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4th Test: Pope shows his class
India have somewhat regained momentum after ending Day 2 of the fourth Test without losing a wicket and putting 43 runs on the board.
After being bundled out for only 191 in the first inning, Virat Kohli’s troops sent Joe Root’s side back to the pavilion at 290.
Chris Woakes is back!
England’s wizard has come to rescue them once again.
Replacing Jos Buttler in the fourth Test, Woakes looks in fine touch.
After returning from an injury, he first picked up four wickets and notched up a brilliant fifty against India.
His quickfire 50 off 60 propelled the hosts to a respectable total.
None of the Woakes’ shots were flukes. He hit proper cricketing shots, crispy cover drives, and well-timed pull shots to keep the Indian pace cartel in check.
Ravi Jadeja was bowling very well, using his straighter ones timely as well, but Woakes’ front foot defence neutralised the Indian all-rounder’s skills.
It goes to show how vital is Woakes’ presence in England’s team in all formats of the sport.
Pope misses out on a grand ton
Ollie Pope, often dubbed as Ian Bell 2.0, put on a sublime performance once again before falling to a soft dismissal.
The middle-order batsman’s 81 got him a standing ovation at the Oval.
However, the disappointment was evident on his face as he missed out on a patient century on his return to England’s red-ball team.
He chopped on a Shardul Thakur delivery into the stumps.
Speaking after the teams wrapped up Day 2, Pope regretted not raising his bat to the Oval’s gallery despite being so near to a Test ton.
“Home ground hundred would have been a dream, gutted at the same time,” he said.
“I tore my quad so not a lot of game time but nothing prepares you for the morning of a Test match. Standing on the middle stump for this attack is a good option, I had some success on the off stump after I did my shoulder. But batting changes a lot.”
Umesh Yadav shines on return
This Test seems to have given form to every returnee.
Umesh Yadav has made a sensational comeback to the Test arena, replacing Mohammad Shami.
After dismissing England skipper Joe Root on Day 1 with a gem of a delivery that jagged back in, he picked another two scalps to his name on Day 2.
Yadav dismissed in-form Dawid Malana and night watchman Craig Overton early in the day.
Ali fails to build his innings
Moeen Ali is a top performer for the English side regardless of the format.
With consistent performances in red-ball cricket, he is proving that he is so much more than a T20 specialist.
However, Ali failed to put the cherry on the top today.
He smashed Indian bowlers all over the park before throwing his wicket away.
The English all-rounder has made this kind of a habit.
He takes England out of tricky situations, but fails to build on a good start and falls for 30 odd runs.
Ravi Jadeja got him caught at 35 today.
It was a simple drifter one from Jadeja, but Ali was in the mood to send it over the long-off boundary.
Instead, he top-edged it inside the 30-yard circle for Rohit Sharma to catch it easily.
India 191 and 43 for 0 (Rahul 22*, Rohit 20*) trail England 290 (Pope 81, Woakes 50, Yadav 3-76) by 56 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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