Rahul, Mayank's fifties help Punjab beat Hyderabad by 6 wickets

Agencies
April 9, 2019

Mohali, Apr 9: K L Rahul and Mayank Agarwal struck fluent half-centuries to guide Kings XI Punjab to a six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in a nail-biting Indian Premier League match here on Monday.

Opting to bat, Kings XI first restricted Sunrisers to 150 for four and then rode on Rahul and Agarwal's knocks to chase down the target in 19.5 overs.

Rahul (71 not out) and Agarwal (55) stitched 114 runs off 84 balls for the second wicket to take Kings XI close to the target.

Chasing 151 for a win, Kings XI lost dangerous Chris Gayle (16) in the fourth over with their scoreboard reading 18.

Gayle struck a four and a six each before Deepak Hooda took a brilliant catch at long-on boundary off Rashid Khan's (1/20) bowling to send the West Indian packing.

Rahul and Agarwal then complemented each other brilliantly as the duo mixed caution with aggression to take the game away from Sunrisers.

While Rahul was the enforcer, Agarwal matched his Karnataka team-mate with his timing and on the rise shots that included a delectable boundary through covers and a lofted six over the long-off boundary.

Rahul reached his half-century off 34 balls with a boundary off Mohammad Nabi through the long-on region.

Desperate to break the partnership, skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar brought him back into the attack in the 16th over and nearly achieved his goal, only for Yusuf Pathan to drop a sitter.

A short delivery outside the off stump enticed Agarwal to go for an upper cut, which didn't yield the desired connection and elevation but Yusuf dropped a sitter at sweeper cover.

But Sandeep Sharma (2/21) picked up two wickets -- Agarwal and David Miller -- in the 18th over to change the complexion of the match.

Agarwal departed soon after reaching his fifty while going for a big shot, caught by Vijay Shankar at deep midwicket off Sandeep Sharma and four balls later Miller to was dismissed by the pacer as the left-hander went for an expansive shot.

It was stroll in the park for Kings XI when Rahul and Agarwal were going great guns but the scenario changed completely, courtesy the two quick wickets.

Kings XI needed 16 runs off the last two overs and the pressure got the better of new man Mandeep Singh, caught by Hooda off Siddharth Kaul's brilliant penultimate over that yielded just five runs.

The pressure shifted to Kings XI in no time as they needed 11 runs off the last over off Nabi but Sam Curran (5 not out) and Rahul played sensibly without committing any harakiri to reach home with a ball to spare.

Earlier, David Warner struck his fourth fifty of the season before Hooda played a cameo in the final over to lift Sunrisers to a challenging 150 for four.

Opening the batting, Warner carried on his bat for an uncharacteristic 70 not out off 62 balls to anchor Sunrisers' innings but it was Hooda's unbeaten 14 off three deliveries that provided the late thrust to the visitors' innings.

Warner struck six boundaries and one six during his knock, but it was Hooda who stole the limelight, smashing Mohammed Shami for two fours and one hit over the fence to pick up vital 15 runs off the last over.

Sunrisers suffered an early blow in the form of Jonny Bairstow (1) after being sent into bat.

Bairstow failed to control a flick off Mujeeb Ur Rahman's (1/34) bowling as Kings XI skipper Ravichandran Ashwin took a smart catch at short midwicket in the second over.

The early dismissal, together with some disciplined bowling from Kings XI, made life difficult for Sunrisers batsmen as Warner and new man in Shankar (26) found the going tough.

The duo failed to strike big and stitched 49 runs for the second wicket off 57 balls to stabilise the Sunrisers innings.

But just when it was time to cut loose after a slow start, Shankar edged an Ashwin (1/30) delivery to Rahul behind the stumps as Sunrisers slumped to 56 for two after 10.4 overs.

Promoted up the order, Nabi (12) fell victim to an unfortunate run out after adding just 24 runs with Warner.

Warner was not his elements Monday as he struggled to his fifty off 49 balls with the help of four boundaries and one six.

Warner and Manish Pandey (19) then added 55 runs for the fourth wicket to take Sunrisers forward before Hooda finished off the innings in style to give Sunrisers' bowlers a total to defend.

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Agencies
February 5,2020

Hamilton, Feb 5: Ross Taylor and Tom Latham played knocks of 109 and 69, respectively, as New Zealand defeated India by four wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series here at the Seddon Park on Wednesday.

Chasing 348, New Zealand got off to a steady start as openers Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls put on 85 runs for the first wicket, however, India finally got the breakthrough in the 16th over as Shardul Thakur dismissed Guptill (32).

