Cricket

Bengaluru, Gujarat Titans, preyed on by a sporting pitch, accurate Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowlers and their own inhibitions, laboured to a modest 147 all out in the Indian Premier League match here on Saturday. Spot-on RCB bowlers limit Gujarat Titans to below-par 147 There were a couple of good partnerships – 61 between David Miller and Shahrukh Khan and 44 by Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan – but the Titans lacked that one big innings or a stand that could have given them a firmer grip on the match. Unlock exclusive access to the latest news on India’s general elections, only on the HT App. Download Now! Download Now! In fact, they seemed distinctly incapable of accelerating even in the Power Play as their top-order batters struggled against RCB pacers, Mohammed Siraj and Yash Dayal who stuck to a wonderful length on a pitch that offered good carry and bounce. That GT managed to strike just two fours in the Power Play segment offered ample evidence to their struggle and RCB bowlers’ accuracy. The Gujarat side’s Power Play score of 23 for three was the lowest in the segment this season, and it was mainly due to Siraj’s domination upfront. Coming off a short-break, the pacer looked a far improved version of himself after the struggles of initial stages where he sprayed the ball all around. He consumed Wriddhiman Saha with a fine outswinger which the GT opener wafted to Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps. Shubman Gill followed soon as his attempted swat to the on-side of Siraj took a leading edge and ended in the hands of Vysakh Vijayakumar at deep point. Cameron Green fetched the third wicket for RCB in the Power Play when he jettisoned in-form B Sai Sudharsan, whose feeble pull close to the body was snaffled by Virat Kohli at mid-off. Once their top two run-getters of the season walked back to the dugout, the rest of the batters needed to step up big time for GT to reach a competitive total. Miller and Shahrukh tried their best to drag GT out of the woods with a well-paced 61-run alliance off 37 balls for the fourth wicket. Miller was even fortunate to get dropped on 23 off Green by Karn Sharma near square leg, did play some archetypal power shots. He punished leg-spinner Karn for a couple of sixes – a pull and a loft over extra cover – but fell to the same bowler when a miscued heave was grabbed by Glenn Maxwell at deep. But a bigger misfortune was in store for the visitors as Shahrukh, who backed up a tad too far to Rahul Tewatia’s soft drop, could not beat a throw from Kohli to the non-striker’s end. For the sixth-wicket, Tewatia and Rashid added 44 off 29 balls, but the latter’s desire to be innovative against Yash Dayal saw the ball crashing onto the stumps. Tewatia, who punished Karn for 18 runs in the 16th over, too perished soon as GT limped to a below-par total. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

Lucknow Super Giants fast bowler Mayank Yadav. | Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena Lucknow Super Giants’ young pace sensation Mayank Yadav is likely to miss the rest of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season, team head coach Justin Langer confirmed in Lucknow on May 5. Speaking on the eve of his side’s clash against Kolkata Knight Riders, Langer said Mayank suffered a muscle tear during his side’s last game against Mumbai Indians. The right-arm quick, who had suffered a similar injury earlier in the season, failed to complete his four overs during the win over MI. “He [Mayank] just had a scan and got a small tear in a similar area to his last injury. It is very unfortunate. He had his rehabilitation and went into the [Mumbai Indians] game completely pain-free,” said Langer. “We will be praying that he can play in the playoff. But I am a realist. It will probably be difficult for him to return for the back-end of the tournament.” The 21-year-old Mayank had a storming start to the season as he garnered the cricket world’s attention for his blistering pace before he was struck down with injuries. “In my experience, every young fast bowler, probably until they get to 25 or 26, is going to experience such different injuries,” added Langer.

Kolkata Knight Riders’ fast bowler Mitchell Starc celebrates during the match against Mumbai Indians in Mumbai on May 3, 2024. | Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini Every time Mitchell Starc runs in donning the Kolkata Knight Riders’ purple this season, more than his craft, it’s the mind-boggling bid of ₹24.75 crore that is discussed. Add to it the lanky left-arm pacer’s subdued first half of the IPL season and the term “price-tag pressure” was being hurled more frequently than Starc’s accuracy with his lethal yorkers. On Friday night, at the Wankhede Stadium, however, Starc found his mojo. Not only did he get rid of Ishan Kishan with a trademark inswinging yorker that crashed into the leg-stump but the left-armer wound up the game with three more scalps. The four-wicket spell — only his second such instance in IPL – truly marked his return to the IPL since 2015. Having conceded nearly two runs a ball this season, Starc did not hesitate in spelling out the challenges for bowlers due to Impact Player rule. “The Impact Player rule changes things a fair bit. Everyone gets to bat a lot deeper having a batting and a bowling XI. There’s a lot made of that rule throughout the tournament and there’s been a lot of high scores. “That impact player rule has had a fair part to play, when you gonna have batters and batting all-rounders come in at 8 or 9, it’s a long batting line-up,” Starc said. “There’s no fear in the PowerPlay when all you have do is to clear the infield and score runs. Certainly there has been some really good batting, it’s not just the rules that play a part there. “On the flip-side, time tell, we have got the World Cup coming next month, there’s no Impact Player rule, so whether that affects the scores is yet to be seen.” Has he succumbed under the price-tag pressure? “I didn’t set my price tag, so it is what it is,” he said.