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KKR Openers Blitz Delhi Capitals

Initially unsold in IPL 2024, Phil Salt joined Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs. 1.5 crore after Jason Roy’s withdrawal. He marked his fourth half-century of the season on Monday…reports Asian Lite News

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) openers continued to dominate as Philt Salt hammered a 33-ball 68 in the opening partnership of 79 runs which propelled them to a seven-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals in Match 47 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Eden Gardens here on Monday.

Phil Salt had gone unsold in the auction for IPL 2024 held in December 2023, but Kolkata Knight Riders got his services for a base price of Rs. 1.5 crore after his countryman Jason Roy opted out of the tournament citing “personal reasons”. Since then, the star wicket-keeper batter didn’t disappoint and hammered his fourth half-century of the season on Monday.

Salt and Sunil Narine ended the Power-play at 79 for no loss. Lizaad Williams’ first over went for 23, with Phil Salt doing the bulk of the damage before Narine whipped away a last-ball four.

More Salt was rubbed into Lizaad’s wounds when he dropped the English batter off the first ball of the second over. A miscue off Khaleel Ahmed went high in the air and Lizaard went under it at mid-on only to mess up the reverse-cup finish as the ball burst through his hands and smacked his chest.

The slower balls gripped the surface for Capitals’ fast bowlers, but they didn’t use it very well, offering both batters room to chance their arms on multiple occasions. Salt went past the half-century mark in 26 deliveries during an 18-run sixth over delivered by Khaleel Ahmed.

Of the first ball bowled by Axar Patel after the Power-play, Narine looked for the big hit with the turn and picked out deep midwicket on 15 runs. Axar, in the very next over, knocked out Salt’s off-stump on 68 as a new pair of batters, Shreyas Iyer and Rinku Singh came in the middle. Rinku Singh, who got the chance to show his mettle in the chase, got out on run-up ball 11. Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer continued ticking the board as they both added 57 runs for the fourth wicket, which was enough to beat the visitors by seven wickets.

Earlier, Kuldeep Yadav’s brilliant knock of 35 runs propelled Delhi Capitals to 153/9 after Varun Chakravarthy bowled a brilliant spell of 3-16 for KKR.

This Eden pitch hasn’t been like the pitches of earlier in the season. It felt like KKR asked for something with a bit more help in it for the spinners after losing that sixer-fest against the Punjab Kings. And the pitch has really suited their two mystery spinners.

DC skipper Rishabh Pant and Abhishek Porel added 31 runs for the fourth wicket after an early setback but after their partnership ended, wickets kept falling from the other side. Porel (18), Axar Patel (15), Tristan Stubbs (4) and Kumar Kushagra (1) got out cheaply as DC from 67/3 in nine overs, were reduced to 101/6 in 13 overs. Pant, after an entertaining knock of 27 off 20 deliveries, fell prey to Chakravarthy, trying to slog-sweep towards deep midwicket and edged it straight up in the air.

Kuldeep Yadav’s brilliant 35 off 29 deliveries, studded with five boundaries and a six, propelled Delhi Capitals to 153/9 in 20 overs. Yadav was brought late into the attack in the bowling and ended his spell with 34 for none. Surely, not a day with the ball for Yadav, as Venkatesh Iyer finished off things with a six as KKR, solidified their position in the second position with a sixth win.

Brief score:

Delhi Capitals 153/9 in 20 overs (Kuldeep Yadav 35 not out, Rishabh Pant 27; Varun Chakravarthy 3-16, Harshit Rana 2-28) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 157/3 in 16.3 overs (Phil Salt 68, Shreyas Iyer 33; Axar Patel 2-25; Lizaad Williams 1-38) by seven wickets

ALSO READ: CSK Crush Sunrisers in Thriller

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DC Edge Out GT in High-Octane Thriller

GT had the upper hand after electing to bowl first, thanks to Sandeep Warrier’s triple strikes in power-play and leave DC in trouble…reports Asian Lite News

Captain Rishabh Pant enthralled the home crowd by slamming an unbeaten 88 off 43 balls, while Axar Patel hit a 43-ball 66 and impact player Rasikh Salam picked a three-fer as Delhi Capitals edged Gujarat Titans by four runs in a thrilling run-fest to secure their fourth win of the tournament at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.

