People often say that records are meant to be broken, but some IPL (Indian Premier League) records have remained unchallenged for years. Since its inception in 2008, the league has seen numerous records set and broken. However, certain milestones seem nearly impossible to surpass.

Unbreakable IPL Records

Let’s explore 10 IPL records that are incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to break.

1. Most Playoff Appearances by a Team – CSK (12 Times)

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have reached the IPL playoffs 12 times in 16 seasons. This feat is even more remarkable, considering CSK missed two seasons due to suspension. Mumbai Indians follow closely with 10 playoff appearances.

2. Highest Combined Match Aggregate – 469 Runs

Only a few matches in IPL history have seen both teams cross the 200-run mark. The highest aggregate came in 2010 when CSK and Rajasthan Royals combined for 469 runs. CSK posted 246, while Rajasthan fell short at 223. Even after 13 seasons, this record remains untouched, showcasing one of the most thrilling encounters in IPL history.

3. Most Consecutive Wins by a Team – KKR (10 Wins)

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) hold the record for the longest winning streak in IPL history. Under Gautam Gambhir’s leadership, KKR won nine consecutive matches in the 2014 season and extended their winning streak to 10 by winning their first match in 2015. Their remarkable consistency makes them a popular choice in cricket betting apps.

4. Most Runs in a Single Over – Chris Gayle and Ravindra Jadeja (37 Runs)

Scoring 36 runs in an over is already rare, but Chris Gayle and Ravindra Jadeja have both gone a step further. Gayle achieved the feat in 2011, while Jadeja matched it in 2021 by smashing 37 runs in an over against RCB’s Harshal Patel. This record underlines the explosive nature of T20 batting.

5. Most Maiden Overs in an IPL Match – Mohammed Siraj

Bowling a maiden over in T20 cricket is rare, but Mohammed Siraj achieved something even more remarkable. In IPL 2020, while playing for RCB, he bowled two maiden overs in a single match against KKR and took three wickets. His performance remains one of the most dominant bowling spells in IPL history.

6. Fastest Century – Chris Gayle (30 Balls)

During his legendary 175-run innings in IPL 2013, Chris Gayle also set another milestone by scoring the fastest IPL century in 30 balls. While several batsmen have reached the three-figure mark in under 40 balls, Gayle’s record remains unbeaten, making it a benchmark for power hitting.

7. Highest Individual Score in an Innings – 175 by Chris Gayle

Only two batsmen in IPL history have scored more than 150 runs in a single innings. Brendon McCullum was the first, scoring 158 runs for KKR in 2008. However, Chris Gayle surpassed this feat in 2013 when he hammered an unbeaten 175 off just 66 balls for RCB against Pune Warriors. During this knock, he also hit 17 sixes, setting another record for the most sixes in an innings.

8. Most Runs in a Single Season – Virat Kohli (973 Runs)

Virat Kohli’s 2016 IPL season remains unparalleled. He scored 973 runs in 16 matches, smashing four centuries and seven half-centuries. Given the aggressive nature of T20 cricket, maintaining such consistency is an enormous challenge. Many players have come close, but none have surpassed Kohli’s record.

9. Most Playoff Appearances by a Team – CSK (12 Times)

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have reached the IPL playoffs 12 times in 16 seasons. This feat is even more remarkable, considering CSK missed two seasons due to suspension. Mumbai Indians follow closely with 10 playoff appearances. CSK’s success makes them one of the most reliable teams in IPL betting discussions.

10. Most Matches as Captain – MS Dhoni (226 Matches)

MS Dhoni holds the record for captaining the most IPL matches. Since 2008, he has led CSK in 226 games, winning 133. Rohit Sharma, with 158 matches as captain, ranks second. Dhoni’s leadership and consistency have been crucial to CSK’s success.

Whether you're a cricket enthusiast or following IPL betting trends, these records showcase the most extraordinary achievements in the tournament’s history. From breathtaking performances to seemingly unbreakable milestones, they define the league's legacy. New records will be set as the IPL continues to evolve, but some feats may stand the test of time.

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Mumbai, May 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) Nicholas Pooran struck a sensational 28-ball 75 to help Lucknow Super Giants reach a challenging total before they came back after a 45-minute rain break to quell Mumbai Indians by 18 runs despite blazing half-centuries by Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir in Match 67 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Friday.

Pooran slammed a 19-ball half-century, hitting eight sixes as he became the highest six-hitter (36) in the IPL 2024, to lift LSG from 69/3 in 10 overs to help them cross 200.

Mumbai Indians thus finished with eight points from 14 matches, ending last in the standings, the second time in three years for them. LSG ended with 14 points but will be ruing their performance in a couple of matches which could have put them in the playoff.

Pooran put on a dazzling display of power-hitting as he started his extraordinary knock with a six off Anshul Kamboj in the 11th over. In the next over by Kamboj, Pooran smashed a four and two sixes, picking the attempted yorkers cleanly out of the ground. Hardik was hit for two sixes in the 14th over as the Mumbai Indians bowlers bowled to the West Indies batter's strength, giving him width and an opportunity to chance his arms.

Pooran went berserk in the 15th over, hitting Arjun Tendulkar for sixes off successive balls, picking the full-tosses cleanly as he raced to his third fifty of IPL 2024 off just 19 balls.

Tendulkar walked off the ground with cramps and Pooran celebrated the landmark by hammering Naman Dhir, who completed the over, for a six and four off successive deliveries. He handed Nuwan Thushara, brought in by Hardik Pandya to quell the rampaging Pooran, by hitting him for back-to-back boundaries before the Sri Lankan pacer had the last laugh, getting him to swing straight down to Suryakumar Yadav at long-on.

Meanwhile, Rahul, who was soldiering on from the other end, completed his half-century off 37 balls, hitting two boundaries and three maximums as he and Pooran raised 107 runs for the fourth wicket off 44 balls, with Pooran doing the bulk of the scoring. Rahul kept one end intact as he has done throughout the season, building up the platform for Pooran to launch his audacious attack. It was slow going for Rahul as he scored 34 runs off 40 balls at one stage.

However, Mumbai Indians pulled things back by taking three wickets on the same score, as Arshad Khan (0) and K.L Rahul fell quickly. Thushara claimed two of those wickets off successive balls while Chawla got the third to complete a team hat-trick as MI salvaged the situation.

Ayush Badoni blasted 22 off 10 balls and Krunal Pandya struck 12 off 7 as Lucknow Super Giants scored 36 runs off the last 18 balls to take their score past the 200-run mark. Badoni struck two sixes and a four in the last two overs as LSG set Mumbai Indians a challenging target.

Chasing a stiff target, Rohit and Naman struck Superb half-centuries but their efforts went in vain as Mumbai Indians fell short by 18 runs.

Rohit, coming in as an Impact Substitute, struck 10 boundaries and three sixes in a 38-ball 68 while Naman Dhir hammered a 28-ball unbeaten 62 as Mumbai Indians ended with 196/6 in 20 overs chasing a challenging total of 214/6 posted by Lucknow Super Giants thanks to a sensational 29-ball 75 by Nicholas Pooran and a patient 55 by skipper K.L Rahul after Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first. The match was halted for 45 minutes due to rain early in the MI innings.

Batting on a pitch on which the ball was gripping a bit, Mumbai Indians lost their way from 88 for no loss to lose five quick wickets for 30-odd runs and it was only an audacious late pyrotechnics by Naman Dhir that gave their score some respectability. Dhir blasted four sixes as he made a futile attempt to reach 62 off the last 28 balls.

In his final outing before he leads India in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma came up with a superb effort, scoring a fine half-century off 28 balls, hitting seven fours and three sixes as he started in the fourth gear. After a cautious first over, Sharma blasted Matt Henry for back-to-back sixes -- the second one a sensational shot hit by exposing all his stumps and freeing his arms to lift the ball from off-stump length over long-off.

A 45-minute rain break did not halt his momentum as he hit Mohsin Khan to boundaries off successive balls and repeated the same against Naveen-ul-Haq in the sixth over. Mohsin was again hit for back-to-back fours in the seventh over and Rohit ended the over with a superb six, giving the bowler the charge as he completed his half-century.

Ravi Bishnoi was treated to boundaries off successive balls in the eighth over and another four in his next over before the spinner had the last laugh as he got Rohit out, the former MI skipper offering an outside edge to Mohsin Khan at short third-man. He scored 68 off 38 balls, hitting 10 boundaries and three sixes.

Meanwhile, Brevis fell to Naveen-ul-Haq for 23 off 20 balls, caught by Krunal Pandya at long-off with 88 runs on the board. Sreekumar Yadav, playing his 150th IPL match, proved a big disappointment as he got out for a zero, Bishnoi pouching the catch on the second attempt.

