Despite the league stage of the IPL entering the business end, there are not many teams that can claim to be in the Playoffs, nor any side out of contention mathematically. In such a scenario, it is imperative for teams to strive and win most of the remaining games to have a chance at grabbing a berth in the Playoffs. Thus, on Sunday night at the Ekana Stadium here, it’s going to be a crucial clash between two sides that have defeated Mumbai Indians in their previous games. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) had beaten MI here on Tuesday, while Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are coming straight from Mumbai after thumping their rivals on Friday night. Also Read: CSK aim for revenge in return clash against Punjab Shreyas Iyer KKR’s morale will be pretty high after a convincing victory, but the thing going against them is that they may not be fresh enough for the Lucknow game, within 48 hours of their MI clash. After the win over MI, KKR captain Shreyas Iyer accepted that it is going to be a challenge to recover in time for the LSG game, especially with all the travel giving players not enough time to rest and recoup. Thus, they didn’t have a practice session or a pre-match media interaction and preferred to rest in their hotel rooms in Lucknow. Shreyas also said that the MI win took a lot of pressure off his team, for, had they lost that game, it would have been back to the drawing board for intensive planning. “I am glad with where we are [knocking at the door of Playoffs] at the moment. Had we lost today [Friday], a lot of thinking would have gone behind [doors] before our next game. In that situation, we would have had to win two of our remaining four games,” he said. Though LSG also won their previous game against MI, their promising fast bowler Mayank Yadav broke down for the second time this season. He walked off after claiming a wicket off the first ball of the final over against MI. Mayank was bowling at full hog on his return, till he suffered a Grade 1 abdominal tear, putting him in doubt for the remainder of the league. The good thing is that Marcus Stoinis, who has excelled with the bat in the last few games, is back at his best as a pace bowler. That has made the LSG attack quite potent, with the likes of Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur and Naveen-ul-Haq also bowling well. Nonetheless, it will be a tough task for them to keep the powerful KKR batting line-up—boasting of Sunil Narine, Phil Salt, Shreyas and Venkatesh Iyers, and power-hitters Rinku Singh and Andre Russell—in check.
05 May,2024 07:51 AM IST | Lucknow | Santosh SuriDefending champions Chennai Super Kings will look to set their house in order and get back to winning ways when they face an upbeat yet unpredictable Punjab Kings for the second time in a row in the IPL here Sunday. Just three days back, PBKS outclassed CSK by seven wickets at Chepauk, considered their fortress. The two losses in the last three games at home have put Chennai in a spot. They are placed fifth on the table with 10 points and the five-time champions will hope the change of venue would bring a change in fortune as well with just four games to go to seal their place in the knockout stage. Also Read: Raju Kulkarni to head CIC; Edulji, Rege are MCA advisors CSK’s failure to push the pace in the middle overs against the spin duo of Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar saw them post a below-par score of 162-7. Their batting has become too dependent on skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad and six-hitting machine Shivam Dube and the moment one of them fails, it puts the pressure on others who have not been consistent in bailing out the team. Punjab Kings, led by Sam Curran, have seen a resurgence as they registered back-to-back wins to re-ignite their Playoffs hopes. En route their win over CSK, Punjab became the second team after Mumbai Indians to beat the defending champions five times in a row and they will fancy their chances. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
05 May,2024 07:49 AM IST | Dharamsala | PTIThe Mumbai Cricket Association has kicked off its preparations for the next season by appointing former India pacer Raju Kulkarni as the new Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) chief. Former India captain Diana Edulji and ex-Mumbai captain Milind Rege were made advisors for women’s and men’s cricket respectively. Also Read: Starc’s back, but says he was not only bowler leaking runs The appointments were made at the MCA Apex Council’s emergent meeting on Saturday. Kulkarni was the Mumbai senior team’s chief selector last season. “CIC is nothing new to me. I worked with CIC for almost nine years—with Madhavrao [Apte] and later, during the regime of the ad-hoc committee. This is a very challenging job,” the former Mumbai captain said. Kulkarni has Preeti Dimri and Sahil Kukreja as CIC members. Edulji, who will be looking after MCA’s women’s wing told Sunday mid-day: “I’m happy. I would like to see more Mumbai players representing India.”
