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Chris Morris retires from all forms of cricket
South Africa’s Chris Morris has bid adieu to all forms of the game. Morris made the announcement in a social media post and also revealed his future plans. “Today I announce my retirement from all forms of cricket! Thanks to all who have played a part in my journey whether it be big or small…it’s been a fun ride! Delighted to be taking up a coaching role at @titanscricket,” he wrote. Morris first played for South Africa in December 2012 in a T20I fixture against New Zealand in Durban and played his first ODI against Pakistan in June 2013 in Birmingham. The right-handed player made his Test debut in January 2016 against England in Cape Town. The right-hander played 42 ODIs where he scalped 48 wickets and also notched up 467 runs during the course. Apart from this, Morris featured in 23 T20Is where he had 34 scalps to his name at an average of 20.50 and scored 133 runs at a strike-rate of 130.39. In 4 Tests that Morris played, he had 12 wickets to his name while struck 173 runs at an average of 24.71 including a fifty.
Chris Morris to no longer play for South Africa, will keep playing domestic cricket
South African fast bowler Chris Morris shocked the cricketing world by saying that his playing days for the rainbow nation are over and that he would look for other avenues to keep playing the game he loves. In an interview with Sportskeeda, the Rajasthan Royals bowler revealed his decision. "My playing days for South Africa are done. I am not one for announcing things and officially retiring and all of that. They know where I stand, I know where I stand, but my days are done for CSA, I think they know that” he said. The cricketer who represented the Proteas team in four Tests, 42 ODIs and 23 T20Is since debuting in 2012 up until the 2019 World Cup where he played against Australia in Manchester, said that he has had his discussions with people he wanted to have them with and has no further interest in playing any sort of international cricket. He also blamed Cricket South Africa for ignoring senior players such Faf du Plessis and Imran Tahir and said that the consequences would have to be borne by the board. "I had my discussions with whoever I needed to quite a while ago, I haven’t spoken to CSA since then. At the end of the day, how they treated Faf (du Plessis), Immi (Imran Tahir) or me is something they’ve to deal with, there is no way I can comment,’ the 34-year-old, who has played in all the big leagues and is highly sought after all-rounder said. “I wasn’t a part of the negotiations, I haven’t been spoken to for a year, maybe longer than a year. So can’t really comment on what’s happening, a few stories are coming out, I know which one I can believe. It’s a touchy subject, there are so many different angles to it,” Morris added further. Morris, who has 773 international runs and 94 wickets to his name said that he would keep playing domestic cricket and try and give back to the teams from where he has earned recognition. “My international cricket days are done. I am focussing on domestic cricket and giving back to the team as much as I can. I was fortunate to represent South Africa in all 3 formats, I had an opportunity to represent my country. "If you had asked me the same question a few months ago, I would have given you a longer answer but right now I am content with my life and my career,” he said. It would now be interesting to see what possible explanations does CSA comes up with.
Chris Morris hasn't been able to replicate what he did in the first leg of IPL 2021: Sangakkara
Rajasthan Royals director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara has said that Chris Morris hasn’t been able to replicate the kind of performance he has had during the first half of the IPL 2021. "Morris has done brilliantly in the first half and he hasn't done as well as he or we would've liked him to in the second half," Sangakkara said in the post-match presser. Morris returned with expensive figures of 0/50 in 4 overs against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Dubai on Wednesday night. "He knows it and we know it. 50 runs off 4 overs... the last over to me was a throw of the dice to try and get a wicket here or there. We were well out of the game at that point. But he's done well for us in certain parts." The Royals suffered a thumping defeat against RCB after the Bangalore side chased down a target of 150 runs by 7 wickets and in the 18th over. While captain Virat Kohli and opener Devdutt Padikkal provided a steady start and put up a partnership of 48 runs for the first wicket, Striker Bharat and Glenn Maxwell took on the onus on themselves and stitched a stand of 69 runs for the third wicket to help RCB clinch an easy win. Bharat scored 44 off 35 while Maxwell remained unbeaten at 50 in 30 deliveries.
