Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Kings XI Punjab by 17 runs

April 25, 2019

Apr 25: AB de Villiers played a key role in Royal Challengers Bangalore's win over Kings XI Punjab by 17 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.

Chasing 203, Punjab got off to a superb start with Chris Gayle and KL Rahul scoring back-to-back boundaries.

AB de Villiers became the game changer as he dismissed Gayle (23) at long-on off Umesh Yadav.

Mayank Agarwal and Rahul helped Punjab recover with their 59-run stand for the second wicket. Bangalore struck at this stage as Marcus Stoinis dismissed Mayank (35), who was caught by a tumbling Yuzvendra Chahal at midwicket.

In the next over, Moeen Ali got rid of Rahul (42) to put Punjab under pressure.

Nicholas Pooran and David Miller built a strong 68-run partnership to nearly take Punjab home but de Villiers denied the visitors.

Navdeep Saini dismissed Miller (24), who was caught by de Villiers at long-on.

The final over witnessed the dismissal of Ravichandran Ashwin and Hardus Viljoen, which resulted in Umesh Yadav picking three wickets and Punjab finishing on a score of 185/7.

Earlier, asked to bat, AB de Villiers and Marcus Stoinis powered Bangalore, especially in the death overs to post a daunting total of 202 for the loss of four wickets. At one stage even 160 seemed difficult as the hosts were down to 84/4 under 11 overs.

However, an unbeaten 121-run partnership between de Villiers and Stoinis gave the Bangalore bowlers something to defend. De Villiers smashed Mohammed Shami for 21 runs, including two sixes, and slapped another six to Hardus Viljoen in the final over before Stoinis whacked two sixes and as many sixes to score 27 runs from the last over.

De Villiers and Stoinis finished unbeaten on 82 and 46, respectively.

Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel attempted to display their attacking form but the attempt was short-lived. Kohli played a drive into the covers off Shami but Mandeep Singh dismissed him for 13, leaving the full house in silence.

Patel, too, faced a similar fate. Murugan Ashwin got a vital breakthrough as he dismissed Patel (43), who was caught by Ravichandran Ashwin at covers. Big hitter Moeen Ali (4) and Akshdeep Nath (3) returned to the dugout in quick succession without troubling the scoreboard much.

Bangalore will next play against Delhi Capitals on April 28, whereas Punjab will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 29.

Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 202/4 (de Villiers 82*, MP Stoinis 46*, R Ashwin 1-15) beat Kings XI Punjab 185/7 (N Pooran 46, KL Rahul 42, UT Yadav 3-36, NA Saini 2-33) by 17 runs.

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News Network
June 6,2020

New Delhi, Jun 6: Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding has come out in support of MS Dhoni, saying that the wicket-keeper batsman indeed wanted to win the match against England in the 2019 World Cup.

India's performance in the World Cup match against England last year has once again become a matter of debate as all-rounder Ben Stokes in his book titled 'On Fire' questioned the intent of the Indian side.

Stokes also said that Dhoni's intent was questionable as he did not go for big shots when India still had a chance to win the match.

However, Holding said that nowadays people tend to write anything in their books.

"Well, people will write anything in books these days, because people are a lot more free with their opinions and when they are writing books, they need to be making headlines at times," Holding said on his official YouTube channel.

"But, to be honest, a lot of people watching that game perhaps wouldn't have arrived to the same conclusion that Ben Stokes arrived at that India were not trying to win," he added.

Holding did say that it seemed like that India did not have the same intensity as they would have had if the match was a do-or-die match.

"It was not the game that India had to win, but I don't think anyone can say that was a team tactic to lose the game. I watched that game and it appeared to me as if India weren't putting up their 100 per cent, but I realised it was not the case when the expression on MS Dhoni's face told me that he desperately wanted to win, so I do not think it was a team decision to not try to win," the former Windies pacer said.

"But I don't think they went with the same intensity of wanting to win the game, say, if it was a do-or-die situation. If it was, we would have seen a different game," he added.

On his official YouTube channel, Holding also said that no team goes in with a set pattern in terms of chasing targets.

In the round-robin stage match against England in Birmingham, India failed to chase down the massive target of 338 and fell short by 31 runs.

That was the only game that India lost in the premier tournament last year before the semifinal loss against the Kiwis.