05 May,2024 07:47 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh MayureIPL’s most expensive player—Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Mitchell Starc (Rs 24.75 crore)—was enduring a tough time in this edition. However, Starc bounced back, claiming 4-33 in KKR’s 24-run win over Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday. Though the Impact Player rule is helping teams post big totals in the ongoing IPL, Starc stressed it won’t be the same during the T20 World Cup to be played in USA and West Indies next month. “There’s no Impact Player rule [in international cricket], so whether that affects the scores is yet to be seen. I think it probably will. Also Read: IPL 2024: RCB's impressive ball show restricts GT for 147 runs People talk about the balance of the team when you can’t just bring someone in. Your all-rounders come back into play [during the T20 World Cup]. Captains have to think a bit tactically too when you have just 11 players. It’s [the Impact Player rule] been interesting to experience it first-hand in the IPL,” Starc said during the post-match press conference on Friday night. When asked about IPL price tag pressure, Starc said: “I didn’t set my price tag, so it is what it is.” The left-arm pacer with 11 scalps from nine IPL games this season, seems to have got the rhythm he is known for. He revealed how he acclimatised to the two-paced Wankhede pitch to trouble the MI batsmen: “I haven’t changed too much. It’s about assessing conditions after the first innings. We certainly spoke about it [the pitch] and the batters that came off throughout that first innings mentioned the wicket and the lengths that were the hardest to face. That created the bowling plans for us. “T20 cricket doesn’t always go the way you want it to go. Of course, I wanted to go a bit better at the start, but I am not the only bowler going for runs. It is what it is. The fact is that we sit second and are building towards the more important games at the back end and are playing some good cricket. Hopefully, I can be a part of it too,” Starc emphasised.
05 May,2024 07:44 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh MayureFor most of this season, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowlers have been on a hiding to nothing. They haven’t been penetrative in the Powerplay, they have leaked runs by the bushel towards the back end and therefore, it was no surprise that they stacked up a six-match losing streak, winning just one of their first eight encounters. That terrible phase with the ball coincided with Mohammed Siraj going AWOL. India’s premier strike bowler alongside Jasprit Bumrah seemed jaded after the Test series against England, and his lack of penetration had a direct impact on his team’s fortunes. So much so, that Siraj was even benched for the home tie against Sunrisers Hyderabad 20 days back, when RCB conceded an IPL-high 287 for three. Also Read: Hardik looks flattened, drained and under pressure, say Aaron Finch, Graeme Smith Gradually, though, the 30-year-old has started to find his mojo back, and a spectacular yorker to castle the marauding Shahrukh Khan last week against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad suggested that he wasn’t far off from his best. Building on the strides he has taken in the last few outings, Siraj headlined a powerful bowling display from RCB at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday night in the return fixture against last year’s finalists. After Faf du Plessis chose to chase, Siraj broke the game wide open with the scalps of Wriddhiman Saha and skipper Shubman Gill in an excellent first spell of 2-0-9-2. GT struggled to recover from those crippling blows despite a counter-attacking stand of 61 between Shahrukh and David Miller and were bowled out for 147 with three deliveries going unutilised. Their last three wickets fell without the addition of a run in as many balls—a run out meant there was no hat-trick for Vyshak Vijay Kumar—in a true reflection of GT’s batting travails of not just this night but this season as a whole. Siraj produced an excellent awayswinger to account for Saha in the first over and defeated Gill again with swing in his next over to elicit a catch to deep third-man. And when the consistent Sai Sudharsan fell to Cameron Green in trying to up the ante, the visitors were in a deep hole at 19 for three inside the Powerplay. Led by the towering Green, RCB’s bowlers exploited the spongy bounce on a dry but grass-infested strip.
