Buttler, Rana dominate Punjab in comprehensive win

Nitish Rana recorded his fourth fifty at number 3 and is now the highest scorer in the competition thus far

Nitish Rana with 255 runs, in the Indian Twenty20 competition this far, pips David Warner, Hashim Amla, Brendon McCullum and Manish Pandey as the highest scorer in the tournament

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jos Buttler and Nitish Rana's 85-run stand for the second wicket eclipsed Hashim Amla's first-innings ton and helped Mumbai consign Punjab to their fourth-straight loss in the Indian Twenty20 competition at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore on Thursday.

Rohit Sharma's decision to put Punjab in to bat first, on a batting-friendly surface, seemed to have backfired as an Amla-led ton, off just 59 balls, and a 18-ball 40 from Glenn Maxwell drove Pujnab to 198. Mumbai required to score at 9.90 runs from the onset, in order to register their fifth win of the tournament, and openers Parthiv Patel and Jos Buttler drove their side to 81 runs in the first six overs. Buttler led the way by clubbing Sandeep Sharma for a massive six, over midwicket, in the first over itself. The duo smashed 14 boundaries in the 5.5 overs they batted together. Mumbai was still 118 runs away from the target when Patel departed.

An inform Rana joined Buttler and hit the fifth ball he faced for a six over long leg. It was the start of a partnership that would steer Mumbai closer to the sizeable target. Buttler, with a scratchy season thus far, had found form as he hammered seven fours and five sixes in his 37-ball 77, while Rana struck seven sixes in his unbeaten 62, making him this season's leading scorer. When Buttler eventually fell in the 14th over, Mumbai required 33 off 41 balls. Hardik Pandya and Rana, with a flurry of boundaries, ensured that they raced to the target with 27 balls remaining.

Jos Buttler and Nitish Rana's 85-run stand for the second wicket eclipsed Hashim Amla's first-innings ton and helped Mumbai consign Punjab to their fourth-straight loss in the Indian Twenty20 competition at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore on Thursday.

Rohit Sharma's decision to put Punjab in to bat first, on a batting-friendly surface, seemed to have backfired as an Amla-led ton, off just 59 balls, and a 18-ball 40 from Glenn Maxwell drove Pujnab to 198. Mumbai required to score at 9.90 runs from the onset, in order to register their fifth win of the tournament, and openers Parthiv Patel and Jos Buttler drove their side to 81 runs in the first six overs. Buttler led the way by clubbing Sandeep Sharma for a massive six, over midwicket, in the first over itself. The duo smashed 14 boundaries in the 5.5 overs they batted together. Mumbai was still 118 runs away from the target when Patel departed.

An inform Rana joined Buttler and hit the fifth ball he faced for a six over long leg. It was the start of a partnership that would steer Mumbai closer to the sizeable target. Buttler, with a scratchy season thus far, had found form as he hammered seven fours and five sixes in his 37-ball 77, while Rana struck seven sixes in his unbeaten 62, making him this season's leading scorer. When Buttler eventually fell in the 14th over, Mumbai required 33 off 41 balls. Hardik Pandya and Rana, with a flurry of boundaries, ensured that they raced to the target with 27 balls remaining.

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El Clasico 2017: Messi's historic walk-off goal we will never forget for Barcelona vs. Real Madrid

Messi scored his 500th career goal for Barcelona in the 92nd minute of El Clasico to seal a walk-off win

 

Lionel Messi scored his 500th career goal for Barcelona, and what a way to do it. The Argentine striker scored a 92nd minute walk-off winner to beat Real Madrid in El Clasico 3-2 on Sunday to move Barca into first place in La Liga. On the counter and with one player more, Messi struck low first time on a ball in the box to beat Keylor Navas. 

That was his second goal of the game and one of the biggest of his career. What a moment for Barca, and the race in La Liga is deadlocked.  

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'Universe Boss' Chris Gayle Issues Warning to Other IPL Teams

 Rajkot: After powering Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to a morale-boosting 21-run win over Gujarat Lions, self-proclaimed "UniverseBoss" Chris Gayle on Tuesday warned the other Indian Premier League (IPL) teams that "he is back".

