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IPL 2021: Bowlers and Gill hand Kolkata a crucial win over Hyderabad

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Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers maintained a tight leash before Shubman Gill steered the chase to help his team register a six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Dubai International Stadium here on Sunday. With the win, Kolkata now have 12 points from 13 matches and remain in contention for the last spot in the playoffs stage.

It wasn’t a straightforward chase of 116 for Kolkata, who were watchful in their first four overs. Venkatesh Iyer and Rahul Tripathi fell cheaply in the first ten overs. But Shubman Gill displayed a subtle shift in gears to make up for the slowness in the scoring rate. Sedate till the last ball of eleventh over, Gill hit Kolkata’s first boundary after power-play by coming down the pitch and hitting through mid-wicket off Khan.

He then pulled Holder twice through mid-wicket in the next over. Debutant Umran Malik, who impressed with his searing pace, was hit for back-to-back boundaries through square leg and mid-wicket. Gill hit five boundaries in seven balls to ease tension in Kolkata camp. Nitish Rana, who found it hard to come to terms with Malik’s pace, struck his first boundary by reverse-sweeping Khan.

Gill reached his maiden half-century in IPL 2021 with a pull through mid-wicket off Malik. The 55-run partnership between Gill and Rana was broken by Siddarth Kaul in the 17th over, with Gill mistiming a flick to long-on. Dinesh Karthik nailed an off-drive on his first ball from Kaul.

Rana pulled Holder through mid-wicket in the next over before a top-edge on the pull was pouched by keeper Wriddhiman Saha. Karthik slapped through point off Kumar in the 19th over before finishing off the chase with a fierce pull through deep mid-wicket off Kaul.

Earlier, opting to bat first, Hyderabad had a bad start with Wriddhiman Saha trapped in front of the wicket by Tim Southee on second ball of the innings. Jason Roy never looked to be settled at the crease and mishit to mid-on off Shivam Mavi in the fourth over.

Kane Williamson crunched Mavi for four fours in the last over of power-play. But his promising stay at the crease was cut short in a huge misjudgement for a tight single towards short mid-wicket. Shakib Al Hasan ran to collect the ball and fired a direct hit to catch Williamson short of the crease at the non-striker’s end.

Abhishek Sharma, in a bid to break the dry run, charged down the pitch to hit over leg-side. But he couldn’t connect with the ball from Shakib and was easily stumped. Priyam Garg had a six but a top-edge on slog-sweep landed in deep mid-wicket’s hands off Varun Chakravarthy. The leg-spinner had his second wicket in his next over as Jason Holder miscued to long-off.

Abdul Samad made a quickfire 25 laced with three sixes before holing out to long-on off Southee. Rashid Khan hit a boundary through covers off Mavi to take Hyderabad past 100. On the next ball, Mavi had his man as Khan mistimed to long-on. Siddarth Kaul got a boundary on the last ball, which wasn’t enough for Hyderabad to avoid their 10th loss of the tournament.

Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 115/8 in 20 overs (Kane Williamson 26, Abdul Samad 25, Varun Chakravarthy 2/25, Tim Southee 2/26) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 119/4 in 19.4 overs (Shubman Gill 57, Nitish Rana 25, Jason Holder 2/32, Siddarth Kaul 1/17) by six wickets.

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Ex-Mumbai captain Milind Rege passes away; players wear black armbands in Ranji Trophy match

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New Delhi, Feb 19: Former Mumbai captain Milind Rege passed away on Wednesday in Mumbai due to cardiac arrest. He was 76. He is survived by his wife Raj and two sons.

The Mumbai Cricket Association took to X to share the condolence message: “Deeply saddened by the passing of Mr. Milind Rege. A stalwart of Mumbai cricket, he served with dedication as Captain, Chairman of the Senior Selection Committee, Managing Committee Member, and Advisor. His legacy will forever be remembered. Heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.”

The stalwart of Mumbai cricket, Rege was part of five consecutive Ranji Trophy title-winning seasons. An off-spinning all-rounder claimed 126 wickets in 52 first-class matches between 1966-67 and 1977-78. He also amassed 1532 runs, averaging 23.56 in those games.

Following his playing career, Rege remained closely involved with the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), holding various roles including selector and chief selector at different times. In 2020, he was appointed as an advisor to the MCA.

