PAKISTAN VS ZIMBABWE 3RD ODI LIVE

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Despite a foiled suicide attack outside the Gadaffi stadium during the second ODI, Zimbabwe have agreed to complete the Pakistan tour by playing the last of the three-match ODI series on Sunday. Security will be further beefed up even as Pakistan, who have clinched their first series win in two years, will look to seal a 3-0 clean-sweep.

Riding on Shoaib Malik's ton in the first ODI and skipper Azhar Ali's hundred in the second game, the hosts managed to win their first two matches despite the fact that the bowlers were not up to the mark. Haris Sohail and Mohammad Hafeez were also amongst the runs with the former registering back-to-back half-centuries. Pakistan will be hoping that the batsmen can extend their good run while they will also want the bowlers to pull up their socks and come up with a disciplined performance.

The Zimbabweans fought hard in both games through fine centuries from Elton Chigumbura and Sikandar Raza, but they could not out-bat Pakistan on tracks that have been ideal for the batsmen. Both Chamu Chibhabha and Hamilton Masakadza also found form, which augers well for the batting order. Meanwhile, the visitors will be hoping for Vusi Sibanda and Sean Williams, who have struggled in the ODIs, to get going. Like their Pakistan counterparts, the Zimbabwe bowlers have also not had an easy time in the first two games and will be hoping for some respite.

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PAKISTAN VS ZIMBABWE T20 LIVE

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It's cricket, but it's much, much more.

This series will be less about what happens between bat and ball and more about what happens beyond the boundary, or more precisely, what does not happen. Security threats have meant that no Test-playing team has visited Pakistan since the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team bus and no Test-playing team would have if not for Zimbabwe, although they won't be playing any Tests.

Against the advice of the international player association, FICA, and their own country's foreign affairs ministry, Zimbabwe have done much more than hold out an olive branch to Pakistan; they're planting a forest. Their 10-day, two T20 and three ODI tour could cultivate the comeback of international cricket to a country most teams are too scared to travel to. At least, that is what both the Pakistan Cricket Board and Zimbabwe Cricket hope.

In many ways, the PCB and ZC are perfect for each other because each has what the other wants. The PCB wants to host cricket for its team, ZC wants its team to play more cricket, and that is what brought the two together. The actual cricket could be a periphery to those desires but it will be important for both nonetheless.

Pakistan will be before their home fans once again and that alone will be motivation enough to turn things around from their recent tour of Bangladesh, where they were blanked in the limited-overs matches. They will be smarting after that, desperate to show they have not sunk to a new low, and there will be no better place to do that than in front of their own fans.

Passionate supporters have already caught the Zimbabwean players' eyes with many of them sharing on social media their excitement to be received so warmly but they will know those eyes do not want to see Pakistan defeated. And those eyes won't be expecting anything like that.

Zimbabwe are historically poor travelers and lost every match on their most recent away trip to Bangladesh. They have not played any cricket since the World Cup but are hopeful of a(nother) new beginning under Dav Whatmore. They have a packed winter schedule and will hope to get off to a good start in Pakistan.

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CSK VS DELHI IPL QUALIFIER 2 LIVE

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This season, CSK have beaten RCB in both matches (home and away). Based on this, they will start as favourites and also the team will receive massive 'home' support.

RCB, however, are in good form in recent matches. Though one can expect a close tussle between the two, crucial games as these ended up as one-side affairs, as seen in Qualifier 1 and yesterday's Eliminator.

CSK, who have entered the playoffs in all 8 editions of IPL, are bidding to reach the final for a record 6th time. If RCB progress, it will be their 3rd (runner-up in 2009 and 2011).

Squads

Chennai Super Kings:

MS Dhoni (captain and wicketkeeper), Ashish Nehra, Baba Aparajith, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Faf du Plessis, Ishwar Pandey, Matt Henry, Mithun Manhas, Mohit Sharma, Pawan Negi, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Samuel Badree, Suresh Raina, Ronit More, Michael Hussey, Rahul Sharma, Kyle Abbott, Ankush Bains, Irfan Pathan, Pratyush Singh, Andrew Tye, Eklavya Dwivedi.

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Virat Kohli (captain), AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Mitchell Starc, Nic Maddinson, Varun Aaron, Ashok Dinda, Harshal Patel, Vijay Zol, Abu Nechim, Sandeep Warrier, Yogesh Takawale, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rilee Rossouw, Iqbal Abdulla, Manvinder Bisla, Mandeep Singh, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Subramaniam Badrinath, Darren Sammy, Sean Abbott, David Wiese, Sarfaraz Khan, Jalaj Saxena, Shishir Bhavane, Sreenath Arvind.

Umpires: Anil Chaudhary, Chris Gaffaney, Chettithody Shamshuddin, Krishnaraj Srinath

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RAJASTHAN ROYAL VS DELHI DARE DEVILS LIVE

Rajasthan, on the other hand, slumped to their third loss in their last five games (including two rain wash out matches) with a eight-run defeat against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium last night. Fortunes seemed to have shifted on the positive side for Delhi, who are now at fourth position with their fourth win from eight games, after arresting their nine-match losing streak in the tournament history at the Feroz Shah Kotla against Mumbai on April 23.


