IPL WEEK TWO: Year of the underdog?

Could this be the year of the underdog, the year in which the Galacticos implode? It’s too early to say, of course.

The IPL is a two-month marathon, not a two-week sprint, but eyebrows have already been raised by the fortitude of the new-look Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals teams, who have won two out of two, and the lacklustre displays from the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, who have lost two from two and two from three respectively.

Punjab Kings also have a strong, refreshed ambiance under new coach Ricky Ponting and his cohort of Australian players and support staff while the disjointed Rajasthan Royals made a wretched start before beating CSK in a thriller on Sunday night.

Last year’s beaten finalists, Sunrisers Hyderabad, remain committed to their ‘high intensity’ batting approach but it’s gone wrong twice for two defeats and one enormous victory.

Neil Manthorp looks back at Week Two of the IPL.

Match of the Week: Lucknow Super Giants posted a competitive 209-8 before reducing the Delhi Capitals to 65-5 and 113-6 but the job is never done until the 10th wickets falls or the 120th ball is bowled. Delhi’s magnificent fightback saw them reach 211-9 to win by a single wicket with three balls to spare.

Best Batter:  Perennial under-achievers, Punjab Kings, spent a record $3m+ to bring Shreyas Iyer into the team and then added a dash more expectation by making him captain. His 97* from just 42 balls (5x4, 9x6) in a total of 243-5 against Gujarat Titans showed why – and was good enough to earn an 11-run victory.

Best Bowler:  Wickets win matches they say, but wickets and dot balls are an even deadlier combination. Four and five wicket hauls catch the eye and make headlines, but it’s just as likely than a bowler delivering a dozen dot balls in his four overs will do as much towards victory.

So, Prasidh Krishna (4-0-18-2) and Varun Chakravarthy (4-0-17-2) share the award for helping the Titans and KKR to victories against MI and Rajasthan Royals, and doing so ‘under the radar.’

Peak Performance:  Ashutosh Sharma’s unlikely, unbeaten 66 from 31 balls (5x4, 5x6) wasn’t just about the power and precision of his hitting. It was about staying calm, refusing to concede defeat and believing in the ‘impossible’.

It was also about manipulating the strike. With 39 runs required from the last three overs with just two wickets remaining, numbers 10 and 11 (Kuldeep Yadav and Mohit Sharma) faced just seven balls between them with Ashutosh guiding Delhi to a remarkable one-wicket win against LSG.

What a Clanger!:  What was Hardik Pandya thinking? The Mumbai Indians skipper appeared either unaware or ambivalent about his team requiring almost 13 an over when he came to the crease against the Gujarat Titans (196-8) and he pottered about for 11 off 17 balls with just a single four. By the time he was dismissed MI needed 73 from three overs. They ambled to 160-6 to lose by 36 runs.

Star Overseas Player:  37-year-old Moeen Ali was given short notice to fill in for KKR’s brilliant spinner, Sunil Narine, but responded with a fine 2-23 to set up a facile win by 8-wickets against Rajasthan Royals – and show that conventional finger-spin can compete with magical, mystery spin.

Sometimes. But, of course, the award goes to Mitchell Starc for his return of 5-35 for Delhi against the Sunrisers.

Star Indian Player:  33-year-old Shardul Thakur wasn’t picked up in the mega-auction so he signed a contract to play county cricket for Essex. Then LSG had an injury and came calling – Shardul responded with 4-34 to keep the rampant Sunrisers in check (190-9) and Mitchell Marsh (52) and Nicholas Pooran (70 from 26 balls) made sure it counted as they strode to victory by five-wickets with 23 balls to spare.

Star South African:  Quinton de Kock’s unbeaten 97 from 61 balls (8x4, 6x6) helped KKR gallop to victory against the Royals with 15 balls to spare and proved that he undoubtedly still has ‘it’. Just not for South Africa, we assume.

Faf du Plessis also won’t play for his country again although he still looks like he could at the age of 40 smashing 50 from just 27 balls with a trio of fours and sixes for Delhi in their seven-wicket romp to victory against the Sunrisers.

Talking Point:  What is MS Dhoni…doing? The famous ‘finisher’ appears intent on doing the job these days by not batting. The 43-year-old icon finally walked out to bat at No 9 for CSK against the RCB and bashed a pair of fours and sixes under no pressure whatsoever with the game long lost.

Is he a specialist ‘keeper these days? He has delivered a couple of razor-sharp stumpings so, perhaps he is? He can’t still be playing because of his commercial value. Can he?

Look out for: It’s relentless, of course, but MI against KKR at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday is a good start. And Chennai against in-form Delhi at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday should be interesting…’must win’ games already?