Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kings XI Punjab, 18th Match

Series: Indian Premier League, 2016 Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad Date & Time: Apr 23,  08:00 PM  LOCAL

Sunrisers should hold their own against Kings

INSPIRATIONAL: Sunrisers Hyderabad needs its skipper David Warner's abundant energy when it takes on Kings XI Punjab on Saturday.

IPL

Shikhar Dhawan’s return to form at Rajkot bodes well for the Hyderabad side

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) should hold its own against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) when they meet at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium on Saturday.

After those early defeats, the momentum SRH sought so much came in a surge. Thursday’s 10-wicket away win against a hitherto undefeated Gujarat Lions must be more than a shot in the arm for the Eagles.

At home, the conquest of reigning champion Mumbai Indians brought back the belief for the host perhaps.

Shikhar Dhawan’s return to form at Rajkot bodes well for the Hyderabad side. His destructive abilities along with those of captain David Warner have seen the duo dismantle several attacks.

As a trail-blazer, the Sunrisers’ skipper has been nothing short of inspiring, his energy seemingly running down the ranks.

The home side’s bowling unit has hit a purple patch too, spearheaded by the industrious Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

The sole bright spot in Punjab’s loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Mohali was Shaun Marsh’s unbeaten 56.

Half-centuries by M. Vijay and Manan Vohra topped up with Glenn Maxwell’s 32 not out saw the northern side register its lone win by six wickets against Rising Pune Supergiants.

Much would be required from the Punjab squad to lift itself up from the bottom of the table. David Miller was quite optimistic though on the eve of the contest. “Win or lose, we are keeping positive all the time.

“We haven’t had the greatest of starts and the table is tight now. A win tomorrow will change things a lot,” he surmised.

The approach to the face-off was no rocket science. “We need to get the basics right, me as well,” he hastily added when quizzed about how he motivated his side despite poor personal form. “It’s good to see Shaun Marsh back among the runs. We didn’t start too well with the ball, but we finished well,” he noted, on deriving positives from his team’s last game against KKR.

On what lessons the team had for 17-year-old Armaan Jaffer, Miller said, “He can try and learn as much as he can on what makes professionals tick. He’s in a great environment and has a lot to look forward to. He may actually get a game later in the tournament. ”

The stylish southpaw couldn’t help but recall his days as a 20-year-old, six years ago. “I didn’t play a single match but rubbed shoulders with players such as Adam Gilchrist, David Hussey, Michael Bevan while Jason Gillespie was coach,” he added.

Sunrisers opted not to practise.

Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians, 17th Match

Series: Indian Premier League, 2016 Venue: Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi Date & Time: Apr 23,  04:00 PM  LOCAL

  Delhi-Mumbai clash promises to be exciting

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PROACTIVE CAPTAIN: Mumbai Indians will be hoping for the continuance of Rohit Sharma's (right) form against Delhi Daredevils.

 Indian Premier League — 2016

If Mumbai Indians is struggling to play to its reputation, Delhi Daredevils is trying to build one.

With the defending champion performing below par and the host raising the bar, their clash on Saturday afternoon promises to be more than what was expected at the start of this edition of the Indian Premier League.

Given the trend this season — team chasing winning 14 out of the first 15 matches — that is in keeping with the sequence of the IPL results seen at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground, the side winning the toss would like to field first.

But that need not ensure victory given the imbalance in the teams on view. Mumbai has a better attack to go with a fairly formidable batting line-up.

Delhi, relying more on in-form Quinton de Kock — century-maker against Royal Challengers Bangalore — than any other individual so far, will have to find batting heroes. On the brighter side, the host’s overall attack looks more potent than its batting. Both teams have a common reason to be upbeat. Before coming here, they beat the mighty RCB by chasing down targets in excess of 170 with surprising ease.

Since the Kotla pitch seldom produces huge totals, it will be interesting to watch the approach of the team batting first, that too, in the Capital’s dry heat producing temperatures of around 41 degrees.

For Mumbai, there is much comfort with Jos Buttler and Kieron Pollard coming good in the middle-order. It is also high time Rohit Sharma, whose early exit brings tremendous pressure on the rest of the batsmen, realised how important it for the team that he bats longer. For, the longer he bats, the faster he scores.

Surprise package

Krunal Pandya has been the surprise package. So far, he has performed better than his better-known younger brother Hardik and proved more successful than senior spinner Harbhajan Singh.

Upfront, the Kiwi pace duo of Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan are capable of giving early breakthroughs, with Jasprit Bumrah coming in as first change. Delhi will have its hands full against a side trying to make up for early setbacks.

The attack spearheaded by skipper Zaheer Khan stands bolstered with the return of Mohammed Shami. Chris Morris is due to strike form, much like Carlos Brathwaite. Pawan Negi and Amit Mishra provide the spin options.

