IPL 2020 | SRH vs DC: Saha, Warner, Rashid annihilate Delhi Capitals

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Delhi Capitals hit their third stumbling block on the trot as Sunrisers Hyderabad bulldozed them into a soul-crushing 88-run defeat in the 47th match of the Indian Premier League. Wriddhiman Saha was a revelation for his 45-ball 87 which set the stage on fire alongside David Warner's explosive fifty as SRH posted a mammoth 219/2, the highest total in the ongoing edition. Rashid Khan then cast a spin web, rooking out otherworldly figures of 4-0-7-3 comprising 17 dots to lend the orange army an NRR fillip. If a side boasting of demolishers from top to bottom is apprehensive of targeting you, that too with a mountain to climb ahead, you can give yourself a pat on the back.

Delhi raise the white flags in steep chase

DC endured the worst imaginable start with ace opener Shikhar Dhawan, fresh off a couple of hundreds, flicking versus swing to balloon a top-edge towards mid-off. Number three Marcus Stoinis, upgraded with the license to go for the kill, flattered to deceive. The brawny all-rounder tucked Sandeep Sharma with an elegant whip of the wrists before yanking Shahbaz Nadeem straight to mid-off. A hint of trepidation gripped the air as Rashid Khan was launched into the attack. For good reason too, with the wizard in the guise of a leggie castling Shimron Hetmyer before trapping Rahane plumb with a zippy wrong 'un. 

Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel didn't hang around for long either, departing to miscued shovels in the pursuit to keep abreast with the spiralling asking rate. Thangarasu Natarajan's shooter cleaned up Kagiso Rabada while Rishabh Pant fell prey to an absolutely brilliant review from David Warner, the snickometer tracking a mild disturbance as his bat reached for the tramline yorker. Tushar Deshpande grabbed eyeballs with some lusty blows but the ship had already sunk into oblivion.

SRH's Bairstow snub evokes a mixed bag of emotions

Kane Williamson graced the team sheet at the expense of Jonny Bairstow, leaving the fan base perplexed as to whether rejoice or despise the exchange of personnel. Keeper Wriddhiman Saha was pigeonholed to the vacant slot at the helm while left-arm Shahbaz Nadeem too made the cut as Priyam Garg and Khaleel Ahmed picked the water bottles. 

Warner-Saha paint the town red

David Warner was the life and soul of his birthday party, calling the shots from the front as SRH romped to their second-best PowerPlay score in IPL history, an unscathed 77. New-ball merchants across the board were subjected to a leather hunt, with both Warner and Saha enjoying a slice of the pie en route the ballistic 107-run partnership. The southpaw, in a crude nutshell, flashed his blade at anything and everything, and the cherry more often than not rung of the sweet spot of his rapier-like willow. The fifty-milestone was collected no sweat in just 25 balls, but offie Ravichandran Ashwin stuck to his guns of flight and deception as Warner skewed a loft to a back-pedalling extra cover. 

Talk about grabbing your opportunity

Despite losing his partner, Saha wreaked havoc in a league of his own. He carted Axar Patel through mid-wicket before lacing his dancing shoes to badger Ashwin down the ground. Tushar Deshpande bore the brunt of a chiselled short-arm jab as Saha raised his bat to a 27-ball half-century. To fill in the boots of Bairstow after a gut-wrenching loss to KXIP and to pulverize speed demons of the ilk of Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada is no mean feat. He did mistime a hard length ball to miss out on a well-deserved ton, but a standing ovation from SRH's camp elucidated the value of his blitzkrieg.

Delhi spared a few blushes

The scoreboard beamed a double hundred with the 18th over in progression, and you can say, albeit with tongue firmly in cheek, that SRH left a dozen or more runs on the platter at the death. This in spite of Manish Pandey's unbeaten 44, stockpiled by milking a buffet of full-tosses. That a relatively sedate 44 runs came off the last five overs drives the point home. Rabada proved he's human after all, bleeding 54 in four, remaining wicketless after a jubilant stretch of 26 T20s. 

Where do they travel next?

Delhi Capitals, who are now feeling the heat regardless of having 14 points in the kitty, have two dog-eat-dog encounters up their sleeve. Mumbai Indians await on Saturday afternoon in Dubai before Royal Challengers Bangalore knock their door in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Sunrisers Hyderabad plough the same furrow with both oppositions trialling them in a different order. Sharjah plays host, with RCB and MI eyeing to seal playoff berths, on Saturday and Tuesday respectively. 

