Marsh Cup: Twin centuries from Philippe & Marsh hand Western Australia thumping win in season opener

'I planned it': Andre Russell on his perfect yorker to AB de Villiers

There were some unusual scenes during the clash between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday in Abu Dhabi when Andre Russell cleaned up AB de Villiers on a golden duck with a perfect yorker. In a video released by KKR on their social media handle, Russell has revealed how he planned the delivery and executed it pretty well. "That yorker, I planned it. Because you know, I was bowling hard lengths before into the wicket. AB came out to bat, I know he is a clever player. He was definitely looking for a hard-length ball. You know, I just trusted myself to get the yorker in and it worked. So, I'm happy." "I went to AB after the match and give him a hug,” he further added. RCB didn’t really have a great start to the second of the IPL after they were first bundled out for 92 against KKR and the Knight Riders then chased down the target by 9 wickets in 10 overs. Batting first, the Bangalore side had a steady start to the proceedings despite losing captain Virat Kohli early. Opener Devdutt Padikkal and Srikar Bharat stitched a stand of 31 runs for the second wicket before Padikkal was undone for 22 off 20 after getting caught behind off Ferguson on the last delivery of the Powerplay overs. But the left-hander’s departure saw a flurry of wickets as RCB were left tottering at 66/7 and were eventually bowled out. Varun Chakravarthy and Andre Russell were the pick of the bowlers after both the players scalped a three-for apiece. Later, Shubman Gill and debutant Venkatesh Iyer dominated the RCB bowling thoroughly and anchored the side to an easy win. Gill was out for 48 off 34 after getting caught by Siraj off Chahal while Iyer remained unbeaten at a 27-ball 41.

Losing close matches has become a pattern for us: PBKS coach Anil Kumble

Punjab Kings head coach Anil Kumble has expressed disappointment at the defeat against Rajasthan Royals and admitted that losing close games has become a “pattern” for the side. “It’s sort of become a bit of a pattern for us, especially as soon as we get to Dubai, it seems. There was a clear message saying we need to finish this game in 19 overs, and that was the approach,” Kumble said at the post-match press conference. Punjab needed four runs in the last over when RR pacer Kaetik Tyagi unveiled his talent and defended the score to anchor his side to a 2-run win in Dubai. The former India player lavished praise on Tyagi and lauded the right-arm bowler for the way he bowled the final over. “But credit to how Tyagi bowled the last over, it was pretty obvious that he’s going to bowl wide outside the off stump, but somehow our batters didn’t take the right options,” Kumble said. Batting first, RR were cruising to a big total at one stage but some fine bowling from Arshdeep and Mohammed Shami in the death overs pulled things back for Punjab and the Royals were bundled out for 185 in 20 overs. Arshdeep bagged a five-wicket haul while Shami scalped three wickets during the course. Later, Punjab began the proceedings in steady manner after captain KL Rahul and opener Mayank Agarwal put 120 runs on the board for the first wicket. While Rahul missed out on a fifty by just one run, Mayank went on to notch up 67 off 43 deliveries. Later, Nicholas Pooran and debutant Aiden Markram held the fort but lost way in the last over as Punjab were restricted to 183/4 in 20 overs. The Royals now have four wins and as many defeats in the eight matches that they have played while Punjab Kings have lost their sixth game in nine matches.

IPL 2021 | PBKS vs RR: Hits and Flops as hopeless Kings fumble in another seamless chase