They bounced back in style yesterday to demolish KXIP after suffering a humiliating nine-wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the previous away game on April 29. Key batsmen in Mumbai-born lad Shreyas Iyer (281 runs) and Karnataka Ranji cricketer Mayank Agarwal (202 runs) showed good nick with individual half centuries while opening the innings against KXIP to ensure that their brilliant bowling display did not go waste.


Fast bowlers Nathan Coulter-Nile (4 wickets) and Zaheer (2 wickets), who played his first competitive game in any format after a year's absence, had laid the platform for the convincing win by restricting the strong Punjab batting line-up at a mere 118 for eight. With skipper Jean-Paul Duminy also in good nick with the bat (220 runs) and with his accurate off-spin bowling (8 wickets), the Daredevils have most bases covered though there is a worry over the lack of runs from Yuvraj Singh (124 runs in 7 innings). The leg spin twins of Amit Mishra (8 wickets) and South African Imran Tahir (13 wickets) may provide the Daredevils with the cutting edge if the track at the Cricket Club of India, Rajasthan's second home venue of the season after Ahmedabad, offers some turn.


Squads Delhi Daredevils: JP Duminy (captain), Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Mayank Agarwal, Manoj Tiwary, Yuvraj Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Angelo Mathews, Kedar Jadhav (wicketkeeper), Imran Tahir, Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Zaheer Khan, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Shami, CM Gautam (wicketkeeper), Gurinder Sandhu, Jayant Yadav, Albie Morkel, Srikar Bharat, Marcus Stoinis, Dominic Joseph Muthuswamy, Shreyas Iyer, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Karapak Jiyas, Travis Head Rajasthan Royals: Shane Watson (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith, James Faulkner, Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Karun Nair, Dhawal Kulkarni, Tim Southee, Stuart Binny, Chris Morris, Pravin Tambe, Abhishek Nayar, Pardeep Sahu, Rusty Theron, Dinesh Salunkhe, Vikramjit Malik, Rahul Tewatia, Rajat Bhatia, Sagar Trivedi, Dishant Yagnik and Ankit Sharma.

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MUMBAI INDIANS VS KINGS XI PUNJAB IPL LIVE

The two teams placed at the bottom of the standings – Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians – will look to make a move up the ladder when they clash against each other in Match 35 of Pepsi IPL 2015.
KXIP have their task cut out. With just two wins from eight matches so far, the team is faced with a straightforward equation; win the remaining matches to stay in contention for a Playoff spot, or fall out of the race. A major reason for the team’s dismal run this season is they have struggled to find a combination that can do the job for them. It will be interesting to see if KXIP resist calls from all and sundry to get Glenn Maxwell back in their mix; the Australian is the team’s biggest match-winner, but has only scored 62 runs from 46 balls in five innings this season and has been left to warm the benches in the last few matches.
For the Mumbai Indians, it has been a story similar to last season’s. They started slowly yet again – losing their first four matches on the bounce, but have started to gather steam at a time when teams are scrambling for points. For the first time this season, MI head into a match with consecutive wins under their belt. They defeated the Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 25, and most recently brought out perhaps their best all-round performance this season, that resulted in an 8-run victory over the Rajasthan Royals. MI are slightly better off compared to KXIP, but they will be aware that they cannot afford to slip any more, for that will make their task of qualifying for the Playoffs that much more difficult.
When
03 May 2015, 4p.m. IST
Where
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali
The Protagonists
KXIP need runs, and they will take it however they come. Apart from the skipper George Bailey, the only other player in the KXIP ranks who has been among the runs consistently is David Miller. The team will need the South African batsman to not only score runs, but also score them in a manner so it dents the confidence of the opposition. So far in the Pepsi IPL 2015, the left-hander has scored 166 runs at a strike-rate of 114.48 – which pales in comparison to his career strike-rate of 137.34.
The Mumbai Indians will look towards their captain Rohit Sharma to play a big knock. The 28-year old is the team’s best batsman, and has had starts in each of his last five outings. But given the situation his team finds itself in, he will be aware that he needs to start converting those breezy knocks to possibly big match-winning efforts.
Previous Meetings
Kings XI Punjab have a slight edge over Mumbai Indians where previous meetings between the two teams are concerned. Off the 15 IPL matches between the two teams, KXIP have won 8, while MI have won the remaining 7.
It was against MI that KXIP opened their account in Pepsi IPL 2015. In the match between the two teams in Mumbai on April 12, KXIP posted 177 runs on the board riding on skipper George Bailey’s unbeaten 61 and then destroyed the hosts’ batting lineup, reducing them to 59 for 6. Harbhajan Singh lit up the Wankhede Stadium with a few big hits late in the run-chase, and his 100-run partnership with J Suchith gave MI some respectability. MI still fell 18 runs short.
Trivia
Kings XI Punjab are yet to win a match at home in Pepsi IPL 2015; they played 3 matches in Pune and one match in Mohali, but haven’t realised any points from those matches.
KXIP have batted their twenty overs in each of their last three matches, but have only managed an aggregate of 343 runs from sixty overs at a run rate of 5.72. KXIP have the slowest scoring rate of all the teams in Pepsi IPL 2015 – 7.29.
What Next
KXIP head southwards – to Bengaluru - after this match, for their away match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, scheduled for May 6. Mumbai Indians meanwhile head back home to host Delhi Daredevils on May 5.

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