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KKR are at No. 3 on the points table, while RCB are bottom, and have lost their last five games in a row

Hemant Brar20-Apr-20244:10

Bishop: If Narine is available, he walks straight into the WI T20I team

Match details

Kolkata Knight Riders (2nd; W4, L2) vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (10th; W1, L6)
Kolkata, 1530 IST (1000 GMT)

Big picture – Narine vs RCB

With five defeats in a row, and just two points from seven games, RCB are fighting for survival. They are at the bottom of the points table and a defeat against KKR on Sunday will push them to the brink of elimination.To avoid that, their batters will have to win the battle against KKR’s spinners, especially Sunil Narine.Related

• 'That door is now closed' – Sunil Narine rules out West Indies comeback for T20 World Cup

• Clash of misfiring top orders as Titans and Kings seek crucial points

• IPL 2024, a turbo-charged, batter-dominated season like no other

• Powell is trying to get Narine to play T20 World Cup

• 'Attacking batting and not defensive bowling will win this IPL'

Virat Kohli has been the torch-bearer of RCB’s batting for years, but in the last few years, spin has proven to be his kryptonite in T20s. Since the start of 2020, his strike rate against spin is 113.52. During the same period, he has struck at 145.79 against pace.However, Kohli seems to have addressed this issue somewhat and has scored at a much more respectable 130.09 against spin in IPL 2024. He even dominated Narine (21 off 12) when these two sides met earlier in the tournament. But it will not be easy at Eden Gardens, especially if the pitch is on the slower side. Kohli’s overall record against Narine is not great either: 162 runs off 157 balls with four dismissals.And it’s not just Kohli. Faf du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik have also struggled to score freely against Narine. Du Plessis has a strike rate of 77.14 against him and Karthik 119.29. So far this season, Narine has seven wickets in six games at an excellent economy of 6.87.Narine has been just as exceptional with the bat. Back as opener, and despite the two-bouncer rule, he has scored 276 runs at a strike rate of 187.75. Previously, fast bowlers would get him out with the short ball. This time, too, he has not looked in control against the short ball at all times, but has managed to survive and has made oppositions pay. RCB have already got a taste of that in their previous meeting with KKR.Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli have their jobs cut out•BCCI

Form guide

Kolkata Knight Riders LWLWW
Royal Challengers Bengaluru LLLLL

Previous meeting

Earlier in the season, KKR thrashed RCB by seven wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Batting first, RCB posted 182 for 6 with Kohli scoring an unbeaten 83 off 59 balls. In response, Narine smashed 47 off 22 balls and Venkatesh Iyer 50 off 30 as KKR chased down the target in the 17th over.

Team news and impact player strategy

Kolkata Knight Riders
Given the RCB batters’ sub-par record against spin, there is a case to play a third spinner, Suyash Sharma, in place of Vaibhav Arora. One of Suyash and Ramandeep Singh could be the impact player, depending on whether KKR are batting first or bowling.Probable XII: 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Venkatesh Iyer, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Rinku Singh, 8 , 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Harshit Rana, 12 Royal Challengers Bengaluru
With Glenn Maxwell on a break, Will Jacks is likely to continue at No. 3. RCB may consider bringing in Mayank Dagar for Yash Dayal. Anuj Rawat and Dagar could be their impact pair.Probable XII: 1 Virat Kohli, 2 Faf du Plessis (capt), 3 Will Jacks, 4 Rajat Patidar, 5 Saurav Chauhan, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Mahipal Lomror, 8 , 9 Vijaykumar Vyshak, 10 Reece Topley, 11 Lockie Ferguson, 12 Mitchell Starc has started to pick up wickets but is still KKR’s most expensive bowler this season•BCCI

In the spotlight – Mitchell Starc and Faf du Plessis

Mitchell Starc, the most expensive buy in IPL history, started the season poorly but has started to show signs of settling in. Overall, though, in six games, he has just five wickets and his economy of 10.54 is the poorest among KKR’s frontline bowlers. With no other experienced seamer in the squad, KKR will need Starc to turn his season around sooner rather than later.Meanwhile, Dinesh Karthik is having a dream season. He has consistently provided RCB with strong finishes and is their third-highest run-scorer with a tally of 226 in six innings. Among those who have scored at least 200 runs this season, his strike rate of 205.45 is the highest. In fact, in four of his six innings, he has struck at more than 230. If he continues in the same manner, he could even find himself in India’s T20 World Cup squad, which he said will be “the greatest feeling” for him at this stage of his career.

