Miller delivers a killer blow

May 7, 2013

David_MillerMohali, May 7: Royal Challengers Bangalore stared in shock and disbelief. Anyone who saw David Miller bat on Monday night would have. Challengers had put up a dominant performance and were cruising before the South African left-hander produced the innings of his life, a 38-ball 101, as the Kings XI Punjab pulled off a memorable six-wicket victory at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium.

Few would have given a chance to the Kings XI who at one stage were reeling at 64-4 while chasing an imposing 190/3 set by the Challengers. But Miller (101, 38 balls, 8x4, 7x6), who had been consistently showing signs of exploding, sprang to life as Kings XI

raced away with a stunning victory right under the Challenger’s nose.

Miller’s knock was the third fastest hundred in IPL and his partnership with R Sathish, the highest for the fifth wicket for Kings XI, brought 82 runs in their last four overs.

After a pedestrian fare by their bowlers, Kings XI desperately needed their ace batsmen to rise to the occasion. But both Shaun Marsh and Mandeep Singh were back in the dugout with mere 25 runs on the board and Kings XI were quick to find themselves on a sticky wicket.

But Miller slough Kings XI off from the stupor with some sensational heaves and got the capacity crowd grooving in delight. Like a man possessed, he batted with amazing authority and urgency to scatter the field. Kings XI, who were nowhere close to reaching the target at one stage, closed the gaps in a flurry through a tornado in the shape of Miller.

His blitzkrieg triggered panic in Challengers’ rank and captain Virat Kohli was at his wits’ end. To add insult to injury, it was Kohli who dropped Miller at 41 and the left-hander celebrated it by mowing RP Singh for 26 runs in the next over with a six and three boundaries in a row.

Miller’s innings paled the entertaining knocks of Chris Gayle (61) and Cheteshwar Pujara (51) after Challengers were put in to bat.

It never takes Gayle long to break the shackles and Michael Nasser was made to feel the music with two successive sixes in the fifth over. The Jamaican makes stroke-making look so effortless that it belies the power behind it.

His effervescence seemed to rub off on a quiet Pujara too and he responded by cracking three back-to-back hits to the fence off Manpreet Gony (2-41) in the next over. It opened the floodgates and the two set out to pulverize the Kings XI attack. Runs came at a fast clip; Gayle taking the aerial route at will and Pujara attacking with flair and timing the ball brilliantly.

Gony halted their march. He knocked off Gayle’s middle stump when the latter attempted a pull but missed the line to spark frenzied celebrations. Pujara, who was looking good after completing his half-century, perished shortly while going for a slog.

The reliable middle order pairing of Virat Kolhi and AB de Villiers (38 not out) was separated by Parvinder Awana when the former mistimed a pull off a short ball and Shaun Marsh held on to the catch while running backwards from mid-wicket.

De Villiers in company of Moises Henriques (16 not out) brought Challengers back on track and they accelerated superbly towards the end to take 21 runs off last over.

It was a competitive total, one that Challengers could have felt confident of defending. But it was Miller’s night. He reached his century in style with a six, that also brought the winnings runs, and single-handedly shorn the Challengers of yet another away victory.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: Cheteswar Pujara b Gony 51 (48b, 8x4), Chris Gayle b Gony 61 (33b, 6x4, 3x6), Virat Kohli c Marsh b Awana 14 (14b, 1x4), AB de Villiers 38 n.o. (19b, 4x6 2x4), MC Henriques 16 n.o. (7b, 2x4, 1x6). Extras (LB-5, W-4, NB-1) 10. Total (for 3 wkts; 20 overs) 190.

Fall of wickets: 1-102 (Gayle), 2-133 (Pujara), 3-144 (Kohli).

Bowling: Praveen Kumar 4-0-28-0 (2w), Parvinder Awana 4-0-28-1 (1w), Manpreet Gony 4-0-41-2, Michael Neser 4-0-62-0 (1nb), Piyush Chawla 4-0-26-0 (1w).

Runs during Powerplay: 0-6: 58/0

KINGS XI PUNJAB: Mandeep Singh c Arun Karthik b Vinay Kumar 16 (12b, 3x4), Shaun Marsh c de Villiers b Rampaul 6 (7b, 1x4), Gurkeerat Singh lbw Kartik 20 (20b 3x4), David Hussey c Henriques b Kartik 13 (14b, 1x4), David Miller 101 n.o. 38 (8x4, 7x6), R Sathish 27 n.o. 18 (2x4 1x6). Extras (B-4, LB-2, W-4, NB-1) 11. Total (for 4 wkts; 18 overs) 194.

Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Marsh), 2-25 (Mandeep Singh), 3-51 (Gurkeerat Singh), 4-64 (Hussey).

Bowling: Ravi Rampaul 4-0-27-1, RP Singh 3-0-38-0 (1w), Moises Henriques 3-0-29-0 (1w), R Vinay Kumar 4-0-48-1 (1nb), Murali Kartik 3-0-24-2 (1w), Chris Gayle 1-0-22-0 (1w).

Runs during Powerplay: 0-6: 41/2.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: "Want to know what makes him tick," said Australian pacer Kane Richardson will talking about playing alongside Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.

The IPL 2020 will be played in the UAE from September 19-November 10 and the tournament will run for 53 days.