After Pant and Axar fifties, along with Tristan Stubbs’ unbeaten 26 lift DC to a mammoth 224/4, GT were quick in their run-scoring, thanks to 65 from B Sai Sudarshan, followed by 55 from David Miller. But DC triumphed in the end to get those crucial two points in a proper run-fest.

GT had the upper hand after electing to bowl first, thanks to Sandeep Warrier’s triple strikes in power-play and leave DC in trouble. But Pant and Axar took their time, before launching a stunning onslaught against spinners to form a decisive 113-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Axar made his promotion to number three count by hitting five fours and four sixes in his eye-catchy knock at a strike-rate of 153.49. Pant, after being scratchy in his 44 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, was at his magnificent best in hitting eight sixes and five fours at a strike-rate of 204.6.

The duo being phenomenal with the bat meant GT spinners were rendered ineffective in middle overs and the visitors’ bowlers were promptly taken for cleaners in the death overs. Moreover, Warrier didn’t bowl out his final over, as DC took 97 runs in their final five overs.

Prithvi Shaw and Jake Fraser-McGurk hit six delightful boundaries as DC reached 34/0 in three overs. But Warrier bounced back in the fourth over after conceding 12 runs in his opening over.

The fast-bowler first had Fraser-McGurk flicking off the bottom edge to deep square leg, followed by getting Shaw to mistime a pull, with Noor Ahmad running in from deep square leg to take a diving catch. Warrier got his third power-play wicket when Shai Hope sliced away from his body and was caught at backward point, as DC ended the six-over phase with 44/3.

Axar got a move on by crashing a drive off Omarzai, before nailing a slog-sweep for six on a Rashid Khan googly. He and Pant took a pulled four each off Rashid’s short balls, followed by the latter slog-sweeping Noor Ahmad for a four and six each.

Axar continued to thrive against spinners – driving and cutting with ease for his boundaries, while Pant feasted on Mohit Sharma’s short balls by pulling and slicing to take a brace of fours. Axar lofted a drive off Shahrukh Khan for six, before reaching his fifty in 37 balls with a pulled four off Rashid.

Pant was delightful in the 16th over against Mohit – whipping off his pads and thumping a slower ball over long-off for a brace of sixes, before bringing up the century of the fourth-wicket stand. Axar then hammered Noor for back-to-back sixes in the 17th over before holing out to long-on to fall for a 43-ball 66.

Pant got his fifty in 34 balls by lofting a full-toss from Mohit over long-on for six, and was met with a grand applause from the crowd. GT brought in R Sai Kishore’s left-arm spin in the 19th over to counter right-handed Tristan Stubbs.

But the batter creamed the drives twice in the gap between extra-cover and long-off, followed by clubbing the spinner for two mammoth sixes over long-on in the 22-run over. In the last over, Pant managed to clear long-on for six and sliced a four despite losing balance against Mohit. He cut loose with his pull, loft and swivel fetching him maximums on last three balls of the innings to take 31 runs off the final over.

In chasing 225, Shubman Gill fell early in his 100th IPL game after mistiming the loft to mid-on off Anrich Nortje. Wriddhiman Saha and Sudharsan hit ten boundaries between themselves in the remainder of power-play, including taking 17 runs off Khaleel Ahmed in the third over.

Sudarshan had some luck on his side, after being dropped on 17 by Axar at mid-on on Rasikh’s bowling, as GT ended power-play at 67/1. Sudarshan was neat in cutting and glancing Axar for consecutive fours. But Kuldeep Yadav struck as Saha slashed hard and Axar jumped in the nick of time to pluck the catch out of thin air.

Sudarshan completed his fifty in 29 balls, but saw GT go from 94/1 to 98/3 as Axar had Omarzai caught by Fraser-McGurk rushing in and diving forward from deep mid-wicket to complete a sensational catch. Sudarshan and Miller would hit a boundary each, before the former holed out to long-off against Rasikh.