Hardik Pandya ended IPL 2024 like the way he had started it -- with fans booing him as the Mumbai Indians skipper disappointed once again, managing to score 16 runs off 12 balls before being caught by Naveen-ul-Haq off Mohsin Khan.

Nehal Wadhera was out for one run as Mumbai Indians fell to 120/5 in the 15th over.

With 66 runs needed off the last three overs, Naman Dhir hammered a couple of sixes and survived a catch off a no-ball to score a 25-ball half-century but in the end, his effort proved too little too late as Mumbai Indians ended the IPL 2024 like they started, with a defeat, finishing 10th and last in the standings.

Brief scores:

Lucknow Super Giants 214/6 in 20 overs (Nicholas Poorann 75, K.L Rahul 55; Nuwan Thushara 3-28, Piyush Chawla 3-29) beat Mumbai Indians 196/6 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 68, Naman Dhir 62 not out; Ravi Bishnoi 2-37, Naveen-ul-Haq 2-50) by 18 runs.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, April 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant feels happy being on the field after smashing an unbeaten 88 off 43 in DC's 4-run win over Gujarat Titans on Wednesday night.

DC were reeling on 44 for 3 when Pant joined hands with Axar Patel. Axar made his promotion to number three count by hitting five fours and four sixes in his eye-catchy knock at a strike-rate of 153.49. Pant, after being scratchy in his 44 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, was at his magnificent best in hitting eight sixes and five fours at a strike rate of 204.6.

Both batters added 113 runs in 68 deliveries which propelled Delhi to 224 for 4 in 20 overs. Rishabh Pant stated that he is gradually but surely returning to his dominant best and that every IPL 2024 encounter counts in his comeback.

"Every day that I'm in the middle, I feel better. Every hour on the field matters, I love being on the field. I try to give it my 100% and it takes some time sometimes. I think the first six in the match gives me confidence in a game. The more time I spend in the centre, the better I feel," Pant said after the match.

Pant got his fifty in 34 balls by lofting a full-toss from Mohit over long-on for six, and was met with a grand applause from the crowd. Pant was delightful in the 16th over against Mohit - whipping off his pads and thumping a slower ball over long-off for a brace of sixes, before bringing up the century of the fourth-wicket stand.

In the last over, Pant managed to clear long-on for six and sliced a four despite losing balance against Mohit. He cut loose with his pull, loft and swivel fetching him maximums on last three balls of the innings to take 31 runs off the final over.

Behind the stumps, Pant had a good day too, making the necessary decisions to guide the squad in their 224-run defence. Shubman Gill was out early, but Sai Sudharsan and David Miller struck fiery fifties, and Wriddhiman Saha, Rashid Khan, and Sai Kishore made significant contributions to keep the chase going till the very last ball.

Rasikh Salam claimed two vital wickets in his opening three overs, Pant put youthful Rasikh Salam in charge of bowling the 19th. Kishore hit Rasikh for two sixes, but the young medium pacer remained composed and removed Sai, leaving Mukesh Kumar with 19 runs to defend. When asked about giving the experienced Anrich Nortje last over, Pant said, “Nortje was having a tough time. T20 is a funny game, after 14-15 overs the ball was coming on nicely.”

“So we wanted to trust Rasikh, always trust someone who is bowling well in a game. I think it is about instincts as a captain, it will come off sometimes. Happy it worked today.”

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, April 16 (SocialNews.XYZ) Former India cricketer Ambati Rayudu advocated for Dinesh Karthik’s inclusion in the 2024 T20 World Cup squad after the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) wicket-keeper batter smashed a 35-ball 83 in the losing cause against Sunrisers Hyderabad at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Chasing a mammoth total of 287, Du Plessis (62 off 28) and Virat Kohli (42 off 20) set the tone for the RCB chase. Then came a vintage performance by Dinesh Karthik, who single-handedly kept the hosts in play with 35-ball 83, as RCB finished with 262 for 7.

In 7 games until now, the veteran has racked up 226 runs at an average of 75.33 and a strike rate of 205.45 with 2 half-centuries. Rayudu revealed that Karthik has always been in the shadow of MS Dhoni and did not get a lot of opportunities to showcase his talent.

“From his childhood, I have seen how talented he is. He has always been in the shadow of MS Dhoni and he did not get a lot of opportunities to showcase his talent. He has a golden chance to be India’s match-winner one last time and end his career by lifting the World Cup. So, I believe that Karthik should be taken to the World Cup," Rayudu told Star Sports.

However, Irfan Pathan on the other hand was of a different opinion regarding Kathik’s selection and said that the bowler in the ICC event will be of a different level and it will not be easy for Karthik to score runs against them.

"He is playing in full flow; he is looking in great rhythm. But Indian cricket and World Cup are on a different level. In World Cups, you won’t see uncapped players bowling. There is no Impact rule either. Your batting becomes a little limited there and playing in that pressure is different,” said Pathan.

Source: IANS

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Visakhapatnam, April 4 (SocialNews.XYZ) Last week, one didn’t think of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s record highest score of 277 being upstaged in IPL 2024. But Kolkata Knight Riders had other plans by unleashing a six-hitting carnage in Visakhapatnam, though they settled for 272, the second-highest score in the history of the competition.

Sunil Narine (85), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (54), Andre Russell (41) and Rinku Singh (26) produced blistering fireworks to set the base for KKR’s 106-run win over Delhi Capitals at Visakhapatnam on Wednesday evening. Captain Rishabh Pant and Tristan Stubbs scored entertaining fifties for DC in an but-obvious uphill chase of 273.

Pant continued to build up on his positive return to competitive cricket by hitting five sixes and four boundaries in a 25-ball 55, while Stubbs hit eight boundaries in his 32-ball 54 to help the hosts’ save some blushes, before being 166 all out in 17.2 overs.

Effective bowling from KKR, starting from Mitchell Starc and Vaibhav Arora in power-play to Andre Russell, Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine, ensured that the visitors’ are now at top place on the points table. It’s also the first time that KKR have started an IPL season with three consecutive wins, setting themselves as potential title contenders.

On a placid pitch, KKR produced two hours of sensational carnage by hitting 22 fours and 18 sixes, with DC bowlers minus Kuldeep Yadav and Mukesh Kumar bearing the brunt of ruthless big-hitting. Narine was quick in creating room and lofting with ease to collect runs for fun in what is now his highest T20 score ever coming off just 39 balls.

Young Raghuvanshi, a member of India’s 2022 U19 World Cup winning campaign, impressed with his wrist work and the ability take on DC’s bowlers by mixing innovation with copybook strokeplay to get his maiden IPL fifty. Russell and Rinku brought out their usual fireworks at the end to add more intensity to KKR’s stunning batting onslaught.

Electing to bat first, KKR got going with Phil Salt taking two fours off Ishant Sharma in the second over. Narine got into the act by slashing Khaleel Ahmed through the off-side for a boundary, before Salt joined in with two driven fours to take 15 runs off the third over.

Boundaries continued to flow for Narine as he smacked two sixes off Ishant - a length ball was lofted over mid-off and a short delivery pulled over deep square leg. He then guided the pacer through backward point for a boundary, carved drive over long-off for six and ended the over with a thick edge going for four to bring up KKR’s fifty at the end of fourth over.

Anrich Nortje made an immediate impact when Salt was caught at mid-off in the fifth over, but young Raghuvanshi pulled and punched off him to get two quick boundaries. Narine, who was lucky to survive on 24 when Rishabh Pant failed to take a review on a faint edge, hit Rasikh Salam for three fours and a six to complete a 21-ball fifty as KKR ended power-play at 88/1, going past 85/0 they made against RCB last week.

Post power-play, there was no respite for DC as Narine and Raghuvanshi continued to take runs aplenty against the bowlers. Narine nonchalantly hammered Axar Patel for two sixes, while Raghuvanshi was impressive in using wrists and fast bat-swing to smash boundaries, with a reverse-hit off Rasikh going over third man for six being the standout.

Narine moved to 80s with a flat-batted six over long-off against Nortje, also bringing up his 100-run stand with Raghuvanshi. But Mitchell Marsh took him out with a bouncer in the 13th over, which Narine looked to pull, but a faint nick went behind to Pant.

Raghuvanshi got his maiden IPL fifty off just 25 balls, but fell two balls later when he tried to ramp off Nortje and was caught at deep third man. Russell feasted on hit-me deliveries from Nortje and Salam to hit two fours and as many sixes before the second time-out.

Post interval, Russell smashed two sixes and a four, while captain Shreyas Iyer hammered two maximums, before getting a top-edge on a short ball from Khaleel to mid-on. Things went from bad to worse for DC as over-rate penalty was imposed for last two overs, allowing them to have only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle.

Rinku had some fun by using his strong bottom hand to smash Nortje for three sixes and a four, before toe-ending a slog to mid-on. Ishant produced a magical moment by having Russell floored with a menacing 144kmph inswinging yorker and had Ramandeep Singh caught at extra cover to keep KKR five short of breaking SRH’s record of 277.

