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4th Test: England collapse under pressure
India have made it 2-1 against England by winning the fourth Test.
This is their first Test win at the Oval since 1971.
Virat Kohli’s men turned up on the final day, brimming with high spirits to take home the W.
In pursuit of 368, the hosts were bundled out for 210 in the second innings.
The 157-run victory will have the visitors roaring with confidence before the fifth Test.
Kohli may not have got a century in this series so far, but he has kept his critics shut with inch-perfect captaincy.
England openers sent back early on Day 5
Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns looked dangerous on Day 4.
They looked in fine touch on Day 5 as well as they waved their bat to the gallery following their fifties.
But India soon worked its way around the lefty-righty duo.
Ravi Jadeja uprooted Hameed’s stump while Shardul Thakur got Burns caught behind to Rishabh Pant.
Thakur has chipped in with handy contributions in every innings.
After registering fiery half-centuries in both innings in his comeback Test, Thakur dismissed two set batsmen – Burns and Joe Root – to put India in the driver’s seat.
His all-around performance gave India an abrupt charge whenever the game looked like drifting away.
Jasprit Bumrah too registered a personal landmark reaching the milestone of 100 wickets in just 24 tests at an average of just 22.72.
Bowling consistently at 90+ miles per hour, his in-swinging yorker to dismiss Bairstow was one of the most destructive balls we have seen in recent times and brought back memories of Waqar Younis at his best.
Domino effect hits England again
England are gradually becoming notorious for losing one too many wickets in a short space of time.
After Hameed and Burns set up a 100-run partnership, it seemed as if the run chase is gettable for the hosts on the flat track.
One after another the Englishmen began returning to the hut.
In the final afternoon of Day 5, England lost four batters for six runs, which summed up their day.
Apart from the openers, only in-form skipper Joe Root stuck around a bit for his 78-ball 36.
A similar pattern emerged for England in the first innings.
They were cruising with a good pace after the middle-order pitched in some runs, but soon a couple of batsmen were dismissed in succession and they ended with a mere 99-run lead against India.
This allowed Virat Kohli to weave a plan against Root’s men, something he plotted to perfection.
Time for Bairstow to stand tall
It’s high time for stand-in keeper Jonny Bairstow to build on good starts.
The all-format Englishman has been evidently struggling in the entire series against India’s pace cartel.
He looked sharp for his 37 in the first inning before he fell cheaply to Mohammad Siraj.
When it was time for him to stand tall like Rishabh Pant put on his big boy boots in the second innings, Bairstow failed, again.
Courtesy Jasprit Bumrah, the Englishmen returned to the dressing room on a duck on the fourth delivery he faced.
Ollie Pope is yet another threat to him.
The red-ball specialist has been highly rated by the experts.
His 81-run knock had the Indian team scratching their heads in the first innings.
If Pope continues to fill Ian Bell’s boots and Bairstow carries on registering a string of failures in the red-ball arena, there may not be a permanent space for the wicket-keeper in Root’s playing XI.
India 191 (Thakur 57, Kohli 50, Woakes 4-55) and 466 (Rohit 127, Pujara 61, Thakur 60, Pant 50, Woakes 3-83) beat England 290 (Pope 81, Woakes 50, Umesh 3-76) and 210 (Hameed 63, Burns 50, Umesh 3-60) by 157 runs.
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Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry star in RCB women’s comeback win against UP Warriorz in WPL 2024
RCB women overcame UP Warriorz by 23 runs to clinch their third win of the season. The home side outperformed Warriorz in all the facets of the game and emerged victorious. A collective team effort, particularly with the bat, helped RCB women to beat Warriorz for the second time in the season. They now have three wins in their five matches in the WPL 2024.
Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to field first. Given how things have panned out in the league so far, it needed a great batting performance from RCB to challenge the chasing side. The home side did exactly that. They were full of intent which was lacking in the last few games. Right from the start, S Meghana and Smriti Mandhana smashed the bowlers.
It was the night of the RCB skipper. The Southpaw scored 80(50) in her stay. S Meghana perished after a valuable 28(21). Ellyse Perry batted well and registered her first fifty of the WPL 2024. She was aided well towards the end by Richa Ghosh whose 21(10) propelled RCB to a score of 198 on the board. It was the highest team total in the WPL 2024.
