IPL: Calm Buttler, flamboyant Jaiswal take RR to 199/4 against DC
Guwahati, Apr 8: Yashasvi Jaiswal reaffirmed his status as the brightest talent among India's gen-next batters with a superb 60 while Jos Buttler showed no signs of finger pain en route a chiselled 79 in Rajasthan Royals' challenging 199 for four against Delhi Capitals in their IPL match here on Saturday.
Jaiswal hammered a hapless Khaleel Ahmed (0/31 in 2 overs) into submission by crunching five boundaries in the opening over, his 31-ball innings laying the foundation before Buttler finished with flourish. The English swashbuckler faced 51 balls.
The fate of DC bowlers could have been sealed in first six overs, which yielded 68 runs along with 14 boundaries, but Kuldeep Yadav (1/31 in 4 overs), Mukesh Kumar (2/36 in 4 overs) and Rovman Powell (1/18 in 2 overs) did well to control the damage to some extent at the back-end.
The total on this track would be considered a par score taking the pitch into account as 220 looked possible during the first 10 overs.
Khaleel literally lost both line and length and looked bruised as Jaiswal inflicted one humiliation after another on him during those couple of overs. Khaleel, in his career, has never had three consistent games on trot and Saturday was another such day.
Anrich Nortje (0/44 in 4 overs), DC's big bowling hope seemed to have had too much on his plate, as the onslaught at the other end did affect him as he also went for a flurry of boundaries, including one over the bowler's head.
Such was David Warner's helplessness that he had to ignore that Axar Patel's (0/38 in 4 overs) match-up against left-handers isn't great, and he was promptly smashed for three boundaries in his very first over.
The 50 came in the fourth over and 100 in the 10th even as Jaiswal completed a 25-ball half-century, his fifth over three editions of the tournament.
Seeing Axar's plight, his spin twin Kuldeep, also started bowling quick and flat which resulted in half-trackers, which were promptly punished.
It was Mukesh Kumar, who finally induced a mis-timed pull from Jaiswal which ballooned up and resulted in an easy return catch.
The confidence of Mukesh rubbed off on Kuldeep, who in his second over started giving the ball more air and floated one out of Sanju Samson's (0) hitting radar. Samson's ugly heave was taken by Nortje at long on.
Riyan Parag (7) had another failure, this time castled by Powell but Buttler after a quiet period in the middle overs conjured a 49-run stand with Shimton Hetmyer (39 not out off 21 balls) to take his team to a par score.
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Mamata alleges BJP disrupted her Bhabanipur rally, Suvendu claims 'she's nervous'
Kolkata (PTI): Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee cut short her speech at a rally in her Bhabanipur constituency, alleging that the BJP was deliberately playing loud music from a nearby public meeting.
A peeved Banerjee said despite having the required permission of the Election Commission, her rally in Chakraberia was disrupted by the BJP, "who want to capture Bengal by intimidation and threat".
"It is not possible for me to go ahead with this meeting. If they can do such a thing in my constituency, imagine how undemocratic the BJP is. If they behave like this, I have to take legal action," she said.
"This is an insult, humiliation. BJP is stepping on our toes to instigate trouble. Not possible to address the gathering in this situation. I am leaving the stage. Please vote for me in your protest," she added.
Banerjee was then seen calling someone over and venting her grievances.
Before leaving the stage, she said, "I will hold a rally tomorrow at the same spot."
TMC supporters then rushed towards the BJP rally, which was later addressed by Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, but security personnel intervened and prevented the situation from escalating.
TMC workers later staged a demonstration outside the local police station and filed a complaint, alleging that the BJP violated the model code of conduct.
A senior TMC leader said another complaint will also be lodged with the Election Commission.
Asked about Banerjee's allegations, Adhikari told reporters after the rally he held nearby, "Her reaction shows she is nervous about the imminent loss."
"There was no violence, no obstruction in her meeting and her behaviour shows her nervousness. On May 4, people of Bhabanipur will celebrate the victory of the BJP," he claimed, alleging that the TMC also tried to disrupt his meeting by playing loud music.
South Kolkata's Bhabanipur, one of the battleground seats in the West Bengal elections, will vote in the second phase on April 29.