The move of bringing Arora as an Impact Player paid off as he removed Prithvi Shaw, who was caught by mid-on taking an excellent low catch. Starc picked his first wicket of the season as Marsh nailed the square-drive, but hit straight to cover-point.

Arora was great in extracting movement off the pitch and was rewarded with his second wicket when Abishek Porel top-edged a pull to short fine leg. Starc also had his second scalp when David Warner chopped on to his stumps, leaving DC at 33/4.

Pant began to find his groove by flicking Starc for six, before bringing out a nice pick-up shot over deep square leg and pulling in the same region off Russell. Stubbs began with back-to-back fours off Arora and welcomed Chakaravarthy with a brace of sixes over mid-wicket and mid-on to bring up the fifty of the fifth-wicket stand with Pant.

Though spinners put brakes on DC’s scoring, Pant went berserk with his shot selection, power and usage of pace by taking 28 runs off part-timer Venkatesh Iyer. He brought out the trademark hook and pick-up shots for sixes, while flicking, slicing, whipping and slashing for four boundaries, including bringing up his fifty in 23 balls.

But Chakravarthy got the better of Pant when he mistimed his slog-sweep and gave a catch to cover, followed by the spinner taking out Axar Patel on the very next ball. Stubbs hit two sixes and a four to get his fifty, before being dismissed by Chakaravarthy. From there, Narine, Arora and Russell took the remaining three wickets each to seal a massive victory for KKR.

Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 272/7 in 20 overs (Sunil Narine 85, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 54; Anrich Nortje 3-59, Ishant Sharma 2-43) beat Delhi Capitals 166 in 17.2 overs (Rishabh Pant 55, Tristan Stubbs 54, Vaibhav Arora 3-27, Varun Chakaravarthy 3-33) by 106 runs

Source: IANS

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Visakhapatnam, April 3 (SocialNews.XYZ) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Shreyas Iyer has won the toss and elected to bat first against Delhi Capitals (DC) in match 16 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday evening.

DC are at number seven currently in the points table, and got off the mark with a 20-run win over Chennai Super Kings on Sunday. KKR, the two-time IPL champions, are up at second place and still undefeated in the competition. In the last three IPL meetings between these two teams, DC have emerged victorious.

After winning the toss, Iyer said young batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi comes back into the playing eleven. “The wicket looks like a belter, no drastic change in the wicket when compared to the last game. It's been quite a journey, was with Delhi and now with KKR, I'm comfortable with this switch.”

“Anything can happen on a given day, it's important to stick to the process. We've Sunil (Narine) coming in and going after the bowlers in the first 6 overs, so his role is very clear and the rest know what's expected of them,” he said.

DC skipper Rishabh Pant said fast-bowler Mukesh Kumar is injured and is replaced by seam-bowling all-rounder Sumit Kumar in the playing eleven. “We would have batted first as well, could get a bit slower. It was nice to be back with the group, but I'm not thinking too far ahead.”

“The bowlers did a great job, especially the fast bowlers, and we'd like them to do it once again. Not thinking about the team combination for the first two games, but we've had people working hard in the nets. We just need to keep doing the right things,” he said.

Playing XIs

Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (captain & wicketkeeper), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Sumit Kumar, Rasikh Salam Dar, Anrich Nortje, Ishant Sharma and Khaleel Ahmed

Substitutes: Abishek Porel, Kumar Kushagra, Pravin Dubey, Lalit Yadav and Jake Fraser-McGurk

Kolkata Knight Riders: Phil Salt (wicketkeeper), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy

Substitutes: Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora and Rahmanullah Gurbaz

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, April 3 (SocialNews.XYZ) Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra shared his support to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) struggling pacer Mitchell Starc and said that the star bowler will return with his good form in the match against Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Starc has been under intense scrutiny after a less-than-ideal start to the tournament. Since his record-breaking acquisition of Rs 24.5 crore by KKR in the auction held in December. Starc has struggled to find his rhythm on the field, facing criticism for conceding 100 runs in two matches he played without impacting the wicket column.

Despite Kolkata's stellar performance in the tournament, Starc's poor form with the ball has been the topic of discussion around the IPL. Aakash Chopra remains optimistic about Starc's potential to bounce back stronger in Kolkata's upcoming clash against Delhi.

Chopra acknowledged the challenges posed by formidable opponents like Prithvi Shaw and David Warner, Chopra emphasized Starc's resilience and talent, predicting a turnaround in his form.

"One of the players I will pick today is Mitchell Starc because he has conceded 100 runs in two matches. It can't happen that he concedes 50-odd runs every time. He will have Prithvi Shaw and David Warner in front of him. Prithvi Shaw - incoming ball," Chopra said on his YT channel.

Chopra expressed his belief in Starc's exceptional bowling abilities and backed him to turn the tide in his team's favor. “So, I am very curious and excited to see what Mitchell Starc does on this ground and pitch. I feel he will do well. I feel Mitchell Starc will turn it around. He has looked like a pale bowler thus far, but he is too good a player to be pale for too long. So my focus will be on him," Chopra added.

As Kolkata prepares to take on a confident Delhi side at the ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium at Vizag, all eyes will be on Starc, who will be eyeing to regain his good form.

Source: IANS

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Mumbai, April 2 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday announced the rescheduling of two Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 matches

The fixture between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), which was earlier scheduled to take place on April 17, at Eden Gardens, Kolkata will now be played a day prior on April 16, whereas the match between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Delhi Capitals which was scheduled earlier on April 16 at the Narendra Modi Stadium. will now be played on April 17.

Earlier on Monday Cricbuzz reported that the above-mentioned matches might get rescheduled due to the Rama Navami festivities and general elections.

KKR, with two wins in two games, are currently in Visakhapatnam where they face Delhi Capitals on April 3. Rajasthan Royals with three wins in three matches are positioned on the top and will next face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on April 6 at Jaipur.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, April 2 (SocialNews.XYZ) Former England pacer Stuart Broad praised Rajasthan Royals left-arm pacer Trent Boult who was one of the key highlights in his side’s win against Mumbai Indians, and labeled him as a ‘world-class bowler’.

In the match against Mumbai Indians, Boult used the conditions perfectly, moved the ball on both sides, and claimed Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, and Dewald Brevis for first-ball ducks as he reduced Mumbai Indians to 14/3 in the third over. The 34-year-old Boult claimed 3-15 in his three overs before ending his quota with 3-22.

Speaking exclusively to Star Sports on Cricket Live, Stuart Broad complimented Boult and said, “We’ve come to expect Trent Boult to take a wicket in his first over, not necessarily two, and it was world-class bowling. The ones at Rohit Sharma, wobble seam delivery, moving across to take the outside edge, and then the in-swinger, pitching on middle stump, swinging back and hitting the middle and leg,” said Broad.

“Brevis probably wasn’t expecting to be in the first over, and in the third over he faced Trent Boult’s first ball, and all he could do was edge it to short third man. But it was fine bowling. The ball did swing, and carry through. It was exciting for me as a former fast bowler to watch this style of bowling, and I think, apart from maybe Brevis, the batters were outdone by world-class bowling rather than playing poor shots,” he added.

Broad also emphasized on the combined bowling effort of Rajasthan Royals as they restricted Mumbai Indians to 125/9 on their home ground later winning the match by six wickets with 27 balls left. After Boult’s three-fer Yuzvendra Chahal tormented MI’s batting, wiping out the middle-order in claiming 3-11 in four brilliant overs. South African Nandre Burger also claimed two wickets.

“That was just fantastic bowling. That was just a beautiful plan from Rajasthan Royals. I think you could tell with the celebration of the whole group that that was a setup. They thought that Rohit would be thinking that Boult was going to swing the ball back and you can see from the seam release that it’s wobbling. That means it’s a deliberate move across the right-handed batter with the slip in place and actually a fantastic catch as well,” said Broad.

Australia cricketer Steve Smith too heaped praise on RR for their win against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede, “They were getting a really good length, top of the stumps, and just challenging the defence of the batters. There was enough movement in the air to create some kind of doubt. And it was one of those nights that it just seemed everything was going to hand. They’d nick it to the keeper, they’d nick it to short third man and it was one of those nights everything went the way of Rajasthan.”

“Yuzvendra Chahal came on and did what Yuzvendra Chahal does, three for 11 in four overs. He bowled like an absolute genius tonight and took the ball out of the batter’s arcs, got wickets at crucial times, and they just kept taking wickets throughout the innings. And no one in Mumbai could really get going. There was a little bit of resistance from Hardik and Tilak in the middle there, but they also got out as well. It just wasn’t the night for Mumbai,” he added.

