Indian Premier League

Gaikwad replaced KL Rahul as the leading run-scorer in the 2021 tournament, hitting a six off the final ball of CSK's innings to finish unbeaten on 101 off 60 balls.

The opener struck five sixes in a sensational knock, with Ravindra Jadeja scoring a rapid 32 not out in the Super Kings' 189-4 at Zayed Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Rahul Tewatia took 3-39 but it was a tough day for the Royals bowlers, Mustafizur Rahman going for 51 off his wicket-less four overs.

A big run chase was no problem for the Royals, though, as they cruised to a what could be a vital win with 15 balls to spare in an Abu Dhabi run-fest.

Shivam Dube (64no from 42) struck a brilliant maiden IPL half-century after Yashasvi Jaiswal made 50 from just 21 balls, with Josh Hazlewood (0-54) and Sam Curran (0-55) given the treatment.

Victory for the Royals leaves them in sixth place with two games of the regular season to play, behind Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings on net run-rate.

CSK are already assured of a play-off place but are not guaranteed a top-two finish after their four-game winning run came to an end in MS Dhoni's 200th match as an IPL captain.

Gaikwad takes Royals to all parts

The Rajasthan bowlers were taken to all parts by an inspired Gaikwad, who set the tone by hitting the first ball of the match from Akash Singh for four. 

He brought up a seventh IPL half-century off 43 balls and then cut loose, taking 71 off 30 deliveries and reaching three figures by launching Mustafizur for a huge six.

Gaikwad has 19 runs more than Rahul in the battle for the orange cap, having found the rope nine times to go with his five sixes in a breathtaking innings.

Dube and Jaiswal stun CSK

It was the turn of the CSK bowlers to suffer as Jaiswal and Evin Lewis (27 off 12) made a blistering start to the run chase, putting on 77 in 5.2 overs.

Teenager Jaiswal had his half-century off only 19 balls, striking Hazlewood for two sixes in a fifth over that cost 22 runs before falling to KM Asif to leave the Super Kings on 81-2.

Dube then came to the fore in a stand of 89 with captain Sanju Samson (28), bringing up a maiden fifty from 31 deliveries in a knock that included four sixes, and debutant Glenn Phillips hit the winning run to end the Royals' run of three consecutive defeats.

The Royals appeared in danger of suffering a fifth straight loss when, replying to Hyderabad's total of 158-4, they were left needing 54 from the final four overs in their run chase. 

However, Rahul Tewatia and Riyan Parag combined to see their team home with a delivery to spare, the latter sealing victory with a towering six over cover. 

Tewatia, though, had crucially gone after Hyderabad's key bowler in Rashid Khan, the leg-spinner's final over - the 18th of the innings - leaking 14, as he smashed 45 off 28 deliveries.  

Parag finished up unbeaten on 42 from 26 as an unbroken stand worth 85 covered for the failures of the big names at the top of the order, including the returning Ben Stokes. 

The England all-rounder had earlier sent down just a solitary over as the Sunrisers set a competitive target thanks to contributions from captain David Warner (48) and Manish Pandey, who made 54. 
 

STOKES BACK, BUT ARCHER HITS THE SPOT 

It was a low-key comeback to cricket for Stokes. Having not played since August for family reasons, he made six from five balls as an opener for the Royals when batting alongside Jos Buttler (16).

Instead, it was Jofra Archer who was the top-performing England player in action. He bowled a seriously quick over up front to international team-mate Jonny Bairstow, then returned later in the innings to emphatically clean up Warner as the Sunrisers skipper looked to cut loose. 

TEWATIA TURNS THE TABLES 

It seemed the Sunrisers were set to prevail having knocked over the Royals' top order cheaply, including running out Steve Smith for five. 

Yet Tewatia had other ideas, particularly when it came the pivotal over from Rashid. Having gone for just 12 from his previous three, the Afghanistan bowler was the subject of two outrageous reverse sweeps, both of which went to the boundary. 

The ECB on Friday stated that paceman Archer has been ruled out of England's Test tour of Sri Lanka and the IPL due to a low-grade stress fracture of his right elbow.

