They might have had heady highs and lowly lows in between but Delhi

Daredevils ended their season as they began it: let down by their
mercurial batsmen after the bowlers kept Royal Challengers Bangalore
down to a middling total. In their first fixture, Daredevils failed to chase
down 158; here they came short going after 162. On both occasions,
Rishabh Pant was left without any support from the other end, out for 45
off 34 in the 17th over. Like in Bangalore, Pawan Negi bowled the last over
to take out Daredevil's last hope, Mohammed Shami, who had scored 21
off nine balls.

Winning their first match in their last eight attempts, Royal Challengers
managed to get off just three wins, which would the joint second-worst
return for any team in any IPL. They did have their usual failings, though.
On a pitch that Virat Kohli expected to offer a lot of turn, he and Chris
Gayle laid a platform, but both fell for middling strike rates of 128.88 and
126.31. The rest didn't contribute much as Pat Cummins, Zaheer Khan and
Shahbaz Nadeem pulled things back.

In response, though, Daredevils' batsmen made more mistakes. Karun Nair

and Shreyas Iyer got themselves in on a pitch that lived up partially to
Kohli's expectations but got themselves out before they could pay the
team back for the 22 and 30 balls they faced for a strike rate of 118.18
and 106.67. The soft dismissals left Pant with all to do, which once again
proved too much.

The Gayle and Kohli encore, sort of

Given one final chance to entertain, Gayle put on 66 with Kohli for the
second wicket. The pitch was not as alarming as Kohli expected it to be,
but there were signs of its slowing down. Gayle hit just one boundary in
the last 17 balls he faced, and Kohli scored just 17 off the last 15 balls
that came his way. Take out the 19 runs he scored off nine balls from his
favourite bowler, Amit Mishra, and Kohli scored 39 off 36 balls.

It will also leave Daredevils' tactics to question. Kohli v Mishra has been
the second-most one-sided contest in the ten years of IPL, but they still
went with Mishra before Shahbaz Nadeem, presumably because of the
presence of Gayle. Kohli just loved it, extending his dominance over the
veteran legspinner, who has got into the bad habit of firing balls in
whenever a batsman starts to attack him.

Nadeem starts the turnaround

Daredevils might have looked to shield Nadeem from Gayle, but the
bowler unleashed his legbreaks to keep the left-hand batsman quiet. With
the first ball of the 14th over, another legbreak, he got rid of Gayle. This
began a slide. Travis Head was run out responding to an optimistic call for
a second from Kohli. Kohli himself holed out to Zaheer's bowling. Kedar
Jadhav was dopey with his running. Cummins then ended superbly with
yorkers as the ball reversed, which points to a dry square as Kohli
mentioned earlier.

Negi, the 20th-over fox

Before he got his chance to end with the ball, though, Negi found himself
batting in the 20th over. Daredevils gambled, looking for wickets in the
earlier overs, and were now left to choose between Corey Anderson and
one of the spinners for the last over. They went with Anderson, who
bowled a fourth over for the first time this season, and 16 came off it,
thanks to three fours hit by Negi.

Daredevils' three amigos

Sanju Samson, Karun Nair and Shreyas Iyer, Daredevils' three main
batsmen before Pant's power kicks in, have shown flashes of brilliance,
but their final match this season was a reminder that disappointment has
been the more dominant feeling with them. Avesh Khan, former Under-19
star and making his T20 debut, surprised Samson with bounce first ball of
the chase, but Samson responded with a limp front-foot pull to get out
second ball. Nair and Iyer played longer innings, but they hit innocuous-
looking deliveries straight to fielders to make it 87 for 3 in the 12th over.

Harshal's highs

Harshal Patel is not a regular for Royal Challengers, but he struck

regularly on the night to keep dragging Daredevils back. He had sussed
the pitch, and kept banging the ball into the surface with fingers rolled on
it. Iyer fell to that followed by a big offbreak to Marlon Samuels first up.
Corey Anderson survived the hat-trick ball, but his innings of three off
nine made it really difficult for Pant.

