Author: The Cricket Blog

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore 20 April Match Report-2019

Indian skipper Virat Kohli scored a blistering 100, as Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Kolkata Knight Riders in an thrilling nail bitter at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Friday.

RCB starting line up vs KKR-2019

Bangalore included Henrich Klaasen and Dale Steyn in place of AB De Villiers and Umesh Yadav, while Kolkata went in with an unchanged line up.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, the visitors lost Parthiv Patel cheaply in the powerplay to Sunil Narine.

Akshdeep Nath who was promoted at No 3 struggled to get going as he was dismissed by Andre Russell for 13. Moeen Ali along with skipper Virat Kohli were involved in an 90 run stand for the fourth wicket, with the 31 year old England left handed batsman going berserk by smashing 27 runs off Indian leg spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the 16th over.

Ali after scoring a brilliant 66 was dismissed in the 16th over. Kohli and Marcus Stoinis added a quickfire 64 runs for the fourth wicket, before the former was caught by Gill off Gurney for a magnificent century. His knock comprised off 9 fours and 4 sixes.

Virat kohli

RCB in the last 6 overs scored 91 runs as Royal Challengers posted a massive score of 213/4 in their allotted 20 overs.

Chasing a target of 214, Kolkata Knight Riders were rocked early, as they lost Chris Lynn who was caught at mid off in the very first over to Dale Steyn for 1.

Sunil Narine after playing some lovely shots was dismissed by Navdeep Saini. The home side lost wickets of Shubman Gill and Robin Uthappa as KKR were reeling at 79/4.

Andre Russell and Nitish Rana bludgeoned the RCB bowlers by smashing them to all parts of ground with an 118 run stand for the fifth wicket. Needing 113 runs in six over, the duo almost got their team over the line, but Moeen Ali kept his cool and defended 24 runs in the final over, giving the Bangalore side their second win of the tournament.

The 35 year old South African fast bowler Dale Steyn was Bangalore’s best bowler as he claimed 2/40, while Saini and Stoinis bagged a wicket each.

Virat Kohli was declared the Man of the match.

The 36th match of the Indian Premier league will be a double header with Rajasthan Royals taking on Mumbai Indians at Jaipur, while Delhi Capitals will be squaring off against Kings XI Punjab at Delhi on 20 April 2019.

Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians 18 April Match Report-2019

Mumbai Indians leapfrogged Delhi Daredevils into second place as they registered an emphatic 40 run victory over Ricky Ponting’s men at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Thursday.

The Kotla is historically a poor ground for MI- it has the worst away win percentage for them amongst all IPL grounds, but the visitors stormed to victory here thanks to fine cameos with the bat from the Pandya brothers and a fantastic spell of bowling from spinner Rahul Chahar.

Mumbai included Ben Cutting and Jayant Yadav in place of Ishan Kishan and Jason Behrendorff, while Delhi went in with an unchanged XI.

Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals-2019 Continue reading “Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians 18 April Match Report-2019”

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings 17 April Match Report- 2019

Jonny Bairstow scored a quickfire 61, as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Chennai Super Kings comfortably by 6 wickets at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Wednesday.

Chennai included Karn Shama and Sam Billings in place of injured MS Dhoni and Mitchell Santner, while Hyderabad brought in Yusuf Pathan and Shahbaz Nadeem for Ricky Bhui and Abhishek Sharma. Continue reading “Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings 17 April Match Report- 2019”

Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals 16 April Match Report-2019

Lokesh Rahul scored a wonderful half century, as Kings XI Punjab defeated Rajasthan Royals by 12 runs at the PCA Stadium, Mohali on Tuesday.

Kings xi punjab vs Rajasthan Royals-2019

Rajasthan Royals included Ashton Turner, Stuart Binny and Ish Sodhi in place of Steve Smith, while Kings XI Punjab brought in Arshdeep Singh and David Miller in for Sarfaraz Khan and Andrew Tye.

After being sent into bat by RR skipper, KXIP pair of Chris Gayle and KL Rahul started cautiously, but picked up the score rate by putting on 38 runs for the opening wicket, before the latter was caught behind by Sanju Samson off Jofra Archer for 30.

Mayank Agarwal attacked the Rajasthan Royals bowlers right from the word go by scoring a quickfire 26, being being caught at long on by Archer off Sodhi.

The 26 year old Karnataka batsman along David Miller brought the innings back on track by adding a valuable 85 runs for the third wicket, before the former was dismissed in the 18th over for a well made 52.

