IPL 2021: Eoin Morgan fined for slow over rate during match against CSK

IPL 2021 | KKR vs CSK: Hits & Flops as Russel, Cummins fail in muscling Knight Riders past Super Kings

When Kolkata Knight Riders were struggling at 31-5 at the end of the fifth over, nobody even in their wildest of dreams would have thought that they would be trying to get 20 of the last over with a certain Pat Cummins batting at 65 off 33 balls. It wasn’t only Cummins that was an unlikely hero with the bat for KKR, but Andre Russell also finally paid dividends with the willow in his hand, scoring a 22 ball 54 and getting out in the unlikeliest of fashion, bowled from behind the legs. Dinesh Karthik was the third KKR batsman to eke out any sort of resistance. However, he too got out leaving Cummins alone in the middle. The Aussie did hit Sam Curran for 30 runs in one over to get the equation in his favour with 45 needed off the final four. In the end, though, it was too much to ask for Cummins as he ran out of partners and the last man, Prasidh Krishna couldn’t support him by completing a two of the first ball of the last over, getting run out in the event and wasting away five precious deliveries. Earlier in the evening, MS Dhoni, the skipper of the Super Kings had surprisingly decided to bat first after winning a toss at Wankhede. Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad made full use of the decision, getting back in form, with two scintillating half-centuries for both the openers. This firebrand batting helped Super Kings reach a huge total of 220 runs. The game had a lot of heroes and villains too. Let’s have a look at them in the segment called Hits and Flops Hits Faf du Plessis The CSK opener was on a roll with the bat, especially in the second half of the Yellow Brigade’s innings. At the time of the other opener, Gaikwad’s wicket in the 13th over, du Plessis was hardy in the limelight, just going about things lacklustre. He hadn’t even completed his fifty back then. But once the fifty was completed in 36 balls, the 36-year-old utilised the next 24 balls to hit 43 runs and remain unbeaten at 95 with the help of nine fours and four giant sixes. It was with the help of the South African’s innings only that CSK, after being 165-2 in the 17th over, were able to get to 220 at the end of the 20th. The importance of this innings could be gauged from the fact that it was also du Plessis’ first-ever fifty-plus score in his last 10 innings across formats. Pat Cummins It would be hard to believe, if someone reads this piece a few years down the line that Pat Cummins would feature as a hit in a T20 game, not for his bowling, but rather for his batting. The New South Wales born was able to keep his team the Knight Riders in the game even after all their batting superstars had walked off to the dressing room when 75 runs needed off just 30 balls. Cummins hit Englishman Curran, who had got dangerous Russell bowled around his legs, for 30 runs in the 16th over and brought down the required rate from 15 runs per over to just over 11, with 45 needed from 24. He then took 13 runs off a Shardul Thakur over to bring the equation down to 27 from two overs. But with wickets falling regularly at the other end, it wasn’t easy for the paceman to keep going at the same rate. Eventually, it came down to 20 off the last ball and well rest of it has already been told. Deepak Chahar Chahar was back to his very best once again for MSD’s calling. Swinging the ball left-right and centre and forcing the batsmen to commit mistakes. Most of his wicket-taking deliveries were actually lucky escapes for the bowler and unlucky for the batters. Only Eoin Morgan’s wicket came off a delivery that had genuine merit for taking a wicket. But what should not be forgotten is the fact that Chahar was able to get those four wickets because of the better 16 balls that did not fetch him a wicket, but did force the batsmen to take different recourse and thereby making him commit the mistake. This was Chahar’s second four-wicket haul this season and he has now reached the joint second place in the list of most wickets, just one behind leader Harshal Patel of the RCB. Flops Eoin Morgan The KKR skipper has failed continuously this season, having not been able to play even one good innings in the four matches so far. Today was no different either. Trying to get to up the ante, and reasonably so, he was going for the boundaries. But the manner in which he played an outside off delivery from Chahar to get run out at, was silly, to say the least. It was not at all becoming of a World Cup-winning captain. With just 45 runs so far in the four innings, it is high time for Morgan, 33, to get his act together and lead by example for others to follow. Ireland born was not at his usual best in terms of bowling changes as well as this was the second