Debutant player of Pakistan Arshad Iqbal broke the helmet of Zimbabwe batsman Tinashe Kamunhukamwe in the 2nd T20I at Harare. Arshad Iqbal, who made his international debut in the second T20I between Pakistan and Zimbabwe, started off his career with a horrifying but a memorable event.
The bowler while delivering his second over in the contest, which Pakistan lost by 19 runs, almost left opposition batsman Tinashe Kamunhukamwe with a head injury, after a bouncer by hit the bowler broke the latter’s helmet into two pieces.
Pakistan Bowler Breaks Zimbabwe Batsman Helmet
The incident took place in the third delivery of the seventh over, when Kamunhukamwe was batting on 19 off 25 deliveries as a short delivery by Iqbal came crashing into the batsman’s helmet.
Kamunhukamwe went for the pull shot, but the speedy delivery deceived him and shattered his helmet. The white leather impacted so much that the first layer of the protective gear was thrashed onto the pitch when the ball struck the helmet.
As soon as Kamunhukamwe was hit, the Pakistan fielders ran to offer him assistance, and soon the Zimbabwe physio stormed on the field and checked the striker’s condition. A mandatory concussion test was carried out before the game resumed again.
Despite getting hit on the head, Kamunhukamwe ended up as the highest run-getter in the match for Zimbabwe. The right-handed stroke maker scored 34 runs from 40 deliveries featuring four boundaries.
Apart from the 25-year-old, no other Zimbabwean batter was able to cross even the 20-run mark as the whole team could only manage to post 118/9 in their allotted 20 overs.
For the visitors, Mohammad Hasnain and Danish Aziz picked up two wickets each, while Faheem Ashraf, Iqbal, Haris Rauf, and Usman Qadir bagged one scalp apiece.
In reply, Pakistan were bundled out for a mere 99, losing the contest by 19 runs. Skipper Babar Azam, with 41 off 45 balls, was their highest scorer.
Luke Jongwe was the pick of the bowler for the hosts, taking as many as four wickets for 18 runs in 3.5 overs.
Lashing out at his batsmen, Pakistan captain Babar Azam on Friday said that the below-par performance of his team against Zimbabwe in the second T20 International has hurt him.
Pakistan loses to Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe, without regular T20 captain Sean Williams and senior batsman Greg Ervine due to injuries, won a low-scoring match by 19 runs, with Brendan Taylor leading them for the first time in seven years.
“Our performance today has hurt a lot and it was very poor cricket from us,” Babar said after Pakistan’s shock defeat to the lowly-ranked Zimbabwean side at Harare Sports Club.
The Pakistan captain Babar Azam said they should have won the match easily, adding that the middle-order has not been performing.
“Given that we chased down 200 totals in South Africa our performance today with the bat was very disappointing. We can’t blame the pitch or conditions for it. Our middle-order is struggling a lot and we are not able to finish matches.”
Babar, who top-scored for his team, said one must also give credit to Zimbabwe for a fantastic bowling and fielding performance.
“Yes the pitch was not that easy but as professionals, this is no excuse for our performance.”
Babar said Pakistan needed to address their problems ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year.
“We knew how the pitch would play but none of us applied himself and we lost wickets at critical stages. I would like to give credit to Zimbabwe for very disciplined bowling and they didn’t drop their catches. Their fielding was impressive.”
This was Pakistan’s first defeat against Zimbabwe in the T20 format.
“Our openers also didn’t just give the start we needed.” “In the T20 matches before the World Cup, we will try to plug in the weak areas and get a good combination going.”
PBKS vs MI Highlights 2021 IPL: Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians lock their horns to play the 5th league match of the IPL 2021 season. Both the team struggles to make consistency in this league.
Match: Punjab Kings(PBKS) vs Mumbai Indians(MI)
Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Toss Details: Punjab Kings won the toss and opt to bowl
We’re going to bowl first. I think we lacked cricket smartness in the last game. When we lost early wickets the middle order should have realized that it wasn’t a 170 wicket. We need to learn from that. The pitch does look sticky and damp and it could get better to bat on later.
Just one change: Ravi Bishnoi comes in for Murugan Ashwin. A leggie for a leggie.