Pitch and conditions

So far this season, Eden Gardens has hosted three games. In two of those, 200 was breached in all four innings. In the third, KKR chased down 162 against Lucknow Super Giants in the 16th over. But it needs to be seen whether it will be another run fest or KKR will dish out a slightly different surface. Given it’s an afternoon game, there will be a temptation to bat first on winning the toss.Dinesh Karthik has brought out his best finisher’s self this IPL•Associated Press

Stats that matter

• Kohli has dominated Starc in T20 cricket: 45 balls, 80 runs, no dismissal
• Karthik has taken Andre Russell for 43 runs off 21 balls without being dismissed
• Reece Topley has dismissed Phil Salt three times in 16 balls while giving away only 17 runs
• Till Friday, 32 batters have faced 100 or more balls this season. Among those, Shreyas Iyer’s strike rate of 122.80 is second lowest
• RCB have the poorest economy rate in the powerplay this season: 10.54. KKR are the second-poorest with 9.83

Quotes

“It’s not the most talented team that goes on to win the IPL. It’s the most courageous team, that’s willing to fight till the last drop of blood, will go on to win the IPL.”
“The belief is definitely there. If you don’t have belief, there is no point playing a tournament like the IPL. Every year there will be a couple of teams at this stage trying to find their feet and there have been so many instances when they have picked up and won the matches. We believe that if we can do something special and win a few matches, we could get that momentum – that interesting word that always happens in the IPL – and use that to our confidence.”

Allrounder gears up for Australia debut after playing nearly a decade for Ireland

S Sudarshanan05-Dec-2022A 3am phone call is seldom a gleeful one.Seam-bowling allrounder Kim Garth, who made her international debut for Ireland in 2010 at the age of 14, received a maiden call-up to Australia’s T20I squad for the tour of India – where they play five T20Is starting December 9 in Mumbai. She wanted to convey the happy news to her parents in Ireland immediately.”I rang mom and dad straightaway. They were pretty worried something had happened obviously when you get a call at 3am,” Garth, 26, said in a virtual press conference on Monday.Related