game in a row that KKR conceded more than 200 runs. Prasidh Krishna The lanky fast bowler was guilty, of not only wayward bowling, but also of committing cardinal sins like bowling not just one but two no-balls in a T20 game. The Karnataka bowler went on to concede 49 runs in his four overs without getting even a single wicket. Krishna was not able to keep the ball in the right areas and was also missing his wide yorkers. His length was so much aloof that du Plessis was able to scoop him. Further, Krishna was guilty of ball watching in the final over of the game when KKR desperately needed a double in the first ball of the final over to get Cummins back on strike. Replays were not kind to Krishna when they showed how the player hadn't moved an inch off his crease despite Cummins' straight drive going well past him. This resulted in a runout in the bowlers' end and robbed KKR off what potentially could have been a match deciding five deliveries. Special Mention: Andre Russell Andre Russell, as a bowler has been pitiable, to say the least apart from his five-wicket haul against Mumbai Indians. But as a batsman, the Jamaican has showcased, in this game, as well as in the last one that he is still a force to reckon with. When most people lost hope of any comeback from KKR, just the presence of Russell was more than good enough to keep that one flame, even a flicker of it burning, in the hope that the game might change. It did change eventually as well when the 32-year-old started swimming against the tide. He was supported well by Karthik and who knows, if that unfortunate manner of getting out would have been averted somehow, Wankheded might have witnessed another Andre Russell special (People wouldn’t have forgotten his 2016 T20 World Cup semis knock against India). While CSK one more game at Wankhede (vs RCB) before moving to Delhi, Kolkata find themselves up against Rajasthan in the next encounter.

IPL 2021 | KKR vs CSK: What Experts Said as clinical Super Kings punish erratic Knight Riders

The ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League has not fallen short of providing close encounters and collapse but the contest between the Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders could just be the game of the season so far. It had everything in it from excellent batting performances followed by a fantastic piece of bowling with the new ball and then an unlikely comeback that fell agonisingly short of achieving the goal. At first, the Super Kings openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis batted with the intention of taking the game to the Knight Riders camp and posted a mammoth total. The Super Kings followed a superb batting effort with another spell of superlative bowling by Deepak Chahar who took another four-wicket haul to set up the game. Then, when all looked doomed for the Knight Riders, first Andre Russell and then, Pat Cummins came back with two of the best counter-attacking innings in the history of IPL to inject some hope in an otherwise hopeless Knight Riders camp. Captains’ viewpoints The winning captain MS Dhoni was calm as ever after the win over the Knight Riders however he said that the contest had reached 'it's either you or it's me' level between the pacers and the batsmen. He said that had the Knight Riders would have sustained their aggression till the end of the innings, the match would have ended up looking more closely than they actually finished. “I think it's easy in a game like this because from the 15th and 16th over onwards, the contest was between the fast bowler and the batsman [laughs]. It was you vs me. The side that won was maybe the one that executed it better. If 20 overs had been completed, it would have been more closer,” Dhoni said in the post-match presentation. The Super Kings had a huge score on the board and the new ball too produced too many wickets for the Knight Riders to have it easy. However, Dhoni said to his teammates that the Knight Riders, like all other IPL teams, have big-hitters hence staying humble and in the moment was desirable. “It's important to be humble and give respect to the opposition. Every IPL team has big-hitters. I told them we have good runs on the board, but we need to stay humble,” Dhoni added. After Deepak Chahar and Lungi Ngidi reduced the Knight Riders to 31/5 inside the powerplay, Andre Russell appeared to be emerging from the struggles he has had in recent years and started putting bowlers to the sword. Discussing what he could have done more to stoop carnage at the hands of Russell, Dhoni said the only option he had in his hands was to employ Ravindra Jadeja as the ball was spinning and stopping off the surface. Ultimately, after Russell elongated his onslaught to a 22-ball 54 runs, the Super Kings finally got the better of him in an unusual manner. However, Dhoni