Rohit Sharma | MI Skipper
We were going to bat first anyway. While batting first in our games we have understood how to bat as a group. We have made mistakes but we hope we can put everything to rest tonight.
When we came here we saw some clouds so hopefully, there shouldn’t be any dew. It was just a small niggle on my calf and it looks good now. We are unchanged.
Playing XI
Punjab Kings(PBKS)
KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Moises Henriques, Shahrukh Khan, Fabian Allen, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
Rohit Sharma and de Kock get into the crease to lead Mumbai Indians. While Henriques opens the bowling attack on behalf of Punjab Kings.
Hooda draws the first blood by dismissing de Kock in the second over of the innings for 3 runs. At the end of the power play, MI score 21 runs for 1 wicket loss. It’s the lowest powerplay score this year.
In the last delivery of the 7th over Ravi Bishnoi dismissed Ishan Kishan for 6 runs and loads pressure over the MI side. With stable performance, Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma dragged MI to score 49 runs for 2 wickets loss.
First maximum of the match and it comes from the blade of Hitman.
The duo added 79 runs to the MI scoreboard. The duo maintains a slow run rate on focusing to make a partnership but Ravi Bishnoi in the 17th over dismissed Suryakumar Yadav for 33 runs and breaks the partnership.
With the skipper’s dismissal for 63 runs, MI starts to struggle and loses wicket in a regular interval. At the end of the 20 overs, MI scored 131 runs for 6 wickets loss.
Punjab Kings Batting
KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal gets into the crease to lead PBKS to chase the target of 132 runs. Trent Boult opens the attack on behalf of MI.
The duo started the game without any pressure and moves the team’s score to 45 runs for no wicket loss at the end of the powerplay. Mumbai Indians need to make quick wickets in order to increase their winning percentage.
FIFTY!
A hard-fought half-century for @klrahul11 off as many deliveries.
As expected Rahul Chahar in the 8th over dismissed Mayank Agarwal for 25 runs and draws the first blood. Universal boss Chris Gayle joins hands with skipper KL rahul. The duo with a pack of power shots leads PBKS to register their second victory of the tournament by beating Mumbai Indians by 9 wickets.
Captain @klrahul11 bags the Man of the Match award for his match-winning knock of 60* as #PBKS win by 9 wickets to register their second win of #VIVOIPL 2021.
We don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves. Slowly we are coming together as a team. We are still a young team. Every year we keep bringing in newer guys. It’s important to be patient.
The guys we have backed and given opportunities are slowly coming through. Hooda has been playing really well, Shahrukh got an opportunity and he’s been batting really well, Bishnoi came in this game and the way he bowled was brilliant.
Fingers crossed, hopefully we can keep climbing and keep getting two points every game. Main coach did have a little bit of a long chat about batting second. I felt that the wicket was sticky. I felt that the bowlers always were under pressure, it was important that they bowled on a wicket like this early.
We had heard that there was a lot of dew here. I felt like that could play a part. The drier ball started to grip, when it turns and bounces like that, it gets really hard. It was good of Chris that he got through that period.
He was always confident that he could make it up. He knew whom to target. That’s what you get with Chris, not just destructive batting but also experience of so many years playing T20 cricket. I am sure it gives him (Bishnoi) a lot of confidence.
He, unfortunately, missed the first few games, he’s been working really hard with Anil bhai. There were a few things he needed to correct and he’s been somebody who’s brave, that’s very good to see. He held his composure and bowled really well.
When I know what target I am chasing, it gets slightly easier to pace the innings. Really happy with the way I finished the game and that’s the most important thing.
Indian former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar claims that inconsistent performance from Sanju Samson is the reason for his exclusion in the Indian squad.
Sunil Gavaskar slams Sanju Samson
Samson scored a stunning 119 runs off just 63 deliveries including 12 boundaries and seven sixes against PBKS. Though RR lost the nail-biter by four runs, the skipper was widely praised for his heroics with the willow. However, after the first match, Samson’s form has witnessed a complete downfall as in the next three games he has lost his wicket at 4,1 and 21, respectively.
Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar seemed unimpressed with Samson’s conduct as he held his inconsistency responsible for his exclusion from the Indian side. Samson last featured for the Men in Blue in a T20I game against Australia in December 2020, but the keeper has now been replaced by Rishabh Pant.
