Mumbai Indians thrash KKR, move to second in points table

May 8, 2013

Mumbai

Mumbai, May 8: Mumbai Indians kept their enviable all-win record at home intact as they outclassed Kolkata Knight Riders by 65 runs here today to virtually eliminate the defending champions' hopes of making the Indian Premier League play-offs.

Mumbai rode on their best opening stand of the season –- 93 runs -- provided by Sachin Tendulkar (48) and Dwayne Smith (47) and a quick-fire unbeaten 34 by Dinesh Karthik to rattle up 170 for six at the Wankhede Stadium.

The hosts then bowled out the visitors for 105 in 18.2 overs to emerge convincing winners and shoot to the second position on the league table with 16 points behind leaders Chennai Super Kings (18), whom they had beaten comprehensively on Sunday.

Only Manvinder Bisla (17) and Jacques Kallis (24) got the starts for the Knight Riders without flourishing fully among the top five batsmen after the dismissal of captain Gautam Gambhir for a duck.

Spinners Harbhajan Singh (3) and Pragyan Ojha (2) were the main wicket takers along with Mitchell Johnson (2) and Lasith Malinga (2) while Abu Nechim Ahmed too got a wicket.

It was Mumbai's sixth straight home win of the season and 8th overall.

The comprehensive defeat, their tenth in 12 games against Mumbai in the tournament's history, was also the Kinght Riders' 8th loss of the season and they are virtually out of contention for a berth in the four-team play-offs.

Knight Riders began the stiff run-chase disastrously when they lost their captain Gautam Gambhir for a second-ball duck in the first over from Mitchell Johnson.

Bisla and Kallis took the score to 38 at the end of the sixth over of power play, but then the former – dropped on 0 – was stumped while trying to give a charge to left-arm spinner Ojha who also removed Yusuf Pathan cheaply.

And when Kallis was out to Harbhajan for 24, it left the Knight Riders in a very difficult position at 58 for 4 just at the half way stage of their innings.

In-form batsman Eoin Morgan also fell cheaply in the 13th over to virtually end their hopes.

Harbhajan later dismissed Debabrata Das and Rajat Bhatia to finish with fine figures of 3 for 27.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians got off to their best start but then lost their way before finishing with a good flourish to post a challenging score.

Sachin Tendulkar used the field restrictions in the initial overs in his attractive 28-ball innings before he and Smith departed in quick succession.

Thereafter only Dinesh Karthik, who smacked 34 in 18 balls with 2 sixes and 3 fours, prospered while Mumbai lost wickets at regular intervals before adding 26 runs.

Tendulkar struck Ryan McLaren for five fours in the 4th over which included drives to the off and two successive pull shots, after he had spanked the same bowler for successive straight-driven boundaries in his first over.

But Smith struggled to put bat to the ball against L Balaji who started off with a maiden over to the West Indian in his excellent first spell of 3 overs for 7 runs.

The stand was nipped by Bhatia – coming on for Jacques Kallis – who deceived and clean bowled Tendulkar with a slower ball when he was well posed to score his first half century of the tournament. The batsman tried to paddle sweep and missed.

In the next over, his opening partner Smith too departed, caught at long on off Abdulla, to bring together captain Rohit Sharma (16) and Karthik.

The third wicket duo added 31 runs before the hosts lost four wickets for the addition of 14 runs before Karthik and Mitchell Johnson (10 not out) added 26 runs in the last nine balls.

Mclaren picked up two wickets in one over but was smashed around for 60 runs while the Knight Riders' best bowler Balaji was not given his full quota in a strange decision by captain Gambhir.

MUMBAI INDIANS: Dwayne Smith c McLaren b Abdulla 47, Sachin Tendulkar b Bhatia 48, Dinesh Kaarthick (not out) 34, Rohit Sharma c Morgan b McLaren 16, Kieron Pollard c Narine b McLaren 4, Ambati Rayudu (run out) 0, Harbhajan Singh (run out) 0, Mitchell Johnson (not out) 10. Extras (LB-1, W-10) 11. Total (for 6 wkts, 20 overs) 170.

Fall of wickets: 1-93, 2-99, 3-130, 4-134, 5-135, 6-144. Bowling: Lakshmipathy Balaji 3-1-7-0, Ryan McLaren 4-0-60-2, Sunil Narine 4-0-29-0, Jacques Kallis 3-0-21-0, Iqbal Abdulla 4-0-30-1, Rajat Bhatia 2-0-22-1.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS: Manvinder Bisla st Kaarthick b Ojha 17, Gautam Gambhir b Johnson 0, Jacques Kallis c Ahmed b Harbhajan 24, Yusuf Pathan b Ojha 13, Eoin Morgan c Rohit b Ahmed 5, Debabrata Das c&b Harbhajan 23, Ryan McLaren (run out) 1, Rajat Bhatia c Malinga b Harbhajan 4, Iqbal Abdulla (not out) 6, Sunil Narine c Kaarthick b Johnson 3, Lakshmipathy Balaji b Malinga 0. Extras (LB-9) 9. Total (all out, 18.2 overs) 105.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-38, 3-54, 4-58, 5-77, 6-89, 7-89, 8-97, 9-104.

