Kolkata cruise to victory

May 20, 2012
pune_loose

Kolkata Knight Riders cruised into the play-offs in style beating Pune Warriors by 34 runs in their last league encounter of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Subroto Roy Sahara Stadium .


Knight Riders qualified as the second-placed side and will now play toppers Delhi in the Qualifier 1. In the eliminator, Mumbai Indians will facing either defending Chennai Super Kings or Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The win was also Knight Riders' second in the season against Pune Warriors, having beaten them in the much-hyped home-leg by seven runs as well.

At Pune, however, it was a difficult track to bat on and after skipper Gautam Gambhir opted to bat, Knight Riders managed a modest 136 for four in 20 overs. Shakib Al Hasan was the top scorer with 42 while Brendan McCullum made 41.

While chasing 137, Pune Warriors fared miserably, losing batsmen at regular intervals and finished at 102 for eight in 20 overs. Jesse Ryder was the top scorer with 22.

Pune Warriors batsmen struggled against the slow bowlers of Knight Riders, who hardly gave any room to the hosts. Left-arm spinner Hasan bagged two, including the prized scalp of Warriors skipper Sourav Ganguly (5), and gave away just 18 runs from his four overs. The former Bangladesh captain was also adjudged as Man of the Match for his all-round show.

Yusuf Pathan also bagged two for 12 while West Indies' mystery spinner Sunil Narine was again at his miserly best giving away just 15 runs for one wicket from his four overs.


SCOREBOARD

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Brendan McCullum c Ryder b Parnell 41

Gautam Gambhir c Nehra b Parnell 10

Jacques Kallis b Clarke 13

Shakib Al Hasan b Kumar 42

Manoj Tiwary not out 8

Yusuf Pathan not out 15

Extras (b 4, lb 1, nb 2) 7

Total (for four wickets in 20 overs) 136

Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Gambhir, 4.3 overs), 2-40 (Kallis, 8.4), 3-107 (McCullum, 16.1), 4-117 (Shakib Al Hasan, 17.5)

Bowling:

Ashish Nehra 4-0-35-0

Ali Murtaza 2-0-11-0

Wayne Parnell 4-0-18-2

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar 4-0-23-1

Michael Clarke 4-0-27-1

Sourav Ganguly 2-0-17-0

Pune Warriors:

Robin Uthappa c Tiwary b Iqbal Abdulla 8

Jesse Ryder b Pathan 22

Michael Clarke st McCullum b Pathan 13

Sourav Ganguly lbw Shakib Al Hasan 5

Anustup Majumdar st McCullum b Shakib 17

Calum Ferguson c Kallis b Bhatia 12

Harpreet Singh c & b Narine 6

Wayne Parnell c sub (Shukla) b Balaji 3

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar not out 3

Ali Murtaza not out 3

Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 7) 10

Total (for eight wickets in 20 overs) 102

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Uthappa, 2.2 overs), 2-51 (Clarke, 7.4), 3-56 (Ryder, 9.2), 4-62 (Ganguly, 10.4), 5-86 (Majumdar, 15.5), 6-92 (Ferguson, 16.6), 7-. (Harpreet Singh, 17.5), 8-97 (Parnell, 18.3)

Bowling:

Lakshmipathy Balaji 4-0-20-1

Shakib Al Hasan 4-0-18-2

Iqbal Abdulla 3-0-20-1

Sunil Narine 4-0-15-1

Yusuf Pathan 2-0-12-2

Rajat Bhatia 3-0-14-1

Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders, who chose to bat

Result: Knight Riders won by 34 runs

Umpires: Sudhir Asnani and Billy Doctrove (West Indies)

TV umpire: Subroto Das

Match referee: Graeme Labrooy (Sri Lanka)

POINTS TABLE

Teams Mat Won Lost N/R Pts Net RR

Delhi Daredevils 16 11 5 0 22 +0.617

Kolkata Knight Riders 16 10 5 1 21 +0.561

Mumbai Indians 15 9 6 0 18 -0.160

Chennai Super Kings 16 8 7 1 17 +0.100

Royal Challengers Bangalore 15 8 6 1 17 +0.010

Kings XI Punjab 16 8 8 0 16 -0.216

Rajasthan Royals 15 7 8 0 14 +0.272

Pune Warriors 16 4 12 0 8 -0.551

Deccan Chargers 15 3 11 1 7 -0.582



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News Network
June 15,2020

Melbourne, Jun 15: Star Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is the best fielder in the game right now, according to Australian batting star Steve Smith, who also rated KL Rahul as the most impressive among the younger crop.

Smith, who answered questions sent in by his fans on Instagram on Sunday, also said the Indian Premier League is his favourite tournament to play in.

Jadeja known for his quick and sharp fielding tactics has earned praise from several former players and respect from the current stars and Smith is no different.

Asked who the best fielder in the current lot of players Smith simply replied stating it was Jadeja.

When quizzed about which Indian player has impressed him the most, the Australian batting mainstay said: "KL Rahul. Very good player!"

Rahul, who has played 36 Tests, 32 ODIs and 42 T20Is for Indian, has become a regular member of the national team in white-ball cricket. Besides showcasing his skills with the willow, Rahul also bears the responsibility of being the wicketkeeper in the limited overs format.

