Inspirational Rashid Khan leads Sunrisers Hyderabad to 13-run win over Kings XI Punjab

Agencies
April 27, 2018

Hyderabad, Apr 27: IPL 2018: Riding on wonder spinner Rashid Khan’s brilliant effort, Sunrisers Hyderabad produced an inspired bowling display to eke out a fighting 13-run win over in-form Kings XI Punjab in a low-scoring IPL match here today.

Rashid (3/19)) turned out to be the star for Sunrisers once again as he along with Shakib (2/18) turned the tables around for the hosts in the middle overs after Manish Pandey’s fighting 54 propelled them to 132 for six.

Besides Rashid and Shakib, Basil Thampi (2/14) and Sandeep Sharma (2/17) also rose to the occasion for the home team.

Earlier, young Kings XI pacer Ankit Rajpoot (5/14) registered his career-best bowling figures to restrict Sunrisers to the modest score.

But the total proved enough for Sunrisers as Kings XI batsmen crumbled like a pack of cards to fell short eventually and slump to their second loss in the tournament.

Chasing the modest target, openers KL Rahul (32) and Chris Gayle (23) got Kings XI’s off to great start as the duo stitched quick 55 runs in just 47 balls.

But just when it looked Kings XI will run away with the game, Afghan leg-spinner Rashid got the big breakthrough when he cleaned up Rahul with a gem of a delivery.

Big-hitting Gayle then miscued a short delivery off Thampi in the next over and the pacer accepted the chance of his own bowling.

The two wickets derailed Kings XI’s chase as Rashid and Shakib bowled brilliantly in the middle overs to keep Sunrisers afloat with wickets at regular intervals.

Rashid, in particular, was unplayable as the Kings XI batsmen completely failed to read his variations.

Shakib accounted for Mayank Agarwal in the 13th over before Rashid outfoxed Karun Nair with a googly, caught plumb in front of the wicket.

Shakib then came back to dismiss dangerous Aaron Finch in the next over to make life difficult for Kings XI.

Sandeep then dismissed Manoj Tiwary and Andrew Tye in the same over as Kings XI’s chase fell apart.

Earlier, Rajpoot produced a dream opening spell, which included three important wickets, to dismantle Sunrisers innings after Kings XI opted to bowl first.

The young pacer from Kanpur then returned back to pick up two more wickets in the final over to single-handedly destroy the home team.

For Sunrisers, Pandey (54 off 51) scored a fighting half-century, while Shakib (28) and Yusuf Pathan (21 not out) made useful contributions.

On a roll, Kings XI had a dream start as they reduced Sunrisers to 27 for three by the end of the fifth over with Rajpoot reigning havoc.

Sunrisers top-order failed to cope up with Rajpoot’s extra bounce and swing which resulted in the dismissal of Sunrisers captain Kane Williamson in the fourth ball of the innings, caught by skipper Ravichandran Ashwin.

The pacer then removed Shikhar Dhawan (11) and Wriddhiman Saha (6) in his consecutive overs to put Sunrisers in serious trouble.

Rajpoot’s extra bounce and swing first induced an edge from Dhawan which Nair gleefully accepted in the only slip and then in his next over the pacer removed Saha caught by Tye as the batsman went for a terrible cross-batted slog.

It could have been more trouble for the hosts but Tye dropped a dolly from Pandey off Rajpoot’s next delivery to deny the bowler a hat-trick chance.

Sunrisers received another reprieve when Shakib was caught off Barinder Sran in the next over off a no ball.

Riding on their luck, Pandey and Shakib then steadied Sunrisers sinking ship with a toiling 52-run partnership for the fourth wicket that came off 53 balls before young Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman (1/17) cut short the association, getting the wicket of Shakib in the 14th over.

Even though Pandey toiled to his fifty but it was not enough as Rajpoot returned back in the final over to cut short his stay and then accounted for Mohammad Nabi a ball later to help Kings XI restrict Sunrisers to a chaseable target.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
March 1,2020

New Delhi, Mar 1: Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif on Sunday heaped praise on Ravindra Jadeja after the all-rounder took a spectacular catch on the second day of the Christchurch Test against New Zealand.

Jadeja grabbed a one-handed stunner at deep square leg in the 72nd over to dismiss Neil Wagner, who had to depart after scoring 21 runs.

