering form as he smashed seven fours and three sixes to bring up his IPL half-century off just 19 balls.

However, Fraser-McGurk's innings didn't last long as Ravichandran Ashwin struck in his opening over.

Fraser-McGurk chipped it straight to the Donovan Ferreira at extra cover and the Australian departed for 50 off 20 balls.

DC 68-1 in 5

There are two South Africans in today's IPL fixture as Donovan Ferreira plays his first IPL game of the season for Rajasthan, and Tristan Stubbs represents Delhi Capitals.

Teams:

Delhi Capitals

Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel, Shai Hope, Tristan Stubbs, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Gulbadin Naib, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed

Rajasthan Royals

Rovman Powell, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Shubham Dubey, Donovan Ferreira, R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal

TOSS:

Rajasthan Royals win the toss and chosen to FIELD first in their IPL encounter against Delhi Capitals.

Yadav's ton blasts Mumbai to win over Sunrisers

Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten 102 to lead Mumbai Indians to a crushing seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday as teams jostle for a play-off berth in the IPL.

Chasing 174 for victory, Mumbai slipped to 31-3 before Suryakumar put on an unbeaten stand of 143 with Tilak Varma to achieve the target with 16 balls to spare at their home Wankhede Stadium.

Suryakumar hit the winning six, which also raised his second IPL ton in 51 balls and comes as a welcome sign for India ahead of the T20 World Cup in June in the West Indies and the United States.

"SKY was unbelievable," skipper Hardik Pandya said of his player of the match.

"More than him getting runs, him putting so much pressure on bowlers that even other batters get loose balls. He breaks you. Lucky to have him in my team."

However the win for five-time winners Mumbai, placed ninth in the 10-team table, could be late in a tournament fast moving towards its business end.

Hyderabad, led by Pat Cummins, stay fourth in the table but their fifth loss and a big one could hurt their play-off chances.

Hyderabad need to win two of their remaining three matches to make the play-offs as they remain locked at 12 points with third-placed Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants at fifth.

The top four teams will make the play-offs with the final on 26 May in Chennai.

Hyderabad, who have posted record IPL totals of 277 and 287 this season, next host Lucknow and Cummins said, "We like playing at home, done well there so far. Looking forward to what's ahead of us. Hopefully a few more fireworks."

Former champions Hyderabad posted 173-8 courtesy of Travis Head's 48 and an unbeaten 17-ball 35 by lower-order batter Cummins after being invited to bat first.

The left-handed Head gave the team a brisk start with his 30-ball knock before his departure in the 11th over and Hyderabad lost their way with regular wickets.

Pandya and spinner Piyush Chawla took three wickets each to rattle the opposition middle and lower-order as Hyderabad slipped to 136-8 in 17 overs.

But number nine Cummins had other ideas as the Australian Test and ODI captain hit back in the final three overs and put on an unbeaten stand of 37 off 19 balls with Sanvir Singh.

The batting effort inspired the team and fast bowlers came roaring to reduce Mumbai to 31-3 including the key wicket of Rohit Sharma, out caught behind for four off Cummins.

Suryakumar soon took charge with his attacking batting as he raised his 50 in 30 balls and hammered the opposition bowling with 12 fours and six sixes.

The left-handed Varma made 37 and enjoyed Suryakumar's blitz from the other end.

- AFP

15 over update

Mumbai Indians 139/3

Yadav 76*

Varma 29*

Need 35 from 30. 

10 over update

Mumbai Indians 84/3 

Yadav 33*

Varma 19*

Need 90 from 60

5 over update

Mumbai Indians 36/3

Yadav 4*

Varma 0* 

Need 138 from 90

INNINGS update

Sunrisers end on 173/8 thanks to a fighting 35 off 17 balls at the back end by skipper Pat Cummins. 

Travis Head scored 48 to get them off to a good start, but they lost their way in the middle order with Heinrich Klaasen contributing 2 and Marco Jansen 17.

Mumbai need 174 to win at 8.66 per over. 

15 over update

Sunrisers 120/5 

Jansen 16*

Ahmed 10*

10 over update

Sunrisers 88/2 

Reddy 18*

Head 47*

5 over update

Sunrisers 51/0 

Head 33*

Sharma 11*

TOSS

Mumbai won the toss and chose to field. 