But most of Delhi’s batsmen are yet to strike form. In both the matches that Delhi won, de Kock came good to take the pressure off the rest of the batsmen. In the last outing, the South African’s approach helped Karun Nair settle in and get a half-century.

Overall, the tag of ‘underdog’ suits Delhi.

Watson and de Villiers help RCB end losing streak with 13-run win

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  Thisara Perera scored a quickfire 34 off 13 balls to bring Rising Pune Supergiants closer than they will have thought to Royal Challengers Bangalore's target of 186.
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  MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli have captained sides that have shown promise in the first game, but gone on to lose their next two. Who will prevail in Pune on Friday?

Perera's hard-hitting cameo and Kohli's batting discomfort wasn't enough to help Pune overcome de Villiers' brilliance, Pune's loss of three quick wickets and a slow middle period.

Here how the IPL match between Rising Pune Supergiants and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Pune went down on Friday...

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Rising Pune Supergiants captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni starts speaking in an oddly defensive manner, mentioning the three unnecessary and unfortunate dismissals of Pune's top-order batsmen. Not like him to ever make excuses. KP's injury might work in Pune's favour — they can now look to bring in a bowling all-rounder without having to willingly drop a batsman of KP's calibre.

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli looks more relieved than Tyrion Lannister claims he was after Joffrey Baratheon's death (pardon the tiny GoT reference). Says they played good cricket, and just needed to show composure in key moments. Admits he didn't bat as well as he'd have liked, praised Shane Watson, AB de Villiers and Tabraiz Shamsi, the man who got off a plane and bowled like a match-winner.

Man of the Match AB de Villiers says he got away with a couple of boundaries, mishits that went for six (those exist?!) but he is pleased with his performance.

Phew. That was a nice few last overs. Heart-rate up. Required Run-rate down. Hopes up. Crashed down.

After Royal Challengers Bangalore set up a target of 186, Rising Pune Supergiants got off to an inauspicious start — Faf du Plessis lost his wicket early to an ungainly shot, then Kevin Pietersen's calf muscle had a twist worse than a bad Tollywood 90s flick, and a couple balls later Steve Smith found himself sprawled in front of the batting crease with the bails off. Then Ajinkya Rahane and captain MS Dhoni carried on like Test batsmen — at times looking like they were trying to avoid a draw, at other times, hacking at the ball like a drunk lumberjack — before one Harshal Patel over sent both of them back to the dugout. Thisara Perera and Rajat Bhatia came into their own in the pressure situation and brought the RRR down from 17 per over to 12.50, with 25 to get off 2 overs. Perera especially (34 from 13 balls) swung some lusty blows befitting a real-life super giant. But Shane Watson's golden arm had an over left. Perera fell in a two-wicket over that ratcheted the RRR back to 21. And finally, Kane Richardson bowled the last over for 7 runs and 2 wickets, to put paid to the Supergiant rebellion. 

RCB 185/3 (20.0 Ovs)

RPS 172/8 (20.0 Ovs)

Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 13 runs

PLAYER OF THE MATCH
AB de Villiers

Rising Pune Supergiants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 16th Match

Series: Indian Premier League, 2016 Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune Date & Time: Apr 22,  08:00 PM  LOCAL

Pune, Bangalore eye win to get campaign back on trackShare

Rising Pune Supergiants captain M.S. Dhoni with Steve Smith during a practice session.

 Indian Premier League — 2016

With one win and two defeats, both the teams have identical two points each but the Pune outfit is a place above RCB in the standings.

Facing a similar crisis after two successive defeats, both Rising Pune Supergiants and Royal Challengers Bangalore would look to bring their campaign back on track when they face each other in an Indian Premier League match, in Pune on Friday.

After impressive starts, both Pune and RCB have faltered in their last two games and come tomorrow the two sides would be looking to outwit each other in a bid to return to winning ways.

With one win and two defeats, both the teams have identical two points each but the Pune outfit is a place above RCB in the standings at fifth position by virtue of a better net run rate.

Debutants Pune, led by the talismanic Mahendra Singh Dhoni, defeated defending champions Mumbai Indians in their tournament opener before losing to another new outfit Gujarat Lions and Kings XI Punjab.

Star-studded RCB, on the other hand, beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening match before their campaign went haywire following losses to Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians last night.

For Pune captain Dhoni, the biggest task would be getting his team composition right.

Dhoni is a leader who persists with a set of players but he is yet to strike that balance in Pune.

Dhoni has to ponder over both the batting and bowling departments of his team.

Pune’s batting unit consists of some big names in Ajinkya Rahane, Kevin Pietersen, Steven Smith and Dhoni, but barring Faf du Plessis no other batsman has managed to set the stage on fire so far in the tournament.

