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Dom and Toby are joined by Lachlan and Steven from the Birmingham Unicorns CC, the first LGBTQ+ cricket team outside of London. They discuss how the club was founded, inclusivity within cricket and their big match against Graces CC on the 23rd of May.

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Dom and Toby are joined by writer, commentator and journalist, Jarrod Kimber. Jarrod shares his stories working at some of the top clubs in the world, his bad experiences with players and what it was like making his award winning documentary, Death of a Gentleman, as well as his tips to break through into the cricket world of journalism and broadcasting.

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England Test Hopefuls - Middle Order Batsman

Toby Reynolds, 10/05/2021

England have a fairly solid middle order at the moment, but that isn’t stopping player knocking on the door, not just for this summer but for the tough winter ahead in Australia. Unless there are injuries or significant losses of form, it is unlikely there will be huge changes to the middle order but if there are, here are some of the candidates.

Current Middle Order

England’s current middle order is fairly stable after the past year. Currently they have England skipper, Joe Root, Headingly saviour, Ben Stokes and Surrey young-gun, Ollie Pope, while Jos Buttler has the gloves. Although Joe Root has been struggling a little over the past few years by his own standards, he averages just over 43 since and including England’s last Ashes series in Australia. He is the only English batsman to average over 40 in that time period. Ben Stokes is next best, just a tick under 40, but has had far more memorable moments for England at the same time: the miracle at Headingly, opening the batting against the West Indies, bowling South Africa out on the final day, and many other occasions too. Considering they are England’s captain and vice-captain; it would seem very odd to see either of them dropped before the Ashes.

Ollie Pope is possibly the man most at risk of being dropped. He has been in fine form for Surrey so far this season, averaging 70 from the first five matches and is one of five batsmen so far to score a double hundred in the County Championship, but his England form has dropped off over the past few series after being so good in his first coupled tours. He averaged over 50 in his first winter for England against New Zealand and South Africa, but since then has failed to average over 35 in any other series. He especially struggled in India after coming back from injury. Even though he made it to double figures in seven of his eight innings, he was unsuccessful in passing 35. This was possibly due to a lack of cricket in the build up to the tour, and therefore his mentality and concentration was not where it would usually have been, or just because the pitches were so difficult to bat on (England only managed to pass 205 once in the whole tour). This being said, I cannot see any scenario where England drop Pope for the first test of the summer, particularly with his form in the County Championship.

Jos Buttler has been a stalwart of the England test team since he was recalled in the summer of 2018 against Pakistan and India. He originally was selected as a specialist batsman at number 7, off the back of his magnificent IPL form by Ed Smith but took to test cricket as if he had been in the team all along. After a year of not wicketkeeping, he replaced Jonny Bairstow as the first choice after the 2019 Ashes series. Buttler is fairly stable in his position after having good series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, but many people still call for Ben Foakes to take the gloves as he did for three of the tests against India. I think Buttler will remain as the first choice for the majority of the summer unless there is a surprise injury or he is rested for a few matches.

Always a Chance

Essex star, Dan Lawrence is possibly the most likely candidate to enter the fray. Lawrence had a mixed debut winter in Sri Lanka and India. He hit a debut fifty at number six against Sri Lanka and looked impressive in his first match. He was then shifted up to number three against India due to injuries and bubble fatigue and struggled against the Indian seamers until he moved to number seven for the final match, where he scored 46 and 50 with the tail and looked very composed. It seems relatively likely that Lawrence will play a game or two over the summer. Ben Stokes will possibly miss the two matches against New Zealand due to a fractured finger so Lawrence looks the likely candidate to fill in. Even if Stokes recovers, it would seem silly not to play Lawrence in a few matches to allow for rest and rotation of other players while in the bubble.

The other player likely to get a game is Ben Foakes. Foakes kept in three matches against India over the winter and even though he failed to score many runs, he impressed significantly with the gloves, taking some magnificent catches and stumpings. It is unlikely Foakes will become the first choice wicketkeeper but, similar to Dan Lawrence, may be selected for an odd game to allow for Buttler to rest or due to injuries.

