At the end of the IPL 2023 league phase, Gujarat stood at the top of the points table with 20 points. Chennai and Lucknow followed with 17 points each, but the former team got the second position due to a better net run rate. Mumbai also booked their tickets for the next stage with 16 points. Meanwhile, the other 6 teams were eliminated.
Let’s rewind the previous week’s happenings in the IPL and also see the changes in Sportiqo’s market.
Weekly Overview
The week started with Gujarat, Lucknow, and Delhi winning their matches on the first 3 days, as Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Punjab lost. Bangalore defeated Hyderabad on Thursday to strengthen their qualification hopes. Rajasthan won against Punjab the next day to stay alive in the playoff race. With just 2 days left in the playoff stage, Gujarat was the only team who had qualified for the next stage.
Chennai and Lucknow won on Saturday to go through. On Sunday, Mumbai toppled Hyderabad to get to 16 points. Bangalore had 14 points, and they needed to win their last match to advance to the playoffs. But they were unable to defeat Gujarat despite playing on their home ground.
Here’s the points table at the end of the league stage:
| TEAM | MATCHES | WON | LOST | NET/RR | POINTS |
| Gujarat | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0.809 | 20 |
| Chennai | 14 | 8 | 5 | 0.652 | 17 |
| Lucknow | 14 | 8 | 5 | 0.284 | 17 |
| Mumbai | 14 | 8 | 6 | -0.044 | 16 |
| Rajasthan | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0.135 | 14 |
| Bangalore | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0.148 | 14 |
| Kolkata | 14 | 6 | 8 | -0.239 | 12 |
| Punjab | 14 | 6 | 8 | -0.304 | 12 |
| Delhi | 14 | 5 | 9 | -0.808 | 10 |
| Hyderabad | 14 | 4 | 10 | -0.59 | 8 |
Top 5 Gainers of the Week
Underlying are the 5 top gainers of week 7:
Cam Green played 2 matches to score 104 runs. He smashed 8 fours and as many sixes off 53 balls.
Gill whacked 205 runs in only 110 balls. He hit 18 fours and 9 sixes in these two outings.
The Australian faced 49 balls to amass 89 runs. He hit 4 fours and 8 sixes in the process.
Kohli hit 15 boundaries and 5 maximums in the 124 balls he faced. He piled up 201 runs in his 2 innings.
He played just one game and scored 83 runs on his comeback. His 46-ball knock had 8 fours and 4 sixes in it.
Top 5 Losers of the Week
Let’s discuss the performances of the top 5 losers of the week:
The most expensive player in IPL history didn’t end his tournament well. He scored 60 off 36 in the last 2 matches. But conceded 82 runs in 8 overs while picking 3 wickets.
He was also highly expensive, like Curran. His 7 overs went for 76 runs and brought 2 wickets.
Thakur played one game this week and failed with both bat and ball. After scoring a 7-ball 3, he went for 27 in his 2 overs. He picked a couple of wickets, but his economy rate was 13 and a half.
He was dismissed for a golden duck in his solitary outing in the last 7 days.
After being benched for one game, he managed 27 off 20 in the next two matches.
Notable Performances
Let’s take a look at the top 5 performances of week 7:
-
Marcus Stoinis 89*(47) vs. Mumbai
Batting first, Lucknow were in a horrible position at 35 for 3 after 6.1 overs. The batters were struggling for timing, but Stoinis smashed 89* off just 47. He took his team to 177 for 3, and they won the match by 5 runs. He got 91 Sportiqo points for this splendid performance.
-
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 5/30 vs. Gujarat
Bhuvi’s stunning 5-fer came when Gujarat smashed 188 for 9 against Hyderabad. He picked up 29.6 points for a brilliant outing with the ball.
-
Virat Kohli 100(63) vs. Hyderabad
Bangalore were asked to chase 187 runs in an important match. Kohli smashed a ton to take his team home and also earned 57 points.
-
Cameron Green 100*(47) vs. Hyderabad
Mumbai had to chase 201 runs to boost their qualification hopes. Green whacked his maiden IPL hundred in just 47 balls to give Mumbai an easy win. He got 97.6 points in this match.
-
Shubman Gill 104*(52) vs. Bangalore
In the last match of the league stages, Gill played an innings to remember. His second hundred in as many matches gave Gujarat their 10th win of the season. This performance resulted in 81.4 points for him.
Looking Ahead
The playoffs will begin with the first qualifier between Gujarat and Chennai on Tuesday. It will be followed by the eliminator on Wednesday and the second qualifier on Friday. The IPL 2023 final will be contested on Sunday in Ahmedabad. Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, and Nicholas Pooran could be the top batters for the remaining 4 matches. Among bowlers, Ravi Bishnoi and Rashid Khan can get good gains.
