Clash of Titans as CSK face Mumbai Indians in 1st play-off

May 20, 2013

Clash_of_Titans

New Delhi, May 20: It will be a 'Battle of Equals' when mighty Chennai Super Kings meet the formidable Mumbai Indians in the first play-off match of the Pepsi Indian Premier League here tomorrow.

On paper, there is very little to choose between the two teams, who have both won 11 out of their 16 matches and have a number of match-winners who can turn the tables on a given day.

Mumbai Indians under stewardship of Rohit Sharma has been a force to reckon with having won all their eight matches at home, while CSK's season has been a mix and match but they have successfully finished off a number of close encounters, which has been their hallmark over the years.

Mumbai Indians might just have a psychological advantage having beaten the 'Men in Yellow' in both home and away games.

However it will be an altogether different test on a 'neutral venue' as they will be playing at the Feroze Shah Kotla which has been known for producing dodgy 22-yard strips over the years.

With both teams relying on their batsmen to do the trick, one can brace up for 'some battles' within the main contest.

It can be a Sachin Tendulkar versus Ravichandran Ashwin, Mahendra Singh Dhoni versus Harbhajan Singh, Kieron Pollard against Mohit Sharma or Mike Hussey versus Pragyan Ojha affair.

Tendulkar is likely to make a comeback at the top of the order and the senior batsman would certainly want to play an innings of impact.

Only 287 runs from 14 matches this season at an average of shade over 22 is not something that Tendulkar will be too happy about.

His form has been patchy but occasional brilliance like the one against Kolkata Knight Riders in Mumbai can be expected any time. With the dangerous Dwayne Smith as a partner, one can expect an explosive start from the duo.

Skipper Rohit, who has always been an 'IPL Specialist', has again excelled in MI jersey with 526 runs and would only like to improve upon that performance.

The big-bodied Pollard with his ability to clear the ropes at will is also be a force to reckon with.

In bowling department, Mitchell Johnson (22 wickets @economy rate of 7.11) and Harbhajan (19 wickets @6.66 runs per over) have been consistent. In fact, the senior off-spinner will certainly have a point to prove to his rival Ashwin, who has got 15 wickets at an economy rate of 6.62.

If the Mumbai Indians have excelled in setting up big totals, Chennai Super Kings have been masters in chasing down any target.

If 60 runs required in four overs was considered impossible even a few years back, thanks to the talismanic CSK skipper, any target looks achievable when 'Captain Cool' MSD is at the crease. In fact, Dhoni often tells jokingly that CSK's game starts at the end of 10th over.

'Mr Cricket' Hussey has been in an unbelievable form having scored 646 runs at an average of nearly 50. Magnificent in terms of T20 cricket. With Suresh Raina (466), who has never disappointed in CSK shirt. The skipper himself has scored 398 runs but more importantly has the capability of finishing off matches from a near impossible situations.

CSK's bowling depends a lot on how Dwayne Bravo bowls during the middle-overs. With 25 wickets, Bravo has been Dhoni's 'Go-To' man in crisis situations and is one of the favourites to get the 'Purple Cap'.

Haryana seamer Mohit Sharma has been one of the finds of this IPL season with 17 scalps and it will be interesting to see his temperament in a big match situation where margin of error will be minimal.

Mohit will be encouraged by the fact that last time he played at the Kotla, he decimated Delhi Daredevils top-order with a fantastic first spell.

Good show in the knock-out can book a berth in India 'A' squad to South Africa, which is scheduled at the end of next month.

While Chris Morris also has been decent in the chances that he has got, CSK management might be tempted to field Albie Morkel in place of young West Indian Jason Holder who has been a touch expensive in the matches that he has played so far.

In all, a cracker of a contest can be expected tomorrow.

Teams (from):

Chennai Super Kings: s: M S Dhoni (C), Akila Dananjaya, Albie Morkel, Srikkanta Anirutha, Ankit Rajpoot, Baba Aparajith, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ben Laughlin, Chris Morris, Dirk Nannes, Dwayne Bravo, Francois du Plessis, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Jason Holder, Michael Hussey, Mohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Nuwan Kulasekara, R Karthikeyan, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ronit More, Shadab Jakati, S Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Vijay Shankar and Wridhiman Saha.

Mumbai Indians: Ricky Ponting (Capt), Abu Nechim Ahmed, Akshar Patel, Aditya Tare, Aiden Blizzard, Ambati Rayudu, Amitoze Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Dinesh Karthik, Dwayne Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Harbhajan Singh, Jacob Oram, Jalaj Saxena, James Franklin, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Johnson, Munaf Patel, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Phil Hughes, Pawan Suyal, Pragyan Ojha, Rishi Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Suryakumar Yadav, Sushant Marathe, Yuzvendra Singh Chahal.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Atlanta, Jan 9: Top tennis stars like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams will be playing an exhibition match to raise funds for Australia's bushfire relief.

Apart from these three, Naomi Osaka, Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas have also confirmed their availability for the match, CNN reported.

The match will be played on January 15 at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena. The Australian Open Rally for Relief will be donating the proceedings from the ticket sales to the bushfire relief efforts.

Tennis star Maria Sharapova had also announced on Wednesday that she had left 10 signed pairs of her tennis shoes in her Brisbane hotel that members of the public could buy with a donation to the Australian Red Cross.