While speaking to Star Sports, Gavaskar said a captain is required to stand up and deliver. While Samson did it in the first game, he has not been consistent ever since.
“That is one of the reasons why he has not been featuring in the Indian team is that he scores runs in one game and then he looks to do it and carry on as if he’s batting in the next game from the same game, and that’s how he keeps getting out,” Gavaskar said.
Further in the interaction, Gavaskar also opined on the failure of RR in IPL 2021 saying that the captain needs to score runs and should lead by example. The former Indian skipper believes that though the Royals have finishers like David Miller and Chris Morris in the lower order, it is the responsibility of the top-order to score runs and set the platform for the coming batsmen to play their natural game.
Thus far, Rajasthan Royals’ top-order has failed to live up to its reputation and the team have experienced a torrid run in IPL 2021. They are placed at the last position in the points table with just one victory from four games.
Delhi Capitals(DC) on Thursday welcomed back off-spinner Axar Patel to their squad as he joined them after recovering from COVID-19 in Chennai.
Axar Patel Joins DC
Axar has not been able to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 till now due to the virus but has regained full fitness and even took part in his first-team training session on Friday.
“Aadmi dekh ke hi toh mujhe maza aa rahan hai (I’m getting sheer joy just by seeing people),” Patel said in a video put out by the franchise on Friday.
📹 | Smiles and hugs all around as Bapu returned to the DC camp 😁🤗
Axar had checked in the DC team hotel with a negative test result on March 28 but returned a positive result in his 2nd Covid test.
Upon return, Axar Patel recalled his experience while making his Test debut for Team India and said that this is his best moment after playing the longest format of the game.
He said: “It has been really great to come out of quarantine after 20 days and meet my teammates. This is the best moment in my life after my Test debut. I was alone in my room for 20 days and I didn’t have anything to do. I was watching the matches and one good thing was that our team won most of the matches, so I got even more motivated to re-join the side. It’s been great to start practicing with the team and I am happy about my preparations.”
Patel then talked about attending his first training session with the team.
He said: “I have started batting and bowling practice, but I haven’t pushed too hard during training. I have spoken to the doctors about how I should go about my training, and I am carrying out my practice according to their suggestions.”
When asked about the directions given to him by Captain Rishabh Pant and Head Coach Ricky Ponting, Axar said, “Rishabh and Ricky sir have told me to train keeping in mind about how my body is reacting to practice drills in the next two-three days. We are not thinking ahead too much at the moment, we are just focusing on how my body is reacting to training sessions.”
Delhi Capitals had roped in left-arm spinner Shams Mulani, 24, as a short-term replacement for all-rounder Axar. Mulani has played 10 first-class games for Mumbai in domestic cricket but did not feature in any IPL game for DC just yet.
The Rishabh Pant-led DC currently occupies the third position on the IPL 2021 points table with 3 wins from 4 games and will next face 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on April 25 in a night game.
Virat Kohli becomes first player to reach 6000 runs in IPL
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli became the first player to score 6000 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He brought up the milestone during RCB’s 10-wicket thrashing of Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2021 on Thursday.
Virat Kohli Reaches 6000 Runs in IPL
He achieved the feat while playing against Rajasthan Royals in his 4th match of IPL 2021. The 32-year-old has also hit 40 fifties in the Indian Premier League.
Kohli scored his first half-century of the season, as he hit six fours and three sixes en route to his 47-ball 72. Coming into the match, Kohli needed to score 51 runs to get to the milestone. He currently has 6021 runs in the IPL and leads the tournament’s run charts.
No player is even close to Kohli on the list. CSK’s Suresh Raina and DC’s Shikhar Dhawan is placed second and third in the list of most run-scorers in IPL.
Suresh Raina, who is next in the list behind Kohli, was one of the first to congratulate him on his feat.
“This is HUGE, meet the first ever player to reach 6000 runs in IPL,” Raina tweeted, tagging Kohli. “It was a delight to watch, more power to you,” he added.