IPL 2021 | RR vs RCB: Hits and Flops as impassioned Royal Challengers tame spiritless Royals
What makes the Indian Premier League a different and fair tournament than others in the eyes of experts is that it allows the best sides to come at the top, if not immediately, then eventually while exposing the lack of depth in squads that are built around one or two superstar players. The contest between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Rajasthan Royals which was reduced to a no-contest after the first 10 overs of the game, depicted completely that picture about the quality of the tournament. The Royals were off to a rollicking start as the openers Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal were putting the RCB bowling to the sword. The duo added 77 runs for the first wicket in the ninth over but establishing their mediocrity so far in the season, the Royals lost their way and lost six wickets in the space of the next six overs for just 50 runs and finished at a mere 149 runs. In reply, the RCB too were off to a flier as Virat Kohli was on the button to press the accelerator from the word go in the company of Devdutt Padikkal. Although they could not score big, the partnership between Glenn Maxwell and KS Bharat ripped all the limitations of the Royals team open with a convincing chase. Here, we’ll analyse the best and the worst performance of the night between the RCB and the RR. Hits Yuzvendra Chahal Just as the days of the IPL 2021 are starting to be numbered, Yuzvendra Chahal is picking up his best form which has been missing for a very long time and cost him a place in India’s World T20 squad. First, he was on the top of his game in a big game against the Mumbai Indians and to shrug off any doubts that it was a one-off, he followed another stellar performance with the ball against the Royals. Virat Kohli turned to a spinner in the face of an assault by Lewis and Jaisawal but his choice of weapon was Maxwell and not Chahal for the obvious reason of match up. The move did not work and the off-spinner was carted by both the Royals opener and hence Kohli brought Chahal only after the end of the 10th over. The start was not auspicious as Samson effortlessly despatched him over cover in one of the signature shots. However, he was helped by the dismissal of Lewis in the next over by the debutant George Garton and little did anyone knew what was to unfold in the game. Chahal came back strongly in his next over by the wicket of Mahipal Lomror who was eager to continue with the good work done by the openers and his skipper at the other end. Chahal was lucky to also have his teammate stepping up the task from the other end as Shahbaz Ahmed dismissed Sanju Samson and Rahul Tewatia to break the Royals’ back. The spell that started as a nine-run over was controlled to 15 runs off the three over in total and Chahal got the better of Liam Livingstone to hit the final nail in the Royals’ coffin. A bowling figure of 4-0-18-2 reads fantastic for a leg spinner especially against a team that went off to a flier and needed to be contained both by runs and wickets. Evin Lewis When Evin Lewis was smashing the RCB bowlers all around the park, he would not hope and imagined that the Royals will make a meal of his aggression and lose the game so helplessly. Lewis was a like for like replacement of Jos Buttler and by all accounts, he has not allowed the Royals to miss the Englishman one bit. He has been at it with all his aggression from the moment he has set his foot on the crease and the game against the RCB was no different. The RCB tried a left-arm pacer George Garton to bring more sharpness with the new ball as Hrashal Patel was fulfilling the role of bowling at the death, but Lewis was in no mood to spare them. After playing a quiet first over of Garton, Lewis was in full mood to rattle him and mauled him for two sixes and one four to plunder 18 runs off him to set the Royals up and running from both the ends. Next on the target was Harshal, who was fresh from a remarkable hat-trick against the Mumbai Indians, and Lewis did not need a second invitation to send him soaring over the fence. He was also watchful from one end as Jaiswal was going great guns at the other end but as soon as the young Indian departed, Lewis took the baton and became more aggressive. Once again, his prime target was Harshal who offered him freebies to feast on. The England left-armer had the last laugh by dismissing him on his favourite shot ball to hit sixes but his 37-ball 58 provided the Royals with a perfect platform to press on a big and decisively higher total on the board. Shahbaz Ahmed Virat Kohli held back both Chahal and Shahbaz Ahmed due to the overstay of the left-handed Royals’ openers in what could have been a case of overdoing match up the game but it did not boomerang on him as both Lewis and Jaiswal were dismissed with almost half of the overs were remaining to be bowled. As soon as Garton dismissed Lewis and Chahal got Lomror stumped in the consecutive 12th and 13th over respectively, Kohli brought Shahbaz into the attack to combat the right-handed duo of Samson and Livingstone. Samson was set up in his new avatar to go for another big score but got lured into playing one in the air over the cover region. He could hit it straighter and the sweeper cover Padikkal barely moved to snaffle his mistimed shot and pegg the Royals back. Shahbaz was on the money in the first over and was gifted a wicket by Rahul Tewatia, who has shown enough signs of getting exposed by consistent examination in IPL. Padikkal, who was at sweeper cover for Samson’s fall, was shifted to the deep backward square in anticipation of a lofted shot and the left-hander obliged with a shot right in his hands. From 100/1 in 11 overs, the Royals nosedived to 117/5 in a span of three overs and squandered all the fireworks lit up by Lewis and Jaiswal at the top of the order. Flops Chris Morris If this space would have respected the fear of repetitions, Chris Morris would not have made it to this list but his poor performance has been a matter of fact and sadly for the Royals, it truly reflects their overall standings. The game against the RCB was the third game in a row he had a torrid time with the ball. He has played three games including the one against the RCB in the UAE leg of the tournament and his bowling figures have been 47/0, 27/0 (3 overs), and 50/0 that came in this game. The Royals needed his most expensive player to stand up tall in the effort of defending a sub-par total on a true surface in Dubai. Instead, he conceded three boundaries in the very first over to provide the worst possible start to the Royals, albeit one boundary came in a streaky fashion when Virat Kohli got ambitious against a ball that swung late on him. Morris got greedy after seeing the ball swinging and erred in line and length for Kohli to make use of it. There was no coming back from that horrible start and fittingly the Royals’ defence that started with Morris’ horrible over was concluded in a comprehensive manner by the RCB in his final over only. When he came to bowl his final over against the pair of Maxwell and AB de Villiers, the RCB needed 23 runs off the final 24 balls and it appeared the Australian right-hander has had enough of playing anchoring innings. He came hard against Morris and ransacked him for 22 runs to finish the job for the RCB, which was done by de Villiers in the very next over. Liam Livingstone The Royals have not been the side they could have been and their story has been the same for a long time now. The Royals were always dependent on their overseas star players to do the heavy lifting with the Indian players chipping in with good contributions. Unlike their past seasons, they have been found wanting on both accounts. As they suffered the absence of their star trio— Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer for this season, they were highly reliant on Liam Livingstone, who had come to the tournament on the back of the red-hot form in the short forms of the game and Chris Morris. Neither of them has stood up tall and instead, their downfalls have been the prime reason for the Royals’ misery in the UAE leg of the tournament. Livingstone was dominating bowlers for fun in The Hundred and the home series against Pakistan before donning the Royals jersey in the UAE. However, the great anticipation and big promises produced muted returns. On the night against the RCB, he was the only major batsman at the crease and needed to bat smartly to keep the Royals in the game for a long period of time. However, he chose to throw caution to the wind against the most wiliest bowler form the opposition camp in Chahal and perished in the process to leave the Royals in a lurch. He has played four games for the Royals this season and has been able to manage a mere 36 runs at an abysmal average of nine runs per innings. The Royals management that gets a lot of flake for their poor performance could not have done anything better but to chose a rising superstar in world cricket who did not seem to have any weakness. To talk of the weakness against spinner as England batsmen can generally be found with, Livingstone was all over none other than Rashid Khan in the Hundred earlier this year. The Royals have not been officially knocked out of the tournament as of yet but the path looks further steeper for them and so is for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Punjab Kings. All three of them are placed at the bottom half of the table. On the other side of the fence, the Royal Challengers would be ecstatic with such commanding performance and a big win to consolidate their position among the top three teams on the points table.
