RCB ready to test jittery KXIP in must-win game

Agencies
May 13, 2018

Indore, May 13: Having found some light at the end of the tunnel, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be keen to expose the chinks in Kings XI Punjab's armoury during their must-win IPL encounter here tomorrow.

RCB got some breathing space after their five-wicket victory against Delhi Daredevils while Kings XI Punjab, after a brilliant run at the initial stages, are currently struggling with back to back defeats.

Despite losses to Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders, KXIP are in the top half of the league with 12 points while RCB are still languishing at the second last place in the table.

However in IPL, strange things have happened at the business end of the tournament and RCB, under Virat Kohli, are likely to put a lot of pressure on the slipping KXIP.

While Kohli and AB de Villiers anchored an easy chase against Daredevils with stylish half-centuries, KXIP bowlers were under the pump, being taken to cleaners by Sunil Narine and Dinesh Karthik as KKR scored a mammoth 245 in the last game.

Both the teams are overtly dependant on their batting with Kohli and De Villiers holding forte for the RCB while Preity Zinta co-owned outfit looks up to KL Rahul (537 runs) and Chris Gayle (332 runs) for inspirational performances.

Such has been the gulf in performance between skipper Kohli and other batsmen in the team, despite blowing 'hot and cold' throughout the season, he is team's top scorer by a distance with 466 runs from 11 games. De Villiers (358 runs) is 108 runs behind his skipper, although he has played two games less. Mandeep Singh (245 from 11 games) is third in the list and is another 200 runs (221 runs) behind Kohli.

For KXIP, Rahul has been in a different league with five half-centuries and a strike-rate of 162 plus and an average of nearly 60. Rahul will be desperate to get some support from Gayle, who has gone quiet after initial carnage. A quickfire 50 from Gayle can change the complexion of the game.

However, it is the bowling which has let both RCB and KXIP down on many occasions.

For KXIP, the standout bowler has been Andrew Tye with 20 wickets at an economy rate of 8 per over while teenage mystery spinner Mujeeb ur Rahman has been exceptional with 14 wickets at a miserly rate of 6.99 per over.

The problem area has been skipper Ravichandran Ashwin's inability to get breakthroughs with only six scalps from 11 games at 8.13 runs per over. 

Axar Patel, the only player retained by the franchise, has fared even worse. He has got chance in only five of the matches with only three wickets in his kitty at an economy rate of 8.73.

Tye's back-up pacers Barinder Sran (4 wickets from 6 games at an economy rate of 10.40) and Mohit Sharma (6 wickets from 6 games at an economy rate of 10.88) have been disappointing and this is where the runs have been leaked.

In case of RCB, Kohli's propensity to tinker with bowling combinations after almost every game has had an impact on the performance. Only India internationals Yuzvendra Chahal (10 wickets from 11 games at an economy rate of 7.57) and Umesh Yadav (14 wickets from 11 games at an economy rate of 8.23) have played all the games.

The next specialist bowler who got to play more than five games is Mohammed Siraj (8 wickets from 8 games at an economy rate of 9.13). 

Save Chahal, the spinners have been a big flop. Washington Sundar's inexperience (economy rate of 9.60 with 4 wickets from 7 games) and Pawan Negi's profligacy (economy rate of 12.25 in 2 games) have hurt Kohli and Co's chances.

Chris Woakes got 8 wickets from five games but an economy rate of 10.36 meant that the skipper had to use Tim Southee (5 wickets from 5 games at an economy rate of 8.42).

The Teams (From): 

Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin (C), Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Barinder Sran, David Miller, Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Axar Patel, Akshdeep Nath, Mayank Agarwal, Manoj Tiwary, Yuvraj Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Mayank Dagar. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli(C), Quinton de Kock(w), Brendon McCullum, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Chris Woakes, Washington Sundar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Manan Vohra, Aniket Choudhary, Navdeep Saini, Murugan Ashwin, Pawan Negi, Mohammed Siraj, Corey Anderson, Parthiv Patel, Aniruddha Joshi, Pavan Deshpande, Tim Southee.

Match Starts at 8 pm.

Comments

Add new comment

  • 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 14,2020

Hamilton, Feb 14: Batting first, India finished at 263 for nine on the opening day of the three-day warm-up game against New Zealand XI here on Friday.

Hanuma Vihari made 101 off 182 balls before retiring, while Cheteshwar Pujara scored 93.

