Virender Sehwag ends Delhi Daredevils' losing streak

April 22, 2013
Sehwag__streakNew Delhi, Apr 22: Maybe Virender Sehwag heard about Sunil Gavaskar rating Viv Richards higher than him on TV, or maybe he just wanted to impress Delhi's new advisor from the Caribbean.

Whatever the spur, Sehwag with unbeaten 95 off only 57 (13x4, 2x6) finally found his timing and his style, breaking his team's run of six consecutive losses with a numbing display of power-hitting that left Mumbai Indians reeling.

The Devils, forever dependent on Sehwag's heroics, won't be complaining of the nine-wicket win, chasing Mumbai's 161, with three overs left to play. Though both sides made similar changes in desperation, dropping their lead pacer and changing the under-firing opening combine, it was only Delhi's moves which paid off in spades.

Mahela Jayawardene (59; 43b, 8x4, 1x6) came out to open in place of David Warner and his solidity seemed to rub off on Sehwag, who chose to actually watch a few deliveries before deciding enough was enough. Of course, he had his slice of luck too, being dropped by Jasprit Bumrah at fine leg off a furious Munaf in the third over when he hadn't even hit a boundary.

Viru promptly got going with a fierce pull but it was in the next over, bowled by the unorthodox Bumrah - who pitched it up and offered width - when Sehwag got the Kotla chanting his name. A four over cover and a six over long-on was followed by Jayawardene finishing things off with a four as the over yielded 17. Delhi didn't look back.

Munaf, brought in for Ojha, targetted leg stump and went for three boundaries next, and after five overs Delhi were 51 without loss, and by 9.4 overs the 100 had come up. Even Malinga seemed ineffective as Viru peppered the backward point and square-leg fence, and Mumbai were left pining away for the left-arm pace of Mitchell Johnson, who made way for Dwayne Smith to effect changes at the top of the order.

As early as the 12th over, Viru and Mahela were laughing and backslapping each other in the middle as a morose Mumbai looked on, bereft of ideas and choices. In a sign of their complete dominance, Delhi needed just 29 off the last six and though the 151-run opening partnership (97b) was eventually broken by Malinga, it had little effect on the result. Incidentally, last season Sehwag and Jayawardene had put on 135 for the first wicket at the Kotla against the same team. It was obviously a trick worth repeating.

Mumbai got to the total they did thanks to a sometimes-sublime, often-ugly but always effective Rohit Sharma (73 off 43 balls; 5x4, 5x6) and his 96-run third-wicket partnership off 67 balls with Sachin Tendulkar (54 off 47; 5x4, 2x6), who finally came good.

Pathan pitches it right

Irfan Pathan has been one of the few positives for Delhi in a dismal campaign so far. His first spells have been very frugal. On Sunday, his first three overs produced 11 dot balls.

First choice for the last ball

Kieron Pollard is one batsman who can hit a six at will. But when it comes to the last ball of the innings he is even more dangerous. Sunday was the sixth instance when Pollard hit the last ball for a six.

Powerless in powerplay

Barring the game against Pune Warriors, Mumbai Indians have had trouble at the start and have lacked momentum. On Sunday, they were slow again scoring 24 for 2 in six overs. It's the lowest start this season.

A delayed ton

Very rarely does Sachin Tendulkar get beaten to accumulating 100 runs by other batsmen. In this T20 league, 23 players reached the 100-run mark before him.

Miller, Mandeep achieve mission impossible for Kings XI Punjab

Miller

Mohali, Apr 22: Kings XI Punjab showed rare resilience on Sunday night when they overcame an impossible-looking 185 set by visiting Pune Warriors.

After the home team's bowling was battered back and blue, their batsmen struck back in a grand manner to record a win that once looked so unlikely at the halfway stage.

Faced with a huge target to get at over nine runs an over, and the experienced Adam Gilchrist (3) and Azhar Mahmood (0) departed early, local lad Mandeep Singh and Manan Vohra set about resurrecting the innings.

In a brilliant run-chase, the duo not only repaired the damage but also set the stage for David Miller to launch an all-out assault on Pune's bowling and overhaul the target with one ball and seven wickets to spare.

Mandeep (77 n.o) and David Miller (80 n.o) scored superlative half centuries and the highest successful run-chase of this edition looked all the more sweet when the latter struck two sixes in the final Luke Wright over when 16 were needed for a famous win.

But it was a forgettable outing for KXIP skipper Gilchrist, who first dropped his counterpart Aaron Finch when the batsman was on one but went on to score 64. Then Gilly lasted just three deliveries when his team were up against a formidable chase.

Buoyed by Gilchirst's reprieve, Victorian Finch showed his prowess, as he struck his third half-century and along with Robin Uthappa gave the Pune side a solid start of 83 runs in just 10.3 overs.

The subsequent batsmen, local boy Yuvraj Singh, Steven Smith and hard-hitting Luke Wright, contributed as Pune recorded their highest total against KXIP. Wright was especially destructive as he smashed 34 off just 10 deliveries.

As the Pune batsmen went hammer and tongs, the home team's fielding fell apart and they conceded quite a few boundaries through misfields. But Mandeep, Vohra and Miller had planned a different party of their own.

