T Natarajan 'not disappointed' after being omitted from T20 World Cup squad

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

Western Australia registered a comprehensive win over South Australia in a rain-curtailed match. Riding on an emphatic and record-shattering partnership between Philippe and captain Mitchell Marsh, WA posted 352/6 in 50 overs during the the One-Day Cup. Philippe and Mitchell stitched a stand of 231 runs for the second wicket and both the batters notched up individual tons during the course. Opener Philippe top-scored with 137 while Marsh struck 111 before getting back into the hut. The South Australia bowlers were then taken on by Ashton Turner who chipped in with a 28-ball 46 while the D Arcy Short, Ashton Agar and Cameron Green also made valuable contributions. The target for South Australia was eventually reduced to 316 runs in 43 overs. While opener and wicket-keeper batsman Alex Carey was among the runs as he was the third batsman to score a century in the match, the other batsmen never really got into the groove and the side kept losing wickets at regular intervals and was reduced to 150/7 at one stage only to get bundled out for 237 in the 39th over. Carey carried the bat as remained not out for 128. For Western Australia, Jason Behrendorff was the pick of the bowlers after he returned with a four-wicket haul at the cost of 39 runs in 7.3 overs.

'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.