Kolkata return to winning ways

May 4, 2013

Kolkata

Kolkata, May 4: Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders thrashed Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets at the Eden Gardens on Friday to keep their hopes afloat in the Indian Premier League.

The struggling Yusuf Pathan reposed Gautam Gambhir’s faith as he finally returned to form with an unbeaten 49 (35 balls, 3x4, 3x6) -- his highest for the Knight Riders this season.

Pathan shared an unbroken 78-run third-wicket partnership with Jacques Kallis, who struck an unbeaten 33, as the duo settled the issue with 16 balls to spare.

Kallis struck Brad Hogg over his head for a boundary to finish the chase as Pathan remained stranded a run shy of a half-century but his coming to form ensured Knight Riders their fourth win from 11 matches.

Chasing a modest 133, the Knight Riders set the tone with Gambhir (12) and Manvinder Bisla (29) sharing a 41-run opening-wicket partnership that came off just 33 balls.

For the Royals, skipper Rahul Dravid’s decision to bat way down the order at No 7 did not help their cause as they were completely outplayed by the hosts.

Bisla stepped out to Chavan for a six over long-on in the third over, and in the next over, struck back-to-back boundaries off Watson as they raced to 35 for none in the fourth over.

Gambhir never seemed in a hurry as he was happy giving strike to Bisla. With the Royals desperate for a breakthrough, there was some heated exchange in the middle when Watson and Bisla engaged in a war of words as both the skippers joined in the middle.

A brilliant stumping of Gambhir by Dishant Yagnik, who stood up to Watson, broke the opening partnership. Bisla too followed suit which brought Pathan to the middle.

The burly right-hander from Baroda straightaway launched the counter attack, slamming Chavan for a huge six over the bowler’s head.

The misfiring Pathan grew in confidence as there were a flurry of sixes from him with little effect from the Royals’ spin duo of Brad Hogg and Chavan as they took the required rate to less than run-a-ball.

With Pathan taking on the Royals bowlers, Kallis was happy to take the singles as the duo put Knight Riders 19 runs shy of the target.

Earlier, a spin-reliant KKR took full use of the sluggish Eden surface to restrict Rajasthan Royals to a modest 132 for six.

Sanju Samson (40, 1x4, 2x6) was the top-scorer for Royals while Shane Watson made run-a-ball 35 as both shared 44-run third-wicket partnership after the visitors were reduced to 27 for two.

Knight Riders, playing with three spinners in Sachithra Senanayake (2/26), Sunil Narine (1/20) and Iqbal Abdulla (1/22), choked the Royals who could not break free with only 30 runs coming in the last five overs.

Opting to bat, Dravid too had some interesting strategy up his sleeve when he sent James Faulkner at No 3 after Ajinkya Rahane (6) was foxed by Senanayake in an attempt to step out. The move, however, did not work as Faulkner (1) was dismissed in the next over with the Royals pace spearhead becoming Abdulla’s first victim.

Watson remained at the crease as he alongwith Samson re-built their innings with the rookie Kerala youngster showing a positive temperament.

Fresh from a match-winning 63 against Royals Challengers Bangalore, Samson looked in fine nick and made his intentions clear, pulling Abdulla over midwicket for a maximum.

Just when the Royals looked in recovery mode, Knight Riders expectedly brought in their trump card Narine in the 11th over and, as always, the mystery spinner did not disappoint taking the prized scalp of Watson.

Right from the first ball, Narine troubled Watson with his line and length as the Aussie had an anxious outing for four balls before perishing when he was trapped in the middle-stump line.

Knight Riders had Royals in trouble at 83/4 in the 13th over when Yagnik (10) became Senanayake’s second victim.

Samson remained unfazed at the other end as he pulled the Lankan offie over midwicket, in an action replay of his previous six. At the same time, Samson was also sensible in his approach as he did not take any risk against Narine who was as usual tidy.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Hamilton, Jan 27: In awe of Jasprit Bumrah, New Zealand wicketkeeper Tim Seifert says the Indian speedster's subtle variations have been difficult to pick in the ongoing T20 series and his side needs to a learn a thing or two about adapting from the visitors.

India beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the second T20 International in Auckland on Sunday to grab a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Bumrah returned with figures of 1-21 from his four overs as Indian skipper Virat Kohli changed his bowling plans from the first game.

"Even in the first game, Bumrah bowled slower balls that were going wider. Normally, death bowlers get into straighter lines, plus yorkers and mix it with chest height. He kind of changes things a lot and is tougher to play," Seifert said.

"...the ball was holding a lot more which made it tougher. So sometimes as a batsman you have to move away from the stumps and see if they bowl straight. I was backing myself to do something different instead of just standing there at the wicket," said the stumper, who remained unbeaten on 33 off 26 balls.

"It was tricky and the ball was holding a little bit. When Kane (Williamson) got out in the over against Yuzvendra Chahal, we knew it was the over to push because they had Bumrah coming back," he added.