Pant didn't give up, though, swatting Harshal for a six first up when he
came back for the 17th over, with 49 required off the last four. Harshal,
though corrected, himself immediately and bowled three straight slower
ones to get rid of Pant.

Shami then swung hard and benefited on a small ground, but Negi gave
him no pace to work with and secured the win at his first-class home
ground.

"Having Monty come up is a nice way to kickstart the squad's thinking

about playing in India," Howard told the newspaper. "We want the
batsmen to be thinking about what the bowlers will be trying to do to
them over there and Monty can engage them that way as well as with the
bowlers.

"Phil Jaques will run the sessions with Matt, Monty and SOK, Phil has some
nice ideas about how to challenge the batsmen," Howard added. "In
Australia we love big turners, but the successful bowlers like [Rangana]
Herath and [Ravi] Ashwin are more likely to get you lbw or bowled than
any other way, their accuracy and their length is absolutely outstanding."

Panesar was one of nine wickets for O'Keefe during their ongoing Grade
match between Manly and Campbelltown Camden at the weekend.

"He was brilliant on the weekend and must think cricket is an easy game
after taking 9 for 54," Panesar said.

the guys on the same thing - If you are focused on the goal, the target you
want to achieve, you don't necessarily need to think too much about the
game - in terms of your personal runs or where you stand at the game," he
said.

"Sri has worked with us on a number of occasions now all across our
pathway system and he is currently in Dubai with our Under-16 team
providing his expertise on sub-continental conditions," Pat Howard,
Cricket Australia's executive general manager of team performance, said.

"He knows our players very well and has a wealth of knowledge on the
conditions that our players will face in India."

Sriram's presence on the India tour has been preferred to that of spin
consultant John Davison, who has

ts Kholi's india.?

FAN1969 ON JANUARY 21, 2017, 13:24 GMT

I am assuming the age factor against Yuvi and Dhoni will not be cited by
Rahane fans after witnessing two amazing centuries by the veterans of
limited overs cricket.

Rahane should not be even in the 15/16 in limited overs cricket with Kedar,
Karun, Manish, Rishabh and hopefully more players coming through in the
IPL.
Rahane is a wonderful Test batsman and would do well to concentrate on
that along with Murali Vijay and Pujara. I wish him good luck at IPL but not
keen to see him selected for India limited overs teams.

PIRATES07 ON JANUARY 21, 2017, 13:17 GMT

@Fan1969 Runs scored by Dhawan in Australia were on flat tracks and a

lean Australian attack. Rahane hasn't performed well either but that
doesn't mean Dhawan's poor performance can be justified. Plus Dhawan
during all this matches has played as an opener while Rahane has been
tried at different numbers.

PIRATES07 ON JANUARY 21, 2017, 13:13 GMT

Ashwin should be tried as an opener. His technique against fast bowling is

pretty good and we will get an option to play another bowler or all rounder
at 7. Team when everyone is available for selection can be Ashwin
Rohit/Rahane Kohli Yuvraj/Pandey MSD Jadhav Hooda/Pandya Jadeja Bhuvi
Shami Bumrah

FAN1969 ON JANUARY 21, 2017, 13:13 GMT

I am assuming the age factor against Yuvi and Dhoni will not be cited by
Rahane fans after witnessing two amazing centuries by the veterans of
limited overs cricket.

Rahane should not be even in the 15/16 in limited overs cricket with Kedar,
Karun, Manish, Rishabh and hopefully more players coming through in the
IPL.

Rahane is a wonderful Test batsman and would do well to concentrate on

that along with Murali Vijay and Pujara. I wish him good luck at IPL but not
keen to see him selected for India limited overs teams.

