Tiwary scrambles to make it in time

India’s injury-ravaged squad means Manoj Tiwary could play on Tuesday hours after landing in London

Nagraj Gollapudi05-Sep-2011By Monday evening, Manoj Tiwary had taken two domestic flights in little more than a day, and was faced with a long-haul journey to London. Still, he was anything but exhausted. On Sunday Tiwary left for his home town of Kolkata from Bangalore after his BCCI Corporate Trophy match was rained out. He had already heard about Rohit Sharma fracturing his right index finger the previous evening. He sensed he had a chance. The call from the BCCI official came late afternoon, informing him that he was booked on a Monday evening flight from Mumbai to join the Indian squad.With Sachin Tendulkar being ruled out of the series on Monday, a development which caught even the Indian squad by surprise, there were strong indications from the Indian camp of Tiwary being rushed from Heathrow airport on Monday straight to Southampton to play the match. It might seem cruel on the player but with only six specialist batsmen left in the squad India don’t really have much of a choice other than playing five bowlers and going a batsman light.Nevertheless Tiwary is no stranger to being dashed across continents to join the team at the very last minute. In the 2008 CB Series in Australia, Yuvraj Singh was forced to return home due to knee injury and Tiwary was called in as reinforcement. He reached Brisbane less than 48 hours before the match against Australia, and walked in to face Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson with barely a day’s break. It was his debut. The jet lag was evident as he was bowled by a searing Lee yorker for 2.It took Tiwary three years to make an India comeback, returning during the ODI series in West Indies in June. In his first match of the series, he was played as an opener and once again failed. In the next he batted at his regular No. 4 position but could only muster 22. India lost both matches.But Tiwary stayed confident. In the Emerging Players tournament in Australia last month he did well in the three-day games, finishing fifth on the run charts with 306 runs from three matches at an average of 76.5 including a highest of 188.”I made a point to myself to become to be the highest run-getter in the three-day matches as well as in the Twenty20 matches (in the Emerging Players). That was my main motive,” Tiwary told ESPNcricnfo, over the phone from Mumbai.Tiwary said he was lucky that the Indian coach at the Emerging Players tournament Bharat Arun played him as No. 4, his favourite position where he has played through his career. In the previous Emerging Players tournament in 2009, he had batted in the lower middle-order, something that did not allow him to settle down.Tiwary said setting goals and trying to achieve them has only helped him stay in focus. “Last year the domestic season had gone really well for me. I knew if I had to make a comeback, domestic performances along with the IPL would definitely count. And I got a reward by getting on the West Indies tour followed by the Emerging tournament.”In the Ranji Trophy, Tiwary had an aggregate of 525 runs from seven matches at an average of 75. He even had unbeaten double century (233) and three fifties. In the IPL, his 359 runs was among the reasons for Kolkata Knight Riders reaching the semi-finals.If he does play on Tuesday, Tiwary would not have much time to think about anything except making sure he has got his protective gear in shape. If the flight is on time, Tiwary will land at 7.40 am and then rush to Southampton, another two-hour drive. “It is a big opportunity to grasp because not every time such opportunities come along and I have a good chance to do well against a good side (England).”

Ireland's Zimbabwe tour confirmed

Ireland’s trip to Zimbabwe has been confirmed, and in addition to the Intercontinental Cup match against Zimbabwe XI, three one-day internationals between the senior national teams have been arranged

