KKR defeat defending champs SRH by 7 wickets in rain-shortened Eliminator, play MI in Qualifier 2

May 18, 2017

Bengaluru, May 18: Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders defeated title holders Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets in a rain-truncated Indian Premier League Eliminator to enter the Qualifier 2 of the tournament, here today.

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Opting to bowl first, KKR produced a disciplined bowling and fielding effort to first restrict Sunrisers to a modest 128 for seven and then overwhelmed the revised target of 48 in six overs with consummate ease.

Mush against Sunrisers wish, the rain subsided and the target was revised to 48 off six overs after persistent drizzle soon after Sunrisers' innings stopped the proceedings for more than three hours.

Chasing the target, Chris Lynn got KKR off to a quick start smashing Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a six.

But two quick wickets in successive balls changed the complexion of the game.

Lynn edged Bhuvneshwar's next delivery on to Naman Ojha behind the stumps and then a ball later new man in Yusuf Pathan was run out by the bowler.

Robin Uthappa too didn't last long as he gave simple catch to Shikhar Dhawan at square-leg off Chris Jordan in the second over.

But thereafter, skipper Gautam Gambhir (32 not out) took the onus on himself to guide his side home in the company of Ishant Jaggi (5 not out).

KKR overwhelmed the target with four balls to spare.

For Sunrisers, Jordan (1/9) and Bhuvneshwar (1/11) picked up a wicket each.

KKR will now take on Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 here on Friday.

Earlier, KKR produced a disciplined bowling and fielding effort to restrict Sunrisers to a modest 128 for seven.

Returning to the side after an injury lay-off, Nathan Coulter-Nile (3/20) impressed with the ball. He was ably supported by Umesh Yadav (2/21).

Sent into bat, it was struggle for Sunrsiers from the onset as skipper David Warner (37) and Shikhar Dhawan (11) found the going tough against the KKR bowling attack on a slowish and difficult M Chinnaswmay pitch.

The slow scoring rate finally took a toll on Sunrisers as Dhawan perished in the second delivery of the fifth over.

Dhawan slashed at a good length delivery of Umesh only managing to balloon it to Robin Uthappa behind the stumps with the Sunrisers scoreboard reading 25 for one.

With the boundaries hard to come by, Warner finally broke the shackles in the ninth over clobbering Piyush Chawla's (1/27) short delivery over midwicket boundary for a maximum.

New man in Kane Williamson (24) showed his class as he smacked Coulter-Nile for a boundary and a huge six off consecutive balls to pick up 13 runs of the 10th over.

At the halfway stage, Sunrisers were 61 for one.

With time Warner grew in confidence and his big hitting skills came to the fore. He didn't spare a single loose ball and clobbered a marginally short delivery from Sunil Narine way over the long on boundary.

But just when the partnership between Warner and Williamson was looking dangerous, twin blows in consecutive overs rattled Sunrisers' innings.

First Williamson departed caught at extra cover by Suryakumar Yadav off Coulter-Nile while trying to lift the ball over the in-field and then in the next over dangerous Warner was cleaned up by Chawla.

The duo stitched 50 runs for the second wicket off 44 balls balls.

Yuvraj Singh (9) and young Vijay Shankar (22) shared quick 24 runs of three overs for the fourth wicket before the former fell, caught by Chawla at deep backward square-leg off Umesh while trying to up the ante.

Coulter-Nile then struck twice in the 19th over, first removing Shankar and then Chris Jordan to make matters worse for Sunrisers.

Naman Ojha made a run-a-ball 16 before perishing in the final delivery of the innings.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Islamabad, Aug 7: Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, known for his blistering deliveries on the cricket field, recently baffled many with a deadly off-field bouncer by claiming he is willing to eat grass if it enabled an increase in budget for his country's Army!

"If Allah ever gives me the authority, I will eat grass myself but I will increase the budget of the army," said Akhtar in an interview with ARY News.

The 'Rawalpindi Express', considered the fastest bowler in history said he does not understand why the civilian sector cannot work in collaboration with the Armed forces.

"I will ask my army chief to sit with me and make decisions. If the budget is 20 per cent, I will make it 60 per cent. If we insult each other, the loss is ours only," the once feared fast-bowler said.

Akthar had also claimed to ARY News interview that he was willing to take a bullet for his country and had turned down a county stint just because he wanted to fight the 1999 Kargil War.

Ties between India and Pakistan have been strained in the recent months over several issues, the latest being Pakistan's attempt to broach in the UNSC the issue of Kashmir on the first anniversary of the India's move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and to split the erstwhile state into two union territories .

Pakistan also has not been in a good financial position and under prime minister Imran Khan, himself an all rounder cricketer, has added nearly USD 22 billion, that is 35 per cent to the nation's international debt pile in the last two years, according to an Asia Times report in July.

While Pakistan recently received USD 1.39 billion from the IMF to cushion the economic shocks caused due to COVID-19 outbreak, Akthar had a few months ago proposed that a joint cricket match be played between India and Pakistan to raise funds to fight the coronavirus. The suggestion that was put down by cricketers in India.

