IPL 2020: Abdul Samad impresses Indian legends with power-hitting, character

"It's a dream come true," says Shimron Hetmyer on playing his first IPL final

Delhi Capitals batsman Shimron Hetmyer has expressed his excitement over playing an IPL final, in a video released by the franchise on Twitter. Hetmyer said that the feat is unbelievable and nothing short of a dream coming true for him. Hailing an all-round performance from the Capitals to get better of an-form Sunrisers Hyderabad, Hetmyer said that the team is well balanced and all are taking responsibilities by doing their parts. He credited openers for providing a ‘fantastic start’, Hetmyer said that the Capitals batting line up kept the pace of the innings going throughout the middle overs to propel the side to a high score of 189 runs. He also commended the bowlers for not allowing the Sunrisers any sniff to make a comeback in the game. He said that the initial wicket of the main batsmean of the Sunrisers lineup in the form of Waner was crucial and the team was excellent to defeat them to get into the finals. However, he added that the team needs to recuperate the same performance one more time when they will face the Mumbai Indians in the final of the IPL 2020 scheduled to be played on November 10. Hetmyer himself was at his dismissive best and played a crucial 22-ball-44 to power the Capitals to a score that put the Sunrisers were under pressure from the start. He was inducted back into the playing XI in the lace of Daniel Sams and he proved his worth by playing a match-winning inning on a very big day.

Babar Azam set to be Pakistan Test captain for New Zealand tour

Azhar Ali’s days as the captain of the Pakistan Test team are numbered as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is all set to replace him with Babar Azam in the immediate future for the upcoming tour of New Zealand. As per a PTI report, the Board of Governors of PCB is set to approve today the change in the leadership of the Pakistan Test team. The 11-member BoG that includes the chairman of the PCB, Ehsan Mani will meet today in Lahore to discuss the performance of the team and the decision of promoting Bababr to Test captaincy will be made public on November 11 when a 35-man-squad will be announced for the New Zealand tour. Meanwhile, Babar Azam has found support in former Pakistan captain and ace fast bowler Waseem Akram. Akram has said that Babar is the future of Pakistan cricket and he has a long career ahead of him. However, Akram was mindful of the lack of time and clarity that Pakistan captain lacks with the presence of four-five captains in the dressing room. He also refuted the reservations about the captaincy affecting Babar’s batting and said that scoring runs is his primary job and he will keep doing that even after becoming the captain.

Wriddhiman Saha has hamstring injury; could be doubtful for Australia tour

Indian wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiamn Saha who was playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League has torn the hamstring that saw him miss the last playoff games for his side. SRH captain David Warner revealed the nature and update of Saha’s injury. However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to release any information on Saha’s injury. The latest injury concerns put Saha under doubt for the upcoming tour of Australia. Saha was in great touch before he was injured and his presence at the top of the order with captain David Warner had overhauled the whole batting unit and tactics in the Sunrisers camp. The Sunrisers missed him dearly on the night of Qualifier 2 against the Delhi Capitals as they could not start well in an attempt to chase a mammoth 190 set by the capitals. Saha’s injury and doubts on his availability for the tour down under will spell fresh troubles for the Indian team which is already reeling with big injury concerns to marquee players such as Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Saha was one of the two wicket-keeper batsmen selected for the tour along with Rishabh Pant and in case he gets ruled out from the tour, selectors will have to either back KL Rahul to become a part-time gloveman for Test after the white-ball series or pick someone else from the domestic circuit to fill the void of a backup keeper in the squad.

