Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets

Agencies
May 5, 2019

May 5: Shimron Hetmyer and Gurkeerat Singh Mann engineered an incredible turnaround that will linger long in IPL memory, powering Royal Challengers Bangalore to a four-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday.

Both Hetmyer and Gurkeerat hit blazing fifties as RCB recovered from a hopelessly placed 20 for three in the third over to reach the 176-run target with four balls to spare.

The win meant RCB ended what has been a forgettable season on a positive note, while SRH's hopes of securing a playoffs berth were kept on standby.

During their 144-run partnership for the fourth wicket, Hetmyer smashed half a dozen sixes and four boundaries for his 47-ball 75, while Gurkeerat made 65 in 48 deliveries with the help of eight fours and one maximum.

This was the first time that RCB had a hundred-plus partnership since 2013 when Kohli and De Villiers were not involved.

After Parthiv Patel was dismissed early by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Virat Kohli made his presence felt with two delightful strokes -- a straight-driven boundary and a flicked six -- but the mainstay nicked a length ball to stun the home crowd.

More trouble was in store for RCB as they lost AB de Villiers, who snicked Bhuvneshwar to the first slip where Martin Guptill took a neat catch.

RCB were tottering at 20 for three in the third over but Shimron Hetmyer and Gurkeerat Singh Mann had other ideas.

It rained sixes and fours as the duo of Hetmyer and Gurkeerat blunted the opposition attack with their exemplary batting, bringing the smiles back on the face of skipper Kohli and the faces of their players.

Gurkeerat was content to play second fiddle to Hetmyer initially when the Guyanese was dealing in fours and sixes but opened up later.

Earlier, Kane Williamson dealt in fours and sixes as Sunrisers Hyderabad plundered 28 runs in the final over to reach a challenging 175 for seven.

SRH were 147 for seven at the end of the 19th over but Williamson cut loose after that, smashing Umesh Yadav for two sixes and as many fours to finish the innings on a high.

Williamson remained not out on 70 off 43 balls, hitting four sixes and five fours at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

To make matters worse for Yadav, he was wrongly called for a no-ball by umpire Nigel Llong.

Sent into bat, SRH were off to a brisk start with Martin Guptill and Wriddhiman Saha (20) putting on 46 runs for the opening wicket in 4.3 overs, but the keeper-batsman failed to clear pacer Navdeep Saini as the visitors lost their first wicket.

After the addition of another 14 runs to the team total, SRH lost their second wicket when Guptill was dismissed by Washington Sundar for a 23-ball 30.

Manish Pandey, who stretched Mumbai Indians with his brave half-century in their last game, fell cheaply, for nine, leaving the visitors in some trouble at 61 for three in the eighth over.

Picked in the World Cup-bound Indian team for his 'three-dimensional' abilities, Vijay Shankar raced to 27 with the help of three sixes but again failed to translate the start into a big score.

Shankar was Sundar's third scalp of the evening and Yuzvendra Chahal picked up his 100th wicket in the IPL when he lured Yusuf Pathan into playing an irresponsible shot to leave Sunrisers at 127 for five in the final ball of 16th over.

Even as wickets fell at regular intervals, Williamson looked to rotate the strike and also go for the big hits.

Barring the opening stand, the only partnership that flourished a bit was the one between Williamson and Shankar, who ended up giving a catch while going for a slog sweep.

Williamson brought up his fifty in style, hoicking Yadav over long off for a six and followed that with some more lusty hits.

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Agencies
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Expressing solidarity with the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign, star West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has alleged that he faced racist remarks during his career and cricket is not free of the menace.

Gayle did not elaborate when he faced racial remarks but hinted it might have been during his stints at global T20 leagues.

"I have travelled the globe and experienced racial remarks towards me because I am black, believe me, the list goes on," he posted on instagram on Monday night.

"Racism is not only in football, it's in cricket too. Even within teams as a black man, I get the end of the stick. Black and powerful. Black and proud," he said.

The big-hitting batsman's comments came in the backdrop of African-American George Floyd's death in the USA after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on the handcuffed man's neck as he gasped for breath.

The incident has sparked violent protests across the USA.

"Black lives matter just like any other life. Black people matter, p***k all racist people, stop taking black people for fools, even our own black people wise the p***k up and stop bringing down your own!," Gayle wrote.

Racism in cricket was drew attention most recently last year when England pacer Jofra Archer was abused by a spectator in New Zealand.

New Zealand's top players and the cricket board had offered apologies for the incident to the Englishman.

Also on Monday night, the England cricket team's official twitter handle posted a message denouncing racism.

"We stand for diversity, We stand against racism," the message read.

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Agencies
April 15,2020

Former Australia batsman Mike Hussey has heaped praise on MS Dhoni, saying the veteran Indian wicketkeeper-batsman is the "greatest finisher" the game of cricket has ever seen.

"Dhoni is the greatest finisher of all time that the cricketing world has ever produced," Hussey said while speaking to Sanjay Manjrekar on ESPNcricinfo's Videocast.

"Dhoni can keep his cool and make the opposition captain blink first. Dhoni also has unbelievable power. He knows that when he needs to clear the ropes, he can do it. He has that kind of self-belief. Honestly, I didn't have that kind of belief in myself," he added.

