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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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KKR Go Ruthless on DC

It’s the first time that KKR have started an IPL season with three consecutive wins, setting themselves as potential title contenders…reports Asian Lite News

Last week, one didn’t think of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s record highest score of 277 being upstaged in IPL 2024. But Kolkata Knight Riders had other plans by unleashing a six-hitting carnage in Visakhapatnam, though they settled for 272, the second-highest score in the history of the competition.

Sunil Narine (85), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (54), Andre Russell (41) and Rinku Singh (26) produced blistering fireworks to set the base for KKR’s 106-run win over Delhi Capitals at Visakhapatnam on Wednesday evening. Captain Rishabh Pant and Tristan Stubbs scored entertaining fifties for DC in an but-obvious uphill chase of 273.

Pant continued to build up on his positive return to competitive cricket by hitting five sixes and four boundaries in a 25-ball 55, while Stubbs hit eight boundaries in his 32-ball 54 to help the hosts’ save some blushes, before being 166 all out in 17.2 overs.

Effective bowling from KKR, starting from Mitchell Starc and Vaibhav Arora in power-play to Andre Russell, Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine, ensured that the visitors’ are now at top place on the points table. It’s also the first time that KKR have started an IPL season with three consecutive wins, setting themselves as potential title contenders.

On a placid pitch, KKR produced two hours of sensational carnage by hitting 22 fours and 18 sixes, with DC bowlers minus Kuldeep Yadav and Mukesh Kumar bearing the brunt of ruthless big-hitting. Narine was quick in creating room and lofting with ease to collect runs for fun in what is now his highest T20 score ever coming off just 39 balls.

Young Raghuvanshi, a member of India’s 2022 U19 World Cup winning campaign, impressed with his wrist work and the ability take on DC’s bowlers by mixing innovation with copybook strokeplay to get his maiden IPL fifty. Russell and Rinku brought out their usual fireworks at the end to add more intensity to KKR’s stunning batting onslaught.

Electing to bat first, KKR got going with Phil Salt taking two fours off Ishant Sharma in the second over. Narine got into the act by slashing Khaleel Ahmed through the off-side for a boundary, before Salt joined in with two driven fours to take 15 runs off the third over.

Boundaries continued to flow for Narine as he smacked two sixes off Ishant – a length ball was lofted over mid-off and a short delivery pulled over deep square leg. He then guided the pacer through backward point for a boundary, carved drive over long-off for six and ended the over with a thick edge going for four to bring up KKR’s fifty at the end of fourth over.

Anrich Nortje made an immediate impact when Salt was caught at mid-off in the fifth over, but young Raghuvanshi pulled and punched off him to get two quick boundaries. Narine, who was lucky to survive on 24 when Rishabh Pant failed to take a review on a faint edge, hit Rasikh Salam for three fours and a six to complete a 21-ball fifty as KKR ended power-play at 88/1, going past 85/0 they made against RCB last week.

Post power-play, there was no respite for DC as Narine and Raghuvanshi continued to take runs aplenty against the bowlers. Narine nonchalantly hammered Axar Patel for two sixes, while Raghuvanshi was impressive in using wrists and fast bat-swing to smash boundaries, with a reverse-hit off Rasikh going over third man for six being the standout.

Narine moved to 80s with a flat-batted six over long-off against Nortje, also bringing up his 100-run stand with Raghuvanshi. But Mitchell Marsh took him out with a bouncer in the 13th over, which Narine looked to pull, but a faint nick went behind to Pant.

Raghuvanshi got his maiden IPL fifty off just 25 balls, but fell two balls later when he tried to ramp off Nortje and was caught at deep third man. Russell feasted on hit-me deliveries from Nortje and Salam to hit two fours and as many sixes before the second time-out.

Post interval, Russell smashed two sixes and a four, while captain Shreyas Iyer hammered two maximums, before getting a top-edge on a short ball from Khaleel to mid-on. Things went from bad to worse for DC as over-rate penalty was imposed for last two overs, allowing them to have only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle.

