Dhoni not to retire from IPL soon, hints at continue playing for CSK

IPL 2021 | RR vs MI: What Experts Said after Mumbai Indians thrash Rajasthan Royals to climb the NRR ladder

Mumbai Indians were on song against Rajasthan Royals in Sharjah to keep their playoff hopes alive. Chasing the modest target of 91, the Mumbai side rode on a spectacular batting performance from Ishan Kishan who was included in the XI in place of Quinton de Kock to go over the line by 8 wickets in the 9th over. Ishan remained unbeaten at 50 off 25 deliveries which included five fours and three maximums during the course. MI lost captain Rohit Sharma early in the innings for a 13-ball 22 while the team scoresheet read 23. Later, Suryakumar Yadav who had come in at number three position failed to leave an impact and was undone for 13 by Mustafizur. But Surya’s didn’t really have any impact on Ishan’s scoring-rate as the left-hander along with Hardik Pandya saw MI home. Earlier, in the day, the Royals struggled to put any pressure on the Mumbai Indians’ bowling unit and lost wickets at regular intervals to get reduced to 76/8 and eventually get restricted at 90/9 in 20 overs. MI seamers just ripped through the RR batting unit. While Nathan Coulter-Nile scalped a four-wicket haul at the cost of 14 runs in 4 overs, Jimmy Neesham returned with a three-fer in 4 overs and gave just 12 runs. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah returned with figures of 2/14 in 2 overs. RR captain Sanju Samson put the onus on the pitch and said that it was a challenging one to bat on. “It was a bit challenging wicket to bat on, it was tougher in the first innings. Coming from Abu Dhabi, playing in Sharjah was a massive difference. Can't blame the batsmen a lot, but it was tough to bat in the first innings,” he said during the post-match presentation. MI skipper Rohit Sharma pointed that the side has taken the two crucial points and also lavished praise on Ishan Kishan for his knock. “We had to come here and do what we had to do. The two points were very crucial for us. Once we had them bowled out for 90, we had a chance to finish it early. It is important to seize the game. We had to come out and bat freely. We had a chance to get the run rate in order. Was a perfect game for us. He (Kishan) is playing after a couple of games. I was there to take the risks. We know his ability,” he said. Experts’ Opinion Commentator Harsha Bhogle lauded MI for their batting. “Now, that was some batting!!” He wrote on Twitter. Journalist Ayaz Memon criticised RR for their performance while hailing the way MI fared. “RR roundly thrashed for a rubbish performance, with bat and ball. MI brutal in both departments, seizing on weaknesses to notch ip massive win, improve their NRR and keep hopes of place in play offs alive,” he tweeted. Former India pacer Irfan Pathan hailed Ishan Kishan after his brutal knock. “Ishan Kishan back to form. Highlight of the day on this sluggish pitch and game,” Pathan tweeted. Former India bowler RP Singh pointed out the positives for Team India after MI clinched a massive win against RR. “So many positive for Team India in this Mumbai Indians win. Rohit Sharma touch and intent, Ishan Kishan among runs. Rajasthan Royals lost a great opportunity today,” he wrote on Twitter. RR will now play KKR in Sharjah on October 7 while MI will lock horns with SRH in Abu Dhabi.

Mumbai put pressure on KKR after massive NRR boosting win against Royals

Before today’s match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals, the talk was about whether Rajasthan could win it and make their last game against Kolkata Knight riders a virtual pre-qualifier as the winner then would have gone through to the Playoffs directly. But amidst all this, Mumbai, whose net run rate was in tatters, and nobody talked about their chances of qualification, worked in silence and roared huge after a massive victory against the Royals to improve their net run rate by leaps and bounds. The Paltan chased the target of 91 in just 8.2 overs, and the net run rate which was at -0.453 has suddenly gone to -0.048, which is huge in the context that they have now made Kolkata Knight Riders think on their toes and now they can’t afford to be laid back in their last game against the Royals on October 7. This victory, the second biggest in terms of balls remaining for Mumbai was courtesy of some brilliant bowling by Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jimmy Neesham and Jasprit Bumrah who picked, four, three and two wickets each respectively to restrict Rajasthan to only 90 in their 20 overs. Later on, with the help of Ishan Kishan’s 50 off just 25 balls, the Mumbai Indians chased down the total in only 8.2 overs. As things stand, KKR and Mumbai both have 12 points from 13 games and both need to play one game each. KKR are at +0.294 and MI at -0.048. The fact that KKR would be playing their match ahead of Mumbai’s last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on the last day of the league stage, makes the Playoffs scenario even more interesting as Mumbai would know exactly what to do in their last game.

Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy's World Cup dreams under dark clouds

India spinner Varun Chakravarthy’s injury concerns have become a major issue for him as well as for the Indian team management. As per a BCCI source, the right-arm bowler’s knees are not in “greatest condition”. "Varun's knees are not in greatest condition. He is in pain and trust me had it not been in a T20 World Cup, perhaps even Indian team management wouldn't have taken the risk of playing him," a BCCI source privy to the development told PTI on condition of anonymity. "To be 100 percent fit, he might later require an extensive rehab but right now, the focus will be on his pain management during T20 World Cup,” he added. The source also said that the KKR’s support staff have prepared a strength and conditioning chart for Chakravarthy. "As far as I know, the KKR's support staff has prepared an elaborate strength and conditioning chart for Varun, which is a part of his larger injury management programme,” the source said. The squad for the World T20 can be tweaked till October while the tournament begins on October 17 when co-host Oman will be up against PNG. The Men in Blue will commence the campaign on October 24 against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai.

Zimbabwe's Mary-Anne Musonda creates history, becomes first African woman to hit century on ODI debut

Zimbabwe Women’s captain Mary-Anne Musonda has registered her name in the history books of cricket by becoming the first African woman to hit an ODI century on debut. She also became only the sixth woman ever and second in the 21st century to hit a century on debut. Musonda remained unbeaten on 103 in what was also a great chase by the Zimbabwe Women in their first-ever official ODI. Apart from Musonda, two English Women in Derryth Thomas and Enid Bakewell (1973), two Indian Women in Reshma Gandhi and Mithali Raj (1999) and Australian Nicole Bolton (2014) have achieved the feat of scoring a century on their debut. Musonda is now also in the elite list of women who scored their maiden ODI century in their debut match, which was also the debut match of their team. Derryth Thomas and Enid Bakewell are the other two to have achieved this feat. Zimbabwe, which became the 18th team in women’s cricket history to be awarded official ODI status in April 2021, are playing their maiden ODI series against a touring Ireland Women’s team, who have been an ODI member since 2021 and have played 149 matches till now. In the very first match, played at the iconic Harare Sports Club in Harare, the Zimbabwe women decided to field first after winning the toss and after having restricted Ireland Women to only 172-4 in the first forty overs, lost the plot a bit in the last 10 overs of the first innings and let the Irish women score 81 runs in the last 10 overs to get to 253-8. Chasing that total, Zimbabwe weren’t really off to a great start and lost two wickets for 25 runs only. But it was only after this that the 30-year-old skipper came to the crease and took matters into her own hands. She built partnerships continuously and remained unbeaten till the end to see her team through with a four-wicket win. The two teams will clash against each other in three more games in this series, which is also working as a preparatory tournament for the ICC 2022 Women’s ODI World Cup Qualifiers, which would be played in November in Zimbabwe.