Mumbai Indians clinched record third IPL title with a one-run win over Rising Pune Supergiant at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.(BCCI )

Hyderabad: Mumbai Indians defeated Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) in a low-scoring final to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) title here on Sunday.

In a match that went right down to the last ball, Mumbai registered a one-run victory in front of packed stands at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium.

This is Mumbai’s third IPL title.

Chasing a target of 130 runs, Pune could only manage to post 128/6 in their 20 overs.

Australian fast bowler Mitchel Johnson was the most successful for Mumbai with figures of 3/26, while young pacer Jasprit Bumrah also played a crucial role, returning figures of 26/2 in four excellent overs.

Veteran Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga also bowled well and was unlucky not to manage a wicket. He conceeded just 21 runs in his four overs.

Pune skipper Steven Smith led from the front scoring a fighting half-century in a losing cause.

He notched up 51 runs off 50 deliveries with two boundaries and an equal number of sixes before falling in the last over.

Pune started off on a shaky note when Bumrah trapped Rahul Tripathi leg before.

Ajinkya Rahane and Smith tried to rebuild the innings with a 54-run partnership before Kieron Pollard pulled off a superb catch at long on to send the captain back to the pavilion.

With the Mumbai bowlers maintaining a tight line, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Smith found the going tough and could only add 27 runs between them in as many balls.

Dhoni scored 10 runs in 13 balls before falling to a poor shot in the 17th over, slashing a Bumrah delivery which was slightly outside off-stump but only managed an easy top edge to wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel.

His departure seemed to put the pressure on the Pune batsmen.

Malinga conceded just five runs in the 18th over and Bumrah bowled another miserly over in the 19th to put pressure. With 11 runs needed off the final over, Manoj Tiwary started with a boundary to square leg off Johnson but an attempted smash into the stands off the very next ball saw him caught at long on by Pollard.

Smith fell on third ball, caught by Ambati Rayudu at the cover boundary.

Two runs came off the next ball but with four needed off the last ball, Daniel Christian was run out sending the Mumbai players into wild celebrations.

Earlier, braces by bowlers Jaydev Unadkat, Adam Zampa and Christian enabled Pune to restrict Mumbai to 129 for eight.

Mumbai’s top and middle order batsmen put up a horrific show against the disciplined bowling from Pune and the former were left reeling at 79/7 in the 15th over. All-rounder Krunal Pandya’s 47 off 38 deliveries pulled Mumbai out of the hole.

Opting to bat, Mumbai had a disastrous start as left-arm medium pacer Unadkat (2/19) removed Parthiv Patel (4) and Lendl Simmons (3) in the third over, reducing them to 8/2.

Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma (24) and Rayudu (12) then weathered the storm briefly but the Pune bowlers continued to keep it tight. Young off-spinner Washington Sundar continued to be impressive, giving away only 13 runs in his four overs.

The partnership lasted for 33 runs as Rayudu was caught short of the crease while taking a single in the eighth over.

Mumbai’s batting ran into further trouble when Rohit and Pollard (7) fell to Australian leg-spinner Zampa (2/32) in the 11th over to be left at 65/5. Rohit pulled a half-pitched ball to Thakur at deep mid-wicket, while Pollard offered an easy catch to pouch for Tiwary at long-on.

After Zampa, Christian (2/34) removed all-rounder Hardik Pandya (10) in the 14th over, while in the next, Karn Sharma, a handy low-order batsman, was run out at 1, to leave Mumbai at 79/7.

Later, Krunal and Mitchell Johnson (13 not out) shared a strong 50-run partnership to take Mumbai to 129/8.

(IANS)

Hamilton: The Indian senior women’s hockey team put up a fair performance in their 0-3 loss to New Zealand in the penultimate match of the five-match series here on Friday.

India made a strong start with an improvised attack, attempting shot on goal but the Black Sticks defence continued to be too strong to be beaten.

Meanwhile, the hosts found an opportunity in the 14th minute with a quick-thinking Rachael McCann who pumped the ball into the goal clinching an early 1-0 lead in the first quarter to put India under pressure.

Following three successive 4-1, 8-2 and 3-2 wins in the first three matches, New Zealand looked to dominate.

Tessa Jopp fetched the host team their second goal in the 17th minute. New Zealand earned a penalty corner which was successfully converted by Jopp.

Down by two goals, the Indian strikers made strong amends trying different variations at converting a goal but could not break the Black Sticks defence.

In-form Rachael McCann struck her second goal of the match in the 26th minute to take New Zealand’s lead to a comfortable 3-0 at the end of half-time.

The final two quarters saw Indian keeper Rajani Etimarpu stay busy at the post, defending the attempts on goal made by New Zealand.

