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ESPNcricinfo previews the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders in Bangalore

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria10-Apr-2013

Match facts

Thursday, April 11, 2013
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Wake-up alarm: Kolkata Knight Riders’ batsmen are yet to fire in the tournament•BCCI

Big Picture

It’s the start of the second week of the tournament and defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders’ engine is yet to fire properly. They are now in Bangalore, facing the Royal Challengers, who despite their Super Over loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad have already started to rev up their machinery with last night’s win in the rematch.Knight Riders have a strong and vibrant bowling attack. Brett Lee has been generating pace, Rajat Bhatia has been difficult to go after and Sunil Narine is back at being mysterious after a comparatively not-so-productive time in international cricket. But it is their batting which has appeared off colour, with only Eoin Morgan managing a half-century. Manvinder Bisla, the hero of the final last year, has been consumed twice by his own aggression, while Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary and Yusuf Pathan are yet to show any intent. Gautam Gambhir has had starts, but as he often reiterates, the team needs to fire collectively.However, they have received a boost ahead of this game. Brendon McCullum, who kicked off the IPL in 2008 with a blazing 158 (still the highest score in IPL cricket), is available for selection.* The New Zealand captain had to postpone his trip, having to wait to recover completely from the hamstring injury he picked during the home series against England last month. He joined the Knight Riders camp on Wednesday.Royal Challengers Bangalore’s batting has an intimidating aura around it. It has also been bolstered with the addition of AB de Villiers and their bowling attack, despite the seesawing fortunes of Vinay Kumar, has shown incisiveness. However, their bottom half of the batting order appears thin, at least on paper, and will be tested if their top falters against Narine and Co.

Players to watch

AB de Villiers is one of those rare batsmen currently around in international cricket who is as dangerous in Tests as he is in Twenty20s. He can play the most soothing of shots and then follow it up with the most outrageous one. Give him the gloves and he transforms to a more than capable wicketkeeper. Add to that his value as an athletic fielder. He joined the team on Tuesday morning and played a match later that evening. On Thursday, he will be fresh.Eoin Morgan is a player made for the shorter format. He is quick on his feet against the spinners and can hit the ball long. He showed his value on a pacy Jaipur pitch with a well-paced half-century – only his second in 14 matches for the franchise – that kept Knight Riders in the match, and in Bangalore, he is his team’s only man in form.

Stats and trivia

• Knight Riders lead the head-to-head 6-5 in 11 matches between these two teams
• Yusuf Pathan’s strike rate in 44 matches for Knight Riders is 124.68. In 43 matches for Rajasthan Royals, his strike rate was 161. He is yet to score a half-century for Knight Riders.
• Knights Riders have the highest team score of 222 in Bangalore, from the opening match of IPL 2008. Royal Challengers’ highest score on this ground came in 2011, when they scored 205 against Kings XI Punjab.

Quotes

“We should have chased down the score. As champions, you cannot afford to do that. We were not smart at all.”
“We can’t say we are not able to win matches if Gayle fails.”
*03.30GMT, April 11: The preview has been updated with the Brendon McCullum news

Alastair Cook picked up where he left off in the UAE with an unbeaten 163 on the second day of England’s warm-up match against a Sri Lanka Board XI

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-2012
ScorecardAlastair Cook once again held England’s batting together•Getty Images