Archer is due to commence a rehabilitation programme with the ECB medical team with a view to facing West Indies in a three-match Test series in June.

Yet the Royals, who signed the quick for 7.2 crore (£800,000) in the 2018 IPL auction, have not given up hope of Archer playing in a tournament that gets under way at the end of March and finishes on May 24.

Rajasthan head coach Andrew McDonald told ESPNcricinfo: "It is a blow but these things always confront teams. These are the setbacks that you have to contend with.

"First and foremost, our thoughts are with Jofra. Getting an elbow injury when you are at the top of your game is far from ideal, but watching him from afar it's been great to see what he's been able to achieve.

"We'll see what happens. The ECB have been reasonably solid on ruling him out of the IPL, but we still hold out some hope that he may recover.

"We'll get those details over the next 24-48 hours as to the extent of the injury, and we'll work with the ECB as to what that may or may not look like.

"I'm sure he's keen [to play in the IPL]. He loves playing for Rajasthan, but injuries happen, and until more details come to light, we will always hold out hope for a player of that quality.

"It doesn't look good at the moment, but we won't be in any rush to replace him at this moment in time."

The winners of Sunday's match would lead the competition through five rounds, with the big-scoring Royals in command coming into this meeting.

But their hopes of protecting that position were hit by the early wickets of openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler in reply to 177-7.

Shubman Gill (45) and David Miller (46) had led the Titans to that strong total, meaning Rajasthan required an improbable turnaround after losing their two leading scorers and initially struggling to get going thereafter

Captain Sanju Samson stepped up with a swift 60, though, and Shimron Hetmyer got them over the line despite a fine bowling performance from Mohammad Shami, who added to the dismissal of Buttler with two more late wickets.

Hetmyer crucially remained in the middle and completed the comeback with his fifth six to finish on 56 off 26, with the Royals 179-7 with four balls remaining.

Titans take out Rajasthan openers

Jaiswal and Buttler opened together for the fourth time this year, aiming to build on the success of those previous three matches, all of which ended in Rajasthan victories. Buttler made fifties in each of those matches, with Jaiswal joining him on two occasions, too.

But both batters were out before the end of the third over, a wicket maiden for Shami (3-25) that reduced the Royals to 4-2. At that stage, it seemed the Titans had halted the reply before it had even got going.

Royals rally to another big score

Even with Jaiswal and Buttler contributing only a run between them, the Royals retained some spectacular batting power. They have scored 175 or more in every one of their five matches this year, showing the scale of the task for any opponent looking to take them out of the game.

Jaiswal plundered 77 from 43 deliveries to propel the Royals to 202-5 from their 20 overs on Thursday.

The Royals opener finally succumbed to Tushar Deshpande in the 14th over, though the damage had been done, with Rajasthan having reached 132 at that stage.

Jos Buttler scored 27 as he helped mount an opening-wicket partnership of 86 with Jaiswal, who also saw Sanju Samson come and go.

Dhruv Jurel added 34 from 15 balls and Devdutt Padikkal tallied up an unbeaten 27 from 13 to nudge the Royals over the 200 mark.

Despite Ruturaj Gaikwad's 47, the Super Kings lacked the pace needed in the chase, and his stand was ended by the brilliant Zampa in the 10th over, who took 3-22.

Shivam Dube's 52 handed Chennai hope, yet with Zampa sending Moeen Ali packing, the Super Kings were battling against the odds.

In the end they just did not have enough, Dube's dismissal in the final over capping off a fine win for the Royals.

IPL first for the Royals

No team had surpassed the 200 milestone in an IPL match played in Jaipur until now, with the Royals holding that unique record.

They are onto 10 points and sit top of the pile.

Jaiswal the star of the show

While Zampa impressed with the ball, it was Jaiswal's knock that really put the Royals in command.

The opener struck 12 boundaries, including four sixes, with his 77 coming at a strike rate of 179.06.

Few who saw his blistering CPL 100 for the Jamaica Tallawahs against the Trinbago Knight Riders at Port of Spain, Trinidad on August 10, 2018, will ever forget it.