She made some impressive saves to keep the hosts from taking a further lead. The Indian defence too stitched together a well-structured strategy to ensure a goalless third and fourth quarter.

While India had dominated with the ball possession (57 per cent as opposed to New Zealand’s 43 per cent) in their previous game where they lost 2-3, New Zealand came up with new tactics to deny India any such advantage.

The final quarter too saw India make strong attempts on goal and comeback into the game but New Zealand stayed in control to win the match 3-0.

(IANS)

KKR wins rain-interrupted game by 7 wickets against defending champions SRH. (PTI)

Bengaluru: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Gautam Gambhir led from the front to knock defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a seven-wicket win and made to Qualifier 2 in a rain-interrupted eliminator clash at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday.

KKR will take on Mumbai Indians on Friday at the same venue.

Chasing 48 to win in six overs after rain and wet outfield ate up a large chunk of playing time, forcing Duckworth-Lewis method to come into play, Gambhir steadied the ship after KKR were 12/3 at one stage with an unbeaten 19-ball 32.

Ishank Jaggi, playing his first match, was not out on five.

At the start, Chris Lynn was on the money right away, smacking Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a six in the first ball he faced.

But the second ball saw the destructive Australian get out after replays showed Lynn had edged to wicketkeeper Naman OJha off a Bhuveshwar near-yorker.

Yusuf Pathan, promoted up the order to score at a brisk pace, lasted just one delivery before he was run out. Robin Uthappa did not last long too, holing out to Shikhar Dhawan at deep mid wicket off Chris Jordan’s bowling.

Earlier, KKR rode on a superlative show by their bowlers to restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad to 128/7 in 20 overs.

None of the Hyderabad batsmen could score a half century, with skipper David Warner managing only 37 off 35 balls as the highest score of the innings.

Nathan Coulter-Nile (3/20) was the pick of the bowlers while Umesh Yadav (2/21) continued his good show as the two-time IPL champions made the most of the slow Chinnaswamy wicket to keep Warner and company in check.

Coulter-Nile leaked just three runs from the penultimate over with Trent Boult (1/30) allowing just seven in the final over also taking the wicket of Naman Ojha (16) off the final ball.

Hyderabad got off to a sedate start, managing just 30/1 in the Powerplay. In-form Shikhar Dhawan (11; 13b; 1×4) skied a rising Umesh delivery for wicket-keeer Robin Uthappa to pouch the ball.

Warner, in red-hot form, found the fence just twice in the first six overs with Dhawan pulling Umesh for another boundary before falling to his India teammate couple of overs later.

It took the generally explosive Warner eight overs to hit the first six of the match, punishing a poor Piyush Chawla ball by rocking on to his backfoot and pulling the leg-spinner to deep midwicket. At the halfway stage, the defending champions were 61/1.

With Shah Rukh Khan in attendance, the men in purple did well to put a lid on Hyderabad’s run flow.

Umesh and Boult bowled brilliantly in the first 10 overs with the pair conceding 16 runs in three overs and 10 runs in two overs respectively.

Fit-again Coulter-Nile looked in good shape too, taking the wicket of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (24; 26b; 2×4, 1×6) who hit a good length delivery outside off stump straight to Suryakumar Yadav — playing in place of injured Manish Pandey — at extra cover.

In the next over, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla — drafted in for Colin de Grandhomme — scalped the priced wicket of Warner who saw his middle stump uprooted trying to pull a back of a length delivery.

Yuvraj Singh (9; 9b; 2×4) struck two good looking boundaries but fell to Umesh’s guile, pulling a bouncer straight down the throat of Piyush at deep square leg.

With the ball not coming on to the bat, Hyderabad batsmen could never get going. Vijay Shankar and Naman Ojha eked out an expensive over from Boult taking the Kiwi pacer for 13 runs.

But Shankar was out soon with Coulter-Nile taking his wicket only to pull off a superb catch off his own bowling to sent Chris Jordan back in the hut for a golden duck.

(IANS)

(AFP)

Pukekohe: New Zealand showed class as they thrashed India eves 8-2 in the second match of the five-match series here on Tuesday.

For New Zealand, Samantha Harrison (third minute), Stacey Michelsen (21st, 30th minute), Kirsten Pearce (52), Madison Doar (56), Samantha Harrison (56) and Stephanie Dickins (60) scored the goals while for India, Lilima Minz (40th) and Anupa Barla (49th) found the back of the net.

Though India began with positive intent, hosts New Zealand put India on the backfoot with an early 1-0 lead when Samantha Harrison scored a 3rd minute field goal.

India couldn’t clear the ball through the right wing and Samantha Harrison beautifully converted the pass into a goal from close range.

A chance to equalise went begging in the sixth minute when striker Rani could not get a touch on the ball to deflect it into the post from a long-range assist.