Chasing 126 for victory, Rajasthan Royals were in trouble at 48/3 before Riyan Parag came to their rescue, adding 40 runs off 35 balls with Ravichandran Ashwin and then unleashing a flurry of shots towards the end to claim a comfortable victory. With Parag, who struck five fours and three sixes, remaining unbeaten on 54, Rajasthan Royals reached 127/4 in 15.3 overs to seal a comfortable victory with a lot to spare.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, April 2 (SocialNews.XYZ) England pace bowling legend Stuart Broad has said that he is excited about the battle between Virat Kohli and young pacer Mayank Yadav during the IPL 2024 between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), scheduled on Tuesday.

The young LSG pacer Mayank became an overnight sensation after clocking the fastest delivery (155.8 KMPH) bowled in the IPL 2024 match against Punjab Kings.

He showcased his pace and talent to help Lucknow secure their first win of the season. With impressive figures of 3 for 27 in his four overs, Yadav's performance was exceptional, earning him the Player-of-the-Match Award.

On the other hand, Kohli scored two back-to-back fifties in three matches for RCB, is the joint-highest run-getter with 181 runs at an average of 90.50.

"I’m really excited about the battle between Virat Kohli versus Mayank Yadav. One of the best IPL debuts you’ll ever see, 156KMPH and three wickets, challenging world-class batters, beating them with pace, incredible control of the line going over middle and leg stump," Broad said on official broadcaster Star Sports' Cricket live show.

"Going to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, one of the best batting grounds in the world, of course that’s going to be a challenge for any 21-year-old bowler, but that’s where you do all your learning, at the top level, in these sort of environments, and those sort of atmospheres. So, he’ll be full of energy, full of excitement after what happened a few days ago. So, I’d love to see him get another run and take some wickets," he added.

Broad also reckoned that Faf du Plessis led-side should definitely make changes to their bowling line-up for their match against Lucknow.

RCB have lost two games while defending totals and won one while chasing and are sitting ninth in the table. On the other hand, LSG are sixth with one win and a loss in two games.

"I think when Virat Kohli is in that type of form, you can almost bank him, Faf and Maxwell to get you up to a good score, but their bowling line-up has just looked a bit naive and not delivered the tactics that I’m sure the coaches would have wanted them to. So, bring a bit of experience with Lockie Ferguson, genuine pace and maybe Reece Topley with a different angle who can swing the ball as well. So, yeah, that’s options available to them," he added.

RCB will host LSG at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru in their fourth match on Tuesday.

LSG doesn’t have the best of records against RCB, having lost three and won one of our four IPL meetings so far. However, they did win in the only match they played in Bengaluru.

Source: IANS

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Mumbai, April 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) Pacer Trent Boult struck like lightening for a three-fer, Yuzvendra Chahal spun a web to bag 3-11 while Riyan Parag struck his second successive half-century as Rajasthan Royals thrashed Mumbai Indians by six wickets with 27 balls to spare in Match 14 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Monday.

The Boult from New Zealand used the conditions perfectly, moved the ball on both sides and claimed Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir and Dewald Brevis for first-ball ducks as he reduced Mumbai Indians to 14/3 in the third over after Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to field first. The 34-year-old Boult claimed 3-15 in his three overs before ending his quota with 3-22.

Yuzvendra Chahal then became Mumbai Indians' tormentor, wiping out the middle-order in claiming 3-11 in four brilliant overs as Mumbai Indians were restricted to 125/9 in 20 overs, their second-lowest total against Rajasthan Royals. They scored 92 against them in 2013.

Chasing 126 for victory, Rajasthan Royals were in trouble at 48/3 before Riyan Parag came to their rescue, adding 40 runs off 35 balls with Ravichandran Ashwin and then unleashing a flurry of shots towards the end to claim a comfortable victory. With Parag, who struck five fours and three sixes, remaining unbeaten on 54, Rajasthan Royals reached 127/4 in 15.3 overs to seal a comfortable victory with a lot to spare.

In a match dominated by the bowlers, Parag struck the lone fifty, his composed knock coming off 38 balls as he ended the match with a flurry of shots, a six off Piyush Chawla followed by two sixes and a four off Gerald Coetzee to seal the third victory for Rajasthan Royals, taking them to the top of the IPL table with six points. Mumbai Indians remain stuck at the bottom, yet to open their account after suffering three successive defeats.

Yashasvi Jaiswal struck the 17-year-old South African pacer Kwena Maphaka to back-to-back boundaries off the fourth and fifth deliveries of the opening over. But the young South African had his revenge on the next delivery, as a full-length delivery outside off shaped away and Jaiswal lobbed it straight to Tim David at cover. Maphaka claimed his first IPL wicket in his second match after going wicketless for 66 against SRH in Hyderabad. RR were 10/1.

Skipper Sanju Samson lashed a widish delivery from Maphaka through point for a boundary and then enjoyed the same result off the next delivery, as the bowler offered more width. But he was out soon, castled by Akash Madhwal as he chopped onto his stumps, attempting a cut without any foot movement.

And when Jos Buttler, who was troubled by Jasprit Bumrah despite being struck for a boundary, was out for 13, caught by Piyush Chawla as he pulled Akash Madhwal flat and straight to fine leg, Rajasthan Royals were in trouble at 48/3 in the 7th over.

However, Parag came to their rescue and ensured that they maintained their unbeaten streak.

Parag ramped Gerald Coetzee to the boundary and followed it up with another boundary off the next delivery. A boundary each off Coetzee and Bumrah helped him keep RR's hopes alive. They reached 100/4 in the 14th over.

With 25 needed off 36 balls, Parag slogged Piyush Chawal over cow corner for his first six and in the next over carved Coetzee over cover for six and followed it up with a pull-over midwicket to complete his back-to-back fifties.

He sealed victory for Rajasthan Royals with a top-edge off a short one by Coetzee as the ball sailed over the keeper's head to the boundary. Parag remained unbeaten on 54 as he helped Rajasthan Royals to their third victory in three matches.

Earlier, Boult rattled Mumbai Indians with some incisive pace bowling, claiming the first three wickets of Mumbai Indians.

With the home crowd repeatedly booing skipper Hardik Pandya, Mumbai Indians got off to a poor start and were struggling at 30/4 at the end of the first five overs on a pitch that was expected to support the batters. New Zealand pacer Trent Boult was the wrecker-in-chief as he claimed three of those four wickets.

Rohit Sharma was out for a first-ball duck as Boult landed a scrambled seam delivery at fullish length around off-stump, which opened up Rohit's defence and took the outside edge behind to Sanju Samson. That was off the fifth ball of the opening over and Mumbai Indians were 1/1. This was the 17th duck for Rohit Sharma in 17 editions of the IPL and he now shares the dubious record with Dinesh Karthik.

It became 1/2 when Impact Substitute Naman Dhir was trapped lbw off the first delivery he faced off Boult. The ball landed on a length and moved in a little bit and sneaked through the gap between bat and pad. Dhir reviewed the decision but DRS came in favour of the bowler as Hawk-eye should the ball would have clipped the leg-stump.

Ishan Kishan survived the hat-trick ball and scored a single but Boult got his third wicket of the Power play and 100th overall as he sent back Dewald Brevis for a first-ball duck, holing out to short third-man with a loose shot. Boult had picked three wickets off four deliveries and was breathing fire. Brevis came in as the earliest Impact Substitute in the second over and went back as early as possible without bothering the scorer.

Ishan Kishan deposited the first delivery he faced from Nandre Burger over the long-on boundary for a big six and four balls later gloved a rising delivery into his body past keeper Samson for a four.

Burger had the last laugh in the fourth over and the South African pacer after Kishan had creamed him through cover to the boundary sent back Kishan with a delivery that seamed away off the deck and took the edge back to Samson. Ishan Kishan scored 16 off 14 balls, hitting two boundaries and one six. Mumbai Indians slumped to 20/4 in the fourth over and were in deep trouble.

Skipper Hardik Pandya, who was booed during the toss, along with Tilak Varma raised 56 runs for the fifth wicket as they tried to repair the innings.

Pandya, who started with three dot-balls off Burger, hammered the South African pacer over point in the sixth over and then walked into the delivery to thump it the cover-point boundary on the next delivery for back-to-back fours. He ended the over by dancing down the pitch and slamming it over mid-on for his third four of the sixth over. It was the most expensive over for RR thus far as it cost them 16 runs.

Hardik struck Avesh Khan for a boundary Ravichandran Ashwin. Chahal had his revenge as he had the Mumbai Indians skipper holing out to long-on. Chahal, who had nearly got Pandya on the previous delivery in the 10th over as the ball missed the off-stump by a whisker, sent down a flattish delivery around the middle and leg and Pandya tried to deposit him into the stands but got it off the bottom part of the bat and was out for 32 off 21 balls, hitting six boundaries in all.

