CRICKET
Batsmen let down Kolkata yet again
Delhi Capitals marched on to another victory on Thursday night as they overwhelmed a weary Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets.
The Capitals have got 10 points under their belt, levelling with Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the points table.
Rishabh Pant rotated the bowlers extremely well to restrict Kolkata to 154/6 on a track that offered tremendous help to batsmen.
Delhi openers cripple KKR hopes early
Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw kept the Kolkata fielders in check in the powerplay by notching 67 runs in a flash.
Shaw took the game away from the Riders single-handedly.
He smacked five consecutive fours off Shivam Mavi’s first and only over after which KKR skipper Eoin Morgan did not give him the ball again.
He brought up his half-century of 18 balls, which is the fastest fifty of the season and joint second-fasted half-century by a Delhi player.
The batting prodigy was declared the Man Of The Match for his 82 (41).
Dhawan was no less than a spectator in the game and batted patiently for his 46 (47).
The left-handed was happily chipping the ball for singles with Shaw going berserk from the other end.
They brought up a second 100-run stand of the season tonight, making the chase a walk in the park.
How KKR is wasting Russell
Andre Russell is the only KKR player who has stepped up to the occasion so far.
But his contribution with the bat wasn’t significant enough to take Kolkata home.
Despite losing five of seven games this season, Morgan hasn’t elevated Russell’s batting order.
He has been creaming the ball all over the park, but his cameos only make KKR’s small total decent.
With Kolkata sliding down the points table and openers and middle-order consistency letting the team down, there appears to be no harm in promoting his batting position in a game or two.
Delhi Capitals 156 for 3 (Shaw 82, Dhawan 46, Cummins 3-24) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 154 for 6 (Russell 45*, Gill 43, Yadav 2-13) by seven wickets.
Preview: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Punjab Kings
Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on lop-sided Punjab Kings at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday night.
Once an apprentice of Virat Kohli in RCB, KL Rahul will lead Punjab Kings against his former IPL franchise tonight.
Probable Player Of The Match
Rahul has impressive numbers against RCB.
The wicket-keeper batsman has scored 371 runs and averages 74.20 against Bangalore.
He has been Punjab’s highest run scorer (240) this season and he is likely to carry on with his sublime form on Thursday.
Match Prediction
Punjab Kings thumped Bangalore both times last season, but Kohli’s men look like a different team in 2021.
Bangalore have been on a rampage, winning five of their six games.
They thrashed reigning IPL champs Mumbai Indians in the league opener and haven’t looked back since.
Punjab’s journey in the tournament has been rather different.
They are ranked sixth in the points table with only two victories so far.
Hence, Bangalore are favourites for the Thursday clash.
CRICKET
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.
CRICKET
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.
CRICKET
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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