The Delhi Capitals are hitting their stride at the perfect time in the IPL, all-rounder Mitchell Marsh said after helping the side break into the top four with Monday’s victory against the Punjab Kings.
Marsh smashed the only half-century of the match as Delhi defended a modest 159-7 to record their first back-to-back victories this season.
“It’s been one of those seasons where we’ve been stop-start,” said Marsh, whose 63 off 48 balls saw him named Man of the Match.
Photo: AFP
“In long tournaments like this, it’s about peaking at the right time,” Marsh said. “I think over the last week or 10 days, we’ve played some really good cricket and that’s a really good sign.”
Delhi, who beat the Rajasthan Royals in their previous match, finish their league campaign against bottom-placed Mumbai Indians on Saturday.
“We’ve got one more to go. We know if we win that, we’ll be in the finals and we can give it a real good shake,” Marsh said.
Table-toppers Gujarat Lions have secured their playoff berth in their debut season with 20 points from 13 games, and are trailed by Rajasthan and Lucknow Super Giants, both on 16 points.
Delhi are ahead of Royal Challengers Bangalore on superior net run rate, although both have 14 points.
Marsh began briskly against Punjab and built a 50-run partnership with Sarfaraz Khan after the early loss of Australia teammate David Warner, who fell for a golden duck.
“My mindset was to get as many as I can in the Powerplay before it starts turning,” Marsh said. “For the last 18 months, I’ve had that mentality in the Powerplay.
“I walked off thinking we left a couple out there, but it turned and 160 wound up being enough,” he said.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum on Sunday combined for 27 points as Shaquille O’Neal’s “Team Shaq” cruised to victory in the new-look NBA All-Star game in San Francisco. Curry, playing on his home court at Golden State’s Chase Center, reeled off a string of trademark three-pointers to help his star-studded lineup coast to a 41-25 victory over Charles Barkley’s “Team Chuck.” Boston Celtics star Tatum finished with 15 points after delivering a dominant performance in a starting lineup that also included Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and James Harden. Team Shaq’s preparations for the game had been dealt a blow shortly before tip-off when