IPL 2018: 5 best moments from the 1st week

The first week of the 11th edition of IPL came to an eventful end with a massive 5 wicket win for the Sunrisers Hyderabad over Kolkata Knight Riders in their own yard. After 10 matches, the points table are led by familiar occupants Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings, whereas Mumbai Indians have made another slow start to their campaign and are lying at the bottom of the table once again.

Just like all the previous season of IPL, this season also had a phenomenal first week with a string of exciting matches. If the matches so far are a sign of things to come, the next 6 weeks are going be a treat for the fans.

Between CSK's stunning victory in their return match to the IPL after 2 years and SRH's easy victory over KKR in Kolkata, the first week had a plethora of moments that will be counted among the best moments of this season. Here are 5 of the best moments from the first season of IPL.

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#5 KL Rahul breaks the Shackles

What a way to start your new job

Before the start of this year's IPL, there was a lot of pressure on KL Rahul's shoulders. Bought by Kings XI Punjab for a whopping 11 crores, not only was Rahul supposed to act as the team's first choice wicketkeeper but also had the added load of proving his worth to his franchise. He got his first chance in KXIP's opening fixture against DD, and he did prove his worth in style with a record-breaking inning.

With the help of 6 fours and 4 sixes, Rahul raced to the fastest 50 in the history of IPL, taking only 14 balls and reaching the landmark in just the 3rd over of the innings. The highlight of his quick-fire inning was his destruction of Amit Mishra, who was smashed for 2 sixes and 3 fours in his first over.

If there were any doubts regarding Rahul's ability to play a big role in the squad, he made sure that he silenced his critics with an inning that will be remembered for a long time.

#4 The Russell-Billings Show

Sam Billings had the last laugh over Andre Russell

Andre Russell has been the MVP of KKR in the past, and was expected to perform following his return from a doping-ban. Although he failed in the first match, he certainly had a more than eventful outing against CSK.

With his team struggling at 89/5 in their group match against CSK, Russell came out to the middle and played a knock of 88 runs in just 36 balls, which included 1 four and 11 huge maximums. His inning helped KKR reach a mammoth total of 202/6, which was enough to win the match on any day.

On that day, however, it wasn't. Sam Billings came out with different intentions and snatched the match away from the hands of KKR and Russell. After Shane Watson started the CSK inning with a quickfire 42 from 19 balls, it looked like they might chase the target with ease. However, a slow knock from MS Dhoni forced Sam Billings to take the charge.

His knock of 56 runs from just 23 balls, infused with 2 fours and 5 sixes, was enough to guide CSK to their 2nd win as they reached the target with one ball to spare.

#3 SRH muster a fielding masterpiece

*****

If there is one thing in cricket for which IPL deserves all the credits in the whole world, then it is the development and innovation of the fielding skills of the players. Over the years, players like Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Hardik Pandya and Suresh Raina have taken catches that have changed the landscape of the match. This time out, however, it was a complete team effort by the Sunrisers Hyderabad that deserves an applause for their efforts in the field.

It all began with Manish Pandey taking an excellent catch at point by diving to his right to dismiss Nitish Rana. Pandey almost took another breath-taking catch to dismiss Narine, but he did manage to save 5 runs for his time. Leading by example, it was Williamson's turn to run back to take a high catch to dismiss Narine at last.

Shakib brought an end to Lynn's stay by taking a splendid one-handed catch off his own ball whereas Bhuvi and Billy managed to prevent a collision to take a tremendous catch behind the stumps. The day, however, belonged to Manish Pandey, who ran almost 20 yards backwards to take a spell-bounding catch to dismiss Andre Russell.

#2 Mumbai provide the entertainment despite losing

Another slow start for the defending champions?

Mumbai Indians are famous for their slow starts to almost every season of IPL since 2013. It takes them a little time to adjust to the circumstances, and it is usually after their 4th match that they gain their form. This time, however, the case has been a little different. Yes, the Indians have lost their first 3 matches, but they have looked like a settled line up from the very beginning. Each match was a thrilling contest, with the result of each contest coming off the last bowl of the match.

It all began with a breath-taking opening clash with CSK, where a splendid knock by Dwayne Bravo and some awesome finishing skills by Kedar Jadhav, where he hit 10 runs in the last two balls, handed them a 1-wicket loss.

A similar thing happened during the clash with SRH, with some exceptional batting by Deepak Hooda taking SRH to a 1-wicket victory. Against DD, it was Jason Roy's turn to finish the match off the last bowl as he chipped over the cover area to hand MI their 3rd consecutive loss off the last bowl.

#1 Young Guns hunt Indian Legends

Kohli had no answer to Mujeeb's wrong one

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni are easily two of the biggest names in Indian cricket. They have played against the fiercest of bowlers all across the world and have easily tackled each and every one of them. Hence it was a rather shocking scene watching each of them getting out to relatively new bowlers during the first week of IPL.

Take nothing away from the bowlers though, as both the deliveries would have taken the wicket of probably any batsman in the whole world. And who were the agents of destruction - Leg spinners Mayank Markande and Mujeeb-ur-Rahman from Afghanistan.

Markande has had a dream season so far, having taken 7 wickets so far in 3 matches, but his best delivery came against the captain of CSK, who clearly didn't have any answer to a googly from the young leggie as he was trapped right in front of the stumps.

However, the title of the best delivery so far goes to the Afghan leggie Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, who bowled a tremendous googly that went right through the gap between the bat and the leg of Virat Kohli. Kohli was left flabbergasted as the ball came in and went on to hit the stumps.

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