TEAMS

Mumbai Indians: 1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Naman Dhir, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Tim David, 8 Anshul Kamboj, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Nuwan Thushara 

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Travis Head, 3 Mayank Agarwal, 4 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 T Natarajan

Red-hot Sunil Narine smashed 81 off 39 balls to help Kolkata Knight Riders thrash Lucknow Super Giants by 98 runs and take top spot in IPL table on Sunday.

Narine's blitz, laced with six fours and seven sixes, guided Kolkata to 235-6 after they were invited to bat first in Lucknow's final home game.

Two-time champions Kolkata bowled out Lucknow for 137 in 16.1 overs for their eighth win in 11 matches and almost guaranteed a play-off berth. Second-placed Rajasthan Royals have played one match fewer.

In the first game of the day, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja starred with bat and ball to help holders Chennai Super Kings climb to third with a 28-run win over Punjab Kings.

The top four teams will make the play-offs with the final on May 26 in Chennai.

Narine, who has impressed after being promoted to open by Kolkata this season, led their batting charge in a 61-run first-wicket stand with Phil Salt.

"He was splendid," Kolkata skipper Shreyas Iyer said of his team's player of the match Narine, who has amassed 461 runs at a strike-rate of 183.66.

"The start from openers has been great. Pure bliss. We just want to keep continuing the momentum so that we get to the great total and be optimistic."

Lucknow's Naveen-ul-Haq took three wickets to hurt KKR but Iyer, who made 23, and Ramandeep Singh, who hit a six-ball 25 not out, helped the team finish on a high.

Ramandeep returned to make an impact in the field as he took a stunning catch to dismiss Arshin Kulkarni when he ran back 21 metres to dive and pouch the ball off the bowling of Mitchell Starc.

Marcus Stoinis hit 36 but the rest of the batting fell flat as spinner Varun Chakravarthy and fast bowler Harshit Rana took three wickets each.

Andre Russell took two wickets and Narine returned figures of 1-22.

Lucknow are fifth on the table and stay in the hunt for a play-off spot.

"Once we go back to dressing room, we move on from this game and see where we went wrong," said skipper KL Rahul.

"Last home game, we are on the road for the next few games, we need to be little bit more fearless." 

- AFP

10 over update

LSG 96/4

Pooran 9*

Badoni 9*

Need 139 from 60

5 over update

LSG 47/1

Rahul 18*

Stoinis 18*

Need 189 off 90

INNINGS update

KKR 235/6

Sunil Narine top scored for KKR with 81 while Phil Salt and Angkrish Raghuvanshi both contributed 32. 

Naveen-ul-Haq 3/39 was the pick of the bowlers for LSG, who need 236 to win at 11.76 per over. 

15 over update

KKR 171/3

Raghuvanshi 32*

Singh 4*

10 over update

KKR 110/1

Narine 54*

Raghuvanshi 22*

5 over update

KKR 68/1

Narine 30*

Raghuvanshi 5*

TOSS

Lucknow won the toss and they will bowl first. 

TEAMS

KKR: P Salt, S Narine, V Iyer, S Iyer, Rinku Singh, A Raghuvanshi, A Russell, Ramandeep Singh, M Starc, H Rana, V Chakravarthy. 

LSG: KL Rahul, M Stoinis, D Hooda, N Pooran, A Turner, A Badoni, K Pandya, R Bishnoi, N Ul Haq, Mohsin Khan, Y Thakur.

No South Africans on show as Lucknow have opted to keep Quinton de Kock on the sidelines again. 

All-round Jadeja helps Chennai jump to third

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja starred with bat and ball as defending champions Chennai Super Kings thrashed Punjab Kings by 28 runs to boost their IPL play-off hopes on Sunday.

Left-hander Jadeja top-scored with 43 off 26 balls to guide Chennai to 167-9 after being invited to bat first in Punjab's adopted home ground of Dharamsala.

Jadeja then returned figures of 3-20 from his four overs of left-arm spin to help restrict Punjab to 139-9 for Chennai's sixth win in 11 matches as they climbed to third in the table.

The top four teams will make the play-offs with the final on May 26 in Chennai.

