The fourth week of the 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 has provided a better look at how the teams have fared up. Few teams have started to peak up their form. A few have started to go down from where they started this competition.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) after a tough game got back to the top position with five wins in six games. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) dropped down to the bottom with four successive defeats.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won their first away game of this IPL season. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) lost two back-to-back games defending 160+ score, to break their own trend.
Let’s take a look at the top four moments of the fourth week in IPL 2024
Suryakumar Yadav and his another 19-ball 52 in an IPL game
It was in the ninth over when Suryakumar Yadav walked out into the middle. He went for four singles in his first five balls. That was the only four singles he took in that entire evening.
Sky whipped Akash Deep for a four, and two balls later pulled him over deep midwicket for a six. A ball later, he punched him over long legs for two consecutive sixes. Reece Topley went wider, and he just sliced one over point for a six. With two more back-to-back boundaries, he celebrated his fifty, the fastest IPL fifty for him in the history of the league.
He fell for 52 in 19 balls with the help of five fours and four sixes. Mumbai chased down one short of 200-run target with 27-balls to spare. That felt auspicious.
The IPL 2024 slowly moves to the middle half of the tournament. It’s the point where there will be a few traffic jams in the points table. And the best three will increase the gap from the bottom ones.
Dhoni, Wankhede, last over six for 4-ball 20 runs, and this time in IPL
CSK had a decent score but they needed a boosting finish to push them over the 200-run mark. The 20-run cushion was going to make their job a little easy in the bowling.
DO NOT MISS
MSD 🤝 Hat-trick of Sixes 🤝 Wankhede going berserk
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— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 14, 2024
With the dismissal of Darryl Micthell walked in. The Kiwi batter could score 17 of 14 balls. Timing seemed to be such a tough work for someone who just nailed a brilliant century months ago in the ODI World Cup on the same ground against the best bowling attack of India.
There came MS Dhoni, fresh from his onslaught against the Delhi Capitals. Hardik Pandya, already being destroyed around the ground went for the slot ball. Dhoni stood tall and smoked in over long-off for six. The second ball to him was again in the slot, and was deposited over the cow corner.
The third one was bigger, and was flicked over deep square leg for the same result. He ended with 20* in four ball, and ultimately became the difference between the two sides for their victory.
The two ‘R’s pulled the Titans from the doors of defeat
By the end of the 18th over in the chase of Gujarat Titans (GT), they still needed 35 runs in two overs. Everything by then in this IPL season was flowing smoothly for the Royals.
In the middle were Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan. The second ball of the penultimate over after a wide was smashed for a boundary from Tewatia. Rashid smoked the fourth ball, which turned out to be for a no-ball, for another boundary. After couple of good deliveries, Kuldeep Sen threw a slow short ball, and Rahul just smashed it over wide mid-off for another four to bring the number to 15 of 6.
Avesh Khan came for the last over. With the boundary for the very first ball, it went down to 11 of 5, Another couple of runs, and a four over extra cover took the equation to 5 off 3. The smartness on the fifth ball from Tewatia was excellent. They completed 2-runs, but to ensure Rashid on strike, the left-hander suicided through a run-out. Two was needed on the last ball. The field was on the ring, and Rashid with a cool mind but found the gap in the point region to take them home with three wickets in hand.
Unadkat’s last six on mis-field drew the line
Looking at the end result in Chandigarh, where Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) held their nerve for a victory over Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 2-runs, it might feel that the turning point was the last ball. Well, it was the last ball indeed. But that was during SRH’s batting innings.
On the penultimate ball, the 2016 Champions lost their ninth wicket on the score of 176. A boundary would have taken them to 180, while another wicket would finish them on the same score. In walked in Jaydev Unadkat. On his very first delivery, he smashed his willow for a straight six.
The Complexity of Cricket- Alone in the middle Or Surrounded by the Team
The ball burst through the hands of the fielder on long-off, and bounced over the rope for a six. That propels them to 182. Coincidentally, it was Unadkat himself who was asked to defend 29-runs in the last over. A few drops and some glorious shots, it went down to 9 needed on the last ball. Shashank Singh hoisted the ball for a six, but the Kings fell short by 2-runs.
It all came down to that one mis-field and the ball that flew over the rope for a six. If PBKS miss the qualifying bus by a net run rate or one solitary win, everyone knows who to blame!
Author: Subhradeep
Someone who loves how Steve Smith from being Australia's future Shane Warne has become present Don Bradman, gets inspired by Anderson's longevity, gets awed with Kohli's drive and Southee's bowling action. Never gets excited with stats and records, and believes in instincts, and always questions spinners bowling with the new ball.
