Faf du Plessis' fighting knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad takes Chennai Super Kings to seventh final

Agencies
May 23, 2018

Mumbai, May 23: South African skipper Faf du Plessis pulled off a 'Houdini Act' to guide Chennai Super Kings to their seventh Indian Premier League final with a two-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in what has been a fairy tale comeback in the cash-rich league.

Chasing a modest target of 140, CSK were down in dumps at 92 for 7 before Du Plessis (67 off 42 balls) engineered a stunning comeback and fittingly finished the match with a straight six off Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

With 43 needing off last three overs, Du Plessis, who opened the batting, launched into Carlos Brathwaite's 18th over smashing him for 20 runs which included two sixes and two fours. Having done precious little in the tournament so far, the stylish right-hander put his hand up when it mattered most.

Siddarth Kaul bowling the 19th over paid for his inexperience in crunch game as 17 runs came off that over as No 10 Shardul Thakur (15 off 5 balls) got three boundaries including a streaky one. Then it was Du Plessis, who finished the match having hit five fours and four maximums.

Banned for two seasons on charges of corruption, the most successful franchise in the history of T20 cricket played like a team possessed with their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni once again at the forefront with calm demeanour.

However Sunrisers bowlers do deserve credit for making a match of a small total but this time their luck ran out in the end.

Shane Watson (0) edged one off Bhuvneshwar Kumar while Kaul (2/32) castled Suresh Raina (22 off 13 balls) and in-form Ambati Rayudu (0) off successive deliveries.

MS Dhoni failed to read a googly from Rashid Khan while Dwayne Bravo was done in by extra bounce edging one to Shikhar Dhawan at slips.

Du Plessis waged a lone battle as wickets fell in a heap at the other end with Sandeep Sharma getting rid of Ravindra Jadeja and Deepak Chahar.

Earlier, CSK bowlers utilised the lively conditions to the fullest restricting Sunrisers Hyderabad to a modest 139 for 7 after being put into bat.

Effective seam bowling in Powerplay overs swung the game towards two-time champions early on in the innings and they never let it slacken except towards the end when Carlos Brathwaite (43 off 29 balls) laid into Shardul Thakur.

Skipper Kane Willamson (24), Yusuf Pathan (24) and Brathwaite (43 in 29 balls) were the useful contributors for Sunrisers on a track that offered good bounce.

CSK pegged back Sunrisers at 47 for 3 with both Williamson and opener Shikhar Dhawan (0) back in the dugout.

Dhawan, the second-highest scorer for Sunrisers with 437 runs, was played on off Deepak Chahar of the first delivery of the match.

Williamson, in red-hot form in the season, produced three hits to the fence off the last three balls in the same over, an exquisite extra cover drive being the pick.

From the other end, Lungi Ngidi packed off the other opener Shreevats Goswami by accepting a smart return catch, when the batsman tried to pull.

At 34 for two Sunrisers, who came into the play-off game after suffering three straight losses, were in trouble and it worsened when they lost their skipper Williamson.

The New Zealand captain feathered a catch down leg-side ball off Shardul Thakur to rival captain Dhoni to leave Hyderabad reeling at 36 for 3 in the fifth over.

CSK, attempting to make it to their seventh final in nine seasons that they have been part of IPL, struck another blow just past the Powerplay period.

Shakib Al Hasan also fell to a leg-side catch by Dhoni off Dwayne Bravo (2/25) and it left Sunrisers at a spot at 50 for 4. After 10 overs, the score was a modest 64 for 4.

Ravindra Jadeja (1 for 13) sent back Manish Pandey cheaply as half the Sunrisers was back in the pavilion with only 69 on the board.

Then Bravo pulled off a stunner, pouching on to a low full-blooded drive from Pathan.

A late flurry from West Indian Brathwaite, who slammed Thakur for four huge sixes and a four in death overs, boosted the total significantly.

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News Network
January 19,2020

President Donald Trump gave a new justification for killing Qassim Suleimani, telling a gathering of Republican donors that the top Iranian general was "saying bad things about our country" before the strike, which led to his decision to authorise his killing. "How much are we going to listen to?" Trump said on Friday, according to remarks from a fundraiser obtained by CNN.

With his typical dramatic flourish, Trump recounted the scene as he monitored the strikes from the White House Situation Room when Suleimani was killed. The president spoke in a ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, at a Republican event that raised $10 million for Trump's 2020 campaign.