• Garth makes a case to be Australia's permanent spearhead

• Garth gets Australia call-up; Healy named captain for India T20I tour

• Kim Garth leaves Irish cricket for future in Australia

“[National selector] Shawn Flegler gave me a call two weeks ago. It was in the middle of the afternoon and I think it was the day after we played Hobart Hurricanes and I had an absolute shocker that day. It was a quick call telling me I was included. I was surprised and very excited.”It’s been a few big years moving across the world through your career. Things like this make it all worthwhile.”Garth quit Irish cricket in June 2020 to move to Victoria with an aim to play cricket for a living. But it was not an easy decision. Having played 34 ODIs and 51 T20Is for Ireland, she perhaps could never have played international cricket again.”[Possibly not playing for Ireland again] was a big factor in how difficult the decision was to make,” Garth said. “I knew what I was giving up but at the same time I knew the strength of the domestic system here, how strong the local players were. The WBBL was a big pull for me to become a local as they attracted top international players.”Having played a few years in grade cricket [in Australia], I have seen some of the lifestyle the girls live and play cricket every day for a living and not have to work other jobs at the side. It’s something I really wanted to do and it was a now-or-never type of thing. I knew it would – I think I was 23 [24] when I made the decision – take me a couple of years to become a local. And if I left it any longer, it wouldn’t be worthwhile.”It was a difficult decision to leave family behind but [I have] no regrets now.”Opportunities to play top draw cricket were few back then in Ireland. During the course of Garth’s nine-year international career as an Irish, Ireland played 64 T20Is and 44 ODIs. Since January 2021, they have played 27 T20Is – joint third-most among all sides – to go with 14 ODIs.”It’s not necessarily a step up but about consistency of the games we are playing,” Garth said about her possible T20I debut for Australia. “When I was playing for Ireland, we played sides like Australia, India, South Africa but didn’t do it regularly enough. Which is now exciting for the Irish now that they are getting more consistent fixtures against those sides, which is cool. It is not about the step up but the consistency.””I feel like I have put in some good consistent performances in the domestic cricket over recent years and I am really excited to take the next step up and get back to international cricket, albeit for a different team.”After moving over to Australia, Garth played the Women’s National Cricket League, the domestic 50-over competition, for Victoria from 2020 and then the Women’s Big Bash League for Perth Scorchers in 2020-21 followed by two years with Melbourne Stars. In the process, she got her permanent residency in Australia and became a local player in the WBBL.Garth is also no stranger to Indian conditions. She was part of the Ireland squad that played the T20 World Cup in 2016. “With the humidity and heat it does swing around a bit,” she said hoping to use it to her advantage if given an opportunity. Garth is used to bowling with the new ball for Victoria as well as Stars.Among her team-mates on the current tour, Garth has dismissed Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney and Jess Jonassen in internationals. While playing in the WNCL and WBBL has meant she rubs shoulders with the Australian national cricketers more often, it could still make for interesting banter at breakfast.”I have Annabel Sutherland on my team [Stars] in the WBBL and Ellyse Perry with the WNCL [Victoria],” she said. “Just from playing against the girls, you get to know them early. Being part of Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers, I have known the girls which is nice.”Ellyse Perry has been very supportive over the last year. [I] got a very nice message from her and she rang me up after Sydney Sixers’ last group game, which was cool. She’s been a big support of mine and a very good friend.”I have played against them more playing domestic cricket than internationals.”It is not easy to break into the Australian XI given the depth and experience around. But if Garth does make her Australia bow on the India tour, the next call back home to her parents will not be at odd hours.

Winner takes all when Brave and Invincibles contest final spot on Monday, Superchargers eliminated

Matt Roller15-Aug-2021Rashid Khan took three wickets and two catches to spark a collapse of 6 for 28 and send Trent Rockets into the knockout stages of the Hundred, with Dawid Malan shuffling up the order to hit his third half-century of the tournament to seal a straightforward chase.Manchester Originals, who had already been eliminated after consecutive defeats, were 70 for 1 after 40 balls when Rashid came into the attack, but he struck three times in his first six balls to set a middle-order slide in motion which proved decisive. He was unusually subdued in his celebrations, with the crisis unfolding at home in Afghanistan seemingly on his mind, but still delivered a clutch performance in a must-win game to set up an easy win.In the chase, Originals were unable to take the early wickets they needed as Malan put on 50 for the first wicket with Alex Hales, moving up to open in a bid to find some form before the knockout stages. Matt Parkinson struck twice through the middle, having Hales caught behind and Steven Mullaney top-edging to mid-on, but Samit Patel’s 35 not out saw them across the line.The result sets up a winner-takes-all fixture between Southern Brave and Oval Invincibles at the Ageas Bowl on Monday night and means that Northern Superchargers have been eliminated. In the event of a no-result or a tie on Monday, Invincibles would pip Brave to the final spot in the top three. Rockets are likely to play in Friday’s eliminator, though could go straight into Saturday’s final if Superchargers thrash Phoenix on Tuesday.King Khan
Rashid gave an interview to the in the build-up to the Hundred in which he revealed he had spent 25 nights at home in the last five years, during which time both of his parents have passed away. He has been tweeting with increasing despair over the last month about the humanitarian crisis and deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and in the context of Kabul being seized by force on Sunday, it was a credit to his professionalism that he managed to keep his focus on the matter at hand at Trent Bridge.He came on with Colin Munro set on 25 off 12 balls and playing with the uninhibited calmness of a man whose team had nothing riding on the result, and his Sussex and Adelaide Strikers team-mate Phil Salt looking to accelerate after making it through the Powerplay. His first ball was his worst, a full toss sliding down the leg side, but Salt top-edged a sweep to short fine leg to give Rashid an early breakthrough.Two balls later, he pushed through a googly which struck Colin Ackermann on the shoulder as he got low in an optimistic attempt to sweep. After a long delay due to technical difficulties, ball-tracking confirmed it was hitting the top of leg stump and Rashid had two in three balls. He changed ends for his second set of five, immediately yorking Carlos Brathwaite, and conceded four runs across a set of 10 from the same end.His final set went for two boundaries through third man – once via the outside edge, the other through a late dab – but as if to make up for those runs, he held onto a superb running catch at deep square leg, to go with an earlier effort at long-on. It was not far off a one-man show.Malan’s the man
Malan started the season with a fluent innings of 62 not out off 43 balls to help Rockets cruise to victory against Southern Brave, but managed only 86 off 79 across his next six knocks – after his sluggish 51 against Birmingham Phoenix, Moeen Ali even joked: “we kept Malan in, which was great for us”.This chase was an ideal situation for him, with limited pressure on the required rate, and he got up and running in the Powerplay with a series of trademark drives and punches through the off-side ring. He slowed down slightly through the middle and fell for a low-key 52 off 46, when miscuing to extra cover via the top edge, but had provided a foil for the right-handers and left an equation of 12 off 10 balls.Patel, who had earlier celebrated exuberantly after bowling his Nottinghamshire team-mate Joe Clarke, put the finishing touches to the chase with a pair of late sixes, before D’Arcy Short – shuffling down to No. 5 as Rockets ensured left-right partnerships throughout – thumped a full toss for four to seal the win.

