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Chahal, Jaiswal help Rajasthan thrash Kolkata

The victory means Rajasthan jumped to third place on the points table with 12 points from as many games and net run rate at 0.633, keeping their playoff hopes alive…reports Asian Lite News

Yuzvendra Chahal became the leading wicket-taker in history of the IPL through a mesmerising 4/25 while Yashasvi Jaiswal made mockery of a two-paced pitch by smashing an unbeaten 47-ball 98, including the quickest-ever fifty of the tournament in 13 balls, as Rajasthan Royals thrashed Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets in an season 2023 match at Eden Gardens, here on Thursday.

Chahal was undoubtedly Rajasthan’s standout bowler, spinning a web around Kolkata batters with his slow tossed up deliveries, leg-spin and googly to keep the hosts to 149/8. Jaiswal was then sparkling in his strokeplay, combining bravado and fearless approach to hit 13 fours and five sixes at a strike-rate of 208.51.

The left-handed opener reaching fifty in 13 balls was like a video game in fast-forward mode, leaving the fans in awe of the ability to clear the infield and pick gaps with immaculate ease and precise footwork while taking down Kolkata’s bowlers in jaw-dropping fashion.

Jaiswal also shared an unbroken 121-run stand off 69 balls for the second wicket with Sanju Samson, who finished at 48 not out off 29 balls, as Rajasthan got over the line with 41 balls to spare. The result also means Rajasthan jumped to third place on the points table with 12 points from as many games and net run rate at 0.633, keeping their playoff hopes alive.

The 21-year-old Jaiswal kick-started the chase in spectacular fashion, dancing down the pitch to loft Nitish Rana’s part-time off-spin over long-on for six, followed by slog-sweeping for another maximum. His opening over onslaught continued when he danced down the pitch to drive past mid-off and cut fiercely twice to hit three fours, picking 26 runs off the over.

Though Jos Buttler was run-out for a duck, Jaiswal got a four thanks to an overthrow, and then hooked Harshit Rana for six. He went on to smash Shardul Thakur for three consecutive fours through mid-off, deep mid-wicket and cover, before taking a single to reach his fifty in 13 balls.

Post that, there was no stopping Jaiswal as he hammered a drive off Varun Chakaravarthy for four, followed by cutting and heaving off Harshit for a brace of boundaries. There was no respite in store for Kolkata as Samson pulled and whipped off Chakaravarthy for six and four respectively.

Jaiswal brought out the shot of the innings by backing away to loft inside-out over the extra-cover boundary off Sunil Narine in the seventh over, followed by pulling Suyash Sharma for another maximum.

Nothing went Kolkata’s way as Samson was dropped by Narine off his own bowling, followed by the right-hander slapping Suyash for four and carting Anukul Roy for three sixes over the bowler’s head.

While Samson thumped Chakaravarthy for six, Jaiswal brought out sweep, reverse-sweep for two boundaries, before finishing off the chase with another sweep off Thakur for a four to be 98 not out.

Earlier, Jason Roy flicked off Trent Boult in the third over, but Shimron Hetmyer ran to his right from deep square leg and took a terrific jumping catch on the edge of the boundary. The left-arm pacer then had Rahmanullah Gurbaz mistimed a drive on the up and was caught by Sandeep Sharma running to his right and diving to take the catch at mid-off.

Post power-play, Rajasthan kept Kolkata on a tight leash by off-spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Joe Root. But Venkatesh Iyer, who was struggling for momentum, slog-swept and lofted inside-out over long-off against Ashwin for back-to-back sixes, before Nitish Rana ended the 18-run over with a drive past extra cover for four.

Chahal struck for Rajasthan in the next over, having Rana slog-sweeping straight to diving backward square leg and becoming the leading wicket-taker in history of IPL. But Venkatesh took the leg-spinner to cleaners in his next over, clearing long-off for six, before pulling and driving with ease for two fours.

After Andre Russell smacked KM Asif over long-off for six, the pacer bounced back by cramping the big-hitter for room and cutting straight to backward point. Venkatesh stormed to his fifty in 40 balls by thumping Asif over long-off for six.

But Chahal took him out in the 17th over as the left-hander skied a wide delivery to cover, followed by the leg-spinner trapping Shardul Thakur lbw on review. He returned in the 19th over to have Rinku Singh holing out to long-off, before Sandeep had Sunil Narine dismissed in a similar manner on the last ball.

Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 149/7 in 20 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 57; Yuzvendra Chahal 4/25, Trent Boult 2/15) lost to Rajasthan Royals 151/1 in 13.1 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 98 not out, Sanju Samson 48 not out) by nine wickets.

ALSO READ: Chennai thrash Delhi by 27 runs

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Kolkata keep their playoff hopes alive

After a crucial win against Sunrisers Hyderabad, KKR have managed to keep their qualification hopes alive with their fourth win in 10 games this season…reports Asian Lite News

Spinner Varun Chakravarthy held his nerve to defend nine run in the final over as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) registered a thrilling 5-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in an IPL 2023 match at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, here on Thursday.

Riding on Nitish Rana’s 42 off 31 and Rinku Singh’s 46 off 35, KKR posted 171/9 on the board in front of SRH clinical bowling display. In reply, SRH seemed to be struggling to execute their plans as they lost the rhythm after middle overs and suffered a loss in another game at home.

After a crucial win in their campaign. KKR have managed to keep their qualification hopes alive with their fourth win in 10 games this season.

Chasing 172, SRH opening duo Abhishek Sharma and Mayank Agarwal got off to a solid start before Hyderabad managed to draw first blood and it was Harshit Rana who dismissed Agarwal in the third over.

