IPL: Rajasthan beat Bangalore by 19 runs
Bengaluru, April 15: Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 19 runs here on Sunday to register their second win in three matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament.
Rajasthan put up a huge score of 217 for 4 wickets, riding on Sanju Samson's blistering 92 not out off 45 deliveries. RCB managed to score 198/6 as the southern outfit suffered its second loss in three games.
Samson shared crucial partnerships with Ben Stokes (27 off 21), Jos Buttler (23 off 14) and Rahul Tripaathi (14 not out off five), as Rajasthan capitalised on a strong start provided by captain Ajinkya Rahane (36 off 20).
Right-hander Rahane hit six fours and a six to provide the early fireworks for the visitors as they raced to 49 off 5.4 overs till the dismissal of the Indian international. Rahane hit a slower delivery from English medium pacer Chris Woakes into the hands of Umesh Yadav at mid-on.
In the following over, the other opening batsman D'Arcy Short (11 off 17) under-edged a delivery from leg-spinner Yuzvender Chahal and was caught by wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock.
These two quick wickets boosted RCB's confidence -- only to be destroyed by Samson and Stokes later. Both milked runs, despite good bowling from Chahal and Washington Sundar.
Samson moved to score 50 off 34 balls as he shared an important partnership of 49 runs with Stokes, who was bowled by Chahal in the second delivery of the 13th over, with Rajasthan at 102/3.
Later, Samson joined hands with Buttler to dominate the home bowling. Buttler hit a six against Woakes and two fours against spinners Chahal and Pawan Negi before losing his wicket to Woakes.
Samson went berserk in the final three overs. The Kerala right-hander hit medium pacer Kulwant Khejroliya for two sixes in the 18th over.
Woakes bore the brunt of his clean-hitting, getting whacked for two fours and a six in the penultimate over. In the final over, Samson hit India pacer Umesh Yadav for two sixes to take Rajasthan beyond the 200-run mark.
RCB's reply was very strong, launched by the 77-run second-wicket partnership between Virat Kohli (57 off 30) and De Kock (26 off 19). But losing the pair and AB de Villiers (20 off 18) meant that the game tilted in favour of the visitors.
Kohli and De Kock meted out some heavy punishment to the likes of spinner K. Gowtham and medium pacer Dhawal Kulkarni.
De Kock pulled spinner Short to Unadkat at deep backward square leg as Rajasthan saw the end of a potential match-turning partnership.
In came RCB's big gun de Villiers but Rajasthan decided to employ spinners Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal to force Kohli and de Villiers to go for power.
The strategy worked wonders as both the dangerous batsmen fell to Gopal trying to up the ante. While Kohli was caught at deep midwicket by Short, de Villiers pulled Gopal into the hands of Unadkat at deep square leg in the 13th over. After de Villiers' wicket, the hosts were at 114/4 and were left a huge mountain to climb, still requiring 104 runs in 7.3 overs.
Mandeep Singh (47 not out off 25 deliveries) and Sundar (35 off 19) tried their best and impressed with their big-hitting to give RCB hope. They needed 48 runs from the last two overs.
MEdium pacer Stokes conceded only 12 runs in the penultimate over and removed Sundar to end the home side's challenge. In the final over, Ben Laughllin gave away only 16 runs.
Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals: 217/4 (Sanju Samson 92 not out, Ajinlya Rahane 36; Yuzvender Chahal 2/22, Chris Woakes 2/47) vs Royal challengers Bangalore: 198/6 (Virat Kohli 57, Mandeep Singh 47 not out; Shreyas Gopal 2/22, D'Arcy Short 1/11, Ben Stokes 1/32).
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.
Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