Alastair Cook picked up where he left off in the UAE with an unbeaten 163 on the second day of England’s warm-up match against a Sri Lanka Board XI, but the middle-order display was less convincing with Ian Bell and Matt Prior collecting ducks.Cook showed the durable qualities that England will need during the Test series as he faced 293 deliveries to take the total to 303 for 8 at the close, a lead of 134, which continued his run of form from the one-day series against Pakistan where he scored two hundreds and an 80.Cook added 89 for the first wicket with Andrew Strauss (40) and 59 with Kevin Pietersen (39) for the third, but from 188 for 2 England slipped to 247 for 8 as legspinner Malinga Bandara and offspinner Sachithra Serasinghe caused problems. Of particular concern was another failure for Bell who endured a miserable Test series against Pakistan with 51 runs in six innings where he was constantly bamboozled by Saeed Ajmal.It was an offspinner that dismissed him again when he was bowled second ball by Serasinghe who could yet be the man to partner Rangana Herath in the Test series. Ravi Bopara, seemingly pencilled in for the No. 6 spot as a replacement for Eoin Morgan, made 12 off 55 deliveries before falling lbw to Dilruwan Perera and Matt Prior got an inside edge against Kaniskha Alvitigala.”To get 300 in a day is a great effort from the team. Today was my day to carry on and I’m sure some other people are disappointed it wasn’t their turn,” Cook said. “With Ravi’s shot, we were trying to push on then. We can only bat 100 overs in the first innings so we were trying to score at four an over which is tough with a long outfield and a ball that was pretty soft by the end.”With Belly, you can always miss one early doors. He’s a world-class player. His record over 18 months is that of a world-class player. He had a poor series in Abu Dhabi but I’d expect him to bounce back and I’m sure he will do.”And Straussy spent a couple of hours out there and hit some nice shots too. It’s a flat wicket and it doesn’t spin too much but it was quite hard to score quickly with the outfield. It’s a grind, that’s what happens in these conditions.”Bandara picked up two more wickets and it appeared England would be bowled out before the close, but James Anderson supported Cook in an unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 56 with Cook continuing to push along with ease.England had made confident progress during the morning session as Strauss spent valuable time in the middle until falling lbw on the back foot against Perera shortly before lunch. Jonathan Trott became Bandara’s first wicket but seemed far from happy with the lbw decision he received.Pietersen began in positive style by using his feet against the spinners and employing the sweep and momentum was building for England as they took the lead. However, when Pietersen was given lbw against Serasinghe the ensuing collapse was a timely reminder that the next few weeks will be another severe test for this batting line-up.

ESPNcricinfo previews the second ODI between New Zealand and Pakistan at Queenstown

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran25-Jan-2011

Match Facts

January 26, Queenstown

Start time 11:00 (22.00 GMT)
Pakistan had no answer to Tim Southee’s legcutters and inswingers in the first ODI•AFP

Big Picture

All’s been quiet on the controversy front over the past few months for Pakistan, but the announcement of a World Cup squad without a captain has stoked trouble again. Claims that the team was divided into camps supporting Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and limited-overs leader Shahid Afridi grew louder following a resounding nine-wicket defeat to New Zealand three days after the squad announcement.Pakistan’s familiar batting frailties cropped up in Wellington, and the second one-dayer could be a continuation of the same. It is being played in Queenstown, a much-loved spot for adventure-sport enthusiasts, but far less welcoming to batsmen – the average first-innings score is 173.New Zealand’s batting hasn’t had much to boast about in the recent past either, though they made short work of the target of 125 in the first one-dayer. Their new coach, John Wright, has stressed the importance of having a strong middle and lower order, which has resulted in Brendon McCullum being pushed down to No. 6. The batting weaknesses of both sides seem of have weighed heavily on the team managements and they have responded by adding meat lower down – in the first ODI Abdul Razzaq batted as low as No. 8, while in Queenstown Daniel Vettori is slated to come in at No. 9.The big gain for New Zealand in Wellington, before the end of a dreadful run in one-dayers, is their quick bowling, with Tim Southee in top form and Hamish Bennett proving a handful on his return from injury.

Form guide

New Zealand: WLLLL
Pakistan: LLWLW

Players to watch out for …

Umar Akmal has lost his way after a spectacular start to his career, which raised hopes that Pakistan had unearthed someone to lend steel to a fragile middle-order. He wasn’t picked in the Tests, and his hold on a one-day spot is also shaky. The golden duck on Saturday made things worse, but given his undoubted talented, a substantial innings can’t be far.Hamish Bennett, the strongly built Canterbury fast bowler, was impressive on home debut in Wellington, working up speeds in the mid-140s and hassling the batsmen with bounce. With New Zealand lacking an out-and-out fast bowler since the retirement of Shane Bond, Bennett could be the man who provides teeth to the pace attack.