Outsiders

James Vince has been on England’s radar since he was selected in 2016. Originally at number five, he moved up to number three for the 2017/18 Ashes. He has struggled while playing for England, averaging 24 with the bat in tests. It is unlikely Vince will be called up even though he is averaging 44 this summer in the County Championship and averages a little under 40 in First Class cricket as his ability to leave outside the off stump is often criticised.

Number one T20 batsmen in the world, Dawid Malan, is a possible call up for the middle order this year. Malan has not appeared the in 2021 County Championship due to being selected in the IPL in the first five weeks, but now with the IPL cancelled, it is likely he will go back to Yorkshire and try to prove his red ball skills. Malan was given an opportunity to play for England back in 2017 but was dropped the following year after a lack of form in England, even though he averaged over 40 in the Ashes. I think it unlikely that Malan will be selected this summer but he would probably be the best bet as a replacement for the next Ashes tour in the winter. He struggles in England (averaging 20 in tests at home), but his backfoot technique is well suited for the hard, bouncy Australian pitches and a hundred at the WACA shows his test capability.

Jamie Smith is my pick for an outside chance. This is possibly my Surrey bias coming through but he has developed hugely over the past couple season. Smith always had talent but now has developed his mental game too and is scoring big hundreds and runs at number six. He is averaging 40 in this season of the County Championship, which is not good enough to get a call up right now but he is definitely one for the future and may be in with a chance if the current middle order all get injured and he can keep accumulating runs this summer.

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English Test Hopefuls - Top Order Batsmen

Toby Reynolds, 05/05/2021

To celebrate the start of the English summer and the upcoming Test matches against New Zealand and India, I have decided to talk about the best English players hoping to make their mark in the County Championship and receive a call up to play for their country. Today we start with the top order batsmen.

Current Top Three

The current incumbent men are likely Rory Burns, Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley. Jonny Bairstow held the number three place over the winter, but struggled heavily in India and will likely lose his place in the side, particularly as he has often struggled with the swinging ball in England.

Many pundits believe that Rory Burns seems to be the player most at risk of losing his spot. However, I think that is very  unfair. He averages marginally more in Test cricket than his opening partner Dom Sibley from his five extra matches. Although Burns has failed to score an international fifty in his past eight innings, he has ten years of County Championship experience at an average of over 40 (the only player discussed in this article with an average over 40). We must also not forget how impressive he was in the 2019 Ashes series, averaging almost 40, while none of the other openers averaged above 20. This series showed how well Burns deals with pressure and that when the going gets tough, he digs in and scores important runs.

Dom Sibley has had an unfortunate start to this season. He scored 29 and 0* in the first match of the season for Warwickshire but got injured in the following match. Sibley will possibly be out for the New Zealand series and even if he is back, will likely have not played much cricket before the series. This will be different to Burns, who is currently averaging 43 from his four matches. Sibley had a mixed winter, scoring two fifties but averaging 18 and struggling the rest of the tour. If Sibley makes it back from injury in time then I am sure he will start the first test of the summer.

Kent and England superstar, Zak Crawley, has struggled at the start of this season. In the first four matches, Crawley has only managed one fifty and is averaging a disappointing 24. It is unlikely he will be dropped as one of England’s most exciting young talents and his average of 34 is one of England’s best since Trott, Cook and Strauss, even if this is helped significantly by his 267 vs Pakistan.

Always a Chance

James Bracy was plucked out of relative obscurity last summer when he was named in the fifty man squad to train while the country was in lockdown. He had impressed for the England Lions, batting down the order and taking the gloves, and has since continued his fine form. He is currently batting number three for Gloucestershire and is averaging 55 this season with a brilliant hundred at Somerset and three other fifties. Bracy is probably most likely to replace any of the current top three. He has followed the squad round Asia and scored a great 80 in an internal warm up game last summer.

Adam Lyth was known as one of Yorkshire’s most talented youngsters, alongside Joe Root, Garry Balance and Jonny Bairstow. He finally got his chance to open the batting for England in 2015. He scored a fantastic hundred against New Zealand in the second test before struggling in the Ashes and being dropped after the series. He hasn’t played for England since but has really excelled this season, averaging over 70 with two hundreds and two fifties. Lyth is making a strong claim to the opening spot as an experienced batsmen with a good First Class record, averaging 38.

