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ICC T20: Australia down South Africa
Australia beat South Africa by five wickets in their first game of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021.
The Kangaroos chased the 119-run target in 19.4 overs in their first Super 12 group game.
Aiden Markram was the sole troublemaker for the Australians.
He starred with the bat, scoring the most runs (40) on either side.
However, lack of support from the other end meant that the Proteas would end up with a below-par score.
Hazlewood rattles Proteas
Josh Hazlewood bagged the Man of the Match award for his 2/19.
His early strikes were enough for Aaron Finch’s men to push the South Africa batsmen on the backfoot.
Hazlewood was quick to claim Quinton de Kock and in-form Rassie van der Dussen’s wickets.
The Aussie pacer looked in fine touch as he was playing at Sheikh Zayed Stadium where he recently represented Chennai Super Kings often in the Indian Premier League 2021.
In the post-game interview, the tall right-arm quick explained how he targeted good length to keep the SA batters in check.
“I think the length was the key, hitting the right length, just on top of the stumps. Anything slightly short or fuller seemed easy, so the length was key,” he said.
Hazlewood felt that the pitch was tricky to bat on, as the Australian batters too found it hard to hit boundaries swiftly.
“The wicket seemed reasonably good, but it was a little bit stoppy, a little bit slow. It plays that way during the day and gets easier at night,” the MOTM winner said.
“We’ve got a number of all-rounders there and Maxi was the man today to bowl the four. It sort of got close in the end but we’ve got finishers and we were confident in them.”
Australia skipper Finch was delighted to see Hazlewood turn up with an A-game right when the team needed it.
“Ideally I would have been able to push him for a third in the powerplay (Hazlewood), he’s a world-class bowler in any form of the game,” the captain said.
“People say that’s easy in this format but when you get it right on a pitch with variation, it can get tough.”
Anrich Nortje registers double strike
Nortje did everything he can, but the target was too small to handle for the entire Proteas pace cartel.
He dismissed Aaron Finch on a duck and Steve Smith (35) when the latter was looking settled on the pitch.
His pace looked to trouble the Australians in the opening spell, especially with an extra bit of bounce that left Mitchell Marsh surprised at times.
The right-arm pacer clocked 145km/h plus with ease consecutively.
His 2/21 shows that his recent venture in the UAE with Delhi Capitals is coming to fruition in the T20 World Cup.
Even SA skipper Bavuma hailed his bowlers for dragging the game to the last over before Stoinis and Wade took it away with boundaries.
“We want to talk about us being resilient, big effort to the guys getting it to the last over,” Bavuma said.
“With the bat – that was definitely not according to plan. Good effort to the bowlers to get it to that stage.”
Australia 121 for 5 (Smith 35, Stoinis 24*, Nortje 2-21) beat South Africa 117 for 9 (Markram 40, Hazlewood 2-19, Zampa 2-21) by five wickets.
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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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