Dharamsala (TIP)- Kuldeep Yadav seems to have a special connection with the HPCA stadium here. It was at the same venue that Kuldeep made his Test debut seven years ago — incidentally, it was also in the month of March. Kuldeep had picked up four wickets against Australia in the first innings.
In only the second Test hosted by the stadium, Kuldeep again lit up the opening day with a five-wicket haul to put India on top against England in the fifth and final Test of the series.
On the eve of the Test, England skipper Ben Stokes had termed the pitch as a “belter”. However, the visitors seemed to have completely misjudged the conditions as the English batters were picked apart by India’s spin trio — Kuldeep (5/72), Ravichandran Ashwin (4/51) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/17). England folded up for 218 in less than 60 overs.
It looked like a completely different pitch when India batted as the hosts replied strongly to cut down most of the deficit. Attacking fifties by openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal led the hosts to 135/1 in 35 overs. Despite England holding a strong position at 175/3, India’s bowlers made a stunning comeback and all credit goes to Kuldeep, who used the flight and drift to get his fourth five-wicket haul. The mild wind blowing at the ground helped new-ball bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. But England’s openers survived the initial period of fierce swing bowling.
However, the breakthrough came in the 18th over when Kuldeep took charge. After being hit for two fours, Kuldeep’s flight was rewarded as Ben Duckett’s mistimed hit was caught by a diving Shubman Gill.
He could have got rid of Zak Crawley (79 off 108) off his second ball of the day but India opted against taking a review for a catch. Kuldeep, though, got his man eventually with a brilliant delivery that crashed into Crawley’s leg-stump.
Kuldeep got Ollie Pope (11), Jonny Bairstow (29), who is playing his 100th Test, and Stokes (0) with googlies. From the other end, Jadeja trapped Joe Root (26) and England were suddenly struggling at 175/6.
Ashwin could not be denied in his 100th Test as the veteran off-spinner cleaned up the tail, dismissing Tom Hartley (6) and Mark Wood (0) in the same over, before wrapping up the England innings with wickets of Ben Foakes (24) and James Anderson (0).
While the ball did wonders for India, the English bowlers failed to find much support. The conditions changed as the sun began to set. Openers Sharma and Jaiswal were off to a flying start. The skipper posted an unbeaten 52, while Jaiswal scored 57 before getting stumped by Foakes off Shoaib Bashir. The left-hander crossed the 1000-run mark in only his ninth Test. Source: TNS
Tag: Kuldeep Yadav
-
Kuldeep wreaks havoc as England fold for 218
-
Ton-up Surya shines before Kuldeep’s spell sinks S Africa
Johannesburg (TIP)- Captain Suryakumar Yadav produced a hundred of rare brilliance and Kuldeep Yadav worked his magic with the ball as India registered a comprehensive 106-run series-levelling win over South Africa in the third and final T20I here on December 14.
Suryakumar’s 100 off 56 balls that contained seven fours and eight sixes and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s fluent 60 off 41 balls carried India to 201/7 after the visitors were asked to bat first.
The Indian bowlers, especially left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep (5/17), who turned 29 today, managed to hit better lengths to bundle out SA for 95 in 13.5 overs.
But for that, India need to thank Suryakumar. The 33-year-old exploited the opportunity to bat on a bone-dry surface, making his fourth T20I century, joining teammate Rohit Sharma and Australian Glenn Maxwell as batters with that many three-figure scores in the shortest format. Suryakumar and Jaiswal made 112 runs for an entertaining fourth-wicket alliance and trusted the true nature of the Wanderers’ pitch to unfurl shots of the highest quality.
Their partnership also allowed India to wriggle out of a bit of a tight space after losing Shubman Gill (8) and Tilak Varma (0) off successive balls in the third over to left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj. India were 29/2 at that point.
Brief scores: India: 201/7 in 20 overs (Suryakumar 100, Jaiswal 60; Maharaj 2/26, Williams 2/46); South Africa: 95 all out in 13.5 overs (Miller 35; Kuldeep 5/17, Jadeja 2/25). -
KL Rahul anchors India’s series win over Lanka with fighting fifty
Kolkata (TIP)- Under-fire KL Rahul made amends for his poor run of form as he anchored India’s series clinching four-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second ODI with a dogged 64 on a tricky Eden Gardens track.
