Brutal Glenn Maxwell guides Kings XI Punjab to 6-wicket win over CSK

April 19, 2014

Brutal_Glenn_MaxwellAbu Dhabi, Apr 19: A blazing 115-run stand between David Miller and Glenn Maxwell helped Kings XI Punjab pull off a sensational six-wicket win over formidable Chennai Super Kings in their opening Indian Premier League match here on Friday.

Maxwell hammered 95 off 43 balls while Miller made an unbeaten 54 off 37 to propel their team past Super Kings` imposing 205 for four with seven balls to spare at the Sheikh Zayed stadium. Virender Sehwag (19 off 10) and Cheteshwar Pujara (13 off 10) started Punjab`s chase aggressively before departing in quick sucession.

Offie Ravichandran Ashwin, who trapped Pujara in front of the stumps, earned his second lbw by foxing Akshar Patel (2), leaving Punjab at 53 for two in sixth over. That brought together two of the world`s dangerous batsman in the middle - the big hitting Miller from South Africa and the innovative Maxwell of Australia.

The deadly duo did not disapppoint as they took the Super Kings bowlers to the cleaners. Maxwell scored the bulk of the runs in their 63-ball stand and was also at his cheeky best.

The Australian all-arounder enthralled the crowd with his switch hits and hoicks over mid-wicket. Like Miller, who was dropped off Ravindra Jadeja in the ninth over, Maxwell also had the luck on his side. The result could have been different had the Australian not been dropped twice.

His whirlwind innigs comprised 15 fours and a couple of maximus before he missed a Dwayne Smith yorker in the 16th over with Punjab still needig 39 off 26 balls. Miller got into the groove after Maxwell`s fall and got his side closer to the target by smashing Jadeja for two consecutive sixes. With captain George Bailey (17 off 10) at the other end, Punjab eventually strolled to a morale boosting victory.

Earlier, Super Kings kicked off their IPL-7 campaign with a flurry of fours and sixes as Brendon McCullum (67 off 45) and Smith (66 off 43) hit blazing half centuries. An entertaining 123-run opening-wicket partnership between McCullum and Smith, and a 11-ball 26 cameo by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni towards the end ensured Super Kings posted a mammoth score on a good batting surface. The final over saw 18 runs being scored.

The innings started with a bang and the fifth over saw McCullum and Smith stealing 18 runs. The over proved costly for Punjab as Smith hit two consecutive boundaries before Bailey dropped the dangerous McCullum off pacer Parvinder Awana at 22. The Kiwi batsman punished the bowler by hitting a huge six.

McCullum brought up his fifty with a boundary off Rishi Dhawan. The openers sent a lacklustre Punjab attack on a leather hunt and that helped Super Kings reach 100-run mark in 10th over.

While McCullum was at his dominating best, Smith was steady at the other end, making sure that the loose deliveries did not go unpunished.

It was the slow left-arm orthodox bowler Patel who finally gave Punjab the breakthrough by removing McCullum. While Smith was looking to continue the momentum after McCullum`s dismissal, Suresh Raina began with a boundary.

Medium pacer Laxmipathy Balaji dismissed Smith with Bailey making no mistake at covers this time.Determined to capitalise on the solid platform laid by the openers, Dhoni launched an all out attack from the very first ball.

Raina`s departure after a 19-ball 24 hardly affected the team`s rhythm and in able company of Dwayne Bravo, Dhoni managed to take CSK past 200.

Rahane guides Rajasthan to a four-wicket win over Hyderabad

Rahane_RajasthanAbu Dhabi, Apr 18: A patient half-century by Ajinkya Rahane and some disciplined bowling display helped Rajasthan Royal notch up a comfortable four-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL match here today.

Rahane shared a 77-run fourth wicket partnership with Stuart Binny (48 not out) to rescue Rajasthan after they were precariously placed at 31-3 in 6.2 overs.

The 25-year-old Mumbaikar hit six boundaries in his 53-ball 59-run innings to anchor the chase as Rajasthan overhauled Hyderabad's score of 133-6 with three balls to spare at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Earlier, Rajat Bhatia (2/22), Dhawal Kulkarni (2/23), Kane Richardson (2/25) and Pravin Tambe (0/23) bowled brilliantly as Rajasthan restricted Hyderabad to 133 for 6 in their stipulated 20 overs.