Hits and Flops as Marcus Stoinis’ all-round show storms Delhi into the finals

Big games need big performances and bigger players to rise up to the occasion for their team. Marcus Stoinis, Shikhar Dhawan, and Kagiso Rabada did exactly that for the Delhi Capitals while the likes of David Warner, Jason Holder, and Manish Pandey were unable to replicate the same for the Sunrisers Hyderabad as the former went on to beat the latter by 17 runs in Abu Dhabi to reach their first-ever IPL finals. This is also the second consecutive season in which Delhi have ousted Hyderabad in the Playoffs and stopped them from reaching the finals. On that let’s have look at the Hits and Flops from the game Hits #1 Marcus Stoinis Stoinis had blown hot and cold in the entire tournament before the last game against Mumbai Indians when a solid fifty helped him gain some confidence albeit in a losing cause. That confidence was seen in his batting as well, which was helped by an early chance laid down by Jason Holder at silly mid-on. The Perth born did not look back from there as he smashed a cracking 38 off 27 balls giving Delhi the much-needed ‘rocket’ start before being eventually bowled by Rashid Khan. But that wasn’t the only contribution from the all-rounder as he finally justified the role in the team by picking up three crucial wickets from his three overs as well. And the three wickets that he got were of the prime batsmen of the team, especially the third one where he got Kane Williamson out against the run of play when the Kiwi was going all guns blazing. His other scalps were Manish Pandey and Priyam Garg, both being dismissed in the same over. With figures of 3/26 and 38 with the bat, Stoinis was declared Man of the Match. #2 Shikhar Dhawan A big-game player, Shikhar Dhawan rose up to the occasion and took the lead scoring a brilliant 50 ball 78. He looked in the right frame of mind as he smashed the blowers brutally in the powerplay although after the fifty he slowed down a bit, one of the reasons why SRH couldn’t go beyond 200. There is no doubt in the fact that his contribution was still one of the most precious things as he anchored the innings as well. With this 78 Dhawan has been inched closer to getting the orange cap as he is now just 63 away from KL Rahul’s 670 runs in this season. #3 Kagiso Rabada Another big game player, Rabada was due for a great performance after having lagged in the previous 6-7 games. And he did deliver on the biggest stage and when it was required the most. The South African not only removed the danger man David Warner but also ended the match with a brilliant penultimate over picking up three crucial wickets of Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, and Shreevats Goswami. Those three wickets were the only hopes for the Sunrisers requiring 30 from two overs. Rabada finished with the figures of 4/29 and with this four-wicket haul, he has snatched back the purple capo from Jasprit Bumrah as he went past his 27 wickets to reach 29, just one short of most wickets in a season record being held by Dwayne Bravo. Flops #1 David Warner There were a lot of expectations from the main man David Warner, especially after such a huge target, was to be achieved. But the skipper disappointed one and all as he was unable to deal with Rabada’s first delivery of the game which was an outswinger and ricocheted to the wickets after hitting his pads. Warner could only make 2 off three deliveries. His captaincy especially the bowling changes weren’t that efficient either as he brought Shahbaz Nadeem a slow left-arm against Shikhar Dhawan instead of getting in Natarajan who could have done some damage with his cutters. All in all, it was a dismal performance from the captain of the team. #2 Jason Holder The hero from the last game was converted into a zero in this one. The downfall started with the dropping of Stionis at silly mid-on. After that, the same man rubbed salts to his injuries hitting him for 18 runs in his second over. That hitting continued till his last over as only the batters changed but not the fortunes of the West Indies’ Test captain. Holder in total gave away 50 runs in his four overs and took only one wicket. In the batting department too he did not look in touch and was off colour with his shots. He built a partnership of 46 with Kane Williamson to give some semblance to the SRH’s innings. However, when all that was needed of him was to stay on the wicket and support Williamson, one shot too many caused him his downfall as he holed out to Praveen Dubey in the deep of Axar Patel’s delivery. Holder could only score 11 off 15 balls. Special Mention: Kane Williamson and Abdul Samad Kane Williamson was the only man from the Hyderabad set up who continued from where he had left against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. It seemed that he might just win it for the Sunrisers once again but unfortunately was caught in deep when the team needed 43 from 25 balls, a target seemingly achievable. Williamson scored 67 off 45 balls with five fours and four maximums. He also built two important partnerships with Jason Holder (46) and Abdul Samad (57). Samad was another who impressed one and all with his big hits against proven international talents like Anrich Nortje and Rabada. The Jammu Kashmir lad hit 33 in just 16 balls with the help of two fours and two sixes trying to get his team home. But the effort was not good enough as he could not finish the game. Young and talented, a lot of opportunities waiting for this man in the upcoming seasons. Now that Delhi are in the finals, they would expect that the guys who performed today come good in the final, and this time around they are able to give it back to Mumbai Indians after three tasteless one-sided losses.