Agarwal went for a pull but got beaten by the extra pace. He gloved the ball toward the keeper and Rahmanullah Gurbaz had the easy one. Shardul Thakur joined the party in the next over as he removed Abhishek cheaply for 9, reducing SRH to 37/2.

Rahul Tripathi took Andre Russell to the cleaners in the sixth over as he got 4,6,4 before falling on the next ball. Tripathi tried to ramp it over the fine leg boundary but holed out to the deep fielder and Vaibhav Arora took a fine catch. KKR reached 53/3 at the end of the powerplay.

The next over, Anukul Roy trapped Harry Brooks lbw for a duck. KKR kept SRH at bay with an impressive bowling show as the hosts went boundary-less in the next three overs and were reeling 75/4 in 10 overs. Then, Heinrich Klassen and skipper Aiden Markram shifted gears, and the duo stitched a crucial 70-run partnership.

Klassen smashed two sixes against Anukul in the 11th over to release some pressure. Aiden Markram went for back-to-back boundaries Varun Chakravarthy in the next over to keep SRH in the game. When the duo was looking dangerous, Thakur came to the rescue for KKR and shifted the momentum as he got rid of Klassen in the 15th over.

SRH looked much in control when 38 needed off 30 balls but KKR turned the table with brilliant bowling in slog overs as the hosts managed to score 32 runs in the last five overs for the loss of three wickets.

KKR got the big breakthrough with an important wicket of Markram in the 17th over to make the chase tougher for the hosts.

Vaibhav Arora started the penultimate over with a wide and removed Marco Jansen on the next delivery. Bhuvneshwar Kumar came in and began with a boundary. There was a twist in the tail as Abdul Samad smashed a four off the no ball, followed by a dot on the free hit. With a single on the last ball of the over the equation reached 9 off 6 balls.

Hyderabad, May 04 (ANI): Kolkata Knight Riders’ Anukul Roy celebrates a wicket with teammates in a match against Sunrisers Hyderabad during the Indian Premier League 2023, at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, in Hyderabad on Thursday. (ANI Photo/Digital Restriction)

After a couple of singles in the final over, Samad went for a big but ended up losing his wicket, and 7 needed off 3 to win for SRH. Mayank Markande tried to scoop over fine leg and survived a stumping from Gurbaz. A single later, SRH needed nothing less than a six for a win but Chakravarthy ended the over with a dot and KKR sealed a thrilling 5-run win.

Earlier, opting to bat first, KKR had a slow start, losing two quick wickets in the first couple of overs and later lost the set batter, Roy, who threatened with a few boundaries, as the visitors ended the powerplay at 49/3.

While SRH continued with tight bowling, Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh got into the rebuilding act as they found big hits in between to keep the scoreboard ticking and went on to score 61 off 40 balls before a brilliant caught and bowled by Markram ended KKR skipper’s stay on the crease.

Then, SRH lost two wickets in quick succession in the form of Russell and Sunil Narine.

Mayank Markane removed Russell in the 15th over for 24 and half of the KKR side headed back to the hut in 15 overs. And soon Bhuvneshwar dismissed Narine, who was beaten by the lack of pace and chipped it towards extra cover where Agarwal ran to his left to complete an easy catch.

Shardul Thakur slashed straight at deep point off the bowling of Natarajan for a big but Abdul Samad completed a simple catch and it was all on Rinku to give KKR the big finish. Impact player Anukul Roy came in and smashed two successive boundaries in the 19th over to add crucial runs to the board.

Then, Natarajan bowled a brilliant last over, he first denied Rinku a half-century, removing him on low full toss and inflicted a brilliant run-out to dismiss Harshit Rana on the next delivery. He gave away just three off the over as KKR finished with 171/9 in 20 overs.

Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 171/9 in 20 overs (Nitish Rana 42 off 31, Rinku Singh 46 off 35; Marco Jansen 2/24, T Natarajan 2/30) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (Aiden Markram 41 off 40, Heinrich Klaasen 36 off 20; Shardul Thakur 2/23, Vaibhav Arora 2/32) by 5 runs.

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Virat Kohli-Gautam Gambhir verbal fight again

It all started after Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat Lucknow Super Giants by 18 runs…reports Asian Lite News

Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and India captain Virat Kohli and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Gautam Gambhir nearly got into a scuffle after a match between the two teams here on Monday.

Videos have surfaced on social media that show Kohli and Gambhir exchanging words and an animated Gambhir, expressing his resentment at something said or done by Kohli, being stopped by LSG players from charging at his former India and Delhi Ranji Trophy teammate. Kohli and Gambhir eventually had an animated exchange of words before being separated by other players and coaches to control things before it went out of hand.

It all started after Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat Lucknow Super Giants by 18 runs. RCB defended a low score of 127 successfully to strengthen their position in the points table.

Gambhir and Kohli were then seen exchanging words and players of both teams had to intervene and separate the two. Gambhir initially pulled away an LSG player who was talking with Kohli.

Kohli and Gambhir have a history of on-field and off-field fights. Matters first came head-to-head a few years back when Gambhir was leading Kolkata Knight Riders and Kohli was captaining RCB and the two players exchanged words on the field.

They then reconciled and photos of them hugging each other went viral on social media last year. However, three weeks back, videos surfaced on social media of Gambhir celebrating animatedly as Kohli got out during their first clash of the season. After the match, there were reports of the two players exchanging some words.

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Afghan spinners have done it for Gujarat Titans

Afghanistan spinners Rashid Khan (2-27) and Noor Ahmad (3-37) starred with the ball as Gujarat Titans restrict Mumbai Indians to 152/9 and sealed a comprehensive victory by 55 runs…reports Asian Lite News

Riding on an incredible batting display followed by a classy show with the ball, Gujarat Titans registered a clinical 55-run win over Mumbai Indian in their IPL 2023 match at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Tuesday.

