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Aus W Vs Ind W 1St Odi Courtesy All Round Show Australia Clinch Thumping Win Against India

AUS-W vs IND-W | 1st ODI: Courtesy all-round show, Australia clinch thumping win against India

Australia women’s team was off to a flying start in the three-match ODI series against India after winning the first clash comprehensively by 9 wickets in Mackay.

Chasing 226 in 50 overs, the Australian team went over the line in 41 overs after Rachael Haynes top-scored with an unbeaten 93 while Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning also struck individual fifties.

Haynes and Healy gave the home side a perfect start after stitching a partnership of 126 runs for the first wicket. Healy was eventually out for a run-a-ball 77 after getting caught by Pooja Vastrakar off Poonam Yadav.

Captain Lanning who joined Haynes in the middle at number three scored 53* off 69 and put up a partnership of 101 runs for the second wicket and took Australia home.

Earlier, in the day, India who were put into bat lost a couple of early wickets before Yastika Bhatia and skipper Mithali Raj joined hands to provide the much needed resistance. The two batters put up a partnership of 77 runs before Bhatia departed for 35 off 51 at the start of the 27th over.

The visiting team then began to lose wickets at regular succession and were reduced to 178/7 including the dismissal of Mithali who was eventually out for a 107-ball 63 after getting stumped out by Healy off Molineux.

Wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh and Jhulan Goswami then chipped in with some runs and took the total to 225/8 in 50 overs. Ghosh scored 32* of 29.

For Australia, it was Darcie Brown who scalped a four-wicket haul while Molineux and Darlington picked up a couple of wickets apiece.

India captain Mithali Raj expressed disappointment in the bowling performance and admitted that the bowling unit, especially the spinners need to perform on these kinds of wickets.

“I think when you are put in to bat first, you need to put a good partnership. A lot more is expected of the bowling department, especially the spinners. They need to perform on these wickets,” she said.

Australia skipper Lanning lauded Brown for her bowling performance. “Been a long time since we played cricket, so we were pretty excited. Brown was excellent. It was certainly some good stuff,” she said.

The two sides will now meet on Friday for the second ODI at the same venue.

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IPL 2021 | KKR vs RCB: Venkatesh Iyer gets batting tips from Virat Kohli

Kolkata Knight Riders’ new recruit Venkatesh Iyer had a dream start to his IPL career for the franchise after he struck an unbeaten 41 off 27 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Abu Dhabi during the second leg of the tournament. The Kolkata bowlers ripped apart the RCB batting line up and bundled them out for 92 in 19 overs. Later, openers Shubman Gill and Iyer thoroughly dominated the RCB bowling attack and stitched a first-wicket stand of 82 runs before Gill was undone for 48 off 34 by Chahal. The Knight Riders eventually went over the line by 9 wickets. Iyer was then spotted taking some batting tips from RCB and India captain Virat Kohli after the match. This has certainly become a routine where senior lads like Kohli, MS Dhoni are seen spending time with youngsters after the game is concluded. Earlier, in the day, Kohli who won the toss elected to bat first but the things didn’t really go in his way. The right-hander was first one to go back into the hut after he was trapped in front of the stumps by Prasidh Krishna for 5. Opener Devdutt Padikkal and KS Bharat then tried to steady the ship for the side as the two batsmen put 31 runs for the second wicket on the board. But Padikkal’s dismissal on the last ball of the Powerplay broke the shackles and the Bangalore side began to lose wickets at regular intervals to soon get reduced to 66/7 and get bowled out eventually. Varun Chakravarthy and Andre Russell were the pick of the bowlers. While Chakravarthy scalped a three-for at the cost of just 13 runs in 4 overs, Russell returned with figures of 3/9 in 3 overs. This was KKR’s third win in 8 matches in the competition while RCB suffered their third loss in the competition.

Kohli's decision to step down didn't play a role in heavy defeat against KKR: Mike Hesson

