Kieron Pollard powers Mumbai to first win

April 7, 2013

Pollard

Chennai, Apr 7: When three top line bowlers strike in their opening over, and two others in their second in this blink-and-you-miss format, one can safely assume that the combined effort, more often than not, will hand their team the winning advantage.

It certainly appeared so for two-time champion Chennai in their opening match at Chepauk on Saturday, until West Indian Kieron Pollardturned it around for Mumbai with abreathtaking 57 not out (38 balls; 4x4, 5x6) to lift his team to a fighting 148-6.

Batting-heavy Chennai struggled early on with their chase as they managed just 36 for the loss of two wickets in the Powerplay period of the first six overs, and were never quite in the hunt until MS Dhoniturned the contest on its head with a stunning 26-ball 51 (5x4, 3x6).

Chennai needed 12 from the final over by pacer Munaf Patel when off the first ball when Pollard got into the act again, pulling off a mind-boggling catch on the midwicket fence to dismiss Dhoni as Chennai lost by nine runs after finishing at 139-9.

Chennai must have felt the absence of South Africa allrounder Albie Morkel , but the new ball pair of Dirk Nannes and Ankit Rajpoot couldn't have got off to a better start on their debut for Chennai after sending back Sachin Tendulkar (0) and Ricky Ponting (6) in their for first and second overs respectively.

Dwayne Bravo then struck in successive overs to dismiss Rohit Sharma (8) and the in-formDinesh Karthik (37) to derail star-studded Mumbai, which had lost a cliffhanger to Bangalore on Thursday.

Australian pacer Ben Laughlin had Ambati Rayudu caught at third man to leave Mumbai struggling at 75-5, and it appeared to be curtains when India spinner Ashwin had Dwayne Smithcaught by Bravo in his first over.

Only, it is never quite over as long as Pollard is around, as the big-hitting West Indian smashed five sixes and four boundaries in his 38-ball knock and put on 65 off 48 balls for the unbroken seventh wicket with Harbhajan Singh.

India spinner Ravindra Jadeja let go off a difficult caught and bowled opportunity that Pollard offered on 18 and the effortless striker that Pollard is, hit Ashwin and Bravo for two sixes each and one off Jadeja as he helped Mumbai add 52 runs in the last five overs without losing a wicket.

Mumbai were without their pace ace Lasith Malinga, but pacers Mitch Johnson and Munaf Patel struck early blows before off-spinner Harbhajan Singh clean bowled Hussey for 20.

Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha struck in quick succession to dismiss Bravo and Badrinath.

Kevon Cooper's brilliant last over helps Rajasthan clinch thriller

Kevon-CooperNew Delhi, Apr 7: Kevon Cooper is a largely unknown quantity. The Trinidad and Tobagoallrounder has done very little in this event apart from briefly shining for Rajasthan last year.

After a spectacular start in 2012, when he picked up seven wickets in his first two matches, Cooper fell off the radar when he was sidelined with a fractured right knee. On Saturday, he pulled a rabbit out of the hat by bowling a dream last over as Rajasthan secured an unlikely five-run win at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Given the task of bowling the final over where Delhi needed just nine runs to win, Cooper dismissed Botha (2) with his third ball and with six to win off two balls, sent back his West Indies counterpart Andre Russell (7).

Delhi almost had the match in the bag with David Warner leading the stiff 166-run chase. Warner had the Kotla crowd swooning to his tune with his 56-ball 77 (1x6, 9x4) but his run out changed things as Delhi succumbed to their second defeat of the tournament.

The needless run out of Warner with just 13 runs to win came back to haunt Delhi.

It was a chanceless knock apart from a drop by Rahul Dravid at gully off Sreesanth when on two. Dravid was off the field for the rest of the innings after having landed awkwardly trying to take the catch. Warner opened up after his skipper Mahela Jayawardene's departure (19; 16b, 1x4) reaching his seventh fifty in the league off just 41 balls.

Earlier, Rajasthan skipper Rahul Dravid started off in the same vein as last year in his sixth season of the tournament. His methods might have been a bit crude and not quite out of the manual but results were effective nonetheless as his 51-ball 65 (2x6, 6x4) set the platform for animpressive 165/7 after Rajasthan elected to bat first.

On the day, all the calculated risks paid off as Dravid as he raced to his eighth fifty in the tournament off just 40 balls. It was his third-wicket partnership with Stuart Binny (40; 20b, 3x6, 2x4) which produced 55 runs in just 28 balls that gave Rajasthan a major push.

The target could have been for the home side, who had Umesh Yadav to thank for stopping the slide. The Nagpur paceman, returning from a back injury, looked much more impressive in his second match of the tournament, scalping 4/24 in his four overs.

Yadav mixed up his pace well, cranking it up to 147kph to keep the batsmen in check on a batting paradise. His twin strikes in the 19th over of the innings -- when he dismissed Dravid and Brad Hodge (5) off successive deliveries -- gave Delhi some relief. Ashish Nehra (2/35) complemented Yadav by bowling an excellent last over, picking up two wickets.