With this win, the Titans jumped to the second spot with 10 points on the points table while MI are placed seventh with eight points in seven games.

A half-century from Shubman Gill (56 off 34) followed by a late onslaught by Manohar (42 off 21) and Miller (46 off 22), who shared a 71-run partnership, helped Titans recover from a poor start. Rahul Tewatia gave the finishing touches to the innings with his unbeaten 20 off 5 as GT posted 207/6 in their 20 overs.

Afghanistan spinners Rashid Khan (2-27) and Noor Ahmad (3-37) starred with the ball as Gujarat Titans restrict Mumbai Indians to 152/9 and sealed a comprehensive victory by 55 runs.

Chasing the huge 208-run target, MI had a dismal start as they lost the skipper Rohit Sharma cheaply for four in the Power-play. Rohit tried to flick on the leg-side, but got a leading edge of the bat, the ball chipped back to the bowler and Hardik Pandya completed the catch.

Titans’ bowlers continued to keep the run rate in check from the beginning of the chase except in the fourth over when Hardik Pandya conceded two big hits from Cameron Green as Mumbai managed to score just 29 runs and lost a crucial wicket of their skipper in the Power-play.

Then, Rashid Khan’s double strike in the eighth over put a further dent in MI’s run chase. The leg-spinner first removed Ishan Kishan for 13 then he trapped Impact Player Tilak Verma with his googly for lbw, and MI were reeling at 45/3 in eight overs.

Skipper Pandya rotated his bowler smartly and kept a tight hold on the match as MI were reeling 58/3 at the halfway stage through the chase and the asking run rate climbed to over 15 runs per over.

Noor Ahmad then caused further misery to Mumbai Indians when he sent Cameron Green packing for 33 and a dot ball later removed Tim David for a duck and half of the Mumbai side was back in the pavilion with 59 runs on the board in 11 overs.

Suryakumar smashed Rashid for two boundaries and six in the 12th over and Nehal Wadhera joined the party as he hit a couple of boundaries and a maximum in the next overs before Ahmad caught and bold SKY on the last ball of the over, making the chase even tougher for MI.

Thanks to a few big overs, Mumbai Indians collected 83 runs in between 7 and 15 overs and the equation was 96 needed in 30 balls to win for Mumbai.

Wadhera and Piyush Chawla stood firm and tried to put up a fight as they established a 45-run partnership before the latter got run out in an 18th over. The same over saw Wadhera’s 40-run innings coming to an end when the batter mistimed a scoop shot and the ball went straight to fine leg fielder.

Though the win was impossible for MI, Arjun Tendulkar went for a six in the final over before falling on the fourth ball of the over and Titans sealed a massive 55-run win.

Earlier, put in to bat first, GT had a quiet start as they lost opener Wriddhiman Saha early. Disciplined bowling from Arjun Tendulkar and Jason Behrendorff kept the batters quiet before Gill shifted gears in the sixth over, hitting Cameron Green for back-to-back boundaries, followed by a six on the next ball taking Titans to 50/1 in the Power-play.

After an expensive sixth over, MI turned the screws as Chawla sent packing skipper Hardik Pandya for 13. Soon, Gill collected a boundary and completed his 17th IPL fifty with a single off 30 balls and GT were 84/2 at the halfway stage.

Kartikeya provided MI with the much-needed breakthrough as he got dangerman Gill out for 56. Then, Chawla piled further misery on the Titans as he sent Vijay Shankar back to the hut for 19.

Miller and Manohar accelerated the innings with their hits and the duo collected 42 runs in the next three overs and stitched a stunning 71-run partnership off 35 balls, which Meredith broke in the next over as he trapped Manoher with his full toss.

But Miller and Rahul Tewatia continued the onslaught. The latter smacked two more sixes in the last over and a delivery later Behrendorff removed Miller to deny him a half-century and Rashid Khan finished the innings with a double as the Titans posted 207 for the loss of six wickets.

Brief scores:

Gujarat Titans 207/6 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 56, David Miller 46, Abhinav Monahar 42; Piyush Chawla 2-34) beat Mumbai Indians 152/9 in 20 overs (Cameron Green 33, Nehal Wadhera 40; Noor Ahmad 3-27, Rashid Khan 2-27, Mohit Sharma 2-38) by 55 runs

ALSO READ: Delhi Capitals clinch thrilling win over SRH

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Delhi Capitals clinch thrilling win over SRH

This was the second successive win for Delhi Capitals as they continue their revival thanks to a brilliant effort by their bowlers. SRH succumbed to their third defeat in a row…reports Asian Lite News

Brilliant all-round effort by Axar Patel helped Delhi Capitals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad, for whom Washington Sunder was equally good with both bat and ball, in Match 34 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Monday.

Axar Patel came in to bat with Delhi Capitals struggling at 62/5 and struck a crucial run-a-ball 34 and with help from seasoned Manish Pandey (34 off 28) propelled Delhi Capitals to a below-par 144/9 in 20 overs after skipper David Warner had won the toss and elected to bat first.

Axar starred with the ball too as he claimed 2-21 in his four overs and along with fellow-spinner Kuldeep Yadav (1-22), Anrich Nortje (2-33) and Ishant Sharma (1-18) applied the screws on the Sunrisers Hyderabad batters in their chase of what looked like a below-par score. He claimed the crucial wickets of Mayank Agarwal and Aiden Markram as they dried up the runs in the middle overs.