The performance from the veteran Jadeja comes as a welcome sign ahead of the T20 World Cup in June in the West Indies and the United States.

Chennai suffered an early blow with Sri Lanka pace bowler Matheesha Pathirana set to return home due to a hamstring injury.

Pathirana, called "Baby Malinga" for his slinging action modelled on former Sri Lanka quick Lasith Malinga, was Chennai's standout bowler and took 13 wickets in six matches.

But medium-pace bowler Tushar Deshpande took on the responsibility in the absence of Pathirana and injured Deepak Chahar as he struck twice in his first over and Punjab's second in the chase.

Deshpande sent Jonny Bairstow, bowled for seven, and then Rilee Rossouw, bowled for a duck, trudging back to the pavilion in the space of four balls.

Prabhsimran Singh, who made 30, and Shahshank Singh, who hit 27, attempted to rebuild in their stand of 53 but their departure triggered a collapse.

Jadeja struck regular blows including skipper Sam Curran to rattle the middle-order and derail the opposition chase.

Earlier Chennai suffered from a lack of partnerships despite a second-wicket stand between skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, who hit 32, and Daryl Mitchell, who struck 30.

Jadeja took charge and with some help from the middle order as he took Chennai to a par total at the picturesque ground overlooking the Himalayas.

But the Sunday crowd were left disappointed when veteran M.S. Dhoni was bowled for a first ball duck off a slower ball from Harshal Patel, who along with Rahul Chahal took three wickets each.

Jadeja smashed three fours and two sixes before departing in the 20th over from left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh.

- AFP

Punjab Kings are losing wickets at an alarming rate as Chennai Super Kings dig deep.

PBKS 79-7 in 13 

Punjab Kings need 89 off 42 balls

5-over update:

Chennai Super Kings have fought back with two early wickets.

Tushar Deshpande struck twice in the same over as he bowled Jonny Bairstow for seven and then Proteas batter Rilee Rossouw for a duck.

PBKS 31-2 in 5

Punjab Kings need 137 runs off 90 balls

INNINGS:

Rahul Chahar and Harshal Patel took three wickets each as Punjab Kings restricted Chennai Super Kigs for 167-9 in their IPL encounter on Sunday.

After being sent to bat first, Punjab Kings lost wickets at regular intervals.

Only one significant partnership of note as Daryl Mitchell and Ruturaj Gaikwad put on 53 runs for the second wicket before Rahul Chahar struck twice in the eighth over.

Gaikwad was caught behind for 32 off 21 balls and Shivam Dube was caught for a golden duck.

Harshal Patel was introduced and saw the end of Mitchell (30). Ravindra Jadeja top-scored with 43 off 26 balls as Chennai Super Kings limped to 167.

Scores in brief:

Chennai Super Kings 167-9 in 20 (Jadeja 43, Gaikwad 32, Chahar 3/23 Harshal 3/24)

Punjab Kings need 168 runs to win

15-over update:

Chennai Super Kings continue to lose wickets a regular intervals. Sam Curran gets the wicket of fellow countryman Moeen Ali.

Moeen pulls a slow delivery and the top-edge goes straight to Bairstow at short fine leg, and has to depart for 17 off 20 balls.

CSK 117-5 in 15

Jadeja 17*

Santner 9*

10-over update:

After a 57-run stand, Rahul Chahar gets the breakthrough with back-to-back wickets.

Ruturaj Gaikwad cuts behind for 32 off 21 balls, and then gets Shivam Dube out for a golden duck.

Daryl Mitchell falls for a handy 30 off 19 balls as he is trapped LBW by Harshal Patel.

CSK 79-4 in 10

Jadeja 1*

Mooen 5*

5-over update:

Arshdeep Singh struck in his opening over as Ajinkya Rahane has a go and is caught low at midwicket. Kagiso Rabada takes a low catch and Rahane has to depart for nine.

CSK 41-1 in 5

Two South Africans in today's IPL fixture as Rilee Rossouw and Kagiso Rabada represent Punjab Kings.

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings 

Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni (wk), Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Richard Gleeson

Punjab Kings

Jonny Bairstow, Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Sam Curran (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh

TOSS:

Punjab Kings have won the toss and will BOWL first against the Chennai Super Kings in Dharamsala.