Rinku had some fun by using his strong bottom hand to smash Nortje for three sixes and a four, before toe-ending a slog to mid-on. Ishant produced a magical moment by having Russell floored with a menacing 144kmph inswinging yorker and had Ramandeep Singh caught at extra cover to keep KKR five short of breaking SRH’s record of 277.

The move of bringing Arora as an Impact Player paid off as he removed Prithvi Shaw, who was caught by mid-on taking an excellent low catch. Starc picked his first wicket of the season as Marsh nailed the square-drive, but hit straight to cover-point.

Arora was great in extracting movement off the pitch and was rewarded with his second wicket when Abishek Porel top-edged a pull to short fine leg. Starc also had his second scalp when David Warner chopped on to his stumps, leaving DC at 33/4.

Pant began to find his groove by flicking Starc for six, before bringing out a nice pick-up shot over deep square leg and pulling in the same region off Russell. Stubbs began with back-to-back fours off Arora and welcomed Chakaravarthy with a brace of sixes over mid-wicket and mid-on to bring up the fifty of the fifth-wicket stand with Pant.

Though spinners put brakes on DC’s scoring, Pant went berserk with his shot selection, power and usage of pace by taking 28 runs off part-timer Venkatesh Iyer. He brought out the trademark hook and pick-up shots for sixes, while flicking, slicing, whipping and slashing for four boundaries, including bringing up his fifty in 23 balls.

But Chakravarthy got the better of Pant when he mistimed his slog-sweep and gave a catch to cover, followed by the spinner taking out Axar Patel on the very next ball. Stubbs hit two sixes and a four to get his fifty, before being dismissed by Chakaravarthy. From there, Narine, Arora and Russell took the remaining three wickets each to seal a massive victory for KKR.

Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 272/7 in 20 overs (Sunil Narine 85, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 54; Anrich Nortje 3-59, Ishant Sharma 2-43) beat Delhi Capitals 166 in 17.2 overs (Rishabh Pant 55, Tristan Stubbs 54, Vaibhav Arora 3-27, Varun Chakaravarthy 3-33) by 106 runs

ALSO READ-Mayank Yadav’s 3-14 Dismantles RCB’s Hopes

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Rinku pulls off miracle for KKR

Kolkata’s Rinku Singh smashed five successive sixes on the last five balls of Yash Dayal to complete an improbable heist in the history of IPL…reports Asian Lite News

With five balls left in the final over, Kolkata Knight Riders needed 28 runs, with a victory for Gujarat Titans looking imminent, especially after stand-in captain Rashid Khan took a hat-trick.

But Rinku Singh smashed five successive sixes on the last five balls off Yash Dayal to complete an improbable heist in the history of IPL and give Kolkata a memorable three-wicket victory at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Fifties from B Sai Sudharsan and Vijay Shankar, including him smashing Lockie Ferguson and Shardul Thakur for five sixes and two fours in the 19th and 20 overs, yielding 45 runs overall, took Gujarat to 204/4 in 20 overs.

In reply, Venkatesh Iyer smashed 83 off 40 balls and shared a 100-run partnership off 55 balls with captain Nitish Rana to take Kolkata to victory. But ‘ashid’s hat-trick in the 17th overturned the game in G’jarat’s favour before Rinku brought in another twist through his unbeaten 48 in a jaw-dropping display of strokeplay to seal a Kolkata win.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz fell to a short ball from Mohammed Shami in the third over, with short leg holding on to the catch and avoiding a collision with substitute keeper KS Bharat. Josh Little sent back N Jagadeesan in the fourth over by having him pull straight to deep square leg.

Iyer, coming in as an impact player for Suyash Sharma, got off the mark with an upper cut over the third man for six. Every shot coming from his bat was finely middled – like the punch off Shami, executing a deft shot off Alzarri Joseph and pulling off Dayal to hit a boundary each in the last three overs of power-play.

After the field restrictions were lifted, Iyer pulled Dayal for a four and six in the seventh over. In the next over, Rana pulled and cut off Alzarri Joseph for two sixes. Rashid brought himself on in the ninth over, but Iyer slog-swept him for six, followed by Rana pulling for four more in the 11th over.