Mayank Agarwal top-scored with 49 off 39 and kept SRH in the hunt while wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen (31 off 19) and Washington Sundar (24 not out off 15) scripted a late-order revival with some lusty blows as SRH went into the final over needing 13 runs. Mukesh Kumar bowled a brilliant last over to allow only five runs as SRH ended up with 137/8 in 20 overs and fell short by seven runs.

Washington Sundar had earlier claimed three wickets in an over in 3-28 as Delhi Capitals were restricted to a score that looked at least 20 runs short. But in the end, it proved enough thanks to their bowlers.

It was a superb bowling effort by the Delhi Capitals bowlers as Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje and Ishant Sharma applied the squeeze as they throttled the Sunrisers Hyderabad innings in a low-scoring encounter.

Thanks to some late-order hitting by Klaasen and Sundar Sunrisers went into the last three overs needing 38 runs. Klassen and Sundar claimed 15 runs in the 18th over bowled by Mukesh Kumar.

Nortje allowed SRH only 10 runs in the 19th over despite Sundar hitting a fine boundary. They needed 13 runs from the last six deliveries but Mukesh Kumar bowled a superb final over to win the match for Delhi. He allowed only five runs as SRH ended with 137/6 in 20 overs and fell short by a narrow margin.

This was the second successive win for Delhi Capitals as they continue their revival thanks to a brilliant effort by their bowlers. SRH succumbed to their third defeat in a row.

Delhi Capitals bowlers came up with a disciplined effort and kept the SRH batters under pressure, dried up the boundaries and claimed crucial wickets in the middle part of the innings as the asking rate kept climbing.

Earlier, Delhi Capitals failed to capitalise on the Power-play, losing the Australian pair of Phil Salt (0) and Mitchell Marsh within the first five overs as they slumped to 30/2. Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck the first blow for Sunrisers Hyderabad when he had Phil Salt poking at and edging behind a wide-one to wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen.

Delhi Capitals’ problems were compounded further when Washington Sundar struck a triple blow in the eighth over. He claimed DC skipper David Warner, who chose to bat first on winning the toss, attempted a slog sweep to Harry Brook at deep backward square leg and delivery later. Warner had hammered Sundar for a four and six off successive balls in the fourth over, the six a slog-sweep that landed five rows into the stands.

Sarfaraz Khan, who was brought into the playing XI in place of opener Prithvi Shaw, played a similar slog sweep and found Bhuvneshwar Kumar making no mistake at the deep backward square leg.

From 58/4 in the eighth over, Delhi Capitals were reduced to 62/5 off the last ball of the over when Aman Hakim Khan, who slogged the previous delivery for four, played an ugly heave again but this time was caught skied a catch to Abhishek Sharma at the edge of the ring at cover.

Manish Pandey and Azar Patel revived their innings a bit as they added 69 runs for the sixth wicket, taking them past the 100-run mark. Pandey scored 34 off 27, hitting two boundaries while Axar struck a run-a-ball 34. But just when they were looking in a position to make a dash for it in the last five overs, Delhi Capitals lost three quick wickets — losing Pandey, Patel and Anrich Nortje within 10 deliveries to slump from 131/5 to 139/8.

Axar Patel was castled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar with a superb yorker while both Pandey and Nortje were run out, going for a dicey second run as the SRH fielders did not make any mistakes. Washington Sundar recovered well from a fumble to send in a fine throw to the keeper to catch Pandey short. Nortje had a major confusion with Ripal Patel over a second run and was caught well short by Umran Malik with a good throw to the keeper.

Delhi Capitals were not done yet, as they lost Ripal Patel’s run out in the final over when wicketkeeper Klassen brought down the stumps with an underarm throw and Delhi Capitals could only manage a below-par 144/9.But in the end that proved enough for a 7-run win.

Brief scores:

Delhi Capitals 144/9 in 20 overs (Axar Patel 34, Manish Pandey 34; Washington Sundar 3-28, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-11) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 137/6 in 20 overs (Mayank Agarwal 49, Henrich Klassen 31, Washington Sundar 24 not out; Axar Patel 2-21, Anrich Nortje 2-33) by 7 runs.

ALSO READ: Chennai stun Kolkata, back on top

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Chennai stun Kolkata, back on top

Electing to bowl first, Kolkata used four bowlers in Power-play. But none of them were able to stop the glorious pair of Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad…reports Asian Lite News

Devon Conway smashed his fourth consecutive fifty of IPL 2023 while Ajinkya Rahane dazzled with an unbeaten 29-ball 71 and Shivam Dube slammed a quick 21-ball fifty to propel Chennai Super Kings to the top of the points table with ten points through an emphatic 49-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on Sunday.

In front of a crowd which was a sea of yellow, Conway continued his impressive show while Dube attacked the spinners effortlessly and Rahane went after both pace and spin, timing his shots magnificently as Chennai posted the highest IPL score at this venue and against Kolkata.

In reply, Jason Roy and Rinku Singh struck valiant half-centuries, but they were not enough as Kolkata ended up at 185/8, crashing to their fourth straight defeat of the competition. After Chennai had a blistering 73-run opening partnership, Rahane and Dube shared a fantastic stand of 85 runs off 32 balls for the third wicket.

The four-time champions had their plans bang-on in taking Kolkata’s bowling attack to cleaners by hitting 18 sixes and 14 fours in their innings, with leg-spinner Suyash Sharma being the standout bowler for the hosts with his spell of 1-29.

Electing to bowl first, Kolkata used four bowlers in Power-play. But none of them were able to stop the glorious pair of Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad. While Gaikwad got streaky boundaries off an inside edge and top edge, Conway was like a Ferrari in top gear.

