With Gill’s 70*, KKR register their first win at Dream11 IPL 2020 against SRH!

Shubman gill and Eoin Morgan uplifted the Knight Riders and settled Sunrisers at the bottom of the points table.

The eighth match of Dream11 IPL 2020 took place between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Shaikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. Skipper David Warner choosed to bat first for sunrisers. The dew was a concern for both teams plus the ground has long boundaries, so bowlers were sure to benifit as compared to the other grounds in UAE.

Picture courtesy: Outlook India

Dinesh Kartik, captaining KKR decided couple of changes for his team. He brought in debutant Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Varun in place of Sandeep and Nikhil respectively. In SRH, Wridhhiman Saha came in for Vijay shankar as the latter had tweaked his back. Nabi came in for Marsh and Khaleel came in for Sandeep Sharma.

Both the teams had a poor start this season so both were here to claim their first victory under the moon. Perhaps, we had only one winner – Knight Riders. SRH had given a target of 143 to chase which the Kolkata franchise did it convincingly, at the loss of 3 wickets and 12 balls to spare.

SRH’s Warner and Bairstow opened the game as KKR’s Narine bowled the first over. First wicket fell for SRH at 3.6 over. Birthday boy Bairstow returned after scoring just scoring 5 runs from 10 without hitting any boundaries.

KKR after getting first wicket of SRH.
Picture courtesy: Twitter/@IPL

After the opener departed, Manish Pandey came in and built a decent partnership of 35 runs with Warner who later was dismissed by Chakravarty. Warner scored 36 runs off 25 balls which included two boundaries and a maximum. As Saha joined Pandey, they added another 60 runs for the total. Manish Pandey hit his half century but was caught and bowled by Andre Russel in the next few deliveries itself. He scored 51 runs off 38 balls. He hit three 4s and two 6s. We should even appreciate Manish Pandey’s half century as he is one of most underated player.

Manish Pandey after scoring an fifty.
Picture courtesy: Twitter/@SunRisers

The pace of the game slowed down. The Sunrisers had just 121 runs at the end of 17 overs. After Pandey, Nabi came in to bat. Unfortunately, Saha was run out on the second ball of the 19th over by the the wicket keeper Karthik. Saha had scored just 30 runs off 31 balls which included a 4 and a 6. Young man Abhishek Sharma came in to bat. He scored just 2 runs from the 3 balls he faced while Nabi scored 11 runs in 8 balls with two boundaries. The final score was 142 for 4.

We can say bowlers of Knight Riders did a good job of controlling the run rate which put pressure on the opponent. Cummin’s spell was the best amongst KKR’s bowling. His figures were 4-0-19-1.

Picture courtesy: Twitter/@KKRiders

In second innings KKR’s Shubman gill and Narine gill opened as SRH’s Bhuvneshwar kumar bowled the first over. First wicket fell for KKR in the second ball of the second over by Khaleel Ahmed. Narine went out for a duck, caught by Warner. Nitish rana came in to bat to support Gill. Rana’s wicket fell in 4.4 over caught by Saha which was bowled by T Natarajan. Rana scored 26 runs of just 13 balls in which he hit 6 boundaries. Skipper Dinesh Kartik also went out for duck. He was caught leg before wicket by Rashid khan at 6.2 overs. But the opener Shubman Gill was still batting on other side, playing shots on all sides of ground. After the skipper, Eoin stayed with Gill.

Picture courtesy: Twitter/@IPL

On the third ball of 13th over, our young man Gill scored his half century and on second ball of 15th over, partnership between Gill and Morgan reached 50 runs. At this stage, KKR had put up 102 runs on the score board. Gill-Morgan now had the license to play a destructive innings especially in the death overs. The completed the team’s target on the last ball of 18th over. Morgan hit a boundary to do and celebrated in style!

Winning Scenes…
Picture courtesy: Twitter/@IPL

SRH’s two bowlers bowled decently which were Rashid khan with bowling figures of 4-0-25-1 and Mohammad nabi with bowling figures of 4-0-23-0. But all of their efforts went in vain.

Shubman Gill made 70 runs off 62 balls with five boundaries and two maximum. Keeping his wicket safe, he showed his patience and calmness. Eoin Morgan also played a great innings, giving his quickest cameo of 42 runs from 29 balls, hitting three fours and two sixes.

Gill and Morgan together paved an easy way for victory of KKR. It was a low scoring match and keeping seven wickets in hand, they registered their first two points for this season.

“We have been working really hard. I think one of the advantages of having all-rounders and it is a privilege to use them whenever I can. The fact that we have been able to groom the youngsters is pleasing It feels good to see the youngsters doing well”. – Winning captain Dinesh Kartik in post-match speech.

Shubman Gill was given a Man of the match award as he pulled victorious innings for KKR.

I think the ball wasn’t spinning much and was easy to hit down the ground. I have practised power hitting in the last couple of years. I think it was important for us to win. There weren’t any long conversations with Morgan. We were just trying to anticipate what the bowlers can try and do. As an opener it is my duty to see my team through. – Man of the match Shubman Gill

MI wipe out KKR with all-round performance, register first win in UAE since 2014

After losing their first game this season, MI pulled out all stops and outdid KKR in every department in a hard fought contest.

On 23rd September 2020, Mumbai Indians took on Kolkata Knight Riders in the fifth match of Dream 11 Indian Premier league (IPL). Team MI led by Rohit Sharma won against KKR by 49 runs. It was MI’s first win this season.
KKR won the toss and chose to field while the Rohit Sharma along with Quinton De Cock decided to open for MI. De Cock exited the pitch after Shivam Malvi dismissed him in second over.

