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IPL 2022: Delhi Capitals return to winning ways with 44-run victory over Kolkata

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A fantastic four-wicket haul from left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav combined with left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed taking three wickets helped Delhi Capitals snap their two-match losing streak with a 44-run win over table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders at the Brabourne Stadium on Sunday.

After Delhi posted a gigantic 215/5 in their 20 overs, thanks to fifties from David Warner, Prithvi Shaw and some blazing knocks from captain Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur, Kolkata needed similar knocks from their batters. But barring a 54 from captain Shreyas Iyer, there weren’t many substantial contributions as Kolkata crashed to 171 all out in 19.4 overs.

Kolkata began their chase by losing openers Venkatesh Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane to Ahmed in power-play. While Iyer pulled straight to deep square leg, Rahane, who was lucky in surviving two lbw calls on first two balls of the innings, miscued a slog and was caught by Thakur running back from mid-on.

Iyer and Nitish Rana got off to a good start by taking boundaries off Axar and Kuldeep. The duo then took 17 runs off Rovman Powell’s part-time pace in the tenth over to bring up fifty of their partnership. Just as the 69-run partnership began to take a more threatening look, Lalit Yadav’s off-spin took out Rana as the left-hander smacked a low full toss straight to long-on just after hitting a six.

In the next over, Iyer danced down the pitch to hit Kuldeep over long-on for six and bring up his first IPL fifty in Kolkata jersey. But on the very next ball, Kuldeep had the last laugh, stumping Iyer with a googly. Sam Billings took a four and six off Axar but was caught by fine leg off a slog sweep, becoming Ahmed’s third victim of the match.

Pat Cummins’ hope of repeating the stunning 14-ball fifty heroics against Mumbai came to a premature end when he missed a wild slog off Kuldeep and was trapped plumb lbw in front of leg-stump. One brought two for Kuldeep on successive deliveries in the 16th over as Sunil Narine miscued a heave to long-off, followed by the spinner running to mid-on to complete a terrific caught and bowled dismissal of Umesh Yadav.

Andre Russell was uncomfortable in his 21-ball 24 and sliced uppishly to point off Thakur in the final over. A ball later, Thakur finished off the match by having Rasikh Salam holing out to long-on to give Delhi their second win of the tournament.

Earlier, Shaw’s 29-ball 51, Warner’s 61 off 45 balls, Pant’s blazing 27 and a late 49-run stand from Axar (22 not out) and Thakur (29 not out) set the base for Delhi’s comfortable win. Shaw began by punching Umesh through extra cover for a boundary on the first ball of the innings.

Three balls later, Yadav strayed in line and Shaw whipped through fine leg to collect his second boundary of the opening over. He danced down the pitch and slapped Rasikh Salam through covers for four. Warner joined the boundary-hitting party with a pulled four off Salam through mid-wicket. With pacers finding no support from the pitch, Yadav had Shaw in a tangle with a sharp bouncer but the batter hooked well for four.

Yadav bowled short again and hit Shaw’s helmet as ball flew over short third man for four leg-byes. After the concussion test, Shaw flicked Yadav through mid-wicket to complete an eventful over. Warner welcomed Cummins with back-to-back fours through cover before Shaw hammered a pull over deep mid-wicket to bring up Delhi’s fifty in just four overs.

The introduction of spinners Chakravarthy and Narine couldn’t stop Warner and Shaw as boundaries continued to flow. Shaw then slammed Venkatesh part-time pace for a four and six on both sides of the wicket followed by reaching his fifty in 27 balls. Chakravarthy broke the 93-run opening stand by castling Shaw through the gate with a googly.

Pant’s promotion to three worked well as he swept Narine through fine leg as Delhi reached century-mark at halfway stage. Chakravarthy came under attack from Pant, who was slog-swept for a six followed by reverse-sweep for four more. After two no-balls and byes, Warner crunched Chakravarthy for a boundary through cover to take 24 runs off the 11th over.

Warner reached his fifty by smacking Russell over long-on but Pant fell as he sliced uppishly to deep backward point. Narine brought Kolkata back in the match as he took out Lalit and Powell in quick succession. It was followed by Umesh removing Warner as the left-hander mistimed pull to deep mid-wicket.

Axar and Shardul smashed six boundaries off Yadav and Cummins to take 39 runs off the last two overs, providing Delhi with the perfect finish to go past 210-mark, which was enough to achieve a comfortable win.

Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 215/5 in 20 overs (David Warner 61, Prithvi Shaw 51; Sunil Narine 2/21, Andre Russell 1/16) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 171 all out in 19.4 overs (Shreyas Iyer 54, Nitish Rana 30; Kuldeep Yadav 4/35, Khaleel Ahmed 3/25) by 44 runs

International

CT 2025: India to take on Pakistan on Feb 23, likely to play in Colombo or Dubai: Sources

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New Delhi, Dec 19: The much-awaited clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025 will be played on February 23 with Colombo and Dubai front-runners to play host for India’s matches in the tournament being played in hybrid format. The development comes after the ICC Board said that “India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue.”

“India will take on Pakistan at a neutral venue on February 23, 2025. ICC looking at Colombo and Dubai to host their matches.”

The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be played in February and March 2025. Meanwhile, ICC said the schedule for the marquee tournament will be confirmed in the coming days.

Pakistan are the defending champions of the tournament, having defeated India by 180 runs in the final at The Oval in 2017. Both teams last played against each other in the T20 World Cup in New York earlier this year which India won by six runs and went on to claim their second silverware in the format.

Due to the strained political relations between the two neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan only play each other in international events including World Cups and Asia Cup. The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was held in 2012-13 when the latter toured India for the five-match white-ball series.

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It’s OFFICIAL! All India vs Pakistan Matches At ICC Events To Be Played At Neutral Venue Till 2027

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India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue, the ICC Board confirmed on Thursday, 19 December. The schedule for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is set to be confirmed soon, with Pakistan aiming to defend the title they won in 2017.

The eight-team event will feature Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, and South Africa, alongside hosts Pakistan.

This will apply to the upcoming ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (hosted by Pakistan), set to be played in February and March 2025, as well as the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (hosted by India) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (hosted by India and Sri Lanka).

It was also announced that the PCB has been awarded hosting rights of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028, where neutral venue arrangements will also apply. Cricket Australia is set to host one of the senior ICC women’s events during the period 2029 to 2031.

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‘Our dream is getting fulfilled’: Coach Sumit Bhatia elated to see Kho Kho going global

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New Delhi, Dec 16: Coach Sumit Bhatia is all pumped up for the first edition of the Kho Kho World Cup scheduled to take place from January 13-19, 2025. Bhatia, who holds a distinct record of being the only head coach to have won the Asian Championship twice, believes that this historical step is an indication of the realisation of the dream to take the sport to the international level and help it gain global recognition.

Having been honoured with the best coach award by the Delhi government, Bhatia has been a part of various Indian teams’ success, including the 2016 and 2023 Asian Kho Kho Championship victories, and has trained players like Nasreen Shaikh and Sarika Sudhakar Kale. Both of them have been Arjuna Awardees.

Nasreen, who is also a part of the World Cup camp, is the only player who has played in two Asian Championships and won the gold. The coach-student duo is now gearing up for the global event.

Sharing how the journey of Kho Kho World Cup’s inception, the coach said, “We organised an international camp here before COVID happened, in 2020. Coaches and players from 16 countries came here and we gave them training. Now they will be coming here for the World Cup but this campaign started in that camp”.

He further said, “Around 30-35 countries were willing to play the tournament but we picked the best 20 teams for both men and women. Some countries have single teams while some have double teams but a total of 24 countries will be participating in the tournament. It was our dream to take Kho Kho to the international level and now we can see that our dream is getting fulfilled.”

He also lauded the launch of the Ultimate Kho Kho League and shared how the franchise-based model has helped the players and coaches gain recognition, while also bringing forward grassroot talent.

“When the Ultimate Kho Kho league started, I also joined Telegu Yodhas as their head coach and we also played the final. Players have gotten exposure through the league and it’s not just financial. Earlier we used to hesitate while admitting being a Kho Kho coach but today our players introduce us as their coach,” said Bhatia.

He added, “The league got so much coverage that wherever we go, the players are approached for autographs. So the platform of the league started a new world for both coaches and players and now not just India but the entire world knows us. Earlier we used to tell people about our game but now they know what is Kho Kho and Ultimate Kho Kho league and are also waiting for the third season.”

Bhatia also discussed the impact of sports science on Kho Kho and lauded the newly introduced technology and said, “We have benefitted a lot from it. Sometimes we don’t understand why a player is not performing well. But with the introduction of sports science, we now know about the details of the problem.

“For example, a player might be facing issues with his left leg while sitting and so, it gives us an opportunity to work on that weakness… Sports science has helped us in identifying the accuracy and weakness of a player. So it’s very beneficial for us.”

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