This is HUGE, meet the first ever player to reach 6000 runs in IPL @imVkohli It was a delight to watch, more power to you 🙌 Wishing you many more success in life!🤗 #RCBvRR#IPL2021pic.twitter.com/fhAqD2J6Jy
Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangaore will lock their horns with MS Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings for their next league match in the IPL 2021 tournament at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on April 25.
Devdutt Padikkal slammed his maiden IPL 2021 century
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli had nothing but encouraging and positive words for his teammate Devdutt Padikkal, who on Thursday, slammed his maiden IPL century.
Virat Kohli Praises Devdutt Padikkal
Padikkal and Kohli stitched an unbeaten 181-run partnership as RCB gunned down the 178-run target set by Rajasthan Royals in Match 16 of IPL 2021 in Mumbai.
Kohli said that watching Padikkal, who scored over 400 runs last year in his maiden IPL season, he had the best seat in the house and the rate at which he was scoring runs confined his batting to another quieter role.
“It was an outstanding innings, he batted really well for his first season last time as well. Bit of a talk about accelerating after 40-50, this was the best way to put it to rest. Great talent, great one to look forward in the future. I had the best seat in the house,” Kohli said during the post-match presentation ceremony.
“I think T20 is all about partnership batting. You can’t always be the guy going dominant. When one guy goes, it’s important for me to rotate strike and vice versa. Tonight my role was different and I wanted to hang in there. In the end, I picked my spots, the pitch was good.”
Kohli himself hit a half-century and remained not out on 72 off 47 balls and in the process became the first player in the history of IPL to score 6000 runs. After starting off sedately, with Padikkal going guns, Kohli found his groove and played an array of strokes, hitting six fours and three sixes. But the RCB captain kept all his praises for his younger teammate, revealing the conversation the two batsmen had when Padikkal was approaching his century.
“We spoke about it [the 100], he said finish it off. He said many more to come, I told him you tell me that after you get the first one. I want him to build from here and really help the team. He deserved to get the hundred today, flawless innings,” Kohli said of Padikkal.
RCB will face CSK for their next league match on Sunday at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
IPL 2021 RCB vs RR Highlights: Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore creates a unique record in this IPL season by winning their three league matches of the IPL 2021.
Match: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Toss Details: Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and opt to bowl
Going to bowl. Have seen results here whether there’s dew or not. Still continues to be a high scoring ground. Last night we saw even if you lose early wickets, just one partnership and you’re never far in the game. Been batting well as a group.
Confident we can chase anything down. At the same time we’re bowling well as well. Just want to get into this pitch and conditions with the new ball and try and exploit whatever we can. Very exciting for me as a batsman but the bowlers will have to adjust.
Good thing is we have bowlers with height who can swing the new ball. Will look to make the most of that new ball. Very exciting for us. Have experienced conditions totally opposite in Chennai.
This game and this venue allows us to play even more expressive and positive cricket. Just one change. Richardson replaces Patidar. Experienced guy. Has been bowling well in the BBL last one year or so.
Sanju Samson | Rajasthan Royals
Will be a good experience for the batsmen to bat first. Saw the last game it can get tight in the end. It’s evenly balanced, we just need to play some good cricket. It’s all about playing with the heart.
Ups and downs are going to happen in IPL. Important to trust yourself and trust your teammates. There’s nothing much to think about. Just back yourself. One change, Gopal replaces Unadkat.
Playing XI
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Virat Kohli(c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers(w), Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Kane Richardson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rajasthan Royals
Jos Buttler, Manan Vohra, Sanju Samson(w/c), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman
IPL 2021 RCB vs RR Highlights
Rajasthan Royals(RR) Batting
Jos Buttler and Vohra gets into the crease to lead the RR while Siraj opens the bowling attack for the RCB.
Buttler starts the innings with a couple of boundaries of the very first over. But Siraj in his second over of the innings draws the first blood for RR by dismissing Buttler for 8 runs. In the followed over Jamieson dismissed Vohra for 7 runs nd starts to add pressure for RR batting side.
Siraj in the followed over dismissed Miller for a duck where RR loses their top three wickets for 22 runs at the end of the 5 overs. Samson and Dube joins hands and tries to make a partnership which then breaks by Washington Sundar. Where he dismissed Samson for 21 runs.
