Chennai Super Kings pull off last-ball thriller, defeat Rajasthan Royals by four wickets

Agencies
April 12, 2019

Apr 12: Chennai Super Kings pulled off a last-ball thriller to defeat Rajasthan Royals by four wickets at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Thursday.

With the win, MS Dhoni has added another feather to his illustrious career, becoming the first captain to register 100 wins in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Chasing a target of 152, Dhawal Kulkarni dismissed Shane Watson for a duck in the very first over to ensure a quality start.

In the next over, a direct-hit at the non-striker`s end by Jofra Archer resulted in run-machine Suresh Raina (4) walking back.

Ambati Rayudu witnessed the dismissal of Faf du Plessis (7) and Kedar Jadhav (1) in quick succession before finding support in captain MS Dhoni, with whom he built a 95-run stand to inch closer towards victory.

However, Rajasthan tilted the momentum when Ben Stokes dismissed Rayudu (57), who tried to swat the ball with Shreyas Gopal holding on to the ball at square leg.

With eight required off four balls, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja in the middle almost took Chennai home but Stokes nailed the perfect yorker at the right time dismissing Dhoni for 58.

Just when Rajasthan thought they would seal the match, Stokes bowled a no-ball to Mitchell Santner, bringing in an angry Dhoni to argue with the umpires, who revoked it.

With three required off the last ball, Santner finished off the game in style, smashing a six off Stokes.

Earlier, put in to bat, a late flourish helped Rajasthan recover from a loss of wickets in the middle overs to post a competitive target of 151.

Openers Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler could have settled in the powerplay had Chennai skipper Dhoni not appealed for an lbw decision off Deepak Chahar a few nanoseconds before the DRS countdown ended.

Dhoni`s cheeky decision worked in favour of the visitors, forcing Rahane to walk back for 14. In the very next over, Shardul Thakur dismissed Buttler (23), leaving Rajasthan struggling at 47/2.

The Chennai bowlers spun a web around Rajasthan, taking wickets at regular intervals, including the big fish Steve Smith (15), who became Jadeja`s 100th victim in the league.

Rajasthan at 78/5 clawed back midway through the innings as Ben Stokes and the 17-year-old debutant Riyan Parag added a crucial 25 runs to cross the 100-run mark. However, Thakur dismissed Parag caught behind for 16, while Chahar cleaned up Stokes for 28.

The hosts fought back in the death overs scoring 18 runs off Shardul Thakur's final over. Rajasthan will next face Mumbai Indians on April 13, whereas Chennai will play against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 14.

Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 155/6 (MS Dhoni 58, AT Rayudu 57, BA Stokes 2-39) beat Rajasthan Royals 151/7 (BA Stokes 28, RA Jadeja 2-20, DL Chahar 2-33, SN Thakur 2-44) by four wickets.

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News Network
January 31,2020

Wellington, Jan 31: A nervous New Zealand threw it away yet again as a perseverant India prevailed in the Super Over for the second successive time to take a 4-0 lead in the T20 International series on Friday.

Needing just 11 runs off the last two overs with seven wickets in hand, New Zealand dug a hole for themselves yet again, taking the game to a Super Over two nights after doing the same in Hamilton.

New Zealand managed 13 runs in six balls and India got there effortlessly.

KL Rahul smashed 10 runs off the first two balls before he was caught. Then, a fired-up Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson finished the game in style.

Earlier, Manish Pandey proved his value to the team with an unbeaten 50 off 35 balls, taking India to 165 for eight from 88 for six in the 12th over.

India's total wasn't enough considering the batting-friendly conditions but the hosts made life a lot tougher for themselves from a commanding position before succumbing to pressure.

The entertaining knocks from Colin Munro (64 off 47) and Time Seifert went in vain (57 off 39).

Mohammed Shami, who was rested on Friday, had bowled a brilliant 20th over on Wednesday and man of the match Shardul Thakur was up to the task this time, conceding just six runs when the opposition needed seven for victory.

With the series already in the bag, India gave opportunity to Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini for the first time in the five-match series, resting Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Shami. However, none of them was able to make an impact in the game.

Chasing 165, New Zealand lost Martin Guptill early. But Munro and Seifert put on 74 runs for the second wicket to put themselves on track.

Munro scored a half-century of 38 deliveries, inclusive of six fours and three sixes. He was out against the run of play as Kohli's direct hit surprisingly found the target after a relay throw from the deep.

It was the turning point as New Zealand lost regular wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled Tom Bruce (0), but Seifert found a partner in Ross Taylor as they pushed the score past 150 in the 18th over.

Seifert scored a half-century off 32 balls, including four fours and three sixes. But the great choke was yet to come again. Needing 18 off 18, the Black Caps lost four wickets in the last over bowled by Thakur.

Taylor holed out of the first ball, while Seifert was run out two balls later. Daryl Mitchell (4) was caught next and Mitchell Santner (2) couldn't steal two runs off the last ball as the sides engaged in a tie-breaker for the second game running.

This was after New Zealand won a fourth consecutive toss and opted to field. Kane Williamson didn't take part in the match owing to a shoulder niggle.

Tim Southee was the stand-in skipper, with the Black Caps making two changes.

Put in to bat, the visitors were struggling at 88-6 at one stage before Pandey's lonesome rescue act took them to a respectable total. KL Rahul contributed 39 runs off 26 balls, inclusive of three sixes and two fours.

Leg spinner Ish Sodhi got into the act and ran through India's batting order. First to go was Shreyas Iyer (1) and then Shivam Dube (12) was caught at mid-wicket.

Sodhi finished with 3-26 while Santner dismissed Sundar for nought as the New Zealand spinners rounded up a good outing with 4-54 in eight overs.

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News Network
April 5,2020

New Delhi, April 5: England batsman James Vince lashed out at people for not taking proper measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and said people are going out as if "everything is normal".

"Just seen the pictures of people out and about today as if everything is normal. What selfish people, surely by now they've realised this is serious. Well done to everyone who's doing their bit and staying in," Vince tweeted.

On March 13, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that Europe was now the 'epicentre' of the disease.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus in the UK has exceeded 4,313 with at least 708 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the largest one-day rise since the start of the outbreak as confirmed by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The total number of cases in the UK as on Saturday is 41,903, a rise of 3,735 cases in the last 24 hours.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

New Delhi, Feb 7: It was on February 7, 1999, that Anil Kumble became just the second bowler in the history of cricket to take all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.

He achieved the feat against Pakistan at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, now known as Arun Jaitley cricket stadium in Delhi during the second Test of the two-match series.

India had set Pakistan a target of 420 runs in the match and the visitors got off to a steady start as openers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar put on 101 runs for the first wicket.

It was then Kumble who came into the attack and wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up.

The spinner, also known as 'Jumbo' first dismissed Afridi (41) in the 25th over. After the right-handed batter's dismissal, India kept on taking wickets through Kumble and Pakistan was reduced to 128/6 in no time.

Kumble then kept on taking wickets at regular intervals and he got his tenth scalp in the 61st over after dismissing Wasim Akram.

This effort enabled India to register a win by 212 runs, and Kumble became the second bowler after England's Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in a single Test inning.

Kumble finished with the bowling figures of 10-74 from 26.3 overs.

Kumble announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008 and finished with 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He has the third-highest number of wickets in Tests, only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708).

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