Rasikh then took out Shahrukh Khan, as Pant took a sharp catch after standing up to the stumps, followed by him taking Rahul Tewatia’s catch on Kuldeep’s last ball. With 73 runs needed off 24 balls, Miller feasted on Nortje’s short and full balls by hitting a four and three sixes before reaching his fifty in 21 balls with a brace as 24 runs came off the 17th over.

After Rashid was dropped by Abishek Porel on first ball of the 18th over, Miller glanced Mukesh for four, before clipping straight to deep backward square leg and fall for a 23-ball 55. With 37 runs needed off 12 balls, Rashid worked Rasikh for a boundary and Stubbs even saved a six of him, followed by Kishore keeping match alive with consecutive sixes, before being castled by the pacer.

The equation came down to 19 runs in the final over, and Rashid began by whipping Mukesh for a four in the gap between long-on and mid-wicket. When the pacer pitched it wide, Rashid was quick to slash over extra cover for a boundary.

After two dot balls, Rashid lofted a six over long-off. With three runs needed off the last ball, Rashid hit off a yorker, but the ball went one bounce to long-off, as DC held their nerve to get a tight win.

Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 224/4 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 88 not out; Axar Patel 66; Sandeep Warrier 3-15) beat Gujarat Titans 220/8 in 20 overs (B Sai Sudharsan 65, David Miller 55; Rasikh Salam 3-44, Kuldeep Yadav 2-29) by four runs

ALSO READ: Highest IPL Chase as Lucknow Super Giants Stun CSK

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Highest IPL Chase as Lucknow Super Giants Stun CSK

Stoinis also broke the highest individual score in an IPL chase of Paul Valthaty’s 120* in 2011, also against CSK, after scoring 124 not out in 63 deliveries….reports Asian Lite News

After Ruturaj Gaikwad smashed a century to propel Chennai Super Kings to a target of 210, Marcus Stoinis struck his maiden IPL century to single-handedly take Lucknow Super Giants to six wickets victory with nine balls to spare over Chennai Super Kings at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Tuesday.

Stoinis also broke the highest individual score in an IPL chase of Paul Valthaty’s 120* in 2011, also against CSK, after scoring 124 not out in 63 deliveries. In three games before this, no team has come to Chepauk this season and beaten CSK. No team has come here and chased down 211. LSG did both in the same match, led by a magnificent hundred by Stoinis. The match-changing over was Shardul Thakur’s 16th over as LSG needed 74 in 30 deliveries. Nicholas Pooran and Stoinis knew they had to make it a big one because the remaining four were to be bowled by Mustafizur and Pathirana. Pooran made sure LSG didn’t miss out and smashed the first three balls for 6, 4, 6. In all, 20 runs came from it. LSG now needed 54 off 24 deliveries as the asking rate came down to 13.5.

Pooran looked to take on Pathirana as well but ended up miscuing it to Thakur at long-off. Deepak Hooda was the new batter and smashed his second ball over deep square-leg for a six.

Stoinis, meanwhile, brought up his maiden IPL hundred, off 56 balls. LSG needed 32 off two overs. Hooda hammered Pathirana for two fours, to go with one from Stoinis to collect 15 from the penultimate over. They needed 17 from the last over and Mustafizur Rahaman was given the responsibility to defend that. But Stoinis launched the first ball over long-on before drilling the next one straight back for four.

Luck, too, favoured him as the next one raced to the right of the short third-man. Fizz had overstepped as well, which reduced the equation to two needed from four balls. On the next, Stoinis moved across and pulled the short ball over backward square leg to seal a 6-wicket victory with three balls remaining.

Chasing a target of 211, Lucknow Super Giants suffered an early strike as Quinton de Kock got out on duck. The batter went for a cut only to chop it back onto his stumps to the swinging delivery outside off. In the first four games of the season, KL Rahul scored at a strike rate of 125.49 in the Power-play. But after that, he smashed it at 185.11 in this phase.