Director of Cricket at Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mike Hesson refused to accept that RCB’s below-par performance against the Kolkata Knight Riders was down to the decision taken by Virat Kohli just before the start of the tournament. Kohli announced that he will be stepping down from the captain’s role but will continue to play for RCB till the last day of his IPL career. Royal Challengers Bangalore got a reality check as they were annihilated by KKR by 9 wickets. After batting first, RCB managed to post just 92 runs with Varun Chakravarthy and Andre Russell bagging three apiece. Hesson stated that everyone was aware of Kohli’s decision beforehand and that had no role to play in their defeat. He added that the batting performance was nowhere close to where they would have wanted but is confident if making a turnaround in the remaining matches. "I think it was actually to get any form of distraction out early. We talked about making that announcement as soon as possible really, all the players were aware of it. It has not impacted performance against KKR, we were not sharp with the bat, we lost wickets. But I am confident that this group will turn around pretty quickly," Hesson was quoted as saying during a virtual post-match press conference. "The team combination was not the problem today. To be fair, we probably got the toss wrong. It was not a 93-run wicket, we should have been able to get to 150. Whether that would have been enough or not, it is debatable because the ball started to slide down, but we were not sharp enough with the bat," Hesson further added. RCB were skittled out for 92 in 19 overs after winning the toss and batting first. None of the batsmen could get going and despite a good stand between Devdutt Padikkal and KS Bharath, none of the other batters could get going. It was the 6th lowest total for RCB in IPL history. Meanwhile, Hesson said that it was hard for Rajat Patidar to get dropped. However, he added that given KS Bharat’s exceptional showing in the nets, he deserved to break into the XI. De Villiers scored a duck as he was dismissed by a searing yorker from Andre Russell. Hesson said that it is very important to look after him given the importance of Mr 360 for the franchise. "AB de Villiers did not have the gloves, we have to look after him. He is an important player for us, he is not one we can risk behind the stumps so that was unfortunate for Rajat as we needed a keeper-bat to do the role for us at number three. To be fair, KS Bharat has been outstanding in the camp and he deserves his inclusion," Hesson said. "We were pretty clear in terms of Virat batting at the top, it is a lot harder to start against spin. We are very happy with Devdutt Padikkal and Virat opening the batting for us, high-quality players, left-right combination and KS Bharat can bat anywhere. We were forced for that change with AB de Villiers not keeping," Hesson concluded.

Tamim Iqbal granted NOC to participate in Everest Premier League

Star Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has been granted a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to take part in the Everest Premier League. The leading run-getter for Bangaladesh across formats, this will mark the return of Tamim Iqbal to competitive crIcket following an injury layoff for two months. The injury forced Tamim had to miss three consecutive T20I series against Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand. It must also be noted that he was withdrawn his name from the T20 World Cup squad as he felt it will be unjust to take someone’s place for a mega-event despite not being present in the last couple of months. Tamim started his preparation for the tournament at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on September 19. Earlier the left-handed batsman had planned to play the EPL as a part of the preparation for the T20 World Cup but later withdrew his name. Tamim had initially planned to play in the EPL as part of his preparation for the T20 World Cup but later decided not to be part of the global event. Meanwhile, BCB Cricket Operation chairman told Cricbuzz about Tamim being granted the NOC. He spent around 50 minutes batting in the nets besides undergoing a few fielding drills. Tamim Iqbal who had closely worked with BCB chief physician Debashish Chowdhury is expected to be back to full fitness before the tournament starts as per Chowdhury’s words to Cricbuzz. The Everest Premier League will be held in Nepal from 25th September to October 9. "Tamim is not having any problem when he is batting but we have to see how he feels while running and fielding. But the way he is improving, we are hopeful that he will be able to make it in EPL," said Debashish. Tamim Iqbal sustained the injury to his right knee during a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka in April-May. He took part in the home ODI series against the same oppositions before starting the Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division T20 League as well. However, he had to quit midway through the tournament after the injury got aggravated. Tamim will be plying his trade for the Bhairahawa Gladiators in the EPL and is expected to leave for Nepal on 24th September for the tournament.

The way Venkatesh Iyer played was outstanding - KKR skipper showers praise on youngster

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Eoin Morgan was in all praise for Venkatesh Iyer who made his IPL debut against Royal Challengers Bangalore and impressed Morgan with his unbeaten knock of 41 of 27 deliveries to see his side through to the paltry victory target of 93 runs. Venkatesh Iyer looked in complete command of proceedings and never looked like playing his first game. His strokeplay was of the highest order and the opening partnership with Shubman Gill laid the foundation for the easy run chase. The Madhya Pradesh opener struck 7 fours and a six during his undefeated knock. "Venkatesh Iyer, the way he came in and played was outstanding. Certainly, the brand of cricket we want to play. Playing under head coach Brendon McCullum, this is the aggressive nature of cricket we want to play," Morgan was quoted as saying during a virtual post-match press conference. "Although he was aggressive, he managed to control his innings. His opening partnership with Shubman Gill was beautiful to watch," he added. It was an exceptional bowling performance from KKR to restrict a star-studded RCB batting line-up to a paltry 92 runs. Varun Chakravarthy and Andre Russell bagged three wickets apiece to dismantle the RCB batting. Despite the pitch assisting pacers, Chakravarthy produced some magic deliveries to get three crucial wickets. Meanwhile, Russell bagged the huge wicket of AB de Villiers for a golden duck. Morgan accepted that the match-ups with Rusell worked perfectly. "Yeah, I think the match-ups with Andre Russell really worked. The pitch the way it played throughout the whole innings was more seamer-friendly even though Varun had an unbelievable day. I thought the pitch assisted the seamers with big size boundaries," Morgan said. Kolkata Knight Riders are currently occupying the 5th spot in the points table with 3 wins from 8 games. They have to win atleast 4 to 5 of their remaining six games to harbour hopes of going through to the playoffs. "Yeah, there is no doubt that it will be a challenge from here onwards, but our main aim is to turn up and play cricket as we did with RCB. If we do that, then we give ourselves the best chance of progressing to the playoffs," he added. Kolkata Knight Riders will lock horns against the defending champions Mumbai Indians next on September 23 (Thursday).