Piyush Chawla was out to Avesh Khan for three and when Tilak Varma, who was holding one end up, was out for 32 off 29 balls, Mumbai Indians were down to 95/7 and in deep woods. Varma, who mostly scored through singles and twos, hammered Boult for a six in the fifth over as the pacer erred in line with a fullish delivery down the leg and Varma helped it over the boundary.

He also hooked Avesh Khan over the fence when the pacer tried to bounce him. But just when it looked like he would hog the strike and help Mumbai Indians to a big score with trademark blazing shots, Chahal had him reaching out to a wide googly and the batter ballooned an edge to Ashwin at short third-man.

Chahal, who bowled a brilliant line and length against a clueless Mumbai Indians middle-order, claimed Coetzee as his third victim as Mumbai Indians continued to falter and could post a paltry score.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians 125/9 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 34, Tilak Varma 32; Yuzvendra Chahal 3-11, Tret Boult 3-22, Nandre Burger 2-32) lost to Rajasthan Royals 127/4 in 15.3 overs (Riyan Parag 54 not out; Akash Madhwal 3-20) by six wickets.

Source: IANS

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Mumbai, April 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) Riyan Parag slammed back-to-back half-centuries as Rajasthan Royals hammered Mumbai Indians by six wickets with 27 balls to spare in Match 14 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday.

In a match dominated by the bowlers, Parag struck the lone fifty, his composed knock coming off 38 balls as he ended the match with a flurry of shots, two sixes and a four off Gerald Coetzee to seal the third victory for Rajasthan Royals, taking them to the top of the IPL table with six points.

Parag struck five fours and three sixes and shared a 40-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Ravichandran Ashwin as Rajasthan Royals recovered from 48/3 to reach 127/4. The victory was set up by their bowlers -- Trent Boult (3-22) and Yuzvendra Chahal (3-11) as they helped them restrict Mumbai Indians to 125/9 in 20 overs. Nandre Burger claimed 2-32 to contribute to the RR cause after skipper Sanju Samson had won the toss and elected to field first on a pitch that provided seam movement initially but eased out in the second innings.

Yashasvi Jaiswal struck the 17-year-old South African pacer Kwena Maphaka to back-to-back boundaries off the fourth and fifth deliveries of the opening over, carving it squarely on the off over point from a full-length delivery and following it by clearing the infield on the leg-side when the pacer pitched it short.

But the young South African had his revenge on the next delivery, as a full-length delivery outside off shaped away and Jaiswal lobbed it straight to Tim David at cover. Maphaka claimed his first IPL wicket in his second match after going wicketless for 66 against SRH in Hyderabad. RR were 10/1.

Skipper Sanju Samson lashed a widish delivery from Maphaka through point for a boundary and then enjoyed the same result off the next delivery, as the bowler offered more width. But Samson was out soon, castled by Akash Madhwal as he chopped onto his stumps, attempting a cut without any foot movement.

And when Jos Buttler, who was troubled by Jasprit Bumrah despite being struck for a boundary, was out for 13, caught by Piyush Chawla as he pulled Akash Madhwal flat and straight to fine leg, Rajasthan Royals were in trouble at 48/3 in the 7th over.

However, a 40-run partnership off 35 balls for the fourth wicket between Riyan Parag and Ravichandran Ashwin propelled them ahead on course to victory. While Parag dropped anchor, Ashwin struck a run-a-ball 16, hitting a four as Rajasthan Royals remained on course. It was slow going as RR tried to consolidate their position. Madhwal got Ashwin for his third wicket, with a short one outside off and Ashwin attempted to turn it to leg and edged it to Tilak Varma.

Parag ramped Gerald Coetzee to the boundary and followed it up with another boundary off the next delivery. A boundary each off Coetzee and Bumrah helped him keep RR's hopes alive. They reached 100/4 in the 14th over.

With 25 needed off 36 balls, Parag slogged Piyush Chawal over cow corner for his first six and in the next over carved Coetzee over cover for six and followed it up with a pull-over midwicket to complete his back-to-back fifties.

He sealed victory for Rajasthan Royals with a top-edge off a short one by Coetzee as the ball sailed over the keeper's head to the boundary. Parag remained unbeaten on 54 as he helped Rajasthan Royals to their third victory in three matches. They also became the second team after KKR to win an away match in IPL 2024.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians 125/9 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 34, Tilak Varma 32; Yuzvendra Chahal 3-11, Trent Boult 3-22, Nandre Burger 2-32) lost to Rajasthan Royals 127/4 in 15.3 overs (Riyan Parag 54 not out; Akash Madhwal 3-20) by six wickets.

Source: IANS

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Mumbai, April 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) Boos rang out in the Wankhede Stadium once again as Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya failed to latch on to a difficult chance against Rajasthan Royals in Match 14 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

Jos Buttler drove uppish to full-length delivery by Jasprit Bumrah and Pandya dived to his left, got his hand to the balls but couldn't hold on as it popped out. It was a screamer of a shot and Pandya made a superb effort to grab it. His brilliant but futile attempt received boos from a section of the crowd.

While the crowd was booing Pandya while watching replays of his effort on the big screen, a fan ran into the field from the third-man region and ran to Rohit Sharma who was fielding in the slips. As the man reached him, Rohit was first startled and then hugged him as the pitch invader stood in front of him. The invader was eventually escorted out of the stadium by security personnel.

This was the fifth time that Hardik Pandya was heckled by the crowd at the Wankhede on Monday. He was first heckled by some of the spectators during the press-match practice.

Boos rang out again when the Mumbai Indians skipper was introduced by commentator Sanjay Manjrekar for the toss. Manjrekar asked the crowd to behave. But the crowd jeered the Mumbai Indians skipper once again when he started to speak to the broadcaster after the toss.

Pandya maintained his cool and continued to talk even as the booing continued. Though he maintained a poker face, it was clear that the Mumbai Indians captain was not happy with the way he was being treated by the fans for a decision taken by the franchise.

The spectators reacted with jeers once again when Pandya walked to the crease to bat. But they turned in his favour as Pandya hammered a few pleasing shots as he and Tilak Varma raised 56 runs for the fifth wicket. The crowd cheered his shots but a section of the spectators turned against him again and expressed its displeasure a fifth time when he dropped the catch.

Hardik, who was appointed Mumbai Indians skipper in an abrupt decision by the franchise in place of fan-favourite Rohit Sharma who has led the franchise to multiple IPL titles, was booed by fans at Ahmedabad in their tournament opener against Gujarat Titans. It was expected as Hardik had sensationally moved from Titans to Mumbai Indians just ahead of IPL 2024 and left the team after leading them to the title in 2022 and runner-up place in the last edition.

He was also booed by fans in Hyderabad when Mumbai Indians players SRH. Getting hooted by the opposing team's fans in away matches is expected because of the rivalry between the franchises.

However, what came as a surprise was Hardik Pandya getting heckled by fans in what is Mumbai Indians' den. The booing started even before the match as the players were warming up. A section of fans started chanting "Rohit, Rohit" looking at Hardik. However, when Rohit came out to meet a former teammate who is now a commentator, the fans appreciated him by changing his name.

There were reports before Monday's match against Rajasthan Royals that Pandya could be booed at the Wankhede and that the franchise has asked the security personnel to take action against such behaviour, the Mumbai Cricket Association has denied such reports and said they will follow the BCCI protocols when it comes to crowd control inside the stadium.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, April 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) It is early days in IPL 2024, and the all too familiar question marks over Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s bowling make-up have made an entry yet again. In three games, they have lost twice while defending, including in their last home game against Kolkata Knight Riders, where pyrotechnics from Sunil Narine and Phil Salt set up a win for the visitors’.

In that game, left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar and right-arm pacer Vijaykumar Vyshak returned with combined figures of 2/46 from 6.5 overs at an economy rate of 6.73. The rest of RCB’s bowling line-up were taken to cleaners, returning with figures of 1/133 in 10 overs at an economy rate of 13.3, implying that they seriously lack in bowling variety.

Alzarri Jospeh hasn’t got the impact which one would have wished for, with Reece Topley and Lockie Ferguson waiting in the wings. Navjot Singh Sidhu, the former India cricketer who’s an IPL 2024 expert with Star Sports, believes RCB’s inability to fill the spin-bowling gap has added to their bowling line-up being tad predictable.

“The biggest thing needed in the winning of a team is that they are not dependent on just one individual to achieve victory. The five fingers of a hand vary in size – short, long, curvy and fat. But when all of them come together to work in unison, they can lift the weight which is 100 times more than what they can carry. That is what it is – the team combination wins you a cricket match.”

“When you are walking a tightrope, you have the stick in hand and if the balance goes away, then a human falls off it. We do talk about Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis, but you got to saddle the right horse. The chain is as strong as the weakest link, and their weakness lies in the spin department. Their spinners are just not there, and honestly speaking, a bird can fly with two wings. It takes two to tango, and if one is a one-wing bird, then it can’t fly, like when you are a Kiwi bird or imagination resembles of an ostrich – it’s a bird who can run, but not fly.”