The Jamaican returned to form with a flashy 38-ball 77, laced with seven massive sixes to help RCB reach 213/2 before leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal's 3/31 restricted the hosts to 192/7.

Gayle, who also became the first T20 batsman on Tuesday to reach the 10,000-run landmark, said it could not have come at a better time than this.

"I like that name (UniverseBoss). He's back. Even better to be back in the field. Fans want to watch Chris Gayle, it's been fantastic," he said after being adjudged the Man of the Match.

"It all depends on how you feel, determination is important. Its a special occasion to reach 10,000 runs."

Commenting on his change of stance while taking guard, the 37-year-old said: "A lot of guys spoke to me about my stance. Even Shaun Pollock spoke to me about my stance. You're never too old to learn. People still looking out for Chris Gayle."

"The UniverseBoss is still here and alive." 

Elated at the performance of his side, RCB skipper Virat Kohli said: "Happy to get those two points. People told me it's just one run, but I won't change my attitude, I've played my cricket like that."

"Chris took his opportunity beautifully, with his kind of batting, it allows me to bat through the innings, and I can chip my way out. We thought we were 30 runs above par."

Hailing the young spin duo of Pawan Negi and Chahal, the 28-year-old said: "Negi was outstanding, very brave, not getting scared. Not many people believed in his abilities. Chahal is not scared, his biggest plus point is he always wants to take wickets."

 

 

 

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Bhuvneshwar keeps his head when others lose it

Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 5 for 19 overcame a sensational 95 from Manan Vohra 

How Bhuvneshwar Kumar swung a thriller Sunrisers Hyderabad's way

The wow moment

 

When you see the kind of hitting Vohra was indulging in, when you see him dropped twice, you can tend to resign. Bhuvneshwar, though, came back stronger from that drop. He saw Vohra was in that rare zone where he was connecting even the slower ones sweetly - first ball of the 18th over for example, when he pulled Siddarth Kaul over long-on. Bhuvneshwar and David Warner planned in the next over. They decided they needed a dead-eye yorker. Give him a single and keep the other man on strike, or get him out. On the third ball, Bhuvneshwar came up with a good'un, swinging in late, and headed for the base of the middle stump. Vohra gone. Match gone.

Stats that matter

• This was Bhuvneshwar's maiden IPL five-for. He has taken 15 wickets in five matches so far
• Bhuvneshwar is a terror to new batsmen: he has removed five batsmen in single digits this IPL, behind only team-mate Rashid's six such strikes
• Bhuvneshwar's 5.4 an over is the third-best economy rate this IPL, and the best among quicks. Shahbaz Nadeem and Samuel Badree are the only ones stingier than him

What they said

 

"Look at Bhuvi. Fantastic death bowling. Upfront swing. Unbelievable. I could count on him. I back all my bowlers, but when you have Bhuvi in the shed, you have got to use him."
A grateful captain, David Warner

"Athletes often talk about believing in themselves. That is what I did. I have overcome that pressure. Because I have been doing this job for three-four years. I knew I had to bowl the 19th over."
Bhuvneshwar Kumar knows he is good

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Dissecting the Daredevils batting order

Aakash Chopra analyses the Delhi Daredevils batting order, and offers insight into some of the more curious events during their game against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Rishabh Pant is in terrific form, but doesn't bat up the order

 Why is Mathews batting ahead of Morris?

Daredevils' batting order has raised a few eyebrows. It's quite apparent that they are desperately trying to bring Karun Nair into form. While there's some rationale in keeping faith in Nair, it was surprising to see Angelo Mathews walking ahead of Chris Morris. If it wasn't for Pant's 38 off 16 balls, Daredevils wouldn't have managed even 150. 

Were Morris and Cummins held back too late?

 

At one stage Knight Riders were 21 for 3, and that's when you expect the bowling unit to exert more pressure and look for wickets. While Zaheer Khan did hunt for a wicket for a while, he went on the defensive in the middle overs. He seemed concerned about getting through Mohammaed Shami's overs and, with both Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan set, Amit Mishra's overs as well. The fielders he had in the circle were on the edge and weren't trying to stop singles, which allowed the partnership to grow.

