Third week of IPL-17: Two centuries in one match; RCB bowlers fail again

Two centuries in one matchRCBrsquos Virat Kohli celebrates his century v RR recently PicAFPIts rare to see a century in a T20 match However the Rajasthan Royals RR v Royal Challengers Bengaluru RCB match on Saturday night witnessed two tons scored by players from both sides Batting first RCB opener Virat Kohli scored a record eighth IPL ton 113 not out to propel his team to 1833 off 20 overs In reply RR opening batsman Jos Buttler smashed an unbeaten 100 off 58 balls to take his team home by six wicketsAlso ReadMetal spikes on Wankhede Stadium fences to thwart faninvasionYash Thakur impresses with his best T20 figuresLSGs Yash Thakur is ecstatic after claiming the wicket of GTrsquos Rashid Khan PicAFPLucknow Super Giants LSG pacer Yash Thakur claimed the first fifer 530 v Gujarat Titans of IPL17 last Sunday before Mumbai Indiansrsquos MI speedster Jasprit Bumrah picked 521 against RCB on Thursday The Vidarbha fast bowler made the most of the opportunity after LSGrsquos new pacer sensation Mayank Yadav left the field after suffering a side strain His best T20 figures brought LSG into the game after he accounted for the wicket of GT skipper and opener Shubman Gill after the visitors were cruising at 540 in 55 overs chasing 164 Thakurrsquos splendid effort helped LSG secure their firstever victory over GTRCB bowlers fail to defend yet againRCBrsquos bowling attack have been a main cause of concern for the teams belowpar show this season despite their batsmen posting massive totals The Faf du Plessisled side failed to defend 1833 and 1968 against RR and MI respectively with both teams winning without any major hiccups The chase never looked difficult for RR thanks to a 148run stand for the second wicket by skipper Sanju Samson and centurion Jos Buttler as the hosts won with five balls to spare Meanwhile at Wankhede MI thrashed the RCB attack reaching the target in just 153 overs with all six bowlers conceding over 10 runs per over This came after Chennai Super Kings CSK chased RCBrsquos 1736 with eight balls to spare in the opening encounter while Kolkata Knight Riders KKR reached the 183run target in 165 oversAlso ReadOh MI Virat Kohli jerseys selling like hot cakes32run over most expensive this seasonMIrsquos Romario Shepherd during his 39 not out against DC at Wankhede PicPTIMIrsquos Romario Shepherd smashed 32 runs off Delhi Capitals DC pacer Anrich Nortjemdashthe most expensive over of IPL17 to help the hosts post a massive 2345 The West Indianrsquos 20th over hitting proved decisive in MI registering their first victory of the season as at the end of 19 overs the hosts and DC were 2025 and 2015 respectively The over began with a four followed by hattrick of sixes The boundary off the fifth ball added to DCs misery while the final ball was sent over longon for six Shepherdrsquos 10ball unbeaten 39mdashstrikerate of 390mdashis the highest in IPL minimum 10 or more ballsTeams bank on home advantageMIs players celebrate their first home victory over DC at Wankhede PicAFPMost of the IPL teams have made maximum use of the home advantage to return to winning ways in Week 3 with the hosts emerging victorious in six out of eight games The week began with Sunrisers Hyderabad SRH beating defending champions CSK comfortably at Uppal to put their campaign back on track After being defeated in the first three matches MI received a major boost by winning the last two matches at their beloved Wankhede Stadium LSG continued their home dominance by beating GT while CSK who were returning from backtoback losses got a muchneeded victory over KKR at MA Chidambaram Stadium