The visitors lost a bit of momentum, as Jofra Archer bowled a brilliant penultimate over by picking up Nicolas Pooran and Mandeep Singh in quick succession.

Skipper Ravi Ashwin scored a handy 17, as Kings XI Punjab posted a competitive score of 182/6 in their allotted 20 overs.

Ravichandran Ashwin

The 24 year old Archer was Royals best bowler as he bagged 3/15, while Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat and Sodhi bagged a wicket each.

Chasing a target of 183, Rahul Tripathi and Jos Butler got their team off to a fantastic start by putting on 38 runs in 25 balls, before the debutant Arshdeep Singh got his maiden wicket by dismissing the in form Butler for 23.

The 28 year old Tripathi along with Sanju Samson added a valuable 59 runs for the second wicket, before the latter was bowled by Ashwin.

Punjab bowlers in the final stages bowled tightly by restricting the run flow as Rajasthan Royals failed to capitalize on the good start.

The 28 year old Maharashtra batsman after reaching his fifty was dismissed in the 16th over. Ashton Turner making his IPL debut was out for a first ball duck.

Stuart Binny gave the impetus to the innings by scoring an unbeaten 33, but failed to get support from the lower order batsman as Rajasthan Royals were restricted to 170/7 in 20 overs.

Ravi Ashwin was declared the Man of the Match.

The 33rd Match of the Indian Premier League will be played between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings at Hyderabad on 17 April, Wednesday.

Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore 15 April Match Report-2019

AB De Villiers’ fine 75 went in vain as Royal Challengers Bangalore slumped to their seventh defeat in eight games at the Wankhede on Monday evening. RCB made 171/7 batting first, but their bowlers, as has been the case several times this year, failed to deliver as Mumbai won by five wickets.

With the Indian World Cup squad having been announced earlier in the day, this was essentially the country’s skipper squaring off against his vice-captain. With Dale Steyn still unvailable, RCB went in with an unchanged XI while MI brought in Lasith Malinga in place of injured West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Starting line up against Mumbai Indians-2019 Continue reading “Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore 15 April Match Report-2019”

India Cricket World Cup 2019 Squad Announced- Talking Points & Analysis

India have today (April 15, 2019) officially announced their 15 member squad for the 2019 World Cup in England. They are the third side to do so after New Zealand and reigning champions Australia. Let’s take a look at the talking points from the squad announcement.

india wc squad 2019

Who are the big names to miss out on India’s CWC squad?

There are two that immediately come to mind- batsman Ambati Rayudu and wicket keeper Rishabh Pant. Rayudu has played at 4 for most of the last 12 months, but his poor form against quality bowling attacks seems to have gone against the 33 year old. Vijay Shankar wasn’t flashy but was most definitely efficient, and seemed to be more assured than Rayudu in India’s games Down Under. The Tamil Nadu star also offers the ability to bowl, which means Kohli has a greater variety to choose from for the fifth bowler’s role (essentially 10 overs between Shankar, Hardik Pandya and Kedar Jadhav). A left field option could be KL Rahul at 4, but he’s essentially touring as the reserve opener, and will probably not come into the XI unless Shankar or Jadhav have very poor tournaments with the bat.

Why did Rishabh Pant not got selected for the World Cup?

India’s selectors announced that Dinesh Karthik got the nod over Pant because of the former’s superior keeping skills. That’s an interesting statement given that Pant is the incumbent keeper in the test team. The 21 year old is also left handed- India have no southpaws in their middle order, and could’ve been an interesting option with his explosive hitting skills.

Karthik hasn’t been in the best of form in the IPL, but skipper Virat Kohli had said that IPL form would not count for the World Cup, and it appears the selectors have kept that in mind. Karthik’s superior finishing skills (the Nidahas Trophy final) also earned him the nod. However it’s unlikely he will get much playing time- he is effectively MS Dhoni’s backup at the tournament, and not a contender for a middle-order spot.

How many players from the 2015 World Cup squad have been selected in India’s 2019 WC squad?

Seven players from India’s CWC 2015 squad have made it to the 2019 edition- the trio of Kohli, Sharma and Dhawan, wicket-keeper Dhoni, the pace duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohd Shami and left arm spinner Ravi Jadeja. Continue reading “India Cricket World Cup 2019 Squad Announced- Talking Points & Analysis”