The January 3 killing of Suleimani prompted Iran to retaliate with missile strikes against US forces in Iraq days later and almost triggered a broad war between the two countries. "They're together sir," Trump said military officials told him. "Sir, they have two minutes and 11 seconds. No emotion. Two minutes and 11 seconds to live, sir. They're in the car, they're in an armoured vehicle. Sir, they have approximately one minute to live, sir. Thirty seconds. Ten, 9, 8 ...'"

"Then all of a sudden, boom," he said. "They're gone, sir. Cutting off, I said, where is this guy?" Trump continued. "That was the last I heard from him". It was the most detailed account that Trump has given of the drone strike, which has drawn criticism from some US lawmakers because neither the president nor his advisers have provided public information to back up their statements that Suleimani presented an "imminent" threat to US.

Trump's comments came a day after he warned Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to be "very careful with his words". According to Trump, Khamenei's speech on Friday, in which he attacked the "vicious" US and described UK, France and Germany as "America's lackeys", was a mistake.

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News Network
March 16,2020

New Delhi, Mar 16: A total of 110 cases of coronavirus, including 17 foreign nationals have been confirmed across India, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Sunday.

The maximum positive cases have been reported from Maharashtra (32), followed by Kerala (22).

The total number of passengers screened at airports is 12,76,046, the ministry said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that Europe has become the new 'epicentre' of the coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 15 lakh people with over 6,000 deaths globally.

The virus had first emerged in China's Wuhan city in December last year.

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News Network
May 13,2020

May 13: With the Olympics postponed due to the coronavirus, top Japanese fencer Ryo Miyake has swapped his metal mask and foil for a bike and backpack as a Tokyo UberEats deliveryman.

The 29-year-old, who won silver in the team foil at the 2012 London Olympics and was itching to compete in a home Games, says the job keeps him in shape physically and mentally -- and brings in much-needed cash.

"I started this for two reasons -- to save money for travelling (to future competitions) and to keep myself in physical shape," he told AFP.

"I see how much I am earning on the phone, but the number is not just money for me. It's a score to keep me going."

Japanese media have depicted Miyake as a poor amateur struggling to make ends meet but he himself asked for his three corporate sponsorships to be put on hold -- even if that means living off savings.

Like most of the world's top athletes, he is in limbo as the virus forces competitions to be cancelled and plays havoc with training schedules.

"I don't know when I can resume training or when the next tournament will take place. I don't even know if I can keep up my mental condition or motivation for another year," he said.

"No one knows how the qualification process will go. Pretending everything is OK for the competition is simply irresponsible."

In the meantime, he is happy criss-crossing the vast Japanese capital with bike and smartphone, joining a growing legion of Uber delivery staff in demand during the pandemic.

"When I get orders in the hilly Akasaka, Roppongi (downtown) district, it becomes good training," he smiles.

The unprecedented postponement of the Olympics hit Miyake hard, as he was enjoying a purple patch in his career.

After missing out on the Rio 2016 Olympics, Miyake came 13th in last year's World Fencing Championships -- the highest-ranked Japanese fencer at the competition.

The International Olympics Committee has set the new date for the Olympics on July 23, 2021.

But with no vaccine available for the coronavirus that has killed nearly 300,000 worldwide, even that hangs in the balance.

Miyake said the Japanese fencing team heard about the postponement the day after arriving in the United States for one of the final Olympic qualifying events.

With his diary suddenly free of training and competition, he said he spent the month of April agonising over what to do before hitting on the Uber idea.

"Sports and culture inevitably come second when people have to survive a crisis," he said.

"Is the Olympics really needed in the first place? Then what do I live for if not for the sport? That is what I kept thinking."

However, the new and temporary career delivering food in Tokyo has given the fencer a new drive to succeed.

"The most immediate objective for me is to be able to start training smoothly" once the emergency is lifted, he said.

"I need to be ready physically and financially for the moment. That is my biggest mission now."

But not all athletes may cope mentally with surviving another "nerve-wracking" pre-Olympic year, he said.

"It's like finally getting to the end of a 42-kilometre marathon and then being told you have to keep going."

As a child, Miyake practised his attacks on every wall of his house -- and he said his passion for the sport was what was driving him now.

"I love fencing. I want to be able to travel for matches and compete in the Olympics. That is the only reason I am doing this."

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