IPL Points Table 2021: KKR won thriller, Hardik finishes again

Sunil Narine's all-around performance thrashed Delhi capitals to register Kolkata's 5th win at Sharjah. Moreover, Kolkata stays at 4th position at the IPL 2021 points table. Although, KKR came closer to seal a spot for the playoffs. Narine, Lockie Ferguson, and Venkatesh Iyer took two wickets each to restrict DC in 127-9 in 20 overs. As Shubman Gill started well for KKR and Rana, Narine finishes it for KKR. Rana scored 36* runs in 27 deliveries and Narine makes a cameo of 21 runs in 10 balls that he played.

Toss Update from Sharjah :

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and decided to chase against Delhi capitals. However, KKR makes two changes in their team as Sandeep warrior comes in for Prasidh and Tim Southee came in for injured Andree Russel. On the other side, Delhi Capitals makes a change in their playing xi as Steve Smith came in place of Prithwi Shaw.

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The first innings dissaster from Delhi Capitals :

Coming to bat, Shikhar Dhawan and Steve Smith started firing from the first ball as Dhawan hits back-to-back boundaries. But, sooner Dhawan(24) got caught by Iyer in Ferguson's delivery. Shreyas Iyer(1) joins Steve Smith(39) but got bowled on the next over of Sunil Narine. Skipper Rishabh Pant came when his team was in trouble and scores a valuable 39 runs in 36 deliveries.

However, Soon Steve Smith got bowled by Ferguson's 150+ delivery. Moreover, no batsman of DC stands in front of KKR bowlers except skipper Pant. However, Pant got run out in the last over to take a double. As DC finishes with a below-average score of 127-9 runs in 20 overs. Narine, Ferguson, and Iyer take two wickets each to restrict DC to a below-par score.

The Thrilling Chase from Kolkata knight Riders :

After DC fails to score a good total on the board, KKR was looking to chase down the target easily. But, DC has other plans, as in form Venkatesh Iyer got out scoring just 14 runs. Moreover, Rahul Tripathi also got out in just 9 runs. However, Shubman Gill scored valuable 30 runs before he got caught by Shreyas Iyer in Rabada's delivery.

However, soon skipper Eoin Morgan got outscoring a duck and Dinesh Kartik got bowled out on just 12 runs. Sunil Narine came and joins Nitish Rana, as the required run rate was increasing Kolkata was seen in trouble to hit boundaries as DC's bowlers were bowling in the right areas.

But, it was Narine's day as he hammered back-to-back sixes and boundaries in DC's best bowler Rabada's over. Narine(21) seals the game already before he got out in Nortje's 17th over. Nitish ran finishes it for KKR in the 19th over as KKR bounces back from the defeat against CSK. KKR finishes with 130-7 runs in 18.2 overs to do the deal for KKR.

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Mumbai Indians Vs Punjab Kings :

Finally, the defending champions Mumbai Indians won their first match in the second leg of IPL 2021. As they beat Punjab Kings by 6 wickets and jumps back to 5th position on the IPL points table 2021. Moreover, the good news for MI is that Hardik Pandya gets some runs against PBKS. Hardik finishes 40* runs in 30 deliveries and hits a six to seal the game for MI. However, Pollard took 2 important wickets in the first innings including KL Rahul's wicket. Also, Pollard finishes the match with Hardik. Not to forgot, Saurabh Tiwary's brilliant innings of 45 runs before Pandya came and steals the show.

Toss Update from Abu Dhabi :

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bowl first against Punjab Kings. However, there were two changes in MI's squad. Saurabh Tiwary makes a comeback in place of Ishan Kishan and Coulter-Nile added to the playing xi in place of Adam Milne. On the other hand, for Punjab Kings, Mayank Agarwal misses out for his back pain and Mandeep Singh makes his place in the team.

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Punjab Kings trouble in the first innings :

As Mayank Agarwal was not playing, Mandeep Singh opened the innings with his skipper KL Rahul. But, the start was not great for Punjab. As they lost back-to-back wickets in the span of 3 overs(5th to 8th overs). However, Krunal Pandya gets the first breakthrough for MI. Krunal dismisses Mandeep Singh(15) in his 3rd over and in the last over of the powerplay. After that, Kieron Pollard came to steal the show from PBKS. As Pollard took two crucial wickets of Chris Gayle(1) and KL Rahul(21) in the same over(7th over).

However, Pooran(2) also got out in the next over of Jaspreet Bumrah. After that Aiden Markram and Deepak Hooda took the charge of PBKS. As they started hitting all the bowlers out of the park. Both of them, makes a 50+ run stand between them before Markram got bowled out on 42 of Rahul Chahar's delivery. Deepak Hooda scored 28 runs in 26 balls before he get caught by Pollard in Bumrah's delivery.

Punjab Kings finishes on a below-par score of 135-6 in 20 overs. However, Pollard and Bumrah took 2 wickets each, and Krunal and Rahul took 1 each.

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The Chase from Mumbai Indians :

Coming to chase a below-average score De Kock struggles again in the powerplay as he was running below 100 SR. However, to prevent the increase of Net Run Rate Rohit Sharma got caught by Mandeep Singh in Ravi Bisnoi's first over. But, the trouble begins when Surya Kumar Yadav got bowled on the next delivery, as he scores a duck again. Mumbai Indians were struggling at 16-1 in 4 overs.

After that, Saurabh Tiwary came and makes a handy partnership of 45 runs with De Kock. Although, De Kock was bowled out by Mohammad Shami in the 10th over of MI's innings. However, off-form Hardik Pandya comes in to bat after that. Although, Pandya has not started well, as he was struggling to get runs in the initial stage of his innings. Saurabh Tiwary makes the job a little bit easy for MI. Before he got out on 45 runs in 37 deliveries including 3 fours and 2 sixes.

Meanwhile, Pollard came and makes a good partnership with Hardik to get closer to the target. As Hardik Pandya took the charge of Mohammad Shami in the 17th over and 19th over to seal the deal for MI. Moreover, Pandya hits 2 fours and a six on the final ball of the 19th over when 5 runs are needed to seal the game. MI finishes with 137-4 runs in 19 overs as Hardik remains not out on 40 runs and Pollard on 15 runs.

IPL 2021 Points Table :

Kolkata Knight Riders are back again in the playoffs race of IPL 2021. As they have 10 points(5 wins) now in 11 matches and stand at 4th spot in the IPL points table 2021. On the other hand, defending champions Mumbai Indians win against Punjab Kings. However, Mumbai Indians climb up to the 5th position on the points table of IPL 2021.

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However, in terms of net run rate, KKR is ahead of MI now. As both of the teams, KKR and MI have the same points(10 points) in the same amount of matches. It will be interesting to see who books their spot in the points table of IPL 2021. However, let's take a look at the points table after the doubleheader on Tuesday.