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Gujarat Titans keep their cool in nerve-wracking win
A masterclass in death bowling ensured that Gujarat Titans came from behind to pouch a six-run victory over Mumbai Indians – their third against the opposition at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Needing 42 off the last six overs with 7 wickets in hand, Mumbai Indians lost their way completely as Gujarat stuck to their plans.
Nearly all of Shubman Gill’s death bowlers packed a punch with the tone set by veteran Mohit Sharma. With his back-of-the hand slower ones gripping well on a sticky pitch, Mohit proved hard to hit. He first had Dewald Brevis caught and bowled and then bounced Tim David out to have him caught in the deep splendidly by an athletic David Miller. With 39 needed off the last three overs, Tilak Varma proceeded to deny singles off Rashid Khan’s final over with David for company. The spinner did not give away any boundaries in the over adding to the pressure building. Spencer Johnson, bowling the penultimate over, gave away a six off his first ball but came back in style. He had Varma caught at fine leg and then had Gerald Coetzee caught and bowled.
The last-man standing between the Titans and victory turned out to be their former skipper Hardik Pandya, who had delayed his entry. Pandya smacked a six and a four off the first two balls bowled by Umesh Yadav to bring the equation down to 9 off four. But he then fell trying to pull a short ball to be caught at long on, signaling the final nail in the coffin and sealing Mumbai’s rapid downward slide after a breezy start.
After a four-ball duck for Ishan Kishan, MI’s chase was first put on course by a breezy 10-ball 20 from Naman Dhir coming in at No. 3. Thereafter Rohit Sharma and Brevis found the going easy in dewy conditions as they added a quickfire 77-run stand. Gujarat’s standout bowler in this period turned out to be left-arm spinner Sai Kishore who finished with 1/24 in his four overs. He also picked up the wicket of Rohit, out LBW on the sweep, to kickstart a stunning turnaround.
The bowlers ensured that they made a middling total look far more than it was.
The pitch did not hold too many demons, albeit gripping slightly for the spinners. Plenty of Gujarat batters got off to starts but could not convert them into bigger ones. Sai Sudharsan knocked his way to 45 while Shubman Gill hit three fours and a six in his 31. Gujarat depended on one of their top order batters to carry through after getting their eye in.
Because of the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah, mainly, the pacer finished with figures of 3-14 and applied the brakes with crucial strikes. Showcasing a full range of his skills, Bumrah first had Wriddhiman Saha bowled for 19 with a booming yorker. He then proceeded to outfox David Miller with a slower one and a ball later had the well-set Sudharsan caught in the deep. With that he ensured that Gujarat’s momentum was constantly nipped in the bud. It continued so in the death overs.
MI’s newest recruit, pacer Gerald Coetzee, was saved up for the second half of the innings fully. It worked well as Coetzee first had an attacking Azmatullah Omarzai caught while trying to hit off a hard length. At the back-end, Gujarat threatened to get more than they eventually would when Rahul Tewatia tore into Luke Wood. The 18th over of the innings went for 19 runs with Tewatia hitting the straps. But Bumrah and Coetzee gave away only 12 in the last two overs with Coetzee snapping up Tewatia as well.
The plans that new captain Hardik Pandya brought in worked pretty much to a tee but that was not enough to win over the crowd.
The former Gujarat Titans title-winning captain moved to Mumbai Indians on a transfer and it seemingly hasn’t gone down well with at least a part of the fans in the stadium. Hardik was welcomed with boos at the toss and at various points during the match. Returning to bowling in the tournament, he ended up giving away 30 runs in his three overs. He came close to turning it around with the bat but to no avail.
Brief Scores:
Gujarat Titans 168/6 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 31, Sai Sudharsan 45, Rahul Tewatia 22; Jasprit Bumrah 3-14, Piyush Chawala 1-31, Gerald Coetzee 2-27) beat Mumbai Indians 162/9 in 20 overs (Nahman Dhir 20, Dewald Brevis 46, Rohit Sharma 43, Tilak Varma 25; Azmatullah Omarzai 2-27, Umesh Yadav 2-31, Spencer Johnson 2-25, Mohit Sharma 2-32, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 1-24) by 6 runs
What next for the teams?
GT have just a day’s gap to go from their home city to Chennai where they face Ruturaj Gaikwad’s CSK on Tuesday (March 26). MI also head south – to Hyderabad -where they face SRH a day later (March 27).