In the players' auction which was conducted in December 2019, RCB managed to bag key players like Richardson, Chris Morris, Aaron Finch, Dale Steyn, Joshua Philippe, and Isuru Udana.

In an interaction with news agency, Richardson talked about playing alongside Kohli and the learning curve which is in store for him by being in the same squad as Proteas great Dale Steyn.
"Huge. These guys (Virat, AB de Villiers) are the absolute legends of the game. Anything I can learn from them will be a bonus, that's for sure.

I am really looking forward to playing with Virat, there are few more competitive players in the world. I am really looking forward to seeing what makes him tick," Richardson said.

The 29-year-old pacer also said that he would want to learn from Steyn as to how to be consistent in all formats of the game over a long period of time.

"There are loads I can learn from Dale. He has been amongst the best at the highest level for so long. His control and ability to swing the ball without losing his pace is really impressive. 

I look forward to getting in his ear about how he performs so consistently over a long period, in all forms," said Richardson who has 39 ODI wickets to his credit.

Richardson has so far played 14 games in his IPL career so far and has picked up 18 wickets. The bowler played for Pune Warriors India in 2013, Rajasthan Royals in 2014, and RCB in 2016.

For this year's IPL, RCB has also bagged Australia's limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch, and Richardson thinks having a familiar face in the camp would help him to settle better in the franchise.

"Finchey is an awesome player and a fantastic leader. I am sure it will help to have two Aussies in the side along with Josh who is playing his first tournament after a massive summer in the BBL. We are all professionals, I'm sure it won't take long for us to gel as a side," Richardson said.

However, before the IPL starts, Australia is expected to tour England for a limited-overs series, comprising of three ODIs and as many T20Is.

The side was last seen in action in March this year as they played one ODI against New Zealand in Sydney. After the first match, the remaining two ODIs were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Talking about the series against England, Kane replied: "We will be fresh, that's one thing, while the England players have been in a bubble for some time now. As long as we get enough practice in before and possibly some centre wicket it should not be an issue."

"They are World Cup holders and the number one ranked side for a very good reason. It will be a tough series also given they will have played a fair bit of cricket together by then. We know we need to work hard on our one-day game which will be a priority over the next period," he added.

The pacer also talked about how the lockdown was like for him, and Richardson feels that everyone would come back strong as a result of this break.

"The break from playing has been refreshing, to be honest. We have come back strong and are well into pre-season training with our states. As a bowler, our loads are not at their peak but we are working towards getting ready for a tour of the UK in a few weeks," Richardson said.

The Australian quick has so far played 25 ODIs and 18 T20Is, managing to take 39 and 19 wickets respectively.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Jun 9: Former West Indies skipper Darren Sammy has released a video, alleging racism within the SunRisers Hyderabad camp. Last week, Sammy had lost his cool after learning the meaning of the word "Kalu", which he alleged was directed at him during his Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with the SunRisers Hyderabad. The T20 World Cup-winning Windies skipper had said that he along with Sri Lanka player Thisara Perera were sometimes called that word when they played for SunRisers Hyderabad. However, Sammy did not specify as to who directed these slurs at him, but now the player has released a video, saying he will message all those who called him that word.

"I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people," Sammy said in a video posted on his Instagram account.

"This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for SunRisers Hyderabad, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people," he added.

Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn''t know the meaning, and his team-mates used to laugh every time after calling him by that name.

"I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called as that word I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment, I thought teammates are laughing so it must be something funny," Sammy said.

"Now, I realise it was degrading, I will be texting you guys and I will ask you as to when you called me with that name, did you all mean it in any bad way or form? I have had great memories in all my dressing rooms, so all those who used to you call me with that word, think about it, let's have a conversation, if it was in a bad way then I would be really disappointed," he added.

The former Windies skipper has been a vocal supporter of the protests that are currently going on in the United States over the death of an African-American man named George Floyd.

Sammy had also made an appeal to the ICC and other cricket boards to support the fight against social injustice and racism.

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News Network
March 3,2020

Sydney, Mar 3: Former Australia pacer Brett Lee foresees a "different" looking India making their maiden T20 Women's World Cup final and attributed their rise to the emergence of star players like 16-year-old Shafali Verma.

Besides opener Shafali, experienced leg-spinner Poonam Yadav has been the other match-winner for India in the competition. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side topped the group stage with four wins in as many games and play their semifinal here on Thursday.

"They've never reached the final but this is a different India team from the one they’ve seen before. They've combined match-winners in Shafali Verma and Poonam Yadav with consistent players with both bat and ball," Lee was quoted as saying by ICC.

"We've always known they have some of the best players in the world but now Harmanpreet Kaur has a team around her that can support the big players, and fill in the gaps when they have an off day."

Only a special effort from their opponents can stop India from reaching their maiden final, feels Lee.

They'll go into the semi-finals full of confidence and it will take an excellent team to stop them from reaching the Final."

Talking more about Shafali, who has got 47, 46, 39, and 29 so far, Lee backed the teen sensation to make a bigger score in the semifinal.

"Shafali Verma has been excellent at the top of the order, she’s brought a fearless energy to India’s batting and been brilliant to watch.

"You feel she can go even bigger as well – she hasn't reached 50 yet, which is both exciting for those watching and worrying for the bowlers.

"We saw from the opener against Australia just how good India can be, and it’s no surprise they’ve continued that form to top Group A," he added.

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