He was looking dangerous once again. After an early wicket, Rahul and Marcus Stoinis kept LSG’s chase on track but Mustafizur Rahman pegged them back. Having hit a four earlier in the over, Rahul went for another big hit but failed to clear Gaikwad at extra cover. Rahut got out after scoring 16. LSG were 45/2 at the end of six overs as Stoinis continued ticking the scoreboard. Devdutt Padikkal came in as an Impact Player. He has struggled for runs this IPL, and it was the same story against CSK as he was on 12 off 16 balls.

Meanwhile, Stoinis has been keeping LSG in the contest almost singlehandedly. He brought up his fifty off 26 balls, with the help of six fours and two sixes. But it’s still an uphill task. LSG were 83/2 after 10 overs and needed 128 from the next ten. A length ball at 151.4 kph in the line of leg stump from Mateesha Pathirana and Padikkal had no answer to it. He backed away but was beaten by pace and had his leg stump uprooted. He departed for 13 off 19 balls. LSG were 88/3 after 11, needing 123 from nine overs.

The sole reason LSG opted to chase was the dew in the second half. And it seemed to be making a difference as a couple of overs ago, Tushar Deshpande bowled a high no-ball. If there was more evidence needed, a cutter into the pitch from Mustafizur came onto the bat nicely – Stoinis hit it straight off the back foot.

Earlier in the match, Ruturaj Gaikwad slammed his second century of the IPL career while Shivam Dube blazed to a blistering 66 off 27 deliveries, which took Chennai Super Kings to 210/4. Gaikwad scored 37 runs in the Power-play and had only twice scored more in this phase in T20s. Coincidentally, his best score in the Power-play (46) was also against LSG and at Chepauk. Gaikwad continued his rich batting form on a tricky pitch as he reached his third half-century of the season in 28 deliveries. CSK were 85/2 after 10 overs.

The in-form Shivam Dube walked to the crease and straightaway sent his fourth delivery for the first maximum of the innings, which came after 12.5 overs. Mohsin bowled one slightly full around off and Dube launched him down the ground for a maximum.

After hitting Stoinis for a six and a four across the allrounder’s two overs, Dube latched onto Yash Thakur and hammered him for three successive sixes in the 16th over. Dube moved to 37 off just 15 balls, and CSK were 154/3 after 16.

It was an excellent innings from Gaikwad – he slammed his sixth hundred in T20 cricket, which came off 56 balls, after a sequence of 6, 4, 4 against Yash Thakur. Gaikwad, at 27 years and 83 days, became the second-youngest captain to score a hundred in the IPL after Sanju Samson.

In the 19th over, Dube smashed two fours and a six against Mohsin and brought up his fifty off just 22 balls. Both batters added 104 runs for the fourth-wicket partnership in just 46 deliveries. Dube started the final over with a six off Stoinis but was run out for 66 off 27 with two balls left in the innings.

That brought MS Dhoni to the middle. Gaikwad took a single on the penultimate ball and Dhoni, as he has done throughout this season, finished off in style with a boundary. He moved towards the offside to a full delivery and muscled it over midwicket for four as CSK finished with 210/4. Skipper Gaikwad remained not out on 108 runs.

Brief score:

Chennai Super Kings 210/4 in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 108 not out, Shivam Dube 66; Matt Henry 1-28, Yash Thakur 1-47) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 213/4 in 19.3 overs (Marcus Stoinis 124 not out, Nicholas Pooran 34; Matheesa Pathirana 2-35, Deepak Chahar 1-11) by six wickets.

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Jaiswal Century Propels Rajasthan to Victory

The Royals concluded their campaign in Jaipur with a seventh decisive victory in eight games, solidifying their position atop the table…reports Asian Lite News

Sandeep Sharma announced his comeback from an injury with brilliant figures of 5-18, the best by any bowler in this season’s IPL before Yashasvi Jaiswal returned to form with a 59-ball century as host Rajasthan Royals ended their home leg with a nine-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians at Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Monday night.

The Royals concluded their campaign in Jaipur with a seventh decisive victory in eight games, solidifying their position atop the table.

Jaiswal sealed the Rajasthan’s chase with a boundary after, Mumbai Indians set a middling target of 180 that hinged on a 99-run fifth-wicket stand between Tilak Varma and Nehal Wadhera. Prior to a 30-minute rain delay, Jaiswal had 31 from 18 balls and then converted his first fifty of a challenging season into a towering 104 not out from 60 balls.

