Captain Morgan, bowlers beat Monday blues to get past Punjab Kings
Ahmedabad, Apr 26: Skipper Eoin Morgan brought in a sense of calm after early jitters as Kolkata Knight Riders didn't let a brilliant bowling performance go in vain during their easy five-wicket victory over Punjab Kings in an IPL encounter on Monday.
After the bowlers put up a splendid show to restrict Punjab Kings to 123 for 9, KKR scored the runs in 16.4 overs with skipper Morgan remaining unbeaten on 47 off 40 balls.
For KKR, it was a collective bowling performance with Prasidh Krishna (3/30), Pat Cummins (2/31) and Sunil Narine (2/22) choked Punjab after the young Shivam Mavi (1/13) bowled an astounding 15 dot balls in his four over spell.
KKR has now ended their four-match losing streak and are placed fifth with four points from six games. Punjab Kings slipped a notch behind and are now at sixth place.
Chasing the paltry target on a dew-laden Motera, KKR found themselves in familiar territory as they lost top-three for 17 runs inside three overs.
But Morgan (4x4, 2x6) showed perfect intent to seize control with Rahul Tripathi in a 66-run partnership off 48 balls as KKR sealed the issue in 16.4 overs to return to winning ways.
Morgan pulled Shami over square to get off the mark with a maximum and there was no looking back.
He along with Tripathi used their feet and kept charging the Punjab bowlers as they just needed 48 runs in the final-10.
Tripathi could not finish it after an impressive 32-ball 41 as there was a bit of a blip with Andre Russell departing in addition of 15 runs but Morgan and Dinesh Karthik ensured that there's no further damage to cruise home with 20 balls to spare.
Earlier, Rana got out for a golden duck in the first over, gifting his wicket to Moises Henriques, chipping a wide full toss straight to Shahrukh Khan at cover.
Then the Indian cricket's blue-eyed boy, Gill, continued his woeful run after showing some glimpses of his class, trapped by Mohammed Shami.
Ravi Bishnoi then produced a spectacular diving catch, sprinting about 30 metres to dismiss Sunil Narine for a duck.
Earlier, youngster Mavi started it all, tying things down with the new ball, bowling 15 dot balls in his four overs on the trot, before Cummins and Prasidh tightened the noose sharing five wickets between them at the death.
The pace troika removed the top three KL Rahul (19), Chris Gayle (0) and Deepak Hooda (1) in space of 12 balls for six runs to leave PBKS in a disarray in the first 10 overs.
On a pitch, where the ball stayed low and gripped a bit, the Punjab batsmen failed to apply themselves with Sunil Narine (2/22) and Varun Chakravarthy (1/24) further denting their progress during the middle overs as well as back-end.
Prasidh had the best figures as he ended Chris Jordan's 18-ball 30 cameo which took the total past the 120-run mark.
Mavi capped a fine opening spell of four overs dismissing Chris Gayle for a golden duck with the 'Universe Boss' taking a bottom edge.
Bowling with the new ball, the youngster was superb in the Powerplay, conceding just nine runs from his three overs, never allowing the two star Punjab openers, Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul, to express themselves.
The pressure was evident on Rahul when he perished after trying to break free against Cummins in the final over of Powerplay.
The dangerous Deepak Hooda (1) got out courtesy a stunning low catch by Eoin Morgan as Punjab had a terrible start losing three wickets in 12 balls for six runs.
Amid ruins, opener Mayank Agarwal scored a painstaking 31 off 34 balls which also halted the team's momentum.
At that point, Morgan used Narine to great effect as the Trinidadian dismissed Agarwal and Moises Henriques in successive overs to push them behind further.
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
