Indian Premier League (IPL) season 13 completed its first week on September 26 (Saturday) with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets and recording its first points in the IPL 2020 points table. Sunrisers remained winless and the only team to have lost both of their games in their opening week of IPL 2020. It was a great 1st week, which started with the blockbuster opening clash between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings last Saturday. We saw CSK take revenge of last season’s final defeat, Royal Challengers Bangalore show a wave of change before falling again and Kings XI and a humdinger of a match between Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab. Suresh Raina Unfollowed Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Twitter? Here’s the Truth Behind the Rumour Viral on Internet.

All eight teams played at least a game each in the opening week of IPL 2020. Some like Chennai Super Kings (CSK) played three while most played two games each and Rajasthan Royals played one match. That match alone – against CSK – was enough for the Royals to tell how they devastating they could be this season. Sunrisers Hyderabad were the biggest disappointment in week 1 with David Warner-led side losing both of their matches while Delhi Capitals undoubtedly excited most fans. Take a look at the recap of Week 1 of IPL 2020. Shane Watson Reveals His Grandmother Passed Away Days Before CSK vs DC Match in IPL 2020; Netizens Salute Chennai Super Kings Batsman for Playing Despite Personal Loss.

Best Team in Week 1 of IPL 2020

Delhi Capitals were certainly the best side at the end of week 1 in IPL 2020. The Shreyas Iyer-led side beat Kings XI Punjab in a thriller before casting aside three-time winners CSK without much ado. Delhi held on nerves and came back twice in their first match to beat KXIP in a super over after a thrilling tied match to start the campaign. They were, however, superior with both the ball and the bat against MS Dhoni’s CSK and blew the former champions away with a 44-run win. Delhi were the most exciting team to watch in the first week.

Biggest Disappointment

Sunrisers Hyderabad surely disappointed its fans and the larger IPL audience after failing to win any of the two matches they played in the opening week of IPL 2020. Hyderabad conceded defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) after being the favourites to win it. They needed 43 from five overs with eight wickets in hand but lost the match by 10 runs after a batting collapse. Against KKR in their second game, Sunrisers failed to produce the goods. They were slow and sluggish with the bat and had very little to defend with the ball.

CSK also left many disappointed after losing consecutive matches in the opening week. Their batting has looked toothless without Ambati Rayudu. The absence of Suresh Raina has certainly hurt but Rayudu filled up the role with a match-winning half-century against Mumbai. But an injury to him left CSK batting exposed. They posted 173 runs in 20 overs chasing 176 to win. Not that CSK’s bowling have been awesome. Their spinning pair of Ravindra Jadeja and Piyush Chawla conceded 95 against Rajasthan Royals and 74 vs Delhi Capitals while pacer Deepak Chahar has also lacked form.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Stutter

For a change, RCB started their IPL campaign with a win. They beat SRH by 10 runs in their opening game with bowlers showing improvement in death bowling. They took six wickets between overs 16-20 and conceded only 32 runs. But the change it seemed didn’t last long. And RCB were back to their usual self in their very next game against Kings XI Punjab. They conceded 74 in their final four overs against KXIP, who posted 206 on the scoreboard after being asked to bat first.

Kings XI Punjab captain KL Rahul, who smashed a century, was dropped twice in seven deliveries and he made them pay with some lusty blows towards the end of the innings. Chasing 207 to win, RCB again stuttered with the bat and folded for 109 and lost by 97 runs with the big loss taking a hit on their run-rate.

KL Rahul’s record-smashing century

KL Rahul smashed the highest score by an Indian batsman in Indian Premier League history during RCB vs KXIP match. Rahul scored 132 in just 69 deliveries with the help of seven smacking sixes and 14 boundaries. He was helped by Virat Kohli, who dropped him twice and Rahul made them pay with a sensational innings.

Familiar Foe

Mumbai Indians faced Kolkata Knight Riders in their second match in IPL 2020. And it was a familiar sight and ended with a familiar result. Rohit Sharma, like he has always been against KKR, scored 80 from 54 deliveries after plummeting Pat Cummins and other KKR bowlers all over the park. Mumbai Indians won by 49 runs taking their overall head-to-head record over the Kolkata-based franchise to 20 wins in 26 games. Mumbai have won 10 of the last 11 meetings between these sides. Dominance at its best.

Rajasthan Royals will face Kings XI Punjab in the next match of IPL 2020 to kickstart the second week of the tournament. Rajasthan were the only side to play one match in the opening week and will play three games in the next seven days. This will also be the first week where doubleheaders will be played.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 27, 2020 02:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).