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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) lost out to   Sunrisers Hyderabad   (SRH) by eight runs in a dramatic final of the Indian Premier League ( IPL 2016 ) Season Nine on Sunday at the Chinnaswami Stadium. Requiring 209 runs in 20 overs with an asking rate of 12.54, Royal Challengers could only manage 200/7, though it got off to a flying start helped by a pounding Chris Gayle and a stable Virat Kohli. Chris Gayle spearheaded the chase for   Royal Challengers Bangalore   with a superb 38-ball-76. Dominating with the bat, he rarely gave chance to Kohli, so much so that he accounted for 74 of the first 100 runs score by RCB by the end of nine overs. Smashing eight sixes and four fours, Gayle looked like interested in only hitting sixes as long as he was on the crease. The capacity crowd in Chinnaswami Stadium was on the edge of the seat as long as Gayle was firing one six after the other, he looked unstoppable. However, the Gayle show got over to a top edge ca...

IPL viewership on Hotstar doubles in 2016   STAR India’s online video streaming platform Hotstar has more than double its reach (unique viewers) for IPL in the past one year. For all the games played until the play-offs (between April 9 and May 22), 80 million people used the service, compared with 35 million a year ago. The cash-rich   Twenty20   tournament came under STAR India’s digital ambit in 2014 when it was made available on   starsports.com . Last year, Hotstar was introduced, helping viewers see the tournament on the new app. The network seems to be on track to achieve the target of reaching100 million IPL viewers this year. “We have seen the adoption of Hotstar as primary screen increase significantly among the urban affluent youth. At 80 million (unique) viewers before the play-offs, I expect the platform to add another 15 to 20 million in reach over the last leg of the tournament,” says Ajit Mohan, CEO, Hotstar, STAR India. Total IPL watch t...

ViratKohli set a new record by scoring his fourth century Man-of-the-match  Virat Kohli  set a new record by scoring his fourth century (113 in 50 balls with 8 sixes and 12 fours) in this  IPL  season and Chris Gayle returned to form by hitting 73 in 32 balls with 8 sixes and four boundaries. Desperate efforts by Vijay to break the partnership or get either of them out early failed as Kolhi and Gayle were in full cry and batted with disdain. While the first 50 came in 4.4 overs of the six-over power play, the first 100 of RCB's innings came in 8.5 overs. Though Vijay used as many as five bowlers to contain the openers, there was no respite for Kings till Gayle got caught by David Miller of Arshad Patel ball in 11 over when RCB score was 147 on the board. After in-form AB de Villiers was bowled for a duck in 12th over, keeper K.L. Rahul joined Kohli to take the score to 199 when the skipper was caught by Miller off Sandeep Sharma ball at 113 comprisin...

    The   Chhattisgarh High Court   (HC) has rejected pleas challenging the hosting of Indian Premier League (IPL)cricket matches in the state on the ground that it was reeling under serious drought. The court has, however, put the condition that the event organisers, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Chhattisgarh State Cricket Association (CSCA), should arrange water for the matches including free drinking water to spectators. Neither the state government nor its agency would provide water for the event. A five-member committee has been constituted to ensure that the court's order is implemented. Read more.

Virat Kohli shouldn't be compared to Sachin Tendulkar: Virender Sehwag Former India batsman   Virender Sehwag   said on Wednesday it is unfair to compare batting legend   Sachin Tendulkar   with current run-machine Virat Kohli. India Test skipper Kohli has been in sublime form over the past couple of months for his national side as well as his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Delhi-born batsman after winning the Man of the Tournament award in the recent World Twenty20, has smashed two centuries in the ongoing ninth edition of the cash-rich   IPL   tournament and is the leading run-getter with 561 runs. "No one should compare two individuals. People used to compare me with Tendulkar, me with Viv Richards, that's not fair. The era is not same. I don't think we should compare   Virat Kohli   with Tendulkar," Sehwag said here at the announcement of the final winner of the 92.7 Big FM Big Catch contes...

The ninth iteration of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has run into the mother of all roadblocks — in the form of the   Bombay High Court 's Wednesday order that all IPL matches scheduled in Maharashtra after April 30 be shifted elsewhere in view of the severe drought in the state. The order came despite an assurance by the Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI) that IPL franchises of Mumbai and Pune had agreed to contribute Rs 5 crore to the chief minister’s drought relief fund. Additionally, the BCCI on Tuesday had assured the Bombay High Court that untreated sewage water would be used to maintain pitches for the seventeen IPL matches to be played in Mumbai and Pune. Despite all arguments set in front of the court by the   BCCI , the court said: “We agree that merely shifting of IPL matches out of the state will not be a solution but this can be a beginning to address the drought situation in Maharashtra. Several people are dying because of water scarcity i...