Latest news with #PoTM
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
Full list of most Player of the Match (PoTM) awards in IPL: Rohit's 81 vs GT helps him win 21st PoTM; Extends his unique record
Full list of most Player of the Match (PoTM) titles in IPL: As Mumbai Indians reached the penultimate stop of the Indian Premier League after beating Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator in Mullanpur on Saturday, Rohit Sharma was adjudged the Player of the Match (PoTM) for his match-defining 81 off 50, which laid the base for the five-time champions to put a big total on the board. After deciding to bat first, the Hardik Pandya side got off to a blazing start thanks to their latest replacement, England's Jonny Bairstow. It didn't seem as if Bairstow was playing his first game in this IPL 2025 and took Prasidh Krishna — the Purple Cap holder this season — to the cleaners right from the get-go with ease. In an innings which had multiple reprieves for former India Test captain Rohit punished GT for their mistakes. Rohit was dropped by Gerald Coetzee when he was batting on just three off Krishna before GT's replacement keeper Kusal Mendis grassed his catch in the very next over when the Mumbai batter was batting on 12. After that, Rohit was just flawless. He struck nine fours and four sixes, to become the first Indian to hit 300 maximums in IPL en route to his 81. He added 84 for the opening wicket in just 44 deliveries before stitching another fifty-stand, this time with Suryakumar Yadav for the third wicket. His third wicket stand with Tilak Varma was worth 43 off 22 before he was dismissed when Rashid Khan caught him, finally, off Krishna. His slambang innings helped MI post 228, which eventually turned out to be sufficient as MI beat GT by 20 runs, making it into Qualifier 2, where they will face Punjab Kings for a place in the final, which will be against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. This was Rohit's 21st PoTM in IPL, the most by any Indian and overall third-most after AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle. De Villiers, who played for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru throughout his career, was instrumental in numerous wins for his teams and won the Player of the Match award for a record 25 times. Gayle sits second with 22 awards. Among Indians, Virat Kohli (19) sits second, MS Dhoni (18) sixth, and Yusuf Pathan (16) is ninth in the list. Another big match winners like David Warner, Sunil Narine, Shane Watson and Andre Russell also find themselves in the top 10 list of players with the most PoTM.
Indian Express
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Women's Tri-series: Sneh Rana makes a statement again, five-for spins India to a thrilling win against South Africa
'I will not give up, that's my mantra.' That was Sneh Rana's response when she was asked about what's key to making one comeback after another. As she collected her player-of-the-match award in Colombo on Tuesday after a five-for against South Africa in the Tri-Series, that sentiment rang true. It cannot be easy being Sneh Rana, often in and out of the national side, performing when opportunities come her way one day, finding herself out of reckoning on another. India have a problem of plenty when it comes to picking right-arm offspinners, that's part of the Rana puzzle, but with her start to this Tri-Series – 3/31 and 5/43 – she has made a strong statement to the selectors and team management. She was perhaps the more deserving recipient of the PoTM award on Sunday against Sri Lanka too, because the bowlers did more than the batters in a low-scoring match. But there could have been no arguments over the decision on Tuesday. In a match where South Africa were in control of the run-chase for nearly 40 overs, it was one over from Rana that decisively swung the pendulum in favour of India. Chasing 277, South Africa were being propelled by a sensational century from Tazmin Brits and a useful lower-order hand from Annerie Dercksen. Rana dismissed both those batters in the 48th over that also included the wicket of Nadine de Klerk. The result was a first five-wicket haul in ODIs for Rana, and a 15-run win for India. 'Playing after a long gap, it means a lot to me,' Rana told broadcasters after the first match. 'Going there, performing well for your country… I just want to say that never give up on your dreams and have patience. Good things take time, but they definitely come.' Her post on X, with a white-ball that had her bowling figures written on, read: 'Mehnet ka fal aur samasya ka hal der se hi sahi magar milta zaroor hai. (The fruits of hard work and solution to the problem are definitely received, even if late).' At the 40-over mark, there was nothing to separate the two sides. Opting to bat first, India had reached 195/3 during their innings. In reply, South Africa were 196/3. While India took a more sedate approach to reach that point, South Africa had gotten off to an absolute flier thanks mainly to Brits' blitz in the powerplay. But India's spinners had started to claw things back in the middle overs, and, central to it was Rana, rookie Sree Charani and Deepti Sharma's control of length. Deepti provided the first breakthrough in the 28th over by trapping Laura Wolvaardt in front. At that point, the required rate was just above 6 runs per over. By the 40th, that had gone up above 8. Key to Rana's five-for was the variation of pace. It is a telling stat that out of the eight wickets she has taken in the two matches in this series, three have been caught-and-bowleds. And two, where the batters have looked to come down the track and hit her over midwicket along with the spin – a good ploy – but finding themselves not reaching to the pitch of the deliveries. Both signs that she had been able to achieve the primary objective most spinners set out to: deceive batters in the air. 'I was just thinking about my variations, the pace-off deliveries worked really well. That was the discussion with the management and glad it worked well,' Rana said. With the bat, India's 276/6 was a mixed bag, and on another day, their lack of intent during various phases could have come back to bite them. Pratika Rawal's sensational start to ODI career continued as she notched up her sixth 50+ score in eight matches. Harleen Deol's slow starts are a problem India must address sooner rather than later, with all of India's top four currently built in a similar mould of using up deliveries to get their eye in. India's late surge to 276 was possible because of a couple of stroke-filled cameos from Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh.
