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Royals edge past KKR in a thrilling 'Super Over' finish

April 30, 2014

Royals_edgeAbu Dhabi, Apr 30: Rajasthan Royals held their nerves in extreme pressure situation to pip Kolkata Knight Riders in a nail-biting Super Over finish in a fifth round encounter of the Indian Premier League here today.

It is the first match in the tournament that went to the wire with both main innings and the Super Over scores ending in a tie. Rajasthan Royals were adjudged winners as they hit 18 fours and a six across two innings compared to KKR's nine fours and three sixes.

In the Super Over, KKR batting first scored 11 off James Faulkner with Manish Pandey getting a six.

In reply, Steve Smith showed his cricketing acumen with a soft tap off the last delivery from Sunil Narine towards extra cover to get two runs which would have sealed the match in their favour.

Having set a target of 153 in 20 overs for KKR, the Royals bowlers kept their calm at the death as they restricted Gautam Gambhir's men to 152 for eight in 20 overs.

It was easily the most exciting contest of the UAE leg, with KKR needed 12 runs off the last over bowled by Kane Richardson. With three to get of the final delivery, Shakib al Hasan (29 no) could manage only two runs as the scores were tied at 152.

This was after a splendid penultimate over bowled by 'birthday boy' Faulkner (3/11 in 2 overs) in which he got the wickets of Suryakumar Yadav (31), Robin Uthappa (0) and R Vinay Kumar (0) when they needed 16 off the last two.

Suryakumar swept Watson for a six to signal his intent of chasing down tthe target and it was followed with a heave that went for boundary through third man region as he got equation down to 28 from three overs.

Shakib al Hasan then came to his own as he struck successive boundaries off Kane Richardson as KKR inched towards the target.

Surya's cameo of 31 from 19 balls ended as he was comfortably pouched by Smith off Faulkner.

Faulkner then bowled Robin Uthappa, who was shuffling across the crease to expose his leg-stump and got Vinay Kumar (0) off the very next ball as four runs came off the 19th over.

After a hat-trick of ducks and 1 from the four games, Gautam Gambhir (45) looked determined to make it count as he scored 45 off 44 balls with four boundaries. It wasn't a fluent innings but considering his form and confidence, one couldn't fault his effort. He did play considerable number of dot balls but showed his intent to stay at the crease come what may.

Gambhir showed a lot of resolve as he got his first boundary of this edition by cutting Richardson between point and cover. When James Faulkner dropped one short, Gambhir rocked back to pull it for a one bounce four.

Manvinder Bisla (3), playing his first match, was searching for the swinging deliveries. His ordeal ended when Richardson got one to cut back and the batsman played hard at it only to offer a catch to Karun Nair at first slip.

Jacques Kallis got a reprieve on 1 when he was caught behind off Shane Watson but it was adjudged a no-ball as the bowler was found overstepping.

However Kallis in his bid to prop up the rate was holed out in the deep off leggie Pravin Tambe with Steve Smith taking a well judged running catch.

Manish Pandey (19) had a nice little partnership with Gambhir but couldn't capitalise. After hitting Tambe for a six and boundary, he was done in by a flipper as he was struck on the pads rooted to his crease.

Gambhir was finally out for 45 when he tried to slog sweep Rajat Bhatia out of the park but only managed to find the fielder at mid-wicket boundary.

Earlier, Ajinkya Rahane hit a classy 72 as Rajasthan Royals posted a fighting 152 for five on a dry pitch at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here today.

While Rahane anchored the innings with proper cricketing shots getting his runs off 59 balls, skipper Watson hit a few lusty blows to score 33 off 24 balls as the 64 runs in 7.3 overs for the third wicket.

Rahane's innings had six boundaries and a six. The manner in which he paced the innings was praiseworthy. When Watson and before that Samson were going after the bowlers, he dropped anchor getting those singles along with odd boundaries as Royals reached 150 because of the Mumbai man.

Once he got his half-century, he opened up pulling Vinay Kumar for a six. For KKR, Shakib al Hasan (1/23) and Sunil Narine (0/28) had a decent outing. R Vinay Kumar (2/30) was the most successful bowler for KKR.

Opting to bat, Karun's (1) struggle in this format continued as he tried to give his state captain Vinay the charge and saw delivery cutting back into clip the leg bail.

Sanju Samson (20) got four boundaries off Morkel in the final Powerplay over but was out in a freak manner. The talented Kerala youngster got onto the backfoot as Shakib bowled a fuller delivery. The ball hit his pads and rolled onto the stumps.

Rahane hit a few crisp boundaries and also got one when a thickish edge off a rising delivery from Morkel flew over the slip cordon.

When Chawla was introduced into the attack, Rahane played a copybook sweep shot to get a boundary when the bowler pitched one well outside the leg-stump.

The first 10 overs produced 62 runs for the loss of two wickets.

Skipper Watson's first big hit was a lofted one bounce four off a flighted delivery from Shakib. Rahane followed his skipper as he also used his feet to perfection to play the inside-out lofted shot over extra cover for a boundary.

The watershed moment for Royals came in the 14th over before the second strategic time-out as Watson got three boundaries off Piyush Chawla as it yielded 17 runs in all.

The first was a slog sweep while the second was a cover drive and the third one a lucky escape as the inside edge went for a boundary.

In the next over from Narine, Watson smashed him over extra cover for a boundary. Rahane in the meantime completed his second 50 off the tournament off 44 balls.

