IPL 2014: Sunrisers Hyderabad’s victory over Rajasthan Royals provides opportunity for rest to catch up

May 9, 2014

Rajasthan_RoyalsAhmedabad, May 9: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) defied all odds to beat Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 on May 8. Hyderabad produced a joke of a batting display against a good bowling. But somehow managed to comprehensively beat Rajasthan in the end. Shrikant Shankar writes Sunrisers’ victory provides the rest an opportunity to catch up with the leaders.

How Sunrisers Hyderabad managed to beat Rajasthan Royals by a convincing margin in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 on May 8 is a complete mystery. First they produced an abject batting performance to post a lowly 134 for nine in their 20 overs at Ahmedabad. The score in itself does not suggest that their batting was woeful. Many teams can be bowled out quickly. Such is the nature of T20 cricket. But some of the shots played and the lackadaisical attitude shown by Amit Mishra, did not warrant Hyderabad to post a score any higher.

They looked dead and buried as Rajasthan looked to win their fifth match on the trot. That kind of momentum is hard to stop. Last season in the IPL, Hyderabad managed to just about win matches posting low totals. Hyderabad’s strength is their bowling attack. But that is a known fact. With Dale Steyn, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mishra and Karn Sharma, they will always slow down the opposition. They may have the odd off-days viz. Steyn’s unraveling against AB de Villiers. But on the whole, they have a good bowling line-up.

What that 32-run win did was to open up the IPL and hand the rest an opportunity to close the gap. Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings already have 12 points each. If Rajasthan would have won, they too would have got a dozen points. This has still kept a four-point gap between Rajasthan in third position in the IPL 7 Points Table and Kolkata Knight Riders in fifth place with six points. Despite the loss, Rajasthan have that cushion and will be looking up rather than down the table. But the rest will have got a glimmer of hope to catch up with the leaders.

There is a genuine possibility that Punjab, Chennai and Rajasthan fight for the top-three positions and the remaining five teams battle it out for fourth spot in the standings. This may not give the IPL 2014 the intensity of previous seasons where most of the top-four positions were not decided until the last day of the group phase. The teams at the top may not mind, but the fans and the neutrals would always want to see things go down to the wire. Teams like Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have genuine quality, will even think that both can get into the play-off spots displacing Rajasthan.

It is almost a given that Punjab and Chennai will finish in the play-offs. But Rajasthan don’t actually have it that easy. They are not playing at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Rajasthan are playing all their home matches at Ahmedabad. This loss shows that they can not only be beaten here, but also by a convincing margin. Last season, Rajasthan banked on their 100 per cent record in Jaipur, despite their away form being mediocre. This seasons technically, Rajasthan are not playing at home at all.

Another aspect that came out from the match was the slowly fading thought of putting the runs on the board formula. Rajasthan proved against Kolkata and then Hyderabad again on May 8 that if wickets are taken regularly in the second innings, the pressure rises increasingly on the chasing team. There is also a case that Rajasthan might have taken Hyderabad for granted and thought chasing down a 135-run target was just a formality. Either way, Hyderabad’s victory has just given the rest of the teams in IPL 2014 an opportunity to string a run of victories and increase the pressure on the ones at the top.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Kingston, Jun 10: "Enough is enough", said West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo as he opened up on the raging issue of racism and called for "respect and equality" for black people, who have faced discrimination for years.

Bravo joined the likes of his former captain Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle in denouncing racism in the wake of African-American George Floyd's killing at the hands of a white police officer in the USA.

"It's sad to see what's going on around the world. As a black man, we know the history of what black people have been through. We never ask for revenge, we ask for equality and respect. That's it," Bravo told former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa in an Instagram live chat on Tuesday.

"We give respect to others. Why is it that we are facing this over and over? Now enough is enough. We just want equality. We don't want revenge, war.

"We just want respect. We share love and appreciate people for who they are. That's what is most important."

