AB de Villiers fashions Royal Challengers Bangalore's win over Delhi Daredevils

Agencies
April 22, 2018

Bengaluru, Apr 22: Explosive batsman AB de Villiers enthralled the crowd with a whirlwind unbeaten 39-ball 90 to power Royal Challengers Bangalore to a convincing six-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils in their IPL fixture at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Saturday.

It rained fours and sixes as de Villiers produced a vintage innings and singled-handedly chased down the 175-run target with two overs to spare to bring RCB's campaign back on track.

The former South African skipper smashed 10 fours and five sixes in his unconquered innings. He shared 63 runs with captain Virat Kohli (30), before adding another 56 runs with Corey Anderson (15) to take the game away from Delhi Daredevils, who suffered their fourth loss in five matches.

Earlier, young batsmen Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer cracked twin half-centuries as Delhi Daredevils recovered from a slow start to post a respectable 174/5 after being asked to take the first strike by RCB.

Pant (85) anchored the DD innings as he shared a 75-run stand in 8.1 overs with Iyer (52 off 31 balls) and then forged a 65-run partnership with Rahul Tewatia (13 not out). His 48-ball innings was laced with six boundaries and seven sixes.

For RCB, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (2/22) claimed two wickets, while Umesh Yadav (1/27), Washington Sundar (1/31) and Corey Anderson (1/10) took one wicket each.

Chasing 175 to win, Manan Vohra and Quinton de Kock opened the innings but both the openers were back to the pavillion with RCB at 29 for 2 in 4.3 overs.

Manan, who had come in for Sarfaraz Khan, was dismissed in the second over when he top-edged a Glenn Maxwell delivery and Jason Roy held on to the catch at the deep backward square leg. Quinton, on the other hand, blasted a four and six before being run out in the fifth over.

AB de Villiers then came to the crease and smashed consecutive boundaries off Nadeem, before repeating the treatment on the bowler with three more fours in the 7th over as RCB crossed the 50-mark.

Tewatia was then introduced and de Villiers pulled him over deep midwicket for a six, before sending Harshal Patel for a four in the next over.

De Villiers added 63 with skipper Kohli (30) before a stunning catch at the boundary line by Trent Boult ended the partnership.

It was a full toss on the pads from Patel which Kohli sent to the deep square leg only to find Boult pulling off a sensational catch, plunging the stadium into silence.

However, there was no stopping de Villiers as he smashed two sixes and a four off Patel in the 13th over en route to his 24-ball 50.

The South African continued to deal in boundaries as he hit a six off Tewatia and then plundered a six and a four off Chris Morris in the 15th over.

Anderson then joined the party and deposited Boult over deep midwicket but three balls later he was cleaned up by the bowler.

De Villiers, in company of Mandeep Singh (17 not out), then romped home with the South African blasting two more fours to end the contest.

After electing to bowl, RCB tightened the screw on Delhi Daredevils right from the start with Umesh Yadav dismissing skipper Gautam Gambhir (3) in the third over. The visitors could manage only 11 in first four overs.

First down Iyer (52) then tried to break the shackles by smashing two boundaries off Yadav but Yuzvendra Chahal soon produced a flipper and cleaned up the other opener Jason Roy (5), who was struggling against the lethal leg-spin of the Indian spinner.

New man Pant then joined Iyer and he was off the mark with a boundary as Delhi Daredevils reached 28-2, the lowest powerplay score this season. Iyer smashed a four and six off Yadav's last over as DD crossed the 50-mark in 9 overs.

The young duo slowly started to pile up the runs and amassed 75 runs in 8.1 overs to take Delhi close to the 100-mark.

In the 14th over, Iyer clobbered two consecutive sixes off Washington Sundar to bring up his fifty before giving away a simple catch to Mohammad Siraj at short third man as DD slipped to 98-3.

Glenn Maxwell (4) then tried to play a reverse shot which was caught by Siraj again at short third man.

