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Watch Harmanpreet Kaurs Brain Fade Moment Vs New Zealand

WATCH | Harmanpreet Kaur’s brain-fade moment vs New Zealand

India's horrid campaign continued as the side again failed to clinch a win and handed New Zealand an invincible 3-lead in the ongoing five-match ODI series.

Mithali Raj and Co. were asked to bat first as New Zealand aimed to claim early wickets. However, India openers Sabbhineni Meghana and Shafali Verma responded well as they gave their side a flying side, accumulating 86 runs in the powerplay.

As the opening stand ended at the score for 100, things started going downhill from thereon as the middle-order could not carry on the momentum. Besides Deepti Sharma, none of the batters stood up for the cause as India found themselves in the midst of trouble.

While skipper Mithali Raj fell prey to Hannah Rowe's delivery, Yastika Bhatia walked back to the dressing room after scoring 19 runs. The biggest disappointment of them all came in the form of Harmanpreet Kaur as the 32-year-old continued his poor form and got out, courtesy of a bizarre run-out.

The incident happened in the 28th over, which was bowled by Frances Mackay. Harmanpreet advanced down the track, hitting a straight drive to the bowler's hands.

Mackay was quick to respond to the situation and threw the ball to the wicket-keeper Katey Martin as Harmanpreet was still far away from the batting crease. She put on the drive at the last moment but even that could not save her as Katey removed the bails in a flash.

Harmanpreet has been recording a string of low scores off late. The first two ODIs of the series saw her scoring a combined total of 20 runs. Harmanpreet's extended poor phase has led to the calls of dropping her from the playing XI.

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PSL 2022 | Multan Sultans rattle Quetta Gladiators, courtesy all round show

Multan Sultans' all-round show against Quetta Gladiators in the PSL 2022 match handed them a thumping win by 117 runs in Lahore. Chasing a mammoth 246 in 20 overs, the Gladiators were bowled out for 128 in less than 16 overs. The Quetta lost a couple of early wickets and were 23/2 when Umar Akmal got into the act and began to take on the Multan bowlers. But he couldn't really get much support from the other side as the Gladiators lost wickets at regular intervals. Akmal though chipped in with a brisk 50 off 23 which included six sixes and a couple of fours but his efforts weren't really enough to help his side. Apart from him Jason Roy also made a contribution with a 19-ball 38. Asif Afridi, David Willey, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Khushdil Shah scalped a couple of wickets each while Imran Tahir picked up one. Earlier, the Sultans rode on an exceptional batting performance to post 245/3 in 20 overs. First, Masood and Rizwan stitched a partnership of 119 runs for the first wicket in 12 overs before Masood was out for 57 off 38. Rizwan was then joined by Rossouw in the middle and he thoroughly dominated the bowlers to score 71 in just 26 deliveries. Rizwan on the other side remained unbeaten at 83 in 54 deliveries.

NZW vs INDW | Lauren Down steps up as hosts seal ODI series with two games to spare

