IPL 2021 Points Table: It is nearly over for Mumbai Indians

After Kolkata Knight Riders’ huge win against Rajasthan Royals, it’s almost impossible for Mumbai to qualify for the playoffs. However, if MI wants to qualify then they have to bat first and win the match by a minimum margin of 170 runs. Although, if they chase, then this will be their last match of this season. Coming to the afternoon game, Punjab Kings chased their target of 135 runs in just 13 overs with KL Rahul’s unbeaten 98 runs. Punjab Kings are currently at the fifth position of the IPL 2021 Points table and can’t qualify further as KKR won their last game.

Chennai Super Kings Vs Punjab Kings :

Toss Update from Dubai :

Punjab Kings skipper KL Rahul has won the toss and elected to bowl first against the Super Kings. However, KL Rahul and his team management made only one change to their side. Nicholas Pooran misses out as Chris Jordan replaces him. Meanwhile, CSK played with the same xi.

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First innings from Chennai :

CSK opening pair, Faf Du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad come to open the innings. However, in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad got out early as Arshdeep Singh takes his wicket in the 4th over of CSK’s innings. Meanwhile, soon Moeen Ali got out after scoring a duck in 6 balls. Regular wickets were falling for CSK as Faf Du Plessis holding the other side. CSK slips down to 61-5 in 12 overs after Uthappa, Rayudu, and Dhoni got out.

Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja comes in to rescue CSK as their half-team got out in just 61 runs. After that, Faf and Jaddu made a handy partnership of 67 runs in 45 balls. Both of them guided CSK to a respectable total of 134-6 in 30 overs.

Faf Du Plessis scored 76 runs in 55 balls including 8 fours and 2 sixes. On the other side, Arshdeep and Chris Jordan took 2 wickets each. Moreover, Shami and Ravi Bishnoi took 1 wicket each to restrict CSK to a below-average score on this ground.

The Fiery Chase from Punjab Kings :

Coming to chase the below-average score, KL Rahul started firing from the beginning to improve their net run rate. Although, his opening partner Mayank Agarwal got out early on 12 runs in the 5th over. Moreover, Sarfaraz Khan came at 3 and gone but, no one can stop KL Rahul from scoring runs as he get to his fifty in just 25 balls.

After that, Shah Rukh Khan came and build a small partnership with Rahul before he got out on 8. Aiden Markram came and scored 13 runs in 8 balls before he got caught by Dhoni. However, KL Rahul gets going as he finishes with a boundary and a big six to end CSK’S hope.

KL Rahul scored an unbeaten 98* runs in just 42 balls including 7 fours and 8 sixes. Punjab Kings chases down the target in just inside 13 overs as they go past MI in the points table. However, Shardul Thakur got 3 wickets and Deepak Chahar got 1 wicket.

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Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Rajasthan Royals :

Toss Update from Sharjah :

Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bowl first against Kolkata Knight Riders. However, Rajsthan made a total of four changes to their playing xi. Livingstone, Chris Morris, Anuj Rawat, and Unadkat come in the place of Lewis, Miller, Gopal, and Akash Singh. Meanwhile, KKR also made one change to their xi. Lockie Ferguson comes back from his injury as he replaces Tim Southee in the playing xi.

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Destructive batting in the first innings by Kolkata :

KKR opening duo, Venkatesh Iyer and Shubman Gill come to open the innings. However, both the openers played brilliantly in the powerplay overs. They played together till the 11th over and registered a partnership of 79 runs. However, Venkatesh Iyer got out after scoring 38 runs in 35 balls including 3 fours and 2 sixes. Soon Nitish Rana(12) got out in the next over.

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill completes his half-century before got out on 56 runs. Soon Rahul Tripathi(21) was clean bowled by Sakariya in the 18th over. Current skipper Morgan and ex-skipper Kartik finished the innings for KKR as they guided their team to a huge total.

Kolkata Knight Riders finish on 171-4 in 20 overs. Moreover, this is the highest total scored by any team at Sharjah this season. Sakariya, Morris, Tewatia, and Philips took 1 wicket each.

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The Batting Collapse in the Chase from Rajasthan Royals :

Coming to chase the highest total of this season at Sharjah, wickets started following from the first over. Shakib picks up Jaiswal(0) in the very first over of their innings. Moreover, Mavi came and took Sanju Samson’s wicket in his first delivery of the night. Rajasthan slips down to 13-4 inside just 4 overs as Livingstone(6) and Anuj Rawat(0) went for a single-digit score.

However, nothing was going for Rajasthan’s batsman’s side as they lose Glenn Phillips(8) and Shivam Dube(15) back to back. Rajasthan slips down to 35-7 in 9 overs. Although, Rahul Tewatia started to execute to get Rajasthan to a respectable total as he was the lone warrior in the Royals chase. He smashes Sunil Narine for back-to-back boundaries to get past the team’s 50 runs mark. After that, Rajasthan loses their 8th wicket when Unadkat got out on 11.2 overs.

When Sakariya got out the Royals score was then 84-9 in 15.3 overs. However, Rahul Tewatia(44) got bowled by Shivam Mavi as Rajasthan finishes on 85-10 in 16.1 overs. Shivam Mavi took 4 wickets as Lockie Ferguson took three in his four overs. Moreover, Varun and Shakib took 1 wicket each. Kolkata Knight Riders won the match by a huge margin of 86 runs as they are now unofficially qualified for the playoffs with a better run-rate than MI.

IPL 2021 Points Table :

After a huge 86 runs win for Kolkata Knight Riders against the Royals, they are unofficially the 4th team to play in the playoffs. Meanwhile, it’s just a matter of time for KKR to book their playoffs spot. However, it’s almost impossible for Mumbai to win by a huge margin of 170 runs against Hyderabad. After Kolkata’s win, the other two contenders for the fourth and final spot, RR and PBKS are eliminated. So, it’s nearly confirmed that KKR will play in the playoffs next week. Now, let’s see the IPL 2021 points table after yesterday’s doubleheaders.

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