He began by swiping across the line over deep square leg for six off David Wiese, followed by using his feet to hammer Varun Chakaravarthy down the ground for another maximum. Conway easily pulled Wiese for four and was lucky to get a boundary despite mistiming a drive.

After Conway sliced hard off Kulwant Khejroliya for four to bring the fifty of the opening partnership, Gaikwad swung him hard for six and then cut Sunil Narine for a glorious four through extra cover, followed by a magnificent inside-out loft over the same region for six.

Kolkata finally broke the partnership when Suyash got a googly to turn in from outside the off-stump and got a bit of dip to rattle Gaikwad’s off-stump. Conway marched on to dance down the pitch and launched Narine for a six over long-on, bringing up his fifty in 34 balls. He then followed it up by nailing a slog-sweep off Chakaravarthy as Chennai brought up their hundred in the 11th over.

His knock ended in the 13th over when he smashed straight to long-off on a wide delivery from Chakaravarthy. Chennai cancelled out the effect of Conway’s fall as Dube smashed two huge sixes in the leg-side in the same over.

Rahane joined the boundary-hitting party by smashing two sixes and a four off Umesh in the 14th over yielding 22 runs, with the one timed over deep backward square leg for a maximum off the bowler’s pace being the standout.

Dube muscled a six off Wiese over long-on and followed it up by slapping past mid-off for four. Post the fifty-run stand coming in just 16 balls, Dube swung through the line to send Suyash over long-on for six.

Rahane welcomed Andre Russell by pulling him for six and four in the 17th over to bring up his fifty in 24 balls. In the next over, Dube got his fifty in 20 balls with a magnificent pulled six, before holing out to long-off on the very next ball.

But Rahane continued to sizzle, bringing out a cheeky scoop off Khejroliya and then danced down the pitch twice to smash consecutive sixes off Chakaravarthy while cutting through cover for four to take 19 runs off the 19th over. Ravindra Jadeja muscled two sixes off Khejroliya in the final over, before holing out to a deep backward square leg, as Chennai crossed the 230-mark.

In reply, Kolkata lost Sunil Narine and N. Jagadeesan in the first two overs. Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer shared a decent 45-run standoff 35 balls before Moeen Ali struck on his first ball by trapping the latter plumb lbw.

Roy came out to bat at five after injuring his ankle earlier while fielding and began with a hat-trick of sixes by sweeping twice and reverse-sweeping once. After Rana slog-swept straight to deep mid-wicket off Jadeja, Roy powerfully swept and sliced off him for six and four respectively, while Rinku slammed another six as 19 runs came off the 11th over.

He then pulled and swung for more boundaries to reach his fifty in 19 balls with a slice past third man for four. Roy went on hit Theekshana for back-to-back fours in the 15th over. But the off-spinner had the last laugh as he castled Roy with a beautiful carrom ball which had some dip.

Despite Andre Russell and Umesh Yadav getting caught in the deep while David Wiese was trapped lbw, Rinku continued to smash boundaries and get his fifty in 30 balls to keep the losing margin below 50 runs.

Brief scores:

Chennai Super Kings 235/4 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 71 not out, Devon Conway 56, Shivam Dube 50; Kulwant Khejroliya 2-44, Suyash Sharma 1-29) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 186/6 in 20 overs (Jason Roy 61, Rinku Singh 53 not out; Maheesh Theekshana 2-32, Tushar Deshpande 2-43) by 49 runs

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Warner powers Delhi to their 1st win

After a strong start, DC suffered a slump in run-rate as they scored 43 runs for the loss of three wickets in the middle overs…reports Asian Lite News

New Delhi, April 21 (IANS) An impressive show by bowlers followed by skipper David Warner’s vital fifty (57 off 41) guided Delhi Capitals their first win of the season, beating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by four wickets in a rain delayed IPL 2023 match at Arun Jaitley Stadium, here on Thursday.

On the back of Axar Patel (2/13), Kuldeep Yadav (2/15) Ishant Sharma (2/19) and Anrich Nortje’ (2/20) superb show, DC bowled out KKR for paltry 127 in 20 overs. Jason Roy’s gritty innings of 43 off 39 and Andre Russell’s 38 not out off 31 were the saving grace for KKR, who lost wickets at regular intervals.

In reply, Warner gave DC a brilliant start, then KKR spinners turned the tables in the middle overs but eventually the hosts sealed the win with three balls to spare to open their account.

Chasing 128, Delhi were off to a strong start with skipper David Warner hitting 10 boundaries out of 12 in the powerplay. Varun Chakravarthy drew the first blood for KKR in the fifth over, trapping Prithvi Shaw for 13. Thanks to Warner’s hits, DC posted 61/1 in the powerplay.

After a strong start, DC suffered a slump in run-rate as they scored 43 runs for the loss of three wickets in the middle overs. After Anukul Roy’s economical over with just one run coming off the seventh over, KKR captain Nitish Rana removed Mitchell Marsh cheaply for 2 in the next over. Roy then joined the party as he dismissed Philip Salt for 5 in the ninth over.

Meanwhile, Warner brought up his fourth fifty of the season with a boundary off the bowling of Roy in the 11th over. A couple of overs later, Chakaravarthy bowled a maiden 14th over with a big wicket of set batter Warner, bringing an end to his 57-run innings.

Axar Patel and Manish Pandey smashed two boundaries, taking 11 runs off the 15th over and brought the equation to 30 off the last four overs.Then, DC lost two wickets in quick succession and the momentum shifted a little bit towards KKR.