In the next over, Iyer reached his fifty in 26 balls by flicking Dayal past short fine leg for four, followed by hitting a brace of sixes over square leg and long-off. Boundaries continued to flow as Rana brought out the sweep and reverse-sweep against Rashid. But Joseph broke the century-partnership in the 16th over as Rana chipped straight to mid-off.

Iyer continued to keep Kolkata in the hunt, hitting Little for two fours in the 15th over, before ending the over with a clean swing over long-off for six. His blistering knock came to an end in the next over when he holed out to long-on off Joseph.

The crowd suddenly found its noise back and that got louder in the 17th over when Rashid had Andre Russell caught behind off an inside edge, Sunil Narine caught at deep mid-wicket and trapped Shardul Thakur lbw with a googly to complete a sensational hat-trick.

But Rinku had other ideas – hitting Little straight down the ground for six and pulling him through square leg for four in the 19th over. With 29 needed off the final over, Rinku feasted on poor balls from Dayal by smashing a hat-trick of sixes over wide long-off, backward square leg and long-off. He then hit successive sixes over long-on fence to give Kolkata an unimaginable victory.

Earlier, Sudharsan smashed his second successive half-century of the tournament through 53 off 38 balls while Shankar slammed a sensational 63 not out off just 24 balls to take Gujarat above 200.

Wriddhiman Saha fell in a bid to go big against Narine, top-edged a slog sweep, and Jagadeesan running backwards to take a brilliant over-the-shoulder catch. While Sudharsan got off the mark with a late cut against Narine for four, Shubman Gill was pristine in successive driven fours off Varun Chakaravarthy.

The duo took to attacking the spinners in their 67-run stand – Gill used his feet to loft for boundaries, while Sudharsan was superb in holding his shape and dancing down the pitch for his lofted shots.

Gill tried to loft off Narine in the 12th over but holed out to long-on. Abhinav Manohar began his promotion to number four by hitting a hat-trick of fours off Umesh, but his innings was cut short by a deceptive googly from Suyash, which spun back to beat his inside edge and crashed into the stumps.

Sudharsan pulled Thakur through mid-wicket for four, before getting his fifty in 34 balls. But in the 18th over, he holed out to long-off against Narine. With the score at 158/4 in 18 overs, Shankar provided for the finishing touch, as a top-edge on his pull went for six.

He followed it up by flaying a wide delivery over the short third man for four and ended the 25-run over of Ferguson with a clean loft over long-off for six. Shankar notched up his fifty in 21 balls with a hat-trick of sixes off Thakur through pull, loft and slog in the final over, to take Gujarat above 200, which turned out to b’ insufficient in front of Rinku’s unforgettable heist.

Brief scores: Gujarat Titans 204/4 in 20 overs (B Sai Sudharsan 53, Vijay Shankar 63 not out; Sunil Narine 3-33, Suyash Sharma 1-35) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 207/7 in 20 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 83, Rinku Singh 48 not out; Rashid Khan 3-37, Alzarri Joseph 2-27) by three wickets

ALSO READ: Chennai Super Kings defeated Mumbai Indians by seven wickets 

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Rampant KKR thump RCB by whopping 81 runs

Shardul Thakur, nearly got out on his first ball, slammed the joint-fastest fifty of the season in 20 balls through his sensational 68 off 28 deliveries…reports Asian Lite News

In their first home game of IPL 2023 at a packed Eden Gardens, Kolkata Knight Riders were in tatters at 89/5 in 11.3 overs. Royal Challengers Bangalore had David Willey and Karn Sharma picking up two wickets in as many balls, with many fearing an embarrassing defeat for KKR.

But Shardul Thakur, nearly got out on his first ball, also the hat-trick ball, as the inside edge went past leg-stump, slammed the joint-fastest fifty of the season in 20 balls through his sensational 68 off 28 deliveries. That stunning turnaround set the base for KKR to thrash RCB by 81 runs to get their first win of the tournament.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz dazzled in the start with a stroke-filled 57 while Rinku Singh chipped in with a vital 46, apart from sharing an important 103-run partnership off just 47 balls with Thakur to propel KKR to a mammoth 204/7.