With Dube’s 46 and Tewatia’s 40 runs RR scored 177 runs for 9 wickets loss at the end of the 20 overs.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Batting
Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal gets into chase the descent target of 178 runs in the allotted 20 overs.
For a team like RCB with a strong batting order chasing 178 runs won’t be a matter but on considering the RR’s bowling unit RCB needs to look to build a perfect partnership at the beginning.
Things were totally went down when Virat and Padikkal made a massive partnership for the opening wicket. The duo starts to hit massive boundaries from the very first ball. Soon with Padikkals maiden IPL century RCB won the game like a piece of cake by defeating RR by 10 wickets.
It’s been special. I could only wait my turn. When I was down with COVID, all I was thinking of was to come here and play the first match here. I couldn’t do that but was keen to contribute to the team’s win.
The wicket was coming on really well and we got a good start. When you get into a partnership like that, it helps as runs come from both ends. (Whether he was worried about the 100) Not really, that’s what I was telling Virat to go for it.
For me it’s not about getting to a hundred, I wouldn’t mind missing out on hundreds as long as I contribute to team’s wins. Throughout the innings there were times when he was going better and then I was going better. Rotation of strike is important. We just clicked well.
Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer T. Natarajan has been ruled out of ongoing IPL 2021 due to an injury.
T Natarajan Ruled out of IPL 2021
As per a report in Cricbuzz, the side may have to start looking for his replacement. Sources in the BCCI have asked Natarajan to report back to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore.
At what stage the problem became serious is not known but Natarajan, who spent about two months at the NCA after the Australia tour, did not take part in the last two IPL games for SRH. His last game was against Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai on April 11.
T Natarajan
The NCA physios have been monitoring his fitness status and have reported to the BCCI about the aggravation. It is now expected that the BCCI will ask the franchise to release the pacer, who is still understood to be with SRH in Chennai.
“We have not got the full report but we have been told that he has developed a strain in the knee. He will have to undergo rehab in the NCA,” said the source.
When Sunrisers captain David Warner spoke about him after Natarajan missed the second game in a row against the game against Punjab Kings, there was no indication that the Tamil Nadu bowler will have to miss the IPL altogether.
“He has obviously got a sore knee. Given the circumstance in these bubbles, if he goes and gets a scan, he obviously has to sit out for seven days. He has to get back in quarantine. We are just monitoring him at the moment. The physios are doing their best to analyse from a face point of view but he obviously has to go out and get a scan at some point,” Warner said on Wednesday.
As of now, SRH holds the fifth position in the IPL 2021 points table. After facing hat trick defeat in the IPL 2021 tournament SRH registered their first victory by beating Punjab Kings by 9 wickets.
Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar feels that Virat Kohli had a huge impact in his cricket carrier by playing in the IPL tournaments.
Ajit Agarkar Praises Virat Kohli
Kohli is widely regarded as the best batsman in all formats of the current generation cricket players.
His success for India has coincided with improving performances in IPL too and to date, he’s the leading run-getter in the league’s history.
“Massive!” said Agarkar on Star Sports’ Cricket Connected when asked about the impact of IPL on Kohli’s career.
“We saw how quick his progress in international cricket has been. So, when you do well there, you are already confident, but then, to be captain of a franchise with such a big fan base, and be as consistent as he is, it certainly helped.”
Kohli has been part of RCB since IPL got underway in 2008 and eventually was handed over the reins of the team.
Virat Kohli
He led them to the final in 2016 where they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad. Incidentally, that was the season when Kohli shattered records to score 973 runs in 16 innings – the most every in a single season of the league’s history.
“You’re under pressure every day when you go out to play for RCB. Playing for India is just as big or bigger, but you still are under pressure day in and day out. When you keep getting runs, you know your psyche is just built and you are at ease with your game and he has done that,” said Agarkar.
He added, “I think being captain and getting runs certainly has helped him in his international career as well. I’m sure he’d say that IPL has had a huge say on his career as overall as it has panned out.”
RCB are gunning for a maiden title having earlier made the final thrice but ending as the runners-up on all occasions.
IPL 2021 KKR vs CSK Highlights: KKR needs to win the match to avoid the hat trick loss in the ongoing IPL 2021 tournament. While CSK seeks to continue their winning streak where they lose the first match and win the followed couple of matches.