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IPL 2020 | MI vs RCB: Match Preview, Predicted XI & Dream11 Fantasy Picks

The clash of titans is here. Two teams that have looked absolutely phenomenal this season, fight it out once again in the reverse fixture in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League. Last time Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians met, they had to be separated by the barest of margins via a Super Over. Having said that the breathtaking contest is an inconsequential game for both the sides considering their sense of security in making to the playoffs berth and the fact that the prolific Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma might be out of the game owing to his hamstring injury. The sides are placed in the top three of the points table of the IPL 2020 and the game is a battle of supremacy where each side has their eyes on the top two spots in the playoff berth. What makes the battle between the men in blue and black and gold exciting is that the last time when they met on the pitch, there was not much of a difference between the two on the basis of pure performances in the main match and only a super over could decide who was better on that night in Dubai. The Royal Challengers Bangalore had shown an exemplary level of composure that is not so associated with the side to outsmart Rohit Sharma’s side in the battle of nerves, which must have been a hard pill to swallow for the Mumbai Indians. Come October 28 in Abu Dhabi and the Mumbai Indians will be itching to course-correct their journey and defeat the RCB who have been looking like the most balanced side the franchise has put out for years. But, they will have to do without Rohit Sharma who is nursing a leg injury and may well sit out with the team management not looking to risk him ahead of the playoffs. On the other hand, the RCB will be looking to get a step further in the rivalry with the Mumbai Indians and will bank their impressive bowlers to get better of the long list of swashbuckling batsmen in the Mumbai camp. Virat Kohli said that the super over he faced against Jasprit Bumrah woke him up from the rustiness and he never looked back since. The star batsman would look to dominate the Mumbai Indians bowling attack this time around. Mumbai has a very potent bowling line-up with the presence of seasoned pros in Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah at the helm of affairs but the real surprise has been James Pattinson who was inducted into the squad only as a replacement. Kohli would hope that the side that possesses three international batting stars including him, AB de Villiers, and Aaron Finch would be able to provide better answers to the questions that the Mumbai bowlers have been throwing at batsmen. The match will also be riveting for the contest between the spinning duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar who have been nothing but phenomenal in the IPL so far and the Mumbai batting lineup that has batsmen who feast on spin bowling such as Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav. A lot of talks have been on the inclusion of Chris Morris in the XI and Navdeep Sani and Mohammed Siraj with the new ball but Virat Kohli and Mike Hesson would realise that both Sundar and Chahal have been an integral part of their success this season by picking up wickets regularly in the middle overs. Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: Match details Match Number - 48 Date: 28th October 2020, at 7:30 PM IST Venue: Dubai Pitch and weather An old pitch will be used for this game but the expectations can possibly be high given the fresher version of the pitch had produced a high-scoring game that was played between the Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians. Mumbai Indians had posted a monumental score of 195 and the Royals had chased down the score on the back of superlative batting from Ben Stokes and Sanju Samson. The Mumbai Indians will look to improve their bowling from the last match looking at the form of the RCB batting line-up while Virat Kohli will be looking forward to restricting the Mumbai Indians from running away with a big total if he does not get the opportunity to bat first. The pitch is likely to be slower if there is no or little due in the late night and captains will have no hesitation in batting first. The weather conditions in Abu Dhabi have been ideal to play cricket and it is likely to remain the same on the night of the MI-RCB clash. Team News Mumbai Indians There is a lot of opacity about the nature and seriousness of Rohit Sharma’s injury especially after the batsman was not named in the Indian squads for the upcoming Australia tour. However, the franchise had put out a video showing Rohit hitting the nets and training hard with his batting. There are questions surrounding his availability in the remaining matches of the league but whatsoever is his status, he is unlikely to be rushed back into the Xi as the team management will have its eyes on the bigger prize of playoffs. The team is unlikely to change for the last game against the Royals and that will mean a longer rope for Ishan Kishan at the top of the order and Saurabh Tiwari is likely to be persisted at the number four position. Expected XI Quinton de Kock (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard (c), Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah Royal Challengers Bangalore Virat Kohli will have to stop the mayhem of Mumbai’s batsmen without Navdeep Saini who has been ruled out due to an injury. Saini has been instrumental for the team bowling the toughest overs of the game and to the best batsmen in the opposition line up. With Saini ruled out, Kohli will have to find someone who can bowl both at the start and the end of the innings and one among Dale Steyn and Ishuru Udana might get back into the playing Xi in place of Moeen Ali who is having a very subdued IPL so far. Pawan Negi or Shivam Dube could well be brought back to fill the void that will be created in case of Moeen Ali’s exclusion from the playing XI. Expected XI Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Chris Morris, Shivam Dube/Pawan Negi, Washington Sundar, Ishuru Udana/Dale Steyn, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: Dream11 team and suggestion Ishan kishan, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, james Pattinson, yuzvendra Chahal Captain: AB de Villiers Vice-captain: Hardik Pandya

