Daredevils beat Rajasthan Royals in last over thriller

Agencies
May 3, 2018

Young Rishabh Pant cracked a blistering 69 while captain Shreyas Iyer (50) hit his fourth half-century of the season as Delhi Daredevils kept themselves in the race for IPL play-offs with a nervy four-run win over Rajasthan Royals here tonight.

The Royals invited Daredevils to bat but were guilty of feeding the home batsmen with deliveries either too short or too full, making the job easy for the hosts after rain made it a 18-over per side affair.

Rain brought a premature end to the Daredevils innings when the hosts were 196 for six in 17.1 overs and Royals were set a revised target of 151 from 12 overs under Duckworth/Lewis method.

After receiving some battering from Joss Buttler, who thrashed the home bowlers with seven sixes and four fours in his 67-run knock, Daredevils restricted the Royals to 146 for five to notch up the win.

Daredevils have now moved up to sixth from eighth position with this win.

Young Prithvi Shaw (47) was yet again in sublime touch and raised a 73-run stand with his captain for the second wicket after the side lost Colin Munro (0) in the fourth ball of the innings.

After Shaw’s dismissal, Iyer and Rishabh Pant combined to punish the wayward Royals’ bowlers, adding 92 runs for the third wicket in just 7.1 overs.

Iyer hit his fourth fifty in last five matches as he consumed 35 balls for his 50, hitting three sixes and as many fours.

Pant hammered the Royals bowlers all around the park in his 29-ball knock, studded with seven fours and five sixes.

Jaydev Unadkat (3/46) removed both of them in the 15th over but by then Daredevils had put up enough runs on the board.

Vijay Shankar (17) came out with some lusty hits to help the hosts get close to 200-run mark.

Royals were off to a fiery start with Buttler going berserk. The England batsman smashed Avesh Khan for three sixes and a four and also punished Liam Plunkett as Royals collected 58 from four Power-play overs.

Buttler completed his fifty off just 18 balls when he lofted Amit Mishra for a six. As many as five bowlers were employed by Daredevils but all of them got severe punishment from Buttler.

It was Mishra who finally gave the breakthrough by having the Briton stumped in the seventh over. The Royals needed a big knock from Ben Stokes (1) but he could not do much.

Opener D’Arcy Short (44 off 25) was also dismissed but K Gowtham somehow kept the Royals in the hunt by striking a six and a four off Plunkett in the 11th over.

Royals needed 15 from the last over but Trent Boult yet again did the job, conceding only 10 runs.

Earlier, Shaw stroked the ball nicely as he picked the lengths quickly but ended up giving a caught-and-bowled chance on a turning ball to leg-break bowler Shreyas Gopal in the eighth over.

His 47 came off 25 balls as he punished the Royals bowlers with four fours and as many sixes.

After two quiet overs, Shaw began the fireworks as he creamed off 16 runs from Dhawal Kulkarni’s over, hitting the paceman for two sixes and a four.

Kulkarni had a difficult chance in his follow through in the last ball of the over but could not hold on to it.

Shaw was in good touch and continued to find boundaries. The next bowler in his firing line was Unadkat, whom he smashed for two fours and a six.

Iyer joined the party by launching Gopal for two sixes. The first was off a full-length ball and the next was pitched short.

The spinner dismissed Shaw but conceded his fourth six of the innings when new man Pant launched him for a massive six over long-on.

Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes were the only bowlers who had managed to contain the rampaging Delhi batsmen a bit but Pant did not spare the West Indian when he bowled full and found the ball in the stands.

In no time, the two batsmen raised a 50-run stand, taking just 27 balls between them.

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News Network
April 19,2020

Zurich, Apr 19: Former Indian captain Bhaichung Bhutia was among the 50 footballers to take part in the FIFA's initiative to pay tribute to 'humanity's heroes' amid the coronavirus pandemic.

FIFA, in its statement, expressed gratitude towards all the healthcare workers and other professionals who are giving their all to ensure society continues to function in the face of the coronavirus.

"To all of these heroic people: football thanks you, football remembers you and football supports you," FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA shared a video on their official Twitter handle where footballers from present and past came been seen applauding the frontline workers.

The 50 fotballer were Bhutia, Holger Badstuber, David Beckham, Lucy Bronze, Gianluigi Buffon, Cafu, Fabio Cannavaro, Iker Casillas, Deyna Castellanos, Giorgio Chiellini, Charlyn Corral, El Hadji Diouf, Youri Djorkaeff, Han Duan, Magdalena Eriksson, Samuel Eto'o, Pernille Harder, Javier Hernandez, Luis Hernandez, Kaka, Harry Kane, Carli Lloyd, Harry Maguire, Diego Maradona, Marta, Vivianne Miedema, Ajara Nchout, Michael Owen, Mesut Ozil, Norma Palafox, Pavel Pardo, Park Jisung, Pele, Gerard Pique, Alexia Putellas, Sergio Ramos, Nicole Reigner, Wendie Renard, Roberto Carlos, James Rodriguez, Ronaldo, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Virginia Torrecilla, Yaya Toure, Marco van Basten, Danielle van de Donk, Ivan Vicelich, Arturo Vidal, Javier Zanetti and Zinedine Zidane.
"As footballers, we are used to receiving applause, but this time, we have the opportunity to show our appreciation for the many people who are risking their lives to protect ours," FIFA.com quoted Beckham as saying.

