News Analysis India

Tag: panjab

  • Ashwin’s Stern Message to Out-of-form KXIP

    More often than not, a target of 133 would not be defended in today’s day and age of T20 cricket. But in the on-going season of the IPL, the Sunrisers Hyderabad have not only defended 133, but also previously managed to defend 119. On Thursday evening, when they achieved one of the said feats, the opponents or victims of some fantastic bowling and fielding was the Kings XI Punjab.

    The KXIP side which has Chris Gayle at the top of the order along with KL Rahul began in their usual busy manner before Rashid Khan and Basil Thampi engineered what would be eventually a middle order collapse. After the loss of the two openers, the Punjab batsmen could manage only another 62 runs as they crumbled under pressure and succumbed to a 13-run defeat.

     A rather disappointed KXIP captain R Ashwin was quoted by the Hindustan Times saying, “These things (batting collapse) happen in this kind of a tournament and Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bowling made the difference. We lost wickets throughout the middle (overs) and I thought we kept attacking a little too much and lost few wickets,” he said after the match.

    For Ashwin’s side, the middle-order has been a problem and it was at the forefront once again. For the Punjab franchise, the main scoring batsmen so far have been Gayle, Rahul and Karun Nair. The rest together total a little over 100 runs in the season.
    After the loss, Ashwin said he hoped that batsmen will pull up their socks and come good in due course of time.
    “We do have finishers but they are not coming off. You won’t get all the puzzles solved at once. Hopefully, some of the people whom we have trusted will come good at the right time. That’s how you get going. They are quality players,” he said.

  • In-form Virat Kohli Gears For Another Run Feast Against Delhi

    Virat Kohli has always been a force to reckon with no matter what format he plays. Kohli has shown unprecedented consistency in the T20 format, and IPL is no different. The Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper has been in fine nick this season too, having scored two half-centuries already.

    Come Saturday, RCB will face Delhi Daredevils at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and Kohli will be looking to get some more runs under his belt, and most importantly get a win for his team.

     Stats show that the 29-year-old has been ruthless against Delhi in the past. He is one of the leading run-getters against DD in the IPL with 661 runs. He is 27 runs behind the current leading run-getter Rohit Sharma, who has scored 688 runs. This will be another opportunity for him to improve his record against the opposition.

    kohli stat

    Among the active IPL teams, he has the best average against DD. Kohli averages 73.44 in 16 innings against them. Not only that, Kohli has 7 half-centuries against DD, the most by any batsman. The next in the list is Ajinkya Rahane with 6 fifties.

    Here are some other stats that’s show Kohli’s domination against Delhi:

    —Kohli has scored 83 boundaries against DD (65 fours and 18 sixes), most against any active IPL opposition.

    —Kohli has a strike rate of 138.28 against DD, which is his 2nd best strike rate in the IPL against active teams.

    As far as the match is concerned, currently languishing at the bottom of the points table, both Delhi and Bangalore will be aiming to return to their winning ways. Both the teams have two points each currently.

  • Chris Gayle Has Special Plans for SRH After CSK Blitz

    Kings XI Punjab batsman Chris Gayle was mighty effective against Chennai Super Kings at Mohali on Sunday, where he scored a blistering 63 runs from just 33 balls.

    His innings included four sixes and seven fours. Considering that it was his first match against in this edition of IPL, he showed the world why he is still the most destructive in the world.

     Come the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday, Gayle would be looking to continue his sublime form. But looking at his record against SRH in the previous editions, he hasn’t fared very well. He boasts of a strike-rate of 151.72 in nine innings, but has only managed to score 220 runs at an average of 24.44.

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    This in fact is Gayle’s one of the worst performance in the IPL, against any opposition. His best performance is against his current team KXIP, against whom he had scored 797 runs at an average of 53.13.

    As far as the match is concerned, Kings XI Punjab’s batting will be up against the effective bowling of Sunrisers Hyderabad in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game between two in-form teams here.

    While Punjab have registered two wins in three matches so far, Hyderabad have won three games in a row, as both the teams registered crucial wins at the beginning of the tournament.

    The match at the Punjab Cricket Stadium pits a home side that has a lot of batting firepower against a Hyderabad side that is very balanced and their bowling line-up one of the best in the tournament.

  • IPL 2018, Live Streaming KKR vs DD, When and Where to Watch, Star Sports and Hotstar Timings IST

    Skipper Dinesh Karthik will face a big test when a struggling Kolkata Knight Riders lock horns with a resurgent Delhi Daredevils, led by double title winning former KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir, in a much-anticipated IPL clash on Monday.

    The live telecast of the IPL 2018 match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils will start at 8 PM on April 16th (Monday). Today’s IPL live match can be seen on the Star Sports network and IPL online free live streaming will be available on hotstar.com and Jio app. You can also follow our live blog for ball-by-ball updates and analysis on cricketnext.com.

     After back-to-back defeats, Karthik-led KKR will be desperate for a revival, while Delhi will hope to continue their momentum after snapping a two-match losing streak in style against Mumbai Indians yesterday.

    Kolkata had made a winning start to their campaign against Royals Challenger Bangalore but successive defeats to Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the next two matches have put them in a spot of bother.

    Delhi, on the other hand, lost to Kings XI Punjab in their opener and then went down against Rajasthan Royals in a rain-hit match. But the Gambhir-led side bounced back in style against Mumbai with Jason Roy smashing an unbeaten 91 in his debut match for DD.

    DD’s Kolkata leg fixture means their Team India speedster Mohammed Shami is all set to return to his hometown for the first time after his wife had accused him of infidelity and domestic abuse last month a controversy that had hogged the headlines.

    Gambhir, who was associated with KKR since 2011, has better knowledge of the conditions and he will be keen to make a point against his former franchise, who did not retain him this year.

    Included in the DD side at the expense of Colin Munro, Roy showed his prowess with a sizzling display as the Englishmen smashed his career best T20 score to pull off a tricky last ball victory.

    Gambhir can heave a sigh of relief after their batting combination clicked following some experimentation in the first two matches. He too would like to score some runs against his former franchise.

    As DD look to climb up the table, KKR will be keen to arrest their slide and they will have to do a lot of soul-searching first and foremost would be to get their batting organised.

    Bringing in-form Sunil Narine down the order did not help their cause and he might be back at his opening slot. KKR also need to back the Under-19 World Cup winning duo of Shubman Gill and Shivam Mavi.

    The youngster duo didn’t get enough time in the middle to prove themselves as Gill, primarily a No 3 batsman, came only at No 7, while Mavi’s raw pace and energy were left untested as he was not introduced during the Powerplay.

    Karthik would also hope that his deputy Robin Uthappa, who is a KKR veteran, shoulders more responsibility with the bat as his scores of 13, 29 and 3 have been a big letdown.

    Asked to open, Uthappa looked clueless particularly against Bhuvneshwar Kumar and it remains to be seen whether he would open again with DD boasting pace duo of Trent Boult and Shami up front.