Afghanistan recruit Andy Flower as consultant for World T20 2021

IPL 2021 | MI vs SRH: Hits & Flops as Mumbai’s consolation win insufficient for its playoffs qualification

It was always going to be an impossible task for Mumbai to win a game by a margin of 171 in the Indian Premier League which prides itself on competitiveness. It turned out to be exactly that as even after scoring 235 with the bat, the Paltan could only by 42 runs against the wooden spoon holders Sunrisers Hyderabad to bow out of the race for Playoffs and a hattrick of titles. This 42 run win also made sure that Kolkata Knight Riders went through to the Playoffs and will now play Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator on Tuesday, October 12. Although the game didn’t turn out as the Mumbai team would have wanted it to, still Indian fans would be happy to see two of its important players from the perspective of the T20 World Cup in Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav getting among runs just at the right time. Apart from Surya and Ishan another player, who used to be in contention for a place in the side early on showed glimpses of the reason for it. All of them along with the failures from this game would be discussed in the section called Hits and Flops. Hits Ishan Kishan After the magnificent fifty against Rajasthan which made sure that Mumbai remained in contention even till its last game, Ishan started from where he had left. He was all over the Sunrisers bowlers right from the word go and didn’t waste even a single minute in his pursuit of getting Mumbai to such a target from where they could try for the 170 runs win. The pocket-sized dynamite reached his fifty in just 15 balls, the fastest for a Mumbai Indians player. He was also in the hunt of becoming the fastest Mumbai player to hundred runs, but one rising back of length ball from Umran Malik got a nick off his bat and Wriddhiman Saha didn’t have to do much to pouch that safely in his wicketkeeping gloves. But before getting out, the Patna born had hit 84 off just 32 balls which included 11 fours and four sixes coming from his willow. For this effort, the 23-year-old was rightly chosen Man of the Match. Suryakumar Yadav If Ishan had carried the form, Surya was coming off what has been a very frustrating and equally less productive season of play in this year’s IPL for him. Naturally so, in an attempt when Mumbai wanted to get quick and as many runs as possible, the right-hander was sent in after Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard, which is not his usual position. But in mind, the 31-year-old had something to prove, not to others, but to himself because he had gotten the national call up after much struggle and he wouldn’t have wanted to get into the T20 World Cup 2021 on the back of people discussing his name among undeserving candidates. So what did Surya do? Well, he played the best ever knock in his IPL career, making 82 off just 40 balls, before getting caught at deep square leg off a slower delivery from Holder. In his innings, the Indian Mr 360 degrees, as he is referred to by many, hit 13 fours and three sixes. Surya, along with Kishan was one of the reasons for Mumbai getting to such a big total even as big guns like skipper Rohit Sharma, Pandya brothers and Pollard failed to make an impact with the bat. Manish Pandey From not being part of the playing XI for the last four games to captaining the side and then scoring an unbeaten 69 off just 41 balls, Manish Pandey’s season took a U-turn with injuries to regular skippers and vice-captain, Kane Williamson and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The right-hander looked confident in his crease and was playing with a finesse reminiscing his form from two seasons ago. Hotting on the up, pulling the ball and playing those beautiful drives, Pandey was showcasing all he knows in this game. Courtesy of great strike play, he played the anchor role brilliantly, with only lacking that there was nobody else with him to hit home at the end. In his knock, the 32-year-old hit seven fours and two sixes. Flops Jason Holder While all the bowlers got the treatment at the hands of the Mumbai batters, Holder in particular was taken to the cleaners a lot more than others in this game. Although he did pick up four wickets, all of them apart from Hardik Pandya’s coming in the death when batters were throwing the willow at anything in their arc. The West Indian went for 52 runs in his four overs, which was his most expensive spell in this season. Though Siddarth Kaul too went for 54 runs in his four overs and didn’t even pick a wicket, Holder also failed as an all-rounder as he was out for a solitary run when his team needed him to fire all cylinders with those big levers if they were to have a shot at chasing the target after the loss of the openers. Mohammad Nabi Given a chance due to Williamson’s injury, Afghan Mohammad Nabi or the president as he is known among his teammates wasn’t really able to stamp his authority. Bowling to the left-hander and being an off-spinner, he went for too many runs than expected. He was given the first over itself to try and put on some tight overs and build pressure on the batting side, but in return, he conceded 33 runs from his three overs and wasn’t even able to pick any wicket. With the bat, he was a big disappointment as well. After the kind of start that Abhishek Sharma and Jason Roy gave, putting together 64 in just 5.2 overs, it was the responsibility of senior players like Nabi to make sure that the SRH’s chase remained alive. Instead, what the 36 years old did was to get out cheaply. He could score only three of four balls before Piyush Chawla got him caught in the deep. Though his performance was meaningless with bat and ball, he did achieve the rare feat of becoming the first fielder to complete five catches in an IPL game.

