Kings lord over Daredevils

April 18, 2013

Kings_lord

New Delhi, Apr 19: Chennai Super Kings Thursday inflicted a crushing 86-run defeat on Delhi Daredevils, handing out the sixth consecutive loss to the home team whose miseries show no signs of end with a pathetic batting display by the top and middle order in their Pepsi Indian Premier League match here.

On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings, desperate to get back to their winning ways, capitalised on some ineffective bowling by Delhi Daredevils to put up a challenging score of 169 for four on the back of a scintillating 65 not out by veteran Mike Hussey and swashbuckling innings by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (23-ball 44).

Daredevils suffered the ignominy of being bowled out for 83 inside 18 overs overs and it became the season's lowest total.

Delhi Daredevils' miseries compounded as unheralded medium pacer Mohit Sharma bowled an impressive opening spell in which he removed David Warner and Virender Sehwag, literally shutting the match out for the hosts.

Sharma capped off an impressive bowling figure of three for 10.

Theoretically a possibility remains for qualification in the knock-out but based on current performance, it will be a great achievement if Delhi can avoid ending at the bottom of the heap, which they are in now. Kedar Jadhav's 28-ball 31 was the lone bright spot as the other batsmen hardly showed any stomach for putting up a fight.

That CSK bowlers maintained a disciplined line throughout made it even tougher for the home team batsmen to break the shackles. There were no significant partnerships as most of the batsmen were out playing some atrocious shots.

Warner (1) was played on trying to go for a cut shot while Sehwag (17) mistimed a pull shot to hole out in the deep. Daredevils' experiment with Manprit Juneja seemed to have hit the dead end as he failed once again.

After a half-century in the first game, skipper Jayawardene's woeful IPL form continued as he managed only six from 11 deliveries before being adjudged leg before off Chris Morris.

There was no co-ordination while running between the wickets as Jeevan Mendis and Jadhav were involved in a horrible mix up that saw the Sri Lankan being run out.

Having lost the top four batsmen inside the powerplay, it was impossible for the hosts to make a comeback and CSK ensured that the script is followed as per their terms.

Earlier, Hussey created a launch pad for Dhoni to finish with a flourish as the visitors put up an impressive display.

Hussey carried his bat through the innings with a well-crafted 50-ball knock, which was laced with six fours and two sixes, while Suresh Raina (30) contributed up front as the CSK top-order entertained the packed crowd at the Feroze ShahKotla Stadium.

The last five overs yielded 54 runs as Delhi skipper Mahela Jayawardene's ploy to keep rotating his bowlers failed.

Electing to bat, Chennai Super Kings were off to a good start, courtesy openers Murali Vijay and Hussey. Both went about their business in style with Vijay smacking two fours off Umesh Yadav in his first over.

South African pacer Morne Morkel broke the 30-run opening wicket stand when he had Vijay trapped in front for 18. Raina made his intentions clear from the outset, driving the very first delivery he faced from Morkel through the covers.

Chennai Super Kings raced to 39 for one at the end of mandatory power play. But what followed, to the surprise of many, was Jayawardene's decision to bring Virender Sehwag into the attack.

Sehwag, rolling his arms over for the first time in a long while, drew the loudest applause from the crowd as he looked at ease while bowling his off-breaks.

The Delhi pacers kept it quiet for a while before Raina broke the shackles with two consecutive fours off Yadav, who returned for his second spell, in the 11th over.

Hussey, too, followed suit as he clobbered Ajit Agarkar for a four and a six over mid-wicket to raise the 50-run partnership for the second wicket.

Both looked set for the final assault when Irfan Pathan brought the downfall of Raina, who was caught by wicket-keeper Kedhar Jadhav while looking to smack one over the off side.

Raina's 32-ball 30 was laced with five fours. Dhoni promoted himself up the order, ahead of Subramaniam Badrinath, and the captain justified the move as he launched an all-out attack on the Delhi bowlers.

Jayawardene kept on rotating his bowlers, but to no avail, as Dhoni and Hussey put on display their vast repertoire of stroke-play.

If the lacklustre display by the Delhi bowlers was not enough, the miseries were further compounded by their butter-fingered fielders. Dhoni was dropped by Agarkar at long-off off Yadav, when he was on 19. Agarkar misjudged the catch completely as he was left with no other option but to shake his head in disbelief.

Hussey and Dhoni brought together the 50-run partnership for the third wicket in just 27 balls as the overs between 13-18 yielded 56 runs for CSK. Both had saved the best for Morkel as the South African paceman was clobbered for three fours and a six for 19 runs in his last over.

