Super start for Chennai

September 23, 2013

Super_startRanchi: Sep 23: Riding on a solid batting performance, the formidable Chennai Super Kings opened their Champions League Twenty20 campaign in style, defeating South Africa’s Titans by four wickets in a high-scoring encounter here on Sunday.

Michael Hussey (47) and Suresh Raina (47) clobbered the Titans bowlers to add 89 runs in just 44 balls for the second-wicket, which swung the match decisively in CSK’s favour.

Off the field, CSK supremo N Srinivasan might be facing a lot of trouble but on the field, his players did not have any discomfort in chasing down a daunting target of 186 with seven balls to spare. Dwayne Bravo too played an enterprising innings of 26-balls 38, laced with four fours and two sixes, as Chennai scored 187 for six in 18.5 overs. Hussey and Raina negated AB de Villiers’ whirlwind half-century for the Titans in the first innings as the CSK squeezed their way to a comprehensive win.

De Villiers would have thought the job was done after his 36-ball 77 helped the Titans post a daunting target for Chennai. However, Hussey and Raina made proficient use of an insipid line bowled by the Titan bowlers and stitched a match-winning partnership after the early loss of opener Murali Vijay (0), who was bowled by an arm ball by Roelof van der Merwe. The Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium again witnessed a brief power failure when one of the floodlights conked off and players left the arena. After a brief stoppage, players came back on the field and Merwe completed the first over.

Titan bowlers erred by feeding Hussey and Raina with short-pitched deliveries that were dispatched to the deep mid-wicket fence on most occasions. Both put on display their prolific shotmaking and quick running between the wickets as they brought the home crowd to their feet.

The pair was separated in the eighth over when Morkel caught Raina off David Wiese at mid-off. Raina’s 28-ball knock was laced with five fours and two sixes.

Hussey too made his way back to the pavillion after being caught by de Villiers at mid-off. Hussey faced 26 deliveries and hit seven fours and one six.

Dwayne Bravo and S Badrinath combined well for the fourth wicket and took Chennai from 114 for three in 10 overs to 172 for four. Bravo showed no mercy to Titans bowlers as he continued the onslaught and struck two sixes during his innings to take Chennai within sniffing distance of victory.

Just at the business end of the innings, Chennai lost three quick wickets in the form of Bravo, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (7) and Ravindra Jadeja (0) but Albie Morkel (4) and Badrinath ensured no more casualties.

Earlier, de Villiers’s hurricane knock and skipper Davids’ responsible 52 paved the way for Titans’ challenging total against the home favourites.

Sent in to bat, South African T20 runners-up Titans built on the 39-ball 76-run partnership between Davids and de Villiers for the second wicket to post a competitive total. De Villiers played a whirlwind knock and treated the CSK bowlers with disdain. The right-hander was at his destructive best and blasted as many as seven sixes and three fours during his brutal display of strokeplay.

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News Network
June 22,2020

Zadar (Croatia), Jun 22: Grigor Dimitrov took to Instagram to announce that he has tested positive for coronavirus. The tennis star was one of the players who took part in the Adria Tour with the likes Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem among others.

Taking to Instagram, the player wrote: "Hi Everyone-I want to reach out and let my fans and friends know that I tested positive back in Monaco for Covid-19. I want to make sure anyone who has been in contact with me during these past days gets tested and takes the necessary precautions. I am so sorry for any harm I might have caused. I am back home now and recovering. Thanks for your support and please stay safe and healthy."

He also urged those who had come in contact with him over the last few days in Monaco should also get tested for the deadly virus.

Meanwhile, World no.1 Djokovic reached the final of his exhibition tournament in Zadar, Croatia, after easing through the round-robin group stage on the first day. This is the second stage of the Adria Tour with Austrian Dominic Thiem winning the first leg in Belgrade, Serbia.

Djokovic started by saving three set points in his 4-3, 4-1 win over fellow Serb Pedja Krstin. He then beat home favourite Borna Coric 4-1, 4-3 in front of several thousand fans at the Visnjik tennis complex.

The tournament in Zadar is being played on red clay over two days. In the other group, Russian Andrey Rublev is in pole position to advance into the final after wins over 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic and Serb Danilo Petrovic. He faces German star Alexander Zverev in the final round robin match on Sunday who stayed in contention after beating Cilic 4-3, 0-4, 4-3.

Djokovic''s own inconsequential final group match is against Croatian Dino Serdarusic who replaced Grigor Dimitrov after the Bulgarian pulled out of the tournament with sickness following his opening 4-1, 4-1 loss to Coric.

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News Network
May 26,2020

Mumbai, May 26: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that if he was playing currently he and Virat Kohli would have been the best of friends off the field, but real enemies whenever they stepped on the field.

Akhtar also said that he would have liked to challenge Kohli to drive the ball.

"Virat Kohli and I would have been the best of friends as both of us are Punjabi, but on the field, we would have been the best of the enemies. I would have loved to get inside the head of Kohli. I would have told him that you cannot play a cut or pull shot against me," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I would have gone wide of the crease and bowled a ball that would go away from him, I would have forced him to drive the ball as it is his favourite shot. So I would keep forcing him to play the drive shot at my pace," he added.

Akhtar also said that he wishes that Kohli could have played against some of the top bowlers in the game.

The Rawalpindi Express said that Kohli would have enjoyed the challenge of facing bowlers like Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, and Waqar Younis.

"I would also keep talking to him, because if I get him to lose his focus then that would have been great. The great thing about Kohli is that he gets more focused when he is challenged. But I believe Virat Kohli would have still scored the same amount of runs if I was playing," Akhtar said.

"I really wish that he had played against Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shane Warne, and then Virat would have also enjoyed the challenge," he added.

Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

Over the years, comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have been growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in second place in the Tests rankings.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

Dubai, Jan 11: India opener KL Rahul has retained the sixth position while skipper Virat Kohli and left-hander Shikhar Dhawan have advanced one place each in the latest ICC Men's T20I player rankings after the conclusion of the series against Sri Lanka.

India won the T20I series 2-0 with one match getting washed out. Rahul, the highest-ranked Indian batsman, has gained 26 points and is now at the sixth spot with 760 rating points.

Rahul is just six points behind Australia's Glenn Maxwell after scores of 45 and 54 in his two innings against Sri Lanka.

Kohli, top-ranked in Tests and ODIs, is in the ninth position while Dhawan is on 15th. Manish Pandey has advanced four places and is ranked at the 70th.

India's fast bowlers have made notable gains in the first T20I update of the year and would be encouraged as they prepare for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia.

Player of the series Navdeep Saini has rocketed from 146 places to 98th while Shardul Thakur has re-entered in 92nd position after both finished with five wickets in the series. Jaspreet Bumrah has gained eight places to reach the 39th position.

For Sri Lanka, Dhananjaya de Silva has gained 72 places to reach 115th among batsmen after aggregating 74 runs while spinner Lakshan Sandakan has moved up 10 places to reach 29th position after grabbing three wickets in the series.

In the ICC Men's team rankings, India have gained two points but remain at fifth position with 260 points, while Sri Lanka have lost two points and now have 236 points and are at the eighth spot.

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