Coming to the wicket with the Jamaica Tallawahs stuttering at 41 for 5 in the seventh over of their T20 clash, chasing 224 for victory, Russell smashed six sixes and 13 fours as he raced to an unbeaten 121 from just 49 balls.

Over the years, he has also often engaged in similar rescue acts for his Indian Premier League franchise the Kolkata Knight Riders. However, with the IPL about to begin and with the franchise acquiring the services of Eoin Morgan, team mentor David Hussey explored the idea of Russell batting higher in the order, now that his role as a closer will be shared with the big-hitting Irishman.

Hussey was asked at a recent press conference whether it is likely that Russell could bat higher in the Knight Riders’ line up, especially in light of his long-time complaints of not being able to face more balls.

“Why not?" Hussey responded.

"If it benefits the team and helps us win games of cricket, why not. If he comes in at No. 3 and bats 60 balls, he might even score a double-hundred. Anything can happen with Dre Russ. He is almost the heartbeat of the team."

Russell’s heroics have helped get the Jamaica Tallawahs into the semi-finals of the 2020 CPL and the Jamaican franchise who have only three wins from their 10 preliminary round matches, will probably be hoping for a double hundred from the all-rounder, who, according to his pre-season declaration, could be in his final season for the team.

The Tallawahs will face the perfect Trinbago Knight Riders in Tuesday’s semis.

KKR moved to the top of the table with an emphatic victory at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday after bowling the Kings out for 137 all out off 18.2 overs.

Yadav took 4-23 off his four excellent overs as Punjab fell well short of posting a challenging target, Bhanuka Rajapaksa top scoring with 31 and Kagiso Rabada making 25 down the order on his debut.

The new-look Kings side crumbled from 62-2 in the sixth over, with dangerous duo Shikhar Dhawan and Liam Livingstone getting starts but failing to go on.

Tim Southee claimed 2-36, while Sunil Narine took 1-23 from his full compliment of overs, and Russell removed Rabada with the first ball he bowled before ending Punjab's innings by whipping off the bails to run Arshdeep Singh out off the next delivery.

Rabada removed Ajinkya Rahane, who reached the 4,000-run IPL milestone before falling for 12, and Venkatesh Iyer was dismissed by Odean Smith for only three.

It appeared to be game on when Rahul Chahar saw the back of Shreyas Iyer (26) and Nitish Rana, reducing KKR to 51-4 seven overs into their run chase.

But West Indies all-rounder Russell then took centre stage, bludgeoning 71 not out from only 31 balls in an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 90 with Sam Billings to get the Knight Riders home with 33 balls to spare.

Yadav takes purple cap

Seamer Yadav set the tone by trapping Mayank Agarwal leg before in a first over of the match that went for only two runs after Shreyas Iyer won the toss and put the Kings in.

He also had Livingstone caught in the deep, cleaned Harpreet Brar up and sent Chahar on his way to become the leading wicket-taker early in the tournament with eight from three matches.

Russell fit for the Kings

Russell was an injury doubt due to a shoulder problem, but he was firing on all cylinders as he put on yet another show to take over as the leading run-scorer in the 2022 IPL.

The Jamaican powerhouse struck eight sixes in a brutal knock, three of those coming off Smith in a 12th over that went for 30 runs. Russell finished off the job in style by launching Livingstone over the rope in successive deliveries.

KKR dominated the final, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets after stifling them with an excellent bowling display in the first innings.

Russell took three wickets as SRH were limited to just 113 runs before KKR surged to the win with 57 balls remaining.

Asked how he was feeling after such a strong performance, Russell told reporters: "No words to explain right now.

"It means so much with all the fans that have been supporting us throughout the season. We are the players who go game after game and make sure that we get the job done. And it's the first time we're actually celebrating our victory and I think it's the right moment.

"I'm happy that all of us, we are very disciplined and want the same goal. This franchise has done so much for me, with the fitness and everything. This is a big gift from all of us to them, so I'm happy."

To Star Sports, he added: "I'm kind of lost for words, emotions is all over. It's my first final for KKR and to get three wickets as well, it means a lot to me, and all the bowlers did their job.

