HOLDER STARTS AS GUJRAT TITANS RESTRICT PUNJAB KINGS AND SEAL 4-WICKET WIN IN AHMEDABAD

Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada had set it up for the Titans after they opted to bowl first

Gujarat Titans all-rounder Jason Holder rocked the Punjab Kings with his medium pace bowling, claiming 4/24 in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
PTI

When an aggressive batting line-up like that of Punjab Kings gets restricted to hitting only seven sixes in their innings, it goes on to reflect how well their opponents bowled. The Gujarat Titans bowlers, led by seamer all-rounder Jason Holder (4/24), deserve all the credit for limiting the Kings to 163/9, laying the foundation for their four-wicket victory at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

The Ahmedabad pitch aided strokeplay and also had purchase for the quicks, keeping them in the game right through.

The likes of Arshdeep Singh, Impact Player Vijaykumar Vyshak and Marco Jansen took the contest closer with their respective strikes, before Washington Sundar (40 not out off 23 balls) sealed the game for the Titans off with a six as Marcus Stoinis failed to execute his yorker off the penultimate delivery.

After Arshdeep had Holder holing out at the deep, the Titans needed 11 off the final over. But Stoinis began with a wide and got his execution wrong as the Titans reached home with a ball to spare, registering their third straight victory. For the Kings, this was the second consecutive loss.

For the Titans, Sai Sudharsan (57 off 41 balls) was their top scorer.

Penetration at its best

Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada had set it up for the Titans after they opted to bowl first. The duo reduced the Kings to 35/3 in the Powerplay and then Holder’s arrival led to the departure of both Impact Player Nehal Wadhera and Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer in the ninth over.

Wadhera and Shreyas were both bamboozled by length and a bit of movement.

Right through his spells, Holder, looking to make a comeback in Test cricket, focused on the back-of-a-length stuff and also looked to shape the ball in towards the right-handers.

It was only when Holder and the other quicks were away that Suryansh Shedge (57 off 29 balls) and Stoinis tried to maximise the scoring opportunities during their 79-run sixth-wicket stand. Shedge alone smashed five of the seven sixes in the Kings innings on way to his maiden IPL fifty.

But, given the damage caused earlier by Holder, it was extremely tough for the Kings to stage much of a recovery.

- The Telegraph India

JANSEN HURTS INDIA AGAIN, SOUTH AFRICA SENSE VICTORY

The Proteas take an overall lead of 314 at the end of Day 3

Marco Jansen continued to torment India in the second and final Test in Guwahati as the lanky quick claimed 6-48 to help South Africa grab a potentially decisive first-innings lead of 288 on day three on Monday.

A day after smashing a career-best 93 in South Africa's first-innings total of 489, Jansen helped dismantle India for 201 at the first ever Test at Barsapara Cricket Stadium.

Aiden Markram produced a catching masterclass with five of them, including a one-handed stunner to remove Nitish Kumar Reddy.

South Africa, pushing for a 2-0 series sweep, did not enforce the follow-on and finished the day on 26 for no loss and an overall lead of 314.

Ryan Rickelton (13) and Markram (12) will return on Tuesday hoping to bat India out of the match.

Earlier, India resumed on nine for no loss on a wicket described as a "road" by spinner Kuldeep Yadav because of its lack of assistance for the bowlers.

KL Rahul (22) looked compact in defence while his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal (58) was more fluent, often employing the sweep shot to counter the spinners.

Keshav Maharaj broke the 65-run opening stand an hour into play when Rahul lunged forward to defend a ball but was done for by the extra bounce. The ball hit the shoulder of his bat before nestling into Markram's hands at slip.

Jaiswal took two off Simon Harmer's bowling to bring up the first fifty by an India batter in the series but his knock did not last much longer.

The left-hander was surprised by the slowness of the track and spooned a Harmer delivery towards backward point where it would have landed short of most players but not the 2.06m tall Jansen, who dived forward to pouch the ball.

Harmer claimed a second victim when Sai Sudharsan pulled the ball to Rickelton at mid-wicket.

Jansen then hit India with a bouncer barrage that paid off handsomely on an otherwise docile track and left the hosts reeling at 122-7.

A 72-run stand between Washington Sundar (48) and Kuldeep proved the wicket was far from unplayable but the hosts were let down by their frontline batters. Number nine Kuldeep faced 134 balls, the most by any Indian batter, for his 19.

- Reuters