KKR restrict GT to 156 for 9 despite Hardik Pandya's 67
Navi Mumbai, Apr 23: Captain Hardik Pandya's third fifty of the season was the lone saving grace in Gujarat Titans' underwhelming batting show as they scored a below-par 156 for 9 against Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League match here on Saturday.
The Titans skipper missed the last game as a precautionary measure and looked a bit rusty even as he scored 67 off 49 balls with four boundaries and two sixes.
KKR bowled as many as 43 dot balls and were brilliant at the death as they conceded only 29 runs and took as many as seven wickets in the final five overs.
Andre Russell (4/5 in 1 over) got four wickets in the final over as Rinku Singh was a livewire in the field with four catches.
While Shubman Gill (5) was out early as Sam Billings collected a faint tickle down the leg-side off Southee's delivery, Wriddhiman Saha (25 off 25 balls), for the second match in succession, piled on the pressure, consuming too many dot balls.
However, an early breakthrough didn't stop Pandya from playing his natural, aggressive game as there was no marks for guessing as to who dominated their 75-run stand for second wicket stand.
David Miller (27 off 20 balls, 2x6), after a match-winning knock against CSK the other night, gave his skipper some support in a 50-run third wicket stand but there wasn't a lot of resistance from other batters.
Pandya started with a square cut off Southee and followed it up with a lofted drive over covers to set the tone.
When Shivam Mavi came into the attack, Pandya used his pace to play the ramp shot for a six and then came the classic cover drive as hardly a fielder moved from their respective positions.
However, one that was for the ages was the off-driven six 15 rows into the stands off a Varun Chakravarthy delivery that was pitched on length. It was a "hold your pose" kind of a shot.
The scratchy Saha did pull Umesh Yadav for a six and a four but wasted a lot of deliveries at the onset which needed to be compensated by Pandya.
At the start of the back-10, Saha got desperate and offered a dolly to Venkatesh Iyer at point off Umesh, who came for his second spell.
Pandya hit boundaries but also kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and doubles. He did hamstring in going for a quick single and was dismissed trying to hit his way out of trouble.
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Kho Kho World Cup: Indian women's team crowned champion
New Delhi: The Indian women's team emerged champion in the inaugural Kho Kho World Cup with a dominant 78-40 victory in the summit clash against Nepal here on Sunday.
On a memorable night at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here, India produced a masterclass of speed, strategy and skill, dishing out a clinical show.
A brisk start marked Turn 1 as the Indian attackers took charge of the proceedings. Three batches in the Nepal women were out by simple touches on 7 occasions, putting 14 points to India's kitty.
Skipper Priyanka Ingle was in the best form with multiple touch points to her name, as the hosts started off in an excellent manner. This was enough to take the Women in Blue to 34 points and preventing a single Dream Run for the Nepal team.
Manmati Dhami got Vaishnavi Pawar, and B Samjhana eliminated Priyanka Ingle but B Chaithra took India's first batch of Turn 2 into the Dream Run.
๐ธ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐
— Kho Kho World Cup India 2025 (@Kkwcindia) January 19, 2025
Congratulations to #TeamIndia women for claiming the ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ-๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐ก๐จ ๐๐ก๐จ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐#KhoKhoWorldCup #KKWC2025 #TheWorldGoesKho #Khommunity #KhoKho #KKWCWomen pic.twitter.com/tqlBPbTIdc
It wasn't for long, though, as Dipa completed the ALL OUT just moments later. This got the side back into the game but they only managed to score 24 points at the end of Turn 2, with an 11-point deficit at half time.
India were once again the dominant force in Turn 3, never allowing the Nepal defenders to settle in their stride. BK Dipa was a regular for Nepal but it went in vain throughout, ensuring that the Indians edged closer to the trophy.
Chaithra was the orchestrator of the Dream Run for India, taking the score to a massive 78 points in Turn 4. Their batch went on for a massive 5 minutes and 14 seconds, closing out the game for India and confirming them as the first-ever champions of the Kho Kho World Cup.
India's path to glory had included commanding victories over South Korea, Iran and Malaysia in the group stages, followed by triumph against Bangladesh in the quarter-finals and a masterful win over South Africa in the semi-finals.
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐||
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) January 19, 2025
Indian๐ฎ๐ณ Women's Team beats Nepal 78-40; Clinches the inaugural #KhoKhoWorldCup Trophy. #Finals | #KhoKhoWorldCup | #TheWorldGoesKho | #BharatvsNepal | @Kkwcindia | @Media_SAI | @YASMinistry | pic.twitter.com/mh8NJuD6RX
