IPL9 - Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders on their home ground

Batting first Kolkata Knight Riders managed to post a score of 187 for five at the Eden Gardens with half centuries from skipper Gautam Gambhir and Manish Pandey. Gambhir made 64 from 52 balls (4x4, 1x6) and he got ample support from Manish Pandey who scored a rollicking 52 from 29 balls - the duo had a 100-run partnership from just 60 balls. At 163 for 2 in 17 overs and Andre Russell in imperious form, it appeared that KKR was set for a 200-plus total, but the sudden loss of three quick wickets made them lose the plot.
This has been reported in firstpost.com dated 14 April 2016.

It was a tough target and Mumbai Indians started off on a positive note with the opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Parthiv Patel putting on 53 in 5.5 overs. Finally, skipper Rohit Sharma scored a sparkling 84 (10X4, 2X6) to help his team win their first match of IPL9 by six wickets. He was given ample support by Jos Buttler who made the chase look easier by hitting 41 runs in off just 22 balls so that Mumbai Indians could end up on the winning side with five balls to spare.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Some more interesting links -

Moody’s policy – love thy neighbor (satire)

Lord Shiva wants to be the King of good times (satire)

Narad queers the pitch for Didi & Co (satire)


France continues to attract tourists despite the terror attacks

Summer sees high occupancy rates in Kanpur cinema halls

Five killed in sightseeing helicopter crash near Great Smokey Mountains National Park


ISIS still holding 30 workers out of 300 kidnapped from cement factory in Dumeir

Another Bangladeshi blogger killed in Dhaka because of his views on religion

Florida hunters bag a 15-foot 800-pound massive alligator


Indonesian pop star dies after being bitten by a cobra on stage

Tom Hiddleston denies that he would be next James Bond

“Sicario 2” - Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro will team up again

IPL9 - Kolkata blow Delhi away in match at Eden Gardens

The IPL9 match between KKR and DD was virtually a one-sided match and one that left much to be desired - the crowd wanted more fun and more action and more runs but the Delhi Daredevils proved to be a totally weak team and a misfit to take on the mighty KKR at their home ground. The result - a nine-wicket drubbing for the Delhi Daredevils. to begin their Indian Premier League campaign in style here on Sunday.
This was reported in ibnlive.com dated 10 April 2016.

Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and opted to field - but, Delhi Daredevils, mentored by Rahul David and captained by Zaheer Khan failed to impress. They could score only 98 runs and KKR overhauled that in 14.1 overs. Andre Russell (3 for 24) and 45-year-old Brad Hogg (3 for 19) did the damage and were the star bowlers of KKR.
For KKR, openers skipper Gautam Gambhir (38 not out) and Robin Uthappa (35) shared a brisk 69-run stand to score their first win in IPL9.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Some more interesting links -

Didi rolls out the red carpet (satire)

Moody’s cleanliness drive - free soap for all children (satire)

Lord Shiva cannot relate to today’s Shivaratri (satire)


Teenage girl jumps off moving bus in Mehsana to avoid molestation

Transgender candidate to contest against Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal polls

Japan kills 333 whales in its latest Antarctic hunt - the figure was 252 whales in 2014


ISIS claims responsibility for Brussels attack and warns Britain of more severe attacks

Tragedy in chicken eating contest in Indonesia - a competitor chokes to death

Terror attack in Ankara kills at least 37 - one suicide bomber was a 22-year-old woman

Star Wars Episode VIII to get delayed till December 2017

Antonio Banderas gifted a pair of monkeys to Salma Hayek on her birthday

Frieda Pinto talks about 'Jungle Book - Origins'

This was not cricket – face-off between Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary during Ranji Trophy match in Feroze Shah Kotla

It was most unexpected of two captains to have had a spat on the field during the Ranji Trophy match held in Feroze Shah Kotla grounds. The rival captains Gautam Gambhir of Delhi and Manoj Tiwary of Bengal nearly came to exchanging blows. Gambhir had moved towards Tiwary to hit him and he also had come charging at the Delhi skipper.
When the umpire K Srinath intervened to break them off, Gambhir apparently pushed him out of the way. Incidetally, touching the umpire is considered to be a grave offence in cricket and such an action could even invite a ban.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 24 October 2015.