Chasing 134 to win, Rajasthan had a horrible start as they lost Abhishek Nayar (4), Sanju Samson (3) and skipper Shane Watson (3) cheaply.

While Dale Steyn (2/29) trapped opener Nayar infront of his wicket only in his third ball, Samson was sent packing by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/21) when the batsman's miscued shot was caught by Dhawan in the fourth over as Rajasthan could only score 30 in their powerplay overs.

In the next over, Ishant Sharma (1/29) had Watson caught behind by wicket-keeper Lokesh Rahul with an away going delivery as Rajasthan slumped to 31 for three.

Opener Ajinkya Rahane, however, dug his heels and started to weave a partnership with newman Binny.

With Rahane struggling with his timing, Binny blasted a four and a six in the 10th over off Darren Sammy as Rajasthan scored 61/3 in the first 10 overs.

The duo played sensible cricket as they kept taking ones and twos, besides the odd boundaries, to keep the scoreboard ticking. They brought up their 50-run partnership off 40 balls for the fourth Wicket.

Looking for a wicket, Dhawan brought Steyn back into the attack but his first ball went to the boundary as Rahane brought up his hard-earned fifty off 46 balls. The 25-year-old then dispatched the next ball for another boundary.

Binny then brought up the 100 for Rajasthan with a couple of runs.

Needing 32 off 30 balls, Mishra and Steyn tried to bring Hyderabad back into the game as took three quick wickets between them.

While Mishra dismissed Rahane and Brad Hodge (1), Steyn got rid off Bhatia (4) but James Faulkner blasted two fours in as many balls in the last over to take Rajasthan home.

Earlier, put into bat, Dhawan (38) and Warner (32) shared a 77-run stand off 64 balls to set the foundation but Hyderabad failed to accelarate in the second half of their innings to end up with a total of 133-6.

The Sunrisers lost their first wicket in opener Aaron Finch when he failed to failed to connect with a short and wide delivery from Kulkarni and ended up hitting it straight to Richardson at cover.

However, skipper Dhawan and Warner made sure there were no more hiccups as Hyderabad piled up 41 runs in the Powerplay overs. The duo were in no hurry as Hyderabad reached the first 50 runs in 8 overs.

Dhawan smashed the first six of the Hyderabad innings in the ninth over when he went down on his knees and smacked Tambe over the deep midwicket area.

However, Bhatia struck in his second over with his off-cutter as Dhawan looking for another slog sweep was holed out by Richardson at deep square leg as Hyderabad slipped to 77 for two in 11.3 overs.

Bhatia came back to dismiss Warner too in his next over as Hyderabad further slumped to 82-3. Looking to accelarate, Warner found Richarson in the deep midwicket.

Young Lokesh Rahul then blasted a four and a six in his 18-ball 20 to help Hyderabad cross the 100-run mark in 17th over.

But five balls later, Rahul hit a full toss delivery from Kulkarni to Ajinkya Rahane in the deep midwicket.

No. 6 batsman Y Venugopal Rao scored 16 off 12 balls to provide some momentum but Darren Sammy (6) and Karn Sharma (4) perished quickly as Hyderabad could score only 64 in last 10 overs.

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January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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News Network
May 25,2020

Karachi, May 25: Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq believes Babar Azam is destined to be a world-class player and is very close to being in the same league as India skipper Virat Kohli and Australia's Steve Smith.

"I don't like comparisons but Babar is currently very close to being in the same class as Virat Kohli, Steve Smith or Joe Root," Misbah said in an interview to Youtube channel, Cricket Baaz.

"He believes in the work ethic that if you want to better Kohli you have to work harder than him at your skills, fitness and game awareness."

The 25-year-old, who was named captain of the Pakistan T20 team ahead of the Australia series in October last year, was recently handed the reins of ODI team as well.

"Making him the T20 captain was a tester. We wanted to see how he will respond to this challenge. All of us agree that he has done a very good job and his biggest plus is that being among the worlds top players he leads by example," Misbah said.

"If you are a performer like Babar then it becomes easier for you to motivate the rest of the team and get things done.

"Even when I was made captain in 2010 my performances were here and there and I was in and out. But captaincy changed my game and mindset and I became a more hard-working and motivated cricketer."

