IPL 2015: Mumbai Indians crush CSK by 41 runs to lift 2nd trophy

May 25, 2015

Kolkata, May 25: Mumbai Indians' love affair with Eden Gardens continued as they clinched their second IPL title following a crushing 41-run win over Chennai Super Kings in a lop-sided summit clash, here tonight.

Mumbai Indians posted an imposing 202 for five as skipper Rohit Sharma (50) and Lendl Simmons (68) rattled up a 119-run stand off just from 67 balls after being invited to bat.

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The Mumbai captain, who has an ODI world record of 264 and also a debut Test hundred at the Eden Gardens, yet again exploded at his favourite venue.

Sharma (6 fours, 2 sixes) and Simmons (8 fours 3 sixes) plundered 19 boundaries in their partnership.

After Sharma and Pollard's dismissal in consecutive balls, burly West Indies batsman Kieron Pollard (36) in the company of Ambati Rayudu (36 not out) led the side past 200.

Mumabi bowlers complimented the good work of the batsmen as they took the fizz out of the Chennai's chase with a very disciplined effort.

They straitjacketed the Chennai batsmen, restricting them to 161 for eight as seasoned spinner Harbhajan Singh took key wickets of Dwayne Smith (57) and Suresh Raina (28) in two overs.

Kiwi paceman Mitchell McClenaghan (3/25) took three wickets while his Lankan pace colleague Lasaith Malinga (2/25) scalped two batsmen.

Mumbai had won their first title in 2013 at this very venue, defeating the same rivals. Chennai have now lost four finals (2008, 2012, 2013, 2015) in six appearances.

Chasing the huge target, CSK opted to have it easy and concetrated on building a platform after losing Michael Hussey (4) early.

Smith and Raina bided their time and looked to consolidate but it meant that they managed only 31 runs from the first six overs. The required run-rate kept on going up and shot past 13 at the midway mark.

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Smith completed his half-century in 45 balls but only to be trapped lbw by Harbhajan in his penultimate over. Having made a grand comeback into the Bangladesh-bound Test side, Harbhajan completed his spell in style dismissing Raina.

Looking to step out, Raina was brilliantly deceived by the veteran off-spinner who bowled a wide ball and Parthiv Patel did the rest behind the stumps.

With Hussey, Smith and Raina back in pavillion, and skipper Dhoni not looking in his usual elements it looked as good as over for the yellow brigade who choked in an IPL final for a fourth time.

Talk about Sharma and his sizzling love-affair at Eden Gardens, and he has done nothing wrong here. A stunning 177 on Test debut, an ODI world record of mindboggling 264, an IPL century (60-ball 109) against Kolkata Knight Riders and an unbeaten 98 in the opening match of this season.

Today was no different. Sharma had come at a time when Dhoni and Co. once again looked ominous with a eye-popping run-out by Faf du Plessis to make MI 1/1 in first over.

The South African dived, got hold of the ball and flicked it while being air-borne and the magical throw was enough to clip the bails off to bring an end to Patel's fine run as an opener.

In came Sharma and after two dot balls, he went in counter-attacking mode hitting Mohit Sharma over third man with an elegant uppercut.

He survived a brief scare when he in inside edged one but the ball missed the stumps by a whisker as he blasted 16 runs in the second over that almost derailed CSK.

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He not only timed the shots to perfection but the placements were clinical too. Sharma raced to 25 runs from 10 balls and Windies big-hitter Simmons at one point looked a mute spectator at the other end.

The MI duo raced to 50 in 28 balls and the powerplay yielded a handsome 61/1 as they complemented each other nicely.

With Simmons starting to take charge, Sharma slowed down a bit and rotated the strike cleverly giving his partner maximum opportunity. The Windies big hitter targeted Dhoni's spin duo of Ashwin and Negi with massive sixes.

Nothing going in their way, Simmons was dropped by Negi on 48 as he raced to fifty ahead of Sharma in 35 balls.

Sharma drove Dwayne Bravo for a boundary to notch his 50 from 25 balls but only to be dismissed softly in the next ball hitting straight to Jadeja at long-on.

Such agonising was the partnership for CSK that Dhoni and Co huddled soon after Sharma's dismissal and skipper opted part-timer Dwyane Smith to bowl the next over.

Dhoni's magic worked straightway as Simmons followed suit after being bowled in Smith's first ball -- a slow yorker that he misjudged -- to make them 120/3 in 12.1 overs.

The twin blow however proved to be too little too late as Rayudu and Pollard propelled to a winning total.

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News Network
July 12,2020

New Delhi, Jul 12: Former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to do away with 'umpire's call' whenever a team opts for a review regarding a leg-before wicket (LBW) decision.