Team news

John Wright has said he would like all members of New Zealand’s World Cup 15 to get a game in the series. Jamie How, the Central Districts batsman, gets his chance on Wednesday, taking the place of offspinner Nathan McCullum.New Zealand (probable): 1 Jesse Ryder, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Ross Taylor, 4 Jamie How, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Brendon McCullum (wk), 7 James Franklin, 8 Jacob Oram, 9 Daniel Vettori (capt), 10 Tim Southee, 11 Hamish BennettPakistan’s team selection is a lot less straightforward. Shoaib Akhtar will open the bowling, but who will partner him remains to be seen. Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz were rested for the first game after a taxing Test series, and Gul is favourite to take Sohail Tanvir’s place in the XI for the second match. Offspinner Saeed Ajmal lost his place as a starter in the South Africa series, and he might again lose out to left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman.Pakistan (probable): 1 Kamran Akmal (wk), 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Asad Shafiq, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Abdur Rehman, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Shoaib Akhtar

Stats and trivia

• In each of the six previous completed matches in Queenstown, the team winning the toss has chosen to field, and gone on to win the match
• In their only previous match in Queenstown, Pakistan successfully chased down 236, which is the highest total at the venue
• The crowd for the first one-dayer in Wellington was 8299, the lowest since the Westpac Stadium opened in 2000

Quotes

“We are expecting better performances from Kamran Akmal, he came back after a long time, and Umar Akmal as well.”
wants more from the Akmal brothers
“I don’t think it (the toss) is as important as normal because the overhead (conditions) have been so good and it’s a lot drier. I wouldn’t be surprised if a team batted first on it.”

Yuvraj Singh, one of Kings XI Punjab’s most important players, is one step closer to getting fit

Cricinfo staff03-Mar-2010Yuvraj Singh, one of Kings XI Punjab’s most important players, is one step closer to getting fit. Yuvraj resumed competitive training this week and said on his Twitter page today, after batting “around 70 to 80 balls”, that he felt good about his progress towards a return to action in the IPL.”Wrist hurts a little bit but it will get better as I progress my training but feels good holding my bat after such a long time,” he tweeted. “Wrist was a bit sore but will definitely get better during the next few days. Really felt good after hitting a few balls. Should play first or second game max!”Punjab play their first game against Delhi Daredevils on March 13 in Mohali and will be desperate to have Yuvraj in the playing XI as soon as possible. One of the major concerns for Punjab ahead of the third season of the IPL is a long injury list, which includes Brett Lee, their most expensive player, the Australian opener Shaun Marsh, and Irfan Pathan.Yuvraj tore a ligament in his left wrist in late January and missed the second Test against Bangladesh and the entire series against South Africa that ended two days ago. He had been to Australia recently for treatment.

Scotland’s chase never took off as spinners and Prabodhani helped Sri Lanka defend 169

ESPNcricinfo staff07-May-2024Captain Chamari Athapaththu’s 102 off 63 balls helped Sri Lanka win the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier against Scotland in Abu Dhabi.As a result, Sri Lanka will slot into Group A alongside Australia, India, New Zealand and Pakistan, while Scotland will be part of Group B alongside South Africa, England, West Indies and Bangladesh in the World Cup proper in October.After Scotland asked Sri Lanka to bat, Athapaththu lost her opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne in the third over. Harshitha Samarawickrama was the next one to depart in the sixth over, after being pinned in front by Katherine Fraser. Kavisha Dilhari at No. 4 then contributed 15 off 13 balls before being stumped off Abtaha Maqsood.Athapaththu, meanwhile, continued to pile on the runs single-handedly, contributing 83 runs in her 106-run stand with Nilakshika Silva. She brought up her century in the 19th over, off 60 balls. Athapaththu hit 13 fours and four sixes in her 63-ball stay before falling to Rachel Slater with four balls remaining in Sri Lanka’s innings. A six by Silva off the penultimate ball then set Scotland a target of 170.In return, Scotland got off to a decent start in the chase, with openers Saskia Horley and Megan McColl hitting three fours between them before the collapse began. After Horley was run-out in the third over, left-arm medium pacer Udeshika Prabodhani produced a double-wicket maiden in the fourth.Sri Lanka’s spinners then took over, stifling Scotland in the middle overs. Priyanaz Chatterji fought hard with a 34-ball 30, but didn’t find much help at the other end, as Scotland eventually fell 68 runs short.Before they met on Tuesday, both Sri Lanka and Scotland had already booked their spot at the T20 World Cup proper, set to be played in Bangladesh later this year, after beating UAE and Ireland, respectively, on Friday.