Snubbed time and again by Indian think-tank, Kuldeep Yadav proved his mettle yet another time as he formed a lovely bowling alliance with pacer Mohammed Siraj to demolish Sri Lanka for 215 inside 40 overs after they opted to bat. The paltry chase on the quick Eden outfield however was not a cakewalk for Indian team, which lost its top-four batters for 86 runs in 14.2 overs.
Needing 130 from 214 balls, Rahul was the only designated batter left as he once again proved his utility in the middle overs with an unbeaten 64 off 103 balls that took India home with 40 balls to spare.
While there was a bit of seam movement on offer and ball from spinners gripping a bit, to be fair, there was no scoreboard pressure on the home team. The win also gave India an unassailable 2-0 series lead going into the Trivandraum ODI on Sunday.
“I won’t say it was a flat wicket, or it was doing a lot that it was impossible to bat. When Sri Lanka started, I thought it was a 280-300 wicket,” Rahul said after the match. Having started off with a boundary, Rahul was quick to slow down as he ran hard for his singles en route to a 93-ball fifty. The need of the hour was to play sensibly as Rahul and Hardik Pandya curbed their natural strokeplay in a decisive 75-run partnership that came off 119 balls. It was also a different Pandya (36; 53b) on display as he took time and gave Rahul a perfect support. Pandya however departed against the run of play, leaving 55 runs required from 95 balls.
India earlier endured some tense moments inside the powerplay when Rohit Sharma (17) and Shubman Gill (21) departed in four deliveries after an attacking start, while Virat Kohli (4) became the third casualty to be 63/2 in 9.3 overs.
Rohit took a faint edge behind the stumps to be dismissed by Karunaratne. In the next over Shubman Gill, who wowed the packed Eden crowd with his delectable cover drives, had a soft dismissal giving a straight catch to Avishka Fernando at short midwicket off Lahiru Kumara. The pacer, who replaced an injured Dilshan Madushanka (dislocated shoulder), was all charged up when he cleaned up the last match centurion Kohli with a delivery that jagged back in. More anxiety was in store as India were reduced to 86/4 in 14.2 overs when Shreyas Iyer was dismissed leg before by a ball going down the leg.
However, Rahul, relishing his role as a No. 5 was never in tearing hurry as he anchored the chase to perfection. He needed one good stand and in vice-captain Hardik Pandya (36) he got an able ally as they put up 75 runs.
“The good thing about batting at No. 5 is you don’t have to rush. You can take a shower, put your feet up and watch the game. But I always think what team needs of me. If you can read the situation when you go in, it helps you and team. Batting at No. 5 has helped me understand my game better,” Rahul said.
Source: PTI
-
Old guards open door to victory
Mirpur (TIP)- India seamer Umesh Yadav and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed four wickets apiece as the tourists bowled out Bangladesh for a below-par 227 on the opening day of the second and final Test here on December 22. India, pressing for a 2-0 series sweep, finished the day on 19 for no loss with stand-in skipper KL Rahul (3) and Shubman Gill (14) seeing off the final eight overs.
Rahul had been given lbw to Shakib Al Hasan but the batsman reviewed the decision which was overturned after replays confirmed the ball would have missed the stumps. Bangladesh’s modest total was built around former captain Mominul Haque’s gritty 84 in his first match of the series.
On a day when several batsmen squandered starts, Haque was the glorious exception who dug his heels in and kept the scoreboard ticking. Bangladesh lost both of their openers in the morning session after Shakib won the toss and elected to bat at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. India sprang a surprise by dropping spinner Kuldeep Yadav, whose match-haul of eight wickets in their comprehensive victory in Chittagong earned him the Player of the Match award.
Jaydev Unadkat was picked instead and the left-arm seamer, playing in his second Test 12 years after his first, drew first blood by removing Zakir Hasan for 15. Zakir, who smashed a century in his Test debut in Chittagong, could have been dismissed for a golden duck but Mohammed Siraj dropped him in the deep in the second over of the day. Najmul Hossain (24) was trapped lbw by Ashwin (4/71) after offering no shot to a ball which rapped him below the knee roll.