The Master Blaster has also said that a batsman should be given out if the ball is hitting the stumps.

Whether more than 50 per cent of the ball is hitting the stumps or not should not be matter, he further stated.

"What per cent of the ball hits the stumps doesn't matter, if DRS shows us that the ball is hitting the stumps, it should be given out, regardless of the on-field call," Tendulkar tweeted.

With this tweet, the former India batsman also shared a video, in which he has a discussion with Brian Lara regarding the working of DRS.
"One thing I don't agree with, with the ICC, is the DRS they have been using for quite some time. It is the LBW decision where more than 50 per cent of the ball must be hitting the stumps for the on-field decision to be overturned," Tendulkar said in the video.

"The only reason they (the batsman or the bowler) have gone upstairs is that they are unhappy with the on-field decision, so when the decision goes to the third umpire, let the technology take over, just like in tennis, it's either in or out, there's nothing in between," he added.

This call for doing away with umpire's call has been recommended by many former players.
Whenever a verdict pops up as 'umpire's call, the decision of the on-field umpire is not changed, but the teams do not lose their review as well.

ICC recently introduced some changes to the game of cricket, and they gave all teams liberty of extra review as non-neutral umpires will be employed in Test matches due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, all teams will now have three reviews in every innings of a Test match. 

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News Network
May 18,2020

Karachi, May 18: Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan believes it is at least five years too early to compare Virat Kohli and Babar Azam as the Indian skipper has proven himself in "every kind of situation" and the latter has not.

"Virat Kohli is far more experienced than Babar. He has at least five years more experience of top cricket and he is at the peak of his career," said Younis, Pakistan's leading run-getter in Tests.

"Kohli has far more exposure than Babar and he has been in every kind of situation and proven himself. No one gets 70 international centuries like that and this are proof of his class and abilities. He has scored runs in every situation and all opposition."

Younis said said Babar still has a long way to go.

"Babar has been in top cricket for just around five years. He has got a very impressive batting average across all three formats and he is getting better by the day.

"You see him batting and you can see he has got the same qualities that Kohli had at the start of his career."

Besides amassing 70 international hundreds, 31-year-old Kohli averages more than 50 in all three formats. The India skipper has scored more than 20,000 runs while 25-year-old Babar has 6680 runs across formats though the Pakistan limited overs skipper has played significantly lesser number of games.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Srinagar, Jan 10: Real Kashmir FC made a strong comeback in the second half to play out a 1-1 draw against former champions Punjab FC in their home I-League match here on Friday.

The 'Snow Leopards' equalised in the 62nd minute through Gnohere Krizo in front of a partisan crowd of 8,500 spectators after Makan Chothe had given Punjab FC the lead in the 21st minute at the TRC ground.

After Thursday's draw, Punjab FC is placed third on the table with 10 points from seven games. Real Kashmir FC remained at eighth with six points from five matches. This was Real Kashmir's third home match on the trot.

The match was a story of two halves as the first belonged to the visitors who enjoyed a 62 per cent possession of the ball, whereas the second belonged to the home side.

Both the teams were looking to gain an early advantage and Punjab FC took the lead after 21 minutes.

Confusion inside the Real Kashmir box because of a long ball from Punjab opened up an opportunity for Chothe and he made no mistake as he smashed the ball at the back of the net.

As the fans cheered on, Real Kashmir created a flurry of chances, but none of the home side players could find the back of the net. Punjab was able to hold on to their slender lead heading into the tunnel.

The second half resumed with Real Kashmir pressing high up the field and pressurising Punjab.

In the 56th minute, Real Kashmir playmaker Kallum Higginbotham cut through two defenders on the left side of the box and the ball fell to Mason Robertson, whose shot was too weak to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper.

Soon after, it was Danish Farooq who tried a curler from a distance but his shot did not have enough bend to trouble the Punjab goalkeeper. The home team's effort finally paid off in the 62nd minute.

A miscalculated header by Danilo Augusto fell at the feet of Gnohere Krizo, who was one-on-one with the keeper. He made no mistake in striking the ball into the opponent's goal to score the equaliser.

Real Kashmir was in their groove now, and Kallum came in from the right with a beautiful low cross across the face of the goal but Mason could not get a touch as the chance went begging.

The duo of Kallum and Mason were proving difficult for Punjab to deal with. In the 82nd minute, a beautiful long ball by Kallum found the head of a towering Mason, but the effort went just over the crossbar.

Within a few moments, Punjab again had another nervous moment as Chesterpoul Lyngdoh's cross from the right side hit the arm of Thoiba Singh but the referee turned down an appeal for penalty.

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