Outsiders

Aged 19, Haseeb Hameed was Lancashire's first opening batsman to play for England since Michael Atherton in 2001. He took to test cricket unbelievably well in the three matches he played before getting injured. He averaged 44 in test cricket and scored a gritty fifty with a broken hand to back up an 82 in his first test. After his short test career, Hameed failed to find any sort of form in the County Championship, until this year. He struggled in the first game of the season but managed a fifty in the second. He then dominated in his third match, scoring a hundred in both the first and second innings and taking the record for the most balls faced in a County Championship match. He followed this up with a 97 over the weekend and currently averages 57 this season. It is unlikely Hameed will get a match for England this summer as he hasn’t been consistent enough over the past few years and they wouldn’t want to throw him in at the deep end and destroy his confidence again.

The three other players who are probably not being considered but have scored runs this year are Chris Dent, Sam Robson and Ben Slater. Chris Dent has opened the batting for Gloucestershire for the past decade and has arguably been one of the most consistent run scorers in the championship. He has definitely been unlucky not to get a call up to England, but being over 30 means he is possibly missed his chance. Sam Robson has seven test caps for England, with one hundred and an average of 30. This seems to be a common theme for English openers post-Strauss. He failed to impress in his short stint and Cook made the decision to drop him from the side after Robson was over-analytical of himself and tried to keep tweaking his technique. He is averaging slightly under 50 this season with a hundred and 95, but will probably not get a call up unless there is a huge spree of injuries. Ben Slater is a 29 year old opening batsman for Nottinghamshire. He averages 33.5 in First Class cricket but averages over 50 this season with two hundreds. He impressed in pre-season, where I saw him grind out a fifty while conditions were tough, before becoming more expansive in the afternoon sessions and continuing to 103* vs Oxford UCCE. It would be a surprise pick to see him in an England squad but with Ed Smith losing his job, anything could happen.

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County Championship Round Up

Toby Reynolds, 27/04/2021

Three weeks into the championship and we have had double hundreds, hat-tricks and games delayed by snow. The only thing we have failed to see is a Surrey win.

A Thousand Runs by the End of May?

This has arguably been the most batting friendly start to a season in a while. In the first three weeks, there have been four double hundreds, thirteen 400+ scores by all counties and Haseeb Hameed now holds the record for the most balls faced in a County Championship match. I am not sure many people would have guessed this would be the start to the season.

Furthermore, six of the top seven run scorers are from “Division Two” sides, yet again showing why maybe this system of the County Championship could be the way forward. Personally I really like this system with three conferences as it allows any team a chance to win the whole competition and also doesn’t belittle the smaller sides and force any player with international ambitions to move to a “Division 1” county.

Now, back to the top runs scorers: David Beddingham, a twenty-seven year old, South African born, middle order batsman, who plays for Durham, has taken the top spot from former England opener Adam Lyth. Beddingham scored a magnificent 257 against Derbyshire in a tight draw. He moved to Durham as an overseas player last year and struck a career-best 180 not out against Nottinghamshire. These large scores have helped to keep his first class average above 50 and impress at county level.

There have also been three other double hundreds. Surrey and England young gun, Ollie Pope, scored 245 on a fairly flat track against Leicestershire in a game which petered out for a draw. The other two were scored by two players who have been dropped by England in the past. James Vince (13 tests) and Tom Westly (5 tests) both batted brilliantly for their double tons. Vince helped Hampshire to a great win, also against Leicestershire, by an innings and 105 runs. Both Tom Alsop and Liam Dawson scored hundreds in the match. Westly’s runs came against Worcestershire, where both sides passed 470 in their first innings, leading to a draw with almost a thousand runs in the match.

However, I think my favourite moment to come out of the first three weeks of the tournament has got to be Haseeb Hameed coming back into form. He scored one fifty in the first two matches but dominated in the final match with opening partner, Ben Slater. Hameed not only top scored in Nottinghamshire’s first innings with 111, but then batted out over a day with his partner for 114* to draw the match after Notts were made to follow on. Although Hameed has started the championship well since his short stint with England, this bodes well for the rest of the tournament if he can keep up this amazing start.

