IPL 2022: Rating performances of teams in the fourth week

The fourth week of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 culminated with Rajasthan Royals (RR) securing a victory over the Delhi Capitals (DC) by 15 runs. With this win, RR clinched the top spot in the points table with five wins in seven league matches. Gujarat Titans (GT) mark their presence in the second spot on the points table with the same points, but a lesser run rate than RR. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) secured victories in both the fixtures.

The Mumbai Indians (MI) could not win both of their fixtures in the fourth week as well and are at rock bottom of the points table with no wins in seven appearances. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) secured a victory against their arch-rivals, MI. Teams like Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had disappointing outings, losing all the games they have played this week.

Rating performances of teams in the fourth week of IPL 2022:

10. Punjab Kings – 4/10

Punjab Kings faced Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first outing of the fourth week. They could post only 151 on the board, with the contribution of 60 off 33 balls from Liam Livingstone and 26 from Shahrukh Khan. The team lost four wickets in the last over of their innings. In the bowling unit, Rahul Chahar picked up two wickets and Kagiso Rabada picked a single wicket, while others proved to be ineffective to defend their score.

In the second fixture, they were up against the challenge of DC, who thrashed them by nine wickets. Batting first, PBKS could only muster 115 runs. The wicket-keeper Jitesh Sharma was the highest run-scorer for the team with 32 off 23, and skipper Mayank Agarwal contributed 24 off 15 balls. The bowling unit fared poorly once again, with only Chahar securing a single wicket and the opposition chasing down the total in only 10.3 overs.

On the bowling front, the team is expected to do some changes to secure wickets consistently. The openers, especially Shikhar Dhawan needs to be at their best to put the team in a commanding position. The Sri Lanka batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa is likely to make a comeback for the team in the next fixture.

9. Mumbai Indians – 6/10

One of the most celebrated teams in the tournament’s history, MI have lacked the potency in their opening partnership and bowling executions this season. Openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan have not replicated their past performances to provide a good start to the team. In the bowling unit, there have been many changes due to the lackluster performance.

In the first outing, the bowlers were punished and LSG tonked them for a total of 199 runs. The most successful bowler was Jaydev Unadkat with two wickets to his name. In response, openers failed and the likes of Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, and Kieron Pollard provided hefty contributions, but the team fell short by 18 runs.

In the second game, they faced Chennai Super Kings but were not the favorites this time. The team could only manage 155 runs, with Tilak Varma scoring an unbeaten half-century. In the bowling unit, Daniel Sams scalped four wickets, while Unadkat also picked two, but could not hold his nerve in the death overs against MS Dhoni.

8. Kolkata Knight Riders – 6.5/10

The two-time IPL champion has the right players for this format who have proved themselves in the IPL but have lacked the consistency to get a much-needed win for the team. Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy’s poor form and a strong wicket-keeper batter are hurting their chances this season. They lost their only game against Rajasthan Royals this week.

The Rajasthan franchise smacked them for a total of 217 runs riding on Jos Buttler’s century. Sunil Narine emerged as the best bowler, returning 2/21 in his four overs in a high-thrilling encounter.

The batting unit did well with Aaron Finch scoring a half-century and Shreyas Iyer leading the team from the front with a whirlwind knock of 85 off 51 balls, including seven boundaries and four maximums. However, it was not enough to take the team home a win. They succumbed to pressure in the final overs and fell short by seven runs.

7. Lucknow Super Giants – 7.5./10

The Super Giants displayed an average performance in the fourth week of the tournament. They managed to secure one win and one loss under their belt. However, the team’s batting efforts were superb in both the fixtures.

In the first fixture, they posted 199 against Mumbai Indians and won by 18 runs. In the batting department, KL Rahul remained unbeaten on 103 off 60 balls, while Manish Pandey contributed with much-needed 38 runs. Avesh Khan starred with the ball, returning with figures of 3/30 in four overs.

In the second league match, they could not chase down the target of 182 against Royal Challengers Bangalore. In the bowling unit, Jason Holder and Dushmantha Chameera picked up two wickets each. The captain Rahul and all-rounder Krunal Pandya tried well with handy contributions, while Marcus Stoinis provided a late flourish, but it was not enough to take the team home as they fell short of 18 runs.

6. Delhi Capitals – 8/10

The Delhi Capitals displayed a completely contrasting performance in both of their fixtures. In one of the matches, their bowling looked top-class, while they displayed ordinary performances in the other one. Overall, the batters have done well for the team in the tournament so far.