With the in-form Jos Buttler (35 from 25) Jaiswal added 74 runs in eight overs and 109 in 65 deliveries with skipper Sanju Samson. Tim David’s horrendous reprieve at midwicket on 19 was the turning point for Mumbai. At 50, Jaiswal had also suffered a significant setback when, from deep cover, Wadhera missed a leading-edge swipe that went over the rope for six.

Mumbai’s two standout bowlers encapsulated their performance on Monday night. Gerald Coetzee bowled like the wind in his one Power-play over, clearly troubling Jaiswal with his pace of over 150 kph, especially with a top-edged draw that sailed over the keeper for four, after being worked up by a first-ball slap for six.

However, Hardik Pandya did not give him another over until late, by which time the match was already gone and he again got a well-set batter to falter.

Jasprit Bumrah was also kept back too late in the chase, and even though he bowled with unmatched vigour upfront—including a two-run opening over to curb Buttler’s early intentions, his comeback over was not successful. After a first ball no-ball and a second ball wide on height, Jaiswal blasted the rolled-over free hit for six to complete a 16-run over, which was Bumrah’s most costly of an outstanding season.

Earlier, Sandeep Sharma caused maximum damage in the Mumbai Indians’ innings and returned with stunning figures of 5-18–the best by an Indian bowler for the Royals, and on his return from injury too as Rajasthan restricted Mumbai to 179/9 after just nine runs came in the final two overs.

After early setbacks resulted in them being restricted to 45/3 in Power-play, Tilak Varma and Nehal Wadhera rebuilt the innings with a steady stand partnership as Ravichandran Ashwin completed his four overs for 31 runs and went wicketless once more having claimed just one in the tournament to date. Varma completed his fifty in 38 balls — and at 21 years and 166 days, he is the third youngest to reach 1000 runs in IPL.

Before that Yuzvendra Chahal reached the milestone of 200 wickets–first bowler in the history of IPL. Chahal’s third ball gripped on a good length as Mohammad Nabi closed the face on the front foot, and it was a simple lob catch back into his waiting hands that brought up his 200th IPL wicket.

Only two other men have previously reached 200 wickets in a T20 competition — Danny Briggs (219) and Samit Patel (208), both in England’s T20 Blast. Mumbai Indians were 72 for 4 after 10 overs.

Chahal came back with his third over of his spell and was taken into remand as Wadhera and Tilak hammered him for 20 runs (the most expensive of the inning). After Tilak’s first ball six, Wadhera took it upon himself to lead the celebrations with two more sixes in a very significant over. Mumbai were 151 for 4 after 16 overs.

Boult came back into attack for his last over of the spell and broke the big partnership of 99 runs between Wadhera and Verma. It was an attempted uppercut from Wadhera, looking to reach his own fifty, but the returning Trent Boult outfoxed him with the slower short ball.

Nehal Wadhera got out scoring 49 in 24 deliveries. It was a very timely strike from Avesh Khan, who aimed full and straight with Hardik Pandya shuffling to the off-side and nailed him plumb in front with the fast full-toss. Mumbai Indians’ captain got out for a run-a-ball 10.

It was a superb over from Avesh as just six runs came from it. Avesh nailed his length perfectly, and one ball later, Varma holed out to deep mid-on on the first ball of Sandeep’s final over. Varma got out after scoring 65 in 45 deliveries.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians 179/9 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 65, Nehal Wadhera 49; Sandeep Sharma 5-18, Trent Boult 2-32) lost to Rajasthan Royals 183/1 in 18.4 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 104 not out, Sanju Samson 38 not out; Piyush Chawla 33-1) by nine wickets.

ALSO READ: Gujarat Titans Edge Past Punjab Kings in IPL Nail-biter

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DC Rolls Over GT, Secures Win with Ease

The big victory at Ahmedabad sees DC jump from ninth to sixth place in points table and leapfrog GT in the process…reports Asian Lite News

Ishant Sharma took two crucial scalps in power-play while Mukesh Kumar shined with 3-14 to lead an impressive bowling show for Delhi Capitals to bowl out Gujarat Titans’ for just 89 and set up their six-wicket win at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday.

