One of the hallmarks of Rajasthan Royals’ season – apart from both the orange and purple caps going to them – will be how cleverly they made do with a thin batting line-up, which had R Ashwin bat at No. 7. They used him as a pinch hitter and as a pinch anchor too, and even retired him out to maximise the death overs once his job was done. Related…
Five IPL finals, five titles. One as a captain in his first season with a team making its debut and representing his home state of Gujarat. Player-of-the-Match performance in that final, including the wickets of the big three of the opposition. Yet, Hardik Pandya‘s bigger goal in life is to win a World Cup with India. Moments after he collected the winners’ trophy and finished his other obligations, Hardik was…
South East Stars 148 for 6 (Cranstone 59*, Glenn 3-17) beat Central Sparks 91 for 7 by 10 runs via DLS method South East Stars put an end to Central Sparks’ 100% record in the Charlotte Edwards Cup with a ten-run (DLS) win on a damp evening under the floodlights at Edgbaston. Chasing a revised target of 102 in 12 overs, after rain interrupted their initial pursuit of 148 at…
Gujarat Titans, playing their maiden IPL, topped the league stage, won the first qualifier, and then cruised to victory in the IPL 2022 final against Rajasthan Royals in Ahmedabad. Here’s how some of their key personnel reacted to their fantastic victory. David Miller (481 runs at 68.71): “It’s been a phenomenal journey. Finishing at the back-end was pretty special and being there in the moment [of victory]. It has been…
Gujarat Titans 133 for 3 (Gill 45*, Hardik 34, Boult 1-14) beat Rajasthan Royals 130 for 9 (Buttler 39, Hardik 3-17, Sai Kishore 2-20) by seven wickets Captain Hardik Pandya starred with the ball and bat to lead Gujarat Titans to IPL glory, in front of a home crowd of over 100000 at the Narendra Modi Stadium. After losing the toss on the same pitch that was used for the…
Somerset 147 for 4 (Rossouw 67, Smeed 58) beat Essex 139 for 9 (Critchley 60, Pepper 37, de Lange 4-9, Davey 3-31) by six wickets Overseas signings Marchant de Lange and Rilee Rossouw played key roles as Somerset continued an impressive start to their Vitality Blast campaign with a thumping six-wicket win over Essex Eagles at Taunton. In a match reduced to 18 overs per side by rain, paceman de…
Middlesex 172 for 6 (Cracknell 47, Holden 41, Eskinazi 34) beat Glamorgan 168 (Labuschagne 38, Weighell 30, Roland-Jones 4-22, Walallawita 3-18) by four wickets Further doubts were cast over the fitness of England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan who left the field of play during Middlesex’s four-wicket win over Glamorgan with a “twinge in his groin” and did not bat. At 35, Morgan’s career is in its twilight period. A reputation…
Sussex 171 for 5 (Alsop 65*, Wright 43) beat Kent 167 for 7 (Linde 38*, Denly 33, Billings 31) by four runs Vitality Blast holders Kent have now lost three South Group games out of three after Tom Alsop hit a scintillating 65 not out from 30 balls in his first T20 innings for Sussex. Alsop, on loan from Hampshire, hauled the Sharks up to 171 for 5 at the…
Leicestershire 188 for 7 (Patel 57, Ackermann 56, Thompson 3-34) beat Yorkshire 157 for 9 (Malan 50, Naveen-ul-Haq 4-34, Mike 3-16) by 31 runs Rishi Patel and Colin Ackermann‘s century partnership led Leicestershire to a shock 31-run Vitality Blast win over Yorkshire at Headingley. The pair put on 109 as the Foxes fought back from a tricky start to set Yorkshire 189 to win. Dawid Malan‘s half-century and another impressive…
Birmingham Bears 162 for 5 (Benjamin 68*) beat Durham 158 for 9 (Coughlin 40, Brookes 3-35) by five wickets Chris Benjamin‘s violent half-century blazed Birmingham Bears to a five-wicket Vitality Blast over Durham Dynamos at Edgbaston. Chasing 159 to win, the Bears were wobbling at 36 for 4 before Benjamin seized control, hitting 68 not out from 36 balls with six fours, four sixes and dominating a fifth-wicket stand of…