Uthappa, Nair tons power Karnataka

March 12, 2014

Nair_tonsKolkata, March 12: Skipper Vinay Kumar grabbed a five-wicket haul after Robin Uthappa and Karun Nair hit individual centuries to lead Karnataka’s recovery and guide the team to a 27-run win over Gujarat in their quarterfinal match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, here on Tuesday.

Vinay returned figures of five for 85 in his 12 overs to dismiss Gujarat for 274 in 48.2 overs. Karnataka had scored 301 for seven in 50 overs after being invited to bat at the Jadavpur University Complex ground.

Karnataka were struggling at 31/4 in the eighth over before opener Uthappa (132 not out) and Nair (120) put up a marvellous batting effort and stitched a 209-run partnership.

Uthappa faced 135 balls and hit 10 fours and three sixes while his younger partner Nair hit 14 boundaries and a six in his 121-ball knock, which turned out to be his maiden List A century.

The duo consolidated the partnership after Jasprit Bumrah (4/58) and Kamlesh Thakor (2/57) claimed two wickets apiece to rattle Karnataka. Bumrah and Thakor removed top-order batsmen - Mayank Aggarwal (0), Manish Pandey (8), Ganesh Satish (0) and K L Rahul (0).

Gujarat, in reply, lost early wickets as the top-order batsmen failed to stitch big partnerships. Pacer Abhimanyu Mithun picked three batsmen, including Venugopala Rao (15) to dent Gujarat’s run-chase.

Rujul Bhatt made 67 and Akshar Patel scored a quick-fire 93 as the duo added 139 runs to raise Gujarat’s hopes of overhauling the target after they were 75 for four in 16.2 overs.

Gujarat required 88 off 68 balls when the fifth-wicket stand between the two ended, courtesy Bhatt’s run-out. Rohit Dahiya (30 off 23) hit some lusty blows but Vinay Kumar skittled the lower-middle order.

Patel smashed 12 fours in his 78-ball knock while Bhatt’s innings came off 93 balls and included three fours. Karnataka will face the winners of Services and Jharkhand in the semifinals, which will be held on March 14 at the same venue.

KARNATAKA: Robin Uthappa (not out) 132, Mayank Agarwal b Bumrah 0, Manish Pandey b Bumrah 8, Ganesh Satish lbw Thakor 0, KL Rahul c Patel b Thakor 0, Karun Nair b A Patel 120, Amit Verma c Dhurv b Bumrah 13, R Vinay Kumar b Bumrah 3, Extras (B-4, LB-9, W-12) 25. Total (7 wickets; 50 overs) 301.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-30, 3-31, 4-31, 5-240, 6-274, 7-301.

Bowling: Jasprit Bumrah 12-1-58-4, Kamlesh Thakor 10-1-57-2, Rohit Dahiya 9-0-56-0, Akshar Patel 8-0-54-1, Rakesh Dhurv 9-0-48-0, Jesal Karia 2-0-15-0.

GUJARAT: Parthiv Patel c Rahul b Vinay 4, Rajdeep Darbar b Mithun 15, Rujul Bhatt (run out) 67, Y Venugopala Rao c Kazi b Mithun 15, Abdulahad Malek c Rahul b Mithun 12, Akshar Patel c Agarwal b Vinay 93, Jesal Karia c Verma b Vinay 17, Rohit Dahiya c Pandey b Vinay 30, Rakesh Dhruv c&b Vinay 4, Jasprit Bumrah b Sharath 1, Kamlesh Thakor (not out) 3. Extras (B-1, LB-4, W-8) 13. Total (all out, 48.2 overs) 274.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-36, 3-55, 4-71, 5-211, 6-215, 7-260, 8-267, 9-267.

Bowlers: Vinay Kumar 12-0-85-5, HS Sharath 9.2-0-33-1, A Mithun 9-0-51-3, Karun Nair 5-0-25-0, Ganesh Satish 1-0-8-0, Abrar Kazi 9-0-45-0, Robin Uthappa 2-0-17-0, Amit Verma 1-0-5-0.

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News Network
January 3,2020

Jeddah, Jan 3: Spanish driver Fernando Alonso is aiming to create history as the first Formula One world champion to win the Dakar Rally when the 12-day marathon gets underway in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

Alonso, who won the F1 championship with Renault in 2005 and 2006, is one of 351 starters in this year's 7,500 km race which has moved from South America to Saudi Arabia, both venues a long way from the original 1979 route between Paris and the Senegalese capital Dakar.

Among the starters will be motorbikes, quad bikes and trucks but Alonso, who will have five-time bike champion Marc Coma navigating his Toyota, will be in the car category as he bids to become one of the greatest all-round drivers of all time.

Apart from his success in F1, the 38-year-old Spaniard has also won the Le Mans 24-hour race and has singled out the Indianapolis 500 as his priority for 2020. He describes Dakar as “the biggest challenge of my career”.

Alonso is not the first F1 driver to take part in the race, however.

The Belgian Jacky Ickx, a winner of eight grand prix and six-time winner of Le Mans, won Dakar in 1983 and came second in 1986 and 1989. Frenchman Patrick Tambay, who had two wins in his 114 grand prix, came third in 1988 and 1989.

Given the treacherous conditions--long stretches of sand dunes--Alonso is not overly confident of challenging for victory, noting that even the nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb was unable to deliver when he raced the Dakar. Loeb won 13 stages but could only finish second in 2017 and third in 2019.

“If Loeb still hasn't won the Dakar, imagine me, who is coming from asphalt,” Alonso told RTVE. “I think the goal is more to approach the rally as an enriching experience for us.”

Fellow Toyota driver Nasser Al-Attiyah is a more likely candidate, not least because the Qatari is a three-time winner and reigning champion.

"Give me some sand and I'm happy," Al-Attiyah told dakar.com.

He will be pressed, however, by the Minis of Carlos Sainz and 'Monsieur Dakar' aka Stephane Peterhansel who has won 13 Dakars across bikes and cars in 30 races.

“We are obviously very excited about the Dakar in Saudi Arabia. It will be a new challenge for everyone,” said Peterhansel who will be partnered by Paulo Fiuza after the Frenchman's wife Andrea pulled out for health reasons.

“Unfortunately, it is not possible to contest the rally with Andrea, as was planned, however I have known Paulo Fiuza for a very long time. According to the organisers, the navigation will be very complicated and play a major role this time.”

Cyril Despres, a five-time winner on bikes, is also back with a new teammate -- explorer Mike Horn.

“I was stuck in the ice for a month, and now I'm heading to Jeddah. For the first time, the Dakar Rally is in Saudi Arabia and I'm doing it with a very good friend of mine, Cyril Despres,” tweeted Horn whose adventures include an 18-month solo journey around the equator without using any motorised transport.

Horn is also the first man to travel without dogs or transport to the North Pole during winter, in permanent darkness.

Across the dunes of Saudi Arabia that experience may come in handy.

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News Network
July 24,2020

Dubai, Jul 24: The eagerly-awaited Indian Premier League will start on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the final slated on November 8, IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel told PTI on Friday.

While the event's Governing Council will meet next week to chalk out the final details and approve the schedule, it is understood that the BCCI has informally intimated the franchises about the plan.

"The GC will meet shortly but we have finalised the schedule. It will run from September 19 to November 8. We expect the government approval to come through. It is a full 51-day IPL," Patel confirmed the development after PTI reported the dates on Thursday.

The IPL has been made possible by the ICC's decision to postpone the October-November T20 World Cup in Australia owing to the COVID-19 pandