Son of Barry Richards dies

May 20, 2009

Barry Richards, former South African opener and one of the newest inductees into the ICC Hall of Fame, announced that his eldest son, Mark Richards, committed suicide.

The tragedy occurred at a rehabilitation centre where Mark, who was in his 20s, was admitted for a drug problem. Said Richards who now resides in Perth, Australia, “It’s a difficult time to talk about it now. We are shattered.”

Richards, who is now 63 years old, enjoyed a very successful cricketing career scoring an impressive 28,358 runs for an average of 54.74. Nicknamed the ‘Big Bird’, he was very tall, vicious at the bat, and fast. He played with Natal from 1964 to 1983 and also for Hampshire and Western Australia.

The entire Team here at Amuse.co.za extend our deepest condolences to the Richards family and their friends and hope that they find the strength and courage to overcome this terrible tragedy.

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Delhi Daredevils won by 7 wickets

May 11, 2009

The Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to field. This was a wise choice by the Daredevils whose precise bowling caused wicket after wicket to fall for the Kolkata Knight Riders. The first wicket fell in form of McCullum when the team score was just 7. It was evident practically from the onset who would be the victor in the match. With the exception of a small upset by Saurav Ganguly who scored 44 runs and, then later, Ajit Agarkar who scored 39 runs pushing the Knight Riders to 123/8 in 20 overs, Kolkata never recovered.

Brendon McCullum, though hitting one over square leg for a 6, was given LBW to Nehra who angled one across to him. Brad Hodge soon after chased a wide ball that he edged to AB de Villiers at slip. Morne van Wyk pulled Nannes straight to Rajat Bhatia at short square leg in the next over.

The Delhi Daredevils batsmen were fearless, with Gambhir and Dave Warner putting on 53 for the first wicket before the skipper scooped a wide delivery from Australian all-rounder Moises Henriques to Hodge at backward point. A strategic timeout was made just when Ishant Sharma dismissed Warner and then three balls later Tillakaratne Dilshan thanks to a well judged catch by Henriques on the deep backward square leg boundary. The Daredevils coasted to victory with 17 balls to spare. De Villiers made 40 runs (not out) and hit five 4s. Between him and Karthik, they shared a partnership of 56 runs taking the Daredevils to 125/3.

McCullum conceded their loss as due to inconsistency. “We have just been too inconsistent, if we bowl well, we do not bat well or field well, we just have not got all three facets of the game going well at the same time, but we will keep fighting and hopefully we will get that win soon.”

Amit Mishra bowled a good spell for the Delhi Daredevils earning him the Man of the Match title.

Some other game highlights include:

  • Kolkata Knight Riders: 50 runs in 8.5 overs (57 balls), Extras 4
  • Drinks: Kolkata Knight Riders - 52/5 in 10.0 overs (SC Ganguly 27, MC Henriques 2)
  • Kolkata Knight Riders: 100 runs in 17.5 overs (113 balls), Extras 8
  • Innings Break: Kolkata Knight Riders - 123/8 in 20.0 overs (M Kartik 11)
  • Delhi Daredevils: 50 runs in 6.2 overs (40 balls), Extras 7
  • 1st Wicket: 50 runs in 40 balls (G Gambhir 18, DA Warner 26, Ex 7)
  • Drinks: Delhi Daredevils - 72/3 in 10.0 overs (AB de Villiers 7, KD Karthik 1)
  • Delhi Daredevils: 100 runs in 14.6 overs (94 balls), Extras 12
  • 4th Wicket: 50 runs in 47 balls (AB de Villiers 30, KD Karthik 17, Ex 3)

Relive the excitement of this match. Watch the game highlights below:

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Kings XI Punjab have done it again

May 4, 2009

In Sunday’s match between the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Kings XI Punjab came out on top by six wickets. They needed only 7 runs to win off the final over. Scores were tied on the last ball. The anticipation was so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. Irfan Pathan sliced teh ball giving his team the all-important single and a 4th victory in 7 matches.

The Kings XI Pujnab moved up to second spot in the DLF IPL standings for this season, making them 1 of 3 teams level on 8 points. Many conclude that it was poor fielding by Kolkata, who dropped 4 catches, that edged the Kings past them. On the other hand Sunny Sohal (25 off 17 balls, three sixes) and Simon Katich (34 off 28 balls, three fours and a six) also gave them the push they needed.

The Man of the Match went to Jayawardene (52 not out off 41 balls). Credit must go to Brad Hodge who delivered a commendable performance - undefeated 70 to rise to third in the race for the Orange Cap for leading run-scorers in Season 2009 with a total of 230 runs. Hodge follows 2 players from the Chennai Super Kings – left hand opening batsmen Mathew Hayden who with 246 runs leads the Orange Cap standings, who is closely followed by his team-mate Suresh Raina with 232 runs. Hodge, whose 70 came off 43 balls, hit 10 fours and a six. With Sourav Ganguly (22 off 17 balls) and Morne van Wyk (18 off 12), he helped add 75 runs in the final six overs of the Kolkata Knight Riders innings.

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