The IPL competition is heating up in India – and some of the stars from this September’s NatWest IT20 have made their mark!
England all-rounder Chris Woakes & his Kolkata Knight Riders lead the way alongside Jos Buttler’s Mumbai Indians in the early standings.
And some of the standout performances in the last few days have come from players you will see here at Emirates Riverside later in the summer.
He hadn’t hit his straps before today but Chris Gayle has finally come to the party in devastating fashion, whacking 77 from 38 balls against the Gujarat Lions today.
The left-handed opener became the first batsman to score over 10,000 runs in T20 cricket – nearly 2,500 ahead of his nearest rival!
After a slow start, Gayle passed the milestone before unleashing a torrent of boundaries in a 100-run stand with Virat Kohli.
Our own Ben Stokes, produced one of the most extraordinary fielding efforts to go with a match-winning spell of 3/18 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Stokes’ haul, including the prized wicket of India captain Kohli, saw off the Challengers in pursuit of 162 to secure Rising Pune Supergiant’s first IPL victory when defending a total.
Earlier in the weekend, two of the West Indies’ key men went head-to-head as Kieron Pollard upstaged compatriot Samuel Badree in a battle of two exceptional performances.
Defending 143, Challengers’ leg-spinner Badree brought the game to life in the third over with a superb hat-trick, the 15th in IPL history.
It reduced Pollard’s Mumbai Indians to 7/4 after three overs but the burly all-rounder carried on to produce one of the most destructive innings of IPL 10.
Forty-seven balls and 70 runs later, he departed having led his side to the brink of victory with no fewer than five monstrous sixes.
Catch all three and more at Emirates Riverside in September at the biggest rematch in world cricket. Buy tickets online or call the Box Office on 0844 499 4466.