"I just mentioned to [Mitchell Starc], I said, 'Hey, big man, you saved the best for last,' and I'm happy with that because he started on the rough side and I kept feeling that he's still a world-class bowler, he doesn't take a few bad games to decide the destiny."

Nitish Rana quickly turned the focus to Gautam Gambhir's work in leading KKR to the title, saying: "When Gautam Gambhir was signed as our mentor, I had congratulated him on WhatsApp.

"I wrote a long message to him, and he thanked me, but he also said he'll be the happiest when we'll lift the trophy at the podium. Today is that day and I'll remember that message forever."

The Kolkata Knight Riders bounced back from their defeat to the Mumbai Indians on Monday with a dominant 80-run win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad in TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) action at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.

KKR needed a win at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Saturday to keep themselves in contention for a top-four finish and they delivered under pressure.

Russell blasted 49 off 28 balls to get the Knight Riders up to 177-6 in Pune, where hostile paceman Umran Malik gave another exhibition of his quality by taking 3-33.

Sunrisers fell well short at 123-8 in their run chase as their play-off hopes suffered a blow, with this their fifth consecutive defeat.

Malik halted KKR's momentum by dismissing Nitish Rana (26) and Ajinkya Rahane (28) in the same over, reducing them to 72-3 after eight overs.

He also had Shreyas Iyer caught by Rahul Tripathi at deep midwicket, but Sam Billings got Kolkata ticking with 34 and unbeaten Russell struck four sixes - three of which came in the final over from Washington Sundar - in a much-need display of powerful striking.

All-rounder Russell (3-22) then cleaned an out-of-sorts Kane Williamson up for only nine and Tim Southee (2-23) took an excellent catch off his own bowling to send Tripathi on his way for the same score as his captain.

Abhishek Sharma made a brisk 43 and Aiden Markram 32, but Russell took another two wickets as Sunrisers' slump continued and they slipped to eighth spot with two games to play, while sixth-placed KKR face Lucknow Super Giants as they strive to sneak into the play-offs.

Malik back in business

Sunrisers quick Malik has been a revelation in this tournament and made his mark once again after failing to take a wicket in three matches following his five-wicket haul against Gujarat Titans.

The 22-year-old has claimed 18 scalps in the 2022 IPL at an average of 22 and there will surely be many more to come in such a promising career.

Russell keeps KKR in the mix

So many times over the years Russell has stepped up when his side have needed him.

He gave KKR a huge lift by taking Sundar apart in the last over of KKR's innings and then did the bulk of the damage with the ball, dismissing Williamson, Sundar and Marco Jansen.

In the second game of the campaign for the Kolkatta Knight Riders, Russell cleaned up the Mumbai Indians' tail for career-best figures of 5-15.  In the same match, however, the player was unable to finish the job with the bat as the Knight Riders slumped to a dramatic 10-run defeat as Russell added 9 from 15.

Vaughan pointed to the batsman’s work in the field and running between the crease as evidence the big hitter is not quite at his best.

“You got a player like Andre Russell, who has been a superstar, but on the field, when the ball is coming to him, he is always using his feet. He is obviously someone who cannot go down. It’s a very clever and careful aspect which Eoin Morgan will have to manage,” Vaughan told Cricbuzz.

“When he (Andre Russell) is at his best, he is great. But when you see him on the field, and when is bowling, he appears to be struggling. While batting he is not taking the twos,” he added.

“He needed to take the twos in the 19th over. Because you want him back on strike. Very difficult to manage for Brendon McCullum and Eoin Morgan.”

The Knight Riders have won 1 of their first 3 matches.

The former West Indies captain, 36, played for Sunrisers between 2013 and 2014 and says he will be questioning his former team-mates over the "degrading" jibe.

Sammy's comments come amid the Black Lives Matter movement, which has seen anti-racism protests around the world following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.

He wrote in an Instagram story on Saturday: "Oh so that's what that meant when they called me and Thisara Perera Kalu in India when we played for Sunrisers. 

"I just thought they were calling me strong black man - I’m more piss now."

