Kings XI Punjab beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 72 runs

April 23, 2014

Sharjah, Apr 23: Glenn Maxwell produced another blistering knock of 95 off just 43 balls before Lakshmipathy Balaji returned with a four-wicket haul as Kings XI Punjab notched up a crushing 72-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their third IPL-7 match here on Tuesday.

Kings_XI_PunjabAfter scoring 95 and 89 in his last two innings, Maxwell once again produced a devastating knock, which was studded with nine sixes and five fours as Punjab posted an imposing 193 for six in their 20 overs.

George Bailey’s men then came up with a clinical bowling display to dismiss Hyderabad for 121 with four balls to spare at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium as Punjab registered their third straight win.

Maxwell, who was dropped by David Warner off Karn Sharma in the 10th over before Darren Sammy had him caught off a no-ball in the 15th over, shared 68 runs off 27 balls with David Miller for the third wicket. He also added 35 runs with Cheteshwar Pujara and 25 runs with skipper Bailey.

Chasing 194 for win, Hyderabad just couldn’t mount a serious challenge. Balaji returned with incredible figures of 4-0-13-4, while Mitchell Johnson (2 for 26) and Akshar Patel (2/20) snapped two wickets each. Sandeep Sharma (1/26) and Rishi Dhawan (1/23) took one each for Punjab.

Hyderabad were reduced to 33 for three in 4.5 overs. While Johnson struck the first blow dismissing skipper Shikhar Dhawan (1) off his second ball, it was Balaji’s twin strike in his opening over which derailed their chase.

Balaji first knocked off Aaron Finch’s (19) stumps with an angled delivery, while two balls later, a back of a length delivery sent David Warner (8) back to the hut with Maxwell taking the catch at point.

Y Venugopal Rao (11) tried his bit and scored a couple of boundaries off Dhawan’s first over but he was sent back to the pavilion by Sandeep Sharma after the power-play overs.

K L?Rahul and Irfan Pathan tried to build a stand but Patel dismissed the latter as Hyderabad slipped to 74 for five .

Sammy blasted 15 off 11 balls before becoming the third victim of Balaji, while Rahul’s 27-run innings was cut short by Patel in the 15th over. Rest of the batsmen also fell cheaply.

Earlier, Virender Sehwag (30) and Cheteshwar Pujara (35) gave Punjab a good start after they were put into bat, amassing their best opening partnership of 51 off 40 balls.

Maxwell then sent the bowlers on a leather hunt with an array of shots. In the 12th over, the Australian cracked back-to-back boundaries, hitting a six and a four off Irfan Pathan, who was brought in the team in place of Ishant Sharma. The 25-year-old all-rounder exploded in the 13th over, blasting three successive sixes off Mishra, while David Miller added another one as Punjab amassed 25 runs.

In the next over, Maxwell smashed one six and a couple of boundaries to garner 16 runs off Sharma. He had another reprieve when he was caught off a Smmy no-ball. Maxwell made Hyderabad pay for their mistake before being dismissed, just five runs short of a hundred.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on 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 currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said he doesn't think Mahendra Singh Dhoni will play for India again, adding to the guessing game over the future of the superstar former captain.

Dhoni, 38, has not appeared for club or country since last year's 50-over World Cup and India's coronavirus lockdown could threaten his chances of getting back into the national team.

The Indian Premier League, the main platform before this year's scheduled T20 World Cup, is likely to be truncated or cancelled because of the pandemic.

Harbhajan, who plays with Dhoni at IPL side Chennai Super Kings, said international retirement was on the cards for Dhoni and that he was increasingly being asked about his teammate.

"It's up to him. You need to know whether he wants to play for India again," Harbhajan said in an online forum.

"As far as I know him, he won't want to wear India's blue jersey again. IPL he will play, but for India I think he had decided the (2019) World Cup was his last."

Dhoni, who gave up Test cricket in 2014, started training for the Super Kings in March but has not commented on his international future.

Dhoni led India to win the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007. He hit a six to seal the 2011 World Cup final victory and, along with it, his status as a national hero. He has amassed 10,773 runs from 350 ODIs.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

Mumbai, Jan 5: All-rounder Irfan Pathan on Saturday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, ending an injury-ridden career that prevented him from realising his true potential.

The 35-year-old's retirement was on expected lines, considering he last played a competitive game in February 2019 during the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy for Jammu and Kashmir.

He did not even put himself in the IPL auction pool, last month.

The left-arm seamer's bowling was like a breath of fresh air when he made his India debut against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 2003.

He never had express pace but his natural ability to swing the ball into the right-handers got him instant success, also drawing comparisons with the great Kapil Dev.

It seemed India had found the all-rounder they were looking for since Kapil left the scene. Pathan, who last played for India in October 2012, featured in 29 Tests (1105 runs and 100 wickets), 120 ODIs (1544 runs and 173 wickets) and 24 T20 Internationals (172 runs and 28 wickets).

He was part of the victorious Indian team at the 2007 World Twenty20 and was the man-of-the-match in the final against Pakistan.

One of his best performances came on the tour of Pakistan in 2006 when he became the second Indian after Harbhajan Singh to take a Test hat-trick, removing Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yusuf during the Karachi game.

He also played a big role in India winning a Test match against Australia on a tough Perth wicket, which offered steep bounce.

Injuries and lack of form troubled him thereafter and his ability to swing the ball deteriorated.

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