The familiar story of snatching defeat from the jaws of defeat continued for the Punjab Kings as they slipped into another infuriating loss against the Rajasthan Royals after acing the chase till the last over of the game. Superlative fifties from the skipper KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal kept them ahead of the curve and then the partnership between Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran strolled in the chase of 186 runs. However, with just four runs requiring off the final over, Karthik Tyagi first denied them boundaries on the first few balls and then took the wicket of Pooran to send the Kings on the know territory of disappointing final over. He followed it up with a dot ball and the wicket of Deepak Hooda to make what was looking like a walk in the park a tough ask of three runs of the final ball for Fabian Allen. With the win, the Royals surged to the of the table while the Kings slipped to on the points table of the ongoing edition of the IPL 2021. Hits Karthik Tyagi When Karthik Tyagi started the final over of the game against the Kings, the game seemed to be over for the Royals but the ability of the Kings to make a defeating position for themselves from any situation kept them in the game. The last time any bowler defended four runs in an over, he would have been in secondary school and it tells how the odds were heavily stacked against him and the Royals. Unknown to what was ahead of him, he could not deliver the first ball on the perfect spot but Pooran failed to capitalise on it. He did not repeat the mistake though and delivered balls in the blockhole one after the other and denied both Markram and Pooran any opportunity to get under. Reducing the equation to three runs off the last four balls, he first removed Pooran with a yorker that the left-hander jarred to the skipper Samson. He tactically bowled the next two delivery wide from Deepak Hooda and removed him on the penultimate delivery. Having reduced the equation significantly in the favour of the Royals with three required off the last ball which was to be faced by the new batsman Fabian Allen, Karthik did not relent from the yorker length and as soon as he missed, there was a sense of jubilation in the Royals camp and despair and disbelief in the Kings' camp. If not for the two wickets and immense discipline with the ball in the last over, the night would have been a middling one for the young Indian pacer, but he made sure to put his hands up when the Royals needed a special performance. Mayank Agarwal The Kings needed momentum at the top of the order in pursuit of 186 runs but unlike the recent past, Mayank Agarwal was not the aggressor for them. Instead, he was struggling in the first five overs while KL Rahul was going all guns blazing from the other end. Until the first five overs, his score appeared pedestrian with just nine runs off the 14 balls before Mustafizur Rahman allowed him space to get under the ball. He lifted a slower ball over the bowler’s head to get going and never looked back since then. Rahul Tewatia allowed him the same space in the next over and the right-hander was up to it. However, the flood gates opened for him in the next over delivered by Tyagi, who offered him three half volleys to feats upon. From nine runs off 14 runs, Agarwal quickly surged to a 27-ball 35 by the end of the eighth over. The hard-earned momentum was not squandered by him and the most expansive player in the Royals setup—Chris Morris was despatched for two effortless sixes in the 10th over to establish their domination in the game. Agarwal would be disappointed with not finishing the job for his side but his innings kept the Kings ahead in the game till his dismissal. Arshdeep Singh When Arshdeep Singh was brought into the attack by KL Rahul, he was desperate to end the first partnership between Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal and the young pacer from Punjab did just that by sending the West Indian left-hander back to the pavilion. He was held back for some unknown reasons at that time but his exploit in the wake of desperate Royals’ batsmen ratified the call by KL Rahul. After a successful over, he was brought back to the attack only in the 12th over when the Kings were looking to send back another dangerous batsman in Livingstone. He once again succeded although Allen was the major reason behind Livingstone’s departure. Just like the first over, he was again taken off the bowling attack as Rahul had other ambitious plans for him. He was held back till the last four overs and was brought back to bowl the tough 18th and the 20th over. By the end of the 16th over, the Royals were well poised to go past the 200 runs on the board but the Kings bowlers had other plans in mind, and best of them all was Arshedeep Singh who dismissed yet another dangerous-looking batsman in Mahipal Lomror to check the Royals’ juggernaut. He finished the game with a fabulous fifer to showcase his repertoire of variations to keep on providing big and tactical wickets in different phases of the game. Flops Chris Morris “I would like to say that I have the biggest match-winner sitting alongside me. So, I don’t have any worries. There is no pressure. We all love and enjoy playing with Chris. With Chris in our side, I feel that happy days are ahead of us.” These were the words of the Royals skipper Sanju Samson before their first game of the second phase of the IPL 2021 and he had little idea of how those words will come upside down for him and his side against the Kings. Morris was introduced into the attack when Samson asked him to remove the threatening pair of Rahul and Agarwal. To be fair to Morris, he would have dismissed Rahul if Riyan Parag would not have spilt a relatively easy chance. Morris’ second over came as a nightmare for both him and the Royals as he offered two juicy half volleys to Agarwal and he obliged with two crisp flicks that sailed over the long leg boundary. To make things worse and embarrassing for the men in pink, his misery was snot over and he conceded two more boundaries in the over to provide proper lift to the Kings opening pair. A bowling figure of 2-0-31-0 was not becoming for the stature of Chris Morris and things turned so bad for him that his skipper who had proclaimed him as a match-winner before the game, could bowl him only three overs that yielded a whopping 47 runs. Adil Rashid Adil Rashid has been a champion leg spinner in the international arena for some time now and hence his non-selection in the IPL auction has attracted many criticisms over the past few years. His variations and experience were too good to be ignored for a long time and the Kings opted to rope him as a replacement for Jhye Richardson for the second phase of the tournament. However, like a lot of international stars have faced in the IPL, Rashid was treated with absolute disrespect by fearless batsmen in Jaisawal and Lomror who thrashed his inaccurate line and lengths which were so out of place for an experienced campaigner like him. Rashid tried a lot of googlies against the left-handers but his control over length was horrible and both Jaisawal and Lomror charged him to hit over the top and followed them up by waiting deep inside the crease preempting a shorter delivery from him. It was a fascinating battle between a champion spinner who has been flummoxing batsmen across the world with his variations and two young Indian batsmen who were playing his deliveries with a fearless approach and not his reputation. The Royals will be cock a hoop over this close win over the Kings that has kept them in contention for the final stage of the tournament while the Kings have been forced into a quagmire to ask themselves a tough question of for how long things can go like this.

