Chennai Super Kings beat Delhi Capitals by 80 runs

Agencies
May 2, 2019

May 2: Skipper MS Dhoni's prowess in the slog overs was on display yet again while home spinners bamboozled the Delhi Capitals batsmen as Chennai Super Kings prevailed in the IPL battle for the top spot with a thumping 80-run win, on Wednesday.

It was Suresh Raina who struck a fighting 59 off 37 balls to prepare the road for revival following a slow start and Dhoni (unbeaten 44 off 22) provided the late flourish, ending the innings in style with two sixes off Trent Boult.

After scoring just 27 runs in the Powerplay overs, the hosts eventually put on board a fighting 179 for four and dismissed the Capitals for just 99 in 16.2 overs to snatch the top spot from the visitors.

The Capitals suffered a surprise batting collapse after being consistent this season. They were out of the game after losing half the batsmen by the 11th over and ended up suffering their worst defeat. It was also their lowest total of the season.

Chennai Super Kings, who now sit atop the table with 18 points, are now sure to end in the top-2, ensuring that they will have two shots at making the summit clash.

Mumbai Indians is the only team which can displace Capitals (16 points) from the second place if they win their next two games and Delhi lose their last.

Delhi Capitals had hoped that dew would come in while batting second but the Chennai spinners bamboozled them from the word go, never allowing them to settle.

South African spinner Imran Tahir (4/12) and Ravindra Jadeja (3/9) tore apart the middle order, sharing seven wickets between them.

Dhoni's quick hands were at it again as he struck with two lightning fast stumpings, to dismiss skipper Shreyas Iyer (44) and dangerous Chris Morris (0).

Except for Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan (19), none of the other Delhi batsmen could reach the double-digit mark.

Earlier, Raina (59) and Faf du Plessis (39) added 83 runs for the second wicket to revive the innings after the Delhi Capitals bowlers produced tight spells upfront.

Dhoni, who returned to the side after recovering from a bout of fever, and Ravindra Jadeja added some quick runs to provide a late flourish to the innings.

Dhoni hit an unbeaten 44 off 22 balls with four fours and three sixes while Jadeja smashed 25 off 10 with two sixes. He scored 20 runs from Kiwi pacer Trent Boult's final over, hitting two sixes and four.

This was after Boult and left-arm spinner Jagdeesha Suchith (2/28) had put the Chennai batsmen under pressure after electing bowl. With Boult swinging the ball and Suchith accurate with his line and length, they gave away just seven runs in the first four overs.

When Shane Watson could not open his account even after facing eight balls, in desperation the Australian swung his arms but only to find a fielder near the boundary.

IPL veteran Suresh Raina added some pace to the CSK innings with a flurry of boundaries.

Raina and Du Plessis moved the ball around and hit the boundaries when they got the chance.

The first six of the innings was hit in the 13th over when Du Plessis dispatched a full delivery from Sherfane Rutherford over extra cover. The South African repeated the act when Axar Patel operated soon after.

However, the left-arm spinner got his revenge in the next ball when the Proteas batsman attempted another big shot.

Raina too departed in the next over with Suchith getting him caught at point but not before hitting the spinner for two fours and a six.

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News Network
June 2,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 2: Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal has said that he was ashamed on seeing the training regime of Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

Iqbal said that the incident happened two-three years back as he thought to himself that why he cannot do the same even when he is the same age as Kohli.

"I must say this, it is not because I am talking to an Indian commentator, India is our neighbour so whatever things they do, it affects Bangladesh as well. We follow what is happening in India, when India changed its approach towards fitness, it impacted Bangladesh the most," Iqbal told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I have no shame in admitting this, when I saw Virat Kohli running around two-three years ago, I was ashamed of myself, I thought this is a guy who is probably my age, but he is training so much and I have not doing even half of it. We have a great example in our team as well, Mushfiqur Rahim manages himself well regarding fitness," he added.

During his initial days of international cricket, Kohli was fond of chicken which he has admitted several times during media interaction.

But in 2013, the 31-year-old batsman intentionally shifted his focus to fitness, diet, and training.

Now he has become punctual about his diet which has given him a different character on and off the field.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have also kept on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar managed to call time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings.

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Agencies
February 25,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 25: India opening batsman KL Rahul will be available for Karnataka's Ranji Trophy semi-final clash against Bengal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 29.

Rahul had asked to be rested from Karnataka's quarter-final match but is now available for the climactic stages of the Ranji Trophy. 

Karnataka had already been strengthened by the addition of Manish Pandey for the quarter-finals, with both Pandey and Rahul having returned from New Zealand after India completed the limited-overs leg of their tour, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Last year's finalists Saurashtra will take on Gujarat in the other semi-final at Rajkot. The other prominent players who will be part of the last four include Parthiv Patel (Gujarat), Jaydev Unadkat (Saurashtra) and Manoj Tiwary (Bengal).

Gujarat, Bengal, Karnataka, and Saurashtra had finished on top of the combined Groups A and B table, and all four progressed to the semi-finals after dominating their respective quarter-final matches.

Rahul has been phenomenal with the bat in the limited-overs series against Australia and New Zealand. He scored one century and four fifty-plus scores in his last ten innings in ODIs and T20Is combined

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News Network
May 4,2020

May 4: Yuzvendra Chahal is among the best leg-spinners in international cricket right now but he can be more effective with better use of the crease, says former Pakistan spinner Mushtaq Ahmed.

Ahmed picked Chahal, Australia's Adam Zampa and Pakistan's Shadab Khan among the top leg-spinners in white-ball cricket.

"Chahal as been impressive. He is definitely among the top leg-spinners of the world. And I feel he would be more effective if he uses the crease a lot more," Ahmed said.

Ahmed, who has coached all around the world and is currently a consultant for his native team, said India's ability to take wickets in the middle-overs in the limited overs format through Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav has been a game-changer for them.

Both the wrist-spinners were brought into India's limited overs set-up following the 2017 Champions Trophy. Though, of late, both Chahal and Kuldeep havn't been playing together.

"He (Chahal) can go wide of the crease at times. You got to be smart enough to understand pitches. If it is a flat pitch, you can bowl stump to stump," said Ahmed, one of the best leg-spinners Pakistan has produced.

"If the ball is gripping, you can go wide of the crease because you can trouble even the best of batsmen with that angle. That way your googly also doesn't turn as much as the batsman expects and you end up taking a wicket."

Chahal has taken 91 wickets in 52 ODIs at 25.83 and 55 wickets in 42 T20s at 24.34. He is not a huge turner of the ball but uses his variations very effectively.

Ahmed also feels the likes of Chahal and Kuldeep have benefitted immensely from former captain M S Dhoni's advice from behind the stumps.

"You have got to be one step ahead of the batsman. You should know your field position as per the batsman's strength. I always say attack with fielders not with the ball. If you understand that theory, you will always be successful," the 49-year-old, who played 52 Tests and 144 ODIs, said.

"India has become a force to reckon with in all three formats as it uses its bowlers really well. Dhoni was a master at getting the best out of his bowlers in limited overs cricket and now you have Virat Kohli."

He also said the art of leg-spin remains relevant more than ever.

"You need leg-spinners and mystery spinners in your team as they have the ability to take wickets at any stage of the game. I see a lot of them coming through in the next 10-15 years.

"Most batsmen now like playing express pace but with a good leg-spinner in the team, you are always in the game," added member of the 1992 World Cup-winning squad.

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