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News Network
February 16,2020

Feb 16: Mayank Agarwal finally found some form going his way and Rishabh Pant mixed caution with his customary aggression as India's warm-up fixture against New Zealand XI ended in a draw in Hamilton on Sunday. The match was called off an hour after lunch with India reaching 252 for four just 48 overs into their second innings. Agarwal, who had gone through a wretched period since the second Test against Bangladesh, retired on 81 off 99 balls with 10 fours and three sixes to his name. To the relief of the Indian team management, Pant played in his customary manner to reach 70 off 65 balls, but also showed discretion when the opposition bowlers were in the midst of a good spell.

There were four sixes -- two each off leg-spinner Ish Sodhi and off-spinner Henry Cooper. While Sodhi was hit down the ground, Cooper was dispatched over extra cover on a couple of occasions.

He didn't curb his aggression though; there were times when he was ready defend against the spinners and also leave some of the deliveries that the Kiwi pacers bowled.

Even though Pant is easily the better batsman compared to his senior Wriddhiman Saha, the innings might have come too late in the day considering that the latter is a better keeper and possibly a more responsible batsman in pressure situations.

The biggest positive to have emerged from the second innings is Agarwal's poor run coming to an end.

The Seddon Park track easing out was definitely a factor but Agarwal's footwork was more assured as he played some glorious on-drives and pull-shots off fast bowlers.

Before this game, Agarwal had played 10 competitive games including first-class, ODIs and List A matches and couldn't cross the 40-run mark in 11 completed innings.

He even bagged a pair against New Zealand A in an unofficial Test match. Once he had got his form back, he didn't come out to bat after lunch giving Saha an opportunity to score an unbeaten 30, his runs coming mostly against non-regular bowlers.

The Agarwal-Pant pair added 100 runs in 14.3 overs and it also helped that part-timers like Cooper was introduced into the action. In the morning, Prithvi Shaw (39 off 31 balls) was bowled through the gate by Daryl Mitchell as the batsman left a gaping hole between his bat and pad.

Shaw, though, seemed to have done enough during his brisk 72-run stand with Agarwal, which could put an end to the debate around the opening slot even though the tracks in Wellington and Christchurch could be a test of technique for the flamboyant Mumbaikar.

It was a match that Shubman Gill would perhaps like to forget in a hurry as he was dismissed cheaply for the second time in a row. He scored 8 before Daryl Mitchell trapped him leg before.

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Agencies
June 8,2020

New Delhi, Jun 8: Indian pacer S Sreesanth has slammed England all-rounder Ben Stokes for questioning MS Dhoni's intent during a World Cup match, saying that the former captain will end Stokes' career.

Stokes in his book titled 'On Fire' had questioned Dhoni's intent during India's 31-run defeat at the hands of England in the premier tournament last year.

"For Ben Stokes, I will only say that you should pray that Dhoni does not play against you in the future. Dhoni does not forget things easily," Sreesanth said during a Live session on Helo.

"I wish Stokes all the best for whenever he faces Dhoni again, be it IPL or an England vs India match. You must be earning in millions now, Dhoni Bhai will end your career. Dhoni will strike the ball everywhere and he (Stokes) can never dismiss Dhoni. Before he (Stokes) opens his mouth, he should make sure to wear a helmet," he added.

Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding had also come out in support of Dhoni and said that the wicket-keeper batsman wanted to win the match against England.

"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 had said on his official YouTube channel.

"...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 percent, 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," he had added.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Former India women's team captain Anjum Chopra firmly believes that the BCCI has a plan for women's cricket but she wants the Board to communicate its ideas more specifically.

Speaking to news agency, Chopra, who is now a successful broadcaster, said the BCCI is thinking in earnest about the progress of women's cricket.

"It's not that the BCCI is not thinking about women's cricket. I only think they need to be more specific in communication about women's cricket," Chopra said.

"I firmly believe that they must be thinking about women's cricket but the communication all this while has been very specific to men's cricket."

The latest trigger for criticism of BCCI was India's withdrawal from a tour of England in September owing to logistical issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chopra concedes it was "not nice" but Indian players' participation in the women's IPL, in November, will still be useful preparation for next year's ODI World Cup.

"It is heartening to see women's cricket making headlines. They should have been a part of that England tour and it did not feel nice initially but the women's IPL, irrespective of the format, will be helpful for World Cup preparations. Any form of cricket is good preparation," Chopra said.

"Missing out on a tournament is not nice, but logistically there may have been issues. And you can't send an under-prepared team."

"If you see in isolation we may have missed out on an opportunity to play in England. The more the girls play the better it is, before playing a tournament of the stature of World Cup. The assurance from the president is a very good thing."

Chopra welcomed the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI's decision to hold the women's event in the UAE alongside the IPL, which will run from September 19 to November 10. The women's IPL will coincide with the business end of the men's league.

"I am definitely happy, it's always nice to be part of any cricket anywhere across the world.

"They should have been nearing the final stages of the preparation for the World Cup by now, but because of the pandemic things did not go as planned," she added.

Chopra had a successful international career spanning over 17 years, during which she represented India in a record six World Cups and became the first woman cricketer to appear in 100 One-day Internationals.

She also felt that the pandemic would not have much impact on the women's game that has gained momentum in recent times.

"...Cricket was on pause button...Once cricket resumes and players are back on the park, everything is going to get picked up. It might take some time to get started as everything starts from zero...

"The awareness the women's game has created, I hope it stays. They will just restart, not start after the pandemic."

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