PBKS vs RR | What Experts Said after Kartik Tyagi bowls 'unbelievable' final over to steal win for RR

Rajasthan Royals fast bowler Kartik Tyagi showed great composure in the last over of the innings against Punjab Kings in Dubai on Tuesday night after he stole away a win from the jaws of defeat for his side. The right-arm bowler defended 4 runs in the final over and also picked up a couple of wickets during the course that included the scalp Nicholas Pooran who had looked good throughout the innings. Chasing 186 in 20 overs, the Punjab Kings were off to a flying start after captain KL Rahul and his opening partner Mayank Agarwal put up 120 runs on the board before Rahul departed for 49 off 33 in the 12the over. Agarwal, however, continued with his good form and notched up a half-century before he was undone for a 43-ball 57 by Rahul Tewatia after getting caught by Liam Livingstone. The Punjab then had debutant Aiden Markram and Pooran in the middle and the two batters compiled a partnership of 57 runs. Pooran was dismissed for 32 off 22 by Tyagi after he was caught behind by Sanju Samson in the last over and then followed it with another wicket of Deepak Hooda who didn’t trouble the scorers and was sent back for a two-ball duck. Tyagi eventually returned with figures of 2/29 in 4 overs as RR won the match by 2 runs. Earlier, the Rajasthan Royals were cruising to a big total before Arshdeep and Mohammed Shami put a halt on their scoring rate and pulled back the things in the death overs. While Arshdeep scalped a five-wicket haul, Shami on the other side, picked up three wickets as RR were bundled out for 185 in 20 overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal top-scored for the Royals with 49 off 36 while Mahipal Lomror hammered 43 in just 17 deliveries that included four maximums. The win in this match has provided RR with two crucial points and they have now won four matches out of the eight that they have played. Punjab suffered their sixth defeat in the nine matches that they have featured in. Punjab captain KL Rahul expressed his disappointment at the defeat and admitted that the side needs to handle pressure situations in a better way. “It's a tough one to swallow. We have been a team that has experienced games like these before. We need to see how we can handle pressure better,” he said in the post-match presentation. RR skipper Sanju Samson put his weight behind the bowling unit and said that he trusts his bowlers. “Cricket is a funny game right. We just kept fighting and believing. I always believe in my bowlers, want to keep fighting and that's why I kept those two overs till the end,” he said. Experts Opinion Commentator Harsha Bhogle lavished praise on Kartik Tyagi and the way he defended four runs in the last over. “An over for the ages from Kartik Tyagi! Defends 4 after the Fizz had delivered a 4 run over. Incredible finish. How could Punjab Kings mess this up!” He tweeted. Former India batsman Aakash Chopra pointed out that despite getting a perfect start, Punjab Kings lost their way. “It’s not often that you have a 120 run opening partnership. Lose only 4 wickets. Fielding team drops 4 catches. And you still lose the game by 2 runs in a chase. It ain’t over till,” he tweeted. India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah hailed Tyagi for maintaining his cool under a pressure situation. “What an over, Kartik Tyagi! To maintain a cool head under that kind of pressure and to get the job done, great stuff, very impressive!” Bumrah wrote on Twitter. Former India player Irfan Pathan lauded the youngster for the way he handled pressure in the last over and anchored his side to an important win. “Karthik Tyagi you beauty,” Irfan tweeted. Spinner Harbhajan Singh praised for bowling an “unbelievable” last over to win the match for his side. “What a game… unbelievable last over by #Kartiktyagi He won it for Rajasthan Royals. IPL cricket at its best,” Harbhajan wrote on Twitter. RR will now face Delhi Capitals in Abu Dhabi while Punjab Kings will be up against SRH in Sharjah on Saturday in their next respective games.