On a black-soil pitch which was used for the first time in this season, the ball kept low, came slow on the batters and gripped a bit for spinners. All of this was ideal for DC bowlers to bowl economical spells and keep GT on a very tight leash. Barring Kuldeep Yadav, all bowlers were amongst the wickets, with Mukesh clinching his best-ever bowling figures in the IPL.

DC were also very sharp in their fielding, with captain Rishabh Pant, who giggled at the toss before electing to bowl first, using his bowlers very well and taking two catches plus as many effective stumpings in quick fashion. In reply, cameos from Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel and Shai Hope made short work of the chase to wrap it up in 8.5 overs.

The big victory at Ahmedabad sees DC jump from ninth to sixth place in points table and leapfrog GT in the process. GT being bundled out for 89 is now their lowest ever total since entering the IPL fold in 2022. Their previous lowest total in the IPL was 125, which co-incidentally also came against DC in Ahmedabad last year.

Ishant landed the first blow by getting Shubman Gill, who hit two crisp fours earlier, to drive straight to cover. Wriddhiman Saha tried to hoick across the line against Mukesh, but chopped on to uproot his middle-stump.

GT plunged into more trouble as Sai Sudharsan, who punched and creamed the drive off Khaleel Ahmed for back-to-back boundaries, was run-out by a brilliant direct hit from Sumit Kumar running in from short mid-wicket at the non-striker’s end despite making a desperate dive.

In the same over, David Miller got a slight inside-edge off Ishant and Pant dived full stretch to his left for taking a low catch, followed by getting the decision changed successfully on review. A maiden over from Khaleel followed as GT ended the power-play at 30/4.

It became 47/5 soon as Abhinav Manohar tried to push at an outside off-stump delivery from Tristan Stubbs and Pant, with a child-like smile, was quick to dislodge the bails for completing the stumping.

A ball later, impact player Shahrukh Khan stepped down the pitch to pull off Stubbs, but missed it and Pant, despite not gathering it cleanly, completed the stumping as the ball bounced off his gloves to hit the stumps.

Rahul Tewatia went for the slog-sweep against Axar Patel, but the ball turned in to trap the batter lbw. With umpire’s call showing the ball clipping side of leg-stump, Tewatia had to depart as GT continued to slide.

Mohit Sharma tried to break free, but holed out in the deep off Khaleel. Rashid Khan, who hit a four before the half-way mark, hit the first six of the innings by launching Kuldeep over extra cover for six. But in a bid to slash a short ball from Mukesh, Rashid gave a faint outside edge behind to Pant. A ball later, Mukesh castled Noor Ahmad to end GT’s innings in 17.3 overs.

Chasing a paltry 90, Fraser-McGurk got going from the word go by lofting Sandeep Warrier for six and four, before slashing twice off Spencer Johnson for the same result. His short yet cracking knock ended at 20 off 10 balls after flicking to mid-wicket off Johnson.

Warrier got his first scalp in the third over with a well-directed bouncer which Prithvi Shaw ballooned to short third man. Porel was delightful in punching, and pulling for a four and two sixes before being castled by Warrier.

Hope nailed his flicks, and flat-bat shots to pick three quick boundaries, before reverse-sweeping to backward point off Rashid. Pant continued his impressive time by flat-batting a drive off Noor Ahmed for four, before dancing down the pitch to clear long-off for six.

Sumit thumped Noor for a brace of fours, second of which came off a bottom-edge, which also turned out to be the winning runs for DC to complete the chase in 53 legal deliveries and see their net run-rate rise from -0.975 to -0.074.