IPL 2021 | RR vs RCB: It’s now or never for Rajasthan as they fight batting demons against Challengers
After the first match, in which Kartik Tyagi won it with the ball for them, the Rajasthan Royals have not been able to sync themselves and have lost two on the trot to put themselves on the verge of getting out of the Playoffs race if they lose their next match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Bangalore on the other end have bounced back from two defeats and beat Mumbai Indians in their last game to get loser to Playoffs qualification with 12 points from 10 games. Parag-Tewatia must either go or find form If the Rajasthan side wants to get back to winning ways, it must either get away from at least one of the two among Rahul Teati and Ryan Praag, especially now that they have a batting all-rounder in Mahipal Lomror who has performed well in the last three games. By removing either of them, the Royals could bring in a specialist spinner which they are lacking a lot in the spinning conditions of UAE. Although they have Tabraiz Shamsi as a wrist spinner, with only one specialist spinner, they are lagging behind and it is pretty clear. Considering the form of both Parag and Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal definitely deserves a chance. Shivam Dube can be tried as well in place of either of the players considering he can bat really well and can bowl in tough situations too. Whatever might the selection be, but both non-performing assets in Parag and Tewatia can’t go together. Challengers need consistency The RCB did well to win by a huge margin against Mumbai. But their major problem of being unable to score quickly post the powerplay with AB de Villiers out of form still persists. Their last match was basically won by the bowling brilliance of Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel and Glenn Maxwell. Thus, the team from Bangalore is still are suffering from their inconsistent returns with the bat and skipper Virat Kohli and opener Devdutt Padikkal need to step in and sort this out. de Villiers getting in form would be another improvement. Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: Details Match number: 43 Date and Time: Sept 29, 2021, 07:30 pm IST (10:00 GMT), 06:00 pm Local, 02:00 pm GMT Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Broadcast and Livestream: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report The pitches throughout UAE haven’t really been supportive of batting as it was the last time around in 2020. The squares have dried up with a lot of cricket having been already played. Thus in this game also, any score around and above 150-160 would be par. Weather Forecast The temperatures would be in the mid-thirties and humidity would keep on increasing as the match progresses. There might be dew later on and thus, any team winning the toss would look to bowl first. Team News Rajasthan Royals Rajasthan would look to bring in Shreyas Gopal in place of Tewatia. Even Shivam Dube can be tested in place of Parag so that two fresh players come in with a fresh approach and try and win the game. With Kartik Tyagi fit and ready to go, he would replace Unadkat. Probable XI Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Chetan Sakariya, Kartik Tyagi, Mustafizur Rahman Royal Challengers Bangalore RCB wouldn’t be looking to make any changes in the playing XI as they have finally landed a victory. Probable XI Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat (wk), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Shahbaz Ahmed, Daniel Christian, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal Dream XI team Wicketkeepers Srikar Bharat, Sanju Samson Batters Virat Kohli, Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror All-rounders Chris Morris, Glenn Maxwell Bowlers Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman Vice-Captain Glenn Maxwell Captain Sanju Samson
IPL 2021 | Chris Morris urge Rajasthan Royals to pull up socks, seize big moments
One of the key players of the Rajasthan Royals setup in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League, Chris Morris has conceded that his team have not been able to raise their game in “big moments” of a game and that have cost them many games this season. He lamented failures in both batting and bowling departments to capitalize on small opportunities behind them winning just four out of the 10 games played this season. He picked just one game against the Punjab Kings that they won in the last over as a perfect case scenario of them seizing a big moment but apart from that he accepted that the Royals have not been at their best. He urged his teammates to pull up their socks in order to fight long and hard battles if they have to go past the first round and into the playoffs of the tournament. "Look, at the moment we are not performing in the big moments of the game, when the big moments come either we are batting or bowling, I don't think we are winning them," Morris said at the post-match press conference. "There was a very big moment in our first game, which we won in the last over. But apart from that we haven't, by any means, played our best cricket. I thought our first half from the last game was really really good and we were outdone by Delhi bowling attack. We should pull up our socks a little-bit when big moments in the game (come).” Morris himself has been abysmal with the ball in the second phase of the tournament. In the two matches, he has played so far in the UAE, he has conceded as many as 47 runs in four overs against the Punjab Kings while his three-over bowling effort in the last game against the Sunrisers cost the Royals 27 runs.