Pant, meanwhile, continued to take the bowlers to the cleaners as he blasted back-to-back sixes off Chahal over long-off and third man boundary. He repeated the treatment to Siraj in the 18th over before sending Chris Woakes for a leather hunt with two fours and a six in the 19th over.

Corey Anderson bowled the final over and Pant sent him out of the park in the second ball before he was caught by AB de Villiers when he was trying for another big shot.

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Agencies
January 6,2020

Washington D.C., Jan 6: 'The Irishman,' and 'Two Popes' were shut out from the winners list despite getting multiple nominations, the movies didn't win a single award at the Golden Globes Award held on Sunday (local time). Other movies in the list include 'Bombshell,' 'Dolemite Is My Name,' 'Harriet,' 'Jojo Rabbit,' 'Knives Out' and 'Little Women.'

According to The Hollywood Reporter, 'The Irishman' may have gone into the 2020 Golden Globes with the second-highest number of film nominations, tied with 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' with five nods, but Martin Scorsese's highly anticipated mob epic for Netflix was completely shut out at the award ceremony.

Netflix landed the most film nominations of any company with 17 mentions, but it won only one award which is the best-supporting actress for 'Marriage Story's' Laura Dern. Netflix's nominated films 'Dolemite Is My Name' and 'The Two Popes' was tied with 'Joker' with four mentions each and failed to grab any awards.

'Dolemite Is My Name' star Eddie Murphy was expected by a number of pundits to win for best actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy.

'Bombshell', 'Harriet',' Frozen 2', 'Jojo Rabbit', 'Knives Out', 'The Lion King', 'Little Women' and 'Pain and Glory' are among the other films that received multiple nominations but didn't win a single award.

On the TV side, Netflix's 'Unbelievable' tied in the race to most small-screen nominations with 'Chernobyl' and 'The Crown' with four nominations, and 'The Crown' won only one award, for star Olivia Colman.

The three-time nominees 'Barry', 'Big Little Lies', 'The Kominsky Method' and 'The Morning Show' also didn't grab any award. 'Catch-22', 'Killing Eve', 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' and 'The Politician' who were two-time nominees that were also iced out.

'Hustlers' star Jennifer Lopez failed to take home the best-supporting actress award as she was predicted to win the award by a number of pundits. Billy porter also failed to make history with the best drama actor win for his role on 'Pose,' if he would've won the award, he reportedly would have been the first openly gay African-American to win that award.

'Chernobyl' won two of its four nominations. Despite that, star Jared Harris didn't win the best actor in a limited series Globe which was predicted by many prognosticators. The award was bagged by Russell Crowe for his portrayal of Roger Ailes in 'The Loudest Voice.' But the star was absent from the ceremony.

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News Network
February 24,2020

Wellington, Feb 24: Indian batsmen's inadequacies in adverse conditions were laid bare as they crashed to an embarrassing 10-wicket defeat against a ruthless New Zealand side that wrapped up the opening Test in just over three days here on Monday.

Starting the day on 144 for four, India were all out for 191 in their second innings. This was only a shade better than their dismal 165 in the first innings, which eventually proved to be decisive.

Trent Boult (4/39 in 22 overs) and Tim Southee (5/61 in 21 overs), the most under-rated new ball pairs in world cricket, showed that when it boils down to playing incisive seam and swing bowling, this batting line-up is still a work in progress.

The required target of nine runs was knocked off by New Zealand without much ado for their 100th Test win.

India's last defeat was against Australia at Perth during the 2018-19 series but the loss at the Basin Reserve would hurt them more because the visitors have not surrendered in such a fashion of late.

There was no resistance from a star-studded line-up and more than intent, the failure was due to poor technique on a track that had something on the third and fourth day as well.

This is a team that plays fast bowling much better than their predecessors, the reason for their success on the bouncy Australian tracks.

But when it comes to facing conventional seam and swing bowling in testing conditions, they are yet to learn the art of saving a Test match.

India had lost the mental battle on the first day itself when they saw the moisture on the wicket.