It seems both Ganbhir and Manoj exchanged words and tempers kept rising. Cricket is a gentleman’s game but, incidents do happen on the field at the heat of the moment. Anyway, the umpires will have to decide on the quantum of punishment to be meted out. This has been fixed at 70% of match fees for Gambhir and 40% match fees for Manoj.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

Some more interesting links -

Moody searching for a place where no leader has gone

Moody, Jet Lee and missing pulses

Durga Puja in Kolkata housing complexes


Fossils and eggshells of baby dinosaurs found in Gobi Desert

Parama Island flyover adds to traffic jams in Kolkata – made one-way

Future of street foods in Delhi bleak - Delhi bans cooking on roads


Arnold Schwarzenegger could play in Rajinikanth-starrer 'Enthiran 2'

Emma Roberts and her horror-comedy series "Scream Queens"

India is one of 81 countries vying for Best Foreign Film in the 88th Academy Awards


Despite US airstrikes, ISIS still makes £300-million a year from oil

Syrian gang caught trying to smuggle 20-tonnes of cannabis worth £150million into Europe

US airdrops 50-tons of ammunition for M-16s and AK-47 to Syrian fighters

IPL8 – Rajasthan defeats Kolkata to move up to No 2 position

#IPL8 #RRvsKKR #ChrisMorris #ShaneWatson Riding on a century by Shane Watson and the wonderful spell of 4 for 23 by Chris Morris, the Rajasthan Royals defeated the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders by 9 runs at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. RR thus go into the playoffs.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 17 May 2015.

RR won the toss and opted to bat first and the opening pair of Shane Watson and Ajinkya Rahane (37) put on 80 runs before Rahane was run out attempting a second run when there was none. Shane Watson hit five sixes and nine fours in his 59 ball blitz of 104 not out.
RR finally posted 199 for the loss of 6 wickets and KKR had to score at the rate of 10 runs per over.
But, KKR began on a dismal note losing Gautam Gambhir in the first over itself. But, they had hard hitting batsmen like Yusuf Pathan and Andre Russell in their midst. They did their best but Pathan fell to Watson for 44 and Russell fell to Morris for 37. The KKR innings ultimately ended at 190 for 9.
With this win, RR climb up the ladder to No 2 position – they have 16 points from 14 games.
(Images courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub


More than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped last year by Boko Haram have vanished

Journey to freedom – 5800 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean

Indonesian smugglers stuff yellow-crested cockatoos into plastic bottles to get past customs

Engineering graduate of Hyderabad goes astray, dies because of links with ISIS

Dozens of corpses found in bamboo cages in Thai human trafficking camp

Quick tour of Delhi by ITDC bus

IPL8 – Kolkata takes revenge – beats Chennai by 7 wickets at Eden Gardens

#IPL8 #KKRvsCSK #AndreRusell #EdenGardens It was revenge, sweet revenge for the Kolkata Knight Riders as they, the defending champions, beat Chennai Super Kings by 7 wickets at the Eden Gardens in yet another last ball finish. This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 30 April 2015.

KKR chased down the stiff 166-run target with just one ball to spare. It was due to the unbeaten 112-run partnership between Robin Uthappa (80*) and Andre Russell (59*) for the fourth wicket. These superb knocks saw KKR gain an emphatic seven-wicket win against two-time champions Chennai Super Kings. It was their return leg clash of the Indian Premier League. Winning the toss, Gautam Gambhir sent in M S Dhoni’s team to bat first – his logic was that once a target had been set by the opposition, it would be better to make strategies to go for a win. It had paid off earlier and, this time also, Gambhir was not disappointed. CSK had got off to a bad start with Dwayne Smith going out to the very first ball on the innings but Brendon McCullum appeared to be on fire but Brad Hogg played spoilsport by picking up 4 wickets for only 21runs. M S Dhoni’s bad form with the bat continued but Dwayne Bravo (30), Ravindra Jadeja (24) and Pawan Negi (27) did contribute to put up a score of 165 but it was just not enough. Andre Russell was the Man of the Match.