Dhoni tried Sri Lankan Thissara Perera in the last match in place of Mitchell Marsh but with no result.

But more than the batting, it is the indifferent performance of his bowlers which would be worrying Dhoni.

Pace spearhead Ishant Sharma has been lacking consistency while Dhoni’s one-time trusted lieutenant RP Singh made way for Irfan Pathan in the previous game without much result.

On the pace front, Dhoni hardly has any options left in his hands as Indian fast bowler Ishwar Pandey has also not been an IPL regular although he can generate a bit of bounce and swing.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has not been at his best in the shortest format in the last few months but his statemate Murugan Ashwin has done decently in his debut season.

The bowler who has been a stand-out for Pune is Ranji veteran Rajat Bhatia, who has kept batsmen in check with his gentle medium pace and occasional cutters.

Just like Pune, RCB’s strength lies in batting unit. With the likes of explosive Chris Gayle, captain Virat Kohli, A B de Villiers, Shane Watson and fearless Mumbai-based youngster Sarfaraz Khan in their ranks, the Bangalore outfit can tear apart any bowling unit on their given day.

However, RCB is expected to miss Gayle for the second match on the trot as the Jamaican has flown back home following the birth of his first child.

But RCB’s troubles lie mainly in their bowling attack in which Watson has been the lone stand—out performer.

Despite posting a competitive 170 for seven against Mumbai Indians yesterday, RCB bowlers’ failed to defend the score as the title holders cruised home with two overs to spare.

Varun Aaron and Kane Richardson, who came in for Adam Milne and David Wiese yesterday, went for runs and the young Harshal Patel too has not been getting the breakthroughs for RCB.

The RCB spin attack comprising Yuzvendra Chahal, Parvez Rasool and Iqbal Abdullah also lacks experience.

Teams (from):

Rising Pune Supergiants: MS Dhoni (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Kevin Pietersen, Faf du Plessis, Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Jaskaran Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ankit Sharma, Albie Morkel, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Ishwar Pandey, Thisara Perera, Saurabh Tiwary, RP Singh, Rajat Bhatia, Ankush Bains, Baba Aparajith, Murugan Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Deepak Chahar, Scott Boland, Peter Handscomb, Adam Zampa.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (C), Shane Watson, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Stuart Binny, Iqbal Abdulla, Sreenath Aravind, Kedar Jadhav, Vikramjeet Malik, Kane Richardson, Varun Aaron, Mandeep Singh, Abu Nechim, Adam Milne, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel, Travis Head, David Wiese, Sachin Baby, Lokesh Rahul, Parvez Rasool, Vikas Tokas, Sarfaraz Khan, Praveen Dubey, Akshay Karnewar.

Warner, Dhawan hand Gujarat their first defeat this season

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  Skipper David Warner (74*) and and Shikhar Dhawan (53*) helped SRH notch up their second consecutive win, this IPL season.
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 Indian Premier League — 2016

Gujarat manage to score 135 in their alloted twenty overs; Bhuvneshwar Kumar picks up four

Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday notched up their second consecutive win this IPL season with a win over Gujarat Lions at Rajkot. Openers David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan helped the visitors overcome the target with 10 wickets and 31 balls to spare.

GL 135/8 (20.0 Ovs)

SRH 137/0 (14.5 Ovs)

Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 10 wkts

PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Gujarat Lions vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 15th Match

Series: Indian Premier League, 2016 Venue: Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot Date & Time: Apr 21,  08:00 PM  LOCAL

Gujarat Lions look to continue winning run against Hyderabad

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Gujarat Lions players during a training session.

 Indian Premier League — 2016

The IPL debutants have won their two away matches against Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians.

Unbeaten in all the three games they have played so far in the tournament, Gujarat Lions would look to continue with their impressive winning run when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL match in Rajkot on Thursday.

The Lions have been in red-hot form in their debut season with convincing wins in all the three games and they would seek to maintain a clean slate tomorrow at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

The home side will also be bolstered by the return of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja who did not play in the Lion’s seven-wicket thrashing of defending champions Mumbai Indians in Mumbai due to his wedding.

“Jadeja is all set to return to the team as all post marriage rituals got completed,” Lions team sources said.

The IPL debutants have won their two away matches against Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians. They also defeated Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Rising Pune Supergiants at home by seven wickets.

Australian opener Aaron Finch, who has hit three fifties in three matches, will once again be the batting mainstay for the Lions.

Finch, who had to battle muscle cramp in Lions’ win against Mumbai, started the IPL season in sparkling touch, scoring 74, 50 and 67 not out. On each occasion, he has been named the man of the match, only the second time in IPL history a player has won the award three consecutive times.