"Sir Jadeja for a reason! Jadeja Airlines, flying high! Terrific stuff," Kaif tweeted.

In the match, Jadeja also impressed with the ball. The left-handed bowler took two wickets while giving away 22 runs.

On day two, India bundled out New Zealand on 235 runs in the second Test. However, in their second innings, Indian batsmen again struggled to tackle the New Zealand pacers and lost six wickets with a lead of just 97 runs.

India went to stumps at 90/6, with Trent Boult doing the majority of the damage with three wickets.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 23,2020

Melbourne, Jan 23: Sania Mirza's return to her first Grand Slam after a two-year break was cut short on Thursday when the former world number one was forced to retire midway through her first round match in women's doubles at the Australian Open due to a calf injury.

India's Mirza, who won six Grand Slam doubles titles, took a break from the game after the China Open in October 2017 and gave birth to her son a year later.

The 33-year-old made a winning return to the WTA Tour at this month's Hobart International with Ukrainian Nadiia Kichenok, picking up her 42nd WTA doubles title and the first since winning the women's doubles in Brisbane in 2017.

Mirza said she strained her calf muscle in her right leg during the Hobart final.

"It just got worse in the match. It was bit of a bad strain, but I had a few days off," she told reporters. "So I obviously had to try to do whatever I could to try to get on the court.

"It felt okay when I went on the court, but it was tough to move right. I just felt like I'm gonna tear it or something pretty bad."

Mirza won her first Grand Slam in mixed doubles at the Australian Open in 2009 and also bagged the women's doubles in 2016.

Mirza always believed there was tennis left in her which inspired her comeback, she told Reuters on Sunday.

She had already pulled out of the Australian Open mixed doubles, where she was to partner compatriot Rohan Bopanna.

Mirza and Kichenok were trailing the Chinese pair of Xinyun Han and Lin Zhu 6-2 1-0 on Thursday when the Indian had to call it quits due to the injury.

"As a tennis player you want to compete, it is the Grand Slam. If it's any other tournament, you would probably take a call and be like 'I don't want to risk it'," she said.

Mirza, who is married to former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik, said she would take two weeks to recover and was hoping to play at next month's Dubai championships.

"When you play a professional sport, injuries are really part of it. And it's something that you have to accept," she said. "Sometimes the timing is really not ideal, it's tough that it happened in a Grand Slam, or just before a Grand Slam."

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 21,2020

Melbourne, Jul 21: Cricket Australia's chief executive Nick Hockley has said that the Indian players and staff will most likely be asked to face two weeks of quarantine before the four-match Test series.

This scenario will bring the Adelaide Oval and its newly constructed hotel firmly into view as the sort of biosecure bubble, ESPNCricinfo reported.

India and Australia are slated to face each other in a four-match Test series, which is to begin from December 4 at Brisbane.

"The two-week quarantine is pretty well-defined. What we are working on is making sure that even within that quarantine environment, the players have got the absolute best training facilities, so that their preparation for the matches is as optimal as it can possibly be," ESPNCricinfo quoted Hockey as saying.

"Certainly the fact that the Adelaide Oval has a hotel. It does provide a facility not dissimilar to Old Trafford or Ageas Bowl where the hotels are integrated into the venue," he added.

Hockley also said that an exacting standard of biosecurity and testing would be applied before the series against India as the coronavirus cases are spiking in the subcontinent.

"It's widely known and it's unlikely that international travel restrictions would have lifted by the time that India will be due to come into the country. Clearly there will be testing regimes. We will be able to test people before that they get on to the plane and it is the nature of the situation of making sure we have the quarantine arrangements in line with government and health authority protocols," Hockley said.

"The key thing for the players is that there's regular testing and that we appropriately quarantine them when they come in and all of those plans are currently in development," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the postponement of the T20 World Cup 2020 slated to be held in Australia from October 18-November 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the announcement, the BCCI is likely to go ahead with the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October-November window. However, it is known where the T20 tournament will be played as cases continue to rise in India.
"I think the BCCI has made no secrets that they are considering what that means for the IPL. For us, it's about getting a bit of an understanding and certainty around what that means. Clearly, in a normal course, some of our best players are obviously top picks for those IPL teams," Hockley said.

"It's a bit premature to speculate on that. We need to understand what the plans are if any and once we understand that we will make decisions accordingly," he added.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.