Graeme Smith backs Ganguly; CSA more cautious but open

Nagraj Gollapudi and Firdose Moonda21-May-2020Is Sourav Ganguly a dark horse to replace his countryman Shashank Manohar, the outgoing ICC chairman?Ever since it emerged that Manohar would not stand for another term after his tenure ends with the ICC annual conference in July, the general perception was ECB chairman Colin Graves was the frontrunner to take charge as the new chairman of the global cricket body. However, with the Covid-19 pandemic stalling world cricket, the BCCI has taken the opportunity to test interests from several Full Members on whether they would support Ganguly.On Thursday, the former Indian captain got a firm thumbs-up from Cricket South Africa, whose representatives said “strong leadership” was necessary at ICC and Ganguly was “best positioned” to be at helm.CSA, however, backtracked somewhat* in an official press release issued later in the day, saying it did not want to “anticipate any candidates who may be nominated for this important position”.In 2016, Manohar became the first independent chairman of the ICC. The position of chairman had come into being in 2014 when N Srinivasan, another former BCCI president, had assumed that position unelected, though.In 2018, Manohar, the only candidate to file nomination, was re-elected unanimously by the ICC Board. As per the ICC constitution, Manohar is eligible for a third and final term. However, it appears as if he has decided to not take it up. That said, there remains speculation about whether Manohar might extend his term by a few months if asked by the ICC Board as world cricket grapples with the pandemic.It is understood that the ICC Board is yet to finalise the nomination process after which eligible candidates can pitch their hat in the ring. To be eligible, candidates needs to be a current or past ICC Director (one who attends the ICC Board meetings as a representative of the respective country).The 15 directors who sit on the ICC Board then are allowed to nominate one candidate. Nominees with two or more votes become eligible to contest the election. As it stands, the elections will happen at the ICC annual conference, which is scheduled tentatively for mid-July.Ganguly became eligible when he attended his first ICC Board meeting, in late March, via video conference. On May 28, he is once again scheduled to attend the next Board meeting where members would discuss the next step in contingency planning on resumption of cricket.Getty Images

