Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 14 runs

April 29, 2013

Chennai_SuperChennai, Apr 29: Manvinder Bisla lost the battle to Mike Hussey in the end, and revenge was served at Chepauk on Sunday, but only just.

Bisla matched the Aussie veteran stroke for stroke, as Ko l k at a Knight Riders, chasing a mammoth 201 for victory, raised visions of the miracle of 2012. But with 22 to get off 10, Hussey hit the stumps direct from mid-off to get Bisla out and that was it. KKR had to get 18 off the last over but Eoin Morgan failed to get the elevation and the defending champions went down by 14 runs, leaving themselves in a deep hole. Super Kings, on the other hand, are unstoppable and look good for a top-two finish.

The KKR chase was all about Bisla, who probably played better than the 2012 final. He swung his bat with absolute freedom and kept finding the fence. Gautam Gambhir and Jacques Kallis helped him for a while, but when it was 100 to get off eight overs, CSK would have thought they would get there easy. Bisla fought on and got it down to 28 off two overs, but Hussey's hit finally pulled the curtains down.

Before Bisla took centrestage, it was Hussey who stamped his class yet again. The pitch was a batting beauty, the ball was coming on, and the KKR bowlers struggled to find the right length. Anything short was getting pulled, anything up was played over the top and the likes of L Balaji, Shami Ahmed and Jacques Kallis simply ran out of ideas. The openers, Hussey and Wriddhiman Saha, were frantic in their running between the wickets as well and there was not a single quiet over.

Hussey, quite clearly, was taking the lead, while Saha (39 off 23 balls) was ready to play second fiddle. But the Bengal boy, playing his first match of the tournament, showed that he is not at all a misfit in this CSK line-up that has such fantastic hitters.

Spin was introduced early on, but both Saha and Hussey gave the impression that they were reading Sunil Narine (1-35 ) pretty well. When the West Indian mystery spinner started leaking boundaries, Gautam Gambhir looked a little resigned.

The 100 came up in the 10th over and Saha knew that his job was done. He went for the big shot, holed out and allowed Raina to come in. Raina and Hussey looked even more dangerous and when the Aussie was getting tired, the Indian left-hander looked to take charge. A century would have been the icing on the cake for Hussey, but the team man that the Aussie is, he kept looking for the big shots even when he was within striking distance. He finally got out for 95, leaving Dhoni to provide the final touches.

Delhi Daredevils beat Pune Warriors India by 15 runs


Raipur, Apr 29: A change in 'home' venue brought about a change in Delhi Daredevils' luck. The team that had lost seven of their eight games before this game, edged out Pune Warriors in a close finish at the swanky Veer Narayana Singh stadium on Sunday as Raipur made its debut on the T20 league map.Delhi_Daredevils

After Pune Warriors had made a strong start in chase of a target of 165, Daredevils bowlers hit back in the final overs to help their team clinch the issue by 15 runs, their just the second win of the season. With this win, Daredevils have finally managed to rise in the points table. The bottom place is occupied by Pune now.

It was a battle between two bottom-placed teams, yet it generated tremendous enthusiasm among the spectators as Raipur witnessed its first big-ticket cricket event. To them it did not matter whether the 'home' team Delhi, which has adopted the city for a couple of games, won or lost. They had come to be entertained and be part of a new experience. And they were not disappointed as they saw Indian stars like Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh perform for them in a keenly-contested affair.

After DD had notched up 164 for five, PWI, led by Yuvraj Singh and Luke Wright, were going well. But Umesh Yadav accounted for the duo in the 18th over to give DD the upper hand. Getting 35 runs in the last two overs proved beyond the reach of the remaining PWI batsmen.

Earlier, when DD were sent in to bat by Pune, they slipped to 96 for four. DD were, not for the first time this season, in deep trouble. However, David Warner and Kedar Jadhav rebuilt the innings to bring DD back into the game. Warner, pushed down the order, salvaged things with his powerful hitting. He struck the ball hard and handsome to attain his third fifty this season.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Jun 9: Former West Indies skipper Darren Sammy has released a video, alleging racism within the SunRisers Hyderabad camp. Last week, Sammy had lost his cool after learning the meaning of the word "Kalu", which he alleged was directed at him during his Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with the SunRisers Hyderabad. The T20 World Cup-winning Windies skipper had said that he along with Sri Lanka player Thisara Perera were sometimes called that word when they played for SunRisers Hyderabad. However, Sammy did not specify as to who directed these slurs at him, but now the player has released a video, saying he will message all those who called him that word.