He added: "I just learnt what that kalu meant. When I played for Sunrisers in the IPL, they called me and Perera by that name. 

"I thought it meant strong Stallion. My previous post tells me something different and I am angry."

Sammy followed up with social media posts and a video on Monday, writing: "Knowledge is power. So recently I discovered a word that I was being called was not what it actually meant I need some answers. 

"So before I start calling out names I need these individuals to reach out and please tell me there's another meaning to that word and when I was being called it, it was all in love."

He added hashtags titled blackandproud, blackandconfident, clarasboy, saynotoracism, stopracism, cricketer and stlucia.

Sammy continued: "I was listening to Hasan Minhaj talking about how some of the people in his culture view or describe black people.

"Instantly I remembered when I played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013 and 2014, I was being called the exact same word that he described.

"I will be messaging those people - you guys know who you are. I must admit, at the time in which I was being called that, I did not know what it meant. 

"Me being a team man, I thought, hey, team-mates are happy, it must be something funny. You can understand my frustration and my anger when it was pointed out to me that it wasn't funny at all, it was degrading.

"So, I'm going to be texting you guys, and asking you guys, when you repeatedly called me that word over and over again to the point that I was even saying that's my name, did you all mean it in any way, shape or form as a degrading word to me.

"Reach out to me, let's have a conversation. Because, if it was in any way, shape or form what Minhaj said it meant, I'm very disappointed, and I'll still be angry, and deserve an apology from you guys, because I saw all of you guys as my brothers.

"So, talk to me, reach out to me, please clear the air."

Two of his team-mates in that period, Irfan Pathan and Parvez Rasool, have insisted they have no knowledge of the word being used.

"If something like that would have happened then it would have come to notice or a team discussion would have happened on the topic," Pathan told the Indian Express.

"I am not aware of any such incident and he [Sammy] has to take responsibility for his comments. 

"But I have seen some issues in domestic cricket. I think the real issue is education and society needs to learn."

Rasool added: "I never noticed anything like this. Sammy was my captain for one match during the season but he never told me anything like that.

"As a team, we had a very healthy environment and were a happy bunch of cricketers." 

Dhoni took over as CSK captain once again after Ravindra Jadeja – who is sidelined with a rib injury – stepped down following just over a month in the role.

India great Dhoni led by example with an unbeaten 36 on Thursday, but the defending champions were skittled out for only 97 from 16 overs, with no other batter making more than 12.

Daniel Sams spearheaded the Indians' bowling attack with 3-16 from his four overs - two of those wickets coming in the first over.

Ishan Kishan fell cheaply as Mumbai's chase started poorly, with Mukesh Choudhary (3-23) drawing an edge and Dhoni taking the catch.

Dhoni caught his counterpart Rohit Sharma (18) from a Simarjeet Singh delivery in the fourth over, before Sams fell to Choudhary, who then sent Tristan Stubbs packing for a duck.

Yet Hrithik Shokeen and Tilak Varma steadied the ship, and although the former was bowled out by Moeen Ali, Varma's 34 not out set Mumbai well on their way, with two sixes from Tim David (16 not out) ensured the Indians got home with 31 balls to spare.

Super Kings unable to make a case for the defence

CSK had four wins from their last seven matches in the IPL prior to Thursday's meeting. However, this is the first season in which CSK have failed to register consecutive wins so far and that run rolled on as they were convincingly beaten.

With only two games to play, the defending champions have no chance of finishing in the top four.

Indians bring up 20 against CSK

Mumbai have now won 20 of their 34 IPL meetings with CSK. Indeed, the Super Kings have lost more times against the Indians than they have any other team in the competition. This was only a third win of the tournament for Mumbai.

CSK kicked off the IPL's 13th season with a five-wicket win over Mumbai Indians, however, they were comfortably second best on Tuesday in Sharjah.

Samson and captain Smith laid the foundation for Rajasthan with a second-wicket partnership of 121 as they set CSK a target of 217.

Had CSK triumphed it would have marked the highest successful chase in IPL history.

However, they never came close to doing so despite an opening partnership of 56 between Shane Watson and Murali Vijay and a powerful 37-ball 72 from Faf du Plessis.