Cricinfo staff26-Aug-2010Ireland’s trip to Zimbabwe has been confirmed, and in addition to the Intercontinental Cup match against a Zimbabwe XI, three one-day internationals between the senior national teams have been arranged. All of the games will take place in Harare, with the four-day fixture starting on Monday September 20. The ODIs follow on September 26, 27 and 30.Zimbabwe withdrew from Test cricket in 2006 and were subsequently admitted to the Intercontinental Cup on the understanding that their four home games would be played at neutral venues. But along with the relative political stability in the country, Zimbabwe Cricket has worked hard to improve its structures after divisive squabbling between players and administrators had wrecked cricket in the country.There had been some speculation as to whether Ireland would make the trip at all, and for a time there had been a possibility that the Intercontinental Cup fixture would take place in South Africa. But both Kenya and Afghanistan recently played their Intercontinental Cup matches in Zimbabwe, who also hosted Sri Lanka and India in a one-day tri-series in June this year, so the pressure on Ireland to make the trip was always going to be immense. Now that their tour has been confirmed, it is almost certain that Scotland – who are scheduled to play Zimbabwe XI in the middle of October – will also make the trip.The Zimbabwe XI are currently in third place behind Afghanistan and Scotland in the Intercontinental Cup, having drawn against Afghanistan and beaten Kenya, Netherlands and Canada. Ireland are fifth on the points table after draws against Scotland and Kenya and a loss to Afghanistan at Dambulla.

IPL mega auction: Six retentions, RTM back, Impact Player to stay

Each franchise will have a purse of INR 120 crore, an increment of INR 20 crore from the last time, to build a squad for IPL 2025

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Sep-2024The IPL franchises can retain up to six players each for the 2025 season, the right-to-match (RTM) option is back for the mega auction, and the Impact Player rule will remain in place till the 2027 season. That aside, the auction purse has been increased by INR 20 crore and is now INR 120 crore (US$ 14.3 million approx.). These were among the most significant decisions announced by the IPL governing council on Saturday.Each franchise can retain a maximum of six players via a combination of retention and the RTM option. “It is at the discretion of the IPL franchise to choose their combination for retentions and RTMs,” the IPL release said. “The six retentions/RTMs can have a maximum of five capped players (Indian and overseas) and a maximum of two uncapped [Indians] players.”

Retention slabs for IPL 2025

In case a franchise wants to retain five capped players, the following amounts will be deducted from the purse:

  • For the first three retentions: INR 18 crore, INR 14 crore, and INR 11 crore
  • For the next two: INR 18 crore and INR 14 croreAs for the uncapped players, the IPL has stuck with INR 4 crore, as was the case in the 2021 mega auction. This means a franchise retaining five capped players and one uncapped before the auction will lose INR 79 crore from the overall purse of INR 120 crore, and will go into the auction with just INR 41 crore. If a franchise retains four capped and two uncapped players, it will lose INR 69 crore from its purse.The total salary cap will now consist of the auction purse, incremental performance pay and match fees. In 2024, the total salary cap (auction purse + incremental performance pay) was INR 110 crore. It will be INR 146 crore in 2025, INR 151 crore in 2026, and INR 157 crore in 2027.

    Impact Player not going away

    Despite objections from franchises and concerns from high-profile players such as Rohit Sharma that the Impact Player rule could be detrimental to the development of allrounders, the IPL has decided to retain it for the next three seasons, up to 2027.Related

    • IPL retention: How many players can a team keep? And at what cost?

    • SRH set to retain Klaasen, Cummins, Abhishek

    • BCCI scraps Impact Player rule in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s

    • IPL retention FAQs: What is the modified RTM rule? Has the auction purse increased?

    • October 31 set as deadline for IPL teams to finalise retentions

    Since its introduction in the 2023 season, the rule has stirred wide debate over whether it is indeed beneficial to Indian cricket, which was the original motive, or whether it could be hurting the development of allrounders. That was one of the points the IPL discussed with the franchises during a meeting on July 31, which was attended by several team owners and team principals. While there was no unanimous nod to the rule, the majority was in favour of it being retained.Nine of the ten highest totals in IPL history have been recorded since the Impact Player rule, which allows a team to sub out a first-XI player and field a specialist batter or bowler depending on the match situation. The IPL believes the rule has enhanced the product by creating spectacles and is good from the spectators’ point of view, too.

