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ICC T20: Kiwis ambush India in stunning upset

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New Zealand outplayed India in every department on Sunday night to inch closer to the semifinal spot of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021.

The Kiwis chased down the 111-run target with eight wickets in hand.

Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell were the major contributors with the bat, helping NZ finish the game in 14.3 overs.

India’s bowling woes continue

Jasprit Bumrah became the only Indian bowler tonight to claim a wicket after Virat Kohli in the 2016 T20 World Cup.

Pakistan beat them by 10 wickets and NZ lost only two scalps before chasing down the total and handing India their second consecutive loss of the mega event.

India’s bowling seemed too impressive before the start of this campaign, but neither their spinners nor the pacers have made a significant impact so far.

Cricket pundits had declared India the favourites to win the cup, but the 2007 T20 champs are now on the verge of elimination.

On the other hand, India-born Ish Sodhi was awarded with the Man of the Match trophy for his 2/17.

The leg-spinner dismissed India captain Virat Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

“I think a big part of our game is using spin in the middle,” Sodhi said after picking up his award. “I think Southee getting that wicket late in the powerplay was important, it allowed the spinners to bowl.”

Trent Boult was right up there as well, ending his spell with 3/20.

Mitchell Santner kept the Indian top-order in check and never allowed them to play big shots.

The left-arm spinner gave only 15 runs in his quota of four overs.

Mitchell puts on a show

Daryl Mitchell never let the Indian bowlers take charge after Martin Guptill departed in the powerplay.

He took a few balls to settle himself, but then got going. His 49 off 35 had him as the top scorer on either side.

Mitchell struck three huge sixes in his inning and batted at a 140 strike rate.

His ballistic knock allowed NZ captain Kane Williamson to play his natural game, nudge the ball around for singles and take the team across the line with ease.

Williamson remained unbeaten at 33 with three fours.

“There’s always planning going into games. But a fantastic all-round performance from us against a formidable India side.”

“We were able to build pressure throughout and the way the openers came out really set the platform,” Williamson said in the post-match interview.

India let NZ smell blood

The body language of Indian players never looked great in the second half.

With only 110 runs on the board, Kohli and co did not seem confident in themselves.

Even the India skipper admitted that the team lacked the ferocity that they are known for in the cricket fraternity.

“Quite bizarre. I don’t think we were brave enough with bat or ball. Didn’t have much to defend but we weren’t brave when we walked out to the field,” a dejected Kohli told the match presenters.

India are ranked fifth in the table without any point in the bag.

They will have to win all of their games from now and bank on Afghanistan or New Zealand to lose their upcoming games.

India’s experiments fail

India decided to send Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul to open the innings with Rohit Sharma coming in at no.3. 

However, Ishan was caught out in the third over leaving India at 11/1 in 2.5 overs.

On the very next ball, Rohit Sharma was dropped by Adam Milne but he could not capitalise on it.

Things seemed to pick up for India soon after as they got to 35 in 5.4 overs but KL Rahul, who had just begun to prove his mettle, departed for 18 runs off 16 balls.

Team India skipper Virat Kohli then came on and a few balls later, Rohit Sharma was caught out for 14 runs off 14 balls.

Virat also departed and it came on to Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya to rescue India from 48/4 in 10.1 overs.

However they couldn’t provide the much-needed push to the scoring rate.

India went 71 balls between the sixth and the 17th overs without hitting a single boundary.

Such was the control exerted by Kiwi spinners Santner and Sodhi in the game.

Pandya departed for 23 off 24. Shardul Thakur was also caught out soon for a duck, leaving India at 94 for seven.

Finally India finished the innings with a sub-optimal 110 for seven wickets.

Spinner Ish Sodhi, who picked up two wickets won the Man of the Match award.

New Zealand 111 for 2 (Mitchell 49, Bumrah 2-19) beat India 110 for 7 (Boult 3-20, Sodhi 2-17) by eight wickets

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Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry star in RCB women’s comeback win against UP Warriorz in WPL 2024

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Smriti Mandhana and Alyssa Healy (Source - X)

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

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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 –

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

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Praveen Kumar

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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