The 13th and 14th overs were bowled by Mathews and Zaheer, though Morris and Cummins had three and two left respectively. One could understand Zaheer wanting to save Morris for overs 15, 17 and 19, and Cummins for the 16th and 18th. But Pandey and Yusuf were aware of that too. They scored 26 in those two overs, bridging the gap between runs required and balls remaining.

 

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Overseas selections hamper RCB balance

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Rising Pune Supergiant, IPL 2017, Bengaluru

Need to find the right balance in the XI - Vettori

While it's not quite all doom and gloom yet, Royal Challengers Bangalore are not far from the point of no-return on the league table. One win in five games leaves them with the prospect of having to win at least seven of the remaining nine games - five of which are away - to have a chance of securing a play-off berth. And the lack of balance when it comes to the selection of overseas players is giving coach Daniel Vettori sleepless nights.

After watching a match "snatched from under their nose" by Mumbai Indians - who recovered from 7 for 4 to chase down 143 - the team management strengthened their bowling by leaving out Chris Gayle for Shane Watson against Rising Pune Supergiant on Sunday. In addition, Adam Milne was brought in for his first game of the season at the expense of Tymal Mills. As a result, the batting order was shuffled around for the third time in as many matches, and the slow surface exposed Royal Challengers' struggles. They lost to Rising Pune by 27 runs.

"The thing is, in the IPL we're constantly searching for the right balance," Vettori said. "In the Mumbai game, we were down a bowler. Shane has been such a successful allrounder in T20 cricket for a long period of time. So we made the decision to back Shane because of his all-round contribution.

"It's tough for everyone in T20 cricket. A lot of domestic players have had to step in and perform after missing a few games or not being in their best form. We know Chris Gayle is a very good performer and we know if he can get on a roll than we can utilise Chris in a positive manner. At this stage we are just trying to find the right balance."

Vettori attributed the frequent changes in selection to being caught a little off guard by the kind of surfaces they've encountered at home, but insisted that wasn't an excuse to cover their shortcomings. "It's probably a case of dealing with a kind of wicket that we haven't played on before," he said. "It's obviously slightly slower. We are used to wickets that make it a lot easier for batsmen to hit the ball for six, hit the ball for four, to catch up with a few dot balls."

Chasing 162 against Rising Pune, Royal Challengers did not hit a single four and struck only one six between the fourth and 15th overs. The inability to adjust, Vettori felt, added to the pressure. "We are probably creating pressure on ourselves through dot balls, striking at below 100," he said. "Trying to catch that up in the back end on a slow wicket is incredibly difficult. I think in a lot of ways we need to be more proactive.

"I think the wickets are not batting-friendly, but that doesn't mean it's not a good T20 wicket. It's been exciting for the bowlers. All three games have been pretty entertaining and I think we have showed that we can compete on this wicket. It is different, we just need to adapt like we did in the Delhi game."

Without mincing words, Vettori was also clear about the problems with their batting. "We saw what the likes of KL (Rahul), Sachin Baby, all those roles players from last year performed," he said. "The expectation is on AB and Virat to excel, but we need the likes of Mandeep (Singh), Kedhar (Jadhav), Shane (Watson) and Stuart Binny to complement their performances. We haven't made it easy on Mandeep by chopping and changing the line-up. We are trying to find the right combination. Once we find the right combination we can get on a roll.

"I won't say drastic changes are required. We back the quality of our performance on our day and we know that we haven't had enough of those when we need consistent performances across the board. We have had little pockets of it. Aravind was exceptional today, Milne in his first game for RCB in a long time did a great job. We need more of those performances, we can't rely on one or two people and that's why we did so well last year. We need more performances from more people."

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Rana, Buttler consolidate Mumbai's top-of-the-table spot

An 85-run partnership between Nitish Rana and Jos Buttler helped Mumbai ace their chase of 177 against Gujarat, improving their position at the top of the table 

Jos Buttler's premeditated scoop over fine leg was the highlight of his innings

After being put in to bat, Gujarat had been reduced to 99 for 3 against Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium. However, a 26-ball 48 from Dinesh Karthik helped Gujarat plunder 77 off the last 38 balls. Then, off the second ball of Mumbai's innings, an outswinger from Praveen Kumar skewed off the outside half of Parthiv Patel's bat to backward point. Gujarat had all the momentum.

