The Plunder Games - Week 3 Recap

Have you been too busy studying for your exams to take note of what has been going on in the IPL? Or have you been too engrossed in searching for a job to know who has hit the most ‘DLF Maximums’ over the past week? Maybe all your time is being taken up by stalking your ex-boyfriend; or you could just be some closeted IPL fan who likes to keep up appearances by publicly denouncing the ‘pajama cricket’ but want to know how your favorite IPL team is doing?

Never fear. For the attention-deficit IPL fan in you, I present to you ‘The Plunder Games’ – a weekly recap of all the IPL action. Here, you can catch up with all the past week’s action in just 10 minutes.

Game 22: KXIP vs KKR

Kolkata Knight Riders 127/2 (Gambhir 66*) beat Kings XI Punjab 124/7 (Gilchrist 40*, Lee 2-26, Narine 2-24) by 8 wickets.

Match in 140 characters: Kings XI struggle to get to 124, as Gambhir and Kallis lead KKR to an easy win.

Performer of the day: People wonder why Gambhir hesitates to open the innings more often considering his success at the top, which usually converts to wins for his team; a typical innings ensured no hiccups in a steady chase.

Best tweet of the game: There are so many mosquitoes in the field at Mohali. Probably, that’s why KXIP players wanted to get ALL OUT! :P #ipl (by @coolfunnytshirt)

Game 23: DD vs DC

Delhi Daredevils 162/ 5 (Pietersen 103*, Steyn 2-19) beat Deccan Chargers 157/8 (Parthiv 45*, Nadeem 3-16) by 5 wickets.

Match in 140 characters: Nadeem and Morkel restricted the Chargers to 157 after a good start. Despite a top order wobble, KP powered DD to win, with some generous help.

#TrottsFault: Deccan Chargers would have felt that they were in with a chance, as they left the Daredevils staggering at 65/4. All that changed in the space of a Duminy over, where he conceded 21 runs to hand the momentum back to DD.

Performer of the day: Kevin Pietersen is in some hot form. The Chargers did help with three dropped catches, but full credit to KP who made them pay for it with an authoritative ton that was rounded off with a brilliant six to win the game.

Best tweet of the game: Delhi Daredevils won despite Agarkar, Deccan Chargers lost despite Dale Steyn. #IPL (by @CricketSaurabh)

Game 24: CSK vs PWI

Match in 140 characters: Badri, du Plessis and Dhoni power CSK to 164; Warriors give it their best shot but are thwarted by a strong bowling and fielding effort.

Winning moment: Till the end of the 19th over of CSK’s innings, it looked like the team was heading for a middling total which could be easily chased by the Warriors. Instead, MS Dhoni got a couple of big hits going which helped CSK to get 18 runs in the final over, and which ultimately proved crucial in a tight finish.

Performer of the day: For once, no one performer outshone the rest. It was a true team effort with batsmen, bowlers and fielders playing their part.

Best tweet of the game: Just realized, Ganguly still doesnt have a full time wicketkeeper for his team. Some things never change!#IPL5 (by @chetannarula)

Fake Fact: Concerned by his expensive performance with the ball, Saurav Ganguly met the match referee at the end of the game to report Marlon Samuels for chucking. (courtesy @AltCricket)

Game 25: RCB vs KXIP

Royal Challengers Bangalore 166 / 5 (Gayle 87, de Villiers 52, Awana 4-34) beat Kings XI Punjab 163/ 6 (Hussey 41, Mahmood 33*) by 5 wickets.

Match in 140 characters: Mahmood’s late burst propelled Kings XI to 163; despite a four-fer from Awana, Gayle and de Villiers led RCB to a risk free victory.

Performer of the day: Chris Gayle is getting more dangerous with each passing match. He has added a new facet to his slam bang hitting – now, he takes his time to settle down and give the first few overs to the bowlers, before hitting out. This strategy served him and RCB well in this game, as a chase which should have been more tricky, turned out to be a cake walk for them.

Game 26: CSK vs RR

Chennai Super Kings 147/ 3 (du Plessis 73) beat Rajasthan Royals 146 / 4 (Shah 52, Menaria 36) by 7 wickets.

Match in 140 characters: Kulasekara and Ashwin countered Shah’s strikes to keep Royals to 146, Faf led CSK again as ice man Dhoni closed out a tight chase.

Winning Moment: In a game which CSK seemed to have sewn up for most part of their chase, it all came to the final ball with Dhoni needing two runs off Binny; sure enough, the skipper got the runs with a wild throw helping his cause.

Performer of the day: du Plessis is in the form of his life. He is definitely making it hard for Mike Hussey to find a place in the XI when he returns. Yet another fifty to shepherd CSK’s chase helped him to second place in the run charts.