(Cricbuzz)
Two people taking part in Australia’s annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race have died in separate incidents, according to police.
Both crew members died in separate incidents after being hit by a boom – the large pole attached horizontally to the bottom of a sail.
The event’s organisers said the incidents happened on the Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline.
The first boats are expected to arrive in the city of Hobart, in Tasmania, later on Friday or early on Saturday. Several have already retired due to bad weather.
New South Wales (NSW) police said the first incident was reported to officers just before midnight on Thursday local time (12:50 GMT) by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in the country’s capital, Canberra.
Just over two hours later, at 02:15 on Friday, NSW police were told that crew aboard the second boat were giving CPR to the second person, which also had not worked.
Flying Fish Arctos had been sailing approximately 30 nautical miles east/south-east of the NSW town of Ulladulla, the organisers said.
Bowline, meanwhile, was approximately 30 nautical miles east/north-east of the town of Batemans Bay, also in NSW.
“Our thoughts are with the crews, family and friends of the deceased,” the organisers said in a statement.
“The Sydney to Hobart is an Australian tradition, and it is heart-breaking that two lives have been lost at what should be a time of joy,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The race, which began on Thursday, has continued.
It is not the first time there have been fatalities during the race, which was first held in 1945.
Six people, including British Olympic yachtsman Glyn Charles, died in 1998 after raging storms hit competitors.
[BBC]
Deepti Sharma turned in a superb all-round performance to help India seal the ODI series 3-0 in Vadodara. She first took 6 for 31 as West Indies folded for 162. Then with India in choppy waters, Deepti provided a calming influence with an unbeaten 39 to the team home by five wickets.
While Deepti dug in for the hard grind, aided with luck when she was dropped by Hayley Matthews at slip on 21, Richa Ghosh lent the finishing touches. Having walked in to bat with India 129 for 5, Ghosh allayed fears of a collapse by hitting one four and three sixes in her brisk 11-ball 23. This included back-to-back sixes off legspinner Afy Fletcher to see off India’s chase.
Under leaden skies, and on a surface that got progressively tougher to bat on with the odd ball keeping low and turning big, West Indies were left to rue another poor batting performance. Barring Chinelle Henry and Shemaine Campbelle, who put together 91 for the fourth wicket, there was little else of note from the batting unit.
The collapse began in the very first over when Renuka Singh removed Qiana Joseph, with a faint tickle down leg, and the in-form Matthews with a superb in-ducker four balls later. When Deandra Dottin was bowled attempting a hack into the leg side to Renuka, the visitors were 9 for 3 in the fifth over. Renuka with finish with a four-for eventually, coming back later to clean up the lower order amid the Deepti show.
Under the shadow of a collapse, Henry, playing her first ODI of the series, rebuilt the innings. She struggled to get bat to ball early on, pottering to 3 off 17. Then from nowhere, she brought out a release shot for six off debutant left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar to get going.
During the course of her third half-century, Henry played some neat little cuts and glides. At the other end, Campbelle showed positivity against spin. She took the attack early to legspinner Priya Mishra, hitting her for three boundaries in her second over. After using her feet to launch into two stunning drives – one down the ground and the other through cover – she rocked back to pull Mishra for a third as she dropped short.
This 91-run stand for the fourth wicket appeared to have revived the visitors as much as it frustrated India. This is when Deepti came into the game and made a telling contribution.
Campbell was consumed by a rush of blood as she was lulled into the big shot by Deepti, only for Pratika Rawal to take a comfortable catch at long-on. In the following over, Zaida James was caught superbly at slip by Harmanpreet as Deepti had her driving from the rough.
It could’ve been a triple-strike for India but for Renuka dropping the simplest of return catches via a leading edge to reprieve Aaliya Alleyne on 0. Alleyne would make only 21, though, falling to a tame chip to short midwicket. Alleyne’s wicket came hot on the heels of Henry’s dismissal for a third ODI half-century when she was out bowled by a straighter one. West Indies went on to lose their last 5 wickets for 21.
India’s reply began in nervous fashion as they lost Smriti Mandhana and Harleen Deol early in the power play against the moving ball. Pratika Rawal too missed out on a great opportunity to build on a solid foundation from her first two ODIs when she holed out to mid-on in an attempt to hit out against Matthews’ offspin.
India captain Harmanpreet then picked the pieces up and put together a fantastic exhibition of cover driving. Having begun with two fours off her first five deliveries, she went on to pierce a packed off-side ring to hit Dottin for three fours in the ninth over to quickly take to 23 off 13.