Green Seamers in Early April

It has not just been the batsmen who have been dominating though. Three potential English seamers are topping the wicket takers list, as well as two spinners. 

Ollie Robinson, a right-arm medium fast bowler for Sussex is currently the leading wicket taker with 20, after taking 9-78 in the second innings vs Glamorgan to help Sussex win by eight wickets. Robinson has been in and around the England set up over the past couple years, staring in England Lion’s victory in Australia. Robinson lead the attack with Craig Overton (who is joint second on the leading wicket takers with 17. Neither are especially quick but their accuracy combined with skill make it extremely hard for batsmen. 

Another major talking point for the second round of the County Championship was Mohammed Abbas’ hat-trick against Middlesex. Abbas took the wickets of Holden and Gubbins at the end of the second over, before getting Eskinazi in the first ball of fourth over to complete the hat-trick. He then continued to rip through the order and finished with 6-11 from elven overs, before Hampshire pilled on more runs. Abbas then came back in the final innings to take another three, along with opening partner Kyle Abbot.

Other leading wicket takers are Simon Harmer and Matt Parkinson. The two spinners have 17 and 15 wickets respectively. Harmer has dominated the County Championship for Essex since arriving ahead of the 2017 season as a Kolpak player but impressed so much he has retained his spot an an international. Parkinson, on the other hand, has struggled to get consistent games, and therefore wickets, with the red ball. However, he has really been given an opportunity this year, taking what could be the ball of the century in Round 2 and then a seven-fer in the second innings against Kent in Round 3 to mop up the tail and take victory for Lancashire by an innings and five runs. 

Ryan Higgins is the only other top wicket taker we have failed to mention. The Gloucester seamer, who is hotly tipped to be a possible replacement for the injured Ben Stokes, has taken 17 wickets and scored a fifty, helping his team to two wins and draw with three three-fers and two four-fers. His batting is arguably not quite strong enough to be a like-for-like replacement for Stokes but if Buttler and Pope shift up the order, then he may be able to bat at seven or eight with Chris Woakes. 

Standings

Warwickshire are currently topping Group 1, unbeaten on 53 points. They drew with Derbyshire in the first week but have since beaten Essex and Nottinghamshire comfortably. Worcestershire are second but without a win. They have drawn their three matches to the same sides Warwickshire have faced. The rest of the group is in tight competition: all sides are within one win of each other.

Group 2 is more spread out. Top of the table Hampshire are forty points ahead of Leicestershire, who prop up the conference. What was considered the hardest group has definitely lived up to its reputation with 2019 County Championship winners, Surrey, without a win and struggling to find consistent runs. 

Group 3 is similarly spaced with the two Roses clubs, Lancashire and Yorkshire sitting at the top of the table unbeaten, while Glamorgan and Kent have failed to get a win.

It is hard to predict what will happen over the next few months of the season, but my prediction is that the six sides making it to Division 1 will be:

Essex

Warwickshire

Hampshire

Gloucestershire

Lancashire

Yorkshire

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IPL Round Up: Week 1

Toby Reynolds, 18/04/2021

It is one week into the start of the IPL and to everyone’s surprise, Mumbai Indians are not top! RCB have taken the tournament by storm, winning three from three under Virat Kohli’s leadership. At the other end of the table, Sunrises Hyderabad are propping up the table without a win. Although they have played two of the top sides, pundits and fans expected a much better start for Hydrabad.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB have always had a star-studded side but this seems to be the year that it has finally come together. Kohli has moved to the top of the order to replace Aaron Finch, allowing Maxwell to slip in at number four. Maxwell went all of last season without scoring a fifty or hitting any sixes. This season everything seems to have clicked for him and he has returned to the player we know him to be. Maxwell is the leading run scorer with 176 runs at an average of almost 60 with a strike rate of 150. He has been ably assisted by AB de Villiers, who has come in towards the end of the innings and really excelled with a strike rate of 190! He has played two match winning performances so far: taking RCB right to the death against Mumbai and hit 76 against KKR today.