Bowling: Mitchell Johnson 4-0-13-2, Abu Ahmed 3-0-18-1, Pragyan Ojha 4-0-23-2, Lasith Malinga 3.2-0-15-1, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-27-3.

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News Network
April 14,2020

Melbourne, Apr 14: As all sporting action across the world has come to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, Australian bowlers are pondering as to how Indian skipper Virat Kohli might play in front of no spectators.

India and Australia are scheduled to play a four-match Test series later this year, and it is being speculated that the series might end up taking place without any crowds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australian spinner Nathan Lyon on Tuesday said that it would be interesting to see how Kohli goes about it if he does not get a chance to get the audience behind him.

"He is probably good enough to adapt to any scenario. But I was talking to Mitch Starc the other day and we actually said that if we are playing with no crowd, it'll be quite amazing to see Virat trying to rev up the empty seats," cricket.com.au quoted Lyon as saying.

"It is going to be a little bit different, but Virat is a superstar. He will be able to adapt to any climate that we are able to play in," he added.
During the 2018-19 series, India managed to defeat Australia in Australia for the first time in a Test series.

Australia, at that time were without the services of David Warner and Steve Smith. However, the series later this year promises to be a mouth-watering prospect.

"I am excited about the prospect of India coming out to Australia, it's up there with the biggest series alongside the Ashes. They are an absolute powerhouse of the cricket world, and to have those guys out here is going to be fantastic. Playing in front of crowds or no crowds is out of our control, we have got to follow the advice of all the amazing medical people around the world," Lyon said.

"I have not thought about no crowds or massive crowds, it is just about the opportunity of playing against India again. They had the wood over us last time they came over here but we are a much stronger Australian cricket side at the moment, and I am just unbelievably excited about playing them here at home," he added.

Lyon was slated to represent Hampshire in County Championship this year, however, his stint was called off last week due to COVID-19.
He is Australia's third-highest wicket-taker in the longest format of the game as he has total of 390 wickets in Test cricket.

Lyon was last seen in action in the Big Bash League for Sydney Sixers.

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News Network
January 29,2020

New Delhi, Jan 29: Badminton champion Saina Nehwal joined the ruling BJP today and is likely to campaign for the party ahead of the February 8 Delhi election.

"I have won medals for the country. I am a very hardworking and I love hardworking persons. I can see Prime Minister Narendra Modi does so much for the country, I want to do something for the country with him," the shuttler said, wearing the BJP scarf.

"I draw a lot of inspiration from Narendra sir".

Haryana-born Saina Nehwal, 29, is a major acquisition for the party in the middle of the Delhi poll campaign; she is one of the most popular sportspersons in India with a huge fan following and brand value. She is preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

A former world number 1, she has been honoured with the country's top sporting awards like the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award. She was also awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2016.

The Badminton player has won over 24 international titles. In the London Olympics, she won a bronze. She was world number two in 2009 and number one in 2015.

With her tweets praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Saina Nehwal was widely seen to lean towards the BJP.

One of her tweets became controversial when it was found to be identical to several others in praise of a PM Modi speech last year. Saina was trolled on Twitter with screenshots of the identical tweets. She was also among the sportswomen who put up identical tweets on Diwali thanking PM Modi for his initiative to empower women, with the hashtag #bharatkilaxmi.

The BJP roped in many famous personalities last year, including cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who was elected MP from Delhi in the national election, and wrestler Babita Phogat. Just before the Haryana assembly polls, the party roped in wrestler Sushil Kumar, Babita Phogat and former Hockey team captain Sandeep Singh. Sandeep Singh won the election and was appointed minister.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Batting great Rahul Dravid has attributed Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the IPL to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts and the incredible amount of work that goes behind the scenes.

N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the CSK franchise, agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings and going over data.

Both were speaking at a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Dravid said at the webinar according to ESPNcricinfo.

The former India captain added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts.

"So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."

The Super Kings have won the lucrative tournament three times -- one less than Mumbai Indians -- and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have been a part of.

Srinivasan also spoke about how Dhoni's instinct and judgement contributed to his team's success at a time when a lot of emphases is placed on data.

"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness etc.

"So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go.

"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyse. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)."

Srinivasan also recalled how Dhoni once refused to take "one outstanding player" suggested by the franchise boss as that could have broken the team's cohesion.

"There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: 'no sir, he will spoil the team'. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time," he said.

"In India, we're just starting and we're new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels."

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