1. Home
  2. Rahul, Mayank's fifties help Punjab beat Hyderabad by 6 wickets

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.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 28,2020

New Delhi, Apr 28: IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore's Director of Cricket Operations Mike Hesson returned to New Zealand on Tuesday after being stranded in India for over a month amid the nationwide lockdown to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ex-New Zealand player and coach had arrived in India on March 5 for the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League but was stuck in the country after the lockdown was imposed and all flights were suspended.

"What a wonderful sight after spending over a day on a bus to get to Mumbai airport. The staff on @FlyAirNZ were simply outstanding on our return to New Zealand," Hesson tweeted.

He also thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the New Zealand Embassy in India, New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

"Special thanks to Down pointing backhand index @NZinIndia @MFATNZ @narendramodi @jacindaardern #repatriationflight #india #NZ" he added.

To stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, India and New Zealand had announced lockdowns in their respective countries last month, alongside travel restrictions, forcing the 45-year-old to stay in Bengaluru.

While India remains in lockdown till May 3, New Zealand eased its stringent measures on Tuesday.

The IPL, which was originally scheduled to get underway on March 29, has been suspended until further notice due to the pandemic.

The cornavirus outbreak, that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected over 30 lakh people across the world while killing more than two lakh.

All sporting events, including the Tokyo Olympics, have either been cancelled or postponed.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 21,2020

Sydney, Feb 21: Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav bowled a magical spell in her comeback game to steer India to a comfortable 17-run win over defending champions Australia in the opening match of the Women's T20 World Cup on Friday.

Put in to bat, India struggled to a below par 132 before Poonam (4/19 in 4 overs) foxed the Aussies with her googlies, turning the match decisively into her team's favour.

Australia, who have won the competition four times in six editions, were all out for 115 in 19.5 overs

"A bowler like Poonam is someone who leads from the front. We were expecting a great comeback from her. Our team is looking nice, earlier we depended on two-three players," India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said after the match.

Poonam, who missed the preceding tri-series due to a hand injury, also got good support from other bowlers including pacer Shikha Pandey.

The 28-year-old from Agra was on a hat-trick but narrowly missed out as wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia dropped a difficult chance.

The tournament-opener saw a record 13,000 plus attendance with a sizeable chunk supporting India.

India next play against Bangladesh in Perth on February 24.

"It was great for me to come back from injury and perform like this. It was the third time that I was on a hat-trick but satisfied that I was able to do the job for the team," said Poonam at the post-match presentation.

Australia were off to a good start to their chase with opener Alyssa Healy making a 35-ball 51, laced with six boundaries and a six.

However, Indian spinners led by Poonam triggered a collapse as Australia suddenly slipped to 82 for six.

Poonam (4/19) snapped four wickets, two in successive deliveries in the 12th over, to break the back of Australia's chase.

Ashleigh Gardner (34 off 36) tried her bit but didn't get any support from the other end.

Earlier, India squandered a flying start to end up with a below-par total.

Sixteen-year-old Shafali Verma took India to 40 for no loss in four overs with a typically aggressive 29 off 15 balls but her fall derailed the innings as the other batters disappointed.

Deepti Sharma made a composed 46-ball 49 in the second half of the innings but the firepower that India needed in the death overs was badly missing.

India were cruising initially with Shafali taking the opposition to the cleaners, hitting five fours and a six.

However, left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen (2/24) snapped two quick wickets, Smriti Mandhana (10 off 11) and Harmanpreet (2 off 5) to reduce India to 47 for three.

Deepti then shared 53 runs with Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 33) to bring up the 100 in the 16th over.

For Australia, Ellyse Perry (1/15) and Delissa Kimmince (1/24) were the other wicket-takers.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Batting great Rahul Dravid has attributed Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the IPL to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts and the incredible amount of work that goes behind the scenes.

N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the CSK franchise, agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings and going over data.

Both were speaking at a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Dravid said at the webinar according to ESPNcricinfo.

The former India captain added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts.

"So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."

The Super Kings have won the lucrative tournament three times -- one less than Mumbai Indians -- and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have been a part of.

Srinivasan also spoke about how Dhoni's instinct and judgement contributed to his team's success at a time when a lot of emphases is placed on data.

"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness etc.

"So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go.

"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyse. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)."

Srinivasan also recalled how Dhoni once refused to take "one outstanding player" suggested by the franchise boss as that could have broken the team's cohesion.

"There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: 'no sir, he will spoil the team'. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time," he said.

"In India, we're just starting and we're new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels."

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.