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James Faulkner stars as Lancashire win T20 Blast final

August 30, 2015

London, Aug 30: Australia all-rounder James Faulkner capped an eventful couple of months by helping Lancashire to a 13-run win over Northamptonshire in the final of English domestic cricket`s Twenty20 Blast tournament at Edgbaston on Saturday.

Faulkner

Faulkner, man-of-the-match in Australia`s World Cup final win over New Zealand in Melbourne in March, was fined £10,000 ($15,650, 14,350 euros) and banned from driving for two years by an English court on August 5 after being found to be nearly three times over the legal alcohol limit when his car was involved in a minor collision with the back of another vehicle in Manchester.

Prior to that drink-drive punishment, Cricket Australia temporarily banned Faulkner for "conduct that is unbecoming of a representative", ruling him out of both last week`s one-day international against Ireland in Belfast and the upcoming white-ball matches against England, starting with Monday`s Twenty20 in Cardiff.

But the focus was back on the 25-year-old Faulkner`s cricket on Saturday as Lancashire, last season`s beaten finalists, ended a 16-year wait for a limited overs trophy.

The Tasmanian took two for 25, including both Northamptonshire openers David Willey and Richard Levi, and afterwards Lancashire coach Ashley Giles told Sky Sports: "(Faulkner has) a huge impact on the whole team. He`s been a pleasure to have around.

"His skills are undoubted and he loves these big occasions -- he just steps up and gets on with it," the former England left-arm spinner added.

Sent into bat, Lancashire made 166 for seven in their 20 overs, a total built on a 77-run opening stand between South Africa`s Ashwell Prince (43) and Alex Davies (47), who was named man-of-the-match.Pakistan star Shahid Afridi helped check Lancashire`s progress, the veteran all-rounder taking a superb three for 14 in a maximum four overs with his leg-spinners.

Meanwhile, Northampton-born Willey, set to leave his native side for county champions Yorkshire, saw his left-arm fast-medium bowling yield figures of two for 21.

Northamptonshire had stormed into finals day on the back of Willey`s blistering 40-ball hundred against Sussex -- the quickest Twenty20 century by an Englishman.

The way he struck Faulkner into the Eric Hollies Stand for six on Saturday hinted at similar heroics.

But Faulkner responded by removing Levi (16) and England limited overs all-rounder Willey (24) in the space of four balls, with the aid of catches at mid-off and mid-wicket respectively.

Josh Cobb (44 not out) and Afridi (26) revived Northamptonshire`s hopes with a rapid fifth-wicket stand of 52.

Afridi, nicknamed `Boom Boom` on account of his penchant for big-hitting, struck one huge six while another fierce hit straight back at Faulkner left the Australian needing to have his finger straightened out by a member of the Lancashire medical staff.

But Gavin Griffiths effectively ended Northamptonshire`s victory charge when he induced Afridi to hole out to Liam Livingstone in the deep.

"To win would have been a dream finish for me," said Willey. "As has been well documented, we`re a small club and we`ve overachieved so credit to the lads and backroom staff.

"Unfortunately we couldn`t get across the line."

The semi-finals saw Lancashire dismiss Hampshire for 115 in a six-wicket win, while Northamptonshire beat Edgbaston-based Warwickshire by five wickets, with Levi making 63 not out as they chased down a target of 132.

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News Network
April 4,2020

New Delhi, April 4: India skipper Virat Kohli has said that the 2014 Test series against England was the lowest point of his career.

He made the revelation during a candid Instagram Live session with former England batsman Kevin Pietersen.

To date, the 2014 Test series in England remains one of the worst Test series for Kohli as he averaged just 13.40 from 10 ten innings with his highest score being 39.

"I felt like as a batsman, you know you are going to get out in the morning as soon as you wake up. That was the time I felt like that there is no chance I am getting runs. And still to get out of bed and just get dressed for the game and to go out there and go through that, knowing that you will fail, was something that ate me up," Kohli told Pietersen.

However, just four years later, Kohli made a triumphant return to England as he scored a century in the opening Test of the 2018 series and finished as the highest run-getter in the series.

Kohli told Pietersen that the performance in 2014 came because he was just thinking about his own batting.

"2014 series happened, for all the younger guys listening, because I was too focused on doing well from a personal point of view. I wanted to get runs. I could never think of what does the team want me to do in this situation," Kohli said.

"I just got too engulfed with England tour - if I perform here, Test cricket, in my mind I am going to feel established and all that crap on the outside, which is not important at all," he added.
During the chat, Kohli talked about his favourite format in cricket and he also revealed the main reason for turning into a vegan.

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 1: Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are aiming to set up their preparatory camp for the 13th edition of the tournament from early August.

This year's IPL was slated to commence from March 29 but the tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel had confirmed that the 13th edition of the mega event will commence on September 19 in the UAE.

As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, CSK players have been asked to report to Chennai first, following which they will leave for Dubai via a charter flight only after approval from the Indian government.

The IPL Governing Council will meet on August 2 to finalise the schedule and other key arrangements for the tournament. Also, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) around securing eight teams for 51 days across three venues will be formally established in that meeting.

CSK, who has the oldest squad in the IPL, are looking for a month's preparation before ahead of the tournament.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the side was the first team to start their training camp in March. Senior players like Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu had begun training their training in December 2019.

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News Network
June 18,2020

New Delhi, Jun 18: Premier Indian off-spinner R Ashwin has described Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a "massive influence" on his career, revealing that at the beginning of his IPL stint, he was driven by an intense desire to get the former captain's attention.

Ashwin got his contract with CSK, one of the most successful IPL sides, in 2008 and said the stint with CSK shaped his career.

"IPL and CSK is a stage that everyone wants. For me it was more about recognition. MSD did not know who Ashwin is, (Matthew) Hayden and (Muttiah) Muralithan did not know who Ashwin is. The first thing that came to my mind was that 'I will show these people that Ashwin is here'," Ashwin told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"I don't know it was being foolish or arrogance but that was how I was made. Nobody was giving me a chance that Ashwin will play alongside Muralitharan or ahead of Muralitharan. I thought, I will get there ahead of him one day," he added.

Ashwin said Dhoni, who led CSK, had "massive influence" on him and the only way to impress him was by troubling him in the nets.

"I got the eye of Hayden, Jacob Oram, and Stephen Fleming while bowling to them at the nets. They were finding it difficult to face me in the first year (2008) but I had not caught the eye of MSD," he said.

"I never had massive interactions with him. It was going to the nets and getting MSD...he was hitting Muralitharan out of the park and I thought, if I bowl better than him, I met get to play ahead of Murali.

" I got his attention when I got him during a Challenger trophy and celebrated like a crazy kid," he recalled.

After that, Ashwin said during CSK's match against Victoria Bushrangers in the now defunct Champions League, he volunteered to bowl the Super Over and Dhoni gave him the ball without hesitation.

Ashwin did not fare well and ended up conceding 23 runs. The off-spinner said when Dhoni walked past him after the match, he only said that, "you should have bowled the carrom ball."

"MS always maintained that you are exceptionally skilful and you should keep doing what you do."

Ashwin has been very successful against the left-handers as 189 of his 365 wickets are of southpaws. Ashwin credited his engineering background and advice from Duncan Fletcher for the success.

"He made a statement that changed cricket. He said it's all about geometry and left it at that. Understanding angles (engineering background) has given me edge over others," he said.

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