Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo
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AFTER two consecutive defeats without Zimbabwean cricket ace Sikandar Raza in the fold, Indian Premier League (IPL) side Punjab Kings returned to winning ways after recording a 31 runs victory over Delhi Capitals in a match where the Chevrons star featured on Saturday.
Punjab Kings have had a better win ratio when Raza plays and in their match against Delhi Capitals, the Chevrons star scored an unbeaten 11 runs as his side finished on 167/7 after 20 overs having batted first. Defending the score, Raza bowled one over as they managed to restrict their opponents to 136/8 to win their sixth match in 12 games.
Batting down the order at number eight, the 37-year-old Raza was one of the three Punjab Kings batters who managed to cross double figures with the bat with his innings comprising one six having faced six deliveries as well.
Opening batter, Prabhsimran Singh put up a brilliant innings which was key to Punjab Kings’ decent total. He scored 103 runs after facing 65 balls while Sam Curran made 20 runs from 24 deliveries as no other batter managed to put up a notable score on the board. Ishant Sharma took two scalps for Delhi Capitals, giving away 27 runs in three overs as he finished with their best bowling figures.
In his one-bowled over, the Chevrons stalwart conceded just three runs and took the catch that dismissed the hard-hitting South African international, Rilee Rossouw for five runs off the bowling of Harpreet Brar.
Brar went on to finish with figures of 4/30 in his four-over spell while substitute Nathan Ellis and Rahul Chahar took two scalps each. Delhi Capitals skipper, David Warner top-scored for his side with 54 runs from 27 deliveries, however, was not enough to see his team through.
The win saw Punjab Kings move to 12 points, one point behind fourth-placed Lucknow Super Giants as the battle for the play-offs intensifies. The top four teams from the round-robin stage get to play in the play-offs which are a pathway to the final.
“Defending champions, Gujarat Titans are sitting on top of the 10-team log with 16 points.
Next up for Raza and his Punjab Kings team is a return encounter against Delhi Capitals in Dharamsala tomorrow.
In other cricket news, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has announced that Harare Sports Club will now host all six one-day matches between a Zimbabwe Select side and the touring Pakistan Shaheens team.
The series opener was initially scheduled for Takashinga Cricket Club but ZC has decided to move the game to allow for ongoing refurbishments at the Highfield ground to be completed. The dates for the matches remain unchanged, with the first match starting tomorrow.
ZC arranged the 50-over series against the Pakistani side to help Zimbabwe fine-tune for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 that will be staged across four venues in Harare and Bulawayo from 18 June to 9 July.
The event will see 10 teams competing for the two remaining places at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India later in the year.
– @brandon_malvin.
Online Reporter