Du Plessis, Kohli help Bengaluru stay in IPL play-off race

Skipper Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru hammer Gujarat Titans by four wickets for their third successive IPL win on Saturday.

Chasing a modest 148 for victory, Du Plessis, who hit 64, and Kohli, who made 42, laid the foundations with a stand of 92 in 35 balls as the target was achieved with 6.2 overs to spare at Bengaluru's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Du Plessis' departure triggered a collapse as Gujarat hit back with wickets from Joshua Little and Noor Ahmad to have the opposition in trouble at 117-6 when Kohli was dismissed.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik, who hit 21, and Swapnil Singh, who made 15, made sure there was no more drama as they steered the team home in an unbeaten stand of 35.

Bowlers set up victory after pace spearhead Mohammed Siraj removed the openers early and Gujarat lost regular wickets to be bowled out for 147 in 19.3 overs.

It was Bengaluru's fourth win and third on the bounce in 11 matches as they jumped from the bottom of the table to seventh and keep their slim play-off hopes alive.

Gujarat's hopes are also hanging by a thread as they slumped to their seventh loss in 11 matches.

Kohli, who reclaimed the top batting spot with 542 runs, came out roaring as he hit Mohit Sharma for two sixes in the opening over of the chase and Du Plessis soon joined in and moved ahead to raise his fifty in 18 balls.

The South African veteran smashed 10 fours and three sixes in his 23-ball blitz before being dismissed by Ireland left-arm quick Little.

Little took two more wickets including Glenn Maxwell for four as Bengaluru slipped to 107-4.

Little sent back Cameron Green and then Noor's left-arm wrist spin silenced the home crowd when he had Kohli caught behind, but the hosts had the last laugh when Singh hit the winning six.

Earlier put into bat, Gujarat went three down for 19 inside six over before big-hitter Shahrukh Khan, who top-scored with 37, stood strong in a 61-run stand with David Miller, who hit 30 off 20 balls.

Left-handed Rahul Tewatia hit a 21-ball 35 and put on another key stand with Rashid Khan to add respect to the total. - AFP

Scores in brief

RCB 152-6 after 13.4 overs (Du Plessis 64, Kohli 42; Little 4-45, Ahmad 2-23) beat Titans 147 all out after 19.3 overs (Khan 37, Tewatia 35; Siraj 2-29, Dayal 2-21, Vyshak 2-23) by four wickets with 38 balls remaining.

GAME OVER! 

Well, that was a little too close for comfort for RCB, but they are home now! 

They went from 92/0 to 117/6 in their chase of 148 for victory. It was close at that point, but RCB got over the line eventually, winning by 4 wickets and with 38 balls remaining. 

It looks like a comfortable win on the scoreboard, but this was anything but! 

Faf's 64 (23) proved hugely valuable in the end, as did Kohli's 42 (27).

Oh dear! 

Kohli is ou8t and now RCB are in trouble! 

He's gone for 42 (27) and RCB suddenly are up against it! 

They're 117/6 (11) and still need 31 runs to win. 

10 over update

A lot has happened! Du Plessis was eventually out for 64 (23), but RCB have had a massive wobble since then! 

RCB are 112/5 still needing 36! 

Kohli 38* (25)

5 over update - Faf flying! 

RCB are well in control of this run chase. 

Skipper Faf du Plessis has been brilliant, hitting the Titans to all parts, and has just gone to his 50 in 18 balls. 

It's surely game over already. 

RCB 78/0 (5)

Du Plessis 50* (18)

Kohli 28* (12)

INNINGS

Titans 147 all out after 19.3 overs

Five wickets tumble in the last five overs with the RCB quicks Siraj, Vyshak, Green and Dayal picking off the last Titans standing.

It's been a tough day at the office with an aggressive Royal Challengers going on attack in the field to extend their two-match winning streak and a late revival from the bottom of log.

Shahrukh Khan (37) and Rahul Tewatia (35) were the top scorers in an otherwise measly showing from the Titans' bats.

RCB require 148 runs to win.

Scores in brief

Titans 147 all out after 19.3 overs (Khan 37, Tewatia 35; Siraj 2-29, Dayal 2-21, Vyshak 2-23)