said that it was a plan to get him bowled behind his legs. Bowlers have come to the party till now in the season for the Super Kings, but batting has been able to set off a good base for the bowler to challenge batsmen. Dhoni commended Ruturaj Gaikwad who came back to form and hit an impressive half-century to establish his quality and justify his selection. “The batting has been really well. Rutu showed his class in the last IPL. We always need to assess where he is mentally. He doesn't seem rattled and he has the basics to make it big. What would've helped him is the last few games last year when he wasn't successful,” Dhoni concluded. The defeated captain Eoin Morgan hailed Andre Russell, Pat Cummins and Dinesh Karthik for making it ‘one hell of a game’ from a situation where all looked lost. He said that the match turned out to be a pulsating one on the back of brilliant fightback from the Knight Riders middle and lower order. “It's (pulse) quite high at the moment. One hell of a game. Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik put a partnership together and following that Pat Cummins gave us every chance towards the end. Tremendous fight from the middle and lower order. You ride the emotions throughout the day,” Morgan said to host broadcaster Star. Morgan conceded the game almost slipped out of the team’s hand after the Super Kings sent back the top half of the batting order by the end of the powerplay. However, Morgan said that the team adapted to the new ground and the subsequent challenges after coming to Mumbai from Chennai. “The first five overs of batting didn't go our way. We didn't play as well as we would've liked. We can be happy with (adaptation) new ground, different challenges,” Morgan added. The bowling attack conceded a lot of runs, especially at the back end of the innings, but Morgan asserted that not accepting the lack of room for the bowlers will be unkind to them. Morgan hailed Russell for putting his hands up once again but rued lack of performances from others and supporting act to the right-hander. “Going back to it, I don't think there was any margin for error for the bowlers. We need to be kinder to the bowlers. You really need to be on the money. I tend to stay away from Dre after he gets out. It's great he's in this sort of form. Disappointing that the rest of us couldn't help him out,” Morgan said. Experts’ views Harsha Bhogle, a ‘voice of cricket’ reaffirmed the point Dhoni made about the game going much closer than it actually ended as the Knight Riders stretched their innings to the last ball. Earlier, when the Knight Riders pacers were taken to the cleaners by the Super Kings batsmen, Bhogle opined that they were missing the track of not taking the pace off the ball. He also asserted that the Super Kings had enough runs in the bank to stop the Knight Riders. Bhogle was impressed by the clinical performance of the Super Kings and said that the game against the Knight Riders was one of the best performances they have put out in the recent past. He also lauded the Super Kings management for trusting a player and allowing them to flourish before giving up on them with respect to Ruturaj Gaikwad. Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra welcomed Gaikwad’s return to form with a swashbuckling innings against the Knight Riders. Having faced turbulent times against the batsmen from either side, Aakash Chopra came with some words of appreciation for bowlers and said that there was not enough they could have done to stop batsmen from hitting sixes with ease. He said the game between the Knight Riders and the Super Kings provided a ‘PG Certificate’ for budding bowlers that things will not come their way on certain days. Cricket analyst Ben Jones said that the Chennai Super Kings are far from a perfect team to become a certainty for a playoff spot although he loves watching players such as Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja and Deepak Chahar. He also spoke highly of Moeen Ali who has emerged as one of the MVPs for the Super Kings in this season. He expressed amusement over him not getting a place in the top six of the England T20I side. The Super Kings have not covered all their bases and plugged all the holes that the skipper MS Dhoni referred to in the last season. However, they are being helped by individual players putting their hands up in critical moments of the game to keep them going upward and forward. On the other hand, the Eoin Morgan-led Knight Riders have appeared to be a toothless side in spite of having many x-factor players in the form of skipper himself, Andre Russell, and Pat Cummins. The Knight Riders need their star players to shine through more often than not while younger players will have to step up their game and support big players if the team is looking to get back to winning ways.