IPL 2021 | RR vs SRH: Hits & Flops as Sunrisers rise from slumber to spoil Royals' party
The contest between the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Rajasthan Royals had a completely different meaning for both sides. For the orange army, it was one attempt to salvage some pride after being positioned at the bottom of the table forever, while for the men in pink this game could have opened the door for the path upwards on the points table. Turned out, the Sunrisers proved to be a spoiler for the Royals who faced a heavy defeat and made life difficult for themselves in the IPL 2021. Here, we’ll analyse the best and worst of the performance of the night that turned the game in the favour of the Sunrisers and snatched the game away from the Royals. Hits Kane Williamson It must be very tough for the captain of a sinking ship to be calm and simplistic about his own process and routine, but if the name of the captain is Kane Williamson, all those qualities are given, as a matter of fact. If there are some qualities that he has established on his CV as an international cricketer over a decade, his ability to pick moments he wants to conquer and his ability to lift the tempo without breaking into any sweat are the two prominent ones. All of those qualities were on full-on display against the Royals as he batted with absolute calm and authority along with precision-guided strokes to take the Sunrisers home for the first time in the sixth game. The task of cutting the Royals’ score to size was already done by Jason Roy and Williamson needed to realise his stay at the crease was more essential for Sunrisers than his aggression and inevitably he chose his moments to inflict body blow to the opposition. He walked out to bat to replace Wriddhiman Saha who fell after giving a brilliant start with Roy and hit the winning runs. There was no fuss in his batting and the bowlers were milked into the gaps for runs to make the Royals look like a deflated unit who appeared to be only physically in the game. Williamson has taken over from David Warner and it is likely that he will have to oversee and script the resurface of the brand Sunrisers after two consecutive abysmal seasons and hence his stamp on the brand of cricket team plays was visible on the Sunriser’s approach. Jason Roy Since his emergence on the international stage for England, Jason Roy’s USP has been his ability to take the attack to the opposition camp from the word go, and the Sunrisers were in desperate need of all those qualities at the top of the order with David Warner going through a tumultuous phase in his career. However, he was overshadowed by Saha at the start of the innings before Mustafizur Rahman offered free run-scoring opportunities and he did not need a second invitation to capitalise and send the run-scoring soaring. A couple of boundaries against Mustafizur liberated him and an off-colour Chris Morris was too friendly with the full toss and half volleys and what looked like another sluggish innings by Sunriers batsmen was transformed into swashbuckling in a matter of two overs. Saha left him at the stroke of the end of the powerplay but he was snot finished and reached a deserving half-century that set up the platform for a convincing win for the Sunrisers. Sanju Samson Throughout the entire length of his career, Sanju Samson has never been a crowd pleaser except on the day when all is working for him. More often than not he frustrates his fans than giving them reasons to celebrate and a lot of those were contributed to his style of batting. He never used to care about losing his wicket in the process of maximising his potential of striking the ball but the method was too risky and he was getting more failures than succes. He vehemently rejected the idea of spending time at the crease in order to bring consistency saying it would be a “selfish” thought process. But, it has started to appear that he has finally accepted the mode of preservation over attacking to ensure more runs from the bat. In the ongoing edition of the league, Samson has scored 433 runs from 10 games at a stupendous average of 54.12 runs per innings, which is as much as 20 percentage points higher than his previous best of 34.20 in the 2019 edition. For all the talks around his inconsistency, he has quietly modelled his way of batting and he showcased all of that against the Sunrisers. He took as many as six balls to get off the mark and the first nine balls produced only six runs including a four that came off an invitational short and wide ball by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He was quite prepared to spend time at the other end while Yashasvi Jaiswal was going great guns from the other side of the pitch. However, he was not missing out on loose deliveries and hence his method can’t be deemed “defensive” or “negative”. Till the ninth over when Jaiswal got out, Samson was batting at a run a ball 25 and although he increased his tempo over the next 15 balls, his real shot of intent resembling his stylish best came in the 15th over when he danced down the wicket off Rashid Khan and deposited him over the long-off fence. Samson did not look back from that point and punished an indisciplined Siddarth Kaul for 20-run over in the 16th over. The ease at which he smashed him through the corners of the ground ratified his decision of preserving his wicket at the start. With the first run coming off the sixth ball and just 25 runs off the first 25 balls, Samson roared to a 56-ball 82 establishing the change in his batting style. It could well be argued if his aggression would have been more worthy for the Royals as they could have gone past the par score but Samson is now showing a willingness to change his batting and only time will tell how much do does it affect his personal and team’s overall performance. Flops Sandeep Sharma Sandeep Sharma has been an uncanny bowler in his IPL career and his exploits in the powerplay have been exemplary over the years. He was the underrated pillar of the Sunrisers’ success over the years but it seems he too has gone past his use-by date in terms of executing similar performances. He has taken a lot of wickets with the new ball but on the night against the Royals, he allowed Jaiswal to open his arms and the men in pink were up and running with 11 runs on the board in the first over itself. To his credit, the second boundary