Tim David couldn’t haul the chase across the line as Hobart Hurricanes’ season was left hanging by a thread

Tristan Lavalette20-Jan-2023A resurgent Brisbane Heat continued their charge for a BBL playoffs berth while denting Hobart Hurricanes’ chances with a pivotal 12-run victory at the Gabba.Defending 163, Heat were in the box seat after outstanding bowling from Michael Neser before surviving a late onslaught from big-hitter Tim David.Three straight wins has lifted Heat firmly into playoffs calculations, while Hurricanes are currently outside the picture after being unable to break their drought on the road.

Neser shines, Johnson holds nerve

Heat needed early wickets to defend what seemed a modest total at the traditionally batting-friendly Gabba. Neser obliged with the wickets of struggling Ben McDermott and Zak Crawley as he produced a slew of outstanding outswingers in his two-over burst. .But with David looking ominous, Neser returned in the 15th over after Hurricanes took the power surge and he bowled well under pressure. He then bowled the penultimate over and removed Mitchell Owen, but a first ball six from Faheem Ashraf breathed life into the contest.With Hurricanes needing 18 runs off the final over, left-arm quick Spencer Johnson kept his cool against a rampant David with superb clutch bowling as Heat held on to move into the all-important top five for the first time this season.Related

• Renshaw's boundary seals last-ball thriller to keep Heat's season alive

• Smith's T20 opening success gives Australia selectors something to ponder

• Scorchers strengthen BBL title credentials as Strikers crash for 92

Wade, David unable to lift Hurricanes

After Hurricanes slumped to 14 for 2, they needed a spark from skipper Matthew Wade who had been in a form slump with just 68 runs in his last five innings while battling controversies.Wade made his move in the fourth over with a couple of boundaries off Johnson and unleashed trademark inventiveness against spin. But he fell for 45 in the 13th over with the burden falling on David, who put the foot down in the 18th over with two sixes off spinner Matthew Kuhnemann.His gamble to decline singles briefly paid off, but ultimately it proved too tough a task for David as Hurricanes lost their seventh straight game on the road.

Heat overcome struggles from their stars

Captain Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne haven’t been able to fire for Heat on their returns.Khawaja made 18 before spooning a return catch to Faheem, while Labuschagne lacked fluency in his 25-ball 28. Having only played one T20I in his career, Labuschagne has been out to prove his formidable longer format game can translate into success in T20 cricket.But he did little to ease the doubters with a scratchy innings, where he struggled for timing, before falling after the drinks break at a pivotal juncture.Heat appeared set to fall well short of a competitive total before solid knocks from Matt Renshaw and Sam Hain powered them to respectability.

Recalled Paris rediscovers his miserly best

Hurricanes’ attack hoped for a bounce back after being thumped by in-form Scorchers batter Aaron Hardie, who in fairness has been dismissive of most bowlers this season.It was a task made more daunting without injured spinner Paddy Dooley, who has enjoyed a breakout season to emerge as an unlikely talisman of the attack.Frontline quicks Riley Meredith and Nathan Ellis were expensive, but an outstanding performance from left-arm seamer Joel Paris helped restrict Heat. Paris has been in and out of the line-up and before this match claimed just three wickets from five innings at an economy rate of 8.56.But he conjured swing during the powerplay and then dismissed Labuschagne in the 11th over. Paris also bowled a clutch over at the death to finish with figures of 2 for 15 in four overs in his best performance of the season.Faheem was also accurate to frustrate Heat, who failed to hit a boundary for six overs at one point. Sharp catching capped a notable improvement in the field for Hurricanes.