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News Network
January 23,2020

Jan 23: Quinton de Kock has been named as the new captain of the South Africa One-Day International side, taking over from Faf du Plessis, who is dropped altogether from the three-match series against England next month.

Du Plessis led South Africa in their disastrous 2019 World Cup campaign and has hinted at international retirement from all formats following the Twenty20 global finals in Australia later this year.

"We all know the quality of the player that Quinton de Kock has grown to become," CSA director of cricket Graeme Smith said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Over the years we have watched him grow in confidence and become one of the top ODI wicket-keeper batsmen in the world. He has a unique outlook and manner in which he goes about his business and is tactically very street smart."

De Kock leads a 15-man squad with five uncapped players in seamers Lutho Sipamla and Sisanda Magala, left-arm orthodox spinner all-rounder Bjorn Fortuin, opening batsman Janneman Malan and wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne.

Magala, leg-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, seamer Lungi Ngidi and hard-hitting opening batsman Jon Jon Smuts must pass fitness tests before they can join the squad.

Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will be rested for the series, while allrounders Chris Morris and Dwaine Pretorius have also not been able to force their way in.

"The road towards the 2023 Cricket World Cup starts now and we want players doing well in our domestic structures to see the rewards of the hard work that they have put in," CSA Independent Selector Linda Zondi added.

The first ODI will be staged in Cape Town on Feb.4th, with the second in Durban three days later and the final match of the series to be held in Johannesburg on Feb.9th.

Squad: Quinton de Kock (captain), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Jon Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lutho Sipamla, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Sisanda Magala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne.

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News Network
February 3,2020

New Delhi, Feb 3: Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels there are a lot of similarities between the Virat Kohli-led Team India and the Pakistan team when Imran Khan had led it as both captains instill strong self-belief in their respective teams.

Manjrekar also said that Pakistan under Imran had found different ways of winning matches even when it seemed all was lost.

"India under Virat in NZ reminds me of Pakistan under Imran. Strong self belief as a team. Pakistan under Imran found different ways of winning matches, often from losing positions. That only happens when the self belief is strong," Manjrekar tweeted.

The cricketer turned commentator expressed his opinion after India completed a rare 5-0 whitewash with a seven-run victory over New Zealand in the final T20 International in Mount Maunganui on Sunday.

Manjrekar also lauded KL Rahul, now also shouldering wicket-keeping duty, for his impressive showing in recent times.

"Samson & Pant... the next batting brigade of India obviously have the skill & the power game they just need to infuse a small dose of Virat's batting 'smarts' (mind) into their game," Manjrekar wrote.

The victory at the Bay Oval saw India stretch their record for most successive T20I wins.

This was their eighth win in a row, bettering the previous three instances when they won seven successive matches.

Kohli is the most successful Test captain in Indian cricket history, winning 11 consecutive series at home and are on top of the ICC rankings.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Srinagar, Jan 10: Real Kashmir FC made a strong comeback in the second half to play out a 1-1 draw against former champions Punjab FC in their home I-League match here on Friday.

The 'Snow Leopards' equalised in the 62nd minute through Gnohere Krizo in front of a partisan crowd of 8,500 spectators after Makan Chothe had given Punjab FC the lead in the 21st minute at the TRC ground.

After Thursday's draw, Punjab FC is placed third on the table with 10 points from seven games. Real Kashmir FC remained at eighth with six points from five matches. This was Real Kashmir's third home match on the trot.

The match was a story of two halves as the first belonged to the visitors who enjoyed a 62 per cent possession of the ball, whereas the second belonged to the home side.

Both the teams were looking to gain an early advantage and Punjab FC took the lead after 21 minutes.

Confusion inside the Real Kashmir box because of a long ball from Punjab opened up an opportunity for Chothe and he made no mistake as he smashed the ball at the back of the net.

As the fans cheered on, Real Kashmir created a flurry of chances, but none of the home side players could find the back of the net. Punjab was able to hold on to their slender lead heading into the tunnel.

The second half resumed with Real Kashmir pressing high up the field and pressurising Punjab.

In the 56th minute, Real Kashmir playmaker Kallum Higginbotham cut through two defenders on the left side of the box and the ball fell to Mason Robertson, whose shot was too weak to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper.

Soon after, it was Danish Farooq who tried a curler from a distance but his shot did not have enough bend to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper. The home team's effort finally paid off in the 62nd minute.

A miscalculated header by Danilo Augusto fell at the feet of Gnohere Krizo, who was one-on-one with the keeper. He made no mistake in striking the ball into the opponent's goal to score the equaliser.

Real Kashmir was in their groove now, and Kallum came in from the right with a beautiful low cross across the face of the goal but Mason could not get a touch as the chance went begging.

The duo of Kallum and Mason were proving difficult for Punjab to deal with. In the 82nd minute, a beautiful long ball by Kallum found the head of a towering Mason, but the effort went just over the crossbar.

Within a few moments, Punjab again had another nervous moment as Chesterpoul Lyngdoh's cross from the right side hit the arm of Thoiba Singh but the referee turned down an appeal for penalty.

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