"I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people," Sammy said in a video posted on his Instagram account.

"This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for SunRisers Hyderabad, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people," he added.

Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn''t know the meaning, and his team-mates used to laugh every time after calling him by that name.

"I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called as that word I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment, I thought teammates are laughing so it must be something funny," Sammy said.

"Now, I realise it was degrading, I will be texting you guys and I will ask you as to when you called me with that name, did you all mean it in any bad way or form? I have had great memories in all my dressing rooms, so all those who used to you call me with that word, think about it, let's have a conversation, if it was in a bad way then I would be really disappointed," he added.

The former Windies skipper has been a vocal supporter of the protests that are currently going on in the United States over the death of an African-American man named George Floyd.

Sammy had also made an appeal to the ICC and other cricket boards to support the fight against social injustice and racism.

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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
January 6,2020

Sydney, Jan 6: Nathan Lyon captured five for 50 and 10 match wickets as Australia crushed New Zealand by 279 runs on Monday, capping a golden domestic summer as they swept the three-Test series.

The off-spinner led the powerful Australian bowling attack to dismiss the Kiwis for 136 and seal another heavy win over the Black Caps after similar victories in Perth and Melbourne.

Australia have been unbeatable this season, winning all five Tests at home -- two against Pakistan and three against New Zealand -- after retaining the Ashes by drawing the series 2-2 in England.

"It's been a great summer for the Australian Test side," Lyon said.

"It's pretty special to be part of it, we have been impressive, pretty clinical, the batters have done well and given us bowlers plenty of time."

Australia declared their second innings at 217 for two with David Warner scoring an unbeaten century, leaving the Black Caps with a revised 416-run target in the fourth innings on a wearing Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.

But the Kiwis buckled under the pressure of Australia's superior bowling attack with Mitchell Starc taking three for 25 to support the wiles of spinner Lyon.

"They were clinical in all areas and after the first match they put us under pressure session after session," said skipper Kane Williamson, who missed the Test with a virus.

New Zealand were reeling early at 27-4 and never recovered after Starc and Lyon took two wickets each in the middle session to put the skids under the tourists.

Starc removed both openers, Tom Latham and Tom Blundell, in the first five overs. Blundell fell to a stunning catch by a diving Lyon at point for two and stand-in skipper Latham lost a review for leg before wicket.

Jeet Raval was out in a review to the faintest of edges on 'Snicko' in Lyon's first over for 12.

First-innings top-scorer Glenn Phillips went for a duck after technology detected a faint outside edge to wicketkeeper Paine off Lyon.

Taylor's Kiwi record

Ross Taylor became the leading all-time Kiwi batsman, going past Stephen Fleming (7,172) before he was bowled by Pat Cummins for 22 to take his Test aggregate to 7,174.

Big-hitting Colin de Grandhomme smacked Lyon for six to bring up his fifty but went next ball hoicking to Joe Burns at deep mid-wicket for 52.

Todd Astle was out to a superb diving catch by James Pattinson in the outfield for 17.

Starc yorked William Somerville's middle stump for seven and BJ Watling was the last to fall, caught at backward square leg by Pat Cummins for 19.

Earlier, Warner completed his 24th Test century and remained unbeaten when skipper Paine declared upon the dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne.

"You know you're capable of doing so," Warner said, when asked about how he had bounced back from his disastrous Ashes campaign in England last year.

"I was in the nets hitting the ball well and had the skipper backing me. To be able to play with freedom helped me. It's all paying off."

Labuschagne, who was dropped on four in a regulation caught-and-bowled chance by leg-spinner Astle, was caught at long on off Matt Henry for 59 -- his seventh score over 50 in eight innings this domestic summer.

Labuschagne finished the home five-Test season with a stunning aggregate of 896 runs, made up of his 215 in the first innings, three other centuries and three half-centuries in eight innings.

There was drama late in the Australian innings when Warner was given an official warning by umpire Aleem Dar for running down the middle of the pitch in scampering a single.

It resulted in five penalty runs being added to New Zealand's first innings total meaning their target was revised down from 421 to 416.

The Test was played against the backdrop of one of Australia's most devastating bushfire seasons with at least 24 people losing their lives in blazes raging across the country, including on the outskirts of Sydney.

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