Sunday 22nd May, 2022 marks the end of the league phase of the TATA IPL 2022 season. We now know the final four teams that remain in the season as Gujarat, RajasTHAN, Lucknow and Bangalore make the play-offs. Pre-tournament favorites Mumbai anmd Chennai bowed out of the tournament in the 9th and 10th place respectively. As the league phase comes to an end, we take a closer look at the 5 games in the league phase which made the crowd go wow.
Punjab Kings versus Gujarat Titans – 16th Match
Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings locked horns at the famed Brabourne Stadium and the match turned out to be one that went down to the wire. Batting first PBKS scored 189, with Livingstone scoring 64, and Dhawan with 35. Jitesh Sharma scored 23 and Punjab got good hand with Rahul Chahar scoring 22. Chasing 190 to win, Gill scored a memorable 96, with Sai Sudarshan scoring 35 and Hardik Pandya 27. Just when PBKS made a comeback Rahul Tewatia spoiled the party. The left hander hit Odeon Smith for 2 back to back sixes off the last ball to win the game for GT.
Chennai Super Kings versus Gujarat Titans – 29th Match
Defending champs, Chennai Super Kings had made a very bad start to the tournament before running into Gujarat Titans. Ruturaj Gaikwad enthralled his home crowd with a brilliant 73 off 48 balls. Rayudu with 46 and then captain Ravindra Jadeja with 12 ball 22 helped CSK reach 169 on the board. Chasing 170 to win, GT were 87 for 5 from 12.4 overs with David Miller holding fort. That’s when Rashid Khan joined Miller and added 70 runs for the 6th wicket in just 6.1 overs. GT won the game by 3 wickets with 2 balls to spare, Miller was not out on 94.
Mumbai Indians versus Chennai Super Kings – 33rd Match
The El-Classico of Cricket lived up to its billing as the match between the two produced another classic. DY Patil saw a last ball thriller as MSD turned back the clock and bought out the finisher in him. Batting first MI scored a decent 155 for 7 on the board, with Tilak Varma scoring 51. SKY scored 32 as they got decent lower order runs from Pollard (14) and Unadkat (19*). Chasing 156 to win, CSK were pegged back by the Mumbai bowlers who got wickets at regular intervals. CSK needed 17 off the final over, and by the time MSD came to the strike the equation was 16 needed from 4 balls. What followed was carnage as Unadkat was hit for a six and four before MSD took 2 runs of the 5th ball. CSK needed 4 off 1 ball and MSD smacked the left armer for a four to win the game for CSK.
Lucknow Super Giants versus Kolkata Knight Riders – 66th Match
DY Patil saw another thriller between LSG and KKR as they played host to the final match of this season’s IPL game at the stadium. Quinton De Kock took the bull by its horns and scored 140 not out from mere 70 balls with 10 fours and 10 sixes. Rahul was not out on 68 as LSG scored 210 on the board. KKR needed a win to be in contention for a spot in the play-offs, what followed was one of the best games of the IPL. KKR were in trouble at 9 for 2, but Nitish Rana began the fightback with 22 ball 42. Shreyas Iyer with 50 and Sam Billings with 36 kept up the fight. That’s when LSG made a strong comeback to pick 3 quick wickets to have KKR at 150 for 6 from 16.4 overs. Rinku Singh and Sunil Narine added 58 runs in mere 19 balls to swing the game towards KKR. Just when it seemed Rinku Singh would win the game for KKR, Evin Lewis pulled out a blinder to win the game for LSG by 2 runs.
Delhi Capitals versus Mumbai Indians – 69th Match
One of the best matches of the season for Mumbai Indians and its fans without doubt. A win for Mumbai wouldn’t have done anything as far as the table was concerned. RCB had their hopes riding on Mumbai as a win for the men in blue and gold meant that RCB qualified for the Play-Offs. DC batted first and scored 159 on the board, as Pant with 39 and Powell with 43 enabled them to a decent score. Chasing 160 to win, Mumbai lost Rohit Sharma for 13 ball 2, as the fightback began with Brevis and Kishan. Mumbai’s wicket keeper batsman scored 48, while Brevis scored 37. Tilak Varma scored 21 to keep his good run going, it was Tim David who stole the show with 11 ball 34. David got a huge slice of luck when he nicked the ball behind only for the DC team not to take the review. Mumbai won by 5 wickets as RCB team and its fans went into wild celebrations.
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