Dwayne Smith’s blistering knock leads CSK to sixth consecutive win

May 6, 2014

New Delhi, May 6: Delhi 178-5 in 20 overs: Dinesh Karthik led a collective batting effort with a fighting fifty as Delhi put up a formidable total. Karthik (51 runs, 36b, 4x4, 3x6) combined well with former CSK player Murali Vijay (35 runs, 30b, 2x4, 1x6) for a splendid 71-run partnership for the third wicket after a shaky start.

Dwayne_SmithJP Duminy (28 no) and Kedar Jadhav (29 no) provided superb finishing touches with their fiery cameos as DD put on their best total of the season on board after being put into bat.

Duminy blasted paceman Mohit Sharma for four boundaries in a row in the 18th over while Jadhav finished the innings with a flourish by hitting the same bowler for two sixes and a four in the final over. The two batsmen raised an unbeaten 58-run stand in only 5.4 overs.

The DD openers took some time to settle as the ball was seaming a bit initially but after getting their eye in, they cut loose. Young paceman Ishwar Pandey bowled a rare maiden over but he was taken to task in his next by Quinton de Kock, who hit him for two sixes after Vijay struck a magnificent straight boundary.

The South African southpaw needlessly ran himself out while attempting a third run.

Skipper Kevin Pietersen failed to come out of his lean patch as he was dismissed for a golden duck. The England batsman failed to read the line of a Mohit delivery and found his stumps shattered in the process.

CSK: When you've got Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith (79 runs, 51b, 4x4, 8x6) in such form, even the most challenging target seems easy to chase down. The two put up their fourth fifty-run partnership (82 runs in 11.2 overs) to put Chennai in the driving seat from the off.

The first three overs were relatively quiet but then Smith decided to attack and cracked a hat-trick of sixes in the 4th over - bowled by Jaydev Unadkat. But from then onward, if you observe Chennai's

innings, there weren't too many big overs — what CSK did right was get a boundary almost every six balls which meant the pressure never got to their batsmen.

McCullum was dropped in the 7th over by Jadhav but that cost Delhi just nine runs. However, it could have derailed CSK's momentum. McCullum was eventually out for 32 (off 35b, 5x4) when he was caught at long-off in the 12th over.

If Delhi thought that would turn the tide in their favour, then it wasn't to be. Suresh Raina (47 runs, 27b, 6x4, 1x6) came on and started pounding the bowlers. He hit two fours in the first three deliveries he faced and provided able support to Smith.

Smith meanwhile, was in another zone. Nothing got past him — the West Indian smacking eight sixes and four fours as Delhi's bowlers tried and failed to fox him. The match was actually won in the 18th over itself with Smith heaving Shami for two fours and a six — CSK needing only 16 off 12 after that over.

When they eventually got him, it was too late. Smith skied one and got caught by Vijay in the 19th over (bowled by Parnell, conceded just five runs) to make for a slightly nervous ending for CSK than anticipated. They needed 11 off the last over but Dhoni (12 off 5b) smacked a six over long-on in the 2nd ball and then took a quick double before slapping a four through extra-cover to end it in style.

Turning point: Dinesh Karthik's wicket was probably what stopped Delhi from posting an even bigger total. The timing of that wicket (13th over) allowed CSK some breathing space and took out Delhi's most effective batsman from the equation.

Man of the match: Smith for his blistering 79-run innings. He's in absolute top form.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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Agencies
February 5,2020

Hamilton, Feb 5: Ross Taylor and Tom Latham played knocks of 109 and 69, respectively, as New Zealand defeated India by four wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series here at the Seddon Park on Wednesday.

Chasing 348, New Zealand got off to a steady start as openers Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls put on 85 runs for the first wicket, however, India finally got the breakthrough in the 16th over as Shardul Thakur dismissed Guptill (32).

Tom Blundell and Nicholls then put on 24 runs for the second wicket, but their vigil came to an end in the 20th over as Kuldeep Yadav had Blundell (9) stumped at the hands of wicket-keeper KL Rahul, reducing Kiwis to 109/2.

Nicholls then retrieved the innings for the hosts as he found support in Ross Taylor. The duo mixed caution with aggression to stitch together a partnership of 62 runs. But with their back against the wall, skipper Kohli lifted the side up as he ran out Nicholls (78) in the 29th over, reducing New Zealand to 171/3.

Skipper Tom Latham, came out to bat next, and he increased the tempo of the Kiwi innings. He took a special liking to Kuldeep and kept on sweeping him to pick easy boundaries on the legside.

Taylor and Latham put on a stand of 138 runs to take Kiwis closer to victory. But with 39 runs away from the target, Kuldeep dismissed Latham (69) to revive India's hopes of making a comeback.

Mohammed Shami removed Jimmy Neesham (9) in the 46th over while Colin de Grandhomme (1) was sent packing via a run-out to send cat among the pigeons in the Kiwi camp. In the end, Mitchell Santner and Taylor took the hosts over the line by four wickets and with 11 balls to spare.

Earlier, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul's knocks of 103 and 88, respectively, helped India post 347/4 in the allotted twenty overs.

After being put in to bat, India got off to a quickfire start as openers Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal put on 50 runs. Colin de Grandhomme finally provided the breakthrough to the Kiwis as he sent Shaw (20) back to the pavilion in the eighth over.

Agarwal (32) was also dismissed soon after by Tim Southee and the Men in Blue were reduced to 54/2 in the ninth over.

Skipper Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer then retrieved the innings for the visitors as the duo put on 102 runs for the third wicket. Kohli brought up his 58th half-century in the 28th over.

Ish Sodhi got the crucial breakthrough of Kohli (51) in the 29th over as he clean bowled him to reduce India to 156/3. However, Iyer continued to march on and brought up his maiden ODI century in the 43rd over.

KL Rahul, who came in to bat at number five provided the much-needed impetus to the innings. He along with Iyer put on a stand of 136 runs for the fourth wicket.

Iyer (103) was finally sent back to the pavilion by Southee in the 46th over, reducing India to 292/4.

In the final overs, Rahul and Kedar Jadhav hammered the Kiwi players to take India's score past the 340-run mark. Jadhav remained unbeaten on 26.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 348/6 (Ross Taylor 109*, Henry Nicholls 78, Kuldeep Yadav 2-84) defeat India 347/4 (Shreyas Iyer 103, KL Rahul 88*, Tim Southee 2-85) by four wickets.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said the Women's IPL or the Challenger series, as it is better known, is "very much on", ending speculation about the parent body not having a plan for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team.

The men's IPL will be held between September 19 and November 8 or 10 (final date yet to be locked in) in the UAE due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in India. The women's IPL will also be fit in to the schedule, according to the BCCI chief.

"I can confirm to you that the women's IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also," Ganguly told PTI ahead of the IPL Governing Council meeting later on Sunday.

The BCCI president, who is awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on waiver of the cooling-off period to continue in the position, did not divulge details but another senior official privy to the development said that women's Challenger will be held during the last phase of IPL like last year.

"The women's Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that," the source said.

The former India captain also said that the centrally contracted women players will have a camp which has been delayed due to the prevailing situation in the country.

"We couldn't have exposed any of our cricketers -- be it male or female to health risk. It would have been dangerous," Ganguly said.

"The NCA also remained shut because of Covid-19. But we have a plan in place and we will have a camp for women, I can tell you that," he added.

The BCCI's cricket operations team is chalking up a schedule where Indian women are likely to have two full-fledged white-ball series against South Africa and the West Indies before playing the ODI World Cup in New Zealand. 

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