He said New Zealand batsmen need to take a cue from their Indian counterparts on how to adapt to different conditions quickly.

"...Indian batsmen showed how to get under the ball and time it. They showed it a couple of times that and on the slower wickets you just have to keep it like that. Once you lose your shape, you are not in position," he said.

"Try to get them (bowlers) off line or off balance, try to get into that position to hit good balls. That's T20 cricket as well. Sometimes it's going 100 per cent but some times you have to take a breath and re-assess. Indian batters did that well."

Seifert believes New Zealand bowlers did reasonably well in the two games but they have been outplayed by the Indian batsmen.

"To be honest, in the first game they were 110-1 and they had wickets in hand. We didn't bowl too badly in that first game. In the second game, we only got 130 and it is tough to bowl at Eden Park (with that total)," he said.

"170 was the target in mind but once you get 130 on the board, that was going to be very hard at Eden Park against a team that is very strong and playing really well. But our spinners were outstanding. Good balls have gone to boundary.

He said coming into the T20 series on the back of a lost Test rubber in Australia also didn't help New Zealand's cause in the first two games.

"Boys are coming off a Test series (in Australia) and a lot of them haven't played T20 cricket for a while," he said.

"But for some like me, I have had the Super Smash for the last two months, so I have played a lot of T20 cricket. They have two games under their belt now so hopefully they will have a better understanding."

Asked if New Zealand would want to play on India's strength of chasing, Seifert replied, "Even in ODI cricket, India have chased down big totals but I think on that wicket it was going to get slower and slower.

"But with that small target on Eden Park, something special has to happen with top six (for a collapse). One batsman got fifty and the other was batting very well. We needed top five-six in the first 10 overs," he said.

The Black Caps are still confident of bouncing back in the series.

The third T20 will be played here on Wednesday before back-to-back matches in Wellington and Mt Maunganui. Seifert said they would like to replicate the 2019 tour of India, where New Zealand came out 2-1 victorious in the three-match series.

"We have lost the first two games but we haven't played badly. We definitely haven't played our best though while India has played very well. If we lose the series on Wednesday, it is not the end of the world. But if we can turn things around, and win, we will take things from there," he said.

"We won the series 2-1 last time, so we have to treat it like a three match series again. But we have to treat it like the first two are must-win games."

"We are not playing our best at the moment. There are 20-odd games before the World Cup, and that tournament is the pinnacle, so we will get there (in preparation),” he signed off.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Gibraltar, Jan 28: Young Indian Grand Master R Praggnanandhaa pulled off a huge upset, beating former world champion Veselin Topalov in the sixth round of the 18th Gibraltar chess festival to record his fifth straight win here.

The 14-year-old Chennai lad needed just 33 moves to put it across the Bulgarian. He had started with a loss against compatriot P V Nandhidhaa but since then he has been on a winning spree.

Praggnanandhaa, who recently won the world under-18 title, said: "It was very tough to prepare against him."

He is in second spot on five points with six other players and will take on Chinese GM Wang Hao in the seventh round.

Seventeen-year-old Russian GM Andrey Esipenko jumped to sole lead with 5.5 points with a win over Georgia's Ivan Cheparinov

The Russian player would be unpaired in the seventh round as he decided to take a bye.

A bunch of players including Indians — B Adhiban, K Sasikiran, Shardul Gagare, Karthikeyan Murali, SL Narayanan — are in joint third place with 4.5 points.

Adhiban beat Gabriel Flom, while D Gukesh, the world's second youngest Grand Master ever, defeated Martin Percivaldi to move to four points.

Also winning were Karthikeyan Murali against Qi B Chen and Gagare over France's Maxime Lagarde.

Top-seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's moderate run continued as he was held to a draw by GM Aryan Chopra.

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News Network
May 28,2020

New Delhi, May 28: India is not at risk of losing hosting rights for next year's Twenty20 World Cup despite its cricket board's failure to secure a tax exemption for the event, a key BCCI official has told Reuters.

Tax exemptions for International Cricket Council (ICC) events are listed as a requirement in host agreements and the BCCI was supposed to confirm they had secured one by May 18.

ESPNcricinfo, citing correspondence between the two bodies, has reported that the ICC has threatened to shift the tournament away from India over the issue.

However, BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal told Reuters that would not happen and that negotiations were continuing.

"There is no risk to the tournament," he said by telephone.

"That is a work in progress. We are discussing it with the ICC and we'll resolve it."

The BCCI encountered a similar problem when it hosted the event in 2016 when the government refused to provide a tax exemption, and there has been no change in New Delhi's stance despite the board's appeals.

Failure to secure that exemption in 2016 saw the ICC withhold an equivalent sum from India's share of revenue from the governing body's grants and it appears to be taking an even harder line this time around.

"There are certain timelines within the agreements that we collectively work towards to ensure we can deliver successful world class events and continue to invest in the sport of cricket," an ICC spokesperson told Reuters.

"In addition to this the ICC Board agreed clear timelines for the resolution of the tax issues which we are guided by."

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