Chennai Super Kings beat Mumbai Indians to reach IPL 6 final

May 22, 2013

Super_KingsNew Delhi, May 22: Chennai Super Kings might have come a cropper against Mumbai Indians in the league stages but the two-time champions showed their superiority by turning a high-profile encounter into a one-sided operation. Chennai’s 48-run victory on Tuesday night powered them to the Indian Premier League final, their fifth overall in the event.

Their march to the final was fashioned by Michael Hussey (86 n.o., 58b, 10x4, 2x6) and Suresh Raina (82, 42b, 5x4, 5x6) who exemplified Super King’s big-match temperament with a superlative domination of Mumbai bowling. Their unbeaten 140-run second wicket partnership propelled them to 192/1 in 20 overs.

Up against a towering target, Mumbai, in the absence of injured Sachin Tendulkar, were in the chase till the ninth over with Dwayne Smith going berserk, smashing 68 off 28 balls. His 75-run partnership with Dinesh Karthik pressed the panic button for the Super Kings but it didn’t last long. Smith perished to a soft dismissal off Ravindra Jadeja (3-31).

The pair of Karthik and Rohit Sharma held the best promise for Mumbai but Jadeja struck for the second time in two overs. Karthik, choosing to sweep, was hit on the pads to be out leg before. Rohit followed him in the next over.

Kieron Pollard, with a couple of mighty heaves, kept the interest alive but departed soon with a mistimed flick that ended in a low catch well-taken by Hussey.

It was then a matter time before the Mumbai batting wilted and they eventually folded up for 144.

It was a favourable toss to win by Super Kings and the opportunity was fully exploited by Hussey and Raina. With Kotla laying out a good batting strip, Hussey and Murali Vijay rustled up quick opening runs with none of the Mumbai bowlers able to make an impact.

Harbhajan Singh, however, did manage to slow things down. Skipper Rohit Sharma desperately shuffled the bowling around, introducing five bowlers in seven overs but Hussey, in particular, was in sublime touch and unstoppable.

It was not that Mumbai attack didn’t try to put in the breaks, none of their overs were significantly expensive, barring the last that went for 19 runs. But runs came in a steady stream engineered by Hussey.

His strokeplay ranged from soft flicks to late cuts to reverse sweeps. Even his solitary hit over the fence, glanced to fine leg in the last over off Malinga, was effortless. He had opened the innings with a boundary off fellow Australian Mitchell Johnson and only grew in strength.

The first six overs produced 47 runs with only Harbhajan making an impression. Pollard, introduced in the seventh over, got the only wicket of the Super Kings innings when Vijay lifted him for an easy catch to Dwayne Smith at midwicket.

In walked Suresh Raina, defiant and in-form. If Hussey was scorching the ground with his penetrative drives, Raina was quick to take the aerial route, clobbering Harbhajan for the first six of the innings in the 11th over.

With wickets in hand, the two opened their arms with Raina delighting a packed gathering with some spectacular heaves. Their onslaught put pressure on Mumbai, that reflected in a few slips with Rohit cutting a lonely figure in the middle.

Hussey and Raina attacked with flair, brilliantly accelerating towards the end that fetched 123 runs in last 10 overs.

Their partnership took Super Kings to familiar territory and once again made them the front-runners in title quest.

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Agencies
January 25,2020

Headingley, Jan 25: England have become the first team in the world to score 500,000 runs in Test cricket. They achieved the feat during the ongoing fourth and final Test against South Africa being played at The Wanderers.

On Friday - the opening day of the Test match -- England captain Joe Root's single through the covers took the Three Lions to a landmark 500,000 run-mark in the longest format of the game. They achieved the feat in their 1022nd Test match.

Australia comes second in the list, with 432,706 runs in 830 Tests. India, meanwhile, are third, with 273,518 runs in 540 Tests, followed by West Indies (270,441 runs in 545 Tests).

