Lucknow: The India team, lead by Hardik Pandya, is currently in a must-win situation in order to even the three-match Twenty20 International series against New Zealand, which will take place here on Sunday. As a result, India will have to step up their game a few notches in order to achieve their goal.
India lost the opener by 21 runs on Friday after getting caught in a spin web on the Ranchi pitch.
The defeat also highlighted India's ineffective bowling, particularly by the pace duo of Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik.—Inputs from Agencies

The India team, lead by Hardik Pandya, is currently in a must-win situation in order to even the three-match Twenty20 International series against New Zealand, which will take place here on Sunday. As a result, India will have to step up their game a few notches in order to achieve their goal

Time for Ishan, Hooda to fire as captain Pandya faces must-win situation against NZ

Chennai News: After a tense 12-run victory against Lucknow Super Giants in the ongoing IPL 2023, Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni gave a polite warning to his fast bowlers to stop bowling no-balls and wides or else they will have to play under a new captain.

Notably, the pace duo of Deepak Chahar (0/55) and Tushar Deshpande (2/45), who came in for Ambati Rayudu as Impact Player, bowled three wides and two no-balls during LSG's run-chase at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Monday night.
The 41-year old CSK skipper pointed out that his side's pacers need to improve and bowl according to the conditions.

"It's the fast bowling that will need to improve slightly and bowl according to the conditions. Even if it's on the flatter side, force batters to hit over the fielders. They'll have to bowl no no balls and less wides. We are bowling too many extra deliveries and need to cut them out otherwise they'll be playing under a new captain," Dhoni said during the post-match presentation ceremony.

Though most of the CSK pacers didn't have a great game, the trio of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, and Moeen Ali guided Chennai Super Kings to victory over Lucknow Super Giants at their fortress.

Gaikwad hit his second successive fifty and stitched a 110-run opening stand with Conway (47 off 29) as CSK posted a commanding 217 for 7 after being sent into bat. Then Moeen Ali came back with a brilliant spell of 4 for 26 from his four overs to help CSK restrict LSG to 205 for seven, securing a thrilling win at the homecoming.

"Terrific high-scoring game. All of us were thinking how the wicket would be. It was the perfect first game that could happen. I thought it would be much slower. But it was a wicket where you could score runs," Dhoni said.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"I was quite surprised with the wicket. But we'll have to see if we can produce a wicket like this game after game," he added. IANS

IPL 2023: Stop bowling no-balls and wides or play under new captain, Dhoni gives polite warning to CSK pacers

Colombo: Mohammed Siraj became only the second bowler to take a six-fer in a men's ODI Asia Cup final after Ajantha Mendis, as he picked a career-best 6-21 in a deadly spell to set up India’s eighth title with a ten-wicket thrashing of Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium here on Sunday.
After play resumed at 3:40 pm, due to rain delaying the start, Siraj got massive help from movement off the pitch, making the ball talk both ways and leaving Sri Lanka batters bamboozled to pick a magnificent career-best 6-21 in seven overs, including four scalps coming in his second over of the game.
Apart from Siraj blowing away Sri Lankan batters and becoming first Indian bowler to take four wickets in an over, Hardik Pandya took three wickets while Jasprit Bumrah had a scalp to his name as the Indian fast-bowlers took all ten wickets in bowling out Sri Lanka for just 50, their second-lowest ODI total and the least they have scored in the format against India, as well as in the Asia Cup.
Bumrah gave India a dream start by enticing Kusal Perera to chase a wide, away-swinging delivery and the left-handed batter nicked behind to wicketkeeper K.L. Rahul moving to his left.
Siraj’s first over saw him bowl six outswingers and beat the batters four times, showcasing his accuracy and consistency, two constant pillars in him inflicting the perfect carnage on Sri Lankan batters, apart from varying his release points to bowl a nagging line and length.
On the first ball of his second over, Siraj bowled an outswinger yet again and Pathum Nissanka could drive only to backward point, who moved to his right to complete the catch. A dot ball later, Siraj trapped Sadeera Samawickrama lbw with a sharp nip-backer beating the inside edge and striking the batter in front of stumps.
On the very next ball, Charith Asalanka chipped the first ball he faced straight to cover point. Dhananjaya de Silva survived the hat-trick ball by punching Siraj past mid-on for four. But Siraj had the last laugh as de Silva pushed at an outswinger, giving a faint edge behind to take a catch.
Siraj grabbed his five-wicket haul in 16 balls by getting late movement at a fuller delivery to swing past Dasun Shanaka’s outside edge and sent the off-stump on a cartwheel ride.
Seeing the carnage from the other end, Kusal Mendis tried to get Sri Lanka’s innings back on track from 12/6 by taking two boundaries square of the off-side against Bumrah.
But Siraj grabbed his sixth wicket by getting one to nip back in from outside off and castle Mendis through the gate, to grab the best figures by a fast-bowler in the men’s ODI Asia Cup. Pandya joined the wicket-takers list by bouncing out Dunith Wellalage, giving Rahul a simple catch on the top edge. He took out the remaining two wickets to end Sri Lanka’s innings at 50 in 92 legal balls.
Chasing a paltry 51, India sent Ishan Kishan to open alongside Shubman Gill, who completed the chase with 263 balls remaining. Gill began by nonchalantly flicking Pramod Madushan for four, and Kishan ramped and slashed Matheesha Pathirana for back-to-back fours.
Gill feasted on Madhushan’s deliveries by nailing a drive, punching past point and slamming a pull to take three boundaries off him to race through the chase.
—IANS