“Deeply saddened by the passing of Milind Rege Sir. A true stalwart of Mumbai cricket, his invaluable contributions as a player, selector, and mentor shaped generations of cricketers. His unwavering support and guidance will always be remembered, and his legacy will continue to inspire. He always stood by me, and I will forever be grateful. Heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones. May his soul rest in peace,” said MCA chief Ajinkya Naik.

Both the Mumbai and Vidarbha teams in the ongoing Ranji Trophy semi-final in Nagpur observed a minute’s silence before the start of the third day’s play in Rege’s memory. The Mumbai players also wore black arm bands.

Former India cricketer and head coach Ravi Shastri also condoled the demise of his friend. “Really sad to hear about the demise of a dear friend Milind Rege. A true champion in his contribution to Mumbai and Tata’s cricket all-round. A Mentor Par Excellence. Heartfelt condolences to Raj and family. God bless his soul,” he shared on X.

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Air India Super League 2025: Travel High Titans Clinch Title In First-Ever Pan-India Cricket Tournament

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Travel High Titans won the first edition of Air India Super League 2025, Air India’s first-ever pan-India cricket tournament. The Air India Super League 2025 brought together over 500 participants from 48 leading travel partners spanning Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai strengthening its ties with the industry.

Designed as both a competitive sporting event and a dynamic networking platform, the Air India Super League 2025 aimed to foster camaraderie between Air India and its valued travel partners, including travel management companies and online travel agents.

During the tournament, teams from various cities competed in regional Round Robin matches, with winners advancing to the National Finale in New Delhi. Air India flew down qualifying teams to the capital for the grand finale, held on Sunday at Chanakyapuri in New Delhi. Team Travel High Titans won the first Air India Super League 2025 trophy by 62 runs, beating Tripjack Warriors in a thrilling final match.

The Round Robin Winner trophy was awarded to the top team from each of the four cities, while finalists competed for the ultimate championship title. Participants and winners were also recognized in multiple categories, including ‘Man of the Match’, ‘Best Fielder’, ‘Most Catches in Air India Super League 2025’, ‘Player of Air India Super League 2025’, among others.

“With the Air India Super League 2025, Air India aims to create engaging and memorable experiences for its travel partners while also offering them a platform for networking,” said an official from Air India.

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Gukesh, Manu, Harmanpreet, Praveen picked for Khel Ratna Award

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New Delhi, Jan 2: World Chess champion Gukesh D and Paris Olympics and Paralympics medallists – Manu Bhaker (shooting), Harmanpreet Singh (hockey) and Praveen Kumar (para-athlete) are to be conferred with Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024 by President of India Droupadi Murmu at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 17, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced on Thursday.

Gukesh recently became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion after outclassing China’s Ding Liren in the title battle in Singapore.

Manu became the first Indian athlete to win twin medals in a single edition of the Games in Paris, following a double bronze in the 10 m air pistol and 10 m air pistol mixed team event.

On the other hand, Harmanpreet led India to their second successive bronze medal in men’s hockey while Praveen bagged gold in the high jump T64 in the Paralympics.

Apart from the Khel Ratna, the Sports Ministry also named a 32-athlete list for the Arjuna Awards for outstanding performance in Sports and Games 2024. The list includes Jyothi Yarraji, Annu Rani, Nitu, Saweety, Vantika Agrawal, Salima Tete, Abhishek, Sanjay, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Rakesh Kumar, Preeti Pal, Jeevanji Deepthi, Ajeet Singh, Sachin Sarjerao Khilari, Dharambir, Pranav Soorma, H Hokato Sema, Simran, Navdeep, Nitesh Kumar, Thulasimathi Murugesan, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan, Manisha Ramadass, Kapil Parmar, Mona Agarwal, Rubina Francis, Swapnil Suresh Kusale, Sarabjot Singh, Abhay Singh, Sajan Prakash and Aman.

Former cyclist Sucha Singh and former para-swimmer Murlikant Rajaram Petkar were awarded Arjuna Awards (Lifetime) for outstanding performance in Sports and Games.

Subhash Rana (para-shooter), Deepali Deshpande (shooting) and Sandeep Sangwan (hockey) were named Dronacharya Award 2024 recipients.

S Muralidharan (badminton) and Armando Agnelo Colaco (football) were awarded the Dronacharya Award in the lifetime category.

Physical Education Foundation of India was given the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar while Chandigarh University (overall winner), Lovely Professional University (first runner-up) and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (second runner-up) were awarded Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2024.

The overall top-performing university in Khelo India University Games is given the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.

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