Meanwhile the 'Pindi boy' whose deadly pace and bounce was once dreaded by batsmen had recently taken to Twitter to deny former India cricketer Virender Sehwag's claim of sledging him.

Sehwag along with other Indian crickerters such as Harbhajan Singh and even Rahul Dravid had been at the receiving end of Akthar's sledging and antics during their playing days.

"Yes, totally self made story by him. Mujhe yeh bol k bach k jana kidhar tha us nay," Akthar tweeted to a report in which Sehwag claimed that he had sledged the 'Rawalpindi Express' by telling him that Sachin Tendulkar was his father.

During an awards ceremony Sehwag had recounted that fed up with Akthar's sledging and retaliated by telling him to say the same things to Tendulkar, who smashed the 'Pindi boy' for a six. Sehwag quipped that he told Akthar then that "Baap baap hota hai".

In the recent ARY interview, asked about the allegation made against him by former India cricketer Virendra Sehwag that he makes pro-India comments for greater following on social media channels, Akhtar said, "I cannot talk on the basis of hate." 

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News Network
April 12,2020

New Delhi, Apr 12: As devotees across the world celebrate Easter today, former Sri Lanka skipper and current Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) president Kumar Sangakkara on Sunday condoled the demise of people who lost their lives during last year's Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka and said someone must seek answers to the questions which still remain unresolved.

"A year on we all share the pain of the families grieving lives lost, we stand with you and for you. We remember. So many questions still unanswered, but answer them someone must," Sangakkara tweeted.

On April 21, 2019, multiple blasts ripped through Sri Lanka when the Christian community was celebrating Easter Sunday.
The explosions rattled churches and high-end hotels across the country, killing 258 people and injuring over 500.

A local terror group called National Thowheeth Jama'ath had claimed responsibility for the devastating attacks.

The island nation was put under a state of emergency for a period of four months from April to August.

The Sri Lankan police had then said that 293 suspects were arrested in connection with the Easter Sunday bombings in the island country in April.

This year, most of the devotees would be offering the prayers from their homes as mass gatherings have been suspended in most countries due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ following his crucifixion on Good Friday. It also marks the culmination of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and penance.

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News Network
February 27,2020

Melbourne, Feb 27: Shafali Verma's 34-ball 46 followed by a superlative performance from the bowlers helped India notch up a narrow four-run win over New Zealand in a crucial group A match of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup on Thursday.

Invited to bat, India posted a below-par 133 for eight against New Zealand in the crucial group A match with Shafali top-scoring with a 34-ball 46 and Taniya Bhatia chipping in with a 25-ball 23.

India, however, produced a disciplined performance with the ball to restrict New Zealand to 129 for six and register their third successive win in the tournament.

With this win, India topped Group A, having beaten Australia and Bangladesh in their last two outing.

Defending the total, India introduced spin straight away but Deepti Sharma bled 12 runs with opener Rachel Priest (12) hitting her for two boundaries.

But experienced pacer Shikha Pandey removed Priest in the next over when she had her caught at mid wicket.

With Shikha and left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad bowling in tandem, New Zealand played with caution to reach 28 for one.

Back into the attack, Deepti then cleaned up Bates with a beauty of a delivery as New Zealand slipped to 30 for two.

Poonam Yadav and Radha Yadav then mounted the pressure on the Kiwis and soon the Black Caps were 34 for 3 when the former dismissed skipper Sophie Devine (14).

Maddy Green (24) and Katey Martin (25) then tried to resurrect the innings with a 36-ball 43-run stand.

However, Gayakwad returned to remove Green, who danced down the pitch only to end up with an outside edge as Bhatia did the rest.

Radha then dismissed Martin to leave New Zealand at 90 for 5 in 16.3 overs.

Needing 44 off 21 balls, Kerr (34) blasted four boundaries to accumulate 18 runs in the penultimate over bowled by Poonam to bring the equation down to 16 off six balls.

In the final over, Heyley Jensen (11) and Kerr cracked a four each but Shikha held her nerves in the end to complete the win.

Earlier, 16-year-old Shafali provided the fireworks as India scored 49 for one in the powerplay overs. But they lost six wickets for 43 runs to squander the good start.

Smriti Mandhana (11), who returned to the playing XI after missing the last match due to illness, departed early but Shafali and Taniya (23) kept the scoreboard ticking, adding 51 runs for the second wicket.

In the 10th over, Taniya was caught by Amelia Kerr at backward point, while Jemimah Rodrigues (10) was caught by Kerr in the 12th over as India slipped to 80 for 3.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's (1) poor form also continued as she was soon back to the hut after being caught and bowled by Leigh Kasperek.

Shafali, who was dropped at long-on in the 8th over and at mid-wicket in the 10th over, then holed out to Jensen at deep extra cover. She had four hits to the fence and three maximum shots in her innings.

Left-handed batter Deepti Sharma (8) and Veda Krishnamurthy (6) brought up the 100 in the 15th over but both departed soon as India slumped to 104 for 6.

Radha Yadav then blasted 14 off nine balls, which included a six in the final over, to give some respectability to the total.

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