KKR vs RR highlights: Kolkata survive a scare, beat Rajasthan by 25 runs

IPL 2018 - Rajasthan Royals won the toss and decided to bowl.The bowlers took advantage of the pitch and took early wickets.Both Narine and Uthappa were dismissed within the first 4 overs. KKR stood at 32/3 at the end of 5  overs.

KKR were scoring just run a ball before Andre Russell came into bat. He scored a six off the first ball he faced .Russell made a quick 49 of just 25 balls, helping KKR reach a target of 169/7 at the end of the 20 overs.

Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi opened the innings for Rajasthan Royals.Both of them attacked the KKR bowlers and led RR to a decent start.KKR was in desperate need for wickets, therefore Narine was introduced into the attack but he too went for a lot of runs.

RR were in a good position before Kuldeep Yadav took the wicket of KKR Captain Ajinkya Rahane in the 15th over .Yadav conceded only 3 runs in that over. Soon samson was also dismissed and KKR were back in the game.

IPL 2018 playoffs: Table toppers CSK, SRH face off for final berth tomorrow

In Qualifier 1 of Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) M S Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on Kane Williamson-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday. The match is expected to an intriguing, no-holds-barred battle between the two former IPL champions, especially as the performance of both CSK and SRH has been neck-and-neck this season. While Hyderabad are table-toppers with 18 points from 14 matches and a net run rate (NRR) of +0.280, Chennai are place second on Vivo Points Table 2018 with an equal number of points but slightly lower NRR of + 0.253. The raucous Mumbai fans could expect a rip-roaring contest on Tuesday.

The winner of this clash of the champions will get a direct qualification to the IPL 2018 final, to be played in Mumbai on May 27. The loser will play Qualifier 2 against the winner of the Eliminator match to be played on Wednesday (May 23) between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, ranked third and fourth, respectively, after the Round-Robin stage. Qualifier 2 will be played on Friday (May 25). All playoff matches will begin at 7 pm, unlike the 8 pm schedule for Round-Robin matches.

IPL 2018, CSK vs DD: Consistent Chennai face Delhi in dead rubber today

In the 52nd match of Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on Delhi Daredevils led by Shreyas Iyer at Ferozshah Kotla ground in New Delhi. A formidable Chennai Super Kings will be aiming to tie up loose ends ahead of the playoffs when they take on a listless Delhi Daredevils in a rare dead rubber of IPL 2018. With CSK comfortably qualifying for the playoffs, the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led squad is eyeing the top spot on the Vivo IPL points table alongside Sunrisers Hyderabad, whom they defeated comprehensively in their previous game.

The last two games at Ferozshah Kotla was high scoring and the target in excess of 170 was chased easily. In today’s IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils (CSK vs DD) Kolta’s pitch will be run feast and the team batting second has a clear advantage. The weather in New Delhi has been changing is past few weeks and today’s IPL match will be affected by rain.

The consistency CSK have shown in IPL 2018 after missing out in the previous two seasons is commendable and it seems they were never out of action. They have been solid even against the mighty Sunrisers Hyderabad, who arguably have the best bowling attack in IPL 2018.

IPL 2018, RCB vs SRH: Bangalore, Hyderabad clash to spice up points table

In the 51st match of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL 2018), resurgent Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on already-qualified table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad in today's match with their playoffs chances hanging by a slim thread. Captian Virat Kohli has led the team from the front and that resulted in two victories for RCB. After defeating Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab in back to back matches, RCB seems like a rejuvenated unit, while SRH have been the team to beat this season, having won nine matches out of 12. RCB are still struggling at the second last position on the table, while SRH are on top of the VIVO IPL points table with 18 points.

Virat Kohli's RCB has survived the tough season, having lost seven of its 12 matches so far but the recent turnaround has given brith hopes of a possible shot at the playoffs berth provided some other results go RCB's way. RCB is overtly dependant on Virat and South African star performer A B De Villiers. Both of them combined have scored nearly half of RCB's total runs this season but the side needs bigger contributions from the likes of Moeen Ali and Corey Anderson.