‘He has the credibility’
On Wednesday, Ganguly led the BCCI team along with Jay Shah (BCCI secretary) and Arun Dhumal (treasurer) in their talks with CSA, who were represented by Jacques Faul (acting chief executive) and former South African captain Graeme Smith (Director of Cricket). After the meeting, Smith was unequivocal about his support for Ganguly should the former India captain contest the ICC chairman elections.”The president (sic, chairman) of the ICC now becomes a very key position going forward in terms of how the game can progress, and progress at the right level,” Smith said on media tele-conference on Thursday. “It would be great to see a cricket man like Sourav Ganguly get into the president (chairman) role of the ICC.”Now it’s even more important to have someone in a role that can provide leadership to cricket; that understands and can navigate the challenges in the game today. Post Covid-19 and with the things that are going to come our way, we need to have strong leadership and I feel like Sourav Ganguly is best positioned for that at the moment. I know him well. I feel that he has got the credibility and the leadership skills and is someone that can really take the game forward.”Smith’s comments come on the back of negotiations between the two boards for a three-match T20I series in South Africa in August. India have shown “willingness” to tour subject to relaxation of travel restrictions. The meeting itself was a result of discussions between Ganguly and Smith over the past few months. Incidentally, Smith had even delivered the 2018 edition of the Jagmohan Dalmiya lecture, organised by the Cricket Association of Bengal, of which Ganguly was president at the time.Smith is the second person from the player fraternity to talk up Ganguly for the role. Recently, former England captain David Gower said he would not be surprised if Ganguly became ICC head in future. Gower said one had to be a “deft politician” to “run” the BCCI.”Sourav has the toughest task imaginable in charge of BCCI, but so far I would say the signs are very good. He has listened, given his own opinion and has pulled strings gently,” Gower said on the fan chat show recently, organised by . “He is a very, very good man and has those political skills. And if you do a good job as BCCI chief in the future, who knows? Being head of ICC is an honour… but look at where the power is. BCCI is definitely the bigger job.”Getty Images

Ganguly has BCCI support
ESPNcricinfo understands that Ganguly would be the clear first choice to replace Manohar even among BCCI members. Srinivasan is another eligible candidate, although he doesn’t qualify to be elected as a representative (over 70 years old) under the existing BCCI constitution.Insiders say even Shah could be nominated as the BCCI’s candidate, although for that he would first need to attend an ICC Board meeting. Anurag Thakur is the other eligible candidate, having attended ICC Board meetings as former BCCI president. However being a minister in the Indian government automatically disqualifies Thakur, the elder brother of Dhumal, as per the ICC constitution.Ganguly was elected BCCI president last October, but his tenure technically ends in July after which he would need to undergo a three-year cooling off period. The same is applicable to Shah, who was previously an office bearer at the Gujarat Cricket Association. However in his case, it could not be confirmed when his cool-off period would start.A month after taking charge Ganguly’s administration approached the Supreme Court requesting the constitution be amended and norms concerning an office bearer’s tenure be relaxed. The court is yet to hear the matter.Neither Ganguly nor the BCCI has made any public comments on whether he would interested in contesting the ICC chairman’s position. The one person who could be surprised if Ganguly were to enter the fray would be Graves. Last December, the trio of Ganguly, Shah and Dhumal had travelled to London to meet the ECB hierarchy giving the impression that the BCCI would back Graves’ nomination.However, the BCCI has been desperate to retain its powerful position at the ICC Board, something it feels has been lost since Manohar became ICC chairman. In recent months, various cricket boards including Cricket Australia, CSA, New Zealand Cricket have had face-to-face discussions with BCCI wanting to explore bilateral engagements to boost their commercial revenue with an India tour.A person privy to the discussions BCCI has had with various boards said if Ganguly decides to contest, he could “sail through”. This person said that most Full Member boards outside of the ECB, PCB and possible Cricket Ireland would support a BCCI candidate. One has already said that in public now.Faul said that CSA was open to supporting BCCI, which it said had played a “leadership role” at the ICC. “We’ve always worked with closely with India and I think India must play a leadership role when it comes to the FTP and a responsible one for that matter,” Faul said. “Our engagement with Sourav has been very positive and he has shown willingness to help us.”We have checked this with the leadership of South African cricket if we would support an Indian candidate and at this stage, we would. But we also have to look at the integrity of the whole process. I don’t think there are any nominations, no candidates that I know of, so they are still in the process.”From a CSA point of view, we don’t see any problems supporting an Indian candidate. To be fair, we’ve got to look at who is nominated, bring it back to the board, and there’s got to be a mandate.”Hours after the comments of Smith and Faul went public, CSA sent out a release quoting its president Chris Nenzani.”We must respect both the ICC protocol and our own protocol in deciding which candidate to back,” the release said. “There have been no candidates nominated as yet and once such nominations have been made the Board of CSA will take its decision in terms of its own protocol and give the chairman the mandate to exercise his vote as an ICC Board Director accordingly.”We have the highest regard for the opinions of our Director of Cricket, Graeme Smith, who is a well-respected figure in world cricket and has already made an immense contribution in fulfilling his mandate to make our cricket teams world leaders again.”At the moment we don’t want to anticipate any candidates who may be nominated for this important position to lead the game we all love.”*GMT 18.45 The story was amended to include CSA’s official statement.