Misbah said Babar always challenges himself and would get better as a captain with experience.

"He is in a zone of his own. He just doesn't want to be in the team. He just doesn't want to play for money. He wants to be the top performer for Pakistan. He is always pitting himself against other top batsmen like Kohli or Smith," he said.

"He loves challenges in the nets and on the field. He has really matured as a player and in time he will get better as a captain with experience."

Babar was the leading run-scorer of the T20I series against Australia last year. He also scored 210 runs, which included a hundred, at 52.50 in the Test series against the same opponents.

In the two-Test home series against Sri Lanka, Babar ended the series with 262 runs with an average of exactly 262.

Misbah feels Babar had changed as a batsman when he got runs in the Tests in Australia.

"Before that he was getting runs in tests but not consistently. In Australia and in the following tests against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh he changed," he said.

Talking about his experience as a head coach, Misbah said: "Having captained, it has helped me a lot. As captain I had to manage everything and also having played under top coaches ... I have seen closely their work ethics and how they managed things.

"It is a learning process. Having remained captain it is a big advantage for coaching because you know the players and their mood swings. You know which player will respond in a given situation,which player is feeling pressure in a scenario.

Misbah said it is not easy juggling between different roles.

"Most important thing as a coach is mentally and psychologically how you handle a group of players," the former skipper said.

"Sometimes captain and coach is different as you have to take tough decisions. Being chief selector makes it it a bit difficult but I had experience of creating and managing teams, I have been building teams since 2003. Till now it is going well."

Misbah feels in Pakistan cricket there were different parameters for judging foreign and local coaches.

"I don't know why it is like this why do we have different eye for locals and foreigners. Maybe we feel they have something special. It looks like every decision by a foreign coach is right. In contrast we tend to be very critical of local coaches no matter what decision they take," he said.

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March 2,2020

Mar 2: Indian captain Virat Kohli was left frustrated and deflated as New Zealand won the second Test inside three days in Christchurch on Monday to sweep the series.

India started the day at 90 for six and were all out for 124, before New Zealand chased down the required 132 to win for the loss of three wickets in 36 overs.

It ended a disappointing tour for India and Kohli as New Zealand, who won the first Test by 10 wickets early on day four, wrapped up the series with ease.

New Zealand are now unbeaten in their last 13 home Tests, winning nine of them, and in the past decade their record as hosts is played 39, won 20, drawn 13 and lost five.

In the latest series, on traditional New Zealand green wickets, India managed scores of 165, 191, 242 and 124, reflecting the low contributions from Kohli of 2, 19, 3 and 14.

Kohli came to New Zealand as the world's top Test batsman and oozing charm as he described New Zealand as the “nice guys” of cricket.

But during the series he lost his top ranking to Australian Steve Smith and when Kane Williamson went for three in the first innings of the second Test the pressure showed when he gave the New Zealand skipper a very animated send-off.

There was further evidence of frustration when he was caught on camera yelling an obscenity at a group of New Zealand supporters on Sunday.

The end came quickly for India on day three as Tim Southee and Trent Boult tormented the batsmen with their variety of inswing and outswing deliveries targeting both sides of the stumps.

Hanuma Vihari was the first to fall, in Southee's second over, when he turned a legside delivery too fine and was caught by BJ Watling diving to his left.

Five balls later and with no addition to the score, India's other overnight batsman Rishabh Pant was caught behind off a Boult delivery that swung away.

Mohammed Shami was caught for five by Tom Blundell at deep mid-wicket and Jasprit Bumrah was run out when trying to give the strike to Ravindra Jadeja, who was unbeaten on 16.

Boult and Southee signed for most of the dismissals with Boult taking four for 28 and Southee three for 36. The swing pair accounted for 25 of the 40 Indian wickets in the series.

There was enough seam and swing available for India to keep the New Zealand batsmen guessing but Bumrah and Umesh Yadav were unable to apply consistent pressure and Mohammed Shami was troubled by a sore shoulder.

New Zealand coasted through a century opening stand by Tom Latham and Blundell before losing three quick wickets.

Latham notched his 18th half-century and second of the Test before he was caught behind off Yadav for 52, Kane Williamson had a short stay for five, and Blundell went for 55.

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