Luke Jongwe’s all-round effort goes in vain as Rizwan, Qadir shine in Pakistan victory

Pakistan continued from what they had left in South Africa as they started their Zimbabwe tour with a win in the first of the three T20Is at Harare Sports Club. Riding on vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan’s unbeaten 82 off 61 balls, the bowlers put in a resurgent effort to avoid a defeat at the hands of the opponent against whom they have not lost a single T20I game in their 14 meetings. Usman Qadir was the pick of the bowlers for the men in green with his match-winning efforts of 3-22. Zimbabwe started their chase of a modest 150 on a positive note with openers scoring 20 runs in the first two overs. But the opening stand couldn’t flourish much as speedster Mohammad Hasnain got Wesely Madhevere caught by skipper Babar Azam. Debutant Tadiwanashe Marumani followed suit on the very next ball, with Babar and Hasnain repeating bot their efforts. Craig Ervine, who was making his comeback into the side then got into a partnership with opener Tinashe Kamunhukamwe and added 56 runs in 48 balls. Veteran Mohammad Hafeez broke the partnership with his part-time off-spin by removing Kamunhukamwe. Qadir removed Ervine in the very next over and the chase got difficult for the Zimbabweans, even though skipper Sean Williams and all-rounder Ryan burl were present at the crease. Haris Rauf and Qadir then paired up to remove skipper Williams and wicket-keeper batsman Regis Chakabva to put the Chevrons in all sorts of bother at 95-6 at the end of the 14th over. With 55 required from the last six, Luke Jongwe, who had bowled brilliantly joined Burl and the two took the scorecard to 122. But with Burl getting removed from the last ball of the 18th, it was too much to do for Jongwe with 28 needed from the last two and no player with batting credentials to accompany him. In the end, the Zimbabwe team could only manage to get to 138, eventually losing the game by 11 runs. Earlier in the day, Zimbabwe had won the toss and sent in Pakistan to bat first. The Men in Green didn’t have a good start as Word no. 2 T20I batsmen and Babar was removed easily by Blessing Muzarabani. No one other than Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman and Danis Aziz entered the double figures for Pakistan even as the team got to 149. Hadn’t it been for Rizwan’s 5th T20I fifty, Pakistan were looking down the barrel without much hope. The two teams would now face each other in the second game on April 23 at the same venue.

IPL 2021 | SRH vs PBKS: Hits and Flops as Sunrisers crack Chepauk code to punish listless Kings

The Sunrisers Hyderabad finally broke the chain of unbearable losses in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League against the Punjab Kings. Chasing a score of mere 121 runs, the ever so powerful top order comprising David Warner, Jonny Bairstow and Kane Williamson made light work of the chase and helped the team to get off the mark. The batting crises that have started to appear in the Punjab Kings setup did not relent in their fourth game of the season as well. They were hurt badly by the Sunrisers bowling attack that finally came to terms with the potential and expectations made of him before the commencement of the IPL this year. They suffered setback when Bhuvneshwar Kumar walked off the field after bowling only three overs but the new additions from the last few games such as Abhishek Sharma and Khaleel Ahmed put their hands up to restrict the Kings. Here, we’ll decipher the best and the worst performances of the game between the Sunrisers and the Kings in Chennai. Hits Abhishek Sharma Before the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League, Abhishek Sharma was in superb form both with the bat and the ball in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy held earlier this year. However, the presence of international all-rounders meant that the lad from Punjab had to miss out on the first few games. The result of the first three games did not go the Sunrisers way and they were forced to have a look in on Abhishek Sharma in hope of finding a perfect balance in the playing XI. Sharma, too, did not come to his best in the first game and perished. The second chance he got from the team against the Kings was his chase to step up and justify the backings. David Warner trusted him to start with the new ball against the two right-handers from the Kings and move almost paid a dividend but Rashid Khan dropped a tough chance. After a solitary over, he was held back as Chris Gayle came out to bat. He was brought back in the 10th over when the Kings had another right-handed pair in the middle. He started well again and conceded only six runs from the second over. Finally, after a long wait, his persistence and accuracy were rewarded as Deepak Hooda was caught back in the crease in order to force the issue. He coaxed Hooda into playing a shot from the backfoot after failing in attempts of sweeping. A success forced Warner to keep him in the attack and after conceding a four to Moises Henriques, he flummoxed another right-hander, but now with a flighted delivery that turned away from the batsman. A bowling figure of 4-0-24-2 was good enough to establish his credentials as a left-arm spinner while also repudiating his critics who doubt if he can deliver a four-over spell every game. Jonny Bairstow Jonny Bairstow has been the lone shining light for the Sunrisers Hyderabad albeit the team was having a tough time so far in the tournament. Hence, when the Sunrises back from a