05 May,2024 07:42 AM IST | Bangalore | R KaushikHardik Pandya looks drained, flattened and under pressure, and Mumbai Indians look like a confused unit under him, reckons former cricketers Aaron Finch and Graeme Smith as five-time champions continue to struggle. Also Read: IPL 2024 | “You keep fighting, that’s what I keep telling myself": Pandya Pandya once again walked out to loud boos on Friday during MI’s loss to Kolkata Knight Riders at Wankhede. “He just looks really flattened at the moment, he looks really drained and someone who is feeling the pressure,” Finch told Star Sports. South Africa’s legendary captain Graeme Smith said MI have been a confused team under Pandya. “Hardik has really struggled, he’s looked like a man under pressure. That has created a little turmoil in the air, who knows how that has affected the people. But even the batting line-up, they look like they’re confused,” he said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
05 May,2024 07:39 AM IST | Mumbai | PTIAll but out of Playoff contention after eighth defeat in 11 games, Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya seemed as if he was groping in the dark for replies to all the unanswered questions hounding the five-time champions in yet another disastrous IPL season. Pandya was handed over the captaincy after the franchise removed national captain Rohit Sharma, something that the fans didn’t really embrace with the colourful Baroda all-rounder being booed every time he entered the pitch. Also Read: IPL 2024: Piyush Chawla opens up on Rohit Sharma playing as impact player “There are a lot of questions that will take time to answer. But for now, not much to say. Obviously, we couldn’t form partnerships and kept losing wickets. Bowlers did a fantastic job on this track,” Pandya said after his team failed to score 170, losing to KKR at home for the first time in 12 years. Pandya felt that it was better to bat late evening once dew set in but MI failed to capitalise. “The wicket got better if I’m not wrong. Dew came in the second innings. Will go through the game and see what we can do better,” he said. Pandya tried to put up a brave front as he spoke about fighting till the last match. “You keep fighting, that’s what I keep telling myself. It’s challenging, but you take the challenges.” This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
05 May,2024 07:36 AM IST | Mumbai | PTIRohit Sharma was part of Friday’s MI v KKR game at Wankhede as an Impact Player. The reason was provided by Piyush Chawla, who addressed the media after MI’s loss to KKR. Also Read: IPL 2024 | "We’ll play for pride and reputation": Chawla after loss vs KKR “He [Rohit] just had mild back stiffness, so it was a precautionary thing [playing as an Impact Player],” Chawla said. This was for the first time since taking over MI captaincy from Rohit that Pandya was leading the team when the former captain was not on the field. Rohit’s name was included in the team sheet among five Impact Substitutes as MI opted to bowl first. In pursuit of KKR’s 169, Rohit, who will be leading India’s challenge in the forthcoming T20 World Cup, opened the innings with Ishan Kishan (13) and scored 12-ball 11 before being dismissed by Sunil Narine while trying to sweep. Manish Pandey took a good catch at midwicket.
05 May,2024 07:31 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh MayureLeft with an impossible task of qualifying for the Playoffs, Mumbai Indians’s (MI) veteran leg-spinner Piyush Chawla has said that the five-time champions will now play for pride and reputation in the remaining three league games. “For pride and reputation… because sometimes, when you enter the field, you don’t think whether you are going to qualify or you are not going to. You have to play for your name and that’s what we are playing for,” Chawla, 35, said during a post-match press conference on Friday when asked what was left for MI to play for. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) led by Mumbai man Shreyas Iyer, outclassed the hosts at the Wankhede Stadium by 24 runs.It was MI’s eighth defeat in 11 games. Also Read: IPL 2024, RCB vs GT: Faf du Plessis' 64 helps Bengaluru win by 4 wickets ‘We didn’t get momentum’ Chawla, the former India leg-spinner, admitted that MI failed to get the momentum during this edition and that caused the poor show. “You must have often heard that T20 is all about momentum and we didn’t get that momentum going this season. It can happen to anyone; it’s just that the momentum didn’t come our way,” he said. Bowling first, MI pacers Jasprit Bumrah (3-18), Nuwan Thushara (3-42) and Pandya (2-44) did a commendable job to bowl out KKR for 169. Chawla, who conceded just 15 runs from his three overs, dismissed the dangerous Rinku Singh (9) early via a return catch. With that scalp, Chawla became the second-highest wicket-taker in the IPL with 184 wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal heads the list with 200. KKR were struggling at 57-5 in the seventh over, but Venkatesh Iyer (52-ball 70) and Manish Pandey (31-ball 42) shared an 83-run stand. That alliance dented MI, reckoned Chawla. ‘They batted beautifully’ “It was a good partnership and credit goes to them [Iyer and Pandey]. They batted beautifully. T20 [cricket] is something in which experience plays a big role, [which is] what we saw today [Friday],” he said. Chawla reckoned that had a batsman of lesser experience than Manish had walked in, he would have panicked. But he [Manish] read the situation [well] and the way he handled the situation… he was hardly going at a run-a-ball. But later on, he knew that he had to stay there with Venky,” Chawla remarked. For MI, except Suryakumar Yadav (35-ball 56) and Tim David (20-ball 24), no other batsman tried to shoulder responsibility like Iyer and Pandey did for KKR. MI take on Sunrisers at Wankhede tomorrow followed by an away clash against KKR on May 11 before their final league game against LSG at Wankhede on May 17.
