Dale Steyn bowled South Africa to a thrilling two-run win over New Zealand

March 25, 2014

steynChittagong: Chasing 171, New Zealand needed seven off the final over but Steyn took two wickets and ran out Ross Taylor (62) off the last ball to seal victory.

Fast bowler Steyn finished with 4-17 in New Zealand's 168-8 but team-mate JP Duminy took the man of the match award.

Duminy hit an unbeaten 86 from 43 balls as South Africa put on 70 off the last five overs to reach 170-6.

The win was South Africa's first of the tournament and leaves England bottom of Group One with the Netherlands.

Taylor, who hit three sixes in a row and brought up his fifty from 26 balls, looked like steering New Zealand to victory but, crucially, was not on strike at the start of the final over.

Steyn dismissed Luke Ronchi with the first ball and Nathan McCullum with the penultimate one and Taylor was left needing three off the final delivery.

The former skipper clipped the ball back to Steyn and the fast bowler, who finished with figures of 4-17, ran out the Kiwi for 62 to wrap up victory.

"I was thinking all the time, Dale is my trump card and I need to bring him back in the game because he was bowling beautifully," said South Africa captain Faf du Plessis.

"But with the way they were hitting the ball, it was a fantastic effort from Dale."

New Zealand were in control on 57-0 after seven overs but South Africa struck back with Albie Morkel dismissing Martin Guptill (22) with his first delivery and leg-spinner Imran Tahir having captain Brendon McCullum stumped off a wide in the next over for four.

The enterprising Taylor struck Morne Morkel for three successive sixes and a fifty partnership with Kane Williamson came up in 27 balls.

Steyn, with the help of a superb diving catch from AB de Villiers, saw off Williamson for 51 and Corey Anderson for seven, while Tahir struck again as the Proteas hit back.

Du Plessis kept his premier bowler back for the final over and that proved to be the difference.

"We probably should have won it pretty easily," said McCullum. "But you can't take it to the last over against such a quality bowler like Dale Steyn.

"With a little bit of luck we would have got across the line, but credit to South Africa."

The fact that South Africa had such a big total was down to Duminy, who came to the crease in the seventh over with his side on 42-3, after De Villiers lost his balance attempting an extravagant hit and was bowled for five.

The 29-year-old left-hander, who hit his side's first six in the 12th over, put on a stand of 55 with Hashim Amla before Amla was out for 41 in an unusual manner.

Amla smashed an Anderson delivery straight at Duminy, who deflected the ball high into the air off the handle of his bat, and the bowler took the simplest of catches.

With his side on 100-4 after 15 overs, Duminy accelerated with some inventive shots, including one overhead flick for four and a straight drive that had umpire Aleem Dar ducking for safety.

He hit 22 in boundaries in the final two overs to give South Africa a highly competitive score that just proved enough, and won him the man-of-the-match award.

"We were in huge trouble at the start," added Du Plessis. "JP took his time and then hit it sweetly at the end. It was a fantastic effort and one of the best innings I have seen him play."

South Africa return to action on Thursday when they face the Netherlands while England, who lost to New Zealand on Saturday, take on group leaders Sri Lanka on the same day.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 9: Bangladesh clinched their maiden ICC U-19 World Cup title after beating favourites India by three wickets in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Set a revised target of 170 after a brief rain interruption, Bangladesh won the match with 23 balls to spare.

Sent in to bat, India's batting wilted under pressure as a superb Bangladesh bowling attack shot the defending champions out for a paltry 177 in 47.2 overs.

Yasashvi Jaiswal (88 off 121 balls) was once again a standout performer but not for once did he look like dominating the Bangladesh bowling unit whose new ball bowlers Shoriful Islam (2/31 in 10 overs) and Tanzim Hasan Shakib (2/28 in 8.2 overs) literally stifled the Indians for runs.

The third seamer Avishek Das (3/40 in 9 overs) was the most successful bowler in terms of figures but it was Shoriful's first spell with channelised aggression that put the Indians on the back-foot from the onset.

After a short rain break towards the end, the target was revised to 170 from 46 runs but Bangladesh reached 170 for 7 in 42.1 overs to win the match.

Opener Parvez Hossain Emon top-scored for Bangladesh with a 79-ball 47 while captain and wicketkeeper Akbar Ali was not out on 43 from 77 deliveries.

For the India U-19 side, Ravi Bishnoi was the most successful bowler with figures of 4/30 while Sushant Mishra had 2/25.

