Mustafizur Rahman is in pole position in the Purple Cap race after CSK’s defeat to DC in IPL 2024.
Sunday saw two IPL 2024 fixtures as Gujarat Titans took on Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals faced Chennai Super Kings. In the first fixture, GT defeated SRH by seven wickets in Ahmedabad. Chasing 163 runs, GT cruised to 168/3 in 19.1 overs, courtesy of dominant knocks from Sai Sudharsan (45) and David Miller (44*).
Chennai Super Kings’ Mustafizur Rahman in action.(AFP)
Initially, SRH posted 162/8 in 20 overs as Abdul Samad smacked 29 off 14 balls. Meanwhile, Mohit Sharma took three wickets for GT. Speaking after the fixture, GT’s Player of the Match Mohit Sharma said, “Thank you sir for reminding me that I’m getting older day by day (chuckles). Practice is normal but the important thing is how to use the variation according to the game situation. Bowlers do have variations but it matters when and how to use it. It’s important when you have two balls in mind, the batters are also ready, they are ready for the slower bouncer but they are not ready for the slower short ball wide of the wicket so I mix and match.”
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“Dew is uncontrollable and we practice bowling with a wet ball. When it’s going good, I enjoy. When the match gets over, I like to reflect where I did well and where I didn’t. Rashid and Noor bowled well, we went for a few runs in the back end but we came back well in the final few overs,” he added.
In the other fixture, DC beat CSK by 20 runs to bag their first win of the season. Chasing 192, CSK reached 171/6 in 20 overs, despite strong knocks from Ajinkya Rahane (45) and MS Dhoni (37*). For DC’s bowling department, Mukesh Kumar took three wickets.
Initially, DC posted 191/5 in 20 overs, courtesy of half-centuries from David Warner (52) and Rishabh Pant (51). For CSK’s bowling department, Matheesha Pathirana took three wickets, Ravindra Jadeja and Mustafizur Rahman bagged a dismissal each respectively.
Speaking after DC’s win, skipper Pant said, “Bowlers have been clinical today. We’ve learnt from our mistake. He’s been working hard from last two weeks (Shaw). We thought it’s time to give him a chance and he flourished. It will depend on match to match, but if Mukesh can bowl at the death it’ll be great. As a cricketer I’ve to give my 100 percent. Took some time initially as I haven’t played much cricket in the last 1.5 years. This is something I’ve depended my life on. Always had the self-belief that whatever happens, it’s important to come back to the ground.”
IPL 2024 Purple Cap race after DC vs CSK
CSK’s Mustafizur is currently in pole position in the Purple Cap race with seven wickets, and is followed by GT’s Mohit Sharma (6). DC’s Khaleel Ahmed is third with five wickets and KKR pacer Harshit Rana (5) is fourth. Meanwhile, CSK’s Matheesha Pathirana is fifth with four wickets.