“So, therefore they will have to replenish that area, as if you are playing in India, you have to get a quality spinner. Like, RCB had (Wanindu) Hasaranga, who was pretty good and even before him, there was Yuzvendra Chahal. But they let them go and that has created a void in their bowling line-up.”

“RCB haven’t been able to fill that void, which makes them predictable. Now look at (MS) Dhoni – when he comes, no one knows his plan. But when you look at RCB’s bowling, they are so predictable. They will field four fast-bowlers and don’t have a quality spinner. You can’t take flight with a bird which has just one wing,” said Sidhu to an IANS reply in the latest episode of ‘Star Sports Press Room’ show, ahead of RCB facing Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, KKR will take on Delhi Capitals at Visakhapatnam and a lot of curious eyes will be on how the opening duo of Sunil Narine and Phil Salt fares at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium. While Narine sizzled with 47, Salt smashed 30 as the duo put on 86 runs for the first wicket in just 39 deliveries against RCB at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium last week.

England’s fast bowling legend Stuart Broad thinks KKR need to have a proper batter at the top of the order instead of a pinch-hitting opener in Narine if they are to win matches consistently.

“KKR struggled with their opening pairing in IPL last year and if Sunil Narine is the answer to it is on everyone’s lips. He struggled for runs for quite some period, as he’s cast as a pinch hitter at the top of the order.”

“My belief is that you look at a lot of past champions, not just in IPL, but also in T20 trophies around the world, generally have top-class batters in your top three win you tournaments. I don’t see Narine as someone who can bring in a lot of consistency to the top of the order for KKR.”

“I would be leaning towards getting a full-time top three batter up there, who could get you 80 off 40 more consistently. Narine might do it once in the tournament, but if you are to win the competition, you need your opening batters consistently doing that four or five times.”

“I am not a huge fan of the pinch-hitting role against high-quality bowling, although it did come off at the Chinnaswamy Stadium the other night, which was due to the bowling style, rather than his high-quality striking,” he said in reply to an IANS query.

For Gujarat Titans, veteran fast-bowler Mohit Sharma has been a standout player, especially in the back-end of the innings, seen from his brilliant 3-25 in the seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on a two-paced black soil pitch.

In overs 17-20 for GT since joining them in the IPL, Mohit has picked 17 wickets at an economy rate of 8.13, including 41 dot balls. Broad thinks Mohit being a formidable force at the fag end of the innings with GT is down to his experience and reading the situations very well to use his repertoire of deliveries.

“He’s an experienced bowler who knows his game and can bowl the yorker as well as the wide yorkers. He’s also got good length balls and more crucially, gets the lengths right. He doesn’t overpitch his slower balls and isn’t allowing the batter to step out and hit.”

“He bowls that length which the batters’ can’t quite reach out to and hit it straight up in the sky. I also think he’s bowling for a franchise where they have Rashid Khan in the middle-overs, who can take wickets just before the death overs period. Quite often, he’s bowling at batters who are not 60 or 70 not out, instead he bowls at the new batters coming in.”

“So, it’s pretty crucial, but its his experience at 35 years old through playing a lot of IPL cricket in the last 11 years is probably telling now in his good showing. He’s got good knowledge of the game and can read situations really well – that’s been his biggest upkeep in form along with the experience he brings in,” he concluded.

Source: IANS

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Mumbai, April 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) LIghtening struck thrice on Monday evening as Trent Boult destroyed Mumbai Indians in their first home match, claiming three wickets in four deliveries as the five-time champions were restricted to 125/9 in 20 overs against Rajasthan in Match 14 of the Indian Premier League 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Monday.

The Boult from New Zealand used the conditions perfectly, moved the ball on both sides and claimed Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir and Dewald Brevis for first-ball ducks as he reduced Mumbai Indians to 14/3 in the third over after Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to field first. The 34-year-old Boult claimed 3-15 in his three overs before ending his quota with 3-22.

Yuzvendra Chahal then became Mumbai Indians' tormentor as he claimed 3-11 in four brilliant overs as Mumbai Indians slumped to 111/7 by the end of the 16th over.

This was Mumbai Indians' third-lowest total against Rajasthan Royals in IPL after they scored 92 against them in 2013.

With the home crowd repeatedly booing skipper Hardik Pandya, Mumbai Indians got off to a poor start and were struggling at 30/4 at the end of the first five overs on a pitch that was expected to support the batters. New Zealand pacer Trest Boult was the wrecker-in-chief as he claimed three of those four wickets.

Rohit Sharma was out for a first-ball duck as Boult landed a scrambled seam delivery at fullish length around off-stump, which opened up Rohit's defence and took the outside edge behind to Sanju Samson. That was off the fifth ball of the opening over and Mumbai Indians were 1/1. This was the 17th duck for Rohit Sharma in 17 editions of the IPL and he now shares the dubious record with Dinesh Karthik.

It became 1/2 when Impact Substitute Naman Dhir was trapped lbw off the first delivery he faced off Boult. The ball landed on a length and moved in a little bit and sneaked through the gap between bat and pad. Dhir reviewed the decision but DRS came in favour of the bowler as Hawk-eye should the ball would have clipped the leg-stump.

Ishan Kishan survived the hat-trick ball and scored a single but Boult got his third wicket of the Power play and 100th overall as he sent back Dewald Brevis for a first-ball duck, holing out to short third-man with a loose shot. Boult had picked three wickets off four deliveries and was breathing fire. Brevis came in as the earliest Impact Substitute in the second over and went back as early as possible without bothering the scorer.

Ishan Kishan deposited the first delivery he faced from Nandre Burger over the long-on boundary for a big six and four balls later gloved a rising delivery into his body past keeper Samson for a four.

Burger had the last laugh in the fourth over and the South African pacer after Kishan had creamed him through cover to the boundary sent back Kishan with a delivery that seamed away off the deck and took the edge back to Samson. Ishan Kishan scored 16 off 14 balls, hitting two boundaries and one six. Mumbai Indians slumped to 20/4 in the fourth over and were in deep trouble.

Skipper Hardik Pandya, who was booed during the toss, along with Tilak Varma raised 56 runs for the fifth wicket as they tried to repair the innings.

Pandya, who started with three dot-balls off Burger, hammered the South African pacer over point in the sixth over and then walked into the delivery to thump it the cover-point boundary on the next delivery for back-to-back fours. He ended the over by dancing down the pitch and slamming it over mid-on for his third four of the sixth over. It was the most expensive over for RR thus far as it cost them 16 runs.

Hardik struck Avesh Khan for a boundary Ravichandran Ashwin. Chahal had his revenge as he had the Mumbai Indians skipper holing out to long-on. Chahal, who had nearly got Pandya on the previous delivery in the 10th over as the ball missed the off-stump by a whisker, sent down a flattish delivery around the middle and leg and Pandya tried to deposit him into the stands but got it off the bottom part of the bat and was out for 32 off 21 balls, hitting six boundaries in all.

Piyush Chawla was out to Avesh Khan for three and when Tilak Varma, who was holding one end up, was out for 32 off 29 balls, Mumbai Indians were down to 95/7 and in deep woods. Varma, who mostly scored through singles and twos, hammered Boult for a six in the fifth over as the pacer erred in line with a fullish delivery down the leg and Varma helped it over the boundary.

He also hooked Avesh Khan over the fence when the pacer tried to bounce him. But just when it looked like he would hog the strike and help Mumbai Indians to a big score with trademark blazing shots, Chahal had him reaching out to a wide googly and the batter ballooned an edge to Ashwin at short third-man.

Mumbai were 100/7 in the 15h over and the writing was clear on the wall. They eventually managed 125 but can take hope from the fact that Sunrisers Hyderabad had defended 118 against them in 2018, which is the lowest total successfully defended at the Wankhede.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians 125/9 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 34, Tilak Varma 32; Yuzvendra Chahal 3-11, Tret Boult 3-22, Nandre Burger 2-32) against Rajasthan Royals.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, April 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) Former England pacer Stuart Broad supported Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Mitchell Starc after the Australian struggled in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) and got hammered for 100 runs in two matches. Despite the setback, Broad showed his support citing Starc as a star performer, and advised him not to think of the price tag.

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pace ace, burdened by a hefty price tag of Rs 24.75 crore which made him the most expensive buy in the history of the IPL Players Auction, struggled to find his rhythm in the early stages of the tournament. He has conceded 100 runs so far in two matches and is yet to take a wicket.

Speaking exclusively to Star Sports show ‘Press Room’, England pace bowling legend Stuart Broad explained the form that Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Mitchell Starc is in currently and whether the Australia left-arm speedster can justify his price tag, “Anytime you are bought for a decent fee, you want to stamp your authority on the tournament. Not just on the tournament, on your teammates, coaches, owners who have backed you. When you bowl your first two games, that’s 8 overs for 100 and no wickets, that isn’t obviously the sort of start you want. But ultimately, KKR have two wins out of two. I think that’s pretty crucial because they are winning,” said Broad.