Kiwi hard hitter Brendon McCullum is yet to score a big one as his highest in three matches has been 49 against Rising Super Kings, and he would look to make his mark on Thursday.

Captain Suresh Raina is yet to capitalise on the starts he has got in the previous games and he can be expected to score big runs at home turf. Dinesh Karthik, Dwayne Bravo and Jadeja would be handy in the batting front for the Lions.

The bowling attack has also been up to the task with Bravo, James Faulkner and Praveen Kumar doing well in the pace department while Jadeja’s return will bolster spin department which also has the likes of Pravin Tambe and Shadab Jakati.

Bravo has taken six wickets in three matches while Jadeja have four from the two matches he played.

On the other hand, the Sunrisers have won just one match out of three games. They scored a morale-boosting seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians at home in their last match with skipper David Warner hitting an unbeaten 90 off just 59 balls.

Warner can decimate a bowling attack on his day but his side’s batting line-up looked fragile in the absence of the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Kane Williamson, who both suffered injuries during the World T20, and with the horrible run of form of Shikhar Dhawan who has scored just 16 in three games.

Yuvraj and Williamson are unlikely to be available for tomorrow’s match. Yuvraj is not expected to be fit till early next week and the Sunrisers are badly missing his services.

Moises Henriques, Deepak Hooda and Eoin Morgan are the other key batsmen in Sunrisers squad.

In the absence of senior pacer Ashish Nehra, who sustained a groin strain in Sunrisers’ first match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Bhuvneswar Kumar and Bangladesh seamer Mustafizur Rahman would handle the new ball. They would be supported by the likes of Moises Henriques and spinner Bipul Sharma.

The Teams (From)

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Deepak Hooda, Siddharth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Eoin Morgan, Mustafizur Rahman, Ashish Reddy, Ricky Bhui, Bipul Sharma, Trent Bolt, Ben Cutting, Ashish Nehra, Naman Ojha, Vijay Shankar, Karn Sharma, Barinder Sran, T Suman, Aditya Tare, Kane Williamson and Yuvraj Singh.

Gujarat Lions: Suresh Raina (C), Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarabjit Ladda, Akshadeep Nath, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, Shivil Kaushik, Dhawal Kulkarni, Praveen Kumar, Brendon McCullum, Paras Dogra, Eklavya Dwivedi, Ishan Kishan, Shadab Jakati, Pradeep Sangwan, Jaydev Shah, Umang Sharma, Dwayne Smith, Dale Styne, Pravin Tambe and Andrew Tye.

Match Starts: 8 pm.

MI canters to 6-wicket home win against RCB

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• Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli is downcast even as he congratualites Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya on Mumbai Indians' 6-wicket IPL match victory at the Wankhede on Wednesday.
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  Chris Gayle will be a non-starter for Royal Challengers Bangalore as it takes on Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede on Wednesday. He is off in Jamaica for the birth of his first child.

If Rohit Sharma struck a fifty to anchor the chase of 171 along with Rayudu, Pollard and Buttler kept the momentum going till the final run.

Hello and welcome to The Hindu's Live Commentary of the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore taking place in Wankhede on Wednesday.

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And that's it. Mumbai save some face by winning their first home game this season, before the IPL caravan leaves Maharashtra. This match was a bit of a roller-coaster when you think about it. First, Virat Kohli, K Rahul and AB de Villiers getting Royal Challengers Bangalore off to a flier — run-rate of 8.9 in the first 10 overs. Then Krunal Pandya happening to the match — the fifty-plus partnership between Kohli and ABD being cut short within the space of five balls in the same over. And for a while, the RCB batsmen looking all at sea. And then walked in the cleanest smoothest hitters ever — Head and Shoulders... I mean, Head and Sarfaraz.

The two men cracked the game open again with a 63-run partnership that kicked in in the 14th over and fell out only in the 20th over — a three-wicket one.

As Mumbai Indians got to chasing RCB's below-par score, with their top 4 needing to come good, Parthiv was the first to go. Then Ambati Rayudu and Rohit shared a 76-run partnership, before Jos Buttler and Kieron Pollard washed the pants off of the RCB bowlers. Pollard became The Bulk towards the end, courtesy the generous belly he has cultivated in the past few months.

Mumbai Indians captain and Man of the Match Rohit Sharma says bowlers did an excellent job to restrict a team like RCB like they did. Krunal Pandya and Harbhajan Singh get special mention. Important for team to have hitters like Buttler and Pollard in great form, he says. Slips in a word about Rayudu as an afterthought. 

RCB 170/7 (20.0 Ovs)

MI 171/4 (18.0 Ovs)

Mumbai Indians won by 6 wkts

PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Rohit Sharma