Mumbai persisted with Jos Buttler to at the top. The early wicket meant Nitish Rana was promoted to No. 3. Together, they struck an 85-run stand off just 54 balls, a partnership that eased Mumbai towards their target of 177. Rana's sublime timing - cuts, lofted cover drives and pulls - helped him race away to a 32-ball fifty, his second in four games, making him the highest run-getter of the season.

With Rana's pyrotechnics, Buttler was satisfied with strike rotation, but his contribution to the stand was no less significant. He hit one four and two sixes - a scoop over fine leg and a heave over long-on.

Soon after his fifty, Rana toe-ended a cut to the keeper on 53. His stand with Buttler had shifted the momentum towards Mumbai and put them on course for the 19th successful chase at the Wankhede Stadium in 21 games.

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Nadeem, Morris trip Punjab with impressive display

A strong all-round display helped Delhi to their second win in three matches in the Indian Twenty20 tournament. 

Shahbaz Nadeem made early inroads in the chase

Delhi's bowlers - Shahbaz Nadeem and Chris Morris in particular - consigned Punjab to their second-straight loss in the 2017 edition of the Indian Twenty20 competition, comprehensively outclassing their opponents by a 51-run margin at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi on Sunday.

No team had ever successfully gunned down 189 to win a T20 match in the league at the Feroz Shah Kotla before, and when Delhi amassed the target, Punjab's batsmen knew that they required quick runs from the onset in a bid to eclipse the home team. Nadeem though made life difficult for Punjab's opener and he dismissed Manan Vohra off his fourth ball in the second over. He accounted for Wriddhiman Saha and over later. Punjab turned to their experienced duo, Hashim Amla and Eoin Morgan, to bail them out of trouble. But Morris dismissed Amla for 19 in the fifth over.

Punjab stood at 31 for 3 at that stage and their hopes of stealing a win rested on their strong middle order comprising of David Miller and Glenn Maxwell, who had produced match-winning efforts earlier in the tournament. Amit Mishra used the Kotla surface well, and got rid of Maxwell for the fourth time in five innings. Punjab limped to just 137 in their 20 overs. Nadeem finished with figures of 2 for 13 in his two-over spell and Morris 3 for 23. Corey Anderson, who had blasted 39 from 22 balls for Delhi earlier, shone with the ball as well by finishing with figures of 1 for 23 in his three overs.

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Uthappa, Pandey help table-toppers Kolkata trump Hyderabad

Kolkata now have three wins in the 2017 season and pip Mumbai - with equal number of wins - for the top spot due to a better net run-rate.

Robin Uthappa marked his return to form with a quickfire 68 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A 77-run stand for the fourth wicket between Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey helped Kolkata - top the table - by overturning defending champions Hyderabad by 17 runs in the Indian Twenty20 competition at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday.

Uthappa was off to a shaky start after he nicked his first ball to the keeper, but the umpire failed to spot it. He made the most of the reprieve by smashing a 39-ball 68, which held Kolkata's innings together along with Pandey who got 46 off 35 balls. Hyderabad dismissed the openers, Gautam Gambhir and Sunil Narine, in the first six overs. Their dismissal brought Uthappa and Pandey together. The duo went boundary less in the first two overs, before Uthappa swatted three sixes and a four in four overs. Uthappa went on to bring up a fifty off 27 balls. Pandey could have been dismissed for 8 had Naman Ojha not missed a stumping chance off left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma.

Uthappa struck five fours and four sixes in his quickfire knock, before he fell in the 15th over, at which stage Kolkata had amassed 117. Pandey fell three-over's later. The Uthappa-Pandey combine scored at 8.88 runs an over in the 8.4 overs they batted together. Their effort helped Kolkata score a respectable 172 in their innings and eventually overturn Hyderabad.

