Warner rocks again, Daredevils stay alive

May 2, 2013

Warner_rocksRaipur, May 2: David Warner fired yet again as Delhi Daredevils chased down a tricky target of 137 with ease after initial hiccups against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Veer Narayan Singh stadium here on Wednesday night.

After their experienced duo of Virender Sehwag and Mahela Jayawardene failed to get going once again, it was left to Warner and the young Unmukt Chand to guide the team home with 13 balls and seven wickets to spare.

Warner (64 not out), who has been is tremendous form, struck his fourth half-century this season to take his team to their third win in 10 matches and keep their faint hopes of a berth in the playoffs alive.

It was not a particularly imposing target to chase but when Virender Sehwag and Mahela Jayawardene were caught out in the slips, there was pressure on Warner and Unmukt (37). But the duo ensured that there were no setbacks as they built a stand of 95 which sealed the match.

Warner has the experience and the maturity to deal with tight situation, but the way Unmukt batted must have gladdened the hearts of the DD management. It was the difference in the fielding standards of the two teams which, however, made a telling impact on the match.

While DD plucked some excellent catches, KKR just disintegrated in the field, letting off both Warner and Chand. KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir had a particularly bad day in office. He was run out without facing a ball and dropped a sitter offered by Sehwag.

However, defending a not-too-big total, he showed an aggressive intent and kept a slip in place till the ninth over. That move paid dividends as both Sehwag and Jayawardene were caught by the lone slip.KKR, however, let off a fine opportunity when Manvendra Bisla missed a stumping chance against Warner. From thereon, the DD batsmen slowly took control of the game and gained a crucial win.

When KKR opted to bat first, they lost their top half with just 50 on the board, by the 10th over. They were able to post a fighting total thanks the likes of Rajat Bhatia, Debabrata Das, Sumit Narwal and Brett Lee as KKR added 86 runs in the final 10 overs.

Shikhar, Hyderabad hit peak form

Hyderabad, May 2: From his trademark cuts, pulls and drives — each shot played with amplified flourish — to twirling his moustache triumphantly, we have already seen plenty of examples of Shikhar Dhawan's penchant for style ever since he smashed the Australian attack on his way to establishing a remarkable record in March-the fastest Test century on debut. On Wednesday, as the 27-year-old left-hander walked out to bat, his task was a straightforward one, taking the Sunrisers from Hyderabad over the line in their pursuit of a modest target of 130.

The Uppal pitch had not been an easy one to start with, and even the in-form Mumbai Indians batsmen had been forced to choose circumspection over outright assault as an option to survive on it. And with Hyderabad desperate to bounce back to winning ways after a string of losses, Dhawan would have been expected to play a sheet-anchor's role to guide his team to victory. To his credit, he did remain unbeaten in the end and even scored the winning run eventually.

But while he wielded the bat, the pitch, opposition bowling or the pressure of the run-chase hardly seemed to matter to Dhawan.

And he dished out another exemplary display of his talent and attitude with a thrill-a-minute knock, hitting more boundaries than any other batsman and recording a better strike-rate than anyone else on a day which could have belonged entirely to the bowlers if not for him. Dhawan hit nine boundaries and one towering six off Harbhajan Singh in his unbeaten 55-ball 73 as Sunrisers raced to a seven-wicket win with two overs to spare. With their fourth win in as many games at Uppal they also continued to ostracise the previous franchise's jinx at home along with augmenting the 'tigers at home' theme of IPL VI.

While most expected the run-chase to be a tricky one, Dhawan put all those fears to rest in the very second over with a belligerent assault on Dhawal Kulkarni. He first puched the right-armer past mid-off for four before stepping down the wicket, forcing Kulkarni to pitch short and cutting him away fiercely for another boundary. He then welcomed Harbhajan with a six, and never let the rest of the Mumbai bowlers settle.

The boundaries kept coming at regular interims, but the visitors did manage a stranglehold briefly when skipper Kumar Sangakkara was dismissed. It was Dhawan again, who got Sunrisers back on track with a spate of boundaries of Dwayne Smith in his only over, taking the medium-pacer for 15 runs. There was no looking back for the hosts, as they cruised to a comprehensive win with their talisman leading the way.

ISHANT keeps it tight

It was another Team India star who shone with the ball for Hyderabad earlier in the day. And Ishant Sharma took the bowling honours with figures of 2/15 in his four overs, including the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar-bowled again-and Dinesh Karthik.

Run-scoring itself proved an arduous task for the Mumbai batsmen, and they never really got going. The fact that they had to depend on 41 singles during their innings is a fair indicator of that. Mumbai did have wickets in hand as they sought to pick up pace during the death overs. But all they managed was five boundaries in the last seven overs with three in the last one from Thisara Perera. Not surprisingly, the Sunrisers hardly broke sweat during their chase, especially with Dhawan holding the reins.