Match: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Toss Details: Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and opt to bowl
#KKR have won the toss and they will bowl first against #CSK.
We are going to bowl. On this ground, it seems to be the fashion and more successful (option), change of ground, a different vibe and hopefully changes of fortunes for us as well. We are looking forward to this game.
It (bit of grass) certainly pleases the international players. It is normally a very good wicket here and the majority of the games have been competitive. Chennai are obviously a strong team and we are hoping to build on the start of our campaign.
A fresh mindset, over time, chasing in Chennai hasn’t been productive for anybody, and chasing at Wankhede is productive. Hopefully, it is a change of fortune for us.
Harbhajan Singh misses out and Kamlesh Nagarkoti comes in. We have an overseas change, Sunil Narine comes in for Shakib.
MS Dhoni | CSK Skipper
Looks similar (to the previous games). But will be tacky and we have to be watchful in the first few overs, see how the wicket behaves and accordingly put a total on the board. It was a very good performance.
There was less dew which meant the spinners could bowl freely. We have to keep our eyes open on how much dew is there and plan accordingly. If we get too much dew then the lengths are quite different.
It is more of a fact that the drier ball turns more than a wetter ball. It is something that has helped me, it helped me during the 2013 Champions Trophy, change of ball and we got a couple of wickets.
We have one change; we have rested Bravo for this game and Ngidi comes in.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar
IPL 2021 KKR vs CSK Highlights
Chennai Super Kings Batting
Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad gets into lead the CSK while Varun Chakravarthy opens the bowling attack for KKR.
The duo makes an impressive yet aggressive opening partnership which leads CSK to score 115 runs for their first wicket loss. KKR bowlers struggled to draw the early wickets which costs them a massive opening partnership.
A great start for the @ChennaiIPL with a fine 50-run partnership between their openers.
At the end of the 10 overs, CSK scored 82 runs for no wickets loss. Finally, in the 13th over Chakravarthy dismissed Gaikwad for 64 runs. A late wickets for KKR yet an important break to restrict the CSK’s batting flow.
Moeen Ali gets in and adds 25 runs for his counterpart and walks to Pavillion after dismissed by Narine. Un expectedly MS Dhoni steps into the yard and joins hands with Faf.
For a certain period of time, MS Dhoni turns into his vintage mode and makes a quick fire of 17 runs from 8 deliveries. Faf turns down the fans expectation of making his debut 100 in the IPL 2021 and remains unbeaten for 95 runs.
CSK at the end of the 20 overs scored 220 runs for 3 wickets loss.
Kolkata Knight Riders Batting
Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill step into chase the massive target of 221 runs while Chchar opens the bowling attack against KKR.
Chahar in his very first over draws the first blood by dismissing Shubman Gill for duck and made a solid start for the CSK. Chahar in his second over dismissed Nitish Rana for 9 runs and loads the pressure over the KKR.
Deepak Chahar is on a roll here. Picks up his third wicket of the game and the #KKR Skipper has to depart.
KKR loses their top 5 wickets for 31 and lands themself in a critical position. But in a surprise, KKR’s lower order players start to make some quality shots which drags KKR to score 97 runs for the same 5 wickets loss at the end of the 10 overs.
Andre Russell seems to get back in his form as he starts to strike massive boundaries and sixes of almost every over. Russel and DK made an 80 run stand and the worrying time starts to CSK.
FIFTY!
This has been an absolute carnage from @patcummins30 as be brings up his half-century off 23 deliveries.
Finally, its young Sam Curran who breaks the partnership by dismissing Russell for 54 runs off 22 deliveries. A huge relief for CSK after Russell’s dismissal. But Pat Cummins starts the show left by Russell.
CSK bowlers tries hard to restrict the run flow but failed. As a result CSK bowlers focused to break the partnership. Finally with 20 runs required off the last over KKR with a wicket in hand makes the fans get to their edge of the seat.
With a run out of the first delivery, KKR’s heroic performance comes to an end. KKR loses the game by 18 runs to CSK.
This was the most fluent I’ve felt so far. Felt the previous game things started to get better. Tonight was another step. It’s about the rhythm of the flow of the hands. Few games before this and even tonight spinners were the best bowlers.
