WPL: Gardner, Hemalatha partnership guides Gujarat Giants to 178/6 against UP Warriorz
Mumbai, Mar 20: A brilliant 93-run partnership between Dayalan Hemalatha (57 off 33 balls) and the second costliest player Ashleigh Gardner (60 off 39 balls) helped Gujarat Giants post 178 for six in their crucial Women's Premier League match against UP Warriorz here on Monday.
The authority and attacking ways with which the duo played indicated they were on a mission, given the do-or-die nature of the contest as the tournament enters its business end.
By the time the partnership ended, with Hemalatha dismissed by Parshavi Chopra in the 17th over with the team total on 143, the stand had put the team on course for a big total.
South African opener Laura Wolvaardt and Sophia Dunkley went about their task of scoring runs in powerplay with a lot of urgency. Runs flowed freely while the two batting stalwarts were at the crease, with Wolvaardt smacking a fine boundary off just the third ball of the opening over bowled by left-arm pacer Anjali Sarvani.
The 23-year-old used the width on offer to steer it past backward point, making her intentions clear. Just two overs into the match and Gujarat Giants were in overdrive, with the team having scored 26 runs.
The powerful six by the South African off a length delivery outside off stump from left-arm India spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad in the second over had class and power written all over it.
Soon England batter Dunkley took charge, giving a further fillip to the scoring rate.
By the time Wolvaardt was dismissed for 17, knocked down by a length delivery from Sarvani, the pair had put up an opening partnership of 41 in just four overs.
The UP side recovered from the initial onslaught as they reduced the Giants to 50 for three at the end of powerplay.
Dunkley was the next batter to depart on the first ball of the sixth over, slicing a flighted delivery from Gayakwad to third man where Sarvani did the rest.
Harleen Deol (4), after threading one past point for a boundary, was dismissed on the last ball of the same over as the young India batter was caught by Simran Shaikh at cover point.
With such a flourishing start, 50/3 in powerplay overs looked mediocre. But new batters, Hemalatha and Gardner ensured a quick flow of runs.
The Giants' 100 came in the 11th over with Gardner clearing deep midwicket to deposit a big six into the cow corner.
The flurry of boundaries and sixes continued with monotonous regularity with the pair dispatching virtually every loose delivery to the ropes.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Nitish loses cool inside Bihar assembly over opposition's 'guns and bullets' jibe
Patna (PTI): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lost his composure inside the state assembly on Tuesday when opposition members created a ruckus alleging that his government was ruling the state with the help of "guns and bullets".
The 76-year-old leader, who stood up to admonish the unruly members, also had a slip of tongue, as he underscored the brute majority enjoyed by the NDA, saying "our strength is two thousand and two".
The BJP-led coalition, which includes Kumar's JD(U) and a few smaller parties, had swept the Bihar assembly polls last year, bagging 202 seats of the 243-strong House.
Trouble began soon after the House assembled at 11 am, with RJD MLA Kumar Sarvajeet registering a protest against the police's baton charge on village 'chowkidars' (watchmen) here a day ago when they were staging a demonstration to press the demand for a hike in stipends.
"The 'chowkidars' who were demanding a hike in their pay are very much employees of the Home department. Yet, they were treated in a deplorable fashion yesterday," alleged Sarvajeet.
Several other MLAs of the opposition party also raised a slogan: "bandook goli ki sarkar nahin chalegi (will not allow a rule by brute force, with the help of guns and bullets)".
This provoked Kumar, the longest serving CM of the state, who heads the JD(U) and has had a couple of short-lived alliances with the RJD in the past.
He shouted: "Do not talk rubbish. This government will run without any hiccups. Just look at us. We are two thousand and two. And just look at how many of you have been left now."
Kumar was apparently referring to the RJD's drubbing in the last assembly polls when it returned with a tally of 25, one of its worst ever performances.
When RJD leader Bhai Virendra reminded the JD(U) supremo of their two short-lived alliances in the last one decade, Kumar shot back: "Yes, and you people always indulged in mischief, a reason why I pulled out never to return".
The CM also reminded the opposition party, which was unseated from power by the NDA helmed by him in 2005, that "You did nothing worthwhile during the period you were in power... Law and order had been so abysmal that people feared getting out of their homes after 5 pm. So you better not talk nonsense."
Amid the heated exchange, some of the opposition MLAs trooped into the well, briefly plunging the House into turmoil.
The agitated members got pacified after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary rose to interject and said, "We will call representatives of various associations of chowkidars for talks. Their demands will be looked into, and appropriate action will be taken."
