IPL 2021: 5 Most Interesting Matches Of The Group Stage

IPL 2021: 5 Most Interesting Matches Of The Group Stage. The league stage of IPL 2021 has been done and dusted. Despite several challenges posed by Covid-19, the Board of Control for Cricket in India took the decision to stage the 14^th edition of the tournament. As many as 29 matches took place in India in the first half of the tournament before a number of positive Covid-19 cases emerged in different bio-secure bubbles, which led to the postponement of the event.

The rest of the matches of the league stage was successfully held in three venues in UAE. Four teams, namely Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders have qualified for the playoffs and are set to battle it out for the coveted title.

The league stage of IPL 2021 saw some terrific performances with both bat and ball. The cricket fans have witnessed some nail-biting finishes, super-over thrillers and heart-warming individual performances. In this article, we take a look at the top five interesting group stage matches in IPL 2021.

IPL 2021: 5 Most Interesting Matches Of The Group Stage

1. Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Match 38: CSK won the game by 2 wickets

Chasing a 171-run total, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis gave CSK yet another solid start at the top. The duo added 74 runs for the opening wicket inside 9 overs. Moeen Ali also made a decent contribution of 32 runs off 28 balls, however, CSK’s middle-order faltered in the middle overs.

CSK were left in all sorts of troubles after Chakravarthy clean bowled MS Dhoni in the 18^th over. 30 runs were needed in 15 balls at that stage and KKR had an upper hand in the game.

However, the arrival of Ravindra Jadeja turned the game in a single over as he smashed 2 fours and as many as sixes off Prasidh Krishna in the nineteenth over to bring the equation down to 4 runs needed off the final ball. However, the game wasn’t completed yet. Narine accounted for the wicket of Sam Curran on the very first ball and it was followed by another dot ball.

Shardul Thakur then took 3 runs to have the scores level with Jadeja on strike. However, Sunil Narine had Jadeja leg-before on the second last ball to bring the equation down to 1 needed off 1 ball. Much to the delight of CSK, Deepak Chahar held his nerves and hit the winning run on the last ball to seal the game for the Yellow Army in the end.

2. Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals, Match 32: Rajasthan Royals won by 2 runs

Kartik Tyagi will remember this match for his lifetime, that’s for sure! Needing four runs off the final over, the RR pacer bowled brilliant Yorkers and denied the likes of Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram to cross the finish line.

He gave away only 2 runs and also picked the wickets of Nicholas Pooran and Deepak Hooda to win the game for RR by 2 runs. Earlier, an outstanding opening partnership between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ewin Lewis and a brilliant 42-run knock off 17 balls from Mahipal Lomror helped RR reach 185 run-total in the first innings.

In reply, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal stitched a 120-run partnership for the opening wicket. Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram also made handy contributions but the duo failed to held their nerves in the final couple of overs and fell 2 runs short of the target in the end.

3. Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings, Match 27: Mumbai Indians won by 4 wickets

Two of the most successful teams in IPL, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings produced yet another scintillating contest in the 27th match of IPL 2021 at Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium. Moeen Ali and Faf du Plessis’s respective half-centuries and a late assault from Ambati Rayudu (72 off 27) meant CSK scored a gigantic 218-run total in the first innings.

The defending champions got off to a brisk start in the second innings, thanks to the openers. However, CSK took three wickets in three overs to leave MI reeling at 81 for 3 after 10 overs. Chennai Super Kings were obvious favourites at that stage, however, Kieron Pollard had other ideas.

The West Indies all-rounder tore apart CSK’s bowling unit as he hit 6 fours and 8 sixes en-route to his match-winning 87 off 34 balls.  Needing 16 runs off the final over, Pollard hammered Ngidi for two fours and a six. He took 2 runs on the final ball to help MI register another memorable win against CSK.

4. Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Match 22: RCB won the game by 1 run

AB de Villiers has played some great knocks in IPL 2021 but his 75-run knock against DC in the 22^nd match has to be the best of all thus far. At 60 for 3 after 8.3 overs, RCB needed someone to stay till the end and help them get to a winning total. Ab de Villiers timed his innings to perfection and scored a beautiful 75-run knock off 42 balls to take his side to 171 at the end of the first innings.

Delhi Capitals made the worst possible start to the chase, losing the first three wickets for just 47 runs inside 8 overs. Rishabh Pant and Shimron Hetmyer, however, led the recovery and played two sensational knocks.

Both stayed right till the end and kept the game alive till the last ball of the match. Needing 6 runs off the last ball, Rishabh Pant smashed a four off Mohammed Siraj only to fall 1 run short of the target.

5. Delhi Capitals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 20th match: Delhi Capitals won the match in a super over

The 20^th match between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad went right down the wire and, in fact, ended in a super over. It is the only super-over game played this season in the tournament thus far. Useful contributions from the top four helped Delhi Capitals post 158 runs in the first innings.

Prithvi Shaw scored a half-century, while Rishabh Pant (37 off 27) and Steve Smith (34 off 25) capitalized on the starts provided by the openers. SRH made a quickfire start but also lost both Warner and Bairstow early inside the first six overs. Wickets kept falling in quick succession thereafter but Kane Williamson held firm at one end.

Williamson stayed right till the end and gave SRH every hope of winning the game. He made an unbeaten 66 off 51 balls and helped the team level the scores in the end.

Axar Patel conceded only 7 runs in the super over. 7 runs weren’t enough for Rashid Khan to defend as Rishabh Pant and Shikhar Dhawan took the team home on the last ball of the over.