Vijay Hazare Trophy | KKR star Venkatesh Iyer scores his second century

Super Smash | Anurag Verma’s superb penultimate over in vain as Chu and McKenzie take Otago over the line

It was a riveting Super Smash 2021-22 encounter at the University Oval in Dunedin between the Northern Knights and home side Otago Volts as the latter emerged victorious in the last over with only three wickets to spare. Max Chu, the wicket-keeper batter and Angus McKenzie, a bowler who came to bat at number nine turned out to be the heroes even as experienced Neil Broom made a sincere effort with the bat, but was before finishing the job. It was Chu and McKenzie who kept their nerves and hit Scott Kuggeleijn, one of the most sought after T20 bowlers for two sixes in the last over when Volts required 10 to win off six balls. However, before that fateful over, Anurag Verma, the tall and slim fast bowler from Hamilton nearly won the Knights this game with his brilliant 19th over in which he gave only four runs and took key wickets of Michael Rippon and well-settled Broom, who was batting on 62 and looking to get his team over the line. In the previous over (18th) too, only four runs were conceded by Matthew Fisher and the wicket Llew Johnson was also taken to build the pressure on the Volts. The Volts didn’t really have a good start to the chase as they lost Hamish Rutherford and Josh Finnie early on. It was then that Anaru Kitchen got together with Broom and the duo added 45 for the third wicket. Though Kitchen departed, Broom continued to anchor the innings and found support in Llew Johnson. The pair added 46th for the fifth wicket as Broom also completed his fifty on the way. For Knights, apart from Verma’s two wickets, Fisher and Frederick Walker picked two each as well. Among these three bowlers, they conceded only 66 runs in their 12 overs while defending 146. However, Kugglein was the most expensive, giving away 51 runs in just 3.4 overs. Earlier in the day, Otago won the toss and asked Knights to bat first. Katene Clarke and Tim Seifert gave the team a rocking start, reaching 39 in the first four overs before Seifert was eventually removed. From there on it became difficult for Clarke to find support even though Henry Cooper made run a ball 24. Both of them getting out together didn’t help the cause of the team from the north. From 95-2, they were suddenly 95-4 with two completely new men at the crease. If it wasn’t for Verma and Kugglein’s run a ball 22 and 14 respectively, even reaching 146 would have been difficult for the Knights as they were reduced to 104-6 in the 14th over. For Otago, Josh Finnie and Michael Rippon picked two wickets each while Kitchen was economical to the core, giving away only 19 runs in his four overs and taking the wicket of Jeet Raval. This was Otago’s first win in the competition having lost one game and one match being washed out. For Knights, they are still to register a win as they have lost one game and one match has been washed out.

PAK vs WI | Chase, Cottrell, Kyle Mayers test Covid positive on landing in Karachi

Three West Indies players Sheldon Cottrell, Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers have tested positive for the Covid-19 on landing in Karachi, Pakistan where the team is scheduled to play three T20Is and three ODIs, the first one starting on Monday, December 13. The tests were done on December 9 when the Caribbean team arrived and along with the trio, a non-coaching member of the team management was also found positive for the virus. It has yet not been revealed whether the variant of the Covid was Omicron. The entire four members of the squad will undergo self-isolation and will subsequently be unavailable for the three-match T20I series. The unavailability of the three players, who were a sure shot selection in the playing XI given that the regular skipper Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell were already unavailable for the series, makes the West Indies’ prospect even slimmer against a string Pakistan T20 unit. The cases were done public on the confirmation from Johnny Grave, the CEO of Cricket West Indies. He said, "Our arrival testing protocols in Pakistan have confirmed four (4) Covid-19 positives.” “These were confirmed whilst the players and staff were still in room isolation, so despite this significant setback to our preparation plans, we are confident that the tour can continue as everyone else returned negative PCRs prior to their arrival in Pakistan and two negative PCRs since they have been in Karachi,” added Grave.

Would love to get my favourite cricketer Virat Kohli’s wicket someday: Wanindu Hasaranga

Sri Lanka spinner Wanindu Hasaranga has said that he wants to pick India Test skipper and his favourite player, Virat Kohli’s wicket. “I would love to get my favourite cricketer Virat Kohli’s wicket someday. I also want to pick Babar Azam and Glenn Maxwell’s wickets as well," Hasaranga said when asked to name the players he wishes to dismiss in his career. Talking about his bowling, Hasaranga said that he always tries to pick wickets whenever he has the ball in his hands and that is the reason for him being successful. “When I am bowling, I always try to take wickets. When I am in the national team, I always try to do my best for the team. That’s why I am successful," he said. Hasaranga has become a good household name and his comparisons are drawn with legends like Muttiah Muralitharan and Rangana Herath but the spinner is focused on his own game. “I am always motivated to perform. I don’t feel any pressure. I don’t want to be the next Muralitharan or the next Herath. I want to be the first Hasaranga," he said.

BBL 2021: Colin Munro, bowlers give Perth Scorchers convincing win against Adelaide Strikers

Perth Scorchers all-round show against Adelaide Strikers hands them another win in the on-going Big Bash League in Sydney. Batting first, Perth rode on a fine opening stand of 132 runs between Munro and Bancroft to put 195/1 in 20 overs. The two batters put up 132 for the first wicket before Bancroft departed for 45 off 37 while Munro went on to notch up a ton. Captain Ashton Turner who came in at number three remained unbeaten at 14 off 10. Later, the Strikers lost wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 134/5 in the 16th over to eventually get bundled out for 146. Matthew Short top-scored for his side with 63 off 47. Jason Behrendorff and Andrew Tye picked up three wickets each for the Scorchers. Munro who judged the Man of the match talked about the win. “For us as a team, we wanted to get better. Mitch Marsh and Inglis will come back. Will be nice to have them back. Awesome coming back to the same team. Familiar players. Even though you have played a lot of franchise cricket, you don't want to go back to a new team having to prove yourself. Part and parcel of the BBL (about not being to play at home). We got to be adaptable. We just got to do it. It's easy to fit into this environment. We were beaten by a better team last year (in the final against Sydney Sixers). New tournament, new team,” he said after the match.