Cricket news round-up – 9 April 2019: Punjab beat Hyderabad to claim third spot

KL Rahul propelled Kings XI Punjab to a 6-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2019; the injured Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor will not feature in the Zimbabwe’s squad for the UAE ODIs; and India will announce their World Cup squad on April 15.

Rahul, Mayank, bowlers star for Punjab

Following their 6-wicket win against Hyderabad at Mohali, Punjab are now at third spot in the IPL 2019 table. Asked to bat, Hyderabad scored 150/4. The total was possible only after Deepak Hooda took 4, 4, 6 off the last 3 balls of the innings, off Mohammed Shami. These were also the only balls he faced.

David Warner batted through the 20 overs, but his unbeaten 70 took him 62 balls. Vijay Shankar and Manish Pandey both played cameos, but scored 45 between them for 42 balls. Barring Mujeeb Ur Rahman (4-0-34-1), no Punjab bowler conceded over 30.

Punjab lost Chris Gayle early, but KL Rahul (71* in 53 balls) and Mayank Agarwal (55 in 43) then added 114 in 84 balls. Punjab then lost 3 quick wickets, but Rahul saw them home with a ball to spare.

India to name World Cup squad on April 15

BCCI will announce India’s squad for the upcoming World Cup on April 15, eight days before the ICC deadline, at Mumbai. While most of the cricketers in the squad will as good as select themselves, some spots – the No. 4 spot in the batting order, the second spinner – remain matters of interest.

No Masakadza, Taylor for UAE series

A left thumb injury and a right calf muscle tear will keep captain Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor out of the upcoming five-ODI series against UAE. Zimbabwe will be led by Peter Moor in Masakadza’s absence.

Zimbabwe squad: Peter Moor (c), Regis Chakabva, Brian Chari, Tendai Chatara, Elton Chigumbura, Craig Ervine, Kyle Jarvis, Timycen Maruma, Brandon Mavuta, Solomon Mire, Chris Mpofu, Tony Munyonga, Ainsley Ndlovu, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Sean Williams.

First round of County Championship gets over

Hampshire beat Essex by an innings and 87 runs in Division One of the County Championship. After Hampshire put up 525/8, Essex were bowled out for 164 and 274 by Kyle Abbott (2/38 and 5/77) and Fidel Edwards (5/51 and 3/49).

Somerset beat Kent by 74 runs despite there being no play on Day One. Chasing 206, Kent were quickly reduced to 45/6 before Darren Stevens (43 not out) put up a fight. Kent were eventually bowled out for 131, Lewis Gregory (5/18) leading the rout.

Asked to bat for a day to save the match against Nottinghamshire (or 447 to win it), Yorkshire were reduced to 24/2 in 11 overs. Then Gary Ballance (101*) and Joe Root (130*) batted through the day as Yorkshire finished on 277/2.

In Division Two, the Durham openers had put on 83 in pursuit of 361 against Derbyshire. They even reached 177/3 before being bowled out for 235.

Middlesex needed 65 to save the innings defeat on the last day. They had 8 wickets in hand. However, Dawid Malan’s unbeaten 160 helped them bat almost through the day to save the match.

Having acquired a 79-run lead, Leicestershire bowled out Sussex for 308 after they were 211/2. Colin Ackermann (5/69) and Tom Taylor (4/75) shared 9 wickets. Fifties from Paul Horton, Hasan Azad, and Mark Cosgrove then ensured a 7-wicket win.