Luke Jongwe rewarded as Zimbabwe announce Test squad for Pakistan series

T. Natarajan undergoes successful knee surgery

India and Sunrisers Hyderabad fast bowler T. Natarajan underwent a successful knee surgery. The left-arm pacer posted a picture on social media that read, “Today, I underwent knee surgery- and am grateful for the expertise, attention and kindness of the medical team, surgeons, doctors, nurses and staff. I’m grateful to @bcci and to all that have wished well for me.” Natarajan who is a part of SRH setup was ruled out of the IPL 2021 after his knee injury popped up again after he featured in just a couple of matches for the franchise. The left-arm bowler played against KKR where he picked up one wicket for 37 runs and against RCB where he returned with figures of 1/32. He has played a total of 24 IPL matches where the quick bowler has scalped 20 wickets. The 2016 champions Hyderabad are presently struggling to get their form back after they have lost four out of the five matches in this edition and are presently tottering at the bottom of the points table. SRH last suffered a defeat against Delhi Capitals in Chennai in an encounter that went into the Super Over. The David Warner-led team only managed to score 7 runs in the over on a track that had something to offer to the spinners. Later, Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant took DC over the line to win the match. Earlier, the Sunrisers fans witnessed another dismal show from their middle-order after the side failed to chase down 160 in 20 overs despite a responsible knock from Kane Williamson where he scored 66 off 51. They will now face CSK in Delhi on Wednesday.

Will do everything to ensure that you reach home seamlessly: BCCI to Aussie cricketers

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has ensured that the arrangements will be made to send Australian players back home once the Indian Premier League is over. “We understand that many of you are apprehensive about how you will get back home once the tournament concludes... We want to apprise you that you have nothing to worry about,” BCCI COO Hemang Amin said in a letter addressed to the players. “The BCCI will do everything to ensure that you reach your respective destinations seamlessly,” the letter further read. Earlier, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison made a blunt statement and said that the players competing in the Indian Premier League will have to make their “own arrangements” for returning home after the tournament is over. Australia has suspended all the flights from India after there was a spike in COVID-19 cases until May 15. “They have travelled there privately. This wasn’t part of an Australian tour. They’re under their own resources and they’ll be using those resources too, I’m sure, to see them return to Australia in accordance with their own arrangements,” Morrison was quoted as saying by ‘The Guardian’. Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson were the three Aussie cricketers who had opted out of the cash-rich league while as many 14 players including SRH skipper David Warner, DC’s new recruit Steve Smith and KKR pacer Pat Cummings are still part of the IPL. Apart from them, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting who is the coach of DC and Simon Katich who is part of the coaching staff for RCB are also in India with their respective franchises. Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, Michael Slater and Lisa Sthalekar are among the Australians who are in the commentators’ panel. The IPL is slated to end on May 30 while the league stage ends on May 23.

IPL 2021 | PBKS vs KKR: Hits & Flops as the Purple brigade return to winning ways