Roy came into the attack in the 16th over, after a couple of wides, and a single, he claimed his second as he sent Pandey back to the hut for 21. Then, Rana cleaned up Aman Hakim Khan for a duck.

When 15 needed off 18, Axar survived an lbw twice against Chakravarthy, who gave away just three runs in the 18 over and the equation reached 12 off 12. Axar got lucky for the third time as survived a stumping from Liton Das in the penultimate over as he danced down and missed the line. The keeper whipped the bails off but he was back.

With 7 needed to win, Axar started the final over with a double. On the next ball he got two more on a no-ball. Axar then lofted between long-on and deep midwicket and collected two runs to seal the win for Delhi with three balls to spare.

Earlier, put into bat first, KKR lost three wickets within the powerplay. Ishant Sharma began the attack well, giving away just five runs off the opening over.

After conceding two boundaries to Jason Roy in the second over, Mukesh Kumar ended the over with a wicket of Liton Das, who went for a hook but got top edge towards the square leg and the fielder pouched it with ease.

An over later, Anrich Nortje sent last-match centurion Venkatesh Iyer back to the pavilion early for a duck. Then, Ishant dismissed skipper Nitish Rana cheaply for four and KKR ended the powerplay at 33/3, the lowest score in the first six overs this season.

After Marsh missed a caught bold opportunity in the eight over to dismiss Jason Roy, Axar Patel got Mandeep Singh in the next over. Halfway through the innings, KKR was 64/4.

Axar struck again In the 11 over as he claimed the big wicket of in-form batter Rinku Singh, who swept towards the deep square leg where Lalit Yadav did the rest. Ishant continued to pile the miseries as he dismissed Sunil Narine for 4, leaving KKR to 70-6 in 12 overs.

The wickets fell at regular intervals and pressure kept building on KKR with dot bowls, but Jason Roy stood firm to provide some pace to the innings before he fell to Kuldeep Yadav in the 15th over for 43. Kuldeep picked up his second on the very next ball, trapping impact player Anukul Roy in his googly. Then, Nortje got Umesh Yadav in the 16th over, reducing KKR to 96-9.

Meanwhile, Russell smashed straight onto Nortje’s ankle in the 18th over and the pacer seemed in pain. He was attended by the physios on the ground and completed his over.

Andre Russell hit back-to-back sixes in the last over bowled by Mukesh and got a few extra for KKR to fight. Russell went for a double in the last ball of the innings but Varun Chakravarthy got run out as KKR were bowled out for 127/10.

Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 127/10 in 20 over (Jason Roy 43 off 39, Andre Russell 38 not out off 31; Axar Patel (2/13), Kuldeep Yadav (2/15) Ishant Sharma (2/19) against Delhi Capitals

Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 128-6 in 19.3 overs (David Warner 57, Manish Pandey 21; Varun Chakravarthy 2/16, Anukul Roy 2/19, Nitish Rana 2/17) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 127/10 in 20 overs (Jason Roy 43 off 39, Andre Russell 38 not out off 31; Axar Patel 2/13, Kuldeep Yadav 2/15, Ishant Sharma (2/19) by 4 wickets.

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Green, Varma ensure third win for Mumbai

Hyderabad, Apr 18 (ANI): Mumbai Indians' Jason Behrendorff celebrates a wicket with teammates in a match against Sunrisers Hyderabad during Indian Premier League 2023, at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, in Hyderabad on Tuesday. (ANI Photo/ Digital Restriction)

With a third successive win, Mumbai Indians jumped two spots to sixth in the table…reports Asian Lite News

Cameron Green struck an unbeaten 64 and Tilak Verma a fine cameo while Arjun Tendulkar held his nerve in the final over for his maiden wicket in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as Mumbai Indians (MI) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 14 runs at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Tuesday.

Cameron Green’s unbeaten 64 off 40 along with Tilak Verma’s 37-run cameo off 17 balls guided Mumbai Indians to 192/5. In reply, Sunrisers fell 14 runs short in the chase against MI’s impressive bowling display. With a third successive win, MI jumped two spots to sixth in the table.

Chasing 193, SRH got off to a slow start as they were reduced to 25/2 within four overs. Sunrisers suffered an early blow as Jason Behrendorff got the big fish Harry Brook, the centurion from the last game, in the second over.

Behrendorff claimed his second in the fourth over, dismissing Rahul Tripathi cheaply for 7. With 16 runs off the next two overs, SRH took the Power-play score to 42/2.

Afterwards, Mayank Agarwal and Aiden Markram steadied the ship with their calculated batting.

After his heroics with the bat, Cameron Green made a positive impact with the ball. After Markram hit him for a boundary off the first ball in the 9th over, Green returned the favour by dismissing the SRH captain for 22 runs, ending a 46-run stand for the third wicket.

The next over, Piyush Chawla sent Abhishek Sharma packing for 1. Halfway through the chase, SRH were reeling at 76/4.

After conceding three boundaries and a maximum in the 14th over Chawla was quick to bounce back as he sent Klassen back to the hut on the last delivery of the over, reducing SRH to 127/5.

Riley Meredith got the big breakthrough in the next over as he denied Agarwal’s half-century after dismissing the set batter for 48 in the 15th over and made the task tougher for the hosts as half of the side went back to the pavilion.

With 24 needed off 12, Green bowled a superb penultimate over, conceding just four runs to bring the equation down to 20 needed off the last over.

Rohit Sharma handed the ball to Arjun Tendulkar to bowl the last over. And the youngster held his nerve, picked up his maiden IPL wicket and conceded just five runs in a superb last over as SRH were bowled out for 178.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians had a modest start as they lost the captain early and scored 53/1 in the Power-play.