Having been on the sidelines, he finally got some game-time after seven months, scoring a 50-ball 63

Saurabh Somani18-Nov-2021Mark Chapman has had such a long break between playing competitive games of cricket, that he isn’t quite sure when he was in the middle last. The cricket caravan might be hurtling along for viewers – and some players – from one bio-bubble to the next, but it’s thanks to that packed schedule that Chapman got to play for New Zealand after a gap of seven and a half months.For the record, Chapman last played a game on April 1 this year and didn’t face a ball, or bowl one, in that game. After that appropriately April Fool’s of a game from a personal point of view at least, Chapman was given the No.3 slot against India, in a T20I that began two days after New Zealand had suffered a draining defeat in the T20 World Cup final, and with several players sitting out.Related

• Crafty Ashwin continues his white-ball evolution

• Ashwin, Suryakumar, Rohit shine as India earn hard-fought victory

Chapman had been part of that stirring campaign, but from the sidelines, with the XI tough to break into. The long layoff was spent training with the team as part of the squad, but it was only when he had spent some time in the middle that Chapman’s fluency returned. From 20 off 24 balls at one point, he ended up with 63 off 50, setting New Zealand up for a good total.”To be honest, it was just nice to be out there,” Chapman said after the game. “Had a lot of training behind the scenes, but nothing beats the real thing of being out in the middle.”In World Cups, you play your best XI and if we’re going well, then more than likely you stick with your best team. So it just meant that I was on the sidelines for a bit. I did my best to support the guys in and around training.”You find ways to add context to your training. Obviously, being in and around this environment, you try and train the best you can given the situation and make the most of the opportunities to train. There was a lot of training in the background. I felt prepared, but I guess match-preparation wise it wasn’t ideal. But just happy to be out there.”New Zealand were taking the field against India on November 17, having lost the T20 World Cup final against Australia on November 14. While Chapman acknowledged there was some tiredness, he also pointed out how he and Todd Astle – who also didn’t get a game during the World Cup – relished the chance to get a game.”There was a natural feeling of a little bit of disappointment (at losing the final), but a lot of pride as well in the way we went about our business throughout the World Cup,” Chapman said. “We stayed authentic to the way we wanted to play and you know, the guys are true professionals. These games have come around pretty quick, it’s a three-match series in five days, and the guys are just doing what we do best and that’s playing our cricket and enjoying it.”The guys been a little bit tired, but we always play for New Zealand with pride. Particularly for myself and Todd, who have been on the sidelines, it was a really exciting moment to be playing.”Chapman put on 109 runs in 77 balls for the second wicket with top-scorer Martin Guptill, and said the senior pro helped him through his initial period.”We were probably a bit slow in the powerplay but we rotated the strike pretty well through the middle and managed to accelerate after that 10-over mark,” Chapman said. “Pretty happy to be batting with Gup and to put on, I think it was over 100 runs, so pretty happy with that partnership.”It just took a little bit to get my rhythm going. But once I faced a few balls and managed to get the pace of the wicket sort of, things tend to come back pretty quickly. Guppy was keeping me pretty good company out in the middle and giving me advice and telling me to take my time, watch the ball. So it was just a matter of us doing what we’ve been training for and what we’ve prepared for.”And while one T20 World Cup is done, there is another one just 11 months away given the squeezed pandemic schedules, and Chapman made his case stronger with his showing.”It’s been well reported that this BlackCaps team is pretty competitive to get into, so whenever you get your opportunity you’ve just got to do what you can to contribute to the team,” he said. “Thankfully I was able to contribute today.”If he continues to bat the way he did, Chapman may not need to struggle to remember when he last played.

