I am none too pleased when
my son watches and enjoys ‘Wrestle Mania’ a professional (!) wrestling
promotion based in Connecticut. WWE first produced the event in 1985 to be its
premier annual event and has since produced thirty editions, with the
thirty-first scheduled to be held in Santa Clara, California in 2015……
yesterday, a slightly mispronounced one – I sat to enjoy with my son …………. It was
‘Russel Mania’ – the Jamaican Andre Dwayne Russel who has played a solitary
Test for Windies was the hero.
CL T20 is providing great
entertainment even when you see players like – Anureet Singh and Karanveer
Singh in action, whom you may not have heard before. Earlier,
the absence of two high-profile Twenty20 cricketers hamstrung Sri Lanka's
Southern Express as they made an early
exit. Southern Express lost all three
matches of the qualifying group - to Northern Districts (from New Zealand),
Mumbai Indians and Lahore Lions (Pakistan) - to make an early exit from the
tournament. While Malinga chose to play for MI, Dilshan’s absence had its
impact.
His last minute replacement
was Sampath …… Tillakaratne Sampath replaced his brother Tillakaratne Dilshan. Some of the
familial similarities were on display during his innings of 18 in his first
game of the tournament, especially a sweep in the fourth over that was
reminiscent of Dilshan. Tillakaratne
Mudiyanselage Nishan Sampath is reported
to be an adventurous batsman who bowls part-time offbreaks and an occasional
wicket-keeper too………
In the lungopener between
CSK and KKR – the 18th over was a maiden it was Sunil Narine who
flummoxed Bravo – eventually finishing with 4-0-9-1 dream figures in T20. The last ball of Umesh Yadav went up, up and
upper, landing in the upper tier beyond wide long-on mightily struck by
Dhoni. The target was not big but those
of us following the game know KKR’s fragility.
Ashish Nehra took two in two to leave Knight Riders gasping at 10 for 2.
Then came the help from the Umpire. … Mohit Sharma then began his run-up to start
the third over; Dhoni stopped him bringing in Ishwar Pandey. The umpire stepped
in to say that Mohit would have to
continue, having begun his run-up - Yusuf
Pathan poked at an outswinger and another wicket….. 10/3 …. After 10 overs,
chasing 158 - Knight Riders lurched
haplessly to 21 for 4. Ashish Nehra took three of those wickets, including two
off two in the third over. Soon, Suryakumar Yadav was gone and Knight Riders
were 51 for 5.
If one thought that the
match was one-sided……….. Russel had other ideas – as he and Ryan ten Doeschate pulled
off a heist. Knight Riders went into the last 10 overs needing 98 runs; they
won with an over to spare. Russel’s 50 came off just 21 deliveries.
Today, Thisara Perera made
his Kings XI Punjab debut as they chose to bowl against Hobart Hurricanes. With
a rib injury ruling Mitchell Johnson out, Perera joined Kings XI regulars Glenn
Maxwell, David Miller and the captain George Bailey in the team. Hobart were restricted to 144 – shoaib Malik
did not score much and chasing………… Virender Sehwag made a golden duck.
With regards – S. Sampathkumar Russel photo credit : BCCI