The SRH bowlers were keeping a tight leash on run rate MI went without a boundary for 18 balls.

Then, Kishan hit the paddle on the next and went for back-to-back boundaries against Mayank Markande to release the pressure. Halfway through MI were 80/1.

Ishan Kishan and Cameron Green steadied things in the middle before Marco Jansen struck twice in one over to dismiss Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav and turned the momentum.

Then, local boy Tilak Varma brought the much-needed impetus to the innings. He along with Green counter-attacked and added a 50+ stand for the fourth wicket.

Varma hammered two fours and back-to-back sixes on the last two balls of the 15th over to Jansen and collected 21 runs off the over. There was no stopping Varma as he hit a boundary and a six off the next over, giving some pace to MI’s innings. However, his crucial innings of 37 off 17 came to an end in the next over.

The next over Cameron Green, who was promoted up the order in tough conditions, brought up his maiden IPL fifty off just 33 balls with a hat-trick of boundaries.

Green and Tim David together collected 14 runs off the final over with the latter getting run out on the last delivery of the innings. With 62 runs coming off the last five overs, MI posted a competitive total of 192 for the loss of five wickets.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians 192/5 in 20 overs (Cameron Green 64 not out, Tilak Verma 37; Marco Jansen 2-43) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 178 all out in 19.5 overs (Mayank Agarwal 48, Heinrich Klaasen 36; Riley Meredith 2-33, Jason Behrendorff 2-37, Piyush Chawla 2-43) by 14 runs.

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Samson blitz rescues Rajasthan Royals

With Rajasthan at 66/4 in 12 overs, Samson breathed life back in the waning chase by hitting Rashid for a hat-trick of sixes…reports Asian Lite News

Rajasthan Royals were literally in a no man’s land at 66/4 in 12 overs in pursuit of chasing down 178 against a Gujarat Titans bowling attack, who bowled 26 dot balls in the first six overs.

With 112 more runs off 48 balls, not many would have given them a chance for a victory. But captain Sanju Samson unleashed by taking 20 runs off Rashid Khan in the 13th over to eventually make 60 while Shimron Hetmyer smashed a whirlwind unbeaten 56 off just 26 balls to give Rajasthan an improbable three-wicket victory.

The stunning last-over heist also means Rajasthan retain their top spot on the points table with eight points. Samson and Hetmyer added a crucial stand of 59 runs off 27 balls, followed by the latter adding 47 runs off 20 deliveries with Dhruv Jurel to complete the chase with four balls to spare.

Mohammed Shami built pressure from the word go while troubling Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler. Gujarat were rewarded when Hardik Pandya had Jaiswal nicking to slip while Buttler’s attempt to scoop backfired as Shami sent the off-stump on a cartwheel ride.

Gujarat could have got their third wicket had Shubman Gill held on to a tough chance at slip to dismiss Devdutt Padikkal. After the powerplay ended at 26/2, Rashid had Padikkal caught by short third man while Riyan Parag holed out to a forward diving long-off.

With Rajasthan at 66/4 in 12 overs, Samson breathed life back in the waning chase by hitting Rashid for a hat-trick of sixes — once over long-off while pulling twice over deep mid-wicket. Hetmyer took on Joseph by heaving past leaping deep square leg for six and slogging through the same region for four more.

After getting his fifty in 29 balls, Samson took on debutant spinner Noor Ahmad, lofting a drive over long-off for six and pulling past short fine leg for four. But the teenager, coming in as an impact player for Gill, had the last laugh as Samson skied to long-off to get his first IPL wicket.

Hetmyer stood tall by smacking two gigantic sixes off Joseph in the 16th over, with Jurel dabbing for a four. He then pulled Rashid for four, before slamming a six over long-on to take 13 runs off the 18th over. Jurel smacked Shami over long-on for six, but the pacer bounced back by having him top-edge a hook to fine leg.

Ravichandran Ashwin slapped his first ball over point for four, and followed it up with a pulled six over deep mid-wicket. Though Ashwin fell after slicing to short third man, Hetmyer finished off the chase by pulling Ahmad over deep mid-wicket for six to complete a sensational chase for Rajasthan.

Earlier, David Miller was dropped on six on his seventh ball as Adam Zampa made a mess of a regulation caught and bowled chance. He went on to top-score with 46 off 30 balls and powered Gujarat to a competitive 177/7.

Apart from Miller, Gujarat were also aided by 45 from Gill, 28 from Hardik and 27 from Abhinav Manohar at the back end. For Rajasthan, pacer Sandeep Sharma was pick of bowlers with 2/25, while Zampa, Yuzvendra Chahal and Trent Boult took a wicket each.

Pushed into batting first, Wriddhiman Saha gave a fat top-edge on a hoick and with wicketkeeper as well as two fielders converging, Boult took a catch on rebound off keeper’s gloves. Sai Sudharsan struck two fours, before being run out for 20.

Gill used his feet well in getting close to the pitch of the ball for sweeping and lofting off Ashwin for back-to-back fours. Hardik, promoting himself to number four, immediately attacked Zampa by swinging down the ground for a four and six respectively.

Ashwin came under further attack as Gill continued to use his feet to loft over extra cover for four and over long-on for six, while Hardik got an outside edge running past short third man for four as 17 runs came off the over.

But Chahal broke the 59-run partnership by having Hardik go for a cross-bat heave, but the ball spun away to take a top-edge to extra cover. Five overs later, Gill holed out to long-on off Sandeep. After being put down on six, Miller smacked Chahal for a brace of sixes in the leg-side.