"Brisbane, I have signed ten pairs of my tennis shoes, left them at the @BrisbaneTennis
desk at the Westin Hotel, alongside a donation envelope for fire rescue efforts.They're yours to keep,we just ask you to donate AUD 300 a pair. All money going directly to Red Cross," Sharapova tweeted.

Earlier, former Australian spinner Shane Warne on Monday had announced to auction his Baggy Green cap to raise funds for victims of devastating bushfires in Australia.

Taking to Twitter, Warne made the announcement and posted a statement.

"The horrific bushfires in Australia have left us all in disbelief. The impact these devastating fires are having on so many people is unthinkable and has touched us all. Lives have been lost, homes have been destroyed and over 500 million animals have died too," Warne wrote.

"Everyone is in this together and we continue to find ways to contribute and help on a daily basis. This has led me to auction my beloved baggy green cap (350) that I wore throughout my Test career," he added.

Warne joined a growing list of cricketers to raise money for the bushfire victims. Australian players Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell and D'Arcy Short have already announced that they will donate AUD 250 each for every six they hit in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) to support bushfire victims.

Athletes from other sports too joined the movement as tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic decided to donate 25,000 dollars each for Australia's bushfire relief fund.

Wildfires have been raging across Australia for months, killing 23 people, burning about 6 million hectares (23,000 square miles) of bushland and killing a billion animals.

Naval and air rescue operations were launched on Friday as mass evacuations of towns at risk of being engulfed by flames got underway.b

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Agencies
July 7,2020

New Delhi, Jul 7: Wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni is known for his finishing heroics and ending the match with a big shot to send a billion people in a frenzy.

For over a decade, Dhoni's swashbuckling batting style, especially the famed helicopter shot, gave international bowlers a headache. As the former Indian skipper celebrates his 39th birthday today, let's relive his first century in international cricket.

It was on April 5, 2005, when Dhoni had registered his first international century. The former skipper registered the feat against Pakistan in the second ODI of the six-match series. The match was played at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.

Dhoni had made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004. However, he did not have a good outing as he scored just 19 runs in the three-match series. But the wicket-keeper truly arrived in the series against Pakistan in 2005, as he scored 148 runs in the second ODI of the six-match series at Visakhapatnam.

In the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. The side lost Sachin Tendulkar's wicket in the fourth over of the innings and it brought Dhoni to the middle.

Dhoni, along with Sehwag, took on the Pakistan bowlers and the duo formed a 96-run stand, which saw Sehwag going past the 50-run mark. Sehwag (74) was sent back to the pavilion in the 14th over, but Dhoni then found support in Rahul Dravid and the duo stitched a 149-run stand.

Dhoni smashed 15 fours and four sixes in his innings and scored 148 runs from 123 balls, taking India's total to 356/9 in the allotted fifty overs.

India then managed to defend the total as the side bundled out Pakistan for 298 as Ashish Nehra scalped four wickets.

Dhoni has so far played 350 ODIs with his highest score being 183 against Sri Lanka. He also remains the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy).

Also referred to as 'Captain Cool', Dhoni is known for his calmness and exquisite captaincy on the field.

Over the years, he has cemented his place as one of the finest wicket-keepers across the world. His agility behind the stumps has given India many breakthroughs as the Ranchi-based wicket-keeper has done successful stumpings in no time.

He is also known for his knack of opting for reviews and many have jokingly remarked to change the 'Decision-Review System's' name to 'Dhoni-Review System'.

In December 2014, he announced his retirement from Tests and gave a chance to the likes of Wriddhiman Saha. Dhoni called time on his Test career after playing 90 Tests, managing to score 4,876 runs at an average of 38.09.

Then in 2017, he handed over the captaincy to Virat Kohli in the 50-over format. However, the wicket-keeper enjoys a great camaraderie with the latter and the duo have been seen often taking decisions together on the field.

Under Dhoni's leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket. His Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has also won the tournament thrice under his leadership.

Dhoni was slated to return to the cricket field on March 29 during the IPL's opening match between CSK and Mumbai Indians. However, the tournament has been postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The 39-year-old has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup. 

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News Network
March 7,2020

Melbourne, Mar 7: Ahead of the Women's T20 World Cup against Australia, India spinner Poonam Yadav said that skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has given her a lot of support.

"Harmanpreet has been of immense support. When I got hit for a six in the first over, she came to me and said, 'Poonam, you're one of the most experienced players in the team, and we expect better of you'," Poonam said.

The 28-year-old experienced bowler has played 68 shortest format games for India and taken 94 wickets at an average of 22.66.

She has been in devastating form throughout the tournament and has bagged nine wickets so far.

"So, that kind of stirred something within me. I told myself if my captain has that much faith in me, I should be able to make a comeback," she said.

"I took a wicket in the very next ball, and didn't look back since. Now when I look back at that moment, it means so much in the context of my individual performance and run to the final," she added.

In the opening game against Australia at Sydney Showground, Poonam came within a whisker of the third hat-trick in Women's T20 World Cup history, dismissing Rachael Haynes and Ellyse Perry before Jess Jonassen was dropped.

The final of the tournament will be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on March 8 -- International Women's Day.

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