India scored their highest ODI total in New Zealand during the third game but faced yet another defeat as Lauren Down's quickfire 52-ball 64* allowed them to recover from a middle-overs struggle and record their second-highest successful chase in ODI history. New Zealand, on the other hand, also clinched the five-match ODI series with two games in hand. Team India looked controlled when New Zealand was at 171 for 6 in the 35th over. However, Down had some other plans when she came to bat. Along with the keeper-batter Katey Martin, she stitched 76 runs off just 69 balls to keep the hosts in the game as well. Martin (35) fell to India spinner Deepti Sharma with a little more than four overs to spare and the equation came down to 18 from 12. But 12 runs conceded in the penultimate over from Jhulan Goswami somehow sealed the game for New Zealand before Down hit Deepti for a straight six to finish off the chase. On the other hand, it was the veteran Goswami who had initially provided India with the breakthroughs. She dismissed Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates in her opening spell where the former was trapped LBW and the latter got bowled as well. Meanwhile, Goswami should have removed Amy Satterthwaite out for a duck but Deepti failed to grab a catch at gully. Later, Satterthwaite and Amelia Kerr steadied the ship by adding 103 runs. Them, Mithali Raj was forced to bring back her spearhead bowler Goswami into the attack, a move that paid off when she dismissed Satterthwaite for 59. From there on, Sneh Rana removed Kerr for 69 before Lea Tahuhu hit a couple of big shots. But, she too couldn’t contribute much and it left the hosts struggling before Down, took the charge. She and Martin started taking on the spin trio of Deepti, Sneh Rana and Ekta Bisht before taking the team to the finish line. Earlier in the game, having been put in to bat, the opening pair of Sabbhineni Meghana and Shafali Varma posted 86 from the first 10 overs, the former smashing a 33-ball half-century. Meghana came in place for Smriti Mandhana, fell for 61 with a total score of 100. Shafali later added a few runs with Yastika Bhatia but failed to contribute much after a 50 as well. India's middle-order once again struggled with the new batters – Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur and the visitors lost the momentum eventually. Soon, Kaur got run-out before Mithali edged a swinger from Hannah Rowe and India slipped to 187 for 5. Deepti, however, tried her best to keep the scoreboard ticking with a knock of 69* and helped to put up a total of 279 as well which proved less as they eventually lost the game. Brief scores: India 279 in 49.3 overs (Deepti 69*, S Meghana 61; Mair 2-43) lost to New Zealand 280/7 in 49.1 overs (Kerr 67, Down 64*, Goswami 3-47) by three wickets.

BPL Final | Sunil Narine half century gives Comilla a tremendous start

Comilla Victorians got off to a flying start against Fortune Barishal in the final of the Bangladesh Premier League on Friday, 18 February at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka. Choosing to bat first in what looked like a flat track, Comilla were able to put the pedal to the metal quickly after Sunil Narine started in his classical style - throwing his bat at everything that was bowled to him. The first two overs went for 36 runs, with Afghan Mujeeb Ur Rahman going for 18 in his first over and young pacer Shafiqul Islam belted for the same amount of runs by the West Indian batter. Narine looked in ominous touch, timing the ball exceptionally well till the third over bowled by Shakib Al Hasan, which put screws on the runflow. Giving just four runs away in the third, Shakib also managed to dismiss Liton Das who did not put much contribution in the partnership. The right handed Bangladesh opener scored just 4 runs off his six balls. It needs to be noted that Sunil Narine scored the fastest T20 century in Bangladesh in the last match of the tournament scoring his half century in just 13 balls. This game was no different from the last as Narine notched up another half century in the tournament completing his feat in just 21-balls. At the time of writing, Narine had just been dismissed in the second ball of the 6th over with Comilla being at 69/2. Faf du Plessis had just walked into the pitch to partner Mahmudul Hasan Joy

PSL 2022 | Multan Sultans ride on emphatic batting display to post mammoth total vs Quetta

Multan Sultans' batting unit thoroughly dominated the Quetta Gladiators in the PSL 2022 fixture in Lahore. The openers Shan Masood and Mohammad Rizwan provided the side with a flying start as the two posted 119 runs for the first wicket in 12 overs. Masood was later trapped in front of the stumps by Irfan for a 38-ball 57 but Rizwan on the other side kept going and notched up a fifty during the course. He was joined by Rilee Rossouw in the middle and the batters once again provided the team with a brilliant stand for the second wicket. Rossouw completed his half-century in just 20 deliveries after smashing Sohail Tanvir for consecutive maximums at the end of the 17th over. The left-handed continued with his onslaught before he eventually got out for a 26-ball 71 after getting caught in the deep by Iftikhar off Naseem Shah. The Sultans were 222/2 in 18.2 overs when Rossouw was dismissed after an entertaining knock. The Multan Sultans ended up with a mammoth score of 245/3 with skipper Rizwan remaining unbeaten at 83 off 54.