RCB vs DC: What Experts Said after KS Bharat's 'marvellous' knock hands RCB a last-ball win

The Indian Premier League unveils some nail-biting encounters and the clash between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals in Dubai on Friday was one of the instances of the same. RCB needed six off the last delivery when Avesh Khan first bowled a wide going down the leg and then a full toss which was deposited into the stands by KS Bharat for a maximum to anchor his team over the line. The Bangalore team was handed a target of 165 runs in 20 overs and the Virat Kohli-led side had a disappointing start to the chase as they lost Devdutt Padikkal and Kohli early in the innings. Bharat who had come in at number three was then joined by AB de Villiers and the two batters put 49 runs for the third wicket before de Villiers was sent back in the hut for a run-a-ball 26 by Axar Patel. Later, Glenn Maxwell came in the middle and the Australian along with Bharat stitched a match-winning and unbeaten stand of 111 runs for the fourth wicket. While Bharat struck an unbeaten 76 off 52, Maxwell remained not out for a 33-ball 51 during the course as RCB ended with nine wins and 18 points under their belt. Earlier, DC were off to a flying start as openers Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan scored 88 for the first wicket. But Dhawan’s departure saw a couple of wickets falling at regular intervals and Delhi were reduced to 108/3. It was Shimron Hetmyer who chipped in with a cameo and scored 29 off 22 to help his side put 164/5 in 20 overs on the board. Siraj picked up two wickets for 25 runs in 4 overs for RCB. RCB skipper Virat Kohli acknowledged that winning the game after losing some early wickets feels good. “Unbelievable game. We had nothing to lose, but it was a competitive game which is always the case in the IPL. To lose wickets and to still beat the team at the top of the table feels good.We have beaten them twice now. The way AB batted in the beginning and then with KS (Bharat) and Maxwell in the end was unbelievable,” he said in the post-match presentation. DC captain Rishabh Pant put the onus of the defeat on poor fielding. “The way we fielded today, we deserved to lose. We all know how important catching is in the shortest format of the game. We lost too many wickets while batting and that is where we lost the plot. Not feeling really happy as we have to win these kind of matches,” he said. Experts’ Opinion Journalist Ayaz Memon lauded RCB’s ‘great effort’ to beat table-toppers. “Great effort by RCB to beat table toppers DC in their last league match. Doesn’t alter position in points table, but gives good momentum heading into play-offs,” he tweeted. Former India bowler RP Singh lavished praise on Bharat for the way he stitched his innings and won the game for RCB. “Never seen Kohli so happy after a win in IPL ! Well played Bharat. This innings is going to be remembered for a long time,” RP wrote on Twitter. Former India player Irfan Pathan praised Bharat for his marvellous match-winning knock. “Enjoyed watching this marvellous match winning inning from Bharat,” Irfan tweeted. Delhi Capitals will now play CSK in first qualifier in Dubai on Sunday while RCB will lock horns with KKR on Monday in Sharjah.

Ashes 2021-22: ECB gives 'conditional approval' to the tour

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has given a go ahead to the Ashes series scheduled to take place in December in Australia. The decision is subject to several critical conditions being met before the team travels as per a statement from the board. “To facilitate further progress and allow a squad to be selected, The ECB Board has met today and given its approval for the tour to go ahead. This decision is subject to several critical conditions being met before we travel,” the statement said. “We look forward to the ongoing assistance from Cricket Australia in resolving these matters in the coming days,” it added. A number of England players including the skipper Joe Root didn’t give a confirmation about featuring in the series as they were awaiting the details of the tour and the Covid-19 protocols that would be imposed in Australia. The series will commence in Brisbane on December 8.

IPL 2021 | MI vs SRH: KKR qualify for Playoffs as Hyderabad get past 64 against Mumbai Indians

Kolkata Knight Riders and its fans would have had a sigh of relief as Sunrisers Hyderabad got past the 64 run mark while chasing a humongous target of 236 against Mumbai Indians in their last league match of the Indian Premier League 2021. Getting to 64 was crucial from the point of view of KKR as their Playoffs qualification hopes depended on it. Prior to the start of the match between Mumbai and Hyderabad, Mumbai needed to win it by a margin of at least 171 runs to topple KKR from the fourth position in the points table. Thus, when Mumbai scored 235, the target for KKR was to see SRH get past 64. When the team from Kolkata won their last game against Rajasthan Royals by a huge margin of 86 runs on Thursday, October 07, they further pushed their net run rate ahead and made it difficult for Mumbai to catch up, who even if win their last game (ongoing) against SRH, would have a maximum of 14 points only, which would be equal to KKR’s. But KKR’s net run rate of +0.587 is the best in the league among all teams and thus Mumbai who were on a net run rate of -0.048 before their last game, needed to win their last game by a margin of 171 runs or more. They did everything well to get as many runs as possible, but even 235 was not going to be enough.