    RTM card – final bidder to get extra opportunity

    The RTM option gives a franchise the chance to buy back a player during the auction by matching the highest bid made for the player by another franchise once the bidding is over. It was previously used in the 2017 mega auction but was discarded ahead of the 2022 mega auction.The IPL has decided to reintroduce it after at least three franchises argued in its favour. It is understood that the owners of Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad said they wanted seven to eight RTMs. However, players have generally not been in favour of the RTM option because they feel they don’t get the fair price as a result.To advance the cause of the players, the IPL has now modified the rule. It now reads: “The highest bidder will be given one final opportunity to raise their bid for a player before the team holding the RTM card can exercise their right. For example, if Team 1 holds the RTM for Player X and Team 2 has placed the highest bid of INR 6 crore, then Team 1 will be first asked if they will exercise RTM, if Team 1 agrees, then Team 2 will have the chance to increase their bid. If Team 2 raises their bid to INR 9 crore, then Team 1 can use the RTM and acquire Player X for INR 9 crore. If Team 2 chooses not to raise the bid and keeps it at INR 6 crore, Team 1 can use the RTM and get Player X for INR 6 crore.”

    Injury replacements and player loans

    Till IPL 2024, franchises had to seek a replacement for an injured player their seventh match of the season. From IPL 2025, teams can seek replacements till up to the 12th match in the league phase.The IPL has also decided to “reinstate” the player loan process, which can only be activated during the season. However, the rule has never been used to date.

    Rule change allows CSK to retain ‘uncapped’ Dhoni

    During a broader discussion on uncapped players, the IPL informed the franchises that it was reviving the rule it had started in 2008 but scrapped in 2021 – that of allowing Indian players who had retired from international cricket at least five years before the relevant season to go into the auction as uncapped players.”A capped Indian player will become uncapped if he has, in the five calendar years preceding the year in which the relevant season is held, not played in the starting XI in international cricket and does not have a central contract with BCCI,” the release said. “This will be applicable for Indian players only.”This gives Chennai Super Kings the option of retaining their former captain MS Dhoni, whose last international match was at the 2019 ODI World Cup, as an uncapped player. Ahead of the 2022 mega auction, CSK had retained Dhoni as their second player for INR 12 crore. If they are to retain him now as an uncapped player, they can do so with INR 4 crore.

Dan Lawrence, Tom Westley drive Essex into the ascendancy against Warwickshire

Dom Bess joins on loan as visitors are made to toil on hot day at Chelmsford

ECB Reporters Network25-Jun-2023Tom Westley and Dan Lawrence, England past and present, combined for an imperious double-century stand that put Essex firmly in control of the LV= Insurance County Championship match against Warwickshire.Lawrence, allowed to play by England on the proviso he is ready to scuttle down to Lord’s if required, when he will be replaced in the Essex line-up by nominated substitute Nick Browne, gave full range to his shots in an immaculate 152, his second century of the season.The third-wicket pair put on 227 in 59 overs of elegant stroke-play until Westley dragged Ed Barnard to short midwicket. His 193-ball 114 took his season’s tally to 739 runs, by far the most of any player in Division One.Matt Critchley upped the tempo with 47 from 43 balls in a 70-run stand with Lawrence, who finally departed after five and a half hours, 225 balls and 15 fours, a second victim for Warwickshire loanee Dom Bess. By the close, Essex had amassed 391 for sevenWestley had won the toss on a green-tinged Chelmsford wicket used previously for a one-day international between Bangladesh and Ireland, and consigned Warwickshire to a sweaty day under floppy sunhats in the field.The captain found himself at the wicket at the end of the first over after Feroze Khushi – replacing Browne at the top of the order – dabbed at a ball from Chris Rushworth and nicked behind.Lawrence joined Westley five overs later to resurrect Essex from 20 for two after Alastair Cook was tucked up by Hassan Ali and also went caught behind.Warwickshire had lost spinner Danny Briggs when he limped out of the Blast last week with a hamstring injury and acted quickly by bringing in Bess on loan from Yorkshire.Westley took a liking to the one-time England spinner and cracked two fours through the covers before bouncing down the wicket and striking him over midwicket for another boundary. Bess toiled in the sun and ended the first day of his Warwickshire spell with figures of 32-1-143-2.Westley passed fifty for the sixth time in the Championship this season when he drove his 72nd ball to mid-on for a single. It was marginally quicker – by two balls – than Lawrence’s third score beyond fifty this year.The partnership was worth 99 at lunch and clicked on to three figures from 150 balls straight after. By tea, another 128 runs were added in 34 overs.In between, Lawrence was showing what Essex will miss when he moves to Surrey at the end of the season. There was a glorious off-drive to the fence off Hassan Ali and then an effortless straight-drive off the Pakistan bowler.Warwickshire had also brought in the 30-year-old wrist spinner Jake Lintott at the expense of Olly Hannon-Dalby for only his second first-class appearance. Westley took a liking to him, too. Indeed, his 17th boundary, driven through the covers, took him to his century from 154 balls.Lawrence’s ton also came from 154 balls when he flicked Will Rhodes through midwicket for his 11th four.After Westley’s four-hour stay ended to the first ball after tea, Critchley took up the cudgels, punishing Barnard for his audacity in removing the captain with three boundaries in an over.A six straight back over Bess’s head by Critchley brought up the fifty partnership in just 10 overs. But the ball after he had deposited Lintott over midwicket for a second maximum, he presented the spinner with his first red-ball wicket by slashing a skyer to backward point. He later added Simon Harmer, caught behind, to return figures of 2 for 56In between, Bess took a debut wicket when he had Paul Walter chipping to short mid-on, but was then reverse-swept for the four that brought up Lawrence’s 150. However, Bess claimed Lawrence’s scalp when he flicked a catch off his legs

