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A Complete Guide To Ultimate Kricket Challenge

A complete guide to Ultimate Kricket Challenge

Aryasekhar Chakraborty∙ Dec 22 2020, 7:27 PM

It would be a totally new concept for the cricket lovers when some of the top current cricketers and former cricketers fight it out in a brand new gladiatorial cricket series termed the ‘Ultimate Kricket Challenge”. Six players including Yuvraj Singh, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Chris Gayle, Rashid Khan and Kevin Pietersen will fight it out against each other in a totally unique format of the game. Other than these 6 global superstars we will also see some surprise appearances from other star cricketers.

A brief idea on how the matches will be played?

This innovative form of cricket will see six superstars of the game taking on each other through the course of 8 days before the final which is slated to be played on 1st January. For example, if the match is being played between Pietersen and Morgan, both these players will get to face 15 deliveries. The batsman will face a minimum of 8 deliveries from the player who he is playing against and a maximum of 7 deliveries from the substitute player. The player who will be bowling will be assisted by a wicket-keeper and a fielder inside the UKC Dome. The player with most runs at the end of the game will be declared as the winner. The rest of the rules is stated below.

Rules and format

A unique format which should definitely keep the cricket lovers intrigued gets underway on 24^th December. The game will be shortened to 4 innings of 15 balls each where each UKC Gladiator contender will go head to head against each other. The 16 match tournament will witness the introduction of some totally new cricket rules in a new one on one format.

2 points will be awarded to the UKC contender who wins a match in the league stage
The contender with more runs at the end of each match will be declared the winner
The top 4 UKC contenders will make it to the semi-final and the winners the semi-final will contest in the final.
An innings for each UKC contender will comprise of 15 deliveries. Per UKC contender has to bowl minimum 8 deliveries per innings and while a substitute player, also called the ‘Ace’ can bowl a maximum of 7 deliveries per innings
Each UKC contender who will be bowling will be assisted by a solitary wicket-keeper and a fielder who will be inside the UKC Dome.
A bouncer will be called a no-ball and the next delivery will be a free hit
One run penalty will be awarded to the batter in case of a no-ball and a wide
A UKC contender has to complete a run physically in order to keep their scoreboard ticking
The scoring procedures will be divided in 6 different zones
Zone A-1 run
Zone B- 1 run
Zone C- 2 runs
Zone D- 3 runs
Zone E- 4 runs on the bounce
Zone E- 6 runs for a direct shot
However, if a batsman hits a Bullseye which is behind the bowler he will directly get 12 runs and will also get an opportunity to play an extra ball. If they hit the bullseye on the square of the wickets, they will be awarded 4 runs.
5 runs penalty every time a batsmen gets out

Complete Fixtures

December 24- Eoin Morgan vs Kevin Pietersen

December 25- Rashid Khan vs Kevin Pietersen
December 25- Yuvraj Singh vs Eoin Morgan

December 26- Andre Russell vs Rashid Khan
December 26- Chris Gayle vs Andre Russell

December 27- Kevin Pietersen vs Yuvraj Singh
December 27- Chris Gayle vs Kevin Pietersen

December 28- Eoin Morgan vs Rashid Khan
December 28- Chris Gayle vs Eoin Morgan

December 29- Eoin Morgan vs Andre Russell
December 29- Chris Gayle vs Rashid Khan

December 30- Andre Russell vs Kevin Pietersen
December 30- Chris Gayle vs Yuvraj Singh

December 31- Semi-final 1
December 31- Semi-final 2

January 1- Final

Where to Watch:

The matches will be telecasted in Star Sports Network in India.

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Match Preview: Heat seek elusive first win, Strikers eye momentum at the Gabba

The Brisbane Heat are going to clash against the Adelaide Strikers in the 13th match of the league on 23 December hoping to open their winning account in the ongoing season of the Big Bash League. Heat have not been able to play as a unit and at least one department of their team has failed them in the two matches that they have played. In the first game of this campaign, their batting line up was left exposed against a potent Melbourne Stars bowling attack while in the second match their bowlers were not good enough to defend 180 against the Sydney Thunder. There were decent spells of bowling by all the bowlers but an awful performance from the experienced head of Ben Laughlin proved detrimental for the Heat in Canberra in their last game. After playing first two tough games on away pitches, Lynn would be delighted to come back to Gabba and will be hoping for his team to come back as a unit strongly as one more loss will start staring at them with a lot of uncomfortable questions. On the other hand, the Adelaide Strikers have started their campaign in decent fashion, with one win out of the three games they have played this season. The solitary win came against the Hobart Hurricanes where Peter Siddle broke the back of Hurricanes’ batting up and picked up a fifer and any chance of their revival with the ball was thwarted by a dominating Jack Weatherald with the bat at the top of the order. However, on the days of two losses, the Strikers bowlers were made to look like an ordinary attack by the likes of D’Arcy Short and Daniel Christian who smashed them to all over the park, and in the reply, the Strikers’ batsmen could not quite match the firepower of their counterparts. For the Strikers, the trouble will be more as the captain Alex Carey and Harry Conway will not be able to travel to Brisbane due to the Covid-19 protocols set by the Queensland state administration. The match will be very crucial for the Brisbane Heat who will be desperately looking to get off the mark while Adelaide Strikers would be hoping to fine-tune their tactics in order to bring more efficiency and consistency in the team. Thunder vs Scorchers: Match Details Venue: Gabba, Brisbane Date and Time: December 22, 01:45 PM IST, 06:15 PM Local, 08:15 AM GMT Broadcasters: Sony Sports Network, Sony LIV Pitch Report The Gabba has a reputation of producing pitches that support pace and bounce but that has not hurt batsmen in the past in hitting some of the biggest sixes in the history of the BBL. Lynn would hope for a pitch that will assist his bowlers early on but Adelaide Strikers have the firepower to extract advantage in their favour with the ball. The average first innings score at the Gabba has been 165 runs and out of 39 BBl matches at the venue, teams batting first have won only 17 times while the team who opted or were made to chase were able to win the game on 21 occasions. Weather and Toss The weather conditions in Brisbane are likely to be perfect for cricket in the city as the temperature will hover between a maximum of 31 degrees and a minimum of 22 degrees. There is no chance of rain and it augurs well for both sides who are looking to get back to winning ways to stake a claim on the title. It’s no brainer that the captain who will win the toss will decide to chase, looking at the past record as well as the expected nature of the pitch that will not change over the course of 40 overs. Strongest XI Brisbane Heat Max Bryant, Sam Heazlett, Chris Lynn (c), Daniel Lawrence, Tom Cooper, Jack Wildermuth, Jimmy Pierson (wk), Mark Steketee, Matt Kuhnemann, Ben Laughlin, Mujeeb Ur Rahman Adelaide Strikers Phil Salt, Jake Weatherald, Matt Renshaw, Harry Nielsen (wk), Jon Wells, Matt Short, Liam Scott, Rashid Khan, Wes Agar, Peter Siddle (c), Danny Briggs