Kolkata Knight Riders returned to winning ways after they defeated Punjab Kings by 5 wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad to climb to the fifth position in the points table on Monday, 26 April. Coming into the match on the back of three consecutive losses, the Kolkata Knight Riders needed a victory to gain some momentum. The victory was largely built around a sensational bowling performance from the Men in Purple and a mature innings from the blade of Eoin Morgan. A target of 124 never seemed enough when KKR began the run-chase but the loss of three early wickets pushed them to the back foot straightaway. Nitish Rana was dismissed off a juicy full toss in the opening over of Moises Henriques while Shubman Gill was trapped plumb in front by Mohammed Shami. Again the ploy to send Sunil Narine at No 4 didn’t work out as KKR was reduced to 17/3. With the Kolkata based franchise left in disarray, Rahul Tripathi got the scare of his life when Chris Gayle dived to his left at short cover and threw the ball directly at the bowlers’ end. Tripathi felt that he was short of his crease and his reaction after the dismissal was a testimony to that. However, he was surprised and pumped up to see that he had just reached the popping crease was saved. Tripathi admitted at the end of the match that it was a heart in the mouth kind of situation, “Yes, I thought for a second that I was late to dive. But fortunately, I made it. I was a bit upset (thinking I was run out), but after watching the replay, I was very happy.” From there on it was a good partnership between the skipper Eoin Morgan and Tripathi which steadied the ship and got KKR right back into the game. A partnership of 66 runs set the foundation for the victory and despite the wickets of Tripathi and Andre Russell, KKR were within touching distance of the target. Eoin Morgan remained unbeaten on 47 and played some delightful shots in the process. Eventually, they reached the target in the 17th over. Earlier in the day, it was Eoin Morgan who won the toss and opted to bowl. The Narendra Modi Stadium at Ahmedabad had produced some square turners in the Test matches against England. The spinners also got some purchase during the limited-overs series as well. The decision to chase proved to be a masterstroke in the end. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal shared a 36-run stand but an exceptional opening spell from Shivam Mavi put the brakes on Punjab. It was his impressive bowling that eventually led to the downfall of Rahul in the final over of the powerplay. He was dismissed in an attempt to improve the scoring rate. Chris Gayle also fell in quick succession and Mavi finally got the wicket that he deserved. Deepak Hooda who came into the match on the back of some good form had to depart early slicing a full delivery outside off straight to the point fielder Morgan. Some exceptional middle overs by Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy never really allowed the Punjab Kings to press on the accelerator. They could never really hit the big shots until Chris Jordan came into the crease and smacked a quickfire 30 of 18 deliveries which included one four and three sixes. Eventually, it was his breezy knock that helped Punjab get past the 120-mark. Now let us have a look at the Hits and Flops of the match. HITS Prasidh Krishna This young fast bowler has been a find for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the last three years and it has been his performance from the Purple brigade which has also earned him a place in the national team. Once again Krishna showed his worth for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 21st match of the tournament against the Punjab Kings as he returned with figures of 3/30. Krishna was introduced into the attack in the 8th over and it paid dividends right away. He conceded one run in the first three deliveries before bagging the wicket of Depak Hooda on the 4th delivery. It was a fullish length delivery just outside off and Deepak Hooda played away from the body and ended up slicing it straight to Eoin Morgan at point and he completed the catch with utmost ease. Prasidh started off the 10th over with some good deliveries but ended up conceding a wide and a six on the 5th delivery of the over and ended up conceding 10. He was removed from the attack only to be brought back in the 18th over. It was a sensational over from Prasidh as he mixed up his full paced deliveries and the slower ones to perfection. Three runs in the 18th over were quite exceptional from the speedster. Prasidh Krishna got some treatment in the final over as he bowled two loose deliveries and was smashed out of the ground by Chris Jordan. However, he bounced back strongly with a well-disguised slower delivery castling Jordan with the change of pace. Sunil Narine When Narine was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2011 edition, he was a magician who just stormed into the scene with deliveries that were never seen before. He used to bowl both leg break and off-break with the same grip which made scoring against him extremely difficult for even top-class batsmen. However, with time, the bite slowly started going down especially after he was reported for a suspect action. He never looked the same Sunil Narine but against the Punjab Kings, he reminded the viewers what he is capable of. Narine was quite exceptional in the 21st match of the competition finishing with figures of 2/22 in his allotted 4 overs. Morgan introduced Narine in