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IPL 10: Debutant Tye's five-for fashions Lions' first win

Gujarat Lions 172 for 3 (McCullum 49, Smith 47) beat Rising Pune Supergiant 171 for 8 (Smith 43, Tye 5-17) by seven wickets.

Gujarat Lions had picked up only one wicket in two matches this season. But Andrew Tye took five times as many - including a hat-trick, the second of the day - to record the best figures by an IPL debutant. His 5 for 17 was then followed by a typically brutal display of batting from the top order to ensure a perfect record against Rising Pune Supergiant after three matches so far.

Good length = bad length

In the space of this past week, Lions have put on their two worst performances in the Poweplay. They leaked 73 runs in the season opener against Kolkata Knight Riders last Friday and now they gave up 64 to Rising Pune Supergiant. Their bowling attack largely consists of medium-pacers who, unless there is some sideways movement, can be lined up. All seven fours in the first six overs came off length balls. Two of the three sixes came off length balls. Praveen Kumar was carted for 25 runs in the fifth over. It had been 10 years since he had been that expensive in the IPL.

The change up

Pune had just recorded their fastest fifty of the tournament - in 27 balls. They had to be slowed down and so Lions turned to the bowler with the best slower ball. A batsman can read the offcutter when the bowler's wrist breaks. Ditto the legcutter. The back-of-the-hand slower ball is difficult largely because of the way it misbehaves off the pitch. But the knuckle ball is slightly different for much of its potency lies in making sure the batsman doesn't pick it.

As a batsman, 22 yards in front, it is hard to read the change in Tye's grip and he doesn't give anything away in his run up. He took four of his five wickets with that knuckle ball, including the one that sealed his second hat-trick of 2017.

Tye's introduction brought Lions back from the brink. They allowed only five of the 48 deliveries that followed the Powerplay to get to the boundary and in the 14th over the returning Ravindra Jadeja dismissed MS Dhoni for the second time in the IPL. The wicketkeeper-batsman fell for 5 off eight balls, his third successive innings at a strike-rate below 100.

From 120 for 5, even a solid partnership of 47 runs in 29 balls between Manoj Tiwary and Ankit Sharma - one of six changes to the XI - could only take Pune to 171.

The top-order threat

Lions' specialist openers made 762 runs in 2016 - that's 30% of the team's total runs. Stopping them had to be Pune's best chance to defend 171. But, on a slow pitch, they fed Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith with fast bowling. It proved a costly mistake. Both of them were set by the time Imran Tahir came on to bowl and the legspinnner was smashed for 15 runs in his first over. He would be hit for 10 boundaries in his spell - the most he has conceded in all the matches he has played in the IPL and for South Africa.

With the main threat decimated, all Lions had to do was trust in their batting depth. They had pushed Aaron Finch down the order because among their four overseas openers he handles spin best - averaging 27.73 and striking at 129. He and Raina, the first man to play 150 IPL games, saw this one through to the finish.

Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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IPL 10: Virat Kohli hopes to be back with a bang

 

 Mumbai Indians won by 4 wickets 

Toss: Mumbai Indians,who chose to bowl first

Mumbai Indians 145/6 in 18.5 Overs

Royal Challengers Bangalore 142/5 (20) 

 

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli is fit, and is all set to return to action in the IPL after missing out on the earlier games. He is set to feature in the match against Mumbai Indians on April 14.

“Now with me coming back and all specialist batsmen playing, the thinking might change back again. Bangalore has generally been a ground where you can chase down high totals and tomorrow being a day game obviously that really matters a lot because the wicket is better during the day time," Kohli was quoted as saying in a PTI report.

Speaking about the team performance, Kohli added, "We know we play good cricket at home but last year we won some really good matches away from home and that is why we reached the final, so in order to do that, that is the most important thing factor in IPL; we need to win away games. That is something that we will focus on through the season if we want to make it to the play-offs."

Kohli went on to hint that while both De Villiers and Gayle could feature in the match on Friday, Kedar Jadhav might keep wickets.

