Chris Gayle gave a magnificent display of power-hitting before rain played spoilsport in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday.
The West Indies captain smashed four sixes in his 26-ball unbeaten 44 to fire Kolkata Knight Riders to an 11-run victory over Kings XI Punjab in a rain-hit match.
The second game of the double-header between defending champions Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians was abandoned without a ball being bowled owing to bad weather.
PHOTO: AFP
Mumbai now have three points from two games, while Rajasthan took their first point after losing their opening match.
Kolkata raced to 79-1 off 9.2 overs in reply to Punjab’s 20-over total of 158-6 when the game was called off due to rain. They were 11 runs ahead on the Duckworth-Lewis method at that stage.
It was Kolkata’s first victory in two matches, while Punjab remained winless after two games.
“The win should give us some momentum,” Kolkata captain Brendon McCullum said. “We thought a score of 150-160 was par on this ground, but Gayle got us off to a superb start. It could have been a potentially close game, but for the rain.”
Man-of-the-match Gayle put his team on course for victory when he put on 57 off just 33 balls for the opening wicket with New Zealander McCullum, who cracked two sixes in his 16-ball 21.
“I’m happy with the result though the spectators would have wanted a full game. McCullum eased the pressure off me,” Gayle said.
Punjab paid dearly for letting off Gayle early in the innings, with Karan Goel dropping an easy catch at mid-wicket off South African left-arm seamer Yusuf Abdulla.
“It’s a bit unfortunate,” Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh said. “We also dropped a catch and that let them get ahead. Batting looked pretty good but we need to sort out our bowling.”
Yuvraj and Kumar Sangakkara (26) helped Punjab post a respectable total with a 56-run stand for the fourth wicket after a double-strike from Kolkata seamer Sourav Ganguly.
Yuvraj, who smashed six sixes in an over at this venue against England in the Twenty20 World Championships in 2007, top-scored with a 28-ball 38 with the help of two sixes.
Former India captain Ganguly ended Punjab’s early flourish with two wickets in his opening over, having pinch-hitter Irfan Pathan (32) caught at deep mid-wicket and removing Ravi Bopara (15) caught behind.
Yuvraj and Sangakkara then steadied the innings before Mahela Jayawardene cracked a 19-ball 31 not out to help his team cross the 150-mark.
Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen yesterday exited at the BWF World Tour Finals in China, losing in the semi-finals to China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi. Shi, who was named the BWF Men’s Singles Player of the Year, had a 9-4 record against Chou going into the match. He extended that record to 9-5 with a 21-14, 21-18 victory. Chou advanced to the men’s singles semi-finals on Friday by upsetting top-seeded Anders Antonsen of Denmark in a must-win match at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium. The 16-21, 21-18, 21-15 victory saw Chou secure his second semi-finals appearance at the tournament, despite his relatively older
‘REMARKABLE’: Gaelic football is a traditional Irish sport that blends the skills of soccer and rugby, and hurling is an ancient sport played with a wooden stick and ‘sliotar’ The Taiwan Celts Gaelic Football Club marked a milestone achievement at the Asian Gaelic Games in Bangkok on Nov. 23 and 24, with two sides advancing to the knockout stages and competing at hurling for the first time. The event brought together 68 teams from 16 clubs across Asia, with more than 800 players in men’s and women’s tournaments. Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends the skills of soccer, rugby union and basketball. Hurling is an ancient Irish sport played with a wooden stick, called a hurley, and a small ball, or sliotar. The Taiwan Celts’ women’s team reached
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest chess world champion on Thursday after beating the defending champion Ding Liren of China in the final match of their series in Singapore. Dommaraju, 18, secured 7.5 points against 6.5 of his Chinese rival in the contest, surpassing the achievement of Russia’s Garry Kasparov, who won the title at the age of 22. The Indian teen prodigy has long been considered a rising star in the chess world after he became a chess grandmaster at 12. He had entered the match as the youngest-ever challenger to the world crown after winning the Candidates tournament earlier
RSS