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IPL: Narine’s all-round act sinks RCB
Kolkata Knight Riders have beaten Royal Challengers Bangalore fair and square to hand Virat Kohli another trophy-less season.
With a mediocre 139-run target, Kolkata took the game in their control and chased down the target with four wickets and two balls to spare.
The Chronicles of Narine
When Bangalore were cruising towards a big total in the first innings, Sunil Narine stunted their growth right then.
He dismissed Virat Kohli, Srikar Bharat, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell in quick succession to cripple Bangalore’s efforts.
His 4/21 and a fiery 26-run cameo earned him the Player of the Match award.
He came in the second leg of the tournament as Andre Russell’s replacement, but has now cemented his spot with consecutive match-winning performances.
His three sixes in a row in the second innings ensured that the Knight Riders see off Bangalore from the season.
In the post-game interview, he called tonight’s display one of his best all-round performances in T20 crickets.
“When you perform, and the team comes out winning… I am prepared to be out the first ball,” the Caribbean wizard added.
“Some days it comes off, some days it doesn’t. I enjoy all wickets, but getting Kohli and tying them was my goal.”
Dejected Kohli addresses loss
Tonight was the last time the cricket fraternity saw Kohli leading Bangalore.
During the season, he had announced stepping down as the skipper once this season is done and dusted.
After the game, Kohli said he did everything he can to lift the coveted trophy with his team. But, it seems like some things are just never meant to happen.
“I’ve tried my best to create a culture where youngsters could come and play expressive cricket. It’s something I’ve tried to do at the India level as well. All I can say is that I have given my best,” Kohli said.
“I have given my 120% to this franchise and will continue giving it as a player on the field.”
“It’s a great time to regroup and restructure the franchise for the next three years.”
Kolkata Knight Riders 139 for 6 (Gill 29, Narine 26, Iyer 26, Chahal 2-16, Harshal 2-19, Siraj 2-19) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 138 for 7 (Kohli 39, Narine 4-21, Ferguson 2-30) by four wickets.
Match preview – DC vs KKR
Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders will meet at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium tomorrow (Tuesday) in the Qualifier 2.
The winner of this contest will meet Chennai Super Kings in the final of the IPL 2021.
Probable Man of the Match
Rahul Tripathi
Tripathi has been anchoring the KKR innings with the bat too often.
The right-handed batsman has a knack for scoring boundaries in crunch situations to mount pressure on the opposition.
His free-flow batting helps the team reach a big total and his consistency has made him the backbone of the team too.
To bundle out the Riders to a low score, Delhi Capitals will need to get rid of the 30-year-old as early as they can.
Match prediction
Delhi Capitals have stood head and shoulders above every team this season, just like they did in the last edition.
Be it Shreyas Iyer or Rishabh Pant, the team has enough match-winners to cruise to victory.
The Capitals have, however, lost two games in a row now.
They lost to Bangalore then to Chennai in a matter of three days. On the flip side, Kolkata are coming off two straight wins.
This makes Kolkata slight favourites against the Capitals.
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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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