of the first over was a streaky shot but the right-arm offered him another couple of freebies in his next over and his first two overs accounted for a whopping 22 runs. He redeemed himself just a bit by picking the wicket of Jaiswal but not before he had given the Royals a perfect platform at the top of the order. Chris Morris Chris Morris is the most expansive player in the history of the IPL and like many costly players in the past, he too has been too expensive per wicket and runs scored compared to the load on the team’s purse. He was dropped from the last game after having a forgettable night against the Punjab Kings where he was taken to the cleaners for 47 runs in his four overs, but the Royals need his all-around ability and hence adopted hope on him as a strategy against the Sunrisers. Both the hope and Morris was not ready to please Samson and the all-rounder had another harrowing night against the Kane Williamson side. He was tasked to stop Jason Roy’s juggernaut as big players are generally assigned the task of executing grand tasks but he ended up offering freebies to the right-hander and he took the game away from the men in pink. All other four teams such as the RCB, KKR, MI and PBKS would have been very happy with the Sunrisers registering a much-awaited game as it complicate the path of qualification for the Royals. For the Sunrisers, the win meant a lot as it highlighted their willingness to accept that the glorious past will no longer work for them anymore as the trio of David Warner, Kedar Jadhav and Manish Pandey were shown the door for young players such as Priam Garg and Abdul Samad.
IPL 2021 | DC vs RR: Royals run into indomitable Capitals after spirit-lifting win over Kings
Not often result of one game depict true picture of the state a team is in but the last games of the Delhi Capitals and the Rajasthan Royals drew a perfect image of where these two sides stand in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League. As they have been on the points table, in the race to the final four, the Royals were living on the edge till the last ball of the game and won by a slim margin has been on the brink on the most part of the second innings. On the other hand, the Delhi Capitals were bullish and dominated against a feeble opponent in the form of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last game. No wonder, the Rishabh Pant’s Capitals are ruling while the Sanju Samson’s men in pink are gazing at the middle of the points table of the ongoing edition of the IPL. For the Capitals, it was a normal day in the office against the Sunrisers as their two most potent weapons with the ball in Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje ripped the heart of the Sunriers’ batting in the open. The balling examination was followed by a usual batting juggernaut led by the openers in Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan. However, it will be the Royals who will be more ecstatic going into the next game albeit the intensity of the momentous challenges the Capitals will throw at them. They will be delighted to see the young guns in Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mahipal Lomror and Karthik Tyagi standing up to be counted in the absence of international stars. No stars? No problem says Indian talents After the withdrawal of Jos Buttler, the last cog of the vital English wheels came off for the Royals and they had no established international stars to boost the aggressive quotient for them, especially at the top of the order with the bat. They signed up Evin Lewis as Buttler’s replacement but the move was a tactical one keeping in mind his form in the recently-concluded CPL instead of a larger strategic one to have a stable top order. However, what they badly needed was an impetus from their Indian players and all those wishes were fulfilled in the first game of the second phase. Yashasvi Jaiswal has been touted as one for the future but the Royals needed him to show belongs to the present as well as they are in a precarious situation in the race for playoffs. He opened the batting with Lewis and showed his full range of shots to establish his belongings at the top of the order. His onslaught was followed by another young batsman’s colossus innings. Mahipal Lomror put waters on all the plans of the Punjab Kings to choke in the middle overs by the experienced leg spinner Adil Rashid. The duo contributed big time in allowing the Royals to set up a big enough total on the board to allow the Kings to mess up a chase in the last over bowled by another young Indian in Karthik Tyagi. Yes, the Royals have not unearthed a young trio of Jaiswal, Lomror and Tyagi to replace the trio of Buttler, Stokes and Archer but the job was well done by the Indian trio and the Royals are alive and kicking in the IPL 2021. However, one of their biggest test will come against the Capitals as the duo of Rabada and Nortje will come steaming in to test their throat and toes while the likes of Pant and Hetmyer will test Karthik’s execution under pressure in the eyes of attack in the last overs. Delhi Capitals vs Rajasthan Royals: Match Details Match number: 36 Date and Time: 15:30 IST (10:00 GMT), 14:00 LOCAL Venue: Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi Pitch and Weather The pitches at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium have been a little two-paced in the past and both the pacers and the spinners have enjoyed relatively equal success at this venue in the shortest format. There have been two games this season at this venue and teams have struggled to mount severe damages on the bowling sides in both games. In the first game, the Royal Challengers Bangalore were plummeted to 92 all out while the Mumbai Indians were denied to 155 in the second game against the Kolkata Knight Riders. The game between the Capitals and the Royals will be a day affair and hence high humidity can also help the pacers to swing the ball. Team News Delhi Capitals The Capitals suffered an injury setback in the last game as Marcus Stoinis pulled up while bowling in the last game against the Sunriers and it’s highly likely that the all-rounder will miss the game against the Royals. However, Nortje has said that Stoinis appears to be “good” and “fine” but the management is waiting for the results of the scan. “We are just waiting on some results. He looks good, he is fine. I