Powerplay battle could set the tone as in-form Royals take on Covid-hit Capitals

Royals, the most economical powerplay team this season, will be up against the dangerous Shaw and Warner

Hemant Brar21-Apr-2022

Big picture

In IPL 2022, teams batting second have been more successful until now, winning 18 and losing 14 matches. The only team that has defied this trend is Rajasthan Royals. All four of their wins have come while batting first, with Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer helping them post above-par totals. Buttler scored hundreds in two of those wins, and has an overall tally of 375 runs at an average of 75.00 and a strike rate of 156.90.If Buttler has been the power-anchor, Hetmyer has ensured Royals have finished their innings with a crescendo. Among those who have scored at least 200 runs this season, Hetmyer’s strike rate of 179.83 is the third-highest. Together, the two have scored more than 57% of Royals’ total runs.Yuzvendra Chahal has been their enforcer with the ball, taking a wicket every ninth delivery. He has been well-supported by R Ashwin, who might have picked up only two wickets to Chahal’s 17 but has kept the lid on the scoring rate. With Obed McCoy impressing in the last game, Royals now have the option of using Trent Boult exclusively as a new-ball bowler.

Watch live in the USA

Watch the match on ESPN+ in English and in Hindi.

A handsome win on Friday could enable Royals to replace Gujarat Titans at the top of the points table. Looking to stop them will be Delhi Capitals. Despite being hit by Covid-19, Capitals will be high on confidence after demolishing Punjab Kings in their last game, even if they currently occupy the bottom half of the table with three wins in six games.In Prithvi Shaw and David Warner, they have arguably the most destructive and in-form opening pair in the tournament. But their batting tapers off after that. Rishabh Pant has played a couple of cameos but Rovman Powell’s form is a serious concern. In five innings, Powell has scored only 31 runs, at an average of 6.20 and a strike rate of 100.00.When it comes to bowling, left has been right for Capitals. Their left-arm seamers (Khaleel Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman) and left-arm spinners (Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav) have held sway over oppositions.

In the news

This match was originally scheduled to be played in Pune, but after six members of Capitals’ contingent tested positive for Covid-19, the game was moved to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer have played key roles for Royals this season•BCCI

Likely XIs

Delhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 David Warner, 3 Sarfaraz Khan, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Lalit Yadav, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Khaleel Ahmed.Rajasthan Royals: 1 Jos Buttler, 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 Sanju Samson (capt & wk), 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Karun Nair, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Trent Boult, 9 Obed McCoy, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal.