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News Network
January 10,2020

New Delhi, Jan 10: Injured Assam archer Shivangini Gohain underwent a critical surgery at the AIIMS. Dr. Deepak Gupta, professor of Pediatric neurosurgery at AIIMS, revealed about the delicate nature of the procedure and said there was no room for error.

"It was touching vertebral artery which supplies blood to the brain stem. The arrow was 0.5 cm in front of the spinal cord and the child could have become quadriplegic if someone tried to pull it out," Gupta said.

According to doctors, the arrow accidentally went inside the body damaging the shoulder bone, part of the neck, spinal cord and left lung.

Dr Gupta said, "Now the patient is fine. We had planned the surgery in a very unique way. Last whole night, our team was doing the planning and plotting to conduct this complex surgery. About 15 cm part of the arrow was inside the body which has entered through shoulder bone and affected neck, spinal cord and left lung".

"We started the surgery in the morning at 6 am which lasted for three and a half hours. We have successfully removed the arrow. The patient is stable now and shifted to ICU for observation," he added

Shivangini Gohain, the 12-year-old Assam archer who was impaled by an arrow shot accidentally at the SAI centre in Dibrugarh, was training unsupervised and the mishap was a result of negligence by the local coach and officials, the state's archery association has said.

The child was training at the Dakha Devi Rasiwasia College at Chabua, which serves as an extension centre under the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Regional Centre in Guwahati when the incident took place on Wednesday.

She was airlifted to Delhi on Thursday night and admitted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre. Pulin Das, a joint secretary of Assam Archery Association and executive member of the state Olympic association said the injury to the school girl from the Deodhai village, which is 3km from Chabua, happened as the trainees were practising without any coach and other officials.

“There is a SAI contractual coach Marcy and he has left for the Khelo India Games in Guwahati. He didn't instruct the trainees to stop the camp for some time nor did the college principal, who acted as administrator of the extension centre, looked after the practice,” Das said on Friday.

The extension centre has 11 trainees, six boys and five girls, and they were training under SAI contractual coach A C Marcy from Nagaland, who is in Guwahati for the Khelo India Youth Games.

“The training ground itself is in very bad shape, it was not even a dedicated ground for archery training, some play football, cricket and other sports on that ground. But the worst part is that the SAI coach did not give instructions to stop the camp for a while and the archers were training without any supervision,” he added Das said Gohain was struck by an arrow shot by boys doing practice for compound event. The arrow remained stuck for more more than a day before she was airlifted to New Delhi on Thursday night.

“There was nobody to look after the archers, they were training on their own though their parents were outside the ground. An arrow shot by a boy trainee who was doing compound event practice hit her on the shoulder,” the official said.

Gohain's father Brinchi Gohain was outside the practice area and with no official of the college and SAI coming for help, she was taken to Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh, 33km from Chabua.

“She could reach the AMC in Dribugarh only on Thursday morning. There, the doctors told her parents to take her to a more reputed hospital like AIIMS in Delhi. With help from people close to the local Member of Parliament and Assam CM himself, she was taken by air ambulance to Delhi.

“I was told that she had a very tough time as the arrow remained stuck for more than a day. She is a strong-willed girl and she fought. Her father must be a daily wage labourer and he was distraught also.”

The SAI said that it will bear all the expenses of her treatment. The Assam Archery Association has contributed Rs 20,000 towards her treatment.

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News Network
April 5,2020

New Delhi, April 5: England batsman James Vince lashed out at people for not taking proper measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and said people are going out as if "everything is normal".

"Just seen the pictures of people out and about today as if everything is normal. What selfish people, surely by now they've realised this is serious. Well done to everyone who's doing their bit and staying in," Vince tweeted.

On March 13, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that Europe was now the 'epicentre' of the disease.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus in the UK has exceeded 4,313 with at least 708 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the largest one-day rise since the start of the outbreak as confirmed by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The total number of cases in the UK as on Saturday is 41,903, a rise of 3,735 cases in the last 24 hours.

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News Network
May 8,2020

New Delhi, May 8: India skipper Virat Kohli believes cricket in empty stadiums is a real possibility in post COVID-19 world and though it is unlikely to have a bearing on the intensity of players, he feels the magic would certainly go missing.

Cricket Boards across the globe are exploring the option of resuming the sport in empty stadiums. There is speculation that fans could be kept away from stadiums in a bid to salvage the T20 World Cup in Australia, which is currently under threat due to the global health crisis.

"It's quite a possible situation, it might happen, I honestly don't know how everyone is going to take that because we all are used to playing in front of so many passionate fans," Kohli said in Star Sports' show 'Cricket Connected'.

"I know it will be played at a very good intensity but that feeling of the crowd connecting with the players and the tension of the game where everyone goes through it in the stadium, those emotions are very difficult to recreate," he added.

Kohli said the many moments which are created because of the passion brought in by fans, would be missing.

"Things will still go on, but I doubt that one will feel that magic happening inside because of the atmosphere that was created.

"We will play sports how it is supposed to be played, but those magical moments will be difficult to come by," he said.

Cricketers such as Ben Stokes, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and Pat Cummins have backed the idea of playing behind closed doors.

However, legendary Australian Allan Border has said it would defy belief to host a World Cup without spectators.

Another Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and some other cricketers have also expressed similar sentiments.

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