Sunrisers have been the unexpected high-risers of the tournament and have constantly punched above their weight. That too they have done that without their belligerent opener's acclaimed services. Now with Dhawan back and in flow, Hyderabad look set to create many more upsets in the coming weeks.

Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 129 for 4 in 20 ovs (D Smith 38, AT Rayudu 34 n.o, I Sharma 2/15) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 130 for 3 in 18 ovs (S Dhawan 73, H Vihari 25; Harbhajan Singh 1/35)

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Agencies
March 6,2020

Mumbai, Mar 6: Former India batsman Virender Sehwag expressed excitement over the upcoming Road Safety World Series and said he is looking forward to playing with Sachin Tendulkar again.

"I am very excited about this tournament because I will get another chance to play with Sachin. We have played many international matches together and there was a gap and then we played an All-Star match and now again getting a chance. I am looking forward to playing with Tendulkar," Sehwag told media persons.

In the opening match of the Road Safety World Series, India Legends will play against West Indies Legends on March 7. The main aim of the Series is to create awareness about road safety and change people's mindset towards their behaviour on the roads.

Sehwag hailed the initiative of Road Safety World Series and said: "I think it is a very good initiative by the government that they are working towards creating awareness regarding road safety. Awareness regarding road safety is important for everyone."

Road Safety World Series, a five-nation T20 cricket tournament, will showcase some of the biggest names in cricket from India, Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and South Africa.

Players who will feature in this series include Tendulkar, Sehwag, Brian Lara, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Brett Lee, Brad Hodge, Jonty Rhodes, Muttiah Muralitharan, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Ajantha Mendis and many more. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is the Commissioner of the Series.

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News Network
January 28,2020

New Delhi, Jan 28: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is clear that while they have no problem with the Pakistan Cricket Board hosting the 2020 edition of the Asia Cup -- set to be a preparatory ground for the T20 World Cup in Australia -- the venue needs to be a neutral one as travelling to the neighbouring country isn't an option at present.

Speaking to news agency, a BCCI official said that the hosting rights is not an issue and it is just a case of picking a neutral venue as the Indian team wouldn't be travelling to Pakistan for the T20 tournament that will see the top Asian teams in action.

"The question isn't about the PCB hosting the tournament. It is about the venue and as things stand now, it is quite clear that we would need a neutral venue. There is no way that an Indian team can visit Pakistan to even participate in a multi-nation event like the Asia Cup. If the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is ok with an Asia Cup minus India then it is a different ball game. But if India is to participate in the Asia Cup, then the venue cannot be Pakistan," the official said.

In fact, issues in obtaining visa for Pakistan players to come and play the 2018 edition of the Asia Cup in India was one of the major reasons why the tournament was shifted out of the country with BCCI hosting the event in UAE.

The official said that the PCB can do just the same and host the event in a neutral venue. "A neutral venue is always an option. BCCI did it in 2018," the official pointed.

Cricket returned to Pakistan after a decade when Sri Lanka toured the nation in 2019. While Sri Lanka was the first nation to play a full series in the country, Bangladesh is currently in the country as they just finished playing three T20Is. They will play a Test from February 7 to 11 and then play a one-off ODI before playing the second Test from April 5 to 9.

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News Network
July 12,2020

New Delhi, Jul 12: Former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to do away with 'umpire's call' whenever a team opts for a review regarding a leg-before wicket (LBW) decision.

The Master Blaster has also said that a batsman should be given out if the ball is hitting the stumps.

Whether more than 50 per cent of the ball is hitting the stumps or not should not be matter, he further stated.

"What per cent of the ball hits the stumps doesn't matter, if DRS shows us that the ball is hitting the stumps, it should be given out, regardless of the on-field call," Tendulkar tweeted.

With this tweet, the former India batsman also shared a video, in which he has a discussion with Brian Lara regarding the working of DRS.
"One thing I don't agree with, with the ICC, is the DRS they have been using for quite some time. It is the LBW decision where more than 50 per cent of the ball must be hitting the stumps for the on-field decision to be overturned," Tendulkar said in the video.

"The only reason they (the batsman or the bowler) have gone upstairs is that they are unhappy with the on-field decision, so when the decision goes to the third umpire, let the technology take over, just like in tennis, it's either in or out, there's nothing in between," he added.

This call for doing away with umpire's call has been recommended by many former players.
Whenever a verdict pops up as 'umpire's call, the decision of the on-field umpire is not changed, but the teams do not lose their review as well.

ICC recently introduced some changes to the game of cricket, and they gave all teams liberty of extra review as non-neutral umpires will be employed in Test matches due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, all teams will now have three reviews in every innings of a Test match. 

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