In reply, Kolkata’s three mystery spinners — Varun Chakaravarthy (4/15), Sunil Narine (2/16) and debutant Suyash Sharma (3/30) took nine wickets between themselves to bamboozle the RCB batters and bowl them out for 123 in 17.4 overs.

Gurbaz began by feasting on width or short balls from Mohammed Siraj, and being quick in cutting him through backward point, point and short third man for boundaries.

But from the other end, Willey rocked Kolkata by castling Venkatesh Iyer through the gate with a short delivery angled in from around the wicket. On the very next ball, he got a length ball to nip away to beat the outside edge of Mandeep Singh and crash into off-stump.

There was no stopping Gurbaz though — pulling Akash Deep over short fine leg for six, followed by whacking Willey over the same region for four. After Nitish Rana gloved a reverse sweep to wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik off Michael Bracewell, Gurbaz attacked him and Shahbaz Ahmed with his fierce sweeps, last of which went for six, to bring up his fifty.

Karn then led Bangalore’s fightback with back-to-back strikes in the 12th over — Gurbaz reverse-swept to short third man while Andre Russell holed out to long-off for a golden duck. Then came Thakur and provided much-needed momentum to Kolkata’s innings — hitting two fours and six off Akash, before sweeping off Karn.

He used his feet very well in slamming Bracewell for a brace of sixes over mid-wicket fence, before flat-batting off Willey for a boundary. Thakur brought up his maiden IPL fifty in 20 balls with a fierce pull in the gap between long-on and deep mid-wicket off Harshal Patel.

RCB’s death bowling woes came up to the fore yet again as full tosses, including one above the waist and half-volleys were being easily dispatched by Thakur and Rinku for boundaries. Though Rinku gloved a bouncer from Harshal and Thakur pulled to mid-wicket off Siraj, Umesh Yadav hit a four through mid-off to ensure Kolkata crossed 200-mark.

Virat Kohli began the chase of 205 by clipping a half-volley outside leg stump from Umesh for four and ended the opening over with another boundary slashed in the gap between third man and backward point.

He and Faf du Plessis hit Tim Southee for two fours and as many sixes each in the fourth over yielding 23 runs. But from there, the Narine-Chakaravarthy-Suyash annihilated the RCB challenge.

Kolkata, Apr 06 (ANI): Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Shardul Thakur celebrates the dismissal of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Michael Bracewell during their match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, at Eden Gardens, in Kolkata on Thursday. (ANI Photo)

Kohli played across the line against Narine, but missed the ball and was castled through the gate in the fifth over. In the next over, du Plessis went for an expansive drive against a fuller ball from Chakravarthy, but got an inside edge to his stumps.

In his next over, Chakaravarthy’s quicker googly beat the inside edge of Glenn Maxwell to crash into the stumps. Two balls later, he ended Harshal’s promotion by extracting an inside edge to crash into the stumps.

More misery followed Bangalore as Shahbaz picked out the deep point with his reverse sweep off Narine, as half the side was back in the hut in 8.5 overs. Bracewell put up some resistance with two boundaries, but gloved a pull off Thakur to diving short fine leg.

Impact player Anuj Rawat tried to slog-sweep against Suyash, but found the short third man. Three balls later, Suyash struck again when Dinesh Karthik went for the loft, but outside edge flew to short third man.

In his next over, Suyash had Karn sweeping to slip and got his wicket as replays showed a faint bottom edge. Varun finished off the proceedings by keeping his eyes on the ball and running to mid-wicket to complete a stunning caught and bowled dismissal of Akash.

Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 204/7 in 20 overs (Shardul Thakur 68, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 57; David Willey 2/16, Karn Sharma 2/26) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 123 all out in 17.4 overs (Faf du Plessis 23, Virat Kohli 21; Varun Chakaravarthy 4/15, Suyash Sharma 3/30) by 81 runs

ALSO READ: Punjab Kings beat Rajasthan Royals in nail-biting thriller

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Kuldeep as standout player makes DC victory on KKR by 4 wickets

KKR could reach a modest total thanks mainly to Nitish Rana (57), who shared a 62-run partnership off 35 balls with Rinku Singh…reports Asian Lite News

xxxx After the super bowling by Kuldeep Yadav (4/14) and Mustafizur Rahman (3/18), David Warner and Rovman Powell played remarkable knocks to help Delhi Capitals beat Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets in Match 41 of the IPL 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Thursday.

Kuldeep looked at his brilliant best against his old franchise and bowled like he had something to prove. He tossed up the ball, mixed the wrong’un and sliders well, and varied the pace.

He and Mustafizur overshadowed a fine rearguard half-century by Nitish Rana (57 off 34) as Kolkata Knight Riders were restricted to 146/9 in 20 overs after Delhi won the toss and elected to bowl.

In reply, Delhi Capitals reached 150/6 in 19 overs thanks to vital knocks by Warner, Lalit Yadav (22) Axar Patel (24) and Powell (33 not out) as they scored their fourth win in 8 matches.

Chasing a modest target, Rishabh Pant’s side got off to a worst-possible start as opener Prithvi Shaw was out for a first-ball duck in the first over, caught and bowled by Umesh Yadav. Mitchell Marsh, too, departed soon, out for 13 runs off seven balls before becoming Harshit Rana’s first IPL victim and Delhi were reduced to 17/2.

David Warner (42) and Lalit Yadav (22) raised 65 runs for the third wicket before the Aussie was out, trying to negotiate a difficult bouncer on the middle by Umesh Yadav and holing out to Sunil Narine just two yards inside the rope. Though the other batters were struggling, Warner looked in control, hitting Tim Southee to two boundaries in the 4th over and two boundaries off successive deliveries by Nitish Rana in the ninth over.

Delhi lost their way a bit after that as Lalit Yadav and skipper Pant fell in quick succession but Axar Patel kept them in the hunt as he blasted a 17-ball 24 to take them to 36 off 30 deliveries at one stage. Patel was run-out at a crucial juncture, caught short going for a second run as Shreyas Iyer made a brilliant throw running in from the boundary.

But Rovman Powell saw them through in the end, hitting a 16-ball 33 to help them record their fourth win and move to sixth position with eight points. KKR remained in the eighth position with six points from nine matches.

Delhi had to chase a modest target thanks to Kuldeep Yadav, who looked at his brilliant best against his old franchise and bowled like he had something to prove. He sent back KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer (42), Baba Indrajith (6), Sunil Narine (0) and Andre Russell (0) to finish with 4/14. It was a pity that he did not get to bowl his fourth over or could have completed a fifer.

ALSO READ-Mumbai Indians most valuable team in IPL 2022: Forbes

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Buttler’s ton, Chahal’s hat-trick helps RR defeat KKR by 7 runs

“Ashwin’s ball stood out as well. McCoy does not talk much and is calm, his ability to bowl well under pressure was commendable,” said Sanju Samson…reports Asian Lite News

Jos Buttler’s 103-run knock, his second of the season, and Yuzvendra Chahal’s five-wicket haul which also included a hat-trick powered Rajasthan Royals to a thrilling seven-run win against Kolkata Knight Riders here at the Brabourne Stadium.

“Chahal and Buttler’s performances were there for the world to see, ” said Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson in the Post-match presentation ceremony.

Ravichandran Ashwin took only one wicket but he got the prized scalp of dangerous Andre Russell leg before wicket for a golden duck. Obed McCoy bowled the final over of the match with KKR needing 11 runs with two wickets in hand but the left-arm pacer dismissed Sheldon Jackson and Umesh Yadav to guide Rajasthan to the fourth win of the season.

“Ashwin’s ball stood out as well. McCoy does not talk much and is calm, his ability to bowl well under pressure was commendable,” said Sanju Samson.

The match was a cliff-hanger where the pendulum tilted from one team to another as Kolkata Knight Riders were sailing through at one stage reaching the triple-figure mark in just 8.3 overs with Shreyas Iyer and Aaron Finch batting at the crease. But wickets from Chahal, Ashwin and Prasidh Krishna brought Sanju Samson led Rajasthan Royals back in the game.

“It was very tense and interesting. It was important to be calm and believe in ourselves. Halfway, I thought it was chaseable. They played very well and did not give chances. But the wickets helped,” said Sanju Samson.