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If Rohit Sharma's injury was serious, he wouldn't be padded up - Sunil Gavaskar

Former India captain nd renowned commentator, Sunil Gavaskar has urged the BCCI to come out clean on Rohit Sharma’s exclusion from India’s squads for the tour of Australia. Yesterday, BCCI put out a statement while announcing the squads for the tour DownUnder. "The BCCI Medical Team will continue to monitor the progress of Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma." the statement read. Rohit, captain of the Mumbai Indians in IPL, suffered a hamstring strain during his side's game against Kings XI Punjab on October 18. He hasn’t taken the field since but the opener was seen sweating it out at the nets. Kieron Pollard has been leading the side in the absence of Rohit. On October 23, Mumbai put out a statement that said: "Rohit Sharma has suffered left leg hamstring strain during Mumbai Indians' last outing. Rohit has made good progress over the last four days, while the management is taking one day at a time monitoring the recovery process in consultancy with BCCI. Rohit has been advised rest for the match against CSK. Kieron Pollard will lead the team tonight." Rohit didn’t feature in Mumbai’s next clash against Rajasthan Royals on October 25, a day before the selection committee picked the squads for all three formats. Following the announcement, the Mumbai franchise announced the return of Rohit in the training session. That is when Gavaskar called for clarity on the matter while speaking on Star Sports. "I don't know, I'm not on any of these public media but I was shown something about him practising at the nets for Mumbai Indians. So I don't know what kind of injury it is. Because if the injury was serious he wouldn't even be padded up.” Gavaskar said. "I think a little bit of transparency, a little bit of openness about what actually is the problem with him will help everybody. Because the Indian cricket fan deserves to know more than anything else. The franchises I understand, they don't want to give their hand away because they're trying to win the game, they don't want to give the opposition any psychological advantage but we're talking about an Indian team. Even Mayank Agarwal for example, Mayank Agarwal has not been playing... I think for the Indian cricket fan... they ought to know what is happening to two of their key players," he added. The Indian team will travel to Australia once the IPL gets over. The support staff and other members of the team will undergo quarantine meanwhile before regrouping for the important away tour. .

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Russell, du Plessis & Miller among 5 foreign players to pull out of LPL 2020

A string of withdrawals has put a dent on the much anticipated Lanka Premier League. Andre Russell, David Miller, Faf du Plessis are among the five foreigners who have pulled out from the LPL a week ahead of the start of the tournament. South Africa plays England in the same window hence the likes of Dawid Malan, Miller and du Plessis would commit to their respective national duties. Russell has pulled out due to an injury. India’s Manvinder Bisla, who was instrumental in KKR’s victorious IPL campaign in 2012, has made an exit as well. The league will start on November 21, with the final slated on December 13. "The franchises that had these players will have to negotiate with other players to take their place," LPL director Ravin Wickramaratne told ESPNcricinfo. Russell, Miller, du Plessis and Malan had all been selected as marquee players, which means the franchises are not bound by the constraints of the draft payment structure when they seek new players. Russell has suffered from a knee injury and he hasn’t been part of the playing eleven for KKR since the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on October 18. However, the Jamaican all-rounder hasn’t pulled out of the IPL. The Sri Lanka Cricket Board is optimistic of going ahead with the tournament even though certain players have expressed their dissatisfaction regarding the country’s health minister’s statement of mandatory 14-day quarantine for the players on arrival.