IPL 2022

After Devon Conway had struck a four and a six off Trent Boult in the third over, Moeen Ali, who came in at the fall of Ruturaj Gaikwad in the first over, blasted 18, 16, and 26 runs in the next three overs, dealing mostly in fours and sixes. Moeen completed a 19-ball half-century. However, the Rajasthan Royals bowlers managed to apply the brakes in the next eight overs bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin, Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Trent Boult. Chennai could score only 42 runs in these overs.

Ashwin claimed 1/28 with the ball as he helped Rajsthan Royals claw their way back into the game after CSK had blasted 75/1 in powerplay, thanks mainly to Moeen Ali, who smashed a 19-ball half-century. Ashwin then came back to contribute with the bat as well, scoring 40 runs off 23 balls as Rajasthan Royals successfully chased 151.

It was Rajasthan Royals' bowling unit, that clawed its way back after being blasted for 75/1 in the powerplay, to restrict Chennai Super Kings to 150/6 in 20 overs after M.S Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first at the Brabourne stadium here. Chasing a modest 151 for victory, Rajasthan Royals faced a few anxious moments in the middle of the innings but in the end, Ashwin, along with Riyan Parag (10 not out) ensured that they reached 151/5 in 19.4 overs for their ninth win of this edition of IPL.

The Chennai Super Kings skipper, who will turn 41 in July this year, even did not rule out turning out in IPL 2024 too, saying 'you can't predict what will happen two years down the line". Dhoni confirmed about his availability for next year during toss for his team's final match in IPL 2022 against Rajasthan Royals at the Brabourne Stadium here on Friday.

In a statement on Friday, IPL said, "Matthew Wade from Gujarat Titans has been reprimanded for breaching the TATA Indian Premier League's (IPL) Code of Conduct during his team's match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Mr. Wade admitted to the Level 1 offence under Article 2.5 of the IPL Code of Conduct and accepted the sanction.

Scepticism abounded as people questioned their picks during the IPL mega auction, but as the tournament progressed they began to defy expectations, pulling out wins from nowhere. On one of those rare bad days, when perhaps the law of averages caught up with them, the team still fought tooth and nail to manage a respectable 168/5, with the skipper himself leading from the front with an unbeaten 47-ball 62.

In the sixth over of Gujarat's batting, Wade was trapped lbw for 16 while shuffling for a sweep against Maxwell. The left-hander was quick to review but UltraEdge showed no spike when the ball passed the bat despite the side angle showing a clear deviation in the trajectory of the ball, with the third umpire retaining the on-field decision.

The people involved in structuring their squad, the playing XI and the skills that they required to do well, need to be complimented. Gautam Gambhir for LSG and Vikram Solanki for GT have done a fantastic job, both in the choice of players and the support staff. It does come as a surprise, especially, as most of the other IPL sides have been in the fray for 15 years.

Thanks to Kohli running quick off the blocks and quashing queries over his poor form throughout the tournament, with the crowd firmly cheering for the talismanic batter, Bangalore were able to get a flying start, amassing 55 runs in power-play, with 34 of those coming from Kohli's bat.

After Hardik Pandya's unbeaten 62 along with David Miller's 34 and Rashid Khan's cameo of 19 off just six balls carried Gujarat to 168/5 with Harshal Patel unavailable due to right-hand injury, Kohli came out all guns blazing, bringing out his vintage self with a pumped-up attitude to notch up his highest score of the tournament, which was also his second fifty against Gujarat in the tournament.