Sports
Shashank Singh special guides Punjab Kings to record chase
Punjab Kings, powered by Shashank Singh’s knockout blows, recorded a thrilling final-over victory over Gujarat Titans which gave them their second win of IPL 2024.
He might not have been the Shashank Singh that Punjab Kings were searching for in the auction, but over the course of this season and particularly on Thursday (04), he has made himself an undroppable name in the eleven. Shashank came in when the Kings had lost four for just 70 in the ninth over but remained unfazed right through to inject some much-needed impetus. He lofted Noor Ahmed’s googly for a six and then picked 14 off three deliveries from Umesh Yadav to get his innings going. Another six off Rashid and a ramp off Mohit Sharma kept Punjab in the chase. In between the Kings were lucky to have some support from others like Jitesh Sharma who hit back-to-back sixes off Rashid at a critical juncture.
The final trick up Punjab Kings’ sleeves was the impact sub Ashutosh Sharma, who matched Singh in shot-making including three boundaries off an over from Azmatullah Omarzai. The duo also picked up 18 off the penultimate over bowled by Mohit with each batter hitting him for a six with brute power. The equation trickled down to 7 off the last over, which was given to Darshan Nalkande who hadn’t bowled an over until then. While he dismissed Sharma caught at long on, the luck was with Singh who got an outside edged boundary before sneaking a leg-bye off the penultimate ball.
It brought about a thrilling conclusion to a game that had otherwise meandered along on a straight course with the Titans the favourites right through until the Kings sneaked back in.
Shubman Gill was there right through the innings but not quite so imposing. He batted all 20 overs but faced only 48 balls in all. But it was studded with some eye-catching shots nevertheless. The first six down the ground off the left-arm spinner was as silken as lofts down the ground come. Then there was an intentional outside edge that was chopped fine using Arshdeep Singh’s angle across. He would also loft Kagiso Rabada straight down the ground for a six once and then pull him over long on for one more, there was also a forehand slap down the ground for a four off a slower ball for another boundary. All of these were indicative that the pitch did not hold much demons but also that Gill could unleash a good range of strokes enroute to his 89* – the highest individual score of IPL 2024.
All through his innings, Gill found the others doing commendable jobs at the other end. While Wriddhiman Saha and Kane Williamson (playing his first game of IPL 2024 replacing the injured David Miller) didn’t last too long, they were around long enough to stitch together stands worth 29 and 40. Sai Sudharsan, playing with more intent this time, matched Gill shot-for-shot at one point in his 19-ball 33 with six boundaries. But his cameo came to an end as he guided Harshal Patel to the wicket-keeper. Gujarat headed into the death overs in dire need of a boost and Rahul Tewatia provided the right finishing touches, albeit feasting on some friendly full tosses that enabled him to an 8-ball 23. And even as Gill missed his hundred, falling short by 11, his team had got to nearly 200, which would prove to be a lot more than just challenging for Punjab Kings.
Despite losing Shikhar Dhawan early after he chopped on against Umesh Yadav’s first ball, Punjab were still in the chase thanks to Jonny Baairstow’s early flurry of boundaries. The opener got going as he pinged the cover boundary repeatedly with Azmatullah Omarzai offering some width. He had some support from an adventurous Prabhsimran Singh but that changed around swiftly. Noor Ahmed struck with his first ball bowling Bairstow through the gate and had Singh caught at point off an outside edge to rattle Punjab, who then found enough firepower in their lower middle-order to steal a sensational win.
Punjab Kings will head home to Mohali where they will take on the in-form Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 9. Gujarat have a two-day gap where they’ll travel to take on Lucknow Super Giants on April 7.
Brief Scores:
Gujarat Titans 199/4 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 89*, Kane Williamson 26, Sai Sudharsan 33, Rahul Tewatia 23*; Harpreet Brar 1-33, Kagiso Rabada 2-44, Harshal Patel 1-44) lost to Punjab Kings 200/7 in 19.5 overs (Jonny Bairstow 22, Prabhsimran Singh 35, Shashank Singh 61*, Ashutosh Sharma 31; Azmatullah Omarzai 1-41, Umesh Yadav 1-31, Rashid Khan 1-40, Noor Ahmad 2-32, Mohit Sharma 1-38, Darshan Nalkande 1-06) by 3 wickets
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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