Shakib (16) survived a stumping opportunity before lunch but could not capitalise on it and fell to the first ball after the break.
Mushfiqur Rahim (26) fell to Unadkat and Litton Das made a run-a-ball 25 before chipping an Ashwin delivery to Rahul at midwicket.
Yadav (4/25) dented the Bangladesh lower-order and Ashwin removed Haque and Khaled Ahmed in the space of three balls as Bangladesh wilted in 74 overs. Haque, who relinquished the captaincy in May after overseeing a string of defeats, hit 12 fours and a six before his bizarre dismissal.The No. 3 batsman lunged forward but then decided to leave the ball from Ashwin which brushed his glove on the way to Rishabh Pant behind the wicket.
Source: Reuters
-
IPL: Delhi Capitals beat Kolkata by four wickets
Mumbai (TIP)- Delhi Capitals survived a scare before recording a comfortable four-wicket victory over a lacklustre Kolkata Knight Riders here on April 28 and kept their IPL playoffs qualification hopes alive.
Chasing an easy target of 147, DC were 84/5 and 113/6 at various stages of the innings before Rovman Powell (33 not out) once again displayed his big-hitting prowess to get DC past the target with an over to spare. The hero of the win certainly was Kuldeep Yadav, with a game-changing 4/14 when KKR batted. Defending a total of 146 wasn’t easy but Umesh Yadav (3/24) did try his best as he started brilliantly with a diving return catch off the very first delivery of the DC innings to sent Prithvi Shaw (0) back. David Warner (42 off 26 balls) was in fine touch, adding 65 for the third wicket with Lalit Yadav (22 off 22 balls), as DC cruised along at 82/2. But it soon became 84/5 as both the set batters were removed in quick succession and KKR were allowed to come back into the game.
Rashid Khan’s last-ball 6 trumps Umran Malik’s 5
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Umran Malik tore through the Gujarat Titans top-order with his searing pace but the IPL debutant team still got over the line after some late fireworks from Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan. In pursuit of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 195/6, Titans were off to a flyer with Wriddhiman Saha (68) blazing his way to a flurry of boundaries while putting on 69 runs for the first wicket with Shubman Gill (22). Kane Williamson, as a last resort, introduced Malik into the attack in the eighth over. The youngster provided the breakthrough by bowling out Gill. Malik followed it up by dismissing the dangerous Hardik Pandya and Saha before bowling out David Miller and Abhinav Manohar off successive deliveries. The youngster from Jammu & Kashmir finished with incredible figures of 5/25, four of which were bowled, to take Sunrisers to the brink of a sixth successive win. But Tewatia (40 not out off 21 balls) and Khan (31 not out off 11) had other ideas. The duo knocked off the required 56 runs off the last 24 balls. Khan hit three of his four sixes in the last over, including one over the fine-leg boundary off the last ball. Earlier, opener Abhishek Sharma and Aiden Markram struck sparkling half-centuries as Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 195/6 after being asked to bat first. Abhishek blazed away to 65 off 42 deliveries, while Markram made a 40-ball 56.
Rajasthan Royals beat Royal Challengers Bangalore
Riyan Parag smashed a match-defining half-century before the bowling unit lived up to its reputation to hand Rajasthan Royals a 29-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in an Indian Premier League match here today.
Parag single-handedly took his side to 144/8 with his unbeaten 56 off 31 balls, which is his highest score in IPL. He struck three fours and four sixes. Parag marshalled the RR lower-order brilliantly.
RCB’s chase never got going as RR bowlers, led by young Kuldeep Sen (4/20), Ravichandran Ashwin (3/17) and Prasidh Krishna (2/23), bundled out the Faf du Plessis-side for 115 in 19.3 overs. Opening the innings on the back of two consecutive first-ball ducks, Virat Kohli started on a cagey note but lit up the stadium and raised hopes of his fans when he struck two back-to-back boundaries off Trent Boult to start his innings.