The 36-year-old, who has played 40 Tests, 164 ODIs and 71 T20Is for West Indies, said he wants the world to know that they are powerful and beautiful people and gave the example of greats such as Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan.

"I just want our brothers and sisters to know that we are powerful and beautiful. And at the end of the day, you look at some of the greats of the world, whether it is Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan we have had leaders who paved the way for us," he said.

Two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain Sammy had earlier alleged that a racist nickname was used to address him during his IPL stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad and demanded an apology.

Sammy said he was called 'Kalu' while he was in India. 'Kalu' is a derogatory word to describe black people.

Gayle, who too plays in the IPL, took to Twitter to back Sammy, saying that racism does exist in cricket.

"It's never too late to fight for the right cause or what you've experienced over the years! So much more to your story, @darensammy88. Like I said, it's in the game!!," Gayle tweeted.

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News Network
June 30,2020

Malabar, Jun 30: I-League club Gokulam Kerala's former assistant manager Muhammad Alloush on Monday died due to COVID-19. He was 44.

Alloush, who was with the football club in its inaugural season, was working as technical director at Egyptian club Tanta SC at the time of his demise.

Alloush's mother had also succumbed due to the deadly virus earlier.

"We're deeply saddened by the death of our former assistant manager Muhammad Alloush, aged 44, after contracting Covid_19. The thoughts of everybody at Gokulam Kerala Football Club are with Alloush's family and friends at this sad time. Rest in peace, Alloush," Gokulam Kerala FC tweeted.

Meanwhile, with a spike of 18,522 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, India's coronavirus count stands at 5,66,840, said the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry, 418 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours. The number of deaths in the country now stands at 16,893.

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January 15,2020

Jan 15: Australia openers David Warner and Aaron Finch both struck superb centuries to complement their bowlers’ inspired display as the touring side handed out a 10-wicket thrashing to India in the opening one-day international in Mumbai.

India, world-ranked No 2 in ODIs, suffered a middle-order collapse on their way to being bundled out for 255 in the final over of their innings after Australia captain Finch won the toss and opted to field in the first of the three-match series.

Warner and Finch then smashed the Indian bowlers to all corners of the ground, picking up boundaries seemingly at will to chase down the target with 74 balls to spare at the Wankhede Stadium.

Left-handed Warner successfully used the decision review system twice to overturn the umpire’s decision on his way to his 18th ODI century, hitting three sixes and 17 fours in his unbeaten knock of 128, from 112 balls. Finch completed his 16th century in the format, his unbeaten innings 110 from 114 features two sixes and 13 fours.

Earlier, Australia’s left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who made his ODI debut in India 10 years ago, picked up three wickets to set up Australia’s victory. He struck the first blow with the new ball when he sent back Rohit Sharma for 10.

India managed to recover from that early loss through a second-wicket stand of 121 between opener Shikhar Dhawan, who top-scored for the hosts with 74, and KL Rahul. However left-arm spinner Ashton Agar broke the stand by dismissing Rahul for 47 before Agar caught Dhawan off Pat Cummins in the next over.

The hosts were hoping for a solid innings from captain Virat Kohli, who batted a position lower than his usual No 3 spot to accommodate Rahul, to get them out of trouble. However, he lasted only 14 balls, hitting leg-spinner Adam Zampa for a six before offering a return catch to the bowler on the very next delivery to be out for 16.

Starc then returned to the attack, removing Shreyas Iyer cheaply as India lost four wickets for 30 runs to be reduced to 164 for five. Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja then fell just short of a half-century partnership, before the remaining four wickets falling for 42 runs, with Cummins and fast bowler Kane Richardson picking up two wickets apiece for Australia.

To compound India’s woes, wicketkeeper Pant suffered a concussion after being hit on his helmet by a short-pitched delivery from Cummins. The Indian cricket board said Pant, who did not come out to keep wicket and was replaced behind the stumps by Rahul, was under observation. The two sides will meet in Rajkot for the second ODI on Friday.

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