The toss became a factor and not for one session did they look comfortable. Mayank Agarwal was the only batsman, who felt at home in patches, as New Zealand showed what a Test match strategy is all about.

If the first innings was about mixing back of length deliveries with fuller length balls, the second innings saw the pacers coming from round the wicket and targeting the rib-cage. The line was disconcerting and it stifled them for good.

It affected their mindset and once Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari stepped out on the fourth morning, defeat was written all over as both looked ill-equipped to handle such high quality seam bowling.

Rahane (29 off 75 balls) and Vihari (15 off 79 balls) are players who only play long-form cricket at the international level and both are known for their patience.

But little would have the Indian vice-captain apprehended that he would get a delivery from Boult, which he thought would move away after pitching but it held its line and he had no option but to jab at it, and all he got was an edge.

Southee, who bowls a lovely classical outswinger, then bowled an off-cutter from the other end and before Vihari could comprehend, it came back sharply to peg the stumps back.

Within first 20 minutes, the two seasoned practitioners of swing had knocked the stuffing out of India's resistance.

Rishabh Pant (25 off 41 balls) batted only in the manner he can and played one breathtaking shot off Southee, a slog sweep off a 130 kmph-plus delivery to the deep mid-wicket boundary.

But there was too much left to do with too little support from the other end. Bending on one knee, he tried another audacious slog scoop but couldn't clear.

Southee, who had a terrific match, deservingly completed his 10th five-wicket haul and all it took was 16 overs to end the innings and the match.

New Zealand now have 120 points in the World Test championship and India stayed on top with 36 points.

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News Network
March 6,2020

Melbourne, Mar 6: Experienced middle-order batter Veda Krishnamurthy believes that "destiny" is in favour of first-time finalist India to win their maiden ICC Women's T20 World Cup title provided they get a grip on their nerves in the summit clash against Australia on Sunday.

India will have a psychological advantage going into the final as they had stunned the defending champions by 17 runs in the tournament opener.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India reached the final on the basis of their unbeaten record in the tournament after their semifinal against England was washed out on Thursday.

Krishnamurthy, who was a part of the Indian team that finished runner-up to England in the 2017 Women's ODI World Cup, knows the pain of missing out on a world title.

"It's all about destiny, and I'm a big believer in destiny. I feel like this is the way it was meant to be. There is a joke going around that this World Cup is made in such a way that it's helping us, starting from the wickets to everything else," she was quoted as saying by the tournament's official website.

"Being in the final is just reward for the way we played in the group stages. There was an advantage to having won all our games with the weather not in our hands."

The team's first target of reaching the final having achieved, the 27-year-old player said the Indians now need to hold their nerves and remain focussed leading up to the big day on Sunday.

"We said the first aim was to get to the final and take it from there. We've crossed the first stage. We need to make sure we hold our nerves and we do what we need to do on the final day," she said.

India's recent rivalry with Australia has taken fascinating twists and turns, with Kaur's outfit chasing down 173 in their recent tri-series, then getting home by 17 runs in the T20 World Cup opener.

But all is not hunky-dory for Krishnamurthy on the personal front. Considered a great finisher, she has recovered from a series of single-digit scores in the tri-series to score 20 from 11 balls in a finishing role against Bangladesh.

Having amassed just 35 runs from four matches in the tournament so far, the Karnataka batter knows her role in the team.

"As an individual, the role given to me is very consistent in the last year. They've put the effort in the last year to keep me there and I've been supported by every individual, not just one or two. The entire team, with all the support staff, have shown faith in me," she said.

"I know coming into the World Cup, I would play a crucial role to finish the innings well, which I felt I was unable to do in the last World Cup in the West Indies," she added.

Krishnamurthy said specific roles have been set for every player of the squad and they all are trying to contribute as much as they can to help the team achieve its goal.

"I was very motivated to do my role and I've been working on that. It's not just me, all 15 players involved know what their role is," she said.

"I'm happy we're all putting in efforts and executing our role properly. Even if it's a smallish contribution of saving a couple of runs, it's all panned out really well."

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