Brutal Glenn Maxwell guides Kings XI Punjab to 6-wicket win over CSK

April 19, 2014

Brutal_Glenn_MaxwellAbu Dhabi, Apr 19: A blazing 115-run stand between David Miller and Glenn Maxwell helped Kings XI Punjab pull off a sensational six-wicket win over formidable Chennai Super Kings in their opening Indian Premier League match here on Friday.

Maxwell hammered 95 off 43 balls while Miller made an unbeaten 54 off 37 to propel their team past Super Kings` imposing 205 for four with seven balls to spare at the Sheikh Zayed stadium. Virender Sehwag (19 off 10) and Cheteshwar Pujara (13 off 10) started Punjab`s chase aggressively before departing in quick sucession.

Offie Ravichandran Ashwin, who trapped Pujara in front of the stumps, earned his second lbw by foxing Akshar Patel (2), leaving Punjab at 53 for two in sixth over. That brought together two of the world`s dangerous batsman in the middle - the big hitting Miller from South Africa and the innovative Maxwell of Australia.

The deadly duo did not disapppoint as they took the Super Kings bowlers to the cleaners. Maxwell scored the bulk of the runs in their 63-ball stand and was also at his cheeky best.

The Australian all-arounder enthralled the crowd with his switch hits and hoicks over mid-wicket. Like Miller, who was dropped off Ravindra Jadeja in the ninth over, Maxwell also had the luck on his side. The result could have been different had the Australian not been dropped twice.

His whirlwind innigs comprised 15 fours and a couple of maximus before he missed a Dwayne Smith yorker in the 16th over with Punjab still needig 39 off 26 balls. Miller got into the groove after Maxwell`s fall and got his side closer to the target by smashing Jadeja for two consecutive sixes. With captain George Bailey (17 off 10) at the other end, Punjab eventually strolled to a morale boosting victory.

Earlier, Super Kings kicked off their IPL-7 campaign with a flurry of fours and sixes as Brendon McCullum (67 off 45) and Smith (66 off 43) hit blazing half centuries. An entertaining 123-run opening-wicket partnership between McCullum and Smith, and a 11-ball 26 cameo by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni towards the end ensured Super Kings posted a mammoth score on a good batting surface. The final over saw 18 runs being scored.

The innings started with a bang and the fifth over saw McCullum and Smith stealing 18 runs. The over proved costly for Punjab as Smith hit two consecutive boundaries before Bailey dropped the dangerous McCullum off pacer Parvinder Awana at 22. The Kiwi batsman punished the bowler by hitting a huge six.

McCullum brought up his fifty with a boundary off Rishi Dhawan. The openers sent a lacklustre Punjab attack on a leather hunt and that helped Super Kings reach 100-run mark in 10th over.

While McCullum was at his dominating best, Smith was steady at the other end, making sure that the loose deliveries did not go unpunished.

It was the slow left-arm orthodox bowler Patel who finally gave Punjab the breakthrough by removing McCullum. While Smith was looking to continue the momentum after McCullum`s dismissal, Suresh Raina began with a boundary.

Medium pacer Laxmipathy Balaji dismissed Smith with Bailey making no mistake at covers this time.Determined to capitalise on the solid platform laid by the openers, Dhoni launched an all out attack from the very first ball.

Raina`s departure after a 19-ball 24 hardly affected the team`s rhythm and in able company of Dwayne Bravo, Dhoni managed to take CSK past 200.

Rahane guides Rajasthan to a four-wicket win over Hyderabad

Rahane_RajasthanAbu Dhabi, Apr 18: A patient half-century by Ajinkya Rahane and some disciplined bowling display helped Rajasthan Royal notch up a comfortable four-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL match here today.

Rahane shared a 77-run fourth wicket partnership with Stuart Binny (48 not out) to rescue Rajasthan after they were precariously placed at 31-3 in 6.2 overs.

The 25-year-old Mumbaikar hit six boundaries in his 53-ball 59-run innings to anchor the chase as Rajasthan overhauled Hyderabad's score of 133-6 with three balls to spare at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Earlier, Rajat Bhatia (2/22), Dhawal Kulkarni (2/23), Kane Richardson (2/25) and Pravin Tambe (0/23) bowled brilliantly as Rajasthan restricted Hyderabad to 133 for 6 in their stipulated 20 overs.

Chasing 134 to win, Rajasthan had a horrible start as they lost Abhishek Nayar (4), Sanju Samson (3) and skipper Shane Watson (3) cheaply.

While Dale Steyn (2/29) trapped opener Nayar infront of his wicket only in his third ball, Samson was sent packing by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/21) when the batsman's miscued shot was caught by Dhawan in the fourth over as Rajasthan could only score 30 in their powerplay overs.

In the next over, Ishant Sharma (1/29) had Watson caught behind by wicket-keeper Lokesh Rahul with an away going delivery as Rajasthan slumped to 31 for three.

Opener Ajinkya Rahane, however, dug his heels and started to weave a partnership with newman Binny.