Alyssa Healy’s efforts go in vain
Chasing the daunting total, UP Warriorz were off to a flier. The opening duo of Healy and Kiran Navgire gave a fiery start to the visiting side. When the two were batting in the PP overs, it seemed like the Warriorz could pull off an insane chase. However, Sophie Devine brought RCB back into the game with crucial wickets. At Bengaluru, the home crowd was literally behind the RCB women.
It helped the home side to stay calm and do their job with ease. Sophie Molineux and Asha Sobhana were the pick of the bowlers, who claimed 2/29 each in their spell of four overs. While Healy scored a fifty and Deepti tried her best in the death overs, ten daunting targets could not be chased down. Despite the early hiccups, RCB managed to restrict UP Warriorz to a score of 175 and won by 23 runs.
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WATCH: Ellyse Perry in disbelief as her six breaks car’s window
Ellyse Perry smashed a six in the match against UP Warriorz in the WPL 2024. It was an interesting six as the ball travelled towards the boundary ropes and fell exactly on the window of the car. As a result, the glass of the window was broken. The car is set to be provided as a reward for the player of the tournament.
It was the over of Deepti Sharma towards the last few moments of RCB’s innings. Before Perry struck, the home side was in a great position in the match, thanks to a great start provided by Smriti Mandhana. The star batter scored 80 (50) and shined in front of the home crowd. Her form helped RCB to have a good momentum towards the death overs.
Watch the viral video here –
ELLYSE PERRY HAS BROKE THE GLASS OF THE CAR…!!! 🤯
– The reaction of Perry was priceless!! pic.twitter.com/zaxiQLLN1r
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 4, 2024
Perry, who was struggling till that point, opened up and smashed the bowlers for fun. She went hard against the spinners like Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma who were asked to bowl at the death. The right-handed batter smashed back-to-back sixes in the over of Sharma. One of those travelled towards the mid-wicket region where the car was stationed. The video of her shot has gone viral on X.
RCB teammates laugh, Ellyse Perry in disbelief
As the ball fell on the car and damaged the window, the fans erupted. There was no end to the joy of the fans who started chanting “Perry.. Perry..” and lit the atmosphere of the stadium. However, Perry was in disbelief. As she saw the impact of the ball damaging the car’s window, the Australian batter could not believe her eyes and thought about what she had just done.
On the other hand, the RCB teammates of Perry were in awe of the shot. They looked at the replays and appreciated the shot of Perry. At the same time, players like Sophie Molineux and Sophie Devine had a laugh about the car’s window getting damaged. Ellyse scored a fifty and helped her team score 198 runs with her batting in front of the home crowd.
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Praveen Kumar addresses Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s negligence of taking part in Ranji Trophy
Praveen Kumar has given his opinion on the preferences of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer in recent times. The duo did not take part in the Ranji Trophy matches for their respective teams despite being fit. It did not go well with the Indian Cricket Board which landed the duo without a ventral contract which was announced a few days back.
Praveen Kumar has reacted to the issue recently. The former India pacer claimed that he has been of an opinion on the issue for a long time. Praveen felt that one should definitely earn money but not at the cost of neglecting to play for domestic and national teams. The right-arm pacer felt that players today are having a certain mentality which is not good.
The former pacer claimed that the players have a mindset that they can rest for a month before taking part in the IPL, thereby bypassing playing for their national team or the domestic teams. Praveen felt that the players could not resist letting go of money which they could earn by taking part in the IPL and other T20 leagues (For foreign players).
‘Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun’ – Praveen Kumar
“This thing is now firmly in the mind of players. Mai ek mahine pehle rest kar lunga, fir IPL khel lunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun,” said Praveen in the interview. He claimed that youngsters these days are spoilt and are behind money. The former RCB pacer felt that it is not fair on the part of the young players to neglect the country over the IPL.
Kumar felt that a player needs to maintain a balance between playing for the IPL team and for the country. He felt that money is an important factor, but not at the cost of playing for the national team. “But this is not fair at all. A player needs to balance things. Money is important, but this (giving franchise cricket the priority) is wrong,” said the former Indian bowler in the interview.
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