Reflecting on Starc's strengths, Broad urged the pacer to rediscover his essence and trust in his abilities. “If they were none from two; two defeats, and you have gone for a 100 off 8 overs with no wickets, I think there are even bigger questions marks coming your way. But one thing; Mitchell Starc is a proven performer. He is someone who is very good at the death and with the new ball.”

Drawing from Starc's illustrious career, Broad highlighted the left-armer's prowess with the swinging ball and his ability to trouble batsmen with subtle variations. “He may be lacking a little bit of rhythm, but I think tactically, when I am watching him up close at the moment, he is trying to wobble the ball across the right hander, which yeah, to someone like a Virat Kohli, you look to bring in the outside edge. Mitchell Starc’s greatest strength, what have we watched for the last 12 years, he swings it at 145 Ks, back into the stumps,” he added.

Broad also advised the KKR bowling coach to sit with Starc and make him feel relieved of the price tag acknowledging the sort of pressure IPL possesses.

“If I was the KKR bowling coach, I would say, ‘Mitch, forget the price tag. Write down your three greatest strengths and then stick to them. Stick to what you believe in. The IPL is the hardest league in the world to bowl. You’ve got the best overseas batters, incredible Indian players, you’ve got young stars that come out of nowhere and suddenly whack the ball to all parts, generally quick outfields and small boundaries. It’s a tough place to play. But when your bowler is a star overseas player, you have to come and perform. That’s your job,” Broad concluded.

Source: IANS

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Mumbai, April 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya's troubles with the fans continued on Monday with the home fans booing the newly appointed captain during the pre-game training and toss ahead of their match against Rajasthan Royals in Match 14 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Monday.

Hardik, who was appointed Mumbai Indians skipper in an abrupt decision by the franchise in place of fan-favourite Rohit Sharma who has led the franchise to multiple IPL titles, was booed by fans at Ahmedabad in their tournament opener against Gujarat Titans. It was expected as Hardik had sensationally moved from Titans to Mumbai Indians just ahead of IPL 2024 and left the team after leading them to the title in 2022 and runner-up place in the last edition.

He was also booed by fans in Hyderabad when Mumbai Indians players SRH. Getting hooted by the opposing team's fans in away matches is expected because of the rivalry between the franchises.

However, what came as a surprise was Hardik Pandya getting heckled by fans in what is Mumbai Indians' den. The booing started even before the match as the players were warming up. A section of fans started chanting "Rohit, Rohit" looking at Hardik. However, when Rohit came out to meet a former teammate who is now a commentator, the fans appreciated him by changing his name.

the heckling of Pandya continued during the toss with the fans first changing Rohit Sharma's name as the skipper walked into the middle into the middle.

They continued to express their disapproval as Pandya was talking to former India captain Sanjay Manjrekar. Manjrekar asked the crowd for a round of applause for the captains and when the fans booed, he asked them to behave.

The booing started as Manjrekar asked Pandya about it being the 250th match for Mumbai Indians and it only stopped when Pandya said the franchise appreciated the fans.

Pandya maintained his cool and continued to talk even as the booing continued. Though he maintained a poker face, it was clear that the Mumbai Indians captain was not happy with the way he was being treated by the fans for a decision taken by the franchise. Though there have been claims that Pandya joined the team only after he was promised the captaincy, the franchise has claimed the decision was taken with the future in mind.

There were reports before Monday's match against Rajasthan Royals that Pandya could be booed at the Wankhede and that the franchise has asked the security personnel to take action against such behaviour, the Mumbai Cricket Association has denied such reports and said they will follow the BCCI protocols when it comes to crowd control inside the stadium.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, April 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) The cricketing world has been buzzing since March 30, all thanks to Mayank Yadav’s outstanding display of raw speed and bounce, leaving everyone in awe during Lucknow Super Giants’ home match against Punjab Kings.

At the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday evening, Mayank breached the 150kmph mark nine times. The speed gun captured one of his deliveries at 155.8 kmph, making Mayank the holder of the fastest delivery in the ongoing season. It is also the tournament’s sixth fastest ball, & second only to SRH’s Umran Malik in terms of Indian bowlers.

Yadav’s match-winning spell of 3-27 in four overs, where he used short balls to perfection for dismissing Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma - helped LSG beat Punjab Kings by 21 runs to seal its first win of the competition.

Krunal Pandya mentioned Mayank’s name as a player to watch out for in a video on the franchise’s social media accounts. In a virtual interaction, head coach Justin Langer said Mayank caught his eye by bowling at a good pace.

His IPL franchise website labels him as ‘medium-fast’, but that will probably change after outclassing PBKS batters with pure pace. Mayank’s speed and thrilling performance have generated buzz among cricket fans, leading to suggestions of fast-tracking him into the Indian team.

Mayank, who took the Player of the Match award on his IPL debut, expressed later how speed has captivated him throughout his life, citing rockets, superbikes, and supersonic jet planes as particular sources of fascination.

Back home in Punjabi Bagh, a bustling neighborhood in West Delhi, his father Prabhu Yadav beamed with pride as Mayank claimed Bairstow as his inaugural IPL wicket. Prabhu recalled how his love for fast-bowling inspired Mayank to become one too.

“I was a fan of fast-bowlers, particularly Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose, as well as of Glenn McGrath, Shaun Pollock, and Jacques Kallis. Mayank knew I enjoyed watching fast-bowlers bowl. So he got the idea of becoming a fast-bowler on seeing my interest towards them,” said Prabhu to IANS.

Mayank’s journey in fast-bowling began at eight, but it was a trial at the prominent Sonnet Club in 2017, founded by late Tarak Sinha, that changed everything. Coach Devendra Sharma, who now runs Sonnet Club, which has produced over a dozen players for India, including Rishabh Pant, praised Mayank’s quick pace despite his frail look.

“I took his trial as Tarak sir was out of station that time. Seeing his really quick bowling, I was left in awe and wondered, ‘Fitness wise, his built is very weak, yet bowls very fast’. I realised quickly that he’s got God-gifted talent. His deliveries go very quick off the wicket and his action is very easy and smooth.”

“I informed Tarak sir about him and when he arrived next week, we slowly got him into playing various tournaments. We also worked on his fitness and by giving him consistent game time, he slowly became ready to play for the main Delhi side.”

“We have students at the club who bowl at a very fast pace, but Mayank is very quick off the wicket naturally. Tarak sir was always in praise of him. Sir ki nazrein aisi thi ki ekdum pehchaan jaate hai (Tarak sir had this knack of spotting talented players immediately). When he first came to me, he didn’t even have shoes to bowl fast. Now, he’s bowled the fastest ball in IPL 2024, and it is a very proud moment for the club,” said Devendra to IANS.

Mayank gained a reputation in Delhi cricket circuit for taking multiple wicket hauls and hitting batters’ helmets. Despite his style of bowling reminding one of West Indies’ fiery bowlers, Mayank idolizes South African pace-bowling legend Dale Steyn.

“Even Tarak sir asked him once that who do you like the most in cricket and Mayank replied, ‘Dale Steyn’. He further prodded him if he liked anyone else in cricket as Steyn is an out-swing bowler. But Mayank said, ‘No sir, I only like him in cricket’.”

“Tarak sir and Devendra sir have played a very huge hand in Mayank’s development. They are the ones who have made him the fast-bowler he is right now. If Tarak sir was alive today, he would have been very delighted on seeing his great performance. Whatever he and Devendra sir have done in nurturing Mayank, I will be forever indebted to them,” adds Prabhu.

Krishan Kumar Bharadwaj, the fielding coach & side-arm specialist at Sonnet Club, recalled that Mayank had the opportunity to join the Services side but chose not to. “He passed the Services trials, but refused to join them as one gets very less chance to play IPL or for the country from being in that team. Moreover, he always had the wish to play domestic cricket for Delhi as he’s been born and brought up here.”

His Delhi debut came in December 2021 during the Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Haryana at the Sector 16 Stadium in Chandigarh. Things went down the wire with Haryana needing 12 runs off the last two overs. Mayank bowled a maiden in the 49th over to seal the game in Delhi’s favour.

In the practice session ahead of the Delhi-Haryana match, something intriguing unfolded. Vijay Dahiya, the former India wicketkeeper-batter and then-head coach of Uttar Pradesh, positioned himself between the nets sessions of both teams to see Mayank’s bowling practice.

Dahiya recognized Mayank’s talent after watching him bowl with impressive speed. He shared this with important individuals in the LSG franchise, including then-mentor Gautam Gambhir. “I told Gautam about Mayank and said, ‘We should keep an eye on him’. When we sat at the auction table after finalising the strategy for the 2022 mega auction, we were convinced to keep him in our scheme of things and that’s how he got picked for LSG.”