Dhoni was dismissed in the last over of the innings but by then, he had done his job.

score board

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Michael Hussey (not out) 65, Murali Vijay lbw Morkel 18, Suresh Raina c Jadhav b Pathan 30, MS Dhoni c Mendis b Yadav 44, Dwayne Bravo (run out) 3. Extras (LB-4, W-5) 9. Total (for 4 wkts, 20 overs) 169.

Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-90, 3-164, 4-169.

Bowling: Shahbaz Nadeem 3-0-22-0, Irfan Pathan 4-0-30-1, Morne Morkel 4-0-42-1, Umesh Yadav 4-0-33-1, Virender Sehwag 1-0-9-0, Ajit Agarkar 4-0-29-0.

DELHI DAREDEVILS: David Warner b Mohit 1, Virender Sehwag c Hussey b Mohit 17, Manpreet Juneja lbw Mohit 2, Mahela Jayawardene lbw Morris 6, Jeevan Mendis 12, Kedar Jadhav c Bravo b Morkel 31, Irfan c Bravo b Jadeja 2, Ajit Agarkar c Bravo b Ashwin 3, Morne Morkel b Ashwin 2, Shahbaz Nadeem (not out) 2, Umesh Yadav c Raina b Bravo 1. Extras (W-4) 4. Total (all out, 17.3 overs) 83.

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-13, 3-30, 4-30, 5-61, 6-68, 7-73, 8-80, 9-82.

Bowling: Albie Morkel 3-0-13-1, Mohit Sharma 3-0-10-3, Chris Morris 2-0-13-1, Dwayne Bravo 1.3-0-8-1, Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-21-1, R Ashwin 4-0-18-2.

Royal win for spirited Rajasthan
Jaipur, Apr 18: Rajasthan Royals made a strong statement as they left Mumbai Indians bruised and battered with a convincing 87-run win in an Indian Premier League tie here on Wednesday night.

royalAfter riding on Ajinkya Rahane’s unbeaten 54-ball 68 to post a formidable 179 for three, Rajasthan bowled out Mumbai for 92 in 18.2 overs.

The victory helped Rajsthan leapfrog to the top of the poinst table with four wins from five matches, while Mumbai slipped to the fourth position.

While Rahane led Rajasthan’s batting, the bowling was more about team effort, with James Faulkner leading the way with three wickets.

Ajit Chandila and Stuart Binny picked up two wickets apiece.

Mumbai had a disastrous start as they lost Sachin Tendulkar in the first over, top-edging Chandila to the fine-leg fielder.

It was double delight for the home side as off-spinner Chandila struck again, having the woefully out-of-form Ricky Ponting caught and bowled to leave Mumbai, chasing a daunting target, reeling at 10 for two.

Sidhharth Trivedi had Rohit Sharma caught at mid-wicket in a rather soft dismissal, pushing Mumbai further onto the backfoot.

After failing to contribute with the bat, Binny made up with a beauty of a delivery that knocked down Kieron Pollard’s middle stump, helping the hosts inch closer to a big win.

At the end of 10th over, Mumbai were staring down the barrel at 42 for four, needing another 138 runs with the required rate going up with each delivery.

Despite boasting one of the best batting line-ups in the tournament, Mumbai could manage just three fours in the first 10 overs.

And even Kaarthick, going through a purple patch of sorts in the league, could not get going in the face of some disciplined bowling by Rajasthan.

There was some confusion when Ambati Rayudu and Harbhajan Singh found themselves at the same end after the former, who was on strike, crossed over for a single which Harbhajan was never interested in.

The run-out decision went against Harbhajan as he stepped out of the crease and his bat was in the air when the ball hit the stumps. The rest fell in quick succession to hand Mumbai their biggest IPL loss in terms of runs.

Earlier, Rahane top-scored with an unbeaten knock to help his side post a formidable total.

Batting first after winning the toss, Rajasthan raced to fifty in only six overs and were 88 for one at the end of 10th, before the home side picked up 19 runs in the last over of the innings to put up a challenging score.

score board

RAJASTHAN ROYALS: Shane Watson c Kaarthick b Pollard 31, Ajinkya Rahane (not out) 68, Dishant Yagnik c Tendulkar b Harbhajan 34, Stuart Binny (run out) 4, Brad Hodge (not out) 27. Extras (LB-7, NB-2, W-6) 15. Total (for 3 wkts, 20 overs) 179.

Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-115, 3-126.