Manohar hit Boult for back-to-back sixes in the 18th over a pull over long-on was followed by pummeling over long-off. In the next over, Miller pulled Zampa for four, before Manohar launched the leg-spinner high over long-on for six.

But Zampa had the last laugh by having Manohar slicing to point. Miller cracked consecutive fours on wide yorkers from Sandeep through the off-side, before slicing a high full toss to deep cover, as 11 runs came off the final over.

Brief Scores: Gujarat Titans 177/7 in 20 overs (David Miller 46, Shubman Gill 45; Sandeep Sharma 2/25, Adam Zampa 1/32) lost to Rajasthan Royals 179/7 in 19.2 overs (Sanju Samson 60, Shimron Hetmyer 56 not out; Mohammed Shami 3/25, Rashid Khan 2/46) by three wickets.

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Punjab gets back to winning ways, beat Lucknow by two wickets


Lucknow had a fiery start to their defence of 159 as debutant pacer Yudhvir Singh Charak. had Atharva Taide top-edging a pull to third man. On the second ball of his next over, he sent Prabhsimran Singh’s off-stump on a cartwheel ride with a superb nip-backer…reports Asian Lite News

Though Punjab Kings missed the services of regular skipper and opener Shikhar Dhawan due to a niggle, Sikandar Raza stood up to hit his first IPL fifty while Shahrukh Khan applied finishing touches with a late cameo to take the side to a two-wicket triumph over Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

After stand-in captain Sam Curran picked 3-31, the best figures by a bowler on IPL captaincy debut while Kagiso Rabada to 2-34 to keep Lucknow to 159/8, Raza hit 57 off 41 balls to bring Punjab’s chase on track on a tricky pitch. Shahrukh then slammed 23 not out off just 10 balls to ensure the side’s third victory in the competition.

For Lucknow, who have faced their first loss at home in the ongoing season, questions will be raised over introducing leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi late in the attack, from the 15th over, as well as of captain K.L. Rahul making 74, but taking the anchor role for long in the middle overs.

Lucknow had a fiery start to their defence of 159 as debutant pacer Yudhvir Singh Charak. had Atharva Taide top-edging a pull to third man. On the second ball of his next over, he sent Prabhsimran Singh’s off-stump on a cartwheel ride with a superb nip-backer.

Matthew Short was impressive in his 22-ball 34 — pulling, driving, and flicking with ease against Avesh Khan while taking back-to-back fours on short balls from Yudhvir. He then dispatched an overpitched ball from K Gowtham with a lofted drive over long-on for six.

But the off-spinner had the last laugh as on the last ball of Power-play, Short punched straight to a reverse-cupping mid-off. From ther’, Lucknow’s bowlers kept things under control, as Harpreet Bhatia heaved straight to deep backward square leg off Krunal Pandya in the 11th over, despite surviving a direct-hit chance previously.

Raza injected momentum in the chase by lofting Gowtham down the ground for six, followed by hoicking two sixes and a four off short balls from Krunal through the mid-wicket region in the 13th over.

Though Curran and Jitesh Sharma fell cheaply, Raza marched forward to pull Mark Wood through the gap between deep square leg and fine leg to perfection for four and took a single through deep backward square leg to get his fifty in 34 balls.

With Shahrukh teeing off from the word go by smacking Wood over long-on for six, Raza crunched a drive off Avesh for four to bring the equation to 23 runs needed off 18 balls. But Bishnoi dismissed Raza for 57 after the right-handed batter swept straight to deep backward square leg.

Shahrukh got a top edge on six off Wood while Harpreet Brar drove him through extra cover for four. But the pacer bounced back by getting Brar to edge behind in the penultimate over. After taking two runs each on the first two balls, Shahrukh finished off the chase by hammering Bishnoi through long-off for four to seal the win.

Earlier, captain K.L. Rahul top-scored with 74 off 56 balls in Lucknow’s strange innings. The hosts were at 49/0 in Power-play but made only 62/4 in the middle overs and faltered in the end as Punjab picked four wickets while conceding only 48 runs in the last five overs.

Kyle Mayers began by sweeping Short for a six over deep backward square leg, while Raul hit a stunning lofted inside-out drive over extra cover for four off Rabada. Mayers hit sixes off Curran and Rabada over deep mid-wicket but holed out to deep backward square leg off Brar post-Power-play. Deepak Hooda was then trapped lbw by a skiddy delivery from Raza.

Rahul went for strike-rotation alongside Krunal while cutting off Curran past short third and slapping Arshdeep over mid-on to collect a brace of boundaries. He got his fifty in 40 balls with a lofted drive over Rahul Chahar’s head for four.

But Krunal fell in the 15th over to Rabada, miscuing a pull and Shahrukh at deep mid-wicket flicked the ball in the air, went outside and took the catch on the rebound. The fast bowler then had Nicholas Pooran holing out to deep mid-wicket, falling for a golden duck.

Marcus Stoinis teed off by smacking Chahar for consecutive sixes, but Curran took him out in the 18th over by taking a review on the batter trying to glance through fine leg, and replays showed the ball taking a glove edge behind to the keeper.

Rahul then holed out to long-on off Arshdeep in the 19th over, before Curran had Impact Player Gowtham and Yudhvir holing out to fielders in the deep on consecutive deliveries in the final over to keep Lucknow to one short of 160.

Brief scores:

Lucknow Super Giants 159/8 in 20 overs (K.L. Rahul 74, Kyle Mayers 29; Sam Curran 3-31, Kagiso Rabada 2-34) lost to Punjab Kings 161/8 in 19.3 overs (Sikandar Raza 57, Matthew Short 34; Ravi Bishnoi 2-18, Yudhvir Singh Charak 2-19) by two wickets

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