The former Australian batsman, who shared the dressing room with Dhoni for the Chennai Super Kings, said the 38-year-old Indian believes in the philosophy that he who panics last, wins the game.

"I tried not to let it reach 12 or 13 runs an over," said Hussey while talking about his ability to finish the game without much hiccups.

"And I learnt this from MS Dhoni. He is incredible. He believes that he who panics last wins the game. So Dhoni would keep his cool, and keep it longer because the pressure is on the bowler as well," he added.

The 44-year-old believes that the greatest players of the game have a few common traits like "they don't hang on to a defeat for too long. If they lose, they move on quickly. They don't let a loss or a win hamper their thinking".

"They are always consistent, and level headed whether it's MS Dhoni or Ricky Ponting."

Hussey, who played 59 IPL matches for CSK, further revealed the secret about the franchise's success in the Indian Premier League.

"And I learnt this from MS Dhoni. He is incredible. He believes that he who panics last wins the game. So Dhoni would keep his cool, and keep it longer because the pressure is on the bowler as well," he added.

The 44-year-old believes that the greatest players of the game have a few common traits like "they don't hang on to a defeat for too long. If they lose, they move on quickly. They don't let a loss or a win hamper their thinking".

"They are always consistent, and level headed whether it's MS Dhoni or Ricky Ponting."

Hussey, who played 59 IPL matches for CSK, further revealed the secret about the franchise's success in the Indian Premier League.

"Supportive owners who let coach Stephen Fleming and captain Dhoni decide how to run the team, excellent chemistry between the coach and the captain, Dhoni's leadership and lastly the foresight of the owners, Fleming and Dhoni to pick the best players, particularly the good Indian players and then stick with them for as long as possible."

"This has built an excellent continuity in the team. And once you have continuity, you build relationships and trust that otherwise takes time to grow," he added.

Hussey also said that once Dhoni bids adieu to the game, CSK would probably like to start all over again.

"That's a 60-million-dollar question, and I am equally intrigued. I believe the owners would like to keep Dhoni involved in some way or the other," said Hussey.

"However, whenever the change of guard happens, CSK might want to start all over again, build a brand, new team, and use their existing philosophy as they enter the next decade of IPL. It is definitely going to be more challenging in current times," he added.

Dhoni was supposed to lead CSK in the 13th IPL edition which now stands postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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News Network
January 31,2020

Wellington, Jan 31: A nervous New Zealand threw it away yet again as a perseverant India prevailed in the Super Over for the second successive time to take a 4-0 lead in the T20 International series on Friday.

Needing just 11 runs off the last two overs with seven wickets in hand, New Zealand dug a hole for themselves yet again, taking the game to a Super Over two nights after doing the same in Hamilton.

New Zealand managed 13 runs in six balls and India got there effortlessly.

KL Rahul smashed 10 runs off the first two balls before he was caught. Then, a fired-up Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson finished the game in style.

Earlier, Manish Pandey proved his value to the team with an unbeaten 50 off 35 balls, taking India to 165 for eight from 88 for six in the 12th over.

India's total wasn't enough considering the batting-friendly conditions but the hosts made life a lot tougher for themselves from a commanding position before succumbing to pressure.

The entertaining knocks from Colin Munro (64 off 47) and Time Seifert went in vain (57 off 39).

Mohammed Shami, who was rested on Friday, had bowled a brilliant 20th over on Wednesday and man of the match Shardul Thakur was up to the task this time, conceding just six runs when the opposition needed seven for victory.

With the series already in the bag, India gave opportunity to Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini for the first time in the five-match series, resting Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Shami. However, none of them was able to make an impact in the game.

Chasing 165, New Zealand lost Martin Guptill early. But Munro and Seifert put on 74 runs for the second wicket to put themselves on track.

Munro scored a half-century of 38 deliveries, inclusive of six fours and three sixes. He was out against the run of play as Kohli's direct hit surprisingly found the target after a relay throw from the deep.

It was the turning point as New Zealand lost regular wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled Tom Bruce (0), but Seifert found a partner in Ross Taylor as they pushed the score past 150 in the 18th over.

Seifert scored a half-century off 32 balls, including four fours and three sixes. But the great choke was yet to come again. Needing 18 off 18, the Black Caps lost four wickets in the last over bowled by Thakur.

Taylor holed out of the first ball, while Seifert was run out two balls later. Daryl Mitchell (4) was caught next and Mitchell Santner (2) couldn't steal two runs off the last ball as the sides engaged in a tie-breaker for the second game running.

This was after New Zealand won a fourth consecutive toss and opted to field. Kane Williamson didn't take part in the match owing to a shoulder niggle.

Tim Southee was the stand-in skipper, with the Black Caps making two changes.

Put in to bat, the visitors were struggling at 88-6 at one stage before Pandey's lonesome rescue act took them to a respectable total. KL Rahul contributed 39 runs off 26 balls, inclusive of three sixes and two fours.

Leg spinner Ish Sodhi got into the act and ran through India's batting order. First to go was Shreyas Iyer (1) and then Shivam Dube (12) was caught at mid-wicket.

Sodhi finished with 3-26 while Santner dismissed Sundar for nought as the New Zealand spinners rounded up a good outing with 4-54 in eight overs.

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