Strategy punt

  • Sixty-seven in 7.3 overs, 93 in 8.4, 50 in 4.4 and 83 in 6.3. These are the starts Shaw and Warner have given Capitals in their last four outings. But Boult could neutralise that threat. In all T20s, Boult has dismissed Shaw three times in 18 balls while giving away only 19 runs. Against Warner, he has conceded 38 runs in 45 balls for two dismissals. Given Boult has better numbers with the new ball, Royals could give him three overs up front. Ashwin, too, has kept Warner somewhat quiet. The offspinner has dismissed Warner five times in 127 balls while conceding 159 runs.
  • How do you stop Buttler? Capitals’ best bet could be to make him face Kuldeep as much as possible. Against Kuldeep, Buttler has scored 36 runs off 35 balls with two dismissals. But given the way he batted out Sunil Narine in Royals’ last game, he could do the same to Kuldeep.

Stats that matter

  • In IPL 2022, Royals have the best economy rate (6.72) in the powerplay.
  • The average first-innings total at the Wankhede Stadium this season has been 158, the lowest among all four venues.
  • Shardul Thakur has dismissed Devdutt Padikkal three times in four innings while giving away only 17 runs in 19 balls.
  • Khaleel’s economy rate so far this season is 7.15. It is the first time in five IPL seasons that he has gone for less than eight.

South Africa looking at de Kock as captaincy option for T20 World Cup

On their arrival in India, new team director Enoch Nkwe said they have ‘to start building for the future’

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Sep-20191:53

‘We strongly believe in Quinton’ – Enoch Nkwe

South Africa have hinted at the possibility of Quinton de Kock being a captaincy candidate keeping in mind next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia. De Kock will lead a fairly young side in the three T20Is against India in regular captain Faf du Plessis’ absence, as their new team director Enoch Nkwe wants to “start building for the future”.”I strongly believe that we have a good enough squad. We have a good leader here,” Nkwe said at South Africa’s arrival press conference in Dharamsala, ahead of the series opener on Sunday. “It’s also an opportunity to start building for the future. We know where Faf stands, as a captain and as a player. He’s done great things for South African cricket. We also need to look at what the future looks like. We believe in Quinton, who’s going to be leading the team in this series.”South Africa’s post World Cup shake-up and du Plessis’ age (35) could be among the reasons for them looking at new candidates. De Kock is just 26 and has featured in 191 internationals across formats since his debut in 2012. In India, he will lead a squad of 14 that features several newcomers. Nkwe, however, believes the players have got “good enough experience”.”If you look at the group of guys, we’ve got good enough experience,” Nkwe said. “The captain himself has played a lot of cricket here in India. We’ve got fresh blood that is coming into the squad and that’s very exciting. We’ll be competitive. We want to walk away with a series win. The entire squad is very determined. We’re here to win. We understand that the opposition is strong in their backyard, but that’s something we’re going to leave on the park. We’re going to give 100%.”At the end of the day, as a professional team, we’re entertainers. We hope that the kind of cricket we’ll be playing out there, people will be able to read and understand the brand of cricket we want to play. It’s a new chapter, and there are some new characters in the group. We’re still in the process of defining ourselves, but I know for sure that the guys want to get out there and play some exciting cricket.”De Kock said he was “looking forward” to the young team competing and fighting under him. “Coming into this series, we’ve got a lot of new players. Win or lose, I just want the guys to keep competing, keep fighting. As long as they keep doing that, I’m sure we’ll be in good hands. We’ve got quite a young team, so there will be a lot of energy. Looking forward to that.”The tour of India will be South Africa’s first assignment since their disastrous World Cup campaign but they are now looking ahead to the next global event as they have close to 20 games in hand before the T20 World Cup in October next year.”The focus for now is this coming series against India,” Nkwe said. “We’re looking to invest in a good foundation going into the T20 World Cup next year in Australia. But we still have a lot of games. We have about 20 games. So we’ll reassess the situation after these three games against India and see where we’re at, and how we build into the England series and so on. But for now the focus is the Indian series.”South African can draw inspiration from their T20I (2-0) and ODI (3-2) series wins when they last toured India, in 2015. De Kock had not featured in the T20 series then but he troubled the hosts in the ODIs, finishing as the third-highest scorer, behind team-mates du Plessis and AB de Villiers, with a tally of 318 runs and an impressive average of 63.60, with two centuries.”I haven’t played here (Dharamsala) myself, I’ve been here before but I haven’t played here,” de Kock recalled the opening T20 of the 2015 series in which South Africa had chased down 200 with seven wickets in hand. “The last time we were here, the wicket did play very well. I think Rohit [Sharma] got a hundred here, but we ended up chasing it down. So in the one game I’ve experienced here, it could be a good wicket. But we’re coming into the unknown, so we’ll have to assess quickly, and then just adapt.”