CRICFAN00049400 ON JANUARY 21, 2017, 13:09 GMT

rahane should open good to hear grass on the pitch last time on the same
pitch bhuvi got a fiver

CRICFAN NO:1 ON JANUARY 21, 2017, 13:06 GMT

hoping Rahul to come good and bumrah to bowl more Yorkers at death

FAN1969 ON JANUARY 21, 2017, 13:00 GMT

This is for all Rahane fans. The last good innings in LIMITED OVERS for
India Rahane played was a 79 in 60 balls against South Africa in the 2015
WC. Ever since he has played 24 ODIs and not a single great match
winning innings. Mumbai 87(58) against SA was good but India lost by 200
runs.

Kohli himself made a 105-ball 122 to fire up India's pursuit of 351, but was
for once outscored and overshadowed in a partnership.

"I think it was outstanding, just to have another guy that was willing to
believe we can win from any situation was such a boost for me as well. If
you want to give one man credit, it is Kedar Jadhav," Kohli said after the
match. "They had four quick bowlers and he really tackled all of them
really well. He put a lot of pressure on the spinners so they couldn't come
back into the game. I couldn't believe some of the shots he played. He told
me it was instinctive, but such was his talent."

When Jadhav joined Kohli in the 12th over, India were four down for 63 and
had lost Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni. But Jadhav's shot-making instantly
took the pressure off Kohli - he was unruffled by the short balls and
executed the pull, one of his most productive shots, effortlessly, and
countered the spinners with lofted drives. With Kohli at the other end,
there were plenty of quick singles and doubles during their 200-run
alliance in just 147 balls. Kohli called it one of the best partnerships he
had been involved in.

Dominica bid farewell to two legends of the game in a most fitting manner,
giving Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq the most heart-stopping send-off
possible.

History beckoned time and again, torturing and teasing them. It made
them wait, it made them wonder, it made them despair. But, with six balls
left in the game, the series, and their careers, came perhaps its most
satisfying moment.

Shannon Gabriel, West Indies' No. 11, had spent just over half an hour at
the crease, and had seen out 21 balls. See out one more, and it would
leave Roston Chase, who was batting on 101, to face the last over of the
match, the last over of the series, and dramatically raise West Indies'
chances of saving the Test.

Gabriel had kept out those 21 balls by trusting his defence, but now, in
one of the most inexplicable moments in Test cricket's history, he swung
wildly, madly at a loopy full delivery pitching well outside off stump
from Yasir Shah. The ball took his inside edge and rattled into off stump,
sealing one of the greatest days in Pakistan's cricket history.
This side - Misbah's side - had done what Hanif Mohammad couldn't do,
what Javed Miandad couldn't do, what Imran Khan couldn't do. He had led
his side to its first ever series victory in the Caribbean, a 101-run win
sealing his - and Younis' - careers with aplomb. Test cricket certainly has a
way of rewarding its own.

Pakistan looked like they would make short work of the final session when,
three overs in, Hasan Ali brought an end to Jason Holder's obdurate
resistance. It left West Indies seven down with only the tail to give Chase
company.

With the pitch playing extremely slowly, what Hasan did to dismiss him
might even have been an intentional ploy. He took the surface out of the
equation, hurling a fierce inswinger that made a beeline for leg stump on
the full. Holder made a mess of trying to keep it out, and was plumb in
front.

But just as Pakistan began to envisage victory, Devendra Bishoo and

Chase had designs on a grand resistance. They split the work brilliantly,
with Bishoo keeping out Yasir Shah and Chase negotiating the faster
bowlers, and Pakistan struggled to break that pattern. Ultimately Misbah
resorted to pace from both ends, and Bishoo's discomfort against the
seamers eventually cost him his wicket, as he fended a Mohammad Abbas
bouncer to silly point.

Chase had been sensational all series, and it would be churlish to take any
credit away from him. But he led a charmed life in the last session and one
couldn't help wondering if he was destined to save the game. On two
occasions, Hasan dropped him off his own bowling, and when Abbas had
him caught in the slips on 92 in the first over after the second new ball
was taken, replays showed he had just overstepped. When Chase drove
Hasan down the ground for an exquisite boundary to bring up his hundred,
one could sense the stadium felt it too.