Bowling: Mitchell Johnson 4-0-41-0, Lasith Malinga 4-0-30 -0, Rishi Dhawan 2-0-20-0, Pragyan Ojha 4-0-31-0, Kieron Pollard 2-0-24-1, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-26-1.

MUMBAI INDIANS: Sachin Tendulkar c Trivedi b Chandila 1, Ricky Ponting c & b Chandila 4, Dinesh Kaarthick c Hodge b Faulkner 30, Rohit Sharma c Watson b Trivedi 2, Kieron Pollard b Binny 1, Ambati Rayudu lbw Cooper 27, Rishi Dhawan c Faulkner b Binny 0, Harbhajan Singh (run out) 1, Mitchell Johnson b Faulkner 11, Lasith Malinga b Faulkner 7, Pragyan Ojha (not out) 1. Extras (LB-4, W-3) 7. Total (all out, 18.2 overs) 92.

Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Tendulkar), 2-10, 3-26, 4-31, 5-61, 6-63, 7-64, 8-83, 9-83.

Bowling: Ajit Chandila 2-0-6-2, Ankeet Chavan 3-0-10-0, James Faulkner 3.2-1-16-3, Siddarth Trivedi 4-1-17-1, Stuart Binny 3-0-14-2, Kevon Cooper 3-0-25-1.

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News Network
March 19,2020

London, Mar 19: Talking about the break in cricketing activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa pacer Dale Steyn said that the disease seems to be to the only topic of conversation these days.

"I don't know how to describe it. Doesn't matter where you go, everyone is talking about it - whether it is on an airplane or you are just popping into a grocery store. It just seems like it is the only topic of conversation," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Steyn as saying.

"Yeah, it's so strange. Normally if I am on holiday I'll be planning a fishing trip or a surfing trip. At the moment I am just chilling at home," he added.

Steyn was last seen in action in the Pakistan Super League where he took two wickets in two matches.

When asked whether he has enough hand sanitizers, he replied: "We just decided that stockpiling is definitely not the way to go. It is not fair on everybody who needs that stuff. I went to the grocery store the other day and everyone had bought all the toilet paper. We have what we need, and when that runs out, that runs out, and we need to go and get some more".

"We didn't feel it was necessary to go and absolutely just, like, zombie our lives up. There's other people that live on a day-to-day basis. They are not going to get all of that stuff, so we thought it was best not to do that".

Steyn also had a message for the fans, "Stay healthy, wash your hands, look after yourself, don't be greedy. Right now they are saying old people are really struggling, so if in a position to help, rather help them than help yourself. Pretty simple, really."

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the ODI series between India-South Africa and Australia-New Zealand have been postponed.

The start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has also been postponed until April 15.

Cricket South Africa has suspended all forms of cricket for 60 days while Cricket Australia has advised all its employees to work from home.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Melbourne, Jun 20: If 15 teams can be allowed to enter Australia for the T20 World Cup then fans will not be stopped from watching live action from the stadiums, Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley said on Saturday.

Hockley replaced under-fire Kevin Roberts, who recently got the boot from Cricket Australia, which is grappling with financial woes.

Different possibilities are being worked out for the T20 World to go ahead as scheduled later this year and one of them is to host the tournament before empty stands in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Hockley said crowds will be allowed, though, hosting 15 teams with players, officials and support staff is "complex" as of now, hinting that probably the ICC flagship event could be pushed back.

"The reality is, and we've got much more understanding about this in recent weeks, is crowds are most likely to come back before international travel. Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country," Hockley told cricket.com.au when asked if he would like to see the World Cup proceed without fans.

"If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise."

When specifically asked whether crowds would be permitted by the time borders have opened to the point that 15 teams will be allowed to travel to Australia, Hockley replied in an affirmative.

"That's the current thinking, yes."

Hockley said it came as a shock when he was asked by Cricket Australia to replace Roberts.

"I've had very mixed emotions. I was very shocked to be asked. I didn't see it coming at all, so I probably haven't had time yet to process it. I feel very sad for Kev (Roberts). On the other hand, I feel this is a massive privilege to be asked, it's a massive responsibility and a massive opportunity even if it's only for the next few months," he said.

Hockey did not commit when asked if he would like to assume the role full time, but he did say that he would quit as CEO of the T20 World Cup Organising Committee.

"My approach throughout my entire career has been to focus on doing the best job I can with what I've been tasked with, and the future will look after itself. And I'll continue the same approach.

"That's (T20 World Cup) been a real priority over the last 48 hours. We're reasonably well progressed and we will be appointing an interim because you just can't do both," he said.

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