With Rahane struggling with his timing, Binny blasted a four and a six in the 10th over off Darren Sammy as Rajasthan scored 61/3 in the first 10 overs.

The duo played sensible cricket as they kept taking ones and twos, besides the odd boundaries, to keep the scoreboard ticking. They brought up their 50-run partnership off 40 balls for the fourth Wicket.

Looking for a wicket, Dhawan brought Steyn back into the attack but his first ball went to the boundary as Rahane brought up his hard-earned fifty off 46 balls. The 25-year-old then dispatched the next ball for another boundary.

Binny then brought up the 100 for Rajasthan with a couple of runs.

Needing 32 off 30 balls, Mishra and Steyn tried to bring Hyderabad back into the game as took three quick wickets between them.

While Mishra dismissed Rahane and Brad Hodge (1), Steyn got rid off Bhatia (4) but James Faulkner blasted two fours in as many balls in the last over to take Rajasthan home.

Earlier, put into bat, Dhawan (38) and Warner (32) shared a 77-run stand off 64 balls to set the foundation but Hyderabad failed to accelarate in the second half of their innings to end up with a total of 133-6.

The Sunrisers lost their first wicket in opener Aaron Finch when he failed to failed to connect with a short and wide delivery from Kulkarni and ended up hitting it straight to Richardson at cover.

However, skipper Dhawan and Warner made sure there were no more hiccups as Hyderabad piled up 41 runs in the Powerplay overs. The duo were in no hurry as Hyderabad reached the first 50 runs in 8 overs.

Dhawan smashed the first six of the Hyderabad innings in the ninth over when he went down on his knees and smacked Tambe over the deep midwicket area.

However, Bhatia struck in his second over with his off-cutter as Dhawan looking for another slog sweep was holed out by Richardson at deep square leg as Hyderabad slipped to 77 for two in 11.3 overs.

Bhatia came back to dismiss Warner too in his next over as Hyderabad further slumped to 82-3. Looking to accelarate, Warner found Richarson in the deep midwicket.

Young Lokesh Rahul then blasted a four and a six in his 18-ball 20 to help Hyderabad cross the 100-run mark in 17th over.

But five balls later, Rahul hit a full toss delivery from Kulkarni to Ajinkya Rahane in the deep midwicket.

No. 6 batsman Y Venugopal Rao scored 16 off 12 balls to provide some momentum but Darren Sammy (6) and Karn Sharma (4) perished quickly as Hyderabad could score only 64 in last 10 overs.

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News Network
January 13,2020

Mumbai, Jan 13: India spearhead Jasprit Bumrah on Sunday headlined the BCCI Annual Awards function, grabbing the prestigious Polly Umrigar award apart from annexing the Dilip Sardesai honour for his exploits in international cricket in the 2018-19 season.

Polly Umrigar award is presented to the best male International cricketer and it carries a citation, trophy and cheque for Rs. 15 lakh.

Dilip Sardesai award is conferred on both the highest wicket-taker and highest run-getter in Test cricket. Bumrah took 34 wickets in six matches with three five-wicket hauls.

Prolific Saurashtra batsman Chetshwar Pujara was picked for the honour for scoring 677 runs in 8 matches at an average of 52.07 with three centuries and two half centuries.

Bumrah, the world's number ODI bowler made his Test debut during India's tour of South Africa in January 2018 and hasn't looked back since.

He picked up a five-wicket haul in South Africa, England, Australia and the West Indies, becoming the first and only Asian bowler to achieve the feat.

He played a stellar role in the historic 2-1 Test series win in Australia, India's first Down Under and which helped them retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

While Bumrah netted the biggest prize in the men's category, Poonam Yadav claimed the top prize in women's section and was awarded the best international cricketer.

The award will be another feather in the leg-spinner's cap who recently received the Arjuna Award.

Former India captains Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Anjum Chopra were presented the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award and the BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award for women respectively.

A member of the 1983 World Cup-winning team, Srikkanth took on the fearsome West Indies fast bowlers and scored an attacking 38, the top individual score in the low-scoring final at the Lord's.

He also captained India and post-retirement served as the chief selector and it was during his tenure that the 2011 World Cup squad was picked.

Anjum is one of the finest batswomen and the first Indian to play 100 ODIs. In a career spanning 17 years, Anjum represented India in four 50-over World Cups and two T20 World Cup (played in one).

Mayank Agarwal, who emerged as an impact batsman starting with his debut series in Australia in 2018-19, received the best international debut in men's category while talented 15-year-old Shafali Verma grabbed the same in the women's category.

Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube, who impressed in the recently concluded T20 series against Sri Lanka, was presented the Lala Amarnath Award for the best all-rounder in the Ranji Trophy while Delhi's Nitish Rana received the same for doing well in the limited overs competition.

India's middle-order batsmwoman Deepti Sharma received the Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy for best woman cricketer in senior domestic circuit while Shafali was picked for honour in the junior category.

Virender Sharma was adjudged the best umpire in domestic cricket while Vidarbha Cricket Association were presented the best performance award in domestic cricket for wining the Ranji Trophy.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said, “The BCCI Awards is our way of recognising the finest on-field performances right from the age group to senior level and also honour our legends.”