A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub

100 cities in India would turn into Smart Cities

EU realizes the curse of plastic carry bags – to banish the bags

Pet Pomeranians of Surat married off, 500 wedding guests enjoy the feast

Woman kills her husband because of his dark complexion

Baltimore on fire as protest over death of a black youth in police custody spirals out of control

‘Papri’ and ‘Barood’ - collection of Bengali short stories published from Nashik

British Army wants computer whizzkids to counter the growing menace of ISIS propaganda

IPL8 – Dhoni, the miracle captain, defends another low total as CSK beats KKR

#IPL8 #CSKvsKKR #DwayneBravo #AndreRussell No matter what his critics might say but, even when the chips are down, M S Dhoni never loses his cool and has the courage and determination to script a win from a near impossible situation. This is what he did at Chepauk when his team Chennai Super Kings beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by 2 runs to go to the top of the points table.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 29 April 2015.

Gautam Gambhir won the toss and asked CSK to bat first – there were opinions floating around that he had made a grave mistake and would repent because, with the impressive batting lineup at the command of CSK, they could post a score of around 200.
However, that did not happen but Gambhir had to, in any case, repent his decision because, while his bowlers Brad Hogg and Andre Russell managed to restrict CSK to just 134 runs, his batsmen failed to rise to the occasion and fell short by just 2 runs.
Dwayne Bravo was declared Man of the Match.
This was the sixth win of the tournament for CSK. They are on top of the table and have maintained their unbeaten record at their fortress intact having won nine matches on the trot.

A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub

British Army wants computer whizzkids to counter the growing menace of ISIS propaganda

IPL8 – Mumbai Indians break the jinx with first win against Royal Challengers Bangalore

Pattern of death changing in India – heart and lung related diseases are top killers

Stray dogs attend funeral of Mexican woman who fed them

Health tips – lose weight without dieting

Anchovies can boost good cholesterol and reduce risk factors of the heart

IPL8 – Sun Risers Hyderabad stops the winning streak Kolkata Knight Riders at Vishakhapatnam

#IPL8 #SRHvKKR #DavidWarner #ShikharDhawan The game at Vishakhapatnam between the home team Sun Risers Hyderabad and the visiting Kolkata Knight Riders went into the D/L method to redefine the target for KKR. This has been reported in sports.ndtv.com dated 23 April 2015.

KKR won the toss and sent in SRH to bat and Captain David Warner, ably assisted by Shikhar Dhawan, went about the task of plundering the runs at will – they put up a 100plus opening stand before Warren went out when he was at 91.
Shikhar Dhawan (54) soon followed his skipper back to the pavilion but, the remaining batsmen managed to put up a reasonably good score.
However, the rains intervened and due to loss of precious playing time, a revised target was set for the KKR by the D/L method. They had to score 118 runs within 12 overs. It should have been a fairly easy task but the batsmen faltered with Gautam Gambhir going out for only 4 runs and, finally, they folded up for 101runs.

A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub

British Army wants computer whizzkids to counter the growing menace of ISIS propaganda

IPL8 – Mumbai Indians break the jinx with first win against Royal Challengers Bangalore

Pattern of death changing in India – heart and lung related diseases are top killers

Stray dogs attend funeral of Mexican woman who fed them

Health tips – lose weight without dieting

Anchovies can boost good cholesterol and reduce risk factors of the heart

IPL8 – Kolkata Knight Riders a hard nut to crack for Delhi Daredevils even at home

#IPL8 #gautamgambhir #KKRvsDD #yusufpathan #umeshyadav Put into bat by Gautam Gambhir, the Delhi Daredevils discovered that the KKR is a hard nut to crack even at home. The Delhi Daredevils were hurt by lack of partnerships and, thanks to a late flourish from Angelo Mathews (21-ball 28), the home side limped to a score of just 146/8 which was certainly not what they had in mind. Yuvraj Singh contributed only 21 runs after being stumped.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 20 April 2015.