In the third Test played at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth, England had become the first team to play 500 Test matches on foreign soil. Australia are the second team to play the most away Test with 404 matches they have played so far.

India have played 268 Tests on foreign soil in which they have won 51, lost 113 and 104 have ended in a draw.

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News Network
May 6,2020

May 6: They have similar impact on their teams but Virat Kohli is driven by sheer passion to subdue the rivals while Steve Smith just enjoys batting, says Australia opener David Warner.

India skipper Kohli and top Australian batsman Smith are arguably the top two cricketers of the current era. They achieve new milestones consistently, invoking debates, who is better between them.

"Virat's passion and drive to score runs is different to what Steve's would be," Warner said while speaking to Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"Steve is going out there for a hit in the middle, that's how he sees things. He's hitting them out in the middle, he's having fun, he's enjoying himself, just does not want to get out."

Warner feels, while Kohli is batting he is aware that if he sticks around the middle his team will be on top of the proceedings.

"Virat obviously doesn't want to get out but he knows if he spends a certain amount of time out there, he's going to score plenty of runs at a rapid rate. He's going to get on top of you. That allows the guys coming in, especially in the Indian team you've got a lot of players who can be flamboyant as well."

The Australian opener added that both men are mentally strong and a good knock by them boosts the morale of the entire team.

"When it comes to cricket, they both have got the mental strength, the mental capacity to score runs. They both love spending time in the middle.

"They stabilise, they boost morale - if they score runs, everyone else's moral is up. If they are out cheaply you almost sense that on the field that everyone is (down on morale and thinking) 'now we all have to step up'. It's a very bizarre situation," he added.

Asked about the similarities between himself and Kohli, who are both live wires on the field, Warner said the passion to do better than the opponent keeps him going.

"I can't speak for Virat, obviously, but it's almost like we got this thing in us when we go (out to the middle) we need to prove people wrong, prove someone wrong."

"If you're in that contest, and if I'm going at him for example, you're thinking, 'Alright, I'm going to score more runs than him, I'm going to take a quick single on him'. You are trying to better that person in that game. That's where the passion comes from."

Warner also explained how he breaks down a match into smaller competitions.

"Obviously you want to win the game but you almost break it down to: If I can score more runs than Virat, or if Pujara scores more runs than Steve Smith, you have these little contests and that's how you try to narrow the game in the sense that if we do these little things, we can be ahead of the game or we can be behind the game.

"The passion is driven by...I know my sense - one, the will to win and two, wanting to do better than that person in the opposition," said Warner.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Hamilton, Jan 28: No one sits on the seat that Mahendra Singh Dhoni made his own in the team bus, revealed India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, saying that the talismanic former skipper is missed by the side.

In a video shot inside the team bus while it was on its way to Hamilton for the third T20 International against New Zealand, Chahal is seen talking to several members of the squad including Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul.

Towards the end of the video, he moved to the rear of the bus and pointed to an empty seat which, he said, was the former captain's preferred spot before he went on a sabbatical last year.

"Yeh woh seat hai jahan ek legend baithate the. Mahi bhai. Abhi bhi yaha koi nahi baithata. Hum unhe bohot miss karte hai (This is the seat that used to be occupied a legend. MS Dhoni. No one sits here now. We miss him a lot)," Chahal said in the video posted on 'bcci.tv'.

The-38-year-old Dhoni has not played a competitive game since the World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand on July 9. Earlier this month, Dhoni was dropped from the BCCI's list of centrally contracted players, raising fresh doubts on his future.

However, on the same day, Dhoni returned to training, batting fluently in the Jharkhand team nets.

Head coach Ravi Shastri has hinted that the celebrated wicketkeeper-batsman might retire from ODIs soon but will be in contention for a T20 World Cup berth provided he does well for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

The Indian team lead the five-match T20 series against New Zealand 2-0.

Virat Kohli's men will take on the hosts in the third T20 here on Wednesday.

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