In-form keeper Savita made a couple of saves to deny New Zealand from increasing the lead while Anupa Barla’s shot was also saved by the Kiwi keeper Grace O’Hanlon in the 12th minute.

After entering the second quarter with a 1-0 lead, the hosts held most of the possession and ended up scoring a brilliant field goal in the 21st minute on the counter through Stacey Michelsen.

India earned a penalty corner in the 24th minute but it was promptly denied by keeper Sally Rutherford.

New Zealand kept up the pressure on India and created more chances but Savita made several saves to keep India in the game.

However, good pressing from hosts along with their ability to be patient and move the ball to drag the defenders out meant that New Zealand scored their third goal through Stacey in the 30th minute and take a comfortable 3-0 lead.

India made amends in the third quarter when they earned two penalty corners. Though the first went amiss, Lilima Minz managed to get a deflection to finally win India a goal in the 40th minute.

Though Stacey scored her third goal of the match in the 42nd minute, India showed grit to score their second goal in the 49th minute through Anupa Barla. This helped India narrow the gap to 4-2.

But just when India looked like they could come back into the game, their defence collapsed in the final quarter with New Zealand taking complete advantage by scoring as many as four goals in the last eight minutes of the match.

The two teams will now play the third match on May 17.

Kanpur: Young Shreyas Iyer missed a magnificent century by four runs but that was enough for Delhi Daredevils to edge past Gujarat Lions by two wickets in an inconsequential Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Green Park Stadium here on Wednesday.

If Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson demolished the Gujarat Lions in their away encounter at the Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi last Thursday, it was Iyer, who almost single-handedly tamed the Lions in their own den with a 57-ball 96, his highest IPL score.

Languishing at the bottom of the IPL standings and already out of contention for the play-offs, both the sides had nothing to lose in the contest. With the win, Delhi rose to sixth while Gujarat are at the penultimate spot in the eight-team table.

Chasing a mammoth 196, Delhi lost half their side for 105 runs before Iyer and Australian Pat Cummins’ cameo (24 of 13 balls) guided the visitors to the win.

Gujarat on the other hand, were electric on the field with skipper Suresh Raina and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, accounting for three brilliant run-outs of the in-form Pant (4), Marlon Samuels (1) and Corey Anderson (6).

Delhi failed to get the momentum with the run-outs having lost opener Samson, bowled by left-arm pacer Pradeep Sangwan after scoring a 7-ball 10 before losing Pant immediately off an excellent throw at the stumps from Raina.

Karun Nair (30) and Iyer then stabilised the innings with a 57-run third wicket stand before the strategic time-out once again did the trick for the home side, in the form of Nair’s dismissal.

Nair, after facing 15 balls and helping the ball to the boundary on five occasions and once over it, lofted a slower delivery from Australian James Faulkner only for Dwayne Smith to take a reverse-cupped catch at cover.

Jadeja then made his presence felt, effecting two quick run-outs, first of West Indian Samuels and then New Zealander Anderson to make things worse for the visitors.

Tottering at 105/5, medium pacer Dhawal Kulkarni added to Delhi’s frustration with the wicket of Carlos Bratwaite (11), who got a top edge for the bowler to take a simple catch at cover.

It was after Iyer and Cummins came together to milk 29 runs off 10 balls when Delhi could smell the victory. Iyer first dispatched Sangwan for two consecutive boundaries and then meted out the same treatment to Kulkarni.

Cummins too joined the party, using the long handle to good effect as the Australian raised a valuable 61-run stand for the seventh wicket with Iyer to take the visitors within sniffing distance of a win.

Cummins, in his attempt to get to the target quickly, lofted Faulkner to long-on only for Smith to take a comfortable catch. The Australian’s 13-ball knock was laced with two boundaries and a massive six off the same bowler.

With 14 needed off seven deliveries, tailender Mohammed Shami (4 not out) managed to push one to the boundary to reduce the margin before Basil Thampi in his second delivery of the final over, got one in the blockhole to blow Iyer’s middle stump.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra (8 not out) then whacked two consecutive fours to seal the deal in favour of Delhi.

Earlier, Australian Aaron Finch’s flashy 39-ball 69, laced with six fours and four sixes helped Gujarat Lions recover from the early jolts and post a mammoth 195/5.

Finch’s 92-run fourth wicket stand with wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik (40) helped the Lions recover after losing the early wickets of opener Smith (8), Raina (6) and Ishan Kishan (34).

Put in to bat, Gujarat found themselves reeling at 56/3 before Karthik and Finch began the recovery sensibly, taking the odd singles and helping the bad balls to the boundary as the run rate dropped a bit midway into the innings.