Mohammed Siraj became only the second bowler to take a six-fer in a men's ODI Asia Cup final after Ajantha Mendis, as he picked a career-best

Asia Cup! Mohammed Siraj's lethal six-wicket haul secures India's eighth Win

Centurion: The batters could be in for some challenging times with the Supersport Park track expected to aid the fast bowlers as rain threat looms large over the opening Test between India and South Africa, curator Bryan Bloy said on Saturday.
The Centurion curator said that there is little possibility of play on opening day and better part of second day and due to heavy rain, there will be drop in temperature and spinners are unlikely to get much help.  "Temperature will be super low, like 20 degrees. The temperature is now 34 and it will drop to 20. I don’t know what conditions will be like, whether we will get play on Day 1," Bloy told PTI after his regular inspection of work.  "Hopefully we will get some play and it will be cool on Day 3 and I don't know how much turn will be available."  The opening Test begins on December 26.  Bloy said that if track remains under cover, batting first will be a tough ask.  "I can’t guarantee the forecast but if it remains under cover for the better part of the two days then that might be tricky to bat first, because its been covered for so long and hasn’t been rolled for so long, we don’t know how long we will have to get the field ready for play in current situation. So if it’s a Day-3, 10 am start, it doesn’t give us much time, because it’s in the morning and you start playing at 10 and really three hours of cool weather and early morning will be tricky. If its covered for two days, I would presume bowlers would benefit from it."  For Bloy, the idea is to prepare a typical Centurion wicket.  "Our goal is to stick to the characteristics, not do anything different or out of the ordinary. I want it to be typical hard wicket as per Centurion’s conditions. The wicket is quite green and we have got two more days and its hot, with a bit more rolling, it would lose a bit more colour, but I am happy that there is a thin even coverage of grass. Looks good."  However, there could be some bad news for Ravichandran Ashwin as Bloy isn't sure how much purchase spinners would get in case of rain.  "That will be tricky, because you are seeing a forecast on Day 1 and Day 2. It looks awful. The sun is out for four days and so there will be some purchase for spinners, offer turn and bounce, with weather forecast, I don’t know how accurate it will be as there will be lot of rain."  So what's a typical Centurion track?  A typical Supersport Park wicket is slower on Day 1, little bit softer and as time goes by it gets a bit quicker and it gets variable.  "For me, fourth day afternoon finish would always be fantastic but that’s out of my control. We prepare the stage and players will have to come out and put the show,” Bloy replied.  In the past, there have been reports of Indian team management's interference in curator's work but Bloy, who was actually a golf course curator, having studied turf management, never faced such issues.  "There is very little communication with the Proteas. You prepare as per characteristics of Supersport wicket and we know what to expect. I don’t get a lot of interference there and I think they just leave us to prepare good wicket,” he said.  In Highveld region (Centurion belongs to Gauteng province), there is more clay content (red soil) unlike other parts of South Africa where black soil is used for pitches.  "In our part of the world, its mostly black soil but in Highveld region the clay content is higher than coastal region and though its different from Wanderers, these 2 are higher clay content, which ensures more bounce for sure but it also produces more cracks."
—PTI

