mid-day.com looks at the performances that made headlines in the eighth week of the cash-rich T20 league
MI's Akash Madhwal celebrates the wicket of LSG opener Prerak Mankad at Chennai on Wednesday. Pic/PTI
Record five-wicket haul for Madhwal
Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Akash Madhwal rattled Lucknow Super Giants with a maiden five-wicket haul in T20 cricket, conceding just five runs to become the first bowler to claim a fifer in the Playoffs, en route to the five-time champions' 81-run win in Eliminator 1 at Chennai.
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In the process, the right-arm medium pacer also registered the best bowling figures by an uncapped player, pushing
Punjab Kings's Ankit Rajpoot (5-14 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018) to second position in that list.
Three centuries in a single day
The last day of the league phase of IPL-16 witnessed three centuries with Cameron Green, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill scoring tons for their respective teams. MI's Green, promoted to No. 3, smashed his maiden IPL ton to help the hosts win by eight wickets against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Wankhede. His 47-ball knock was laced with eight fours and as many sixes. In the second match of the day, Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) Virat Kohli and Gujarat Titans's (GT) Shubman Gill brought up their second consecutive centuries of IPL-16 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Batting first, RCB posted 197-5, thanks to Kohli's 61-ball 101 not out. In reply, GT chased the target with six wickets in hand and five balls to spare as opener Gill stayed unbeaten on 104 off 52 balls.
Unwanted record for Karthik
RCB's Dinesh Karthik created an unwanted record for most ducks (17) in IPL. The wicketkeeper-batman surpassed MI skipper Rohit Sharma (16 ducks) after he was caught behind by GT wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha for a golden duck off left-arm pacer Yash Dayal — Karthik’s second consecutive duck and his fourth duck in this year’s tournament during RCB’s six-wicket loss.
The 37-year-old batter scored just 140 runs in 13 IPL-16 matches at 11.67.
Heartbreak for RCB, yet again
RCB failed to get close to the coveted IPL trophy yet again despite showing positive signs in the first half of the tournament. The Virat Kohli-inspired unit extended their 16-season drought after going down to GT by six wickets in the last league match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The Bangalore side began the tournament with a big win over five-time champions MI. They went on to register four wins in the first seven matches. However, they emerged victorious just once in the next four matches, taking them to a must-win situation in the last three matches. The Faf du Plessis-led side won the next two matches convincingly before surrendering in the last league match at home.
Also Read: IPL 2023: 'Disappointed' Virat Kohli vows RCB will bounce back next season
CSK march into 10th IPL final
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) marched into the record-extending 10th IPL final in 14 seasons after going past defending champions GT in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday. The four-time IPL champions ended the 2022 edition in ninth place on the 10-team table. However, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men bounced back to win eight matches in the 14-match league this year. They lost five, while one match was washed out as the Southern team finished the league phase second. In Qualifier 1, batting first, CSK scored 172-7 in the allotted 20 overs. In reply, GT fell short by 15 runs.
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