WEEK 8 REVIEW: RCB reign, Royals survive, Punjab fall short in playoff drama

Royal Challengers Bengaluru were assured of finishing top of the IPL log in defence of their title provided they avoided a catastrophic loss to the Sunrisers Hyderabad, which they did. 

Sunrisers and Gujarat Titans were also guaranteed a place in the playoffs, leaving long-time leaders Punjab Kings needing to win their final game to have a chance of qualifying, which they did. But they needed Rajasthan Royals to lose their final two games, which they didn’t.

So, it’s RCB and GT who finish first and second with Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Royals third and fourth. Playoff details below.

Neil Manthorp reviews: IPL WEEK EIGHT

MATCH OF THE WEEK:  All credit to the Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders for putting on a show in the final match of the group stage on Sunday night. The theatre lights had been switched off and the audience had vacated the building, metaphorically, for a match between two eliminated teams. Delhi posted 203 for five with KL Rahul making 60 from 30 balls and David Miller walloping three sixes in his 28 from 19. KKR just about held it together with 163 on the back of beleaguered captain Ajinkya Rahane’s 63. Good night.

BATTER: Shreyas Iyer. The Punjab Kings went unbeaten in their first seven matches and were then beaten in the next six. Victory was a non-negotiable in their final match, and the captain walked in at 22 for two needing 190 for victory. A 51-ball century, his first in the tournament, could not have been better timed. Unfortunately, it was enough for victory but not qualification for the playoffs.

BOWLER: Rashbada. Rashid Khan (3-18) and Kagiso Rabada (3-32) were all over the Chennai Super Kings like a… rash. Add in the excellent Mohammad Siraj (3-26) and it’s easy to see why CSK crumbled to 140 in just 13.4 overs attempting to climb the 229 for four mountain built by Gujarat Titans ‘big three’ of Sai Sudharsan (84), Shubman Gill (64) and Jos Buttler (57* from 27) – the most consistent top order in IPL history.

PERFORMANCE: Jofra Archer has always been able to strike the ball cleanly but, in a game Rajasthan had to win to reach the playoffs, he smashed 32 from just 15 balls with three sixes to push his team to 205 for eight against MI – and then took 3-17 in his four overs to win by 30 runs and eliminate the Punjab Kings.

INDIAN PLAYER: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continues to defy all conventional logic. Needing to win their last two group games to qualify, the Rajasthan Royals conceded 220 for five against Lucknow Super Giants before the 15-year-old smashed 10 sixes and seven fours in his 93 from 38 balls to help the Royals gallop home with five balls to spare. It made opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 43 from 23 balls look tame and inconsequential. It was neither.

OVERSEAS PLAYER:  Heinrich Klaasen’s 51 from 24 balls with five sixes was further evidence that the entire gearbox is still well-oiled and functioning as well as ever. He didn’t get above fourth gear in some early games, leading to speculation that some non-international rust had set in. Evidently, that is not the case. He remains one of the very best, and best paid, retired cricketers in the world. South Africa’s loss.

SOUTH AFRICAN:  Nobody can say Corbin Bosch hasn’t done his bit to add a veneer of respectability to the Mumbai Indians’ dreadful tournament. Top-scoring with 32* from 18 balls at No 8 helped the once glamour-boys to a semi-competitive 147 for eight and taking 3-30 briefly rattled the Kolkata Knight Riders before stumbling to 148 for six to win a low-key, low-quality match between former champions. Dewald Brevis played a similarly ‘in vain’ innings of 44 from 27 balls for CSK (180 for seven) as they crashed and burnt against the Sunrisers (181 for five).

OUCH: Every team which visits Hyderabad expects to be smashed for well over 200 by the Sunrisers, and they usually are. But never before have SIX bowlers all conceded 12+ runs per over, the fate suffered by Royal Challengers Bangaluru who conceded 255 for four with superstars Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood ‘leading’ the way with 51 and 55 respectively from their four overs.

BEST LOSER: Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis probably thought they had things under control with an opening stand of 109 in 8.1 overs for basement-dwelling LSG against playoff-seeking Rajasthan Royals. Marsh whacked 96 from 57 and Inglis 60 from 29 as the Aussies put on a show. A total of 220 for five was less than the start deserved but still daunting – until ‘the kid’ showed the men what a real show was.

TALKING POINT:  Defending champions RCB have bossed the second half of the tournament. And they were super street-smart in their final group match against SRH, who posted a whopping 255 for four. They chased the total, briefly, with Venkatesh Iyer making 44 from 19 balls, but quickly retreated to the safety of a score which would maintain a run-rate to keep them top of the log. Captain Rajat Patidar (56 off 39) and wily Krunal Pandya (41* off 31) were the perfect men. But did playing for a loss take the wind out of their sails? Burst the bubble of success. Probably not, but we’ll see.

LOOK OUT FOR: RCB v GT in the Qualifier on Tuesday. The two top dogs battling for direct entry to the final. RCB’s bowlers v GT’s dominant top-three. And then Sunrisers v the Royals a day later, with the winner playing the loser of the top-dog match for the second place in the final on Friday. The final is on Sunday.