The fifth week of IPL 2020 saw KXIP and MI playing twin Super Overs, while KKR and CSK facing embarrassing batting collapses.
The fifth week of the Indian Premier League saw many notable milestones. In a first, the result of a match was decided by two Super Overs - this happened in the match between Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians.
Shikhar Dhawan, then, became the first batsman to score successive centuries in the history of the tournament, and on Saturday, Varun Chakravarthy took the season's first five-wicket haul.
Let's take a look at the key moments:
Twin Super Overs:
The match between KXIP and MI saw twin Super Overs in a thrilling finish. It was the first time when an IPL match was decided by two Super Overs. After the 20-regulation overs couldn't separate the two sides (both teams ended on 176/6), the Super Overs saw individual brilliance, skills, and endurance at its absolute peak.
Mohammed Shami defended five runs in the first Super Over with a series of impeccable yorkers. In the second Super Over, Chris Gayle and Mayank Agarwal shined with the bat -- and the latter also made a brilliant effort on the boundary line to save four runs for his side, to lead KXIP to a win.
Shikhar Dhawan's successive tons:
Delhi Capitals' opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan became the first cricketer in the history of the tournament to score successive centuries. Interestingly, Dhawan had not breached the three-figure mark before hitting his hundred in the IPL this season.
Dhawan scored the centuries against Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab. In both the innings, he remained unbeaten. While the century against CSK came in a winning cause, DC lost the match against KXIP.
The Capitals put 164/5 against Kings XI Punjab, out of which 106 came from Dhawan's bat alone.
KXIP's winning streak:
At one stage of the tournament, KL Rahul's side looked inevitable to become the first team to be eliminated from the race for top-4. However, after losing five successive matches and reeling at the bottom of the table with only one win in seven games, KXIP made an incredible comeback -- winning the next four games to give themselves a strong chance for a playoff qualification.
Out of the four wins, one ended in twin Super Overs, while the one against SRH last night saw a dramatic finish. After restricting KXIP to 126, SRH looked cruising towards a win, having scored 52 runs in five overs. However, the side then faced a monumental collapse as it was bowled out on 114.
With the four wins, KXIP are now fifth in the table with 10 points and remain only two points behind the fourth-placed Kolkata Knight Riders.
Varun Chakravarthy's five-for:
The KKR spinner became the first bowler to take a five-wicket haul in the ongoing season of IPL. Chakravarthy produced a marvellous display of bowling, removing the key batsmen in Delhi Capitals' lineup -- Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer and Axar Patel, to guide his side to a 59-run win.
The collapses:
KKR and Chennai Super Kings faced embarrassing batting collapses in this week of the tournament. While the KKR couldn't breach the three-figure mark against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians reduced Chennai Super Kings to 43/7 before Sam Curran took the side to a respectable score.
KKR were restricted to 84/8 in 20 overs by RCB. Mohammad Siraj was the star of the game as he bowled two maiden overs, while also picking up three wickets.
CSK, meanwhile, were outclassed by the seething pace from Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah up front, as the side lost its first four wickets in merely 3 runs. Sam Curran, however, scored 52 to take CSK to 114/9 in the match.