Brief Scores: Gujarat Titans 89 in 17.3 overs (Rashid Khan 31; Mukesh Kumar 3-14, Ishant Sharma 2-8) lost to Delhi Capitals 92/4 in 8.5 overs (Jake Fraser-McGurk 20; Sandeep Warrier 2-40) by six wickets

ALSO READ: Buttler Century Secures Nail-biting Victory for RR

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CSK Dominates with Jadeja’s Spell, Gaikwad’s Heroics

Chennai Super Kings registered their third home win of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 with a seven-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium…reports Asian Lite News

Ravindra Jadeja starred with a miserly spell of 3-18 to turn the game on its head, while captain Ruturaj Gaikwad made a welcome return to form through an unbeaten 67 off 58 balls as defending champions Chennai Super Kings registered their third home win of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 with a seven-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.

Jadeja maintained a stump-to-stump line and made subtle changes in pace and trajectory to rattle KKR’s big hitters in his four overs of a match-defining spell. Fast-bowlers Tushar Deshpande and a retuning Mustafizur Rahman bowled exceptional spells of great lines and lengths coupled with impeccable slower deliveries in the fag end to pick 3-33 and 2-22 respectively.

The trio’s efforts meant KKR were restricted to a below-par 137/9 on a sluggish pitch offering turn. Later, Gaikwad dazzled in front of the faithful home crowd with a flurry of delightful nine boundaries to carry his bat and complete the modest chase with 14 balls to spare.

Coming into this game, Gaikwad had scored 88 runs in four matches with a highest score of 46. But when it mattered, along with dew coming in, he stood up tall and relied on timing plus piercing the gaps to get a comfortable win for CSK. He was also supported by nice 20s from Daryl Mitchell and impact player Shivam Dube in snapping KKR’s unbeaten streak.

Electing to bowl first, Deshpande got a length ball to shape away from Phil Salt, who couldn’t keep it down and slashed to backward point for a golden duck. He also made the dangerous Sunil Narine play and miss a lot in the opening over, by not giving any room and bowling majorly on his hips. But Narine got going against Deshpande in the third over, whipping, thumping and flicking to collect two fours and a six. He then brought out the straight drive against Shardul Thakur for four and dispatched Maheesh Theekshana over long-on for six to bring up KKR’s 50.

From the other end, young Angkrish Raghuvanshi played four authoritative boundaries, including launching a six over Theekshana’s head as KKR ended the power-play at 56/1. But then Jadeja arrived to bring CSK back into the match by taking three wickets in eight balls.

Chennai: Chennai Super King’s MS Dhoni greets Kolkata Knight Rider’s captain Shreyas Iyer after won the IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders at MA Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai, Monday, April 08, 2024.(IANS)

On his first ball, Jadeja trapped Raghuvanshi lbw, when the batter shaped up for a reverse sweep, and missed it to be out for 24. He had Narine miscuing to long-off and fall for 27, before returning to have Venkatesh Iyer pulling straight to mid-wicket. Ramandeep Singh was next to fall after being cast by a carrom ball from Theekshana.

With cutters ruling the roost, captain Shreyas Iyer struggled to get going despite collecting two boundaries. Rinku Singh looked scratchy and chopped onto his stumps off a wide, slower delivery from Deshpande. Andre Russell was kept quiet by wide slower balls, mainly from Mustafizur. After carving two fours in the off-side area, he holed out to long-on for run-a-ball 10 off a fuller slow delivery from Deshpande, despite being dropped by MS Dhoni.

Iyer’s struggle ended on 34 when he slogged to deep mid-wicket off a slower ball from Mustafizur, who also had Mitchell Starc pulling to deep square leg, as KKR made 38 runs in their last five overs, losing four wickets.

Chasing 138, Rachin Ravindra got moving with three fours coming via an on-drive, loft and heave off Starc in the third over. But in a bid to go over long-on, Ravindra miscued one to the fielder off Vaibhav Arora. From the other end, Gaikwad began by ramping Arora for four, followed by him taking three boundaries off left-arm spinner Anukul Roy, all of which had a silken touch. He backed away to create room for driving thrice in the packed off-side gap with exquisite timing and precision.

Gaikwad then smashed Arora for two back-to-back fours –- a punched drive was followed by a fierce cut, as CSK made 52/1 in power-play. Mitchell kickstarted his promotion to three, with Ajinkya Rahane nursing a calf strain, by dancing down the pitch to loft Narine for six, followed by reverse-sweeping him for four more.

With Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy bowling a few tidy overs, Gaikwad and Mitchell didn’t take undue risks to keep the scoreboard moving. Gaikwad got his first fifty of the season with a brace off Chakaravarthy, but Narine broke the second wicket stand of 70 off 55 balls by castling an advancing Mitchell with flight and turn through the gate.

With the finish line in sight, Gaikwad and Dube took a pulled four each off Starc, before the latter whacked Chakaravarthy for powerful sixes down the ground and over long-off. Dube powerfully dispatched Arora for another six over deep mid-wicket, before the pacer flattened his off stump. After Dhoni took a single, Gaikwad finished off the chase by slapping Roy through cover for four to ensure CSK got its eighth win over KKR at Chepauk.

Brief scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders 137/9 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 34, Sunil Narine 27; Ravindra Jadeja 3-18, Tushar Deshpande 3-33) lost to Chennai Super Kings 141/3 in 17.4 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 67 not out, Shivam Dube 28; Vaibhav Arora 2-28, Sunil Narine 1-30) by seven wickets

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Vintage Kohli, Karthik Blitz Seal RCB’s Victory

Karthik swiftly entered the game, smashing an undefeated 28 from 10 deliveries, including three fours and two sixes. He partnered with Mahipal Lomror (17 not out) in an unbroken 48-run alliance, guiding RCB to victory with four balls remaining…reports Asian Lite News

Talismanic batter Virat Kohli produced a vintage batting performance to score a magnificent 77 while Dinesh Karthik struck an unbeaten 10-ball 28 blitz to guide Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their first win of IPL 2024, beating Punjab Kings by four wickets at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday.

After their bowlers, led by brilliant spells from Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal and Glenn Maxwell, kept PBKS to 176/6, Kohli entertained the capacity crowd with a stunning 49-ball 77, laced with two sixes and 11 fours, dishing out another masterclass in chasing in T20s. He was fortunate to be dropped by Jonny Bairstow for nought at the start of the chase, which turned out to be a vital moment. But when Harshal Patel took him out in the 16th over, RCB looked in a spot of bother, requiring 47 runs off 22 balls.

Karthik walked in and smashed an unbeaten 28 off 10 balls, laced with three fours and two sixes while sharing an unbroken 48-run stand with Mahipal Lomror (17 not out) to help RCB get over the line with four balls to spare.

Chasing 177, Kohli began by edging without any footwork against Curran and Bairstow failed to catch the ball and conceded a boundary. He would go on to drive Curran through covers twice and clip past short fine leg to take 16 runs off the opening over.

Even as Kohli got the RCB innings off to a flier with three authoritative boundaries off Arshdeep Singh, wickets fell from the other end as captain Faf du Plessis mistimed a loft off Kagiso Rabada to mid-on and Cameron Green nicked behind off the fast bowler.

PBKS effected a slowdown via Curran, and Harshal Patel varying their pace and variations while Harpreet Brar bowled mostly in the length area and maintained a stump-to-stump line. But it didn’t have much effect on Kohli as he smoked Rahul Chahar over extra cover for six, before reaching his fifty in 31 balls.

Brar’s efforts paid off when he castled an impatient Rajat Patidar and had Glenn Maxwell chop onto his stumps. Kohli put RCB in control by pulling and glancing Harshal Patel for six and four respectively. He then hit the pacer for back-to-back fours – swipe across the line and cream through extra cover – before slicing to deep backward point.

After Anuj Rawat was foxed by a slower ball from Curran, Lomror played the second fiddle with his flick and pull finding boundaries, while Karthik was calm in glancing, swiping, pulling and pre-mediating a scoop for a late flurry of boundaries, before finishing off the chase with a drive hammered down the ground to spark jubilant scenes for RCB and its supportive fans in the stadium.

Brief scores:

Punjab Kings 176/6 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 45, Jitesh Sharma 27; Mohammed Siraj 2-26, Glenn Maxwell 2-29) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 178/6 in 19.2 overs (Virat Kohli 77; Dinesh Karthik 28 not out; Harpreet Brar 2-13, Kagiso Rabada 2-23) by four wickets

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