IPL 2018, MI vs KKR: Mumbai threat looms large as Kolkata up against odds

In the 41st match of Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) led by Dinesh Karthik at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Back in the mix riding consecutive victories, a buoyant Mumbai Indians will cross swords with an erratic Kolkata Knight Riders for a second time in a space of three days in IPL today’s match. Recovering from a slow start, defending champions MI recorded back-to-back wins against Kings XI Punjab and KKR to jump to fifth spot (8 points from 10 games) in the Vivo IPL points table. KKR, meanwhile, have blown hot and cold, winning five and losing an equal number of matches.

KKR have an onerous task at hand as they need to defy history against Mumbai Indians, who have won 17 of the 21 matches against the Kolkata Knight Riders across 11 seasons -- the most wins for an IPL team against any opponent. Their 13-run defeat at the Wankhede on May 6 stretched their losing streak to seven matches and 1125 days -- KKR's last win over Mumbai Indians was way back on April 8, 2015. While the Dinesh Karthik-led KKR have not managed to string together consistent performances, MI led by India's limited-over Vice Captain Rohit Sharma have looked like a team on a mission to turn the tide in their favour at the end of the IPL 2018.

IPL 2018, RR vs KXIP: Desperate Rajasthan face Punjab in must-win tie today

In the 40th match of Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) Ajinkya Rahane’s Rajasthan Royals will take on Kings XI Punjab led by R Ashwin at Sawaiman Singh Stadium in Jaipur. Desperate to stay alive in the IPL 2018, bottom-placed Rajasthan Royals will be aiming to avenge the six-wicket loss to Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), when they last meet at Holkar Stadium on Sunday, in IPL today’s match. Rajasthan Royals have just six points with three wins from nine games while KXIP are placed third on the Vivo IPL points table after six wins from nine games and 12 points in their kitty.

The Ajinkya Rahane-led side succumbed to their third loss in a row, after being hammered by KXIP in Indore and now need to win all their remaining five matches to keep themselves alive in the IPL 2018 while another win for KXIP will almost seal them a play-off berth and a defeat will be the end of the road for Rajasthan Royals. Nothing has gone right for the winners of the inaugural edition of the IPL, who lost their pillar -- Australian Steven Smith -- to ball-tampering scandal. The lackluster performance by Rajasthan Royals’ batsmen and bowlers have landed them in a position where they need to win all their remaining games and also pray for favourable results in order to qualify for the play-offs. Rajasthan Royals are back to Jaipur, where they have recorded two of their three victories, but they need to start afresh. Three consecutive defeats, including a narrow one against Delhi Daredevils, has left them demoralised and their mentor, the legendary Shane Warne, too wore a dejected look in the dugout from where he saw the Royals miss out on half chances.

IPL 2018, MI vs KXIP: Mumbai look to salvage pride against in-form Punjab

In the 34th match of Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians (MI) and Ravichandran Ashwin-led Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) will take on each other at Holkar Stadium in Indore. Three-time champions Mumbai Indians will look to salvage pride when they face a spirited Kings XI Punjab in today’s match. The star-studded Mumbai Indians side is languishing at the bottom of the Vivo IPL points table with just two wins from eight games. While Kings XI Punjab will be flying high on confidence after being placed third with five wins from seven games and 10 points in their kitty.

The dismal performance of Mumbai Indians has been largely attributed to the failure of their batsmen including skipper Rohit Sharma who failed to uplift team’s morale in crucial matches. For MI, except Suryakumar Yadav, who has 283 runs under his belt in eight matches as an opener, all others have been inconsistent. The Mumbai skipper also needs to rediscover his own form as he has struggled to get past 20 in six games. Big-hitting West Indian all-rounder Keiron Pollard, in his twilight years, has also been out of touch with just 76 runs from six innings. South African Jean-Paul Duminy has featured in just a couple of games and played a single innings hitting 23 runs. Coming to the Pandya brothers Hardik and Krunal, both showed glimpses of their batting prowess in the previous match Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and will aim to bolster the lower order with some lusty blows. In the bowling department, Mumbai will once again bank on young spinner Mayank Markande, who has so far bagged 11 wickets from eight games with his leg-spin. The pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan have kept things tight while the Pandya brothers have also been amongst the wickets.