Sports
Parag, Chahal make it two in two for Rajasthan Royals
In a see-saw encounter, Rajasthan Royals prevailed over a fighting Delhi Capitals after a collective bowling effort backed up Riyan Parag’s heroics with the bat. It gave Royals their second win on the trot, while Rishabh Pant’s men were condemned with another bitter pill to swallow in their second outing of IPL 2024.
The pitch at the Sawai Man Singh stadium did not offer the best chance for strokeplay early on. It required the batters spending some time on it to adjust to the slight slowness available. This allowed Delhi Capitals to exploit the conditions to their advantage. First up, Mukesh Kumar castled Yashasvi Jaiswal from round the wicket. Sanju Samson could not have an impact either as Khaleel Ahmed had him caught behind from round the wicket. Soon after, Jos Buttler was trapped LBW by Kuldeep, who was confident enough to push it through a review. At 36/3, in the 8th over the Royals innings was seemingly going nowhere.
The situation called for some nous and Rajasthan gambled with R Ashwin at No. 5. They’ve not been shy to use such a tactic before as it allowed the big-hitters to come down the innings with more license to break free. But Parag and Ashwin were smart together in stitching a neat partnership worth 54. Ashwin was not averse to sweeping Kuldeep Yadav and even managed a couple of neat pulls against Anrich Nortje. His 19-ball 29 put the innings back on course and gave Parag, who had been circumspect until then with a run-a-ball 26, a springboard to launch ahead.
As the innings drew towards a close, Parag had a great sense of how it was playing and what the bowlers were offering. He began to unleash a series of confident shots to up the ante. First Khaleel Ahmed, who had been on the mark up until then, was taken down in his final over as Parag went 6, 4, 4 as the pacer attempted wide yorkers. Mukesh Kumar erred on the fuller side and was promptly put away as Parag raced to a fifty. But the icing on the cake came in the final over of the innings bowled by Nortje.
It turned out to be a takedown for the ages as Nortje steamed in quick but was dispatched to the boundary as quickly. Parag was lucky that he edged a couple with third man up, but the risk was on as Nortje challenged him to clear the square boundaries with his wide lines. Parag was up for that challenge when it was banged in short as well and pulled him for a couple of sixes. The final over read 4, 4, 6 , 4 , 6, 1 as Parag raced away to an unbeaten 84 and propelled RR to a competitive total.
Delhi Capitals were desperate for a good start to the chase and they found that with an imposing Mitchell Marsh muscling some early boundaries. He hit five fours in his 23 but was soon bowled by an chopping on an incoming delivery from Nandre Burger. One brought two as Burger then had Ricky Bhui gloving a sharp short ball to the wicket-keeper. At 30/2, DC’s chase was in danger of a short circuit.
The experienced pair of David Warner and Rishabh Pant now joined hands as they set about playing with a mixture of caution and aggression. Together they put on a rather patient 67 off 47 balls. While it did not do much in terms of taking the required run-rate down, it allowed them a base to launch a final counterattack from. Even as the duo fell in quick succession, and Yuzvendra Chahal struck twice, DC found more starts at the back-end.
Tristan Stubbs had a moment of luck when he was put down by Trent Boult off R Ashwin. This put him on course for a boundary-filled counterattack. Ashwin was put over the fence a couple of times, while Sandeep Sharma’s slower balls were clobbered with immense power. As Axar Patel too chipped in with a useful boundary, the equation tapered down to 17 needed off the final over. At this point, Avesh Khan stepped up to bowl a boundary-less over against the well-set batters as he executed his plans to perfection.
What next?
Delhi Capitals have a couple of days gap before they take on Chennai Super Kings in their adopted home of Vizag on March 31. The following day, Rajasthan Royals play their first away game of the season as they travel to Mumbai.
Brief Scores:
Rajasthan Royals 185/5 in 20 overs (Riyan Parag 84*, Ravichandran Ashwin 29, Dhruv Jurel 20; Khaleel Ahmed 1-24, Mukesh Kumar 1-49, Anrich Nortje 1-48, Axar Patel 1-21, Kuldeep Yadav 1-41 ) beat Delhi Capitals 173/5 in 20 overs (David Warner 49, Mitchell Marsh 23, Rishabh Punt 28, Tristan Stubbs 44*; Nandre Burger 2-29, Avesh Khan 1-29, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/19) by 12 runs
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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