05 May,2024 07:26 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh MayureRoyal Challengers Bengaluru won the IPL 2024 match against Gujarat Titans by four wickets at the M. Chinnswamy Stadium. Swapnil Singh smashed the winning six for the side in GT's premier spinner Rashid Khan's over. Dinesh Karthik on the other hand, played a knock of 21 runs in 12 balls laced with 3 fours. Having to chase a total of 148 runs in the IPL 2024 match against Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain and opening batsman Faf du Plessis displayed extraordinary strokes. The right-hander smashed 10 fours and 3 sixes. His innings ended with a score of 64 runs which came in just 23 deliveries. Facing 27 balls, stalwart batsman Virat Kohli accumulated 42 runs including 2 fours and 4 sixes. Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green lost their wickets in a quick session. Also Read: IPL 2024, RCB vs GT: Bengaluru restricts Gujarat for 147 runs Gujarat Titans' pacer Joshua Little registered a four-wicket haul in the IPL 2024 match against RCB. Bowling four overs, Joshua conceded 45 runs. Spinner Noor Ahmad claimed two wickets for 23 runs in his four overs. Mohit Sharma, Manav Suthar and Rashid Khan were unable to pick any wickets in the IPL 2024 match against RCB at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Coming to the first inning of the IPL 2024 match between RCB and GT, no Gujarat batsmen were able to score above 40 runs. Shahrukh Khan was the highest run-scorer for GT. He scored 37 runs, followed by Rahul Tewatia (35) and David Miller (30). Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacers Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal and Vyshak Vijay Kumar registered two wickets each to their names. Spinner Karn Sharma and Cameron Green registered one wicket each to their names. GT captain Shubman Gill scored just two runs before getting dismissed in Mohammed Siraj's over. Sai Sudharsan who has been a consistent performer for Gujarat in the IPL 2024 departed early after scoring six runs.
04 May,2024 11:02 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentRoyal Challengers Bengaluru's bowlers created havoc in the IPL 2024 match to restrict Gujarat Titans for 147 runs. The visitors were bowled out in 19.3 overs. No GT batsmen were able to score above 40 runs. Also Read: IPL 2024 | "Shubman Gill is a player to watch out for": Aakash Chopra ahead of RCB clash Having won the toss, Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bowl first in the IPL 2024 match against Gujarat Titans. Opening the innings for GT, Wriddhiman Saha continued his poor form in the IPL 2024. Captain Shubman Gill scored two runs before getting dismissed by Mohammed Siraj. Sai Sudharsan who has been a consistent performer for Gujarat too failed to make an impact against Bengaluru. Despite losing early wickets, Shahrukh Khan and David Miller stood strong. Shahrukh accumulated 37 runs in 24 balls including 5 fours and 1 six. Miller, on the other hand, scored 30 runs off 20 deliveries. His knock was laced with 3 fours and 2 sixes. Rahul Tewatia scored 35 runs but was dismissed by Yash Dayal. Facing 14 balls, premier spinner Rashid Khan scored 18 runs but was soon bowled by Dayal. Also Read: IPL 2024: Gujarat Titans' DoC Solanki backs Mohit Sharma ahead of RCB clash Shahrukh Khan was the top performer for GT in the IPL 2024 match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Lead pacer Mohammed Siraj, Yash Daya and Vyshak Vijay Kumar registered two wickets each to their names. Cameron Green and spinner Karn Sharma too registered one wicket each to their names. Karn Sharma was the most expensive bowler from Bengaluru's perspective. Bowling three overs, he conceded 42 runs and bagged one wicket. Stalwart batsman Virat Kohli was the standout performer in the first innings. He ran out the dangerous Shahrukh Khan and also took a catch to dismiss Sai Sudharsan. Kohli is just nine runs away from retaining the top spot on the charts of the leading run-scorers.
04 May,2024 09:39 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentADVERTISEMENT
