Gayle ton fires KXIP to 193/3

Agencies
April 20, 2018

Mohali, Apr 20: Chris Gayle gave a fitting answer to the sceptics with a blistering hundred as Kings XI Punjab overpowered Sunrisers Hyderabad by 15 runs in an IPL encounter, here on Thursday.

Gayle’s unbeaten 63-ball-104, his 21st hundred in shortest format propelled KXIP to 193 for 3 in 20 overs and they then restricted Sunrisers to 178 for 4, recording their third win in the tournament.

For Sunrisers, it was their first defeat after three successive wins. A cornered tiger can be dangerous and Gayle showed why he has taken the initial lack of interest of franchises to his heart.

“A lot of people thought I’m too old. After this innings, I have nothing to prove,” Gayle said immediately after his knock. While chasing, Sunrisers were dealt with a blow at the onset when Shikhar Dhawan was hit on the elbow off the very first delivery that he faced from Barinder Sran.

Wriddhiman Saha (6) tried a cross-batted heave only to be clean bowled in the process by Mohit Sharma. Yusuf Pathan (19) got two reprieves with Ashwin and Yuvraj Singh dropping sitters off Mohit and Barinder Sran’s bowling respectively. Mohit, however, had the last laugh as the former India player dragged one back to his stumps.

Pacer Andrew Tye (2-23 in 4 overs) and rookie mystery spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman (0-26 in 4 overs) then stifled Sunrisers in the middle overs despite Kane Williamson’s 54 off 41 balls and Manish Pandey’s unbeaten 57 off 42 balls.

In between themselves, Tye and Mujeeb bowled 15 dot balls, which proved to be crucial in the end. Even Barinder Sran (0/22 in 4 overs) was economical opening the bowling.

Earlier, Gayle scythed through Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling attack with a blistering hundred firing Punjab to big total.

Gayle showed that he is far from finished en route his magnificent knock that had 11 towering sixes and a solitary boundary.

Gayle’s 58-ball-hundred incidentally is the first of this edition of IPL and also against a bowling line-up that is being touted the most balanced of all eight teams.

Gayle moved to 99 with his 11th six off Bhuvneshwar Kumar over long-off. In Siddarth Kaul’s next over, he dabbed the ball towards point to complete a quick single. As a mark of celebration, Gayle gestured rocking a baby in a cradle, with his wife and daughter in the VIP box. The first 50 came off 39 balls and he took a mere 19 balls to complete the second 50.

It was the 14th over of the innings when Gayle actually turned the heat on. Already batting on 51, he smote leg-spinner Rashid Khan for four consecutive sixes. The first was over long-off, followed by a couple down the ground hits landing into sightscreen. The fourth six was slogged in the deep mid-wicket region.

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Agencies
May 31,2020

London, May 31: "Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli," replied umpire Ian Gould when he was asked to name the three best batsmen he loved watching when he was officiating as an umpire.

The former ICC elite umpire said that he was unlucky to not watch Ponting bat as much as he would have liked to.

"Jacques Kallis. I loved watching Jacques. He was a very, very fine player. Sachin. And probably Virat. I was unlucky in some respects. I didn't see the best of Ricky Ponting. He was an outstanding character, outstanding captain, such a proud Australian," ESPNCricinfo quoted Gould as saying.

"But his career was just starting to wane as I came on the scene. But he was incredibly helpful, so I'm disappointed I have to leave him out. Jacques Kallis, I could sit and watch all day, Virat, the same. And Sachin, if you want someone to bat for your life, he was the man," he added.

Gould had retired from the ICC's panel of elite umpires in 2019, after standing in more than 250 international matches over a 13-year career.

Over the years, comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have been growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli has 70 centuries across all formats.

While, Kallis played 166 Tests, 328 ODIs and 25 T20Is for South Africa and he is often viewed as the greatest all-rounder the game has seen.

Many pundits of the game find it hard to pick between him and Sir Garfield Sobers.

Across his career, Kallis scored 25,534 runs in his career and he also managed to take 577 wickets.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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News Network
May 27,2020

Bengaluru, May 27: Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has revealed that he was never able to dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq in the nets.

The Rawalpindi Express praised the former Pakistan skipper and said Inzamam could see the ball one second earlier than the rest of the batsmen could.

"Honestly, I don't think I could ever get him (Inzamam) out, he had the time and I always felt he saw the ball a second earlier than the rest of the batsmen because I had a complicated action unlike Brett Lee, I felt I could never dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I couldn't get him out in the nets, I think he could see the ball a second before anyone else," he added.

Inzamam played 120 Tests and 378 ODIs for Pakistan.

He finished his career with 20,569 runs across all formats.

The right-handed batsman called time on his career in 2007 and he played his last Test against South Africa in Lahore.

On the other hand, Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

The Rawalpindi Express last played an ODI in 2011 as he played against New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup.

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