“The pace stands out for him and what happens at times is, when you want to get convinced, couple of balls or shots are good enough. That was the case with somebody like him, and there is no substitute as far as raw pace in concerned, although he was not bowling at this pace, but he was looking completely different than anyone else from there,” said Dahiya to IANS.

Dahiya, LSG’s assistant coach for its first two IPL seasons, viewed Mayank as a long-term investment. “I told people who mattered after the auction that, ‘We are not buying him thinking that he will play this year for us, but he will be ready by next year onwards’.”

“He was all set to play last year, but in a practice scenario, he unfortunately got injured (tore his hamstring) and couldn’t play in the season. If not for the injury, he would have made his IPL debut last year.”

Once fit, Mayank played for the North Zone side in the 2023 50-over Deodhar Trophy, picking 12 scalps in five games at an average of 17.58. He particularly made heads turn by picking out Rahul Tripathi’s middle stump with a rapid ball.

In the start of the domestic season, Mayank shined by taking five wickets in four games in Delhi’s march to semi-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he picked six wickets in five games, before an injury ruled him out of Ranji Trophy.

Mayank’s injuries worried him, but Devendra ensured he remained motivated. “Two years ago, he told me about making his IPL debut, but injuries came in the way. I used to tell him, ‘Beta, keep yourself motivated, continue doing the hard work so that whenever you get a chance to play, do well in it’.”

Earlier this year, as India’s five-match Test series against England drew near, chief selector Ajit Agarkar eagerly wanted to assess Mayank, who was in Mumbai undergoing rehab for a hamstring injury.

“I told him to have a word with Agarkar and he said to Mayank, ‘I want to have a look at you’. But Mayank said, ‘I am injured right now.’ Saturday’s IPL game was his first competitive game after the injury, where he became Player of the Match.”

Bharadwaj recalls Mayank’s journey of becoming mentally stronger during rehab, which propelled him to focus more on his fitness. “Whenever he got injured in between, he always had that positivity in himself to comeback and get his body back to being used to the rigours of the game. He would keep working on his mental toughness during the recovery days and was steadfast over not letting negativity creep in his mind.”

Mayank, despite his injuries, attracted the interest of Gujarat Titans, a team with Sonnet Club alumnus Ashish Nehra as their head coach. Pant, who met Mayank on March 11 at the club, also wished for him to be in the Delhi Capitals’ set-up. But neither side could gain his services because of LSG not releasing him.

Dahiya credited LSG for their absolute belief in him despite being ruled out of IPL 2023. “They looked after him because we said that if he was to be sent home right now, then his confidence will be shaken. Association won’t look after him, so we need to look after him. When we showed interest in him and thought that he’s somebody who can be useful for us, so we need to look after him.”

“LSG looked after him really well and results are there. But I will not be carried away by the results to be very honest. Right now, we are talking about a potential and he’s somebody who needs to be absolutely looked after really well because of his pace and history of his body, as he’s somebody who’s got so much to offer.”

Dahiya added that captain KL Rahul also needs to be credited for giving Mayank his IPL debut. “Identifying somebody is one part, but looking after him and giving a platform is the most important part. Credit needs to be given to KL as well, where he believed and gave him the opportunity, although toss was done by Nicholas Pooran.”

“But I still believe it’s KL’s input because JL (head coach Justin Langer) has joined in this year and the people who were in the set-up from day one are not there. It’s about the belief KL had in him of starting the first home game with the youngster.”

Devendra thought Punjab would win by eight wickets when they were at 98/0. But Lucknow emerged victorious thanks to Mayank’s outstanding performance. “He bowled wicket to wicket and gave no room to the batters. Barring the ball which we bowled down leg to Shikhar Dhawan, rest of the deliveries were excellent.”

“Before this game, I told him to bowl as per your strengths, then all will be well. He called me up after the match ended and sounded very excited by saying, ‘Sir, I bowled my deliveries very well’. We discussed a lot about how he fared in the game and the things he got it spot-on, like bowling sharply.”

“I feel whatever God did, it was for the good. He waited for two years to make his IPL debut. I used to tell everyone for the last five years that he can bowl at 155kmph and now he’s proved it to everyone.”

Mayank’s confidence and composure in the match left a good impression on Dahiya. “Sometimes when you have the pace, you see bouncers being bowled regularly. But he used his bouncer very smartly, as seen from all his victims claimed on short-pitched deliveries and at the right area. He will get a lot of confidence from Saturday’s performance, as you need that one showing to get the self-belief that I belong here.”

Bharadwaj remembered how Mayank achieved the accuracy of his deliveries, especially of the bouncer, at Sonnet Club. “Our nets would begin between 10 to 10:30am. On a single wicket, we would place cones and he would be ask to hit them. From there, he built the accuracy of his bouncers and of more deliveries in his arsenal.”

As LSG prepares for their upcoming matches in IPL 2024, Mayank will face mounting pressure to reach high speeds consistently, and Dahiya believes this will be his true test. “The only thing is, if his speed goes down at some point, people might start wondering if he’s injured.”

“It doesn’t matter how many people tell you that you are good enough to belong. But once when you look into the mirror and say, ‘I belong here’, things will start to happen for you. When he will be in his hotel room, he will see that performance and say while looking at the mirror ‘I belong here’. But the test will start now.”

Prabhu, who has enjoyed watching his son bowl since he was eight, expects continued exceptional performances from Mayank, as does the entire cricketing community. “I just expect him to play later for the country and let’s see what God does. All we can do is to put in efforts and leave the rest to God’s grace.”

Source: IANS

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Chennai, March 27 (SocialNews.XYZ) Though CSK innings ended on Tuesday without the former CSK skipper MS Dhoni needing to bat but the legendary wicketkeeper-batter elevated the excitement among the fans with a sensational diving catch during the match against the Gujarat Titans (GT) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Dhoni has showcased his quick reflex with an excellent diving grab behind the stumps, leaving the home crowd to erupt in joy. A graphic from the host broadcasters later revealed that the wicketkeeper has stretched a remarkable distance of 2.27 meters to secure the catch off Daryl Mitchell's delivery, resulting in the dismissal of Vijay Shankar.

Dhoni's scintillating effort behind the stumps left Australia batter Steve Smith in awe and Aussie hailed the 42-year-old's wicketkeeping prowess.

"Yeah, wound back the clock, didn't he? Just put a dive in there, it was 2.27 meters, it came up on the coverage, it was a great catch. He was standing a bit closer because Darryl Mitchell is not the quickest of bowlers so he was up nice and tight, didn't have a great deal of time to react but his reactions are certainly still there, aren't they? Covered ground nicely and just stuck in that right hand," Smith said on Star Sports Cricket Live.

Former England fast bowler Stuart Broad also joined in applauding Dhoni, noting that the wicketkeeper-batter has the remarkable ability to impact or alter the course of a game in an instant, even without having to bat in that particular match.

"He's still pretty good, isn’t he? He's a legend of the game. I feel for MS, he doesn't have to bat in a game and still manages to have a moment that moves or changes the game in less than a second. His teammates swarmed in delighted for him and the crowd in Chennai loved it so it was a great moment in the night," added Broad.

Inserting to bat first on Tuesday, CSK posted a mammoth total of 206/6 on the board as newly appointed skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (46 off 36) and Rachin Ravindra (46 off 20) gave the team a flying start, putting on 62 runs in just 5.2 overs.

After Rachin’s dismissal, it was the Shivam Dube show as he went berserk, scoring a whirlwind 23-ball 51. Dube struck five sixes in his knock but Rashid Khan ended his onslaught in the 19th over when he holed out in the covers.

Speaking on the impact that Dube has had in the side for CSK, Smith said, "He's got very long levers, he's just so confident at the moment, isn't he? Particularly against the spinners. His first two balls for six, and then from there just kept flowing, he kept about his business, he saw the ball and hit it to his areas. He's just playing really well at the moment. He can take a lot of confidence out of this and he can take that forward in the tournament."

CSK bowlers complemented their batters with a collective display. Chahar's 2-28 and Deshpande's 2-21 maintained pressure on GT. Matheesha Pathirana, who played his first match of this edition, marked it with the wicket of Sai Sudharsan. Mustafizur Rahman’s two scalps earned him the Purple Cap as CSK recorded a 63-run win over last year’s finalists.

Broad further spoke on the importance of getting important wickets at crucial times for CSK. He said, "I think when you're a fast bowler, whenever you get the opposition captain it gives you such a big lift. Obviously, you have a target in your mind, and I think everybody bowled well, bowled straighter, used that home knowledge and zoned in a little more on that off stump. I think that's paid dividends for them. The pacers took 8 wickets which is so rare. Whenever we think Chennai we think spin, so to see the pacers take wickets is a huge advantage.”

Source: IANS

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