In the first fixture against PBKS in the fourth week of IPL 2022, they bundled out the opposition for a total of 115 with two wickets each from Khaleel Ahmed, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav. Then the openers Prithvi Shaw and David Warner were up to their task with the contribution of 41 and 60* to chase down the total with 9.3 overs to spare.

In their second league match, the bowlers went for plenty, giving away 222 runs against the Royals. Apart from Shardul Thakur, who went at a rate of 9.70 runs per over, every other bowler conceded over 10 runs per over. The top-order again provided a great start with the team scoring 55 runs in the powerplay but the middle order faltered once again. Rishabh Pant‘s gritty knock of 44 runs could not help the team to evade the loss.

5. Chennai Super Kings – 8/10

The Chennai Super Kings started with a loss in their first match against Gujrat Titans, where they failed to defend their score of 169 runs. In the batting unit, Ruturaj Gaikwad found his mojo, chipping in with 73 off 48 balls, while Ambati Rayudu scored 46 off 31. The likes of Dwayne Bravo and Maheesh Theekshana picked up three and two wickets respectively, but the others could not do well enough.

In their second fixture, they faced Mumbai Indians and restricted them to a total of 155 runs. Pacer Mukesh Choudhary was terrific with his opening spell of 3/19, while Bravo picked up two wickets as well. In the batting unit, Robin Uthappa and Ambati Rayudu provided a base for the team before MS Dhoni and Dwaine Pretorius proved to be too good for the opposition in the final overs.

CSK has slowly started to tick the right boxes and is getting better with each passing game. In their last league fixture, the team played with the best possible combination and would look to trust the same set of players in the next fixture as well.

4. Gujarat Titans – 8.5/10

The Gujarat Titans have been impressive on both fronts in their debut IPL campaign. There have been different heroes for them in each win of the tournament. The presence of quality experienced players are helping the team’s cause as well.

In their only fixture against CSK, the team was average in their bowling effort and gave away 169 runs. The Caribbean pacer Alzarri Joseph finished with 2/34 off four overs. The pacer Mohammed Shami was economical with figures of 1/20 in his four overs.

In response to CSK’s score, the team had a disappointing start with Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill, and Vijay Shankar getting dismissed in quick succession. In the middle order, Abhinav Manohar and Rahul Tewatia failed to contribute well. It was the partnership of 70 runs between David Miller (94* off 51) and Rashid Khan (40 off 21) which helped them to seal a thrilling victory in the 20th over.

3. Rajasthan Royals – 9/10

Rajasthan Royals secured a top spot in the points table after securing two wins in the fourth week of this season. They have one of the most well-balanced teams on the paper and are performing on the field as well. They now have five wins in seven league fixtures.

In the first outing, they posted 217 against KKR, with Jos Buttler scoring a century, and the duo of Hetmyer-Samson providing a late flourish. In the bowling unit, Yuzvendra Chahal scalped five wickets, including a hat-trick and Obed McCoy picked two wickets in the 20th over to clinch the tie.

In their second league fixture, they posted another big total of 222 on the board, on the back of Buttler’s third century of this season and Samson’s 46* off 19 balls. The bowling unit responded well by picking wickets at regular intervals, with Prasidh Krishna returning with three wickets and Ashwin with two scalps.

2. Royal Challengers Bangalore –  9/10

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have put together a strong squad this season, with a proper mix of youngsters and experienced campaigners. They secured victories in both the outings and are at third position in the table after the end of the fourth week.

In their first fixture, the team posted a total of 189 runs and won by 16 runs against Delhi Capitals. The key contributors in the batting department were Dinesh Karthik with 66*, and Glenn Maxwell scoring 55. In the bowling unit, Josh Hazlewood picked up three wickets, while Siraj dismissed two batters.

In the second fixture, they scored 181 with the captain Faf du Plessis scoring 96 off 64 balls, while Maxwell and Shahbaz chipped in with 20+ contributions in the middle-order. In the bowling unit, Josh Hazlewood returned with another good performance, picking up four wickets while Harshal Patel picked two wickets.

1. Sunrisers Hyderabad – 9.5/10

The Sunrisers have topped this ranking on consecutive weeks, due to their dominating performance. They produced another clinical performance to get the fourth win in the row. They are placed fifth in the table with four wins in six appearances.

The bowling unit was terrific to outwit the PBKS batters for a total of 151. The speedster, Umran Malik finished with 4/28 off four overs, while Bhuvneshwar picked up three wickets by giving away 22 runs.

In the batting department, Abhishek Sharma (31) and Rahul Tripathi (34) provided a stable start to the team in the powerplay overs. Aiden Markram (41*) and Nicholas Pooran (35*) again proved to be too good for the opposition, as they chased down the total with seven balls to spare.