Even Jadeja bowled well for us. The ball just grips a bit. We thought the seamers from the other side we can catch up. He’s a fantastic young talent (Gaikwad). Those first couple of balls you can feel on edge as a batter.
Beautiful to see him trust the timing and the technique. For a small guy he hits the ball a long way. Been very lucky playing under MS for a long time. He knows what he’s doing, pleasure to play under him.
There was dew tonight and then it was a proper batter’s game. That’s when he’s at his dangerous when he’s got nothing to lose (Russell).
IPL 2021 PBKS vs SRH Highlights: After losing three consecutive matches SRH set to face the Punjab Kings for their 4th league match of the IPL 2021. While Punjab Kings after starting the campaign with a victory loses two consecutive matches and in need to get back on the winning track.
Match: Punjab Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Toss Details: Punjab Kings won the toss and opt to bat
#PBKS have won the toss and will bat first against #SRH.
We will bat first. Pretty obvious decision, put the runs on the board and defend it. Two changes for us – Meredith and Jhye Richardson miss out; Fabian Allen and Moises Henriques in – we are petty clear, everyone have been given responsibilities – we’re a new team this season, will take time for the roles to sink in for everyone. A couple of wins and the belief will be back.
David Warner | SRH Skipper
Everyone in this franchise are positive – need to learn from the mistakes, those little things in the game. Kane Williamson is in, he replaces Mujeeb. Samad is out with a hamstring pull, Kedar replaces him, Manish misses out as well, replaced by Siddarth Kaul.
Conditions over here are very different to what we encountered in Dubai last season. Need to bowl well and get back to winning ways.
Playing XI
Punjab Kings(PBKS)
KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Moises Henriques, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Fabian Allen, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Sunrisers Hyderabad(SRH)
David Warner(c), Jonny Bairstow(w), Kane Williamson, Virat Singh, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Kedar Jadhav, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul
IPL 2021 PBKS vs SRH Highlights
Punjab Kings(PBKS) Batting
KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal gets into the crease to lead Punjab Kings while Abhishek Sharma opens the bowling attack onbehalf of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Though PBKS made a slow start they lose their skipper’s wicket at an early stage of the game. Bhuvi dismissed KL Rahul for 4 runs in the 3rd over of the first innings. All though PBKS has a strong batting order which includes Agarwal, Gayle, and much more star players PBKS struggles to make a partnership.
Pooran again made an unwanted moment by dismissing for 0 run without even facing a single ball. Pooran’s performance has been never changed in the past 4 games of the IPL 2021.
Without making a descent partnership Punjab Kings loses all their 10 wickets after scoring 120 runs with 2 balls remaining.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Batting
To chase an easy target of 121 runs SRH’s Warner and Bairstow gets into the crease while Shami opens the bowling attack for Punjab Kings.
SRH strikers start the game without any pressure. Punjab Kings bowlers need to make early wickets to increase their winning percentage. But the strong opening duo never gave a chance to draw the first blood for SRH.
After making a 73 runs partnership David Warner loses his wicket to Fabian Allen after scoring 37 runs off 37 deliveries. Bairstow then join hands with Kane Williamson and leads SRH to taste their first victory of the IPL 2021 by beating PBKS by 9 wickets.
Hello and welcome to the post-match presentation for Match 14 and 15 of #VIVOIPL.
For Match 14 Jonny Bairstow bagged the Man of the Match award for his match-winning knock of 63* as #SRH won by 9 wickets.#PBKSvSRHpic.twitter.com/9b3eBiNDpe
It’s pretty humid, it’s pretty hot especially with the day game. I am just absolutely over the moon to get over the line. It’s been a tricky start for us. We’ve been very close in most of the games, just haven’t got over the line, probably a bit of carelessness.
To be there till the end was really pleasing. It was tricky …. powerplay, we had to take it on. In each game we’ve seen, it’s gotten harder and harder as the game progressed specially in the second innings.
We made sure we made full advantage of it (powerplay). Fifty off the first six was pleasing. From there, if you get ahead and if you got people in the end, it’s always handy. I don’t really need not talk about how good Kane is.
The way in which he manipulates the ball and rotates strikes is great. It’s great to get off the mark.