England bowler to lead side in county curtain-raiser in Dubai on March 24

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Feb-2019Stuart Broad has been named as MCC’s captain for the annual Champion County Match, which will take place against Surrey in Dubai next month.Broad, who is currently in St Lucia with England’s Test team but is no longer a part of the one-day set-up, will use the match as part of his long-term preparations for a delayed first-class leg of England’s home summer.With the build-up to the World Cup dominating the early part of the season, Broad’s next international action is likely to come in the one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s on July 24, ahead of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston, starting on August 1.John Stephenson, MCC’s assistant secretary, said: “We are thrilled that Stuart has agreed to captain the side for the Champion County match against Surrey. He is not only a player of the very highest class, but his experience of over 100 Test matches will be invaluable to the younger players in the squad, and I am sure that they will be eager to learn from one of England’s greatest ever bowlers.”Surrey were undoubtedly the best side in last season’s County Championship and have an extremely strong squad, so it will be a tough challenge for Stuart and his side but one I am sure they will relish.”The rest of the MCC squad will be named in due course, with the four-day game scheduled to begin on March 24.Broad, 32, is one of only two Englishmen to have taken over 400 Test wickets, and has a special place in MCC’s history, as one of only a handful of players to have earned a place on three dressing-room honours boards, with inclusions on the Honours Board five-wicket and ten-wicket hauls in Test matches, as well as his 169 with the bat against Pakistan in 2010.He has had previous captaincy experience, having led England on 27 occasions in T20Is between 2011 and 2014, including the World T20 in Bangladesh in 2014, and a further three ODIs on the tour of the Caribbean in 2014.Last year’s Champion County match took place in Barbados, where MCC beat the 2017 County Champions Essex by an innings and 34 runs, thanks to centuries from Sam Hain and Dom Bess, who also claimed six wickets.

Tasmania were in a strong position to push for victory at stumps on day three of their Sheffield Shield match with New South Wales in Hobart, despite losing the entire first day to rain

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Dec-2017Jackson Bird is pumped after taking a wicket•Getty Images

Tasmania were in a strong position to push for victory at stumps on day three of their Sheffield Shield match with New South Wales in Hobart, despite losing the entire first day to rain. Having declared overnight at 4 for 392, the Tigers skittled the Blues for 208 and enforced the follow-on, and at the close of play New South Wales were 2 for 50 in their second innings, needing another 134 to make Tasmania bat again.Their first innings had started disastrously as Jackson Bird and Gabe Bell used the swinging conditions to Tasmania’s advantage. Daniel Hughes, Nic Maddinson and Nick Larkin all fell within the first four overs, and it took the experience of Ed Cowan, batting at No.5, to steady the innings with assistance from Kurtis Patterson (22) and then Peter Nevill (38).However, when Cowan was bowled by Bird for 67 and Nevill fell to Beau Webster in the next over, the Blues were once again wobbling at 6 for 134. Steve O’Keefe struck an unbeaten 52 to help push New South Wales up past 200, but ran out of partners. Bird struck twice early in the New South Wales second innings and at stumps, Maddinson was on 36 and Patterson had 4.