Tom Blundell and Nicholls then put on 24 runs for the second wicket, but their vigil came to an end in the 20th over as Kuldeep Yadav had Blundell (9) stumped at the hands of wicket-keeper KL Rahul, reducing Kiwis to 109/2.

Nicholls then retrieved the innings for the hosts as he found support in Ross Taylor. The duo mixed caution with aggression to stitch together a partnership of 62 runs. But with their back against the wall, skipper Kohli lifted the side up as he ran out Nicholls (78) in the 29th over, reducing New Zealand to 171/3.

Skipper Tom Latham, came out to bat next, and he increased the tempo of the Kiwi innings. He took a special liking to Kuldeep and kept on sweeping him to pick easy boundaries on the legside.

Taylor and Latham put on a stand of 138 runs to take Kiwis closer to victory. But with 39 runs away from the target, Kuldeep dismissed Latham (69) to revive India's hopes of making a comeback.

Mohammed Shami removed Jimmy Neesham (9) in the 46th over while Colin de Grandhomme (1) was sent packing via a run-out to send cat among the pigeons in the Kiwi camp. In the end, Mitchell Santner and Taylor took the hosts over the line by four wickets and with 11 balls to spare.

Earlier, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul's knocks of 103 and 88, respectively, helped India post 347/4 in the allotted twenty overs.

After being put in to bat, India got off to a quickfire start as openers Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal put on 50 runs. Colin de Grandhomme finally provided the breakthrough to the Kiwis as he sent Shaw (20) back to the pavilion in the eighth over.

Agarwal (32) was also dismissed soon after by Tim Southee and the Men in Blue were reduced to 54/2 in the ninth over.

Skipper Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer then retrieved the innings for the visitors as the duo put on 102 runs for the third wicket. Kohli brought up his 58th half-century in the 28th over.

Ish Sodhi got the crucial breakthrough of Kohli (51) in the 29th over as he clean bowled him to reduce India to 156/3. However, Iyer continued to march on and brought up his maiden ODI century in the 43rd over.

KL Rahul, who came in to bat at number five provided the much-needed impetus to the innings. He along with Iyer put on a stand of 136 runs for the fourth wicket.

Iyer (103) was finally sent back to the pavilion by Southee in the 46th over, reducing India to 292/4.

In the final overs, Rahul and Kedar Jadhav hammered the Kiwi players to take India's score past the 340-run mark. Jadhav remained unbeaten on 26.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 348/6 (Ross Taylor 109*, Henry Nicholls 78, Kuldeep Yadav 2-84) defeat India 347/4 (Shreyas Iyer 103, KL Rahul 88*, Tim Southee 2-85) by four wickets.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

New Delhi, Feb 7: It was on February 7, 1999, that Anil Kumble became just the second bowler in the history of cricket to take all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.

He achieved the feat against Pakistan at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, now known as Arun Jaitley cricket stadium in Delhi during the second Test of the two-match series.

India had set Pakistan a target of 420 runs in the match and the visitors got off to a steady start as openers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar put on 101 runs for the first wicket.

It was then Kumble who came into the attack and wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up.

The spinner, also known as 'Jumbo' first dismissed Afridi (41) in the 25th over. After the right-handed batter's dismissal, India kept on taking wickets through Kumble and Pakistan was reduced to 128/6 in no time.

Kumble then kept on taking wickets at regular intervals and he got his tenth scalp in the 61st over after dismissing Wasim Akram.

This effort enabled India to register a win by 212 runs, and Kumble became the second bowler after England's Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in a single Test inning.

Kumble finished with the bowling figures of 10-74 from 26.3 overs.

Kumble announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008 and finished with 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He has the third-highest number of wickets in Tests, only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708).

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News Network
July 16,2020

Kolkata, Jul 16: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday went into home quarantine after his elder brother and Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) joint secretary Snehasish Ganguly tested positive for Covid-19.

Snehasish, a former Bengal first-class player, has been admitted to the Belle Vue hospital in Kolkata after his COVID report came positive.

"He was suffering from fever for the last few days and his test report came positive today. He's been admitted to Belle Vue Hospital," a CAB official said.

"The reports arrived late in the evening. As per health protocols, even Sourav will have to be in home quarantine for a stipulated period," a source close to the BCCI President added.

Snehasish had shifted to their ancestral house, where Sourav is based, in Behala after his wife and in-laws at his Mominpur residence tested positive for the dreaded virus.

The former India captain was, however, unavailable for a comment on the development.

Recently, during an interview to India Today, Sourav had spoken about how life around him has changed, making people more vulnerable.

"My brother visits our factories everyday and he is more at risk," the former batting star had said

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