"You are humanity's heroes and we want to show that all of football supports you and everything that you do to defend all of us," he added.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
August 3,2020

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not end its partnership with Chinese companies. Vivo, the Chinese smartphone maker, is the main sponsor of the new IPL season as well. Apart from Vivo, PayTM and Dream 11 will also be at the helm of the 13th edition of the IPL. The IPL governing council meeting on Sunday decided to retain the old sponsors.

As soon as the IPL GC announced the decision of retaining the sponsors, a huge number of fans took to Twitter to slam the board for the same. #BoycottIPL started trending as the users urged others to boycott the tournament for the Chinese connection.

Earlier, the demand for exclusion of Chinese companies from the IPL was strong in the wake of the India-China border dispute. But the BCCI cannot abruptly end its collaboration with them. Because of the signed contract itself. And in this age of declining economy, it is difficult to find new sponsors quickly.

The current BCCI contract with Vivo is for five years. Vivo has invested Rs 2,199 crore to become the main sponsor of the IPL. The contract was signed in 2017. However, the BCCI’s move is paving the way for new discussions as calls are mounting across the country to boycott Chinese companies.

The BCCI announced other important decisions besides retaining sponsors. The IPL will be held from September 19 to November 10. The Indian government has given permission to the BCCI to hold the IPL in the UAE. With this, all obstacles in the way of organizing the tournament were removed.

The IPL matches will be played at 7.30 pm Indian time (6 pm UAE time). Most matches are about one match a day. There are a total of ten ‘double headers’ (two matches a day) in the tournament. Franchisees are allowed to appoint as many replacements as they want in the new season in view of the new health situation. At the same time, the maximum number of players a franchise can accommodate is 24. The BCCI is also planning to host a women’s IPL tournament.

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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: Virat Kohli's natural talent makes him a cricketing equivalent of Roger Federer while Steve Smith's mental fortitude matches that of Rafael Nadal, said South African swashbuckler AB de Villiers comparing the two contemporary greats.

In an instagram chat with former Zimbabwe seamer Pommie Mbangwa, de Villiers spoke about the two batsmen, who are easily the game's biggest crowd-pullers right now.

"It's a difficult one, but Virat is definitely the more natural ball-striker, there's no doubt about that," de Villiers said during his interaction on 'Sports Hurricane'.

"In tennis terms, I'd say he's more like a (Roger) Federer whereas Smith is like a (Rafael) Nadal. Smith is mentally very strong and figures out a way of scoring runs - he doesn't look natural, but he ends up writing records and doing amazing things at the crease.

"I think mentally, Smith is one of the best I have ever seen. Virat has also scored runs all over the world and won games under pressure," de Villiers,himself a modern day great, said.

De Villiers also felt that when it comes to chasing, Kohli is a shade ahead of Tendulkar.

"Sachin is a role model for both of us (him and Kohli). The way he stood out in his era, the things he achieved and with the grace he did all that is a great example for everyone," de Villiers said.

"And I think Virat will also say that he set the standards for us to follow.

"But personally, in a chase, I'd say Virat is the best I've seen in my life. Sachin was amazing in all formats and all situations, but Virat comes out on top while chasing."

The world knows Kohli as a prolific cricketer but for de Villiers, he is a friend, who has interests beyond cricket and is spiritual at one level.

"He's much deeper than just a cricket player...I think most people realise after a while that there's more to life than just cricket," de Villiers said.

"...Virat's always been a thinker, he experiments (with) a lot of things, he loves trying new things out - gym wise, what he puts in his mouth. He thinks a lot about life after life - what's to come, the different religions, we talk about everything."

De Villiers said that he also shares a great bond with Indian captain's actor wife Anushka Sharma, conversing on a lot of issues including family life.

"We go pretty deep and his missus as well, Anushka, we have very deep conversations, which is fantastic. We talk about children and family. We're waiting for that first little Kohli to come.

"It's a good friendship and we always find a way to talk about cricket as well, but 90 per cent of the time we talk about other stuff. It's refreshing and in the middle of a very intense IPL tournament," he shared.

IPL, for de Villiers, is not just a tournament but also about friendships that he cherishes.

"Obviously, when it comes to the IPL in India, it's been more than friendship," De Villiers said, when asked who his best friends in cricket are.

"Virat obviously - not only during the IPL, we chat throughout the year, which means it's different than just the IPL or cricketing friendship.

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