the 4th over and he was greeted into the attack with a boundary from the blade of KL Rahul. He bowled well in the remaining five deliveries conceding just three runs. He was removed from the attack and was brought back in the 12th over when the Punjab Kings were trying to steady the ship after losing some quick wickets. He bowled a sensational over bagging the wicket of Mayank Agarwal and conceding just three runs. Narine bowled a back of a length office which stopped on the surface a bit and Mayank ended up hitting this uppishly down the cow corner. It seemed a difficult chance of Rahul Tripathi but he came running in and clung onto a stunner. The first delivery of the 14th over was one of the finest deliveries of the day. He invited Moises Henriques into the off-drive but the drift was just enough to beat the defence of Henriques and the stumps were disturbed. The way he controlled the middle overs along with Varun Chakravarthy prevented the Punjab Kings from scoring big. He went onto concede 9 runs in his final over of the quota to finish with impressive figures of 2/22 in 4. Eoin Morgan The English skipper who brought about a revolution for the English limited-overs team finally managed to weave his magic in the IPL both as a leader and a batsman. The southpaw was due for runs and needed to lead from the front foot for his team to claw their way back into the tournament. He handled his troops very well and the bowling changes worked wonders for KKR. Chasing a below-par target of 124, Morgan needed to steady the ship for the Kolkata Knight Riders after they lost three early wickets. With the score reading 17/3, Morgan and Rahul Tripathi resurrected the run-chase with a 66 runs partnership. Morgan paced his innings to perfection and smashed the boundaries whenever the required rate neared run a ball. He cut and pulled to perfection and some of his execution oozed class. The southpaw remained unbeaten on 47 off 40 deliveries which was laced with 4 fours and a couple of sixes. Eventually, an unbeaten partnership of 28 runs with Dinesh Karthik sealed the deal for the two-time champions. Special Mention Shivam Mavi narrowly missed out on this list despite a sensational opening spell but due to Sunil Narine’s impact in the match, he got the nod ahead of Mavi. The speedster bowled the opening over of the match and looked in good rhythm right from the word go. He bowled the hard lengths and had both Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul in some sorts of trouble. He finally managed to bag the prized wicket of Chris Gayle despite the onfield decision going in favour of the batting team. It was a full delivery outside off and Gayle slashed hard at it only to find an under edge which was safely grabbed by Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps. The umpire nodded his head but Karthik was sure and insisted Morgan to go for the review, It proved to be a masterstroke as there was a clear spike on the ultra-edge. Two more impressive overs followed as Mavi finished with figures of 1/13 in his 4 overs spell. Flops Mayank Agarwal This was a close call not picking his opening partner KL Rahul and including him despite scoring 31. However, the timing of his dismissal proved to be crucial in the context of the game and eventually allowed Punjab to just get to a score of 123 in their allotted 20 overs. He began his innings with a streaky six of Pat Cummins in the second over of the match. Cummins bowled a good back of a length delivery and Mayank was hurried with the pace. It got a bit big on him and ended up top-edging well over the deep third man fielder for a six. He never managed to get going as Shivam Mavi and the spinners bowled brilliantly and never allowed Mayank to score freely in the powerplay. KL Rahul was dismissed in the final over of the powerplay in a bid to up the ante. Agarwal struggled his ay to 31 of 33 deliveries before perishing at the hands of Sunil Narine. A short-arm jab carried to Rahul Tripathi at the cow corner as he came running in and completed a blinder. Nicholas Pooran There was no other option but to include Nicholas Pooran in the list. With the sort of hype he created before the start of the tournament, Pooran was expected to be one of the game-changers for the Punjab Kings. However, his returns so far in the tournament have been abysmal. After failing to trouble the scorers in three of the first four games, Pooran was castled by Varun Chakravarthy in the 15th over after scoring a run a ball 19. The southpaw started off well with a mighty six but couldn’t quite smash the boundaries on a consistent basis. He didn’t look comfortable in the middle and was eventually cleaned up by Chakravarthy. The left-handed batsman went for an ugly swipe down the leg side but ended up missing the line and his stumps were dislodged. With that comfortable win, KKR and their captain Eoin Morgan will look to leave the horrors of Chennai in the past and build towards their bid to the top four spot after a streaky start to the tournament. The wealth of experience that KKR have, should ideally help them going forward, given they get their calls right. They play a crucial game against Delhi Capitals next up on April 29, who have just won a super over thriller against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the tournament. Beating Delhi would mean that KKR have finally arrived into the tournament and will send a big message to the top of the pile who at the moment sit at a comfortable distance from the rest of the competition.

