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Lendl Simmons’s magnificent ton helps Mumbai Indians trump Kings XI Punjab by 7 wickets in IPL 2014

May 22, 2014

Lendl SimmonsMohali, May 22: Lendl Simmons‘s magnificent century (100 not out) proved too good for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) as Mumbai Indians (MI) ran out with a comfortable victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 on May 21. Simmons trailblazing knock off 61 deliveries helped Mumbai chase down a moderate 157-run target at Mohali. The win also keeps their faint chances of qualifying for the IPL 7 play-offs. Simmons struck an incredible 14 fours and two six.

The win takes Mumbai to fifth in the IPL 7 Points Table. They have 10 points after 12 matches. Punjab have already qualified for the play-offs. They have 18 points after 12 matches.

Simmons and Michael Hussey began the run-chase for Mumbai. Sandeep Sharma bowled the first over. Simmons opened the scoring with a cut for a four in front of point. Simmons then came down the track and flat-batted one past mid-on for his second four. Simmons then drove one through wide mid-off for a four as 13 runs came from the first over.

Beuran Hendricks bowled the second over. He angled one down the leg side and the ball raced away for five wides. Sandeep then bowled one short and wide and Simmons sliced the ball towards third-man for his fourth four. Simmons then top-edged a short delivery behind for two runs.

Hendricks’s second over proved to be eventful. He was given an official warning by the umpire for running on the wicket. Simmons then lifted one over cover for a four. Hendricks seemed affected by it and then bowled a wayward bouncer far too wide on the off side. Simmons then tore into Hendricks with two fours. The second was a crunching pull over square-leg.

Simmons continued his charge against left-arm spinner Akshar Patel. He cut a wide delivery through point for a four. Simmons then cleared his front leg and hammered one down the ground for another four. That brought Mumbai their 50 in the fifth over. Simmons then seemed in agony while running two runs. It seemed as if he had twisted his ankle. That didn’t stop him from flicking one over backward square-leg for a four. He then got to his half-century with a push towards mid-off.

Simmons then threw his bat at a full delivery and edged it past short third-man for a four. Akshar then got the much-wanted breakthrough as his skidder breached Hussey’s defence and hit the stumps. Hussey was bowled for six runs off 13 deliveries. That brought an end to the 68-run opening stand. Simmons, though, cut a short delivery from off-spinner Shivam Sharma behind backward-point for a four.

Akshar bowled one on a good length and Simmons bent down and smacked one over the bowler for a four. Simmons then stepped down the track to Shivam Sharma and struck his first six over wide long-on. Mumbai got to their 100 in the 11th over. Simmons then cut a length delivery outside off-stump from Rishi Dhawan through backward-point for a four.

Dhawan, though, got the breakthrough as Ambati Rayudu drove one straight to Virender Sehwag at short extra-cover. He was out for 17 off 14 deliveries. Simmons then stunned the Mohali crowd as he danced down the track to Sandeep and smashed a six down the ground. Rohit Sharma joined in on the act with a pull in front of deep square-leg for a four.

Rohit then cut a wide delivery from Dhawan past point for another four. Hendricks bowled a short delivery from round the wicket and Rohit guided it towards third-man. Sandeep took the catch in the deep. Rohit was out for 18 off 20 deliveries. But no one could deny Simmons his century as he took a single in the 19th over. Kieron Pollard then hammered the last delivery in the 19th over over long-on for a six and won the match for Mumbai. They won by seven wickets.

Earlier, Punjab posted a total of 156 for eight in their 20 overs. Captain George Bailey top-scored with 39 off 30 deliveries. Manan Vohra scored 36 and Shaun Marsh added 30. Young leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal was the pick of the bowlers as he took two wickets.

Brief scores:

Kings XI Punjab 156 for 8 in 20 overs (Manan Vohra 36, Shaun Marsh 30, George Bailey 39; Jasprit Bumrah 2 for 31, Shreyas Gopal 2 for 32) lost to Mumbai Indians 159 for 3 in 19 overs (Lendl Simmons 100*, Rohit Sharma 18) by 7 wickets.

Man of the Match: Lendl Simmons

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Agencies
March 10,2020

Mumbai, Mar 10: The addition of two new members, including the chairman, in the national selection committee, has not changed the panel's stance on M S Dhoni, who will "have to perform" in the upcoming IPL to be considered for T20 World Cup selection, a top BCCI official told PTI.

The Sunil Joshi-led selection panel met for the first time in Ahmedabad on Sunday to pick a rather "straightforward" squad for the three ODIs against South Africa beginning in Dharamsala on March 12.

Fit-again Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan made their way back into the side.

Joshi's predecessor MSK Prasad had made it clear that the team has moved on from Dhoni and he has to first play to be considered for selection.