This is Rajasthan Royals’ fourth win of the season in six matches taking them to the second spot in the points table. They will now take on Delhi Capitals in their next match on Friday in Pune. (ANI)

ALSO READ-Sun risers Hyderabad registers fourth win in IPL 2022

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KKR thrashes Mumbai Indians by five wickets in IPL 2022

Pat Cummins (2/49) was the most successful bowler for KKR while Umesh Yadav (1/25) and Varun Chakaravarthy (1/32) also chipped in with one wicket each…reports Asian Lite News

Kolkata Knight Riders thrashed Mumbai Indians by five wickets in an IPL 2022 match at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, here on Wednesday.

Earlier, a brilliant fifty from Suryakumar Yadav (52 off 36) helped Mumbai Indians post 161/4 in 20 overs. With 55 for 3 in 11 overs, Mumbai were in trouble but Suryakumar added 83 runs for the fourth wicket with Tilak Varma (38 off 27) to rescue his side.

Apart from Suryakumar and Varma, Dewald Brevis (29 off 19) also played an entertaining knock on his IPL debut while Kieron Pollard (22 off 5) gave the late flourish to Mumbai’s innings.

Pat Cummins (2/49) was the most successful bowler for KKR while Umesh Yadav (1/25) and Varun Chakaravarthy (1/32) also chipped in with one wicket each.

In reply, Kolkata Knight Riders kept losing wickets at the regular intervals but Venkatesh Iyer (50 off 41) stayed till the end and kept them in the game. But it was Pat Cummins, who played an attacking and record-breaking innings of 56 not out off 15 and powered KKR to win, with four overs to spare and five wickets in hand.

Murugan Ashwin was the most-successful bowler for Mumbai Indians with 2/25.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians: 161/4 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 52, Tilak Varma 38 not out; Pat Cummins 2/49) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 162/5 in 16 overs (Pat Cummins 56 not out, Venkatesh Iyer 50 not out; Murugan Ashwin 2/25) by five wickets

ALSO READ-CSK to face KKR in opening match of IPL 2022

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CSK Beat KKR To Win 4th IPL Title

Faf du Plessis brought his A-game to play a knock of 86 runs and help CSK post a total of 192/3 against KKR, reports Asian Lite News

Faf du Plessis’ 86-run knock backed up by a spirited bowling performance helped Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 27 runs in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 here at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday.

With this, MS Dhoni’s lineup won the IPL trophy for the fourth time, having previously won the tournament in 2010, 2011, and 2018.

Chasing 193, KKR got off to a rollicking start as the opening duo of Venkatesh Iyer and Shubman Gill put on 55 runs inside the first six overs. Iyer continued with his form and he brought up his half-century off just 31 balls in the 10th over of the innings. It seemed like the opening stand was finally broken by Ravindra Jadeja as he had Gill caught, but the replays showed the ball hit the ‘spider-cam’, and hence it was deemed as ‘dead ball’ and the batter got a reprieve. At the halfway mark, KKR’s score read 88/0.

However, Iyer (50) was finally sent back to the pavilion in the 11th over by Shardul Thakur and the 91-run opening stand came to an end. In the very same over, Nitish Rana was dismissed for a duck, and KKR was reduced to 93/2, still needing 100 runs for the win from 54 balls.

The next to fall for KKR were Sunil Narine (2), Shubman Gill (51), Dinesh Karthik (9), and Shakib Al Hasan (0) and the innings quickly derailed with Eoin Morgan’s side left at 120/6 in the 15th over, still needing 73 runs for the win. In the end, the task proved too much for KKR, and CSK ended up winning the IPL 2021 title.

Earlier, Faf du Plessis brought his A-game to play a knock of 86 runs and help CSK post a total of 192/3 against KKR. Sent into bat, CSK got off to a steady start as openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis put on 50 runs inside the first six overs. During this course, Gaikwad went on to leapfrog KL Rahul to become the leading run-scorer in this year’s IPL. The much-needed breakthrough to KKR was provided by Sunil Narine as he dismissed Gaikwad (32) in the 9th over, ending the 61-run opening stand.