spoke to him this morning, but we are just waiting for some results. He had gone for a scan,” Nortje said in a virtual press conference. They are already without Chris Woakes who could have been a like for like replacement but the Capitals will now fret over replacing Stoinis without compromising their balance. Stoinis was their sixth bowler who was offering flamboyance to the batting order and the Capitals will struggle to find a replacement of his pedigree in such a short while. They can bring Sam Billings to replace Stoinis, the batsman and bank on an experienced set of five bowlers to deliver four overs each. The combination of Rabada and Nortje is all but likely to continue after they were paired once again after coming to the UAE while the pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel will form the slow-bowling conundrum for the Royals batting lineup. Probable XI Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (C &WK), Sam Billings, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan Rajasthan Royals Although the Royals have not cracked the perfect playing XI combination yet they are all set to field an unchanged XI more due to lack of options. Their most expensive player Chris Morris had an unforgettable game against the Kings but the team management led by Sanju Samson and Kumar Sangakkara would not be willing to take such a big call of overlooking him that too in the absence of Archer, Stokes and Buttler. The opening pair of Jaiswal and Lewis will continue followed by Samson at number three, Liam Livingstone and Lomror at four and five respectively. The bowling attack will remain to rely on Morris and Tyagi for express pace while the likes of Chetan Sakariya and Mustafizur Rahman will add the variation quotient to the pace department. Rahul Tewatia along with Lomror and Riyan Parag will fill in as bowlers to give Samson more manoeuvrability with the bowling attack. However, one of their biggest test will come against the Capitals as the duo of Rabada and Nortje will come steaming in to test their throat and toes while the likes of Pant and Hetmyer will test Karthik’s execution under pressure in the eyes of attack in the last overs. Probable XI Yashasvi Jaiswal, Evin Lewis, Sanju Samson (C&WK), Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, Kartik Tyagi Delhi Capitals vs Rajasthan Royals: Fantasy XI Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant(WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prithvi Shaw, Chris Morris, Axar Patel, Kartik Tyagi, Mustafizur Rahman, Kagiso Rabada Captain: Shikhar Dhawan Vice-captain: Evin Lewis
IPL 2021 | PBKS vs RR: Hits and Flops as hopeless Kings fumble in another seamless chase
The familiar story of snatching defeat from the jaws of defeat continued for the Punjab Kings as they slipped into another infuriating loss against the Rajasthan Royals after acing the chase till the last over of the game. Superlative fifties from the skipper KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal kept them ahead of the curve and then the partnership between Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran strolled in the chase of 186 runs. However, with just four runs requiring off the final over, Karthik Tyagi first denied them boundaries on the first few balls and then took the wicket of Pooran to send the Kings on the know territory of disappointing final over. He followed it up with a dot ball and the wicket of Deepak Hooda to make what was looking like a walk in the park a tough ask of three runs of the final ball for Fabian Allen. With the win, the Royals surged to the of the table while the Kings slipped to on the points table of the ongoing edition of the IPL 2021. Hits Karthik Tyagi When Karthik Tyagi started the final over of the game against the Kings, the game seemed to be over for the Royals but the ability of the Kings to make a defeating position for themselves from any situation kept them in the game. The last time any bowler defended four runs in an over, he would have been in secondary school and it tells how the odds were heavily stacked against him and the Royals. Unknown to what was ahead of him, he could not deliver the first ball on the perfect spot but Pooran failed to capitalise on it. He did not repeat the mistake though and delivered balls in the blockhole one after the other and denied both Markram and Pooran any opportunity to get under. Reducing the equation to three runs off the last four balls, he first removed Pooran with a yorker that the left-hander jarred to the skipper Samson. He tactically bowled the next two delivery wide from Deepak Hooda and removed him on the penultimate delivery. Having reduced the equation significantly in the favour of the Royals with three required off the last ball which was to be faced by the new batsman Fabian Allen, Karthik did not relent from the yorker length and as soon as he missed, there was a sense of jubilation in the Royals camp and despair and disbelief in the Kings' camp. If not for the two wickets and immense discipline with the ball in the last over, the night would have been a middling one for the young Indian pacer, but he made sure to put his hands up when the Royals needed a special performance. Mayank Agarwal The Kings needed momentum at the top of the order in pursuit of 186 runs but unlike the recent past, Mayank Agarwal was not the aggressor for them. Instead, he was struggling in the first five overs while KL Rahul was going all guns blazing from the other end. Until the first five overs, his score appeared pedestrian with just nine runs off the 14 balls before Mustafizur Rahman allowed him space to get under the ball. He lifted a slower ball over the bowler’s head to get going and never looked back since then. Rahul Tewatia allowed him the same space in the next over and the right-hander was up to it. However, the flood gates opened for him in the next over delivered by Tyagi, who offered him three half volleys to feats upon. From nine runs off 14 runs, Agarwal quickly surged to a 27-ball 35 by the end of the eighth over. The hard-earned momentum was not squandered by him and the most expansive player in the Royals setup—Chris Morris was despatched for two effortless sixes in the 10th over to establish their domination in the game. Agarwal would be disappointed with not finishing the job for his side but his innings kept the Kings ahead in the