hattrick of losses, it was Bairstow who led the charge to win them the game. The bowling did play their role admirably after the games where they let the other team reach defendable scores. The batting order did not have a mountain to climb, but they had to get off to a good start to calm the nerves as when a side starts losing games they should have won, the habit of losing creeps in the system. Bairstow attacked from the outset whenever he was offered the chance to get at the top of the bowling line up. Left-arm spinner Fabian Allen offered him width and length to go over the top and Bairstow were up and running in the chase. He corrected his line but length provided Bairstow to get under it once again and the Sunrisers were on charge. There was no let-up this time from him and he remained not out to lead the Sunrisers to a big win over the Kings. Bairstow has been in good form coming into the IPL and he is making sure to utilise it to maximum advantage for the Sunrisers. On the day against the Punjab Kings, Bairstow needed to make sure the wickets were not falling from one end while also ensuring that a manageable required run rate to not get out of their hands. He batted beautifully, mixing aggression with a cautious approach to deny the Kings any chance to come back in the game. Khaleel Ahmed Khaleel Ahmed was brought in the team for an impressive T Natarajan, who has been excluded from the team on account of fitness. Hence, Ahmad was battling to keep his place in the team along with justifying his presence in the team. Ahmed had a terrible season last year and could feature only in eight games. The pressure could well have been daunting but the left arm came back with flying colours in the game the Kings. However, the start was not good and both Mayank Agarwal and Chris Gayle had punished him for poor balls before Rashid Khan helped him with a big wicket of Agarwal. He bowled two overs in his first spell and took the big wicket of Agarwal along with giving away only 13 runs. Warner kept two of his overs in the bank for the end overs and he offered his captain a chance to justify his own call by forcing a false shot from Fabian Allen. He came back to his fourth over and sent back Shahrukh Khan, who has turned out to be a rescue man for the Kings over the last few games. Shahrukh was in the mood to do what Kieron Pollard did against the Sunriesers by getting his side to a score that they could dare to defend. However, Khaleel was better than him and deceived him with a straighter slower one. He could well face an exit door if the move to exclude Natarajan is really related to his fitness and not performance. But, Khaleel has done enough to stake claim to his place in the playing XI. Flops KL Rahul KL Rahul has had a torrid time coming into the ongoing edition of the IPL but the first game showed signs that he was behind his struggles. He was not proactive with the bat but he managed to finish the game strong with the bat against the Rajasthan Royals. Then, bowlers stood up in pressure situations to defend a big score and both the Kings and Rahul himself were up and running. Rahul has been criticised for not showing intent with the bat and stats back the claim that his lack of appetite for risk for greater results has cost the Kings few games. Worryingly, for the Kings, he was batting with docile intent in Mumbai where teams have needed as many as they could get. His method would have worked perfectly in Chennai where teams have often needed an anchor who could hold one end up while others go for glory shots. However, he fell victim to enforcing the issue on a pitch that was not allowing balls to bounce higher. A dragged on pull shot found the field and Rahul failed to adapt to the conditions at the Chepauk and played right into the hands of the Sunrisers Hyderabad. KL Rahul needs to sort his head out before the next game and the Kings management should make him realise the key to running successful campaigns is adaptability, which both he and the team lacked big time against the Sunrisers. Chris Gayle Chris Gayle has not been able to come to the party in the 14th edition of the IPL and he is one of the prime concerns the Kings have found himself in the bubble of uncertainty. He has been assigned the task of leading the batting group from the number three position in the league to resurrect the Kings in case of failure of either Rahul or Agarwal. However, apart from one game, his bat has gone silent and so is the consistency of the Kings batting order. The batting order that has the trio of Rahul, Gayle and Agarwal has suffered two collapses out of four games this season while in another game against the Capitals, they could not capitalise on a good start by Agarwal. Against the Sunrisers, the early wicket of Rahul put the responsibility for taking the Kings to a defensible position but Gayle fell victim to the mastery of Rashid Khan. His wicket broke the back of Kings and the failure of other batsmen from the other end made sure they were always short of any chance of challenging the mighty top order of the Sunrisers. The Sunrisers will be ecstatic to get off the habit of losing with a clinical performance while on the other hand, the Kings will have to relook their tactics on slow and low pitches in Chennai. The Kings management needs to address the role of different players and make sure they should be aware of their responsibilities towards the team on the field. At the moment, the Kings are failing to play as a collective unit and the results are telling for them and everyone to see.