India thus missed out on a record fifth title in their seventh final appearance.

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Agencies
August 6,2020

New Delhi, Aug 6: The BCCI on Thursday suspended the IPL title sponsorship deal with Chinese mobile phone company Vivo for the event's upcoming edition amid heightened tensions in Sino-India diplomatic ties.

The BCCI sent out a one-line statement, without giving details, saying that Vivo would not be associated with the IPL this year. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd have decided to suspend their partnership for Indian Premier League in 2020," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Vivo released its own statement saying that the two entities "have mutually decided to pause their partnership for the 2020 season".

Vivo won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2,190 crore, approximately Rs 440 crore per annum.

The two parties are now working out a plan in which Vivo might come back for a fresh three-year period starting 2021 on revised terms.

However, a top BCCI official offered a different view. "Here we are talking about diplomatic tensions and you expect that after November, when IPL ends and before the next IPL starts in April 2021, there would be no anti-China sentiment? Are we serious?" a veteran BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

The anti-China sentiment in the country peaked after the violent face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh. India lost 20 soldiers in the clash, while China also acknowledged unspecified casualties.

The stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) caused outrage across India with several calls for boycotts of Chinese companies and products.

The BCCI is now likely to float a tender for new IPL title sponsors as mandated by its constitution. The glitzy T20 league starts on Sept. 19 in the UAE, forced out of India due to the rising COVID-19 cases.

The new development is in stark contrast to what came out of Sunday's IPL's Governing Council meeting, where it was decided that Vivo, along with all the other sponsors, will remain on board.

This was after the BCCI had announced in June that all sponsorship deals pertaining to IPL will be reviewed in the aftermath of the clash in the Galwan Valley.

However, after Sunday's meeting, there was a huge backlash on social media about the BCCI holding on to Vivo.

Both parties then began thrashing out an amicable separation plan, at least for this season.

However, the end of this deal could spell losses for the franchises as they get a substantial share from the sponsorship pool. Half of the annual Vivo sponsorship money is distributed equally among eight franchises, which comes to Rs 27.5 crore.

"As of now, it will be very difficult for the BCCI to match the sponsorship amount at such short notice. Therefore, both BCCI and the franchises should be prepared to lose out on some money -- BCCI more but each franchise from Vivo's exit will potentially lose 15 crore," the official said.

"This year will be difficult for everyone but the show must go on," the official said.

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News Network
May 24,2020

Melbourne, May 24: Former Australia captain Mark Taylor does not foresee the T20 World Cup scheduled in October-November going ahead and wants the ICC to take a decision during its Board meeting this week.

Taylor also feels that if IPL takes place during the window the T20 World Cup was to be held, the Australian players are likely to be cleared by their Board to take part in the cash-rich league in India.

The ICC Board meets on May 28 to discuss a host of issues related to COVID-19 pandemic, including a revamped schedule and the fate of the men's T20 World Cup in Australia.

For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here

"My feeling is the World T20 won't go ahead in Australia in October as planned. Is it going to be viable to have a world tournament in October or November? The answer to that is probably no," Taylor, also a former Cricket Australia (CA) director, was quoted as saying by 'Nine Network'.

"It would probably be good (if a decision is made this week). Because then everyone can start planning and we can stop sitting here and saying 'well ifs, buts or maybes'."

CA chief executive Kevin Roberts has said that a call on the fate of the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held from October 18 to November 15, may potentially not come until August.

Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths

But players and administrators around the world are keen for some certainty and many have predicted that the 16-team event will soon be postponed.

There are reports that the BCCI is eyeing the October window for the IPL though officially it maintained, that it will not consider new dates of the cash-rich league until the T20 World Cup's fate is decided.

Taylor said the CA wants to keep BCCI happy so the Australia players are likely to be cleared for the IPL if it happens in October.

Pat Cummins, who was bought for a record amount of Rs 15.50 crore in last year's IPL auction, is among the Australians keen to take part in this year's competition.

"The Cricket Australia board will want to keep India happy. So they may want to let the players go to India if the IPL goes ahead," Taylor said.

"Because they want India to come here this summer and play, which will be our biggest summer in terms of dollars. That's the sort of discussion going on. No doubt."

Virat Kohli's team is scheduled to arrive in Australia for a Test tour starting November, which will go along way in addressing CA's financial woes triggered by teh COVID-19 pandemic.

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