SKY’s the limit was the word going around after MI’s Suryakumar Yadav (SKY) came in bat blazing and fired off four fours in the third over. He settled in to score a breezy 90 runs, laying the foundation for a big total.

Picture courtesy : NDTV sports

In the fifth over, MI captain Sharma
lit up the stands and punted KKR’s Pat Cummins for two sixes. Sharma then went off on Russell, firing off a four and a six. A strong partnership was led by Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav resulted as fifty run partnership.

By the eighth over, team MI hit 80 runs with Kuldeep Yadav bowling at Suryakumar. MI was reaching 100 runs with this spectacular partnership, until Suryakumar got knocked out. Rohit then brought up his 37th IPL fifty in the IPL before MI moved past hundred in the twelfth over. Till the fourteenth Over, MI had completed their more than 140 run. Later on Sharma went onto hit super sixes twice, which made his record of 200 sixes in IPL. Saurabh Tiwary was on the pitch, looking good, scoring 21 in 13 balls before getting out off Sunil Narine’s bowling.

After Tiwary’s dismissal, Hardik Pandya carried MI past the 150-run mark in 17th over. Rohit Sharma’s stellar innings came to an end in the 18th over after scoring 80 off 54 balls, hitting 3 fours and 6 sixes, as Mavi picked up his second wicket of the match.

In the 19th over, Kolkata got their hands on the game as Hardik got knocked out by Russell’s outstanding bowling. It was hit wicket. Scoring 13 runs in the final over, MI’s total score was 195/5.

Kolkata Knight Riders needed 196 to win against the Mumbai Indians. But none of the KKR batsmen could get going, and their only hope faded when Jasprit Bumrah clean-bowled Andre Russell.

Starting with first wicket in third over itself, Shubham Gill was dismissed by Trent Boult.

Picture courtesy: Hindustan Times

But as the match proceeded, the KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik hit a couple of spectacular sixes. De Cock in the field chased the fine ball hit by Narine, got it caught and made it a wicket. It was in fifth over MI got their second wicket.

KKR got their powerplay in place when Nitish Rana got on field. KKR lost their third wicket in the 11th over as Rahul Chahar trapped Karthik before the wickets for 30.
As the game went on, in the 18th over, Cummins scored three sixes on Bumrah’s bowling. In the final over, the MI sealed the win as Mavi was stumped on the final ball of the innings.

Post the innings, Rohit Sharma was titled ‘Man of the Match’. Rohit, who did not get his timings right against CSK in the first match of this IPL, still looked slow in running between the wicket, but showed glimpses of his old self as he almost single-handedly took MI to a position of strength. He was supported well by Suryakumar Yadav.
Now it would be interesting to see how tomorrow’s match between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore turns.

Dream11 Women’s Indian Premier 2020? YES! IT’S HAPPENING!

Post Men’s IPL, Women’s IPL is all set to create a excitement amongst the people around the globe.

Dream11 Women’s IPL 2020 will be bigger and better! Throughout the lockdown, what people missed the most other than going out was outdoor sports tournament. With Men’s IPL buzzing every year, Women’s Indian Premier League is racing up.

The coronavirus pandemic saddened everyone as it crashed all hopes for any cricketing action to take place. Initially, BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) President Sourav Ganguly assured us that we will have IPL 2020 with slight delay and some changes in the schedule. But increasing cases in India left everyone guessing.

*Team Supernova along with team Trailblazer on the pitch during Women’s IPL 2019*
*Source: Twitter*

“Due to the evolving global health concerns regarding Covid-19 and lockdown measures implemented by the Government of India to contain the spread of the pandemic, the IPL Governing Council of the BCCI has decided that the IPL 2020 Season will be suspended till further notice,” said BCCI secretary Jay Shah in a statement released on 16th April’20.

Inaugurated as an impromptu match in 2018, Women’s IPL picked up in 2019 with 3 teams playing in round-robin format. The three teams Supernovas, Trailblazers and Velocity were lead by Harmanpreet Kaur, Smrithi Mandhana and Mithali Raj respectively. HP’s out-of-the-world fielding in the first innings followed by a brilliant knock of 51 runs from 37 balls led her team lift the trophy. They won the match with 4 wickets to play.

*Smriti Mandhana, captain of Trailblazers along with Harmanpreet Kaur, captain of Supernovas at the toss for the final match held at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, India on 6th May’19.*
Source: Twitter

The concept of Women’s IPL to give change to young, local talent just like the other gender. The entire cricket fraternity stands in support of young girls and women coming forward and showcasing their talent which is not restricted to anchoring. This is to do with smashing sixes all over the park.

According former Indian women’s captain, Jhulan Goswami, “Women’s IPL will be a bigger achievement for our country this year.”

It’s sad that the audience will not get to visit the stadium but the Wisden and Vogue is commendable. We now have women heroes too in the likes Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Ellyse Perry, Amelia Kerr and many more.

Women’s IPL this year will be held from 1st Novemeber to 10th November at same locations as that of men’s cricket. The schedule isn’t out yet (as of 10th September) but we are sure to see some action. The good news is that instead of 2 or 3, we will have 4 teams this year to make the women’s tournament all the more exciting.

To catch all the action, tune into Star Sports network in India or live stream your favourite matches on Disney+Hotstar.