Kings XI keep their slender hopes alive

May 17, 2013

Kings_XI

Dharamsala, May 17: Kings XI Pu¬njab eked out a close seven-run win over Delhi Daredevils here on Thursday to keep alive their slim chances of qualifying for the play-offs of the Indian Premier League.

Kings XI first rode on David Miller and captain Adam Gilchrist’s whirlwind knocks to post a challenging 171 for four.

Miller scored an unbeaten 44 off just 24 balls towards the end, while Gilchrist made 42 off 26 balls upfront. Shaun Marsh also played a sedate 44-ball 45-run knock to help Kings XI’s cause.

Defending the total, Sandeep Sharma returned with figures of three for 23 to help Kings XI restrict Daredevils to 164 for seven. Chasing 172 for win, Delhi lost Unmukt Chand, Irfan Pathan and David Warner early with just 12 runs on the board.

While Chand was bowled by Praveen Kumar, Pathan and Warner were picked up by Sandeep in successive balls in the last two deliveries of the fourth over. Pathan edged a swinging delivery to Gilchrist behind the stumps and then a ball later Warner departed without opening his account, caught by Marsh in the slips.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene (39) and Virender Sehwag (30) shared 49 runs off 40 balls for the fourth wicket before the latter edged one to Gilchrist off Parvinder Awana’s bowling.

Sehwag laced his 22-balls innings with six fours. Jayawardene and Ben Rohrer (49) then added quick 50 runs off 5.3 overs to keep Delhi’s hopes alive.

The ever-climbing asking rate finally took a toll on Jayawardene, who was caught by Manan Vohra to give Sandeep his third wicket of the day. He hit three fours and a six during his 42-ball knock.

But Rohrer kept Delhi in the hunt as, needing 41 off 12 balls, the left-hander picked up 19 runs of the penultimate over off Azhar Mahmood to bring dowm the equation to 22 off the final six deliveries.

But it was not to be as Rohrer was bowled by a quicker one by Piyush Chawla in the first ball of the last over.

New man in Morne Morkel (13) brought Delhi close with some lusty hitting but the visitors eventually fell short.

Earlier sent into bat, Gilchrist got Kings XI off to a blazing start racing the hosts to the 50-run mark in the sixth over.

Gilchrist sent the Delhi bowlers on a leather hunt from the word go. He was particularly severe on Ashish Nehra (2/38) as he clobbered the left-arm pacer to all parts of the ground to pick up 27 runs off the bowlers opening two overs.

Gilchrist was going great guns before perishing while going for one too many big shots, caught by Pathan off his own bowling in the eight over. Her hit five fours and two towering sixes.

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News Network
January 12,2020

New Delhi, Jan 12: Flamboyant India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was on Saturday pulled out of the India A team's tour of New Zealand after he failed mandatory fitness tests in Mumbai.

The selectors had picked him in the squad without testing him in the Ranji games.

Tamil Nadu captain Vijay Shankar has been drafted into the India A team and he has already boarded the flight to New Zealand where they will play two 50-over warm-up games, three List A games and two four-day 'Tests' against the home A team.

It has been learnt that Pandya failed a couple of mandatory fitness tests and his scores were well below the permissible range suggesting that he is far from being fit for international cricket. In this situation, pulling him out of the India A squad was expected.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Melbourne, Jun 20: If 15 teams can be allowed to enter Australia for the T20 World Cup then fans will not be stopped from watching live action from the stadiums, Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley said on Saturday.

Hockley replaced under-fire Kevin Roberts, who recently got the boot from Cricket Australia, which is grappling with financial woes.

Different possibilities are being worked out for the T20 World to go ahead as scheduled later this year and one of them is to host the tournament before empty stands in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Hockley said crowds will be allowed, though, hosting 15 teams with players, officials and support staff is "complex" as of now, hinting that probably the ICC flagship event could be pushed back.

"The reality is, and we've got much more understanding about this in recent weeks, is crowds are most likely to come back before international travel. Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country," Hockley told cricket.com.au when asked if he would like to see the World Cup proceed without fans.

"If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise."

When specifically asked whether crowds would be permitted by the time borders have opened to the point that 15 teams will be allowed to travel to Australia, Hockley replied in an affirmative.

"That's the current thinking, yes."

Hockley said it came as a shock when he was asked by Cricket Australia to replace Roberts.

"I've had very mixed emotions. I was very shocked to be asked. I didn't see it coming at all, so I probably haven't had time yet to process it. I feel very sad for Kev (Roberts). On the other hand, I feel this is a massive privilege to be asked, it's a massive responsibility and a massive opportunity even if it's only for the next few months," he said.

Hockey did not commit when asked if he would like to assume the role full time, but he did say that he would quit as CEO of the T20 World Cup Organising Committee.

"My approach throughout my entire career has been to focus on doing the best job I can with what I've been tasked with, and the future will look after itself. And I'll continue the same approach.

"That's (T20 World Cup) been a real priority over the last 48 hours. We're reasonably well progressed and we will be appointing an interim because you just can't do both," he said.

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Agencies
June 4,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 4: Indian men's hockey team defender Harmanpreet Singh is delighted and honoured to be nominated for the Arjuna Award by Hockey India.

The Indian women's hockey team captain Rani Rampal has been nominated for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award while her compatriots Vandana Katariya, Monika and Harmanpreet Singh have been nominated for the Arjuna Award.

"I was extremely delighted to hear the news. It's an honour to be nominated for the Arjuna Award and I am sure the nomination will motivate me to perform even better in the upcoming years. All of us have received tremendous support from Hockey India over the years and I was extremely happy to know that Rani has been nominated for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Vandana Katariya and Monika have been nominated for the Arjuna Award. They have put up some brilliant performances in the recent past and I would like to extend my congratulations to them," Harmanpreet said.

The 24-year-old dragflick sensation stepped up his role in the team and shouldered the responsibility of vice-captain with aplomb. As a defender-dragflicker, he was instrumental in the team's winning performance in the FIH Series Finals in Odisha. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Test Event, he captained the team to victory in the absence of Manpreet Singh who was rested for the tournament.

Harmanpreet was also part of the Indian team that won the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers against Russia last year. Harmanpreet said that he has been able to perform for the team only because of the support he has received from his teammates.

"I am very happy with the way I have been contributing to the team in the last couple of years. However, I have been able to come up with the goods only because of the way my teammates have supported me. Hockey is a team sport and all of us ensure that we are contributing to the team's cause in some way or the other. If we score a goal, then it's not only the goal scorer, who takes the credit, but the entire team is credited for a particular effort," said the defender.

Harmanpreet added that booking a place in the Tokyo Olympic Games was the biggest achievement for the team in 2019.

"It was simply amazing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in front of our home crowd last year. I will cherish the memory forever. The balance of our side was fantastic and everyone chipped in to make the tournament a memorable one. Now, we will give everything we can to come up with great results at the Olympics next year. It's our sole target at the moment and all of us are up for the challenge. Hopefully, we will become a much better side once we play our first match in Tokyo," he said.

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