game till his dismissal. Arshdeep Singh When Arshdeep Singh was brought into the attack by KL Rahul, he was desperate to end the first partnership between Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal and the young pacer from Punjab did just that by sending the West Indian left-hander back to the pavilion. He was held back for some unknown reasons at that time but his exploit in the wake of desperate Royals’ batsmen ratified the call by KL Rahul. After a successful over, he was brought back to the attack only in the 12th over when the Kings were looking to send back another dangerous batsman in Livingstone. He once again succeded although Allen was the major reason behind Livingstone’s departure. Just like the first over, he was again taken off the bowling attack as Rahul had other ambitious plans for him. He was held back till the last four overs and was brought back to bowl the tough 18th and the 20th over. By the end of the 16th over, the Royals were well poised to go past the 200 runs on the board but the Kings bowlers had other plans in mind, and best of them all was Arshedeep Singh who dismissed yet another dangerous-looking batsman in Mahipal Lomror to check the Royals’ juggernaut. He finished the game with a fabulous fifer to showcase his repertoire of variations to keep on providing big and tactical wickets in different phases of the game. Flops Chris Morris “I would like to say that I have the biggest match-winner sitting alongside me. So, I don’t have any worries. There is no pressure. We all love and enjoy playing with Chris. With Chris in our side, I feel that happy days are ahead of us.” These were the words of the Royals skipper Sanju Samson before their first game of the second phase of the IPL 2021 and he had little idea of how those words will come upside down for him and his side against the Kings. Morris was introduced into the attack when Samson asked him to remove the threatening pair of Rahul and Agarwal. To be fair to Morris, he would have dismissed Rahul if Riyan Parag would not have spilt a relatively easy chance. Morris’ second over came as a nightmare for both him and the Royals as he offered two juicy half volleys to Agarwal and he obliged with two crisp flicks that sailed over the long leg boundary. To make things worse and embarrassing for the men in pink, his misery was snot over and he conceded two more boundaries in the over to provide proper lift to the Kings opening pair. A bowling figure of 2-0-31-0 was not becoming for the stature of Chris Morris and things turned so bad for him that his skipper who had proclaimed him as a match-winner before the game, could bowl him only three overs that yielded a whopping 47 runs. Adil Rashid Adil Rashid has been a champion leg spinner in the international arena for some time now and hence his non-selection in the IPL auction has attracted many criticisms over the past few years. His variations and experience were too good to be ignored for a long time and the Kings opted to rope him as a replacement for Jhye Richardson for the second phase of the tournament. However, like a lot of international stars have faced in the IPL, Rashid was treated with absolute disrespect by fearless batsmen in Jaisawal and Lomror who thrashed his inaccurate line and lengths which were so out of place for an experienced campaigner like him. Rashid tried a lot of googlies against the left-handers but his control over length was horrible and both Jaisawal and Lomror charged him to hit over the top and followed them up by waiting deep inside the crease preempting a shorter delivery from him. It was a fascinating battle between a champion spinner who has been flummoxing batsmen across the world with his variations and two young Indian batsmen who were playing his deliveries with a fearless approach and not his reputation. The Royals will be cock a hoop over this close win over the Kings that has kept them in contention for the final stage of the tournament while the Kings have been forced into a quagmire to ask themselves a tough question of for how long things can go like this.
Sanju Samson pins hope on Chris Morris as Rajasthan prepare for Punjab challenge
Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has pinned his hopes on the franchise’s most expensive player Chris Morris who was bought for an eye shattering deal of Rs. 16.25 crore. With Rajasthan ailing from pullouts their core international stars, the team finds themselves at a tight spot with just six points from seven matches. In the pre-match virtual press conference, Samson stated that he has full faith in the ‘biggest match-winner’ Chris Morris and that the franchise have no pressure despite missing the likes of Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer. “I would like to say that I have the biggest match-winner sitting alongside me. So, I don’t have any worries. There is no pressure. We all love and enjoy playing with Chris. With Chris in our side, I feel that happy days are ahead of us,” Samson said with Morris alongside him in the press conference. Morris, who had a great outing back in 2020 with the Royal Challengers Bangalore was picked up by Rajasthan as his stocks rose in world cricket for his leadership skills and personality. While his recruitment has not exactly turned Royals’ ship around, but the all-rounder himself has had a decent outing with 14 wickets from 7 matches. Speaking about his role in the Rajasthan squad, Morris explained that it is his job to keep the guys calm and relay the important information to his captain Samson. “My role as an experienced player is to keep the guys calm. I will stand at mid-on or mid-off and have a chat with the other bowlers. If I pick something up, I will relay the message to Sanju. I have been doing this role for the whole of my career. Irrespective of whether the other experienced guys are there or not in the team, I do it. I will definitely help Sanju,” Morris spoke about his duties. Rajasthan have a steep road ahead of them if they want to qualify for the playoffs and will be looking beyond Morris in this second leg of the Indian Premier League. They will hope for their captain to come good along with new recruits like Liam Livingstone and Tabraiz Shamsi, who have both set world cricket on fire in the last year. Rajasthan play their first match on Tuesday, 21 September against Punjab Kings in the Dubai International Stadium.
