Picking the best playing 11 from Week 4 of IPL 2024 ft. Jos Buttler & Sunil Narine
Week 4 (April 13-19) of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 saw many exciting contests.
On Monday (April 15), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) broke their own record to register the highest-ever IPL total of 287, while Delhi Capitals' (DC) bowling unit was exceptional to bundle out Gujarat Titans (GT) for a meager 89 on Wednesday.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) are at the top of the table with six victories in seven games. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), meanwhile, are in last position with a solitary win in seven appearances.
On that note, let's check out the best playing XI from Week 4 of IPL 2024.
Top-order - Sunil Narine, Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler
The team has an experienced top-order, with all three players scoring centuries this past week. On Tuesday, Sunil Narine smashed 109 off 56 balls against Rajasthan Royals (RR), which helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) post 223. Then, he finished with figures of 2/20, but it wasn't enough as the Royals held their nerve to chase it down.
Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Rohit Sharma was terrific to remain unbeaten on 105 off 63 balls against Chennai Super Kings on Monday. However, he couldn't help Mumbai to achieve the target of 207.
Chasing 224 was a tough task against KKR due to their strong bowling attack, but Jos Buttler played his best-ever IPL knock on Tuesday. He smoked 107* off 60 balls, with nine fours and six sixes to help RR win the game on the last ball.
Middle-order - Suryakumar Yadav, Ashutosh Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen, Dinesh Karthik
Suryakumar Yadav was at his vintage best against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Thursday. He played a well-compiled innings of 78 off 53 balls, helping MI post 192.
PBKS were in a spot of bother at 77/6 in the 10th over, while chasing 193. Then, Ashutosh Sharma arrived at the crease to display his immaculate ball-striking abilities and slammed 61 off 28, with seven maximums. However, it wasn't enough as Punjab lost the game by nine runs.
After Travis Head slammed a century, Heinrich Klaasen continued SRH's momentum against RCB. The South African mustered 67 off 31 balls to play a key role in Sunrisers registering a record score of 287.
Although RCB started on a strong note, they lost the plot midway and looked like they would suffer a big loss. However, veteran keeper Dinesh Karthik unleashed his batting prowess to score 83 off 35 balls. He minimized the losing deficit to just 25 runs, as the team finished on 262, which is the highest-ever second-innings total in the IPL.
Bowlers - Jasprit Bumrah, Matheesha Pathirana, Mukesh Kumar, Varun Chakravarthy
Jasprit Bumrah was named Player of the Match for his figures of 3/21 in four overs against Punjab Kings. The Mumbai Indians pacer leads the bowling attack for the best playing XI from Week 4 of IPL 2024.
Matheesha Pathirana took a total of five wickets in the past week, while being adjudged Player of the Match for figures of 4/28 against Mumbai.
Mukesh Kumar was the wrecker-in-chief for Delhi Capitals with 3/14, as they dismantled Gujarat Titans for 89. Along with Sunil Narine, the other spinner in this team is Varun Chakravarthy, who took 2/36 against RR, and returned with 1/30 against Lucknow Super Giants.