Three sixes in the final over from MS Dhoni saw the record for most maximums in an IPL match tied as the teams combined for 33.

A comfortable Rajasthan success did not appear on the cards when opener Yashasvi Jaiswal fell for six in the third over.

But Samson (74) and Smith (69) tipped the balance of the contest firmly in favour of Rajasthan.

Samson was in destructive form as he bludgeoned the CSK attack, a four and nine sixes marking a devastating 32-ball stay at the crease.

Lungi Ngidi dismissed Samson when a wide delivery outside off was hit to deep cover and David Miller was run out for a duck two balls later.

Smith held the innings together until he fell with 10 balls remaining, with Jofra Archer then adding the finishing touches as he struck Ngidi for four successive sixes - including two off no-balls - in a final over that went for 30.

Rahul Tewatia dealt with the dangerous Watson, whose 33 comprised of four sixes, sending a delivery crashing into his leg stump.

Shreyas Gopal removed Murali (21) five balls later before Tewatia had Sam Curran and Ruturaj Gaikwad stumped in successive deliveries.

Kedar Jadhav's (22) exit left an unlikely fightback on the shoulders of the experienced duo of Du Plessis and Dhoni.

Du Plessis did the heavy lifting in spectacular fashion, with three sixes in the 17th over giving CSK faint hope that was snuffed out when an Archer bouncer did him for pace.

Smith shows his class

Smith returned from a head injury suffered during Australia's recent limited-overs tour of England and did so in fine fashion, scoring his first half-century in any format since February.

Archer adds crucial runs

Archer's incredible final-over contribution made sure a mammoth total was out of reach for CSK and he then produced a brilliant bouncer to remove the in-form Du Plessis and put the contest to bed.

Seamer Siraj claiming incredible figures of 3-8 off four overs as KKR could only post a pitiful 84-8 from their 20 overs in a one-sided Indian Premier League match at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

Kolkata's total was the lowest from the full complement of overs in an IPL game without a team getting bowled out and Siraj's figures were the most economical in the tournament this year.

Siraj was the first to bowl two maidens in an IPL innings, while Yuzvendra Chahal claimed 2-15 and captain Eoin Morgan (30) was one of only four KKR batsmen to make double figures.

RCB needed just 13.3 overs to reach their target in Abu Dhabi and go second in the table, level on points with leaders Delhi Capitals. 

Lockie Ferguson was the Knight Riders' only wicket-taker, getting Aaron Finch caught behind after Devdutt Padikkal (25) was run out.

KKR never recovered from the magnificent Siraj taking two wickets in as many balls in the second over and remain in fourth spot.

SIRAJ STUNS KKR, TON UP FOR AB

Siraj had three wickets without conceding a run from two overs and was on a hat-trick after seeing the back of Rahul Tripathi and Nitish Rana.

Morgan's men were deep in the mire on 14-4 when Tom Banton was taken by AB de Villiers, who reached the 100 IPL catches landmark.

KKR never got going, Morgan scoring half of their six fours as the RCB bowlers gave little away, bowling 72 dot balls in a strange innings.

KOHLI ON A ROLL

RCB unsurprisingly made easy work of putting KKR out of their misery, getting home at a canter.

An unbroken stand of 39 between Gurkeerat Singh (21) and Virat Kohli (18) sealed it, the skipper maintaining his excellent form after a slow start to the competition.

The India captain has scored 329 runs since the beginning of this month, averaging a mammoth 109.7. He has also racked up 285 in his last four knocks versus KKR at an average of 142.5.

KL Rahul (74 from 56 balls) struck his first fifty of the season and become the fastest player to 4,000 IPL runs as the Super Giants posted 159-8 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium. 

Raza (57 off 41) put the Kings on their way to victory, but a tense game was in the balance before Shahrukh (23 not out off 10) finished off the job with three balls to spare to make it three wins from five for his side and consign Lucknow to only a second loss.

Harpreet Brar removed Kyle Mayers (29) to end an opening stand of 53 with Rahul after Sam Curran, taking over as captain with Shikhar Dhawan out due to a shoulder injury, won the toss and opted to field.

