Mumbai look to seal playoff berth

May 12, 2012

kolkata_vs_mumbai

Kolkata, May 12: Thirty-eight days and 57 games into IPL 5, Kolkata and Mumbai finally get to spar with each other for the first time this season.

For a change, it's Kolkata who have their noses in front. In fact, they even have one foot in the play-offs, thanks to a bouquet of six straight victories. Mumbai are within sniffing distance as well, and their priority at the Eden Gardens on Saturday will be to log two points and 'lock' their knockout berth.

Defeat will, however, not straightaway affect their chances of progressing to the last-four stage -- they have three more matches to play after this -- but will almost certainly hurt their ambition of finishing among the top two.

Led by the feisty Gautam Gambhir, Kolkata will be determined not to take the foot off the pedal as they look to strengthen their chances of qualifying as the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the round-robin league. Going by the way they have been playing over the past one month, it will take a brave man to bet against Kolkata.

The last game they lost was on April 15 that too by 2 runs to Mohali. Since then, they have blown away teams like Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi. Mumbai are the last 'target' en route to establishing their ascendancy over the big guns.

It's no secret that Kolkata owe their red-hot streak to their prolific captain Gambhir (457 runs, 5 fifties, 146.94 strike rate) and a frugal bowling attack, spearheaded by Sunil Narine. The 23-year-old Trinidadian spinner is third on the wicket-takers' list with 15 scalps so far, but much more significant is his economy rate -- 5.30 runs conceded per over, which is unheard of for a spinner in this format of the game.

Not many have read his 'mystery' ball so far, and it will be interesting to see how the maestro copes with it.

The likes of Brett Lee, Jacques Kallis (the bowler) and Rajat Bhatia have been doing a fair job too, as a result of which no more than just two teams have managed 150-plus scores against them.

Little wonder then that Kolkata's economy rate (7.01 runs per over) is best in the tournament. The Mumbai batsmen have blown hot and cold this season, but their attack ranks a close second, thanks to the brilliance of Lasith Malinga (20 wickets, economy rate 5.32).

Skipper Harbhajan, despite averaging one wicket in two games, has not been easy to score off, while Keiron Pollard and Munaf Patel have the knack of breaking promising partnerships.


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
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.

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
January 25,2020

Headingley, Jan 25: England have become the first team in the world to score 500,000 runs in Test cricket. They achieved the feat during the ongoing fourth and final Test against South Africa being played at The Wanderers.

On Friday - the opening day of the Test match -- England captain Joe Root's single through the covers took the Three Lions to a landmark 500,000 run-mark in the longest format of the game. They achieved the feat in their 1022nd Test match.

Australia comes second in the list, with 432,706 runs in 830 Tests. India, meanwhile, are third, with 273,518 runs in 540 Tests, followed by West Indies (270,441 runs in 545 Tests).

In the third Test played at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth, England had become the first team to play 500 Test matches on foreign soil. Australia are the second team to play the most away Test with 404 matches they have played so far.

India have played 268 Tests on foreign soil in which they have won 51, lost 113 and 104 have ended in a draw.

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 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 9: Bangladesh clinched their maiden ICC U-19 World Cup title after beating favourites India by three wickets in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Set a revised target of 170 after a brief rain interruption, Bangladesh won the match with 23 balls to spare.

Sent in to bat, India's batting wilted under pressure as a superb Bangladesh bowling attack shot the defending champions out for a paltry 177 in 47.2 overs.

Yasashvi Jaiswal (88 off 121 balls) was once again a standout performer but not for once did he look like dominating the Bangladesh bowling unit whose new ball bowlers Shoriful Islam (2/31 in 10 overs) and Tanzim Hasan Shakib (2/28 in 8.2 overs) literally stifled the Indians for runs.

The third seamer Avishek Das (3/40 in 9 overs) was the most successful bowler in terms of figures but it was Shoriful's first spell with channelised aggression that put the Indians on the back-foot from the onset.

After a short rain break towards the end, the target was revised to 170 from 46 runs but Bangladesh reached 170 for 7 in 42.1 overs to win the match.

Opener Parvez Hossain Emon top-scored for Bangladesh with a 79-ball 47 while captain and wicketkeeper Akbar Ali was not out on 43 from 77 deliveries.

For the India U-19 side, Ravi Bishnoi was the most successful bowler with figures of 4/30 while Sushant Mishra had 2/25.

India thus missed out on a record fifth title in their seventh final appearance.

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.