Best tweet of the game: Should Ravi Shastri be locked up in the lift again?#PulseQuestion #IPL (by @triple81212)

Fake Fact: At his hotel room, Gambhir was seen shaking his head while watching the CSK chase and was heard muttering something about ‘winning it in 18 overs’. (courtesy @cricketsaurabh)

Game 27: PWI vs DD

Match in 140 characters: Ryder, Ganguly and Smith take the Warriors to 192; despite Viru’s and KP’s best efforts, Ganguly and Alfonso star with ball as DD crash land.

Winning Moment: When Ganguly brought himself on to bowl, he was up against a rampaging Pietersen and Sehwag. With his first ball, he knocked over KP to set off on a vintage celebration. He went on to claim one more wicket to back up an impressive performance with the bat and smart changes in the field.

Best tweet of the game: Ganguly is the Kamalhasan of PWI. Has played every role today. (by @cheese_charmer)

Game 28: MI vs KXIP

Kings XI Punjab 164 / 4 (Marsh 68*, Pollard 2-14) beat Mumbai Indians 163 / 6 (Franklin 79, Awana 2-23) by 6 wickets.

Match in 140 characters: Frankin and DK’s efforts takes MI to 163; Munaf’s tantrum and Pollard’s strangling bowling go in vain as Marsh takes KXIP over the line.

#TrottsFault: Munaf Patel might be one of the leading wicket takers in this IPL, but his antics are getting unbearable to watch now. Not satisfied with physically intimidating a batsman, he got into an argument with the umpires and escaped with a fine of 50% of his match fee for all the trouble. Additionally, he had an unforgettable day with the ball.

Winning Moment: With 8 runs to defend in the final over, Harbhajan turned to Perera, who had bowled one over for 10 runs. Sure enough, the first ball he bowled to Marsh sailed over deep point to signal the beginning of the end of the contest.

Performer of the day: Shaun Marsh is quickly getting back to vintage form, as he strives to put behind memories of a poor home season behind him. His unbeaten 68 from 40 balls was one of his best knocks considering the opposition and the match situation.

Best tweet of the game: After a long time, Preity Zinta delivers a hit. #KXIP #IPL (by @coolfunnytshirt)

Fake Fact: Considering their inconsistent performances of late, Mumbai Indians are planning to wheel in Lasith Malinga to bowl from a stretcher for the next few games. (courtesy @BoredCricket)

Game 29: KKR vs DC

Kolkata Knight Riders 127 / 5 (Tiwary 30*, Steyn 2-24) beat Deccan Chargers 126 / 7 (Dhawan 50, Balaji 2-22) by 5 wickets.

Match in 140 characters: Dhawan top scores in a somnolent Chargers innings as they post 126; despite tight bowling, it is not enough as Tiwary guides KKR home.

Winning Moment: With both teams playing like they wanted the other team to win, it all boiled down to a dropped catch by Anand Rajan in the 18th over of KKR’s chase which sealed the Chargers’ fate.

Best tweet of the game: DC fielders can pass on few ra.one jokes to the kkr batsmen. They will get frustrated and get out. Thats the only option left now! #ipl (by @coolfunnytshirt)

Game 30: RCB vs RR

Royal Challengers Bangalore 189 / 3 (Dilshan 76*, de Villiers 59*) beat Rajasthan Royals 143 / 7 (Dravid 58, Appanna 4-19) by 46 runs.

Match in 140 characters: An AB de Villiers blitz and a Dilshan special propel RCB to 189; Dravid sizzles briefly but Appanna is too much for the Royals.

Winning Moment: It is not often that a Gayle wicket turns out to be a winning moment for RCB; yet, it was the dismissal of the unwell Jamaican that brought de Villiers to the crease and set in motion the mayhem that was to follow.

Performer of the day: While it was gracious of him to share the MOM award with Appanna, it was the manic innings of de Villiers which proved to be the difference between the two sides. He came in when the team’s run rate was below 6 per over and by the time he walked off after an innings of 59 in 23 deliveries, the run rate was 9.45 per over.

Best tweet of the day: Justin Bieber’s Indian cousin opening the bowling for RCB. (by @AltCricket)

Game 31: DD vs PWI

Delhi Daredevils 148/ 2 (Sehwag 87*) beat Pune Warriors 146 / 2 (Pandey 80*) by 8 wickets.Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Match in 140 characters: Pandey and Utthappa resist some tight Daredevil bowling to take Warriors to 146; Sehwag’s blistering knock makes light of target as DD win.

Performer of the day: It is not often that Sehwag strings together two consecutive scores above 50, and it shows that he is slowly getting back into vintage form. 147 was always going to be comfortable chase, but the way he was going, it would not have mattered if the Warriors had scored 200 either.

Best tweet of the game: Dada running long on ! hair is going long off lol #ipl (by @YUVSTRONG12)

Game 32: KKR vs DC

Match abandoned

Tweet of the week:

Looks like this season KXIP will meet the same fate as most of Preity Zinta’s films do (by @_fakeiplplayer)