"Chris has always been a priority for us in the past so many seasons. Last game was a scenario where AB came in, Watto came in and other two guys were bowling well. I think that is why Chris was left out in the last game, but yes what works for us in Bangalore, we would go with the strongest combination possible. Chris is the top contender for us to be playing the home games," Kohli added.

Speaking about not travelling​ with the team in the first two games, Kohli explained, "Once you travel with the team, there is a lot happening and to focus on one guy is not fair. So you rather stay away and do your work. I just wanted to let the guys focus on their game and then do their work on the sidelines.”

--By A Cricket Correspondent

 

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IPL 10: Narine, Gambhir lead KKR to comprehensive win over Punjab

Kolkata Knight Riders won by 8 wickets

Kolkata Knight Riders, who chose to bowl

Kolkata Knight Riders 171/2 in 16.3 Overs

Kings XI Punjab 170/9 (20)

        And, once Gambhir and Narine had that blistering opening stand, the game was in KKR's bag.

A surprising all-round show from Sunil Narine and a sprightly half-century from Gautam Gambhir enabled Kolkata Knight Riders to beat Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.

Gambhir hit an unbeaten 72 off 49 balls as Kolkata chased down 171 in 16.3 overs. In a surprise move, Sunil Narine was sent at the top of the order and responded with 37 from 18 balls. Gambhir and Narine added 76 off 34 balls as KKR eased to victory.

Manish Pandey ended the game with a six and was unbeaten on 25 while Robin Uthappa made 26 to hand Punjab their first loss of the season. Earlier, Umesh Yadav claimed four wickets as Kolkata Knight Riders kept Kings XI Punjab down to 170/9.

Yadav struck thrice in his fourth over to turn the game. KXIP were 95/2 after 10 overs when Umesh dismissed opposition skipper Glenn Maxwell for 25 off 14.

Wriddhiman Saha (25 off 17) and David Miller (28 off 19) put on 57 runs in 32 balls to bring Kings back on track. KXIP were 145/4 in 17 overs when Umesh dismissed​ Miller, Saha and Axar Patel.

Punjab began well with Manan Vohra (28) and Hashim Amla (25) put on their second successive fifty-plus opening partnership. But, Piyush Chawla broke the momentum by dismissing Chawla.

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Kings XI Punjab v Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2017, Indore

Kings XI overcome de Villiers' one-man show

Kings XI Punjab 150 for 2 (Amla 58*, Maxwell 43*) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 148 (De Villiers 89*, Aaron 2-21) by eight wickets

AB de Villiers, returning from a back injury and replacing Chris Gayle, made a jaw-dropping 89 off 46 balls, but the rest of Royal Challengers Bangalore was so woeful that Kings XI Punjab won with 33 balls to spare.
De Villiers arrived in the second over but by the end of the 15th, he had faced only 28 balls and scored 31 runs. Mandeep Singh and Stuart Binny had taken most of the strike and scored at less than a run a ball. In the last five overs, though, de Villiers faced 18 deliveries and scored 58 off them. He helped RCB double their 15-over score of 71 and was the sole reason they got 148.
A measure of how poor the rest of the RCB batsmen were, though, was how easily a collective effort from Kings XI overhauled the target. Manan Vohra, Hashim Amla and Glenn Maxwell timed the ball sublimely under lights and took the RCB seamers for more than ten runs an over. Kings XI's eight-wicket win was their second in two games, while RCB suffered their second defeat in three.
RCB strangled in the Powerplay
In their previous match against Rising Pune Supergiant at the same venue on Saturday, Kings XI bowled 14 dots in the Powerplay. Against RCB, Sandeep Sharma alone bowled 14. In all Kings XI sent down 22 dots, limiting RCB to 23 for 3; only four times in the past had RCB made a lower Powerplay score.
Before this match, Axar Patel had dismissed Shane Watson every time they had faced off in the IPL. So it made sense for Axar to take the new ball against Watson and he maintained his perfect record when Watson dragged an arm ball back onto the stumps. Sandeep sent down a volley of swinging deliveries but it was the short ball that coaxed a top edge from Vishnu Vinod.
De Villiers repairs damage
De Villiers rusty? You've got to be kidding. He deftly guided his first ball to the point boundary. He then watched his team-mates starve him of the strike, and fall into the hole Kings XI had dug for them. The pitch was quicker than the one used for the match against Rising Pune. Varun Aaron, picked in place of left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh, Axar, and Marcus Stoinis tucked RCB up, and ensured they did not score a boundary for 38 balls in the middle overs.
De Villiers then switched into super-batsman mode: carving near-yorkers for fours and launching length balls on to the roof - or over the roof - of the stadium. He even struck a six over cover despite being off balance and having to reach far away from his body. He hit eight sixes and a four in the last five overs of the innings.
Nailing the chase
Vohra likes pace on the ball. Before this match, he scored at 8.39 an over against pace in the IPL, and 6.78 against spin. He kick-started the chase with three fours in four balls off Watson. Amla also prospered, hitting on the up, as Kings XI shaved 50 off the target in five overs. Tymal Mills came into the attack next over and pinned Vohra lbw with a slower legcutter, but Amla progressed to a typically serene fifty. At the other end, Maxwell produced more unorthodox shots - ramps and golf-swings - and a chastening loss was inevitable for RCB.

