Muristek
Mumbai, April 19
Royal Challengers Bangalore rode on skipper Faf du Plessis' breezy 96 and Josh Hazlewood's brilliant bowling to inflict an 18-run defeat on Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL here today.
The 37-year-old du Plessis roared back to form after a string of low scores with a 64-ball knock to help RCB post 181/6 after being sent in to bat. Pace spearhead Hazlewood (4/25) then picked two wickets upfront and two near the end as RCB restricted LSG to 163/8 to register their fifth win of the season. RCB are now second in the points table while LSG slumped to fourth.
Opening the innings, du Plessis, who failed to put up a big score since his sensational 88 in RCB's first game of the season, anchored the innings to perfection and got out only on the penultimate ball of the innings. Du Plessis hit 11 fours and two sixes.
Super Giants managed to strike at regular intervals but had no answers for the former South African captain. Virat Kohli's struggles with the bat continued as he got out for a first-ball duck.
Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore: 181/6 (du Plessis 96; Holder 2/25, Chameera 2/31); Lucknow Super Giants: 163/8 (Krunal 42; Hazlewood 4/25, Harshal 2/47).
Delhi's vs Punjab shifted
Mumbai: Delhi Capitals' next match has been shifted from Pune to Mumbai following five Covid cases in the camp, the organising Indian cricket board (BCCI) said today.
Delhi's Australian all-rounder Mitch Marsh has been admitted to a hospital, while four members of their support staff have also tested positive. This has disrupted their plans to travel to Pune for Wednesday's match against Punjab Kings.
The venue was changed "...to avoid any further incident due to any undetected case during a long-distance bus journey in a closed environment," BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement. "The Covid positive cases are under isolation and medical observation."
They would have to clear two negative tests to return to the team's bio-secure bubble, Shah added. The whole contingent would undergo another round of RT-PCR testing before the match at the Brabourne Stadium. — Agencies
Marsh in hospital
Mumbai: Australian all-rounder Mitch Marsh has been admitted to hospital after testing positive for Covid, his IPL team the Delhi Capitals said. Marsh, who has played 32 Tests for his country, was one of a "few" people in the team's "bio-bubble" to test positive but the rest were asymptomatic, Delhi Capitals said. "The Delhi Capitals medical team is closely monitoring Marsh's condition," the team said in a statement on Twitter. "All remaining members of the bubble are currently in isolation in their respective rooms, and will be tested regularly." PTI
'Karthik as finisher in T20 World Cup'
Mumbai: Impressed with the way Dinesh Karthik is making his bat talk in this year's IPL, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar reckons that the veteran keeper-batter can play the role of a finisher for the Indian team in the T20 World Cup later this year. The former Kolkata Knight Riders skipper has produced effective knocks of 32, 14, 44, 7, 34 and 66 with an astonishing strike-rate of 209.57. By remaining unbeaten in five of the six innings, he is averaging 197.00."He said he wants to be a part of the Indian team for the T20 World Cup. So what I am saying is don't look at his age, just look at what he's producing," Gavaskar said.