Author: Sandip Pawar

After the first T20I ended in a no result due to rain, Australia W and India W fought hard in the second, with the hosts coming victorious by four wickets. With this victory, the Aussies have secured a multi-format series with an unassailable lead of 9-5 points with one match to go. Australian bowlers – especially Tyla Vlaeminck and Sophie Molineux – did an outstanding job restricting the visitors to 118/9 in 20 overs. Tahlia McGrath was the star with the bat, taking Australia over the line with a brilliant 42* off 33. As it happened, Meg Lanning won the toss yet again and elected to field first.…

The multi-format series between Australia Women and India Women has been affected by the weather of Queensland for two games in a row. After almost four sessions getting washed out in the one-off Test, the first T20 international between the two teams also ended in a no result. The hosts keep their two points lead intact with two T20 matches to go. Only 15.2 overs of play was possible, in which India were 131/4 and would feel hard done by the weather. Jemimah Rodrigues was the star of the match for her excellent 49* off 36. It put the visitors in a commanding position before the…

The ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League is heading into the last round matches of the league stages, and one playoff berth is still up for grabs. In game match for the playoffs spot, one of the two main contenders MI will take on SRH at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday. The Sunrisers are already knocked out of the tournament and could well play a spoilsport as they did against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Virat Kohli’s men needed a victory to have a chance of finishing in the top two but SRH defeated them by four runs. The Sunrisers are…

In an virtual interaction session conducted by India Cements, Chennai Super Kings captain said that he’s hopeful of playing his farewell match at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. This could very well mean that he’s planning to play one more IPL season. For the last couple of years, there have been speculations about MS Dhoni’s future in the IPL. Only for the Chennai Super Kings skipper to squash them. Remember the famous ‘Definitely not’ phrase when Danny Morrison asked him in the last league game of the 2020 edition if it will be his last match. Not only did Dhoni…

As we head into the last round matches in the Indian Premier League 2021, the battle for the fourth playoffs spot has reached a high level of intrigue. MI mowed down the target in just 8.2 overs after restricting RR to 90/9 in 20 overs at Sharjah on Tuesday, October 5. Mumbai Indians’ bowlers were exceptional, with Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jimmy Neesham and Jasprit Bumrah snaring nine wickets between them to restrict Rajasthan Royals to 90/9. Ishan Kishan scored fifty off 25 balls to reach the target in just 8.2 overs – a massive boost to their playoffs hopes. As it happened, Mumbai Indians won the crucial toss…

Former Pakistan player Rashid Latif has expressed his strong disapproval for any late changes in Pakistan’s T20 WC squad. With the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup fast approaching, opinions from across the cricketing circle have started flooding in. All the teams have announced their preliminary squads for the mega event, starting in two weeks time. The teams are allowed to make changes to the original squad till October 10. Pakistan will begin their World Cup campaign on October 24 against arch rivals India at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. It remains to be seen if the Pakistan Cricket Board will tweak the side with a few players.  Credit: Getty Images However, Rashid…

Delhi Capitals edged past Chennai Super Kings by three wickets at Dubai on Monday, courtesy of Axar Patel and Shimron Hetmyer, to jump to the top of the table. The Capital’s moved to the top of the table with 20 points from 13 matches, securing their top-two berth. The Super Kings, with this loss, have made themselves vulnerable to a possibility of Royal Challengers Bangalore displacing them from the top two. CSK have 18 points from 13 games, but their positive net run-rate of +0.739 compared to RCB’s -0.157, should see them home if they win the last league game. Axar Patel and Shimron…

RCB have continued their magnificent run and have secured their playoff berth with two matches to go. Virat Kohli’s men came out victorious at Sharjah against Punjab Kings by six runs in a close finish and became the third team to qualify for the playoffs. Glenn Maxwell was the star for RCB with the bat, helping them to post 164/7 with a brilliant 57 off 33 balls. In the bowling department, Yuzvendra Chahal rose to the occasion with an outstanding spell of 3 for 29 as the Kings fell six runs short of the target. As it happened, the flip of the coin…

Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Brendan McCullum admitted his side struggled without Andre Russell in the Premier League 2021 encounter against Punjab Kings.  Credit: SportsMax In the UAE leg of the 2021 Indian Premier League, KKR have relied on Russell’s bowling a lot more, playing him as designated fifth bowler. They tasted success, too, winning two out of three games before Russell was injured. The Knight Riders went with the extra batting option in Tim Seifert against Punjab, leaving the fifth bowler’s responsibility to Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish. A move that did not go well as the duo conceded 37 runs in 3.3 overs as…

With CSK and DC already qualified for the playoffs, the race for the last two, especially the fourth spot has become wide open. Rajasthan Royals added more intrigue to it by defeating the table-toppers CSK by seven wickets at Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Saturday. The flip of the coin went in RR’s favour, with Sanju Samson deciding to field first. Chennai’s in-form openers Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad, yet again provided them with a solid opening stand. However, they weren’t as fluent as usual and only added 44 runs the powerplay. Du Plessis (25 off 19) danced down the track against Rahul Tewatia in an attempt to…