The Kolkata bowlers led by pacers Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav bowled a tight line and the South African pacer (2/30) drew first blood after getting Mayank Agarwal (1) caught at long leg with Umesh Yadav taking a sprawling catch.
The assault of KKR was mainly by the Captain Gautam Gambhir – his 49-ball 60 led Kolkata Knight Riders to a convincing six-wicket victory against Delhi Daredevils in their IPL encounter at the Feroz Shah Kotla. His able team mate Yusuf Pathan also contributed by remaining unbeaten on 40. This knock came off 26 balls and was studded with a huge six and six fours.
Umesh Yadav was the Man of the Match with his 3 for 18 in the allotted 4 overs.

A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub

British Army wants computer whizzkids to counter the growing menace of ISIS propaganda

IPL8 – Mumbai Indians break the jinx with first win against Royal Challengers Bangalore

Pattern of death changing in India – heart and lung related diseases are top killers

Stray dogs attend funeral of Mexican woman who fed them

Health tips – lose weight without dieting

Anchovies can boost good cholesterol and reduce risk factors of the heart

IPL8 - Chris Gayle delivers the killer punch to KKR with his 56 ball 96 runs

#IPL8 #KKRvsRCB #EdenGardens #KKR #RCB #GautamGambhir It was a sad Saturday evening for Gautam Gambhir and KKR at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, because, having put up an imposing total of 177 runs on the scoreboard for RCB to chase down, he must have been sitting pretty counting on his team of five spinners to spin their magical webs to ensure that RCB does not reach the target.
But, Gautam Gambhir had not reckoned with the devastating force of Chris Gayle, the opener of RCB, who overturned the KKR applecart with one over to spare. He fell 4 runs short of a three figure mark and, in scoring his 96 runs, he struck seven boundaries and an equal number of sixes.
Incidentally, Chris Gayle was dropped by Morne Morkel while on 63 and the total on 131 for five and that was a costly miss. In T-20, catches and half chances must be gobbled up else, there is only disappointment and repenting. There is no use crying over spilt milk.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 11 April 2015.

Gautam Gambhir scored 58 runs off 46 balls (7x4, 1x6) and Robin Uthappa (35 from 28 balls; 4x4) – that gave them a good start with an 81-run opening partnership. However, their players failed to capitalize on that sort of a start mostly because of poor batting between 11-15 overs. In the final analysis, it appeared that they fell short of at least 15 runs. On hindsight, a score nearer to 200 would have been more competitive.

A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub


Pattern of death changing in India – heart and lung related diseases are top killers

Stray dogs attend funeral of Mexican woman who fed them

Nationwide ban on cow slaughter on the cards says Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh

Health tips – lose weight without dieting

Auckland girl sweet talks thief to return stolen mobile phone

Anchovies can boost good cholesterol and reduce risk factors of the heart

IPL8 opens in Kolkata with the defenders KKR beating Mumbai Indians

#IPL8 #KKRvMI #GautamGambhir #RohitSharma #EdenGardens There had been fears that the weather could play spoilsport in the inaugural match of IPL8 but, the home team overpowered the visiting Mumbai Indians and brought the win with 1.3 overs to spare as reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 9 April 2015.

Losing the toss and sent in to bat by Gautam Gambhir, the captain of Mumbai Indians scored 98 not out at the Eden Gardens that was crowded to capacity with the score at 168 for 3. They were 37 for 3 at one stage and the final score appeared to be a fairly good one. However, the home team had enough batting power to overhaul the score with some balls to spare.
For the KKR, Captain Gautam Gambhir scored a half-century. They lost Robin Uthappa (9) early in the third over but, then, Gambhir and Manish Pandey added 85 runs for the second wicket. After that, Suryakumar Yadav hit a whirlwind knock of 46 off just 20 deliveries with the help of one four and five sixes. That helped KKR to chase down the target in 18.3 overs. KKR finished at 170/3 and won by 7 wickets.
There were dropped catches and missed chances on both sides and that has become a part of the high tension matches and one can only blame Lady Luck. In the end, it is the result that counts.

A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub


Pattern of death changing in India – heart and lung related diseases are top killers

Stray dogs attend funeral of Mexican woman who fed them

Nationwide ban on cow slaughter on the cards says Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh

Health tips – lose weight without dieting

Auckland girl sweet talks thief to return stolen mobile phone

Anchovies can boost good cholesterol and reduce risk factors of the heart