Dhoni, who has not played since the World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand in July, will be making his highly-awaited comeback in the IPL beginning March 29.

"It was a pretty straightforward selection meeting and since Dhoni was obviously not in the reckoning this time (for South Africa series), there was no formal talk about his future," a BCCI source told PTI.

"He will be back in the reckoning only if he has a good IPL. And why only him, there are so many senior and young players who will play in the IPL. If they do well, they are ought to be considered too. So, you could see some surprise inclusions," he said.

The T20 World Cup will be played in Australia in October-November and the games India play after the IPL leading up to the mega event will also be a factor in the final squad selection.

"But the performance in the IPL could be the clincher," the source added.

Head coach Ravi Shastri too has hinted that Dhoni could be back after a good IPL but his future remains a subject of intense speculation as he has not played a game in more than seven months.

With his heir apparent Rishabh Pant not setting the world on fire and K L Rahul being groomed into a full-time wicketkeeper-batsman, Dhoni's comeback cannot be ruled out.

His countless fans will finally get to see him in action when he leads Chennai Super Kings against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the IPL opener at Wankhede Stadium on March 29.

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News Network
March 5,2020

Mumbai, Mar 5: Former India spinner Sunil Joshi was on Wednesday named chairman of the national selection panel by the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which also picked ex-pacer Harvinder Singh to the five-member group.

The CAC, comprising Madan Lal, R P Singh and Sulakshana Naik, picked the two selectors with Joshi replacing South Zone representative MSK Prasad.

In an unprecedented decision, the BCCI said the CAC will review the panel's performance after one year and make recommendations accordingly.

"The committee recommended Sunil Joshi for the role of chairman of the senior men's selection committee. The CAC will review the candidates after a one-year period and make the recommendations to the BCCI," read a statement from BCCI Secretary Jay Shah.

Harvinder was chosen from central zone and replaces Gagan Khoda in the panel.

The existing members of the selection panel are Jatain Paranjpe, Devang Gandhi and Sarandeep Singh.

"We have picked the best guys for the job," Lal told news agency.

The CAC had shortlisted five candidates for interviews -- Joshi, Harvinder, Venkatesh Prasad, Rajesh Chauhan and L S Sivaramakrishnan -- from a list of 40 applicants.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Islamabad, Aug 7: Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, known for his blistering deliveries on the cricket field, recently baffled many with a deadly off-field bouncer by claiming he is willing to eat grass if it enabled an increase in budget for his country's Army!

"If Allah ever gives me the authority, I will eat grass myself but I will increase the budget of the army," said Akhtar in an interview with ARY News.

The 'Rawalpindi Express', considered the fastest bowler in history said he does not understand why the civilian sector cannot work in collaboration with the Armed forces.

"I will ask my army chief to sit with me and make decisions. If the budget is 20 per cent, I will make it 60 per cent. If we insult each other, the loss is ours only," the once feared fast-bowler said.

Akthar had also claimed to ARY News interview that he was willing to take a bullet for his country and had turned down a county stint just because he wanted to fight the 1999 Kargil War.

Ties between India and Pakistan have been strained in the recent months over several issues, the latest being Pakistan's attempt to broach in the UNSC the issue of Kashmir on the first anniversary of the India's move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and to split the erstwhile state into two union territories .

Pakistan also has not been in a good financial position and under prime minister Imran Khan, himself an all rounder cricketer, has added nearly USD 22 billion, that is 35 per cent to the nation's international debt pile in the last two years, according to an Asia Times report in July.

While Pakistan recently received USD 1.39 billion from the IMF to cushion the economic shocks caused due to COVID-19 outbreak, Akthar had a few months ago proposed that a joint cricket match be played between India and Pakistan to raise funds to fight the coronavirus. The suggestion that was put down by cricketers in India.

Meanwhile the 'Pindi boy' whose deadly pace and bounce was once dreaded by batsmen had recently taken to Twitter to deny former India cricketer Virender Sehwag's claim of sledging him.

Sehwag along with other Indian crickerters such as Harbhajan Singh and even Rahul Dravid had been at the receiving end of Akthar's sledging and antics during their playing days.

"Yes, totally self made story by him. Mujhe yeh bol k bach k jana kidhar tha us nay," Akthar tweeted to a report in which Sehwag claimed that he had sledged the 'Rawalpindi Express' by telling him that Sachin Tendulkar was his father.

During an awards ceremony Sehwag had recounted that fed up with Akthar's sledging and retaliated by telling him to say the same things to Tendulkar, who smashed the 'Pindi boy' for a six. Sehwag quipped that he told Akthar then that "Baap baap hota hai".

In the recent ARY interview, asked about the allegation made against him by former India cricketer Virendra Sehwag that he makes pro-India comments for greater following on social media channels, Akhtar said, "I cannot talk on the basis of hate." 

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