Mentor Nazmul Abedeen says Bangladesh allrounder will begin training in Savar next month

Mohammad Isam07-Aug-2020Shakib Al Hasan’s return to international cricket is slowly starting to take shape with his mentor Nazmul Abedeen telling ESPNcricinfo that the Bangladesh allrounder is preparing to undergo a full-fledged training camp at his alma mater, the BKSP facility in Savar.Currently under a one-year suspension by the ICC for failing to report a corrupt approach, Shakib will become eligible to play cricket again for Bangladesh on October 29 but he plans to be in Dhaka at the end of August to get himself ready. .”Shakib will come to the BKSP next month where he will have coaches and trainers available,” Abedeen said. “We are functional as the coaches are all residing within the campus, so we can work with him well. Shakib will have everything at his disposal.”Abedeen is one of Shakib’s earliest coaches and influences, and is now the cricket advisor at the BKSP where he has worked for many years as the chief coach of cricket. Abedeen was also the BCB’s game development manager for many years, before taking on this new role at the BKSP.Shakib, who is in the United States with his family, has often leant on Abedeen and Mohammad Salahuddin, both of whom have been BKSP chief cricket coaches, and have been major influences in Shakib’s cricket career.Shakib’s return to international cricket also coincides with Bangladesh’s likely tour of Sri Lanka where matches are probably going to start in mid-October. There has however been no indication from the BCB whether Shakib will be part of that tour.

England slipped to 49 for 5 in their chase of 206, but their lower order led by Wyatt helped them recover

The Report by Shashank Kishore28-Feb-2019In a tale of two lower-order fightbacks, England prevailed by two wickets to pocket their first championship points on their tour of India. For the hosts, this was another trophy in the bag, allowing them to build on their ODI success in New Zealand.On a comeback after missing the World T20 late last year, Katherine Brunt’s incisions resulted in India losing 6 for 21 at one stage, slipping from a comfortable 129 for 1. Brunt took four of those wickets in the course of a four-over second spell, having already dismissed the opener Jemimah Rodrigues with the new ball.Of her wickets, Smriti Mandhana’s may have been a touch lucky, the India vice-captain pulling a long-hop straight to deep midwicket for 66, the highest score of India’s innings. Punam Raut, also on a comeback, made 56 before Brunt bowled her with an in-ducker.Punam Raut plays a glance•PTI

Mona Meshram bagged her second duck of the series when she played all around a full delivery, while Mithali Raj got a thick inside edge onto the pad, only to be caught smartly by Sarah Taylor. The more India appeared to try and strengthen their middle order, the more they unravelled.It took a stodgy 47-run stand between Shikha Pandey and Deepti Sharma to lift them to 205 for 8. Brunt finished with 5 for 28.On each of their two previous outings, England struggled on the red-soil Wankhede surfaces. In the final ODI too, there was the familiar early collapse, this time against the seam of Jhulan Goswami, who sent back the top three as England slipped to 49 for 5.There was still plenty of spin to negotiate for England; where there was fizz and turn from Ekta Bisht previously, they had Rajeshwari Gayakwad’s slow flight and loop to contend with this time. But while Gayakwad was economical, conceding just 41 off her full quota, Heather Knight and Danielle Wyatt negated her threat and provided England a calming influence.Wyatt walked in at No. 7 and immediately made run accumulation look easy, leaving her imprint on the tour after sitting out the first two ODIs. Picked only because of an injury to Sophie Ecclestone, Wyatt milked runs steadily to make an 82-ball 56, along the way adding 69 with her captain Knight.The game was still India’s to lose when Knight fell, but they let the pressure slip. Georgia Elwiss and Wyatt added a further 56 to bring the target within touching distance. When Wyatt dragged a slower ball from Pandey to long-on with England needing 32, the game was back in the balance. One run later, India could have had their eighth wicket when Elwiss got a leading edge to Pandey’s slower delivery, only for the bowler to fluff a straightforward offering on her follow-through.Elwiss went on to see the chase home and remained unbeaten on 33. Brunt, who would have liked to cool off after an intense spell, made 18 crucial runs to take England to within two runs of victory. Anya Shrubsole then walloped a boundary to complete the formalities.