Board secretary Jay Shah said, “We wanted to make Naman bigger and better and have introduced four new categories highest run-getter and wicket-takers in WODIs and best international debut men and women from this year.”

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News Network
January 31,2020

New Delhi, Jan 31: Indian women's team captain Rani Rampal on Thursday became the first-ever hockey player to win the prestigious 'World Games Athlete of the Year' award.

The World Games announced the winner on Thursday after 20 days of polling by sports fans world-wide.

"Indian hockey superstar Rani is The World Games Athlete of the Year 2019! Huge congratulations!," the World Games said in a statement.

"With an impressive number of votes, 199,477, Rani is the clear winner of the Athlete of the Year race, where sports fans all over the world have voted for their favourite during 20 days of polling in January. All in all, over 705,610 votes were cast during the poll," it added.

Last year, India won the FIH Series Finals, and Rani was named Player of the Tournament. Under Rani's leadership, the Indian women's team qualified for just the third Olympic Games in its history.

"I dedicate this award to the entire hockey fraternity, my team and my country. This success has only become possible with the love and support from hockey lovers, fans, my team, coaches, Hockey India, my government, friends from Bollywood, fellow sportspersons and my countrymen who have continuously voted for me," said Rani, who was recently named among the Padma Shri awardees.

"Special thanks to FIH for nominating me for this prestigious award. Thank you to The World Games Federation for this recognition," she added.

Rani further said after a successful 2019, she is now looking forward to achieving greater heights with the national team in 2020, which also happens to be an Olympic year.

"It is my privilege and honour to win this award. It is always nice when your country recognises your effort. It is even better when the international sports community recognises it. Thank you so much to everyone who voted for me," she said.

"2019 was a great year for our team because we qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. As a team we want to make 2020 a great year!"

Rani, who has been a member of the national team since she was a 15-years-old, currently has more than 240 caps for India.

"Rani is an inspirational athlete, and a role model for many in India. It was amazing to see the support the Indians, even as high up as Mr Rijiju, the Minister of State, Youth Affairs and Sports, gave to her in this vote together with the Hockey fans all around the world. This is what sport is about: uniting people from different backgrounds and different countries," said International World Games Association President Jose Perurena.

The International Hockey Federation also congratulated Rani on being named for the award.

"Congratulations @imranirampal for becoming the first ever Hockey athlete to win the prestigious @TheWorldGames Athlete of the Year award!" the FIH, who nominated Rani for the award, said in its twitter handle.

"On behalf of FIH and the global hockey community, I would like to extend our warmest congratulations to Rani for having been voted The World Games Athlete of the Year 2019. This is an acknowledgement of her outstanding performances - together with her team-mates - and her dedication to hockey and her leadership," FIH CEO Thierry Weil said.

"This prestigious Award is also a great recognition for hockey globally. Furthermore, we are working hard for and looking forward to having Hockey 5s as a demonstration sport at The World Games 2021."

Congratulating Rani, Hockey India President Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad said, "This is a very proud moment for all of us. She is the first Indian athlete to win this award and through her achievements Rani has been able to draw a lot of attention towards women's hockey. Many people are aware of the team's recent accomplishments and I am confident this team is capable of winning larger goals and I wish Rani and the team best of luck this Olympic Year."

There were initially 25 nominees, male and female nominated by their respective sports federations, which was later reduced to 10 in the final round of public voting.

The FIH has recommended Rani's name for her outstanding performances and her ability to lead by example.

Karate star Stanislav Horuna of Ukraine was second behind Rani with over 92,000 votes and Canadian powerlifting world champion Rhaea Stinn was third.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

Dubai, Jan 11: India opener KL Rahul has retained the sixth position while skipper Virat Kohli and left-hander Shikhar Dhawan have advanced one place each in the latest ICC Men's T20I player rankings after the conclusion of the series against Sri Lanka.

India won the T20I series 2-0 with one match getting washed out. Rahul, the highest-ranked Indian batsman, has gained 26 points and is now at the sixth spot with 760 rating points.

Rahul is just six points behind Australia's Glenn Maxwell after scores of 45 and 54 in his two innings against Sri Lanka.

Kohli, top-ranked in Tests and ODIs, is in the ninth position while Dhawan is on 15th. Manish Pandey has advanced four places and is ranked at the 70th.

India's fast bowlers have made notable gains in the first T20I update of the year and would be encouraged as they prepare for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia.

Player of the series Navdeep Saini has rocketed from 146 places to 98th while Shardul Thakur has re-entered in 92nd position after both finished with five wickets in the series. Jaspreet Bumrah has gained eight places to reach the 39th position.

For Sri Lanka, Dhananjaya de Silva has gained 72 places to reach 115th among batsmen after aggregating 74 runs while spinner Lakshan Sandakan has moved up 10 places to reach 29th position after grabbing three wickets in the series.

In the ICC Men's team rankings, India have gained two points but remain at fifth position with 260 points, while Sri Lanka have lost two points and now have 236 points and are at the eighth spot.

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