Royal Challengers Bangalore registered a massive 82-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on October 12.

RCB captain Virat Kohli had opted to bat, reasoning that the pitch will be slower in the second half.

Man of the match AB de Villiers and Kohli had a 100-run partnership that steered the side to 194 for two. The South African batsman played an aggressive 73 off 33 balls (five boundaries and six sixes) while Kohli hit 33 off 28 balls.

This was followed by RCB spinners tightening the chase. Washington Sundar (2/20) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/12) gave KKR a hard time and they could never really score on a sluggish wicket. The success of the spinners was partly down to the tiring pitches and the absence of grass.

For KKR, Shubhman Gill topscored with 34 off 25 balls, and the team finished at 112 for nine.
Rahul Tripathi, who had played brilliant innings against Chennai and Delhi, was shuffled to the lower-middle order, this time to accommodate IPL debutant Tom Banton at the top. Banton could make only 8 off 12 balls. Tripathi batted at No. 7 and by the time he came in, the game was up for the Knight Riders.

The post RCB posts a massive win over KKR appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Delhi Capitals inflicted a 46-run defeat on Rajasthan Royals at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on October 8 in Match 23 of the Dream 11 IPL season currently staged in the UAE. Delhi now top the points table with 10 points.

Between them, DC bowlers Kagiso Rabada, Ravichandran Ashwin and Marcus Stoinis shared seven wickets as they bowled out Rajasthan for 138. Ashwin’s two wickets for 22 runs earned him the Man of the Match.

Delhi’s batting performance at 184/8 was disappointing too, save for Stoinis (39 off 30 balls) and Shimron Hetmyer (45 off 24). Among Rajasthan bowlers, Jofra Archer took three wickets.

Batting second, Rajasthan suffered their fourth straight loss despite the efforts of Rahul Tewatia (38) and Steve Smith (24). Good bowling and fielding helped DC win comfortably. Hetmyer and Shikhar Dhawan netted some brilliant catches.

Dhoni’s daughter receive rape threats

Meanwhile, in a disturbing development, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s five-year-old daughter Ziva received rape threats from social media trolls following Chennai Super Kings’ loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 10 runs on October 6. The incident has been condemned by women leaders and organisations in particular, who decried the misuse of social media platforms and the rape culture permeating the country.

The post RR suffers 46-run loss against DC appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Champions Mumbai Indians posted their third win in three matches on October 4 at the afternoon game in Sharjah Cricket Stadium against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Chasing a target of 209, captain David Warner (60 off 44 balls) did not get enough support from his batsmen in tackling the Mumbai bowlers save for Manish Pandey (30). The 2016 champions ended at 174 for seven after their stipulated 20 overs.

Though Mumbai lost their captain Rohit Sharma early in the match, Quinton de Kock (67 off 39 deliveries) and Ishan Kishan (31) listed a 78-run partnership to gift the team 208 for five wickets. Sunrisers pacemen and Rashid Khan did a good job, but Pandya brothers and Kieron Pollard caused maximum damage in the final four overs.

Trent Boult was declared Player of the Match for his 2/28 spell in 4 overs.

The post Mumbai win against Hyderabad by 34 runs appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

In Match 16 played at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on October 3, Prithvi Shaw and captain Shreyas Iyer helped Delhi Capitals move up the Indian Premier League table with an 18-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders.

Shaw (66 off 41 balls) and Iyer (88 not out from 38 balls) followed by Rishabh Pant (38 off 17 balls) helped DC register 228-4, which is the highest total of this IPL season. Kolkata could reach only 210-8, even though Eoin Morgan (44) and Rahul Tripathi (36) tried to provide a lifeline with their quickfire shots.

However, South African fast-bowler Anrich Nortje (3-33) saved the match for DC. Now Capitals have won three of four matches it has played while Kolkata has won two of four games.

Iyer, who smashed six sixes and seven fours was adjudged Player of the Match. Together with Pant, he accumulated 77 runs in the final five overs. Delhi had three half-century partnerships in the start of their innings.

The Knight Riders lost Nitish Rana (58) and captain Dinesh Karthik in successive balls of Harshal Patel (2/34) in the 13th over.

England limited overs’ cricket captain Eoin Morgan’s rapid-fire 44 off 18 deliveries raised hopes, but Nortje felled him.

Opener Sunil Narine (3) was another casualty to Nortje’s bowling. Unfortunately, Narine has made only 27 runs in all four innings at the tournament.

South African paceman Kagiso Rabada got the wicket of Andre Russell who was out for 13. Rabada is the highest wicket-taker in this IPL season with eight scalps along with Mohammed Shami of Kings XI Punjab and Yuzvendra Chahal of Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The post DC wins by 18 runs against KKR appeared first on The Gulf Indians.