Besides, Ajinkya Rahane (18) was the only other Indian batsmen to register double digit score.

The likes of Prithvi Shaw (0), Mayank Agarwal (1) and Shubman Gill (0) failed to cash in on the opportunity.

Scott Kuggeleijn (3/40) and Ish Sodhi (3/72) shared six wickets between them for New Zealand.

Brief Scores:

India: 263 for 9 in 78.5 overs (Hanuma Vihari 101, Cheteshwar Pujara 93; Scott Kuggeleijn 3/40, Ish Sodhi 3/72).

Comments

Add new comment

  • 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
July 2,2020

Jul 2: Cricket's biggest names, most of whom could hear only stories of Sir Everton Weekes' exploits from the bygone era, on Thursday remembered the "great" batsman and a "greater human being" in glowing tributes after he died aged 95.

Weekes, who formed the famous three 'Ws' of West Indies cricket alongside Clyde Walcott and Frank Worrell as part of a formidable batting lineup for more than a decade, died on Wednesday.

His death left the cricket world in a state of mourning.

"As one of the remarkable 'Three Ws', along with Sir Clyde Walcott and Sir Frank Worrell, who together struck 39 Test centuries, he played an important hand in a period that marked the rising dominance of West Indies cricket," the ICC said in its obit.

The 1925 Barbados-born Weekes made his Test debut against England in 1948.

"On behalf of CWI I want to publicly express our deepest sympathy to the family of this remarkable Iconic sportsman and gentleman, who passed away earlier today," Cricket West Indies president Ricky Skerritt said in a release.

"I never had the opportunity to see Sir Everton bat, but I had the opportunity to get to know him a little in his later years. I learned about his incredible career by reading about him and looking at old videos when I could.

"His performance stats were excellent as he set tremendously high standards for his time."

In his career, Weekes played 48 Test matches and made 4,455 runs at an average of 58.61 per innings. That included a world-record five consecutive centuries in 1948 — scores of 141 against England in Jamaica, followed by knocks of 128, 194, 162 and 101 in India. In his next innings in Madras, he made 90 when he was controversially run out.

Skerritt added, "... Sir Everton was, therefore, a most amazing pioneer in West Indies cricket; a gentleman and quite simply a wonderful human being."

The modern-day cricketers also mourned his death and paid moving tributes.

Former India captain Anil Kumble tweeted, "Saddened to hear about the passing of WI legend Sir. Everton Weekes. Had met him during the ICC conference in Barbados. He remembered a conversation we had during his time as a match referee. Condolences to his family and friends."

Kumble's former India teammate VVS Laxman wrote, "Heard about the passing away of West Indies legend, Sir Everton Weekes. He was one of the greats of the game. My condolences to his family and loved ones."

Mike Atherton, the opener who led England in the 1990s, was also disappointed to know of the legend's passing away.

"Very sad to learn of the passing of Sir Everton Weekes. A humble man who wore his greatness lightly."

Former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop said, "I had the great privilege of spending time in the company of Sir Everton on several occasions over the past 2 decades. Never once did I leave his presence without feeling a sense (of) warmth, cheerfulness & having learnt something rich & endearing each time. A truly great human being. The Marylebone Cricket Club said in a statement: "Everyone at MCC and Lord's are saddened at the news of Sir Everton Weekes' passing,"

"He will forever be remembered as one of the West Indies' finest cricketers."

Former India player and current coach Ravi Shastri said, "Saddened by passing away of Sir Everton Weekes who was the last of the famous 'Three Ws'. A true humble great of the game. My thoughts and prayers are with Sir Weekes' family and fans in this hour of grief. RIP Sir Folded hands."

All three -- Walcott and Worrell, Weekes -- were born within a couple of miles of one another - within 18 months in Barbados between August 1924 and January 1926, and all made their Test debuts within three weeks in early 1948.

Worrell died in 1967 and Walcott in 2006.

Weekes' average of 58.61 runs places him along with George Headley in the top 10 Test averages of all time.

Darren Sammy, who captained West Indies few years ago, took to Twitter and wrote, "We lost a legend today. Sir Everton Weekes is part of @windiescricket great history and legacy. He also was a great human being. Condolences goes out to his family. May he Rest In Peace."

Comments

Add new comment

  • 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
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).

Comments

Add new comment

  • 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.