Harmanpreet looked in rip-roaring form when she played back to be bowled by a skidder from Afy Fletcher. The wicket briefly galvanised the visitors, but India weren’t to be denied as Deepti, Jemimah Rodrigues and Ghosh all played neat hands to see them home.
Brief scores:
India Women 167 for 5 in 28.2 overs (Deepti Sharma 39*, Harmanpreet Kaur 32, Jemmimah Rodrigues 29, Richa Ghosh 23*) beat West Indies Women 162 in 38.5 overs (Chinnel Henry 61, Shemaine Campbelle 46, Aaliyah /alleine 21; Deepti Sharma 6-31, Renuka Singh 4-29) by five wickets
[Cricinfo]
Australia kept their vice-like grip around the MCG Test despite a fighting effort from Yashasvi Jaiswal as India went to stumps at 164 for 5, trailing the hosts by 310 runs. Scott Boland and Pat Cummins made that possible after Steve Smith scored his 11th Test century against India – the most by any batter against this opposition in the format.
Jaiswal shrugged off his four ordinary outings in Adelaide and Brisbane to get stuck into the Australian bowlers on Day 2 to carve out a fine essay. He was proactive with his feet movement against the pacers and negotiated Nathan Lyon with a lot of comfort in favourable batting conditions. He went after Mitchell Marsh too, setting himself up for a three-figure score. Kohli did well to buckle down and offer judgment to balls on the fifth stump channel as the Aussie quicks repeatedly tempted him to play at it with a populated slip cordon on their toes. Kohli, who was seen simulating this situation with Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna in the nets on the eve of the game, successfully let balls go. With edges not carrying either, the pacers bowled straighter at him that allowed Kohli to get his innings going with flicks and pulls.
But in the final hour of the day, a few minutes of indecisiveness saw both the batters back in the dressing room. First, Jaiswal fell for 82 to a run out after driving one to mid-on and dashing off for a single. Kohli wasn’t keen and stood his ground, leading to Jaiswal’s dismissal. Seven balls later, Kohli bit the bullet and edged a ball from Scott Boland – the kind he’d let go for majority of the session – to depart for 36. Boland dug his heels in further, dismissing nightwatchman Akash Deep and leaving India five down.
The home side’s advantage at the close of play on the second day was built on Steve Smith’s outstanding century in the morning. Smith overcame a mini-battle against Jasprit Bumrah and took runs off Deep at the other end to extend his team’s dominance that was well-established by the top-order on the opening day. Smith had several false shots against Deep but none came with the doom of his dismissal for him. He further rubbed it in by picking runs easily as Deep conceded 30 in his five-over spell. The change bowlers couldn’t stop the runs either as Siraj endured a forgettable outing with figures of 0 for 122 in 23 overs.
Smith and Cummins added quick runs in the first hour before Jadeja ended the Australian captain’s stay on 49. Smith however, got to his 34th Test hundred, fifth at the MCG, and shifted gears after to take on both Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Mitchell Starc didn’t hold back either, even hitting Jasprit Bumrah for a six towards the end of the session. The Lunch break came as respite for a misfiring India, who then struck early in the second session. Jadeja cleaned up Starc and Deep removed Smith with some luck – the centurion danced down for a big shot through the off-side, but the ball ricocheted off his leg and rolled on to dislodge one bail as he watched on. Bumrah wrapped up the innings soon but India’s riposte was once again found wanting.
Rohit Sharma opened the innings again but was swiftly sent back by his opposite number when he tried and failed to play a pull shot off a ball that wasn’t quite short. KL Rahul and Jaiswal started to build a stand but Cummins put the lid on that with an incredible ball that straightened off a length, squaring up and cleaning up Rahul at the stroke of Tea.
The difference between a fighting response and an underwhelming one for India was the health of the Kohli-Jaiswal stand, which promised to lead the way before being broken against the run of play. India lost three wickets for the addition of just six runs in this period, letting Australia maintain complete control of the game.
Brief scores:
India 164/5 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 82; Pat Cummins 2-57, Scott Boland 2-24) trail Australia 474 (Steve Smith 140, Marnus Labuschagne 72; Jasprit Bumrah 4-99) by 310 runs
[Cricbuzz]
Two die in Sydney to Hobart yacht race
Deepti’s all-round heroics hand India series sweep
Australia maintain full control despite Jaiswal’s 82
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