Have cleared all exams, all certificates legal – Harmanpreet Kaur

The India T20I captain defends herself against accusations of fake degree certificates

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2018India women’s T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur defended herself against allegations that her graduation degree was fake, and said that had she known something was amiss, she would have “done graduation again, maybe two or three times over”.Harmanpreet had been appointed a Deputy Superintendent of Police by the Punjab government after her remarkable showing in the 2017 World Cup, which included a stunning 171 not out in the semi-final against Australia. However, reports emerged on July 2 that the Punjab police were set to demote her to the rank of a constable with the Chaudhary Charan Singh University of Meerut saying Harmanpreet’s enrollment number did not exist in their records.Harmanpreet, who had initially refused to comment on the reports, defended herself on Tuesday and pointed out that she had even been accepted into a postgraduate course on the basis of her graduation degree, although her blossoming cricket career meant she could never complete her postgraduate degree.”When you did your graduation, did you go to the head office to verify your enrollment number? Nobody does that,” Harmanpreet told the . “If I am playing, my focus is obviously on cricket. Apart from that, I just wanted to complete my graduation. On the basis of my graduation certificate, I took admission for a post-graduation course in a different university, but could never take my exams because of overseas tournaments. Today, that very degree is being called fake.”Harmanpreet also said that so far the Punjab police had not communicated officially with her about the speculated demotion in rank. “The department should initiate action against me. I am waiting for word from my department… I have not received any notice from my department.”Harmanpreet was previously employed by the Indian Railways and given the rank of office superintendent, in Mumbai, and said she had been offered that post on the basis of the same degree that is being questioned now. “I completed my graduation through distance learning from Chaudhary Charan Singh University in 2009-11,” she said. “Earlier, I was pursuing my graduation from a college in Jalandhar, where I did my first year. Thereafter, I was not able to pursue it as my cricket schedule and the examination dates used to clash always. Besides, as the college principal had changed, and they did not like me pursuing sports, they did not adjust exam timings as per my cricket schedule. So, I had to migrate to another university. I have been playing for India after completing my Class XII.”I have cleared all my exams and my every certificate is legal. My examination centre used to be in Delhi. My subjects were sociology, political science, English and general awareness.”Harmanpreet, 29, made her debut for India in 2009 a day before her 20th birthday on March 7. She has played two Tests, 87 ODIs and 83 T20Is, and is also an Arjuna Award winner. She is in 12th spot on the ICC rankings for batsmen in women’s ODIs, and on seventh for the corresponding T20I list. She took over as the full-time T20I captain in October 2016 and her skills have put her in demand in T20 leagues around the world; she has played in the Women’s Big Bash League for two seasons and signed for the Kia Super League for the 2018-19 edition, starting next week.