Whenever a wicket fell, there was a sense that the resistance had finally
ended. But Alzarri Joseph picked up from where Bishoo left off, and then
Gabriel took over from Joseph. Between them, West Indies' Nos. 9, 10 and
11 spent 99 balls at the crease, while scoring 12 runs. Runs had simply
ceased to matter by then.

The morning session had been dominated by Pakistan, who made

significant inroads towards a series win, dismissing Kraigg Brathwaite,
Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope to expose the hosts' middle order in the
first hour.
Brathwaite was the first to fall, playing an unseemly shot after getting
caught in two minds over what to do with a short Yasir delivery. The ball
stuck in the pitch, and Brathwaite spooned it to point.

But the hammer blow was yet to come, with Hetmyer's bte noire coming
back to snare him one final time. Mohammad Amir got one to tail in to
Hetmyer, just as he has done all series. The youngster looked to drive on
the up, missing the ball completely. He must now be sick of the sight of
his off stump sent cartwheeling.

Hasan pushed West Indies further back against the wall with a dream
delivery to capture his first Test wicket. Having maintained a disciplined,
good length all Test, he changed it up in the most unexpected way, hurling
an inswinging yorker destined for Hope's toes. The batsman was unable to
get his bat down in time, and the lbw call was so obvious Chase told Hope
not to bother with a review.

Two overs into the afternoon, Vishaul Singh - the closest thing to a
walking wicket this series - succumbed to a classic Yasir trap. The
legspinner pitched the ball into the rough, and the left-hander failed to
judge the turn. His inside edge flicked the pad, popping up to Babar Azam
at short leg for a simple catch.

Shane Dowrich fell to the same bowler, and the same fielder, although his
wicket was altogether more controversial. His attempt to flick Yasir
against the turn looped up to short leg off the pad - before which there
may or may not have been a tickle of inside edge - and the umpire Bruce
Oxenford adjudged him out. Dowrich reviewed immediately, but lengthy
replays turned up no conclusive evidence either way, and the decision was
upheld. It was a piece of misfortune the West Indies could have done
without, in truth.

But despite all that, West Indies had it in control. Then came Gabriel's
moment of madness, and Misbah went berserk. Cool and calm? What are
you on about?

Reflection on the time when you belonged to the demographic of the

under-18s. When, well into a two-month summer vacation,
yoSTEVEJOHNSON1010 ON JANUARY 21, 2017, 14:04 GMT

Virat Kohli : For heaven's sake, please do not play Dhawan tomorrow.
Team would be better off you opening with Rahul, and draft in Pandey in
the middle order.

Also enough of Umesh Yadav. Hope we don't see him again in white or
coloured clothing for IND!
JAHHHAN ON JANUARY 21, 2017, 13:58 GMT

Not too many other than Indian fans will talk about this but India has got
bating talent that cannot be believed. So many talented batsmen waiting
for their turn............ Amazing. The Golden days of Indian cricket. My last
comment was 13-0 loss for England but now that I know 5 tests, 4 odi's
and 3 t20's so it looks like a 10-0. When the series finishes the Indian fans
will just be sad about that one draw. Don't prove me wrong. make it 10-0

CHUP421 ON JANUARY 21, 2017, 13:51 GMT

best xi for champions traphy 1.rohit 2.dhoni 3.kohli 4.manish 5.yuvi

6.kedhar 7.ash 8.pandya 9.jaddu 10.bhuvi 11.bumrah/shami

DIESEL_LOCO_WDP4 ON JANUARY 21, 2017, 13:36 GMT

This should be a proper sub-300 score-ODI after all the hiding in the first
two ODIs. Not because of the pitch, but because mistimed slogs will NOT
clear the fence, especially with long square boundaries. That said, this
pitch and ground is ideal to suit Kohli's batting style. Flick the ball
towards midwicket with soft hands, or wristily whip it past the cover
fielder and run two easy runs. Would like to see batsmen working hard for
their runs, for once this series. Oh, and i wouldn't be misled by the green
yet, it is probably only to hold the pitch together.

THELUCKYCOUNTRY ON JANUARY 21, 2017, 13:34 GMT