NZ vs SA | 1st Test: New Zealand rattle South Africa to go 1-0 up in series

Rishabh Pant opens up on his aggressive partnership with Venkatesh Iyer

Team India’s swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has said that they have not set any template as to how they play the death overs with the bat. He once again said that Venkatesh Iyer has batted as per the demands of the situation on Friday. Pant (52* off 28) and Iyer (33 off 18) stitched 76 off only 35 balls for the fifth wicket at Kolkata. Thanks to them, Team India posted 186 for 5, batting first. At a virtual press conference after the match, Pant opened up on their attacking during the partnership. He said: “We have not set any template but we tried to capitalize on the middle overs. At the end of the day, you have to play the situation. When I was batting, I was thinking that I have to take the match slightly deeper. Generally, I would like to hit bowlers from the 14-15th over but I tried to take it deep. I knew after Iyer our bowlers were going to come. He (Iyer) came in and played really well, and we had a good partnership together.” While talking about Iyer’s innings, he said that the all-rounder has read the situation well and played accordingly as well. “When you come down the order, you know the situation. He is someone who reads the situation really well. We talked about keeping it simple and not trying too many things. The plan was to see the ball, hit the ball," the flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman stated. In the 2nd T20I, Pant smashed seven fours and a six during his innings, Iyer smacked four fours and one six as well. However, Iyer opened the innings for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) during IPL 2021. However, for India, he has been batting in the middle order and doing well so far. While explaining the decision, Rishabh Pant stated that the Indian team is trying to fit players into specific roles as well. “He (Iyer) is a mature cricketer. He used to play down the order for MP. Yes, in the IPL he is opening, but we can’t be thinking too much about that. In the Indian team, we are just trying to find different positions for different," Pant concluded.

PSL 2022 | Lahore Qalandars vs Islamabad United | Match 27 Preview, Predictions, Fantasy XI

Host Qalandars are at the second spot in the points table after having stitched 5 wins in eight fixtures. However, after losing the last game to bottom-placed Karachi Kings, they can't afford another blip.

PSL 2022 | Karachi Kings win…Finally!

It has taken eight matches to break the jinx, but they finally have. Karachi Kings have won their first game in the 2022 edition of the Pakistan Super League on Friday, 18 February. Playing against the second-placed team on the table, Kings were assured of the victory three balls before the finish with Lahore needing 25 off the final three. Karachi have been off colour all season and looked off till the halfway point of the game, setting up a below par total against the mastery of Rashid Khan who took four wickets in the game, giving away just 16 runs. His spell of bowling included the wickets of Babar Azam, Qasim Akram, Imad Wasim and Chris Jordan, four dangerous men in the Karachi line-up. His brilliance of 4-1-16-4 meant that Karachi scored just 149 runs and once again failed to survive the 20 overs. However, that wasn’t the only four-wicket haul in the game as Karachi’s Mir Hamza dealt blows to Lahore throughout the innings, making sure that they did not control the game at any point of the second innings. The first one was the biggest fish of the day, Fakhar Zaman, who has been - by far - the best batter in the tournament. That snowballed into the removal of his opening partner Abdullah Shafiq in the fourth over - once again by Hamza and Lahore were pushed back despite the small total. The entire team struggled for timing and failed to score runs and the scoreboard pressure did the rest in the last two overs. Consistently losing wickets throughout the innings, Lahore had their last hopes out in the middle in the final three. Both David Wiese and Harry Brook were batting at 21 off 17 each. Needing 43 off the last three, they started off well getting 12 runs from the 18th over. But just when there seemed hope, both of them got out trying to hit Hamza out of the park. While Brook was caught in the deep, Weise was dismissed by a tight LBW call. And who else but Mir Hamza could have done it. The final over bore two wickets for Karachi and they were able to restrict Lahore to 127 winning the game by a margin of 22 runs. Mir Hamza was declared the man of the match for his 4-0-27-4. The loss would not be doing any harm to Lahore since Multan’s win in the day over Quetta made sure that Shaheen Afridi’s team already qualified to the top four. However, as they say in cricket that one loss in the run up to the final stages is always a good sign so that teams can figure out their problems. It was similar kind of day for Lahore’s batters and they would hope that they can fix their problems before the playoffs stages of the tournament.

2nd T20I: India hold nerves against West Indies, take unassailable lead

India were in a spot of bother when West Indies batter Rovman Powell smacked a couple of maximums on the third and the fourth delivery of the final over in the second T20I in Kolkata bringing down the equation to 11 off 2 with Harshal Patel having the ball in his hands. The right-arm bowler showed nerves of steel and only gave two more runs on the last two deliveries to hand the home side a win and an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. West Indies were eventually restricted to 178/3 while chasing 187 in 20 overs to lose the match by 8 runs. The visitors had started the chase well but lost a couple of wickets for 59 runs in the ninth over when Nicholas Pooran and Powell joined hands to get the side back on track. The two batters took on the Indian bowling attack and hammered them all around the park to stitch a 100-run stand for the third wicket and also notched up individual fifties during the course. Pooran was eventually undone for 62 off 41 by Bhuvneshwar Kumar after Ravi Bishnoi held on to a brilliant catch on the on side in the penultimate over while Powell remained unbeaten at 68 off 36. Their efforts though went in vain as the side failed to go over the line. On a day, when most of the bowlers had found it difficult to keep the batters silent, Bhuvi, Chahal and Bishnoi unveiled some economical spells that helped India clinch a win. While Bhuvneshwar returned with figures of 1/29 in 4 overs, Chahal picked up one wicket for 31 runs in his four overs and Bishnoi scalped one for 30 in his 4. Bhuvneshwar delivers when it mattered West Indies needed 29 runs in two overs and the skipper handed the ball to experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar who was up against the well-settled duo of Powell and Pooran. But the right-hander didn't panic at all and rather prevented the two batters from scoring runs. Kumar deceived the batsmen with his pace, line, and length and only gave four runs during the course of the penultimate over of the innings and also returned with the priced wicket of Pooran. Virat Kohli shows form Virat Kohli had to walk put early to bat in the second T20I after Ishan Kishan was sent back in the hut for just 2 off 10 deliveries. Kohli along with Rohit steadied the ship as the two scored a partnership of 49 runs for the second wicket before the captain departed. But Kohli held the fort at the other end. The right-handed batter played a cautious knock but also went for his strokes whenever the ball was pitched in his radar. Kohli eventually scored 52 in 41 deliveries. Apart from him, Rishabh Pant and Venkatesh Iyer also made valuable contributions as the two left-handed batsmen stitched a stand of 76 runs for the fifth wicket. While Iyer scored 33 in 18 balls, Pant remained not out for 52 off 28. " I don't mind playing the situation and not only at the death. The more you practice, the better you get. The only thing we (during partnership with Venkatesh Iyer) were talking was we will play according to every ball. It is never easy to play every game but this is what I have always wanted to do. I always enjoy what I do," Pant said after the match.