Jaiswal slams fastest fifty in IPL history as Royals demolish KKR
Kolkata (PTI): Yashasvi Jaiswal continued his sensational run in the IPL by smashing the fastest fifty in tournament history as Rajasthan Royals cruised to a nine-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders to resurrect their playoff hopes here on Thursday.
Records tumbled at the Eden Gardens as Yuzvendra Chahal became IPL's leading wicket-taker before completing a brilliant 4/25 to restrict KKR to a below-par 149/8.
On a day KKR batters struggled to time the ball, 21-year-old Jaiswal showed the way by bringing up fastest fifty in the history of IPL in just 13 balls, bettering the previous record held by KL Rahul and Pat Cummins (14 balls each).
Jaiswal remained two runs shy of a century (98 from 47 balls), a knock studded with 12 fours and five sixes as RR cantered to victory 13.1 overs.
Samson gave fine support to the southpaw with a 48 not out from 29 balls as the duo shared an unbroken match-winning partnership of 121 runs off just 69 balls. The win with 41 balls to spare also took them to third spot (12 points from 12 matches), giving a massive boost to their net run-rate (0.0633) as the play-off race heats up.
It is all but over for KKR who slipped to seventh place (10 points, 12 matches). Jaiswal made his intention clear in the first over itself when KKR skipper Nitish Rana made a bold move to bowl himself.
Wasting no time, Jaiswal seized on the opportunity and smashed Rana for two sixes and two fours in a row in a 26-run over.
He hit Shardul Thakur with a hat-trick of fours to race to his fifty in the third over itself as RR virtually sealed the issue scoring 78/1 inside powerplay. To pile on the KKR misery, Sunil Narine dropped an easy catch when Samson was on 16.
The skipper then came on his own when he smoked Jharkhand leftarm spinner Anukul Roy for three sixes in a 20-run over.
On a day RR dished out an eye-grabbing fielding display, Chahal (187 wickets) eclipsed Dwayne Bravo (183) to become the all-time leading wicket-taker of the IPL when he struck off his second ball to dismiss KKR skipper Rana (22; 17b) in the 11th over.
Chahal's breakthrough came just when KKR looked to step up after a pathetic start when two astonishing catches of Shimron Hetmyer and Sandeep Sharma set the tone.
Both came in Trent Boult's successive overs as the Kiwi leftarm pacer returned with 2/15 from his three overs on his return. After an expensive second over when he leaked 15 runs, Chahal came back in the death overs and dismissed KKR topscorer Venkatesh Iyer (57; 42b) and Shardul Thakur (1) in four balls.
He ended his spell dismissing the the latest KKR sensation Rinku Singh (16) in the penultimate over to also become the leading wicket-taker this season (21). Put in on a dry Eden wicket, KKR frontline batters came a cropper, as Venkatesh held the fort and returned to form with a fighting fifty.
From being two off 12 balls, Venkatesh paced his innings well and raced to a 39-ball fifty. But he slashed a wide delivery from Chahal to be brilliantly caught by Boult. Andre Russell (10) failed to make it big after he was promoted to No 5 and fell to KM Asif (1/34).
KKR, who were 58/2 after nine overs, looked to seize the momentum after taking a strategic time out in the 10th over. Venkatesh finally broke free smashing Ashwin for back-to-back sixes, while Rana ended the over with an elegant four through extra-cover to take them to 76/2 at the midway mark.
KKR looked on course for a decent total before Chahal triggered a mid-innings collapse.
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Shivamogga tense after boy murdered outside school
Shivamogga (PTI): A 16-year-old boy was murdered outside a government school in Sulaebailu here, sparking tension in the area, police said on Tuesday.
Following the incident, a large police force was deployed in the city.
The incident occurred after Sanketh (16), an SSLC student of the Government High School at Uragadooru, attended a special class ahead of examinations.
Superintendent of Police Nikhil B told reporters that Sanketh intervened in an argument involving a group of boys outside his school.
“Some friends who were known to him — they had earlier studied in the same school — were involved. They are also minors. They hit him with their hands. Immediately after being struck, he collapsed. After he fell, by the time he was taken to the hospital, we came to know that he had died,”
"... he was struck near the chest. Due to that blow, he collapsed on the spot,” the SP said.
Two minors have been taken into custody in this connection.
“We are also gathering information about others involved in the incident. Whoever is found to be involved, we will initiate legal action against them as well,” the official added.
On the possible motive, the SP said the exact cause is yet to be ascertained.
“We do not have complete information about that. Once we conduct a detailed inquiry, we will know. Some people are saying it may have been over a trivial matter. However, we cannot confirm that at this stage,” he said.
The incident took on a communal undertone, prompting authorities to deploy heavy police reinforcements across the city to maintain order and prevent escalation.
BJP MLA from Shivamogga, S N Channabasappa, also visited the hospital.