India's chasing approach, in particular of wicket-keeper batsman Dhoni, was criticised by many, including the fans at home.

As soon as Stokes mentioned Dhoni's lack of intent in his book 'On Fire', Pakistan fans started saying that India deliberately lost the match to knock out their neighbours.

However, Stokes clarified that he never said India lost deliberately and some people were twisting his words.

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Agencies
August 9,2020

Manchester, Aug 9: Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler played knocks of 84 and 75 respectively as England gained an improbable three-wicket win over Pakistan in the first Test of the three-match series here at the Emirates Old Trafford.

England chased down a total of 277 on the fourth day of the first Test.

Chasing 277, England openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley put on 22 runs for the first wicket, but Mohammad Abbas finally provided the breakthrough to Pakistan as he had Burns (10) adjudged leg-before wicket in the 12th over.

Skipper Joe Root came to the crease next, and he along with Sibley ensured that the side does not lose any more wickets before the lunch break, and England went into the lunch break at 55/1.

Sibley and Root eventually put up a 64-run stand, but their partnership was finally brought to an end by Yasir Shah as he dismissed Sibley (36) in the 36th over. Soon after, skipper Root (42) was also sent back to the pavilion by Naseem Shah, reducing England to 96/3 in the 39th over.

All eyes were on all-rounder Ben Stokes (9), but Pakistan's Yasir Shah sent him back to the pavilion in the 42nd over, and England was left in a spot of bother. Shaheen Shah Afridi, then also got among the wicket-taking charts as he scalped the wicket of Ollie Pope (7), reducing England to 117/5 in the 45th over.

Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler then got together at the crease, and the duo played in an aggressive manner to retrieve the innings for England. The hosts went into the tea break at 167/5, still, 110 runs away from the target with five wickets in hand.

Buttler and Woakes continued their march to frustrate the Pakistan bowling attack and the duo brought the target within the grasp of England. Both batsmen put up a stand of 139 runs, however, with just 21 runs away from the target, England lost the key wicket of Buttler (75) as Yasir Shah had him trapped in front of the wicket.

With England just needing four more runs for the win, Yasir Shah dismissed Stuart Broad (4), but in the end, Woakes and Dom Bess ensured England's win by three wickets.

For Pakistan, Yasir Shah was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped four wickets.

Earlier, resuming day four at 137/8, Yasir Shah (33) along with Mohammad Abbas (3*) and Naseem Shah (4) added 32 more runs to the overnight score to give England a target of 277 to win the first Test.

Stuart Broad was the pick of England bowlers as he scalped three wickets.

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Agencies
March 10,2020

Mumbai, Mar 10: The addition of two new members, including the chairman, in the national selection committee, has not changed the panel's stance on M S Dhoni, who will "have to perform" in the upcoming IPL to be considered for T20 World Cup selection, a top BCCI official told PTI.

The Sunil Joshi-led selection panel met for the first time in Ahmedabad on Sunday to pick a rather "straightforward" squad for the three ODIs against South Africa beginning in Dharamsala on March 12.

Fit-again Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan made their way back into the side.

Joshi's predecessor MSK Prasad had made it clear that the team has moved on from Dhoni and he has to first play to be considered for selection.

Dhoni, who has not played since the World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand in July, will be making his highly-awaited comeback in the IPL beginning March 29.

"It was a pretty straightforward selection meeting and since Dhoni was obviously not in the reckoning this time (for South Africa series), there was no formal talk about his future," a BCCI source told PTI.

"He will be back in the reckoning only if he has a good IPL. And why only him, there are so many senior and young players who will play in the IPL. If they do well, they are ought to be considered too. So, you could see some surprise inclusions," he said.

The T20 World Cup will be played in Australia in October-November and the games India play after the IPL leading up to the mega event will also be a factor in the final squad selection.

"But the performance in the IPL could be the clincher," the source added.

Head coach Ravi Shastri too has hinted that Dhoni could be back after a good IPL but his future remains a subject of intense speculation as he has not played a game in more than seven months.

With his heir apparent Rishabh Pant not setting the world on fire and K L Rahul being groomed into a full-time wicketkeeper-batsman, Dhoni's comeback cannot be ruled out.

His countless fans will finally get to see him in action when he leads Chennai Super Kings against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the IPL opener at Wankhede Stadium on March 29.

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