RCB have also been helped on the bowling front by leading wicket taker Harshal Patel and New Zealand pace man Kyle Jamieson. Patel took five in the first match and has continued his form since. Jamieson has been more expensive than Patel but has also chipped in with some handy runs down the order. RCB also have a threatening spin trio of Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed and  Yuzvendra Chahal. All have had impacts on the matches but none with a match winning performance. As the tournament continues, I expect them to take more wickets and become more dangerous with the balls due to the pitches wearing.

Delhi Capitals

Last years runners up have had a varied start to season with a high scoring win and tight loss. They have an Indian packed batting line up with fifties for Dhawan, Shaw and Pant so far and have relied on Woakes in the first match and Rabada in the second to take wickets alongside opening bowler Avesh Khan. Surprise package of last season, Anrich Nortje is yet to play due to Woakes’ performances in the first matches while Nortje was playing for South Africa. It is likely he will come in for Tom Curran or Steve Smith as the tournament progresses. Curran has struggled to make a good impact on the tournament so far, being hit by Chris Morris to lose the match against Rajasthan and Smith can interchange with Indian vice captain Ajinkya Rahane as an anchor at number three.

Delhi will be hoping for their top order too keep making runs and converting their fifties into large scores and hopefully hundreds. Aussie all rounder, Marcus Stoinis has failed to score many runs yet and was hit for 15 in his one over of the tournament but todays innings bodes well as he guided Delhi to what turned out to be an easy chase after Dhawan batted very impressively for his 92.

Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma’s side were heavy favourites before the tournament started and since their first match against RCB have shown why. They lost a tight first match but have since shown they can hold their nerve against KKR and Sunrises in two matches that went right down to the wire. Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya have used the spinning wickets of Chennai well and are leading the attack well with Bumrah and Boult dominating at the death with perfect execution of their yorkers. 

Their three matches have been low scorers with no side passing 160 yet which hasn’t allowed for their long batting line up to show off its skill. Suryakumar Yadav has continued his form from 2020 and leads their side in runs scored and is the only player in their squad to pass fifty. The return of Quinton de Kock seems to have made their batting line up more rounded, even after Lynn scored 49 in their season opener but Pollard and Hardik Pandya have not managed to find their form from the last few seasons as finishers.

Chennai Super Kings

CSK are surprisingly high on this table in my opinion (even if it due to Net Run Rate). They have a very mixed squad. It is full of all rounders with Bravo and Thakur down at numbers nine and ten, but their average age is extraordinarily high. They have six players over the age of 35 and half of their squad over 30. Dhoni seemed to have lost it a bit last year in the UAE and hasn’t found the form he had in the early years of the tournament. 

Sam Curran and Moeen Ali are the two English players in the squad and have both been in fine form so far. Moeen Ali has shown why he was wasted sitting on the RCB bench over the past few years. He is their top scorer after two matches and is striking at 150, while Sam Curran is coming in lower down the order but still smashing the ball all round the park. He has a strike rate over 200 and won the battle against his older brother in the first match, taking him for over 20 in an over.

CSK failed to win the first match after a slow start meant they put up a score of 188, well below par and allowed the Delhi Capitals to chase it down with eight balls spare. In the second match, Deepak Chahar tore through the Punjab Kings top order taking 4-13 and limiting Punjab to 106 before they chased it down in 15 overs.

Rajasthan Royals

The English contingent of the IPL have had two ok first games. They have heavily relied on captain Sanju Samson in the first match, who blasted his third IPL century and was a few metres away from hitting a six off the final ball and carrying his side home to victory against Punjab Kings. The main controversy of this match was that Samson turned down a single off the penultimate ball to put Chris Morris on strike needing four to win. Morris was visibly angry to be sent back by his captain but in my opinion, Samson was more likely to hit a boundary (either the six needed to win or a four to take it to a super over) than his South African counterpart. The one criticism I have would be that Samson could have possibly come back for two and sacrificed Morris at the non-strikers end but would have risked running himself out.

Morris then showed why he Samson should have taken the single in the Royals second match, bludgeoning 36 from 18 after David Miller fell for 62. After the match, Morris said he knew his role was to slog at the end and was happy to do it for the team. 