Asked Mahnedra Singh Dhoni, Smith responded saying the former Indian skipper is a "Legend! Mr Cool". While he called the current captain Virat Kohli a "freak" when it comes to batting ability.

The Rajasthan Royals batsman, who rated his first innings his 144 at Birmingham in the first Ashes Test last year as his favourite Test knock till date, said the Indian Premier League (IPL) is his favourite tournament.

"Tough to beat the IPL. Playing with and against the best players from around the world."

India is scheduled to travel to Australian for a full series later the year and the 31-year-old said : "Can''t wait. Going to be awesome."

Asked about his opinion on India batting great Rahul Dravid, Smith said "what a lovely gentleman and seriously good player."

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News Network
May 19,2020

Karachi, May 19: Babar Azam wants to take a leaf out of Imran Khan's aggressive captaincy and besides cricket, he is also brushing up his English to become a "complete leader" like the World Cup-winning all-rounder.

Last week, the star batsman took over the reins of Pakistan's white-ball cricket after being appointed as the ODI skipper.

Azam, who was one of the world's leading batsmen across formats last year and already the T20 skipper, replaced wicket-keeper batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed as the ODI captain for the 2020-21 season.

"Imran Khan was a very aggressive captain and I want to be like him. It is not an easy job captaining the Pakistan team but I am learning from my seniors and I have also had captaincy experience since my under-19 days," Azam said.

He said that to be a complete captain one must be able to interact comfortably with the media and express oneself properly in front of an audience.

"These days I am also taking English classes besides focussing on my batting," he said on Monday.

The 25-year-old Babar said he was not satisfied with Pakistan's current standing in international cricket.

"I am not happy with where we stand and I want to see this team go up in the rankings."

Babar said captaincy would be a challenge for him but it would not affect his batting.

"It is an honour to lead one's national team so it is not a burden for me at all. In fact, after becoming captain, I have to lead by example and be more responsible in my batting."

Babar hoped the T20 World Cup is held this year in Australia as he wanted to lead his team in the ICC event.

"It would be a disappointment if the event was not held or rescheduled because I am looking forward to playing in the World Cup and doing well in it," he said.

About plans for Pakistan to fly to England in July to play three Tests and three T20 internationals amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Babar said a lot of hard work and planning would be required to make the players feel comfortable and safe.

"Touring England won't be easy. Health and safety of players is of great importance and the tour will only be possible when proper arrangements are in place," he said.

"Both England and Pakistan team fans, along with the cricketers, are missing cricket because of the pandemic."

"We will still try to perform to the best of our ability despite no support from the fans in the stadium," he added.

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News Network
July 24,2020

Dubai, Jul 24: The eagerly-awaited Indian Premier League will start on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the final slated on November 8, IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel told PTI on Friday.

While the event's Governing Council will meet next week to chalk out the final details and approve the schedule, it is understood that the BCCI has informally intimated the franchises about the plan.

"The GC will meet shortly but we have finalised the schedule. It will run from September 19 to November 8. We expect the government approval to come through. It is a full 51-day IPL," Patel confirmed the development after PTI reported the dates on Thursday.

The IPL has been made possible by the ICC's decision to postpone the October-November T20 World Cup in Australia owing to the COVID-19 pandemic due to which the host country expressed its inability to conduct the event.

Patel said that the Standard Operating Procedure to combat the COVID-19 threat is being prepared and the BCCI will formally write to the Emirates Cricket Board.

"We are making the SOP and it will be ready in a few days. To allow crowd or not depends on the UAE government. Anyway social distancing has to be maintained. We have left it for their government to decide on that. Will also be writing to the UAE board formally," Patel said.

There are three grounds available in the UAE -- Dubai International Stadium, Sheikh Zayed Stadium (Abu Dhabi) and the Sharjah ground.

It is learnt that the BCCI will be renting the grounds of the ICC Academy for training of the teams.

The ICC Academy has two full-sized cricket grounds along with 38 turf pitches, 6 indoor pitches, a 5700 square foot outdoor conditioning area along with physiotherapy and medicine centre.

As per the current health protocol in Dubai, there is no need to be in quarantine if people are carrying a negative COVID-19 test report, but if they are not, they will have to undergo a test.

While there was speculation that the IPL will start from September 26, the BCCI decided to advance it by a week in order to ensure that the Indian team's tour of Australia is not jeopardised.

"The Indian team will have a mandatory quarantine of 14 days as per the Australian government rules. A delay would have sent the plans haywire," a BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

"The best part is that 51 days is not at all a curtailed period and broadcasters will be happy with full seven-week window," he added.

While the original schedule had five double-headers, Patel said the new one will feature around 12 double-headers which means two matches each on both Saturdays and Sundays.

The Indians are set to play a four-match Test series against Australia starting December 3 in Brisbane after the IPL.

It is expected that with each and every team needing at least a month's time to train, the IPL franchises will be leaving base by August 20 which gives them exactly four weeks time to prepare.

The cash-rich event was originally scheduled to start at the end of March but the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions that were put in place to contain the virus, led to an indefinite postponement.

However, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had always maintained that the event will be held some time this year.

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