The batters could be in for some challenging times with the Supersport Park track expected to aid the fast bowlers as rain threat looms large

Rain threat on opening day, Centurion track to help pacers: Curator Bloy

Cape Town: Pacer Mohammed Siraj ripped through the South Africa batting line-up with a sensational six-wicket haul as India bowled the home side out for just 55 at lunch on the opening day of the second and final Test here on Wednesday.
Siraj conceded just 15 runs from his nine overs as he triggered an abject surrender from South African batters on a pace-bowling friendly pitch.  Captain Dean Elgar's decision to bat first after winning the toss in his farewell Test turned out to be a nightmare for the home side.  Kyle Verreynne made 15 and David Bedingham 12 as all the other remaining South African batters were dismissed for single-digit scores.  Jasprit Bumrah (2/25) and Mukesh Kumar (2/0) took the other South African wickets.
Also Read: <a href="https://www.thehawk.in/posts/david-warner-receives-'guard-of-honour'-from-pakistan-players-in-his-farewell-test-in-sydney" target="_self">https://www.thehawk.in/posts/david-warner-receives-'guard-of-honour'-from-pakistan-players-in-his-farewell-test-in-sydney</a>&nbsp;
Brief Scores:  South Africa: 55 all out in 23.2 overs (Kyle Verreynne 15; Mohammed Siraj 6/15).
—PTI

Pacer Mohammed Siraj ripped through the South Africa batting line-up with a sensational six-wicket haul as India bowled the home side out

Siraj's 6/15 helps India bowl South Africa out for 55 at lunch on Day 1

Auckland [New Zealand]: Leg spinner Adam Zampa and speedster Pat Cummins guided Australia to victory over New Zealand in the second T20I of the three-match series at Eden Park on Friday. The Blackcaps were bundled out for 102 runs in the 17 overs they played in response to Australia's 174. The highest run-getter for the hosts was Glenn Phillips who scored 42 runs off 35 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes.
Other than Phillips, only two batters Trent Boult (16) and Josh Clarkson (10) were able to score in double digits. Other batters failed to leave their mark in the second match which included the likes of star batters Finn Allen, Will Young, Mark Chapman and many others. For the Men in Yellow, the pick of the bowlers was Zampa who snapped four wickets in his spell of four overs where he conceded 34 runs. Two wickets were grabbed by right-arm pacer Nathan Ellis in his three overs where he leaked just 16 runs in his spell.
Also Read: <a href="https://www.thehawk.in/posts/root's-unbeaten-ton-takes-england-past-300-run-mark-in-4th-test-against-india-(day-1-stumps)" target="_self">https://www.thehawk.in/posts/root's-unbeaten-ton-takes-england-past-300-run-mark-in-4th-test-against-india-(day-1-stumps)</a>&nbsp;
 One wicket each was bagged by Josh Hazelwood, Cummins and Mitchell Marsh in their spells where they conceded 12, 19, and 18 runs respectively.
Earlier in the first innings, the visitors were asked to bat first after the New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner won the toss. The Australian side was bowled out for 174 runs on the penultimate ball of the 20th over. Opener Travis Head was the highest scorer for the side as he scored 45 runs from 22 balls which was laced by five sixes and two boundaries in his innings. Cummins and Marsh also played crucial knocks for their side where they scored 28 runs and 26 runs respectively. For the Kiwis, the highest wicket-taker was Lockie Ferguson who took four wickets in his spell of 3.5 overs where he conceded just 12 runs. Two wickets each were taken by bowlers like Adam Milne, Ben Seares, and Santner in their respective spells. 
Brief Score: 174 in 19.5 overs (Travis Head 45, Pat Cummins 28, Lockie Ferguson 4/12) vs New Zealand 102 in 17 overs (Glenn Phillips 42, Trent Boult 16, Adam Zampa 4/34).
—ANI

Adam Zampa and Pat Cummins lead Australia to a decisive victory over New Zealand in the second T20I at Eden Park, showcasing exceptional cricket prowess and teamwork.

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Time for Ishan, Hooda to fire as captain Pandya faces must-win situation against NZ

Nidhi Khurana

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Tag : Bowlers

Time for Ishan, Hooda to fire as captain Pandya faces must-win situation against NZ

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