The Super Giants were reduced to 111-4 in a 15th over from Kagiso Rabada in which Krunal Pandya and Nicholas Pooran departed, but Rahul ticked along on a surface that was by no means the easiest to bat on. 

Rahul was finally removed by Arshdeep Singh in the penultimate over before Curran (3-31) struck twice in the last to keep Lucknow below 160.

Debutant Yudhvir Singh (2-19) struck an early blow in the run chase by getting Atharva Taide caught by Avesh Khan at third man in his first Kings over and also cleaned up Prabhsimran Singh.

Matthew Short (34) and Harpreet Singh (22) got starts but failed to go on and Curran fell cheaply trying to launch Ravi Bishnoi over the rope, but Raza was able to hang around and keep his side on course to reach their target.

Lucknow were scenting the win when Raza fell to Bishnoi and Mark Wood struck twice to set up a tense finish, but Shahrukh hit his first ball for six and won it with a four off Bishnoi in the final over

Rahul breaks another record

Lucknow skipper Rahul came to the party by anchoring the innings, reaching the 4,000 IPL runs landmark in record time.

The opener got there in his 105 innings, pushing Chris Gayle (112 knocks) down to second on the list of the quickest batters to hit that tally.

He got to his half-century in 40 balls, hitting a six and eight fours before falling to Arshdeep.

Raza rises to the occasion

Zimbabwe all-rounder Raza turns 37 this month and he showed all of his experience to show why he was given a first IPL chance by the Kings.

He hit three sixes and another four boundaries to reach his 50 from 34 balls and looked like being there at the end until Bishnoi ended his excellent knock.

According to ESPNCricinfo, the ECB pulled Wood, a centrally contracted player, out of IPL 2024 to manage his workload, with the T20 World Cup scheduled in June and England hosting West Indies and Sri Lanka for Tests in the home summer.

Recently, the ECB had prevented Jofra Archer from being a part of the IPL 2024 auction as it manages his comeback from injury leading up to the T20 World Cup.

Super Giants had signed Wood in the auction before the 2022 season for INR 7.50 crore. He, however, missed that season because of an elbow injury. In IPL 2023, Wood played four matches and picked up 11 wickets at an average of 11.82.

Joseph made his West Indies debut in the drawn series against Australia, dismissing Steven Smith with his first ball in Test cricket, in a game West Indies lost in Adelaide. He then became a worldwide phenomenon when he took a seven-wicket haul in the final innings despite an injured foot to give West Indies a dramatic eight-run win at the Gabba in the second Test. It was West Indies' first Test win in Australia since 1997.

Joseph had been signed by Dubai Capitals for the ongoing ILT20 season before West Indies' tour of Australia, but was subsequently ruled out because of the toe injury he suffered in the Brisbane Test when a Mitchell Starc yorker struck him. But his performance in Australia has since landed him a deal with Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL, which starts on February 17.

While Joseph has just played two T20 games in his professional career, and doesn't have a wicket to show yet, West Indies white-ball coach Daren Sammy has indicated that Joseph could find a berth in the T20 World Cup squad, saying the fast bowler has "created a good headache" for the selectors.

Apart from Joseph, the Super Giants' fast-bowling line-up has Naveen-ul-Haq, Mohsin Khan, David Willey, Shivam Mavi, Yash Thakur and Yudhvir Singh. They also have allrounders Marcus Stoinis, Kyle Mayers and India's Under-19 World Cupper Arshin Kulkarni, who can give them quite a few overs. Though just two seasons old in the IPL, Super Giants have been one of the best-performing teams, making the playoffs and finishing third both in 2022 and 2023.

Rinku Singh famously smashed five sixes in the last over to earn Kolkata victory the last time these sides met, but this time Shubman Gill and Vijay Shankar took the acclaim as Gujarat cruised to their 180 target for a third straight win.

Gujarat won the toss and put Kolkata in to bat first, and after a 45-minute rain delay, Rahmanullah Gurbaz powered his way to 81 off just 39 deliveries to take the Knights Riders to 135 off 15.2 overs before he was caught at deep midwicket by Rashid Khan off Noor Ahmad's bowling.