'Told players they could lose spot if they dropped intent' – Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir said he had been infuriated by his side’s batting collapse against Royal Challengers Bangalore last week and pushed his team to show intent and defend a total of 131

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Apr-20171:30

Gambhir bullish about maintaining intensity

Gautam Gambhir describes himself as “easy-going, relaxed and a bit of a prankster” in the change room, but the Kolkata Knight Riders captain shed all of those traits when he addressed his team during the mid-innings break against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Kolkata on Sunday. After Knight Riders folded for 131 from a position of 65 for 1 in the sixth over, Gambhir made it clear to his players that anyone whose intent seemed to flag during the defence of their low total could lose their spot in the XI.”I wanted intensity from my team-mates. I wanted them to fight. I wanted them to win,” Gambhir said of his mid-innings address in his column for . “I told them whoever dropped on intent should understand that this could be his last game for KKR, at least in my captaincy.”Gambhir, who felt “hurt” by his team’s batting collapse, wrote that he was fuming during the break for the first time in his seven-year stint as Knight Riders captain, especially as the collapse came after a loss at home to Gujarat Lions.That dressing-room talk seemed to pay off, as Nathan Coulter-Nile struck in his first three overs to set the tone for the side. Gambhir said he had spotted Coulter-Nile’s potential during his time with Justin Langer in Perth, and described the bowler as “a mean-looking guy, strong as an ox”. Coulter-Nile finished with returns of 3 for 21, all top-order wickets, and earned the Man-of-the-Match award as Royal Challengers folded for 49, the lowest total in IPL history. Not a single Royal Challengers batsman scored in double-figures.”The Aussie bowled like the wind and I supported him with attacking fields,” Gambhir said. “My being under the helmet [at silly point] was more of a statement than a catching position.”Gambhir also stated that he does not mind losing Fairplay points in lieu of an attacking mindset on the field. “I don’t know whether TV cameras or microphones caught it but we were chirping all the time when RCB were batting,” he said. “I am happy to lose spots on the IPL Fairplay award list but I can not see my team slipping on the points table.”Praising his team’s catching, Gambhir said the highlight of the day was when Umesh Yadav’s short-pitched bowling troubled Chris Gayle. “And then there was another sight which would have pleased every supporter of Indian cricket,” Gambhir said. “Indian fast bowler Umesh Yadav having ‘Boss of Universe’ Chris Gayle ducking and weaving was highlight of the game.”Knight Riders are currently second on the table, with 10 points after seven games, and will play their next match against Rising Pune Supergiant in Pune on Wednesday.

'No excuses' for being on brink of elimination – du Plessis

Captain Faf du Plessis was quite clear in his assessment that South Africa fell at least 10 runs short of a defendable total against West Indies at Nagpur

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Nagpur 25-Mar-2016It was an over sent from the heavens. Three googlies from Imran Tahir and nearly three wickets.Marlon Samuels looked to drive the first one through the covers. The ball turned into him and forced him to hit it straighter, and in the air. Tahir got his left hand to the ball but couldn’t wrap his fingers around it.Andre Russell looked to slog the second beyond wide long-on, but ended up hitting it squarer than intended and deep midwicket ran a few steps to his left to take a simple catch. Darren Sammy simply didn’t pick the last one. It hung deliciously over his eyeline, dipped wickedly, and turned through the gap between front pad and airy cover drive to hit the top of middle stump.Two wickets taken, only one run conceded and West Indies were 100 for 6 after 17 overs. The over might have turned the match South Africa’s way had West Indies been chasing 140. But they were only chasing 123 and still only needed a perfectly gettable 23 off the last three overs.After the match, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was quite clear in his assessment that his side fell at least 10 runs short of a defendable total.”The batting today was the difference between us winning and losing,” he said. “We needed to get to 130-135 to have a par score. I thought we were 10 runs short, definitely.”On the eve of the match, du Plessis had counted adaptability and “being smart in decision-making” among the strengths of his batting side. He had hoped these qualities would make the difference against a West Indies batting unit reliant on power hitting, given the large outfield and the expectation that the pitch would provide turn.The pitch met du Plessis’ expectations: it was slow, low and offered a fair degree of turn, though not to the extent seen during the India-New Zealand match on March 15. West Indies’ batting proved to be as reliant on big hitting as du Plessis had noted and, as a consequence, was not at its best with the ball not coming on to the bat.But before they could expose West Indies’ frailties with the bat, South Africa had failed to demonstrate the adaptability and smart decision-making du Plessis had spoken of. After the match, he conceded that they had been “frantic” at the start of their innings, when they lost their three most experienced batsmen to what he called “soft” dismissals: Hashim Amla to a run out, du Plessis himself to a spooned catch taken at mid-off, and AB de Villiers to a shot played across the line. Rilee Rossouw also slashed a wide delivery straight to point.”Obviously batting first, the thinking was that it wasn’t going to be the same wicket as Mumbai, doesn’t take a brain surgeon to look at that. But those decisions you make when you’re batting, we didn’t make them tonight,” du Plessis said. “The run-out, caught at mid-off, and Rilee – our first three wickets for me were all soft wickets. AB’s wicket was also a soft wicket.”They didn’t bowl us out tonight. We were put in situations where we needed to be smarter and we weren’t. If you don’t do those things you’re not going to bat as well as you can. We went into this game thinking that West Indies is a power hitting team and we rely on being smart. Ten or 15 runs more, I think we could have won the game. They don’t rely on touch, on getting ones and twos, whereas this ground is spot on for that. That’s where we lost the game.”Du Plessis said Quinton de Kock and David Wiese – who added 50 for the sixth wicket – showed South Africa how they could have played on the Nagpur surface, but only after the top order had already collapsed.Hashim Amla’s run out was the first of several soft dismissals according to South Africa captain Faf du Plessis•IDI/Getty Images