The biggest new for Rajasthan was that Ben Stokes would be out for three months and the rest of the tournament due to a fractured finger in the first match. This allows fellow Englishman Jos Buttler to slide up to the top of the order and Miller to take his place in the middle order. Buttler had an outstanding tournament a few years ago after he moved to the top of the order for Rajasthan and dominated so it is not all bad news for Royals fans.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Before the tournament, I predicted KKR would just about make the cut for the playoffs due to Eoin Morgan’s captaincy and their world class overseas players. This hasn’t been the case yet. Morgan has failed to fire with the bat; Russel, one of the most devastating batsmen ever in both T20 cricket and the IPL, has been more use with the ball; and both Shakib and Cummins haven’t made the biggest impact yet. I am sure this will soon change though. 

For the first three matches, KKR have relied on their home grown talent at the top of the order to score their runs. Rana, Gill and Tripathi have all made runs at a good rate but KKR have failed to push on from being in good positions in matches with a lack of quick runs down the order. Against Mumbai, “DreRus” took 5-15 from two to slow Mumbai in the final few overs. However, he then struggled with the bat and scored a tentative 9 from 15 as KKR fell 10 runs short.

KKR have failed to win the tight matches so far which seems to be due to a lack of finishing ability from the middle order, if they can fix this problem (and with Morgan as captain, I am sure they can) then I think they have a good chance of finishing in the top four.

Punjab Kings

Even with KL “King Legend” Rahul averaging over 70 at 150, Punjab Kings (formerly King’s XI Punjab) have struggled so far this year. They have just lost to Dehli Capitals after setting an impressive 195 to win but their inexperienced bowling line up failed to defend it. Rahul and Agrawal put on 122 with Agrawal smashing 69 from 36, while his partner crawled along to 61 off 51 before Hooda and Shahrukh Khan came in to blast the ball round at the end. 

This was the second high scoring match they have been apart of. They have a strong and experienced top order but have a younger and less experienced bowling line up and almost no tail a Richardson bats at number seven. Arshdeep Singh is only 22 and this is both Meredith and Richardson’s first seasons in the IPL. Shami is their only seam bowler over 25, but is backed up by two experience spinners. You could see this inexperience in the match vs Delhi as Dhawan took the game away from Punjab. As the tournament progresses, it will be interesting to see how the younger players will adapt to conditions and deal with an increase in pressure and if Punjab try to lengthen their batting lineup.

Sunrises Hyderabad

David Warner’s side are sat at the bottom of the table without a win. They have lost three close matches. With three players in the top 11 for runs scorers so far, you might expect such a strong squad to be further up the table, but the lack of power hitters down the order seems to be catching up with Sunrises. Bairstow slotted in at number four in the first matches to accommodate for Saha up the top and performed well but struggled to stay at the crease during the key moments. He was caught slogging across the line when Hyderabad were in a commanding position, causing a batting collapse and loss against KKR and has since moved back up to opening.

Hyderabad have been changing their team a huge amount so far during the IPL. They have played six overseas players, as well as having Kane Williamson on the sideline. Hyderabad were often selected as the side most likely to steal the crown from Mumbai before the season started but unless they can find some finishers, it seems unlikely that this will happen.

Rashid Khan, as usual, has been performing very well. He has four wickets with an economy rate of 5.33. He hasn’t blown any teams away yet, but arguably more importantly, his economy is under six, building pressure and helping others in the side take wickets. If he can keep this up, it is likely Hyderabad will continue restricting oppositions to low totals.

Predictions

From the first week it is always hard to tell how the season will progress. I think it is likely that Mumbai, RCB and Delhi will progress to the knock-out stages but the fourth place is up for grabs. Right now I think I would go for KKR, just because they haven’t hit their heights yet and I can see them start winning matches they shouldn’t if Morgan and Russell get into form.

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Match Report: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians

Toby Reynolds, 09/04/2021

What a start to the 2021 IPL season!

Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Mumbai Indians by two wickets, on the final ball of the match. Mumbai were limited to 159 by RCB and Harshal Patel (4-0-27-5), after looking like they would post a much larger total. They then failed to defend their total, due to a fantastic innings from AB de Villiers.

