Kohli, de Villiers keep RCB alive
New Delhi, May 12: Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers guided Royal Challengers Bangalore to a 5-wicket victory against Delhi Daredevils in a must-win game in the Indian Premier League on Saturday.
The victory at Feroz Shah Kotla has kept RCB in contention for a top-four finish.
Chasing 182 for a win to keep their play-off hopes alive, RCB were jolted early when Trent Boult and debutant Sandeep Lamichhane removed openers early.
However, Kohli attacked the Delhi Daredevils bowlers from the start and was aggressive throughout his knock.
Kohli formed a 118-run stand with AB de Villiers for the third wicket before he edged an Amit Mishra delivery to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant for 70 off 40 balls.
De Villiers, who scored an unbeaten 72 off 37 balls for his 26th fifty, did not let RCB lose steam and ensured the visitors cross the line with 6 balls to spare.
Earlier, Delhi Daredevils rode some power packed batting by Rishabh Pant and talented teenager Abhishek Sharma to post a challenging total.
Pant plundered 61 runs off 34 balls to help Delhi overcome some early hiccups. The 17-year-old Sharma gave the finishing touches to the innings, smashing his way to 46 runs off just 19 balls to give the hosts a very good chance to clinch the fourth win of a rather forgettable campaign.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was the most successful among the RCB bowlers with figures of 2/28.
Delhi suffered their first blow in the opening over itself when opener Prithvi Shaw was bowled while attempting a rather languid shot off Chahal's bowling.
Chahal got rid of Jason Roy -- the other Delhi opener -- in his next over with a sharply incoming delivery that totally bamboozled the England batsman before going on to disturb the stumps.
Pant and Shreyas Iyer came together to add 93 runs between over the next 62 deliveries in an attempt to bring the Delhi innings back on track.
Pant played a major role in boosting the run rate. His power packed knock included five hits to the fence and four towering sixes.
Off-spinner Moeen Ali finally brought the rampage to an end when Pant attempted another big hit, only to be caught by AB de Villiers near the boundary rope wide of long-on.
Iyer amassed a patient 32 off 35 balls before he too departed in an attempt to pump up the run rate. The right-hander had attempted to smash pacer Mohammed Siraj over the onside, but his mistimed shot could only manage to find RCB skipper Virat Kohli.
Delhi's teenaged all-rounder Abhishek Sharma then produced some fireworks lower down the order to help the hosts post a challenging total.
The 17-year-old thumped three boundaries and four hits into the stands as Delhi finished their innings on a high note.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