“I thought we were very frantic there, up front,” du Plessis said. “Obviously you never want to start your innings with a run out, that just puts you back, puts it all, puts everything in a bit of a negative mode, because you’re giving the opposition a wicket, but to lose three or four wickets so quickly, that broke our momentum in the innings, and that was the difference between us [scoring 122 and] getting to 140.”The guys batted beautifully in the middle, David Wiese once again as a guy that’s coming in today, had a great game, and I can’t fault the bowlers today. Obviously there’s been a lot of pressure and a lot of stuff said about our bowling unit over the last two weeks or so, but they fought really hard today.”Especially in a big game like today, you want your big players to stand up, and myself, Hashim and AB, one of us needed to anchor the innings and be there. Quinton played an amazing innings, a mature innings, that’s something he hasn’t done a lot. Normally he plays his aggressive game and he’s very free. Today the shoe was on the other foot and he adapted brilliantly. And he showed the rest of the batting unit what it is like to adapt on that wicket.”Despite all this, South Africa’s bowlers kept them in the game till the last over. Tahir took those two wickets in the 17th and Wiese, mixing up his pace brilliantly, conceded only three runs in the 18th over. It took a slash and a thick edge past the keeper from Marlon Samuels, which streaked to the third man boundary in the 19th off Chris Morris, to bring the equation down to 10 off eight balls.Du Plessis said the edged four made him think “oh my word, it’s not meant to be for us today”, but he was quick to add that West Indies had earned their luck by staying “half a step” ahead of South Africa right through the game.”We’re not playing close to how good we are or can be, and that’s frustrating,” du Plessis said. “We want to be better, and unfortunately we’re not producing the goods on the day. As I said, you need a bit of luck but also you make your own luck, and I feel if you win those small moments in the game, generally the luck goes your way.”That’s why it didn’t go our way tonight, because we were just half a step behind West Indies all the time. But they’re playing great cricket and that’s why it’s going for them. They’re a confident team and things will fall their way, because you almost earn that luck, and they deserve it.”The win put West Indies through to the semi-finals and left South Africa hanging from edge of the precipice. They will need Sri Lanka to beat England, and then need to beat Sri Lanka themselves, to have any chance of progressing. It was not the situation du Plessis had expected his team to be in at this stage of the competition.”[I’m] disappointed, because I had strong hopes of winning the tournament, and now we’re hoping for other performances to go our way,” he said. “We’ll obviously be rooting for some opposition to try and do us a favour, but if it doesn’t happen like that, there’s no excuses.”

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