Early Mumbai Dominance

The match got off to a mixed start. The two Mumbai openers, Lynn and Sharma, struggled slightly in the first few overs as the pitch played both low and slow, nothing new for Chennai. Lynn then proceeded to run out his partner in the fourth over after a mix up meant Sharma had to turn around half way down the wicket and was not even in the shot when the bails were removed. Luckily for Mumbai, Lynn managed to cash in later in the innings, finishing on 49 from 35 before being caught and bowled by Washington Sundar in the thirteen over.

While at the crease, Lynn was partnered by two of the up-and-coming Indian talents: Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan. Yadav continued his fine form from the India vs England series, scoring 31 off 23 before being dismissed and allowing the keeper-batsman, Kishan, to run riot for the seven overs he was in the middle. Kishan was his usual destructive self and blasted 28 off 19 at a strike rate of just under 150.

RCB Comeback

Enter Harshal Patel.

135/3 was about as good as it got for the Mumbai Indians in the first innings. They then proceeded to collapse to 159/9 from their 20 overs, with none of their next six batsman passing 13. Patel ended with figures of 5/27 from his four overs and took the wickets of: Kishan, Pollard, both Pandya brothers and Jansen. This dominance ended with three wickets from four balls in the final over, while only allowing one run.

A New Top Order

RCB over the past few seasons, have had arguably the strongest top order in the history of the IPL. Gayle, Finch, Moeen Ali and AB de Villiers have all featured, not to mention their talisman and captain, Virat Kohli. However, this season seems to have brought a new era to RCB. They opened with an unorthodox partnership of Washington Sundar (an off-spinning all-rounder) and Virat Kohli (most commonly seen at number 3 in T20 cricket). 

Sundar was used as a makeshift opener as Devdutt Padikkal had not fully recovered after contracting COVID-19. I assume he was chosen to open for a few reasons: he is left handed, so could be used to counter match-ups Mumbai may have exploited if it was two right handers at the top of the order (ie. Krunal Pandya’s left arm spin); to be a surprise pinch-hitter to disrupt the bowlers plans and rhythm; and finally to allow the rest of the RCB batsmen to become accustomed to their designated spots and roles they will perform throughout the rest of the season. However, the strategy failed to pay-off, with "Washy” unable to score at a reasonable rate - stuttering to 10 from 16.

The Middle Order Cash-In

After a slow start for RCB, with none of the top three scoring at over 115, Glenn “The Big Show” Maxwell walked to the crease. He really struggled in the 2020 IPL season for Kings XI Punjab and failed to hit a six throughout the whole tournament, but he proved doubters wrong early on in his innings. Maxwell middled his third ball over point for four with a reverse sweep. A few overs later, he nailed a length ball by Krunal Pandya over long-on for six. The ball flew out of the stadium and travelled well over 100m!

Maxwell continued his form and was soon joined by AB de Villiers, who also decided to take apart the bowling attack. Combined, they hit seven fours and four sixes throughout the innings. Maxwell soon fell, however, leaving de Villiers lacking a partner to stay with him: Shahbaz, Christian and Jamieson all came and went. Luckily AB didn’t need a stable partner to blast the ball all round Chennai, ending on a spectacular 48 from 27. He guided RCB to 158/8, before he was run out with two runs needed and two balls left. 

It fell to Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj to strike the winnings runs. Siraj padded his first ball for one, before Patel flicked a yorker to Bumrah at short fine leg for a single. 

Awards

Man of the Match: Harshal Patel

Although it was his single from the final ball that actually won the opening match for RCB, his five wickets for 27 runs was the real difference between the sides. In the final over, he took the wickets of the dangerous H. Pandya and Pollard in two balls and only conceded one run from the over.

Honourable Mentions:

AB de Villiers

Carried his team right to the end with a match-winning 48, but was unable to stay at the crease to hit the winning runs.

Chris Lynn

After barbequing his captain in the fourth over, he managed to take advantage of his chance at the top of the order with usual opener Quinton de Kock still in quarantine.

Marco Jansen

A solid debut where he almost managed to defend the required seven from the final over and took the wicket of the dangerous Maxwell.