Faf du Plessis continued on his merry way and he completed his half-century in the 11th over of the innings with CSK nicely poised at 97/1. Robin Uthappa scored 31 off 15 balls and he proved a perfect foil to Faf and the duo put on 63 runs for the second wicket. However, Narine once again got among the action as he dismissed Uthappa in the 14th over, reducing CSK to 124/2.

Moeen Ali next came out to bat and he also played the very same way and KKR bowlers were left searching for answers. In the final three overs, CSK managed to add 39 more runs, taking the score past the 190-run mark. For Dhoni’s side, Moeen remained unbeaten 37.

Brief Scores: CSK 192/3 (Faf du Plessis 86, Moeen Ali 37*; Sunil Narine 2-26) vs KKR 165/9 (Shubman Gill 51, Venkatesh Iyer 50; Shardul Thakur 3-38). (ANI)

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Morgan blasts lack of intent

KKR

Saturday’s loss is the fourth loss in five matches for KKR this season and it has put them at the bottom of the points table…reports Asian Lite News

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Eoin Morgan criticised his batsmen for not showing intent after his team lost to Rajasthan Royals (RR) by six wickets in an Indian Premier League match on Saturday.

Saturday’s loss is the fourth loss in five matches for KKR this season and it has put them at the bottom of the points table.

“The batting let us down. We lacked a lot of intent throughout the whole innings. We were behind the game right from the start. Didn’t put the bowlers under enough pressure,” said Morgan who himself is struggling for runs and was run out without facing a ball on Saturday.

“We were probably 40 runs short which is a lot in a T20 game. The wicket today wasn’t as good as it has been here at the Wankhede. That was a challenge in itself. Every time we tried taking an attacking option, we lost a wicket. It left us a lot to do at the back-end, which we didn’t obviously do,” he added and admitted that RR adapted to the pitch much better.

He said he wants KKR batsmen to play freely and with a clear mind.

“Clearer the mind, the easier it is. We want guys to play free-flowing cricket. It wasn’t there today unfortunately.”

KKR head coach Brendon McCullum too said that his team’s batsmen lacked intent.

“They have to play with more intent with the bat at the start,” said McCullum.

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RR roar back to form

Rajastan Royals

The win, secured with seven balls to spare, put RR in sixth place in the points table while KKR were pushed to the bottom….reports Asian Lite News

Chris Morris’s four-wicket haul and a composed innings from skipper Sanju Samson (42 not out off 41 balls) helped Rajasthan Royals (RR) seal a six-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in an Indian Premier League match here on Saturday.

The win, secured with seven balls to spare, put RR in sixth place in the points table while KKR were pushed to the bottom.

Morris’s haul, in which he picked power-hitters Andre Russell, Pat Cummins and Dinesh Karthik, helped RR restrict KKR to 133/9 in 20 overs.

RR then chased it with the help of an unbeaten 34-run partnership for fifth wicket between Samson and David Miller (24 off 23 balls).

Though RR opener Jos Buttler failed again, Yashasvi Jaiswal, who came in for Manan Vohra, and Shivam Dube chipped in with identical scores of 22.

Russell, Cummins and Karthik had played explosive innings in the last match against Chennai Super Kings to take their side to 202 from 31/5. But on Saturday, they just couldn’t get going. All three of them were caught while trying to hit the South African over the boundary.

Morris, who was bought for Rs 16.25 crore ahead of this season by RR to become the most expensive player in IPL history, returned with figures of four for 23 in four overs. He was ably supported by left-arm pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman, who took one for 22.

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Saurashtra pace bowling duo Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya who opened the bowling were also impressive with the senior pro taking 1/25 and the junior 1/31 as KKR could never find their bearings.

Only Rahul Tripathi (36 off 26 balls) and Dinesh Karthik (25 off 24 balls) put up some decent batting performances to help their side get to their eventual total.

Morris’s bowling at the death hurt KKR the most.

At 117/5 and 15 balls to go, KKR had a chance to get to 150 with hard-hitters Russell, Karthik and Cummins still there.

But Morris got rid of Russell and Karthik in one over, his third, and then returned to remove Cummins in the last over.

Earlier in their innings, KKR kept losing wickets at regular intervals and found scoring tough. They were reduced to 61/4 just after 10 overs.

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