IPL 2021 | KKR vs PBKS: What Experts said as clinical Kolkata punish listless Punjab

It was finally a change in fortunes for the Kolkata Knight Riders as they ended their four-match losing streak with a convincing win against Punjab Kings to move away from the bottom of the points table. With this five-wicket win, the team has now moved up to the fifth position in the table with an equal number of points as fourth-placed Mumbai Indians, albeit with an extra match played. Eoin Morgan, the skipper was right on the money in the chase of a modest 124 on a more than decent wicket at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad’s Motera. The Englishman walked in with KKR in all sorts of trouble at 17-3. Showing exemplary character and determination, he built a 66-run stand with Rahul Tripathi to get the team out of the shackles. Even after two quick wickets of Tripathi and Andre Russell, he kept on going to make sure that the team crosses the hurdle once and for all, which it did in the 17th over. Captains' Viewpoints Speaking after the victory, Morgan said that wins have been hard to come by and thus this one is a special one. “[We] Have worked incredibly hard. Today, along with a bit of luck, the performance was very impressive, particularly with the ball up front.” The Irish born then went on to praise the young fast bowler Shivam Mavi for his fearless bowling. Saying that it was only the second game of the season for the 22-year-old who picked up the important wicket of Chris Gayle, Morgan lauded him. “The match-up against Gayle was favourable. He bowled well in the last game and started well here. For him to make an impact is a huge credit to him,” he added. Enlisting the advantage of having wrist spinners, or spinners that rely on variation rather than the help from the wicket, the 34-year-old skipper said, “The advantage we have over most spinners is that our spinners are variation bowlers. They don't rely on drift and turn. They control their lengths well and rely on a tiny amount of turn and today they were exceptional.” Morgan, who scored unbeaten 47, which is also his highest score this season hoped that this win could kickstart something great for the team. Acknowledging the fact that the conditions all around the world and especially in India are not well with respect to the pandemic, the KKR captain urged people to follow the protocols and stay safe. “When you consider the horrific nature of what's happening outside the bubble, we try and lend our support and encouragement for everything that's going on not only in India but around the world. If you're going out, wear a mask, social distance. We've seen first hand at home how devastating it can be," he concluded. KL Rahul, the losing skipper was at a loss of words to describe the horrific batting performance that his team put up, especially after an ideal match that it had with the bat in the very previous game. “It is never nice to be on the losing side. Don't know what to say. We should have adapted better. We could have applied a lot more with the bat. Expect the boys to be smarter,” said Rahul. The 29-year-old then went on to lament the soft dismissals, including his own saying, “Some soft dismissals have cost us the game.” The wicket-keeper captain also called the pitch two-paced which got better with dew settling in. “It was a bit two-paced. Kept a little up-down. Was tough to assess what are the high-risk shots here,” he said. The Karanataka born hope that the team would bounce back from this as is characteristic of a very good team. “It is expected of good teams to adapt quicker. We need to keep our heads higher and keep trying,” he said. Ravi Bishnoi, the leg spinner who removed Sunil Narine with a stunner of a catch at deep square leg was also praised by the skipper. “Bishnoi's catch was stunning. Especially when you have a coach like Jonty Rhodes, he puts us to tough tests and sees how every boy reacts. The training rubs on during match situations. Hopefully, we can keep building and get better,” Rahul said. Expert Opinion The experts were of the opinion that the Punjab team could not muster the courage and application to bat out on a difficult wicket and thus remained 20-25 run short of what could have been a challenging total. Ayaz Memon, the veteran journalist called the pitch sluggish but also blamed the approach of the Punjab batters on the same wicket. To present a contrasting picture of how KKR approached the game on the same wicket, Ayaz then went on to praise the captaincy and batting of Knight Riders' skipper Eoin Morgan. Ben Jones, the Australian cricket expert, in a way of mocking the Punjab Kings think tank for playing Moises Henriques as an all-rounder instead of pure batsman brought in stats that suggested how wrong the Punjab Kings approach towards Henriques has been. Gaurav Kalra, a veteran TV journalist has been featuring in our expert’s pieces, but generally for his witty content. Today though, he tried to enhance the importance of Gayle’s wicket in Shivam Mavi’s spell today. But if Gurav was not providing us with the fun content, Aakash Chopra, the cricketer turned pundit of the game, made sure that we were not devoid of it with his attempted wordplay on Nicholas Pooran’s miserable run of form in the tournament so far. The two teams would now face two different opponents, with Punjab Kings lining up to take on Royal Challengers Bangalore while KKR would face the in-form Delhi Capitals in their next clash. Both these matches would take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad only.