IPL 2021 | PBKS vs RR: Inconsistent Kings, underachieving Royals seek flourishing finish
When the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League was halted in awake of multiple Covid-19 cases in more than one franchise, there would have been two sides if not more that would have welcomed a break although it came in an unwanted manner. Both the Punjab Kings and the Rajasthan Royals would not have hated the prospect of a reset earlier in May and more so, the Royals would have hoped to use the break for better and get things in order. They also suffered from severe inconsistency and did not play like a team and hence the break would have rejuvenated the players. The Royals would have also hoped for getting their trump cards in Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes back in the camp with a long layoff. However, instead, their problems in terms of having England superstars have only been compounded as Jos Buttler has pulled out of the league. The Kings too suffered a similar fate with their skipper KL Rahul getting ruled out of the tournament and if it would not for the Covid disruption, they would have had to manage without their batsmen in the critical juncture of the competition. Now, as the Kings and the Royals come head to head in the second game of the revamped IPL 2021, both KL Rahul and Sanju Samson would be looking forward to putting inconsistency behind them and embark on a clinical journey to ensure a smooth path towards the play-off. Rahul and Samson: Similar fortunes, different processes Royals’ skipper Sanju Samson has not been named in India’s squad for the upcoming World T20 and he would like to put on performances to establish what he brings to the table. Although he rated the mindset of having an eye on India selection while playing in IPL a “wring mindset”, he would be the first to admit that it is the larger picture that every young Indian player has in their minds. Samson has been there on the IPL stage for a long time now and he has earned the reputation of being both an extraordinary striker of the ball, who times the ball imperiously as well a batsman who fail to see the larger picture on most occasions and throws his wicket away. Maybe, it’s his quality of overlooking the larger picture that allows him to go for the full glory which produces match-winning innings. The Royals will need their skipper to put his hands up in the absence of marquee players if they have to stand chance to get through the first stage of the league. The Kings’ skipper KL Rahul has been scrutinised for contrasting bit of frailties. He has been found out batting conservatively and not attacking the ball enough to propel the sides. He has been criticised for not scoring quickly in the last few seasons of the IPL and his intent has been in question by fans and watchers. His case is exactly opposite to Samson but where do they live similar lives is that both of them form the core and the determining factor of the batting orders of their respective sides. Samson has not let the responsibility affect his game in terms of losing his batting temp while Rahul has gone in with the attitude of shielding his team first before taking the game to the opposition camp. If either of the sides has to go past the first round, they will have to show better consistency and team performance than they did in the first half of the tournament or else they will be forced to pack bags very soon with the level of competition heating up in the desert. Match Details Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals Match no.: 32 Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai Time: 19:30 IST (14:00 GMT), 18:00 Local Broadcast: Star Sports network, Disney +Hotstar Pitch and weather There was pace and bounce on the pitch at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the last game played at the venue between the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings and there is little to no evidence that it won’t be the same for the next game. Both the sides have able bowling attacks that can take advantage of pace and bounce with the new ball however it could also start to slow down in the second innings and the Kings will have more variety and flair in the bowling attack with two leg spinners in the squad to cover for both scenarios. A high level of humidity in the first game helped the pacer generate swing and the trend of high humidity is likely to be continued. Team News Punjab Kings The Kings will miss the Australian pace duo of Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson on the surface priming ample assistance to pacers but the introduction of Nathan Ellis should serve their purpose. India’s Mohammed Shami could offer new ball opportunities for KL Rahul while Chris Jordan can also help the Kings with death bowling. They also have a highly experienced and successful bowler of this format in Adil Rashid and the Kings might pull a rabbit out of the hat by teaming him with the rookie Ravi Bishnoi. The batting order looks settled with the skipper Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and the “universe boss” Chris Gayle forming the top order and the likes of Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda and Shahrukh Khan providing the X-factor to the middle order. Probable XI KL Rahul (C &WK), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh RR The men in pink will be hoping that Evin Lewis would not let them miss the firepower of Jos Buttler and the left-hander has been in the form of his life to promise just what the Royals are expecting of him. The young Yashasvi Jaiswal has not cracked the IPL code yet but the Royals are not likely to give up on him midway through the season. The skipper Samson will have to take the bulk of the responsibility of the Royals’ batting fortunes in the remaining eight matches of the season. Chris Morris was in great batting and bowling form in the first half and they would be expecting nothing less than match-winning performances every now and then of him. The Royals signed up the number one bowler in the ICC T20 Rankings, Tabraiz Shamsi and he is most likely to play ahead of Mustafizur Rahman at least at the start of the competition. He has been flummoxing batsmen all across the world with his variations and the Royals would love to throw him against the bullish stroke-making batting lineup of the Kings. Probable XI Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (C &WK), David Miller, Shivam Dube, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Tabraiz Shamsi, Chetan Sakariya PBKS vs RR: Fantasy XI Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Adil Rashid, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Chetan Sakariya Captain: KL Rahul Vice-captain: Sanju Samson