 

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End of an era, end of a subculture

End of an era, end of a subculture

  

Pakistan will lose a whole lot of runs and experience when Misbah-ul-Haq and 

Younis Khan retire. Their biggest contribution, though, was the example they set,

showing young players what it meant to be professional sportsmen in Pakistan

Pakistan were blessed that two men as contrasting as Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq 

combined as coherently as peanut butter and jelly

Shan Masood was sitting next to Misbah-ul-Haq in the dressing room at the P
Sara Oval. It was the third day of the second Test and out in the middle, Ahmed Shehzad
and Azhar Ali were battling to salvage the mess they had contributed to in the first
innings, one that would eventually cost Pakistan the Test.Masood was caressing the
bruises that so many young Pakistan batsmen suffer early in their careers. He was
out of the Test XI, having been dropped three Tests after a 75 on debut against South
Africa. But he had worked his way closer, scoring runs in Sri Lanka on an A tour just
before this series and then in the warm-up game before the Tests. He had changed his
game,become more expansive, and felt he was hitting the ball better than ever.And now

here he was, on the inside but still far enough outside to require looking in. Two
Tests were gone and this could easily become another series he missed altogether,
and what was worse was that he wasn't actually playing at all, and thus not cashing
in on some good form. And next to him was sitting the man who would have
played a big part in the decision that was eating away at him.Misbah asked him
how old he was.Twenty-five."You know what I was doing when I was 25?" Masood
recalls Misbah saying. "I was graduating out of college and I hadn't played first-class
cricket. I started playing for Pakistan when I was 27. I played in Sharjah, got out on
a flat wicket to Brett Lee and Andy Bichel. You've already started your career, have
4000 runs at first-class level, made your debut against the world No. 1 side, you
scored 75 there, what are you worrying about? You have your best years ahead of you.
What are you worried about?""Maybe he's right," Masood thought.Masood was
pickedfor the next Test in Pallekele. Younis Khan - of whom Masood is fan, pupil,
mentee and friend - made sure that Masood's spot in the dressing room would be
right next to his own. Masood was leg-before in the first innings for 13, a call that
could have gone either way and made none the easier by the fact that he felt he was
batting well.Later in that innings, Younis called Masood over. A year earlier,
Masood had widened his stance on Younis' advice. Younis felt that Masood's
height necessitated a broader base.
Now in Pallekele, he reassured Masood that it was still a good idea but that he
had maybe gone a little too wide. Younis stressed that he could see Masood was
hitting the ball really well, and that he only really needed to make minor adjustments,
to stand a little more upright, be more open-chested, and it would be okay.In the
second innings, Masood scored his first - and so far only - Test hundred, setting
up Pakistan's highest-ever successful run chase. He made 125 out of 382 and
242 runs of the target were made in company withYounis.Masood is out of the 
side again currently. He may never have another Pallekele again, or become 
the Test opener Pakistan have craved for so long, but what a time to have been 
young and batting in the Pakistan side.

 

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