Andre Russell (34 from 19) and Rinku (19 off 20) also chipped in with late cameos as Kolkata finished on 179/7, while Mohammed Shami (3-33) impressed with the ball for the Titans.

Gujarat's chase got off to a strong start thanks to Gill as he combined with Wriddhiman Saha (10 off 10) and captain Hardik Pandya (26 from 20) to take the Titans on the way to victory.

Gill (49) was eventually dismissed on the verge of his half-century when he skied Sunil Narine's delivery to Russell, but Shankar and David Miller (32 from 18) would finish the job with two overs remaining.

Kolkata's powerplay woes continue

The Knights Riders are the only team to concede at least 50 runs in all nine of their matches so far this season, an unwanted run that is the longest in IPL history.

Kolkata's batsmen are averaging a boundary every 4.8 balls, the most often of all IPL teams, but their bowlers again failed to live up to expectations as they fell to a fifth defeat in six matches.

Shankar haunts Kolkata again

Shankar's 51 off 24 balls made him the second non-opener to score two half-centuries against the Knight Riders in an IPL season after Suresh Raina in 2017.

The batsman has hit 10 sixes against Kolkata across both games, the joint third-highest in one season against the Knights Riders.

Chennai posted 154-7 from their 20 overs, with Moeen Ali top scoring with 48 runs, and the Sunrisers surpassed the target with 14 balls remaining to pick up their first win of the season.

Abhishek Sharma played a key role for the Sunrisers with 75 off 50 balls, while Kane Williamson (32), Rahul Tripathi (39 not out) and Nicholas Pooran (five no) also chipped in.

Put in to bat first, the Super Kings had lost the wickets of Robin Uthappa (15) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (16) within the powerplay, and their innings was rather stop-start throughout.

Moeen aside, the struggling defending champions could not find any rhythm as Thangarasu Natarajan (2-30) and Washington Sundar (2-21) helped restrict them to a gettable target.

Mukesh Choudhary gave the Super Kings hope when making a breakthrough with the wicket of Williamson, but Sharma cut down the gap between runs required and balls remaining.

The opener led the chase with a first IPL half-century before being dismissed in the 18th over, by which time he and Tripathi had already done much of the damage.

Tripathi finished off the run chase in style by hitting a four off Dwayne Bravo to get the Sunrisers off the mark for the campaign.

Sharma shakes it up

Sharma has come under pressure as an opener but more than delivered here, with his 75 runs consisting of five fours and three maximums.

He will be disappointed with the manner of his exit with just 10 runs required for victory, the young all-rounder caught by Chris Jordan when trying to hit a huge one.

Super Kings lose again

Defending champions CSK have lost their first four IPL matches for only the second time, with the other instance coming in 2010 when, impressively, they went on to win the title.

On the basis of their displays so far, it will take some doing to repeat that feat of 12 years ago.

India have suffered with maintaining the health of their pace options over the past few years, with players struggling to complete full tours.

Deepak Chahar is the latest India seamer to be sidelined, after suffering a left hamstring injury during the Indian Premier League game between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.

Players are rehabilitated at the BCCI's National Cricket Academy, but Shastri has now questioned just how effective the team's recovery methods are, given their high turnover of problems.

"Let's put it this way: there are quite a few in the last three or four years who are permanent residents of the NCA," Shastri told ESPN's T20 Time:Out.

"Soon, they'll get a resident permit there to walk in any time they want, which is not a good thing at all. It's unreal.

"You're not playing that much cricket to be injured again and again. If you are going to come back, make sure you get fit and come once and for all because it's frustrating not just for the team, the players, the BCCI, the captains of the various franchises.

"I can understand a serious injury, but every four games when someone touches his hamstring or someone touches his groin, you start thinking what are these guys training. Some of them don't play any other cricket. It's ridiculous.

Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Mohsin Khan and Yash Dayal are among the other pace options India have seen injured to varying degrees in recent months.

Bumrah, in particular, attempted an unsuccessful comeback before conceding the need for surgery in March.