NZ vs PAK | 3rd T20: Mohammad Rizwan's heroics leads Pakistan to face-saving win

The touring Pakistan team finally got the better of the hosts New Zealand in the third and final T20 of the series, winning the game by four wickets and managed to salvage some pride. Mohammed Rizwan was the hero with the bat for the tourists as he batted throughout the innings and went back to the pavilion only in the last over after playing arguably his best innings in T20. The hosts won the series 2-1. Chasing the target of 174 at the McLean Park in Napier, the visitors were off to a slow start and were also given a reprieve when one of the best fielders in the world, Martin Guptill, missed Haider Ali at the cover-point position. Still, the men in green could only muster 40 runs for the first wicket and it took as many as 32 balls. Guptill split the webbing of his right hand and went off the field that brought Daryll Mitchell on the ground to the field as a substitute and he earned a name for himself with a splendid catch to send Ali back to the pavilion after missing out to play the game on his all-round ability. The failure of openers has been the Achilles Heels for the tourists in the T20 series and the story was not quite different, albeit the partnership did not read too wrong in terms of runs. After the fall of Haider Ali, who Pakistan’s hopes were riding on Mohammad Hafeez’s shoulder who was in menacing form in the last game and had missed his century by just one run. Hafeez, who is famously called as ‘The Professor’ did not disappoint his team and got going straight away as a pumped-up Scott Kuggleijn tried to test his backfoot game with a bouncer and the right-hander swivelled to pull the ball out of the boundary line to announce the arrival and also hand out a lesson on his backfoot technique. Both Hafeez and Rizwan kept on chipping at the required run rate with the rotation of strikes and time hit boundaries and never allowed the required rate to jump beyond their reach. Hafeez was particularly severe on anything bowled short to him and Neesham, too, was taught a lesson in the ninth over of the chase. At the halfway mark, the tourists were 77/1 and were in need of 97 runs from the last 60 balls, which was not looking undoable with nine wickets including a batsman in supreme form— Hafeez at the crease. Rizwan was not necessarily explosive and it was Hafeez who was going berserk to keep a check of the required rate. Rizwan reached his maiden T20I fifty from 40 balls while Hafeez’s six-hitting form was undaunted at the other end. But, Hafeez could not quite carry along like the last game and perished in pursuit of more than 10 runs per over. After Hafeez’s departure, Rizwan took the mettle of guiding the team with lusty hits and along with the next man in at the crease—Khusdil Shah, plundered Scott Kuggeleijn for 17 runs in the 16th over of the chase to bring the run rate back under 10 runs per over. Although James Neesham was able to eliminate Khusdil in the next over, Rizwan made sure that Pakistan were in the game with a six in an over that yielded 13 runs for the tourists. Rizwan had a bigger challenge in the next over in the form of Trent Boult, but he trumped the left arm seamer today and smashed him for two boundaries to lead Pakistan’s nose in front of the shots in the final T20. Needing only 11 runs in the last 12 balls, it was Pakistan's game to lose and the Blackcaps had to do something special to revive the game in their favour. Returning with his last over of the day, Tim Southee almost produced a hattrick, taking out Faheem Ashraf and the captain Shadab Khan on two consecutive deliveries but could not prevent Pakistan taking seven runs off him. Blackcaps could not have won the game without dismissing Rizwan who was batting with supreme flair and confidence but a more enterprising prodigy in Kyle Jamieson got the better of him in the last over in a moment that could well have sent panic to the visitors’ dressing room, but Iftikhar Ahmed knew how to get yourself counted and deposited Jamieson on the roof of McLean Park to hand Pakistan their first win of the tour. Earlier, the Blackcaps were asked to bat first and their opening pair of Martin Guptill and Tim Seifert were asked some tough questions by the impressive new-ball pair of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain in the first three overs, albeit the Kiwi pair kept the scoreboard going and reached 23. Hasnain’s second over of the day proved to be the one changing the momentum of Pakistan’s innings as Guptill and Seifert launched an attack on him, with a six and four to take the innings up and running. Guptill’s inability to convert starts into big innings continued today as he failed to clear the infield just when he started to look like getting back to his best when he hits bowlers over their heads for fun. Ironically, he was dismissed attempting his usual shot over mid-off only and the ever so reliable Kane Williamson walked onto the crease. The was not to be for Blackcaps’ dominance with the bat, at least in the early part of the game as both Williamson and Tim Seifert, who was looking in splendid touch until the ball that pegged back his off stump, were taken away by an impressive Faheem Ashraf who showed the glimpse of his credentials with the ball, for which he is being picked by the selectors in every series. After the departure of Seifert and Williamson, the swashbuckling duo of Glen Phillips and Devon Conway were together at the crease for one more time and the Blackcaps were hoping for a similar display of hitting they had put on a show against West Indies in the preceding series. The Pakistan captain tried to bowl his overs in the middle phase when the wickets had fallen at the other end of Ashraf and his plans were working perfectly until he got on to the radar of Phillips who took him to the cleaners and demolished an excellent bowling figure that read 21 runs from three overs. With 15 runs off the 13th over, the pair got the Blackcaps going yet again, but for not long as Shaheen Shah Afridi returned to eliminate Phillips in the 15th over. On the other hand, Conway was batting at his usual best and took 11 runs off Afridi in the same over he dismissed Phillips. Next two overs went pretty badly for the hosts as they could take only 15 runs from it and Ashraf returned to add one more scalp of James Neesham against his name. At 133/5 at the end of 17th over, Conway had the dual role of finishing strongly while making sure that the innings didn't go in disarray. He took a liking of Haris Rauf in the next over and took 16 runs off him as well as completing his half-century from 39 balls. It was Shaheen Shah’s chance to go for runs in the next over as Conway in the partnership of Scott Kuggleijn took another 16 runs off the next over as Blackcaps were secure of a fighting total on the board. The hosts won the series 2-1 and also handed out some tough lessons for the visitors who clearly looked out of sorts in the absence of their captain and the best batsman in the line up—Babar Azam in the T20 series. Both sides will now head to a two-match Test series, and the challenge would be far bigger for the visitors to conquer in the white jerseys.

Don Bradman's 1928 Baggy Green auctioned for AU$ 450,000

The Baggy Green awarded to the greatest batsman of all time in Test when he made his debut for Australia in 1928 has been sold at 450,000 Australian dollars to an Australian businessman named Peter Freedman, as per a Reuters report. Although the auctioneers were expecting for a value in the range of A$1 million-$2 million for Bradman's first Test cap, it surpassed the auction price of Bradman’s Baggy Green he used in the historic Ashes tour in 1948, which was sold at A$425,000. “All too often, memorabilia such as this end up spending its life on the wall of some boardroom or in some basement bar of a well-heeled sports fanatic. I want as many people to enjoy it as possible,” Freedman was quoted as saying by Reuters. “Sir Don Bradman is an Aussie legend. Not only as one of our greatest talents on the sporting field and one of the most revered athletes of all time but as an icon of Australian fortitude and resilience," Freedman added. Bradman’s Baggy Green could not surpass the auction value of the Baggy Green of his countryman Shane Warne whose cap was sold at a world record 1,007,500 Australian Dollar earlier this year.

Suresh Raina booked for violating Covid-19 norms in Mumbai

Former Indian batsman Suresh Raina was arrested by the Mumbai Police on December 22 for flouting Covid-19 containment norms. He was among 34 people to be booked by the police at the Mumbai Dragonfly club near the Mumbai airport that also included singer Guru Randhawa among others. Later, Raina was released on bail. Mumbai Police booked Raina and other accused of violating Covid-19 related norms under Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (whoever unlawfully or negligently does any act which is, and which he knows or has reason to believe to be, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life), 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of IPC and provisions of NMDA as the Dragonfly pub for was kept open beyond the permissible time limit. Notably, the Maharashtra state government has passed brought in rules to impose night curfew in order to stop people from violating Covid containment norms. Suresh Raina had announced his retirement from international cricket earlier this year after he went out of favour of national selectors for a prolonged period of time.