Tamil Nadu’s bowlers leave them with chance of an outright win, and MP made to wait in search of one after Odisha’s batsmen grind it out

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2017Mumbai bowlers Dhawal Kulkarni and Karsh Kothari, and opener Prithvi Shaw sealed their knockout berth in style by crushing Tripura by 10 wickets on the third evening at Wankhede Stadium. After declaring overnight on 421 for 8 with a lead of 226, Mumbai bowled out Tripura in 78 overs with four wickets apiece from Kulkarni and Kothari. Set a target of 63, Mumbai belted out the runs in 6.2 overs with a 26-ball 50 from Shaw.Tripura saw a couple of partnerships flourish once Kulkarni struck in his second over to remove opener Samrat Singha for 7. Bishal Ghosh (38) and Udiyan Bose (34) stitched a stand of 65, but Kulkarni had Bose caught at the score of 76 and Akash Parkar bowled Ghosh eight runs later. Smit Patel (68) and Yashpal Singh (82) struck fifites with a century stand and gave Tripura some hopes by rallying the score past 200. However, Jay Bista’s offspin broke the stand and Kothari struck on consecutive deliveries to leave them reeling on 222 for 6.No. 8 Rajat Dey counter-attacked with a 21-ball 30 even as Kothari had Yashpal stumped and Kulkarni returned to wipe out the tail and bowl them out for 288. Mumbai’s openers Shaw and Bista – whose ages add up to only 39 – came out with a T20 mentality and Shaw struck eight fours in his fifty while Bista was unbeaten on 13 off 12 to score at over 10 runs per over together that earned them seven points.Tamil Nadu’s bowlers fought back to leave them with a chance of picking up an outright win after conceding the first-innings lead to Baroda in Vadodara. Tamil Nadu had ended the second day on 226 for 5 in response to Baroda’s 309. But they lost five wickets for 48 runs on the third day to be bowled out for 274. Both B Indrajith and J Kousik were dismissed for their respective overnight scores of 59 and 37 as Tamil Nadu lost three wickets for 10 runs. Yo Mahesh and Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore added 38 for the ninth wicket. Mahesh was dismissed for 26, while Sai Kishore remained not out on 17. Lukman Meriwala led a collective effort from Baroda’s bowlers with 3 for 37.Baroda lost half their side inside 25 overs of their second innings, with just 68 on the board. Swapnil Singh (49) and Atit Sheth (40) lifted them with a 66-run sixth-wicket stand. But despite their efforts, and Kartik Kakade’s 33 at No. 9, Baroda folded for 197. Tamil Nadu’s pace duo of M Mohammed and K Vignesh combined to take six wickets between them. Tamil Nadu’s openers N Jagadeesan and Abhinav Mukund, their captain, saw off the two overs to stumps. Tamil Nadu require 231 runs and Baroda need 10 wickets on the final day for a win. However, an outright win won’t do for either team, as they need other results to go their way to make the quarterfinals.Odisha were still trailing Madhya Pradesh after a laboured third day in Indore, where they scored just 219 runs in 90 overs.Odisha had conceded a huge first-innings lead of 241 runs on the second day and ended it on 18 for no loss. By stumps on the third day, they were 237 for 4, requiring four more runs to wipe out the deficit. Odisha lost Ranjit Singh and their captain Govinda Poddar in the space of 10 overs following a 70-run opening stand. Rajesh Dhuper and Subhranshu Senapati, the promising 20-year old batsman, then buckled down for a third-wicket partnership of 120. Having stoically resisted for most of the day, Odisha lost two wickets in the final hour; first Dhuper fell for 88 to the medium-pacer Puneet Datey before Biplab Samantray followed him after 1 off six balls. Senapati held firm till stumps and was on 78, with Shantanu Mishra on 10 for company. Odisha are out of the race to the knockouts. Mumbai’s win has left MP needing nothing short of an outright win. Currently third, a win will take MP straight to the top of the table.