Delhi found it tough to break the partnership with both the right-handers stepping up the gas to race to 148/3 by the 16th over, before West Indian Brathwaite managed to pack the Tamil Nadu-born stumper, who had faced 28 balls by then and struck four fours and a six.

Thereafter, Finch, who by now had reached his 50 off 32 balls, struck a few blows to add 32 runs for the fifth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja (13 not out) before Shami’s full delivery blew the Australian’s middle stump.

Towards the end, Faulkner (14 not out) and Jadeja added 15 runs as the home side milked 61 runs off the final five overs.

Brief Scores: Gujarat Lions 195/5 (Aaron Finch 69, Dinesh Karthik 40, Ishan Kishan 34, Amit Mishra 1/27) lose to Delhi Daredevils 197/8 (Shreyas Iyer 96, Karun Nair 30, Pat Cummins 24, James Faulkner 2/39) by 2 wickets.

(IANS)

Kings XI Punjab captain Glenn Maxwell (L) celebrates the wicket of Delhi Daredevils batsman Shreyas Iyer with teammate Eoin Morgan (R) during the 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket match between Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab at The Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi on April 15, 2017. AFP PHOTO / PRAKASH SINGH /

Mohali, Kings XI Punjab stayed in contention in the race for playoffs with an upset victory over the second-placed Kolkata Knight Riders even as its top batsman Chris Lynn’s 52-ball 84 went up in smoke in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game here on Tuesday.

Punjab now have 12 points from the same number of matches and play Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiant away. KKR, on the other hand, remained second despite the defeat with 16 points from 13 outings. They have already made the knockout stages.

Lynn struck eight fours and three sixes but wickets fell around him as the men in purple failed to gun down a par target of 168 set by the hosts batting first at the IS Bindra Stadium here.

Punjab bowl like Kings
Rahul Tewatia (2/18) and Mohit Sharma (2/24) were the best bowlers for Punjab with the latter bowling a fantastic penultimate over leaking just nine runs and taking the wicket of out-of-form Yusuf Pathan (2).

The twice champions needed 20 runs off the last over but Colin de Grandhomme (not out 11) and Chris Woakes (not out 8) failed to drag their team over the line.

Lynn and Narine started from where they had left off in the last match, taking 14 runs in the first over off Sandeep Sharma where Narine smacked two back-to-back fours in the first two deliveries of the innings, and Lynn struck one too in his first ball.

Narine (18; 10b; 4×4, 0x6) failed to continue his fireworks as Mohit Sharma cleaned him up with a slower one. Gautam Gambhir (8; 18b; 0x4, 0x6) struggled to get going as Rahul Tewatia sent the in-form skipper back early and Robin Uthappa got out for a golden duck two balls later.

Stung by two wickets in quick succession, the visitors, who were 61/1 at the end of the first six overs, could not get going in the next four managing just 18 with Manish Pandey joining Lynn at the crease.

At no stage did Punjab throw in the towel with Sandeep Sharma bowling a superb 16th over where he conceded just five runs. Mohit followed that up with a economical over before Manish Pandey (18; 23b; 1×4, 0x6) and Lynn got out. While Pandey holed out to Axar Patel at deep midwicket, Lynn was run out.

Maxwell-Saha show
Earlier, Punjab lost wickets at regular intervals and could not get partnerships going as KKR restricted them to 167/6 in 20 overs.

Glenn Maxwell (44; 25b; 1×4, 4×6) and Wriddhiman Saha 38 (33b; 2×4, 1×6) stitched together a 71-run stand for the fourth wicket but it was KKR’s England all-rounder Chris Woakes who stole the show with best bowling figures of 2/20 in his alloted four overs.

Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav also returned decent figures of 2/34 as the Gautam Gambhir-led side never let the Punjab batsmen pull away.

Axar (not out 8) and Tewatia (not out 14) were at the crease at the end of the innings.

In the absence of Hashim Amla, Martin Guptill opened the batting with Manan Vohra. The pair did not last long though. First to go was Vohra (25; 16b; 4×4, 0x6), falling to in-form fast bowler Umesh Yadav trying to play fine down the leg side with the ball kissing the glove and carrying to fit-again wicket-keeper Uthappa.

In the next over, Narine got Guptill (12; 16b 1×4 0x6) leg before wicket. After Powerplay overs (6), the hosts were 41/2.

Shaun Marsh looked good for his 11, milking two boundaries before Woakes castled him.

Maxwell and Saha stemmed the rot with a cautious association. Punjab were 63/3 at the halfway stage. Just when Maxwell tried to up the ante, tonking Kuldeep Yadav for two consecutive sixes only to get out in the next ball. Trying to clear the fence again, the big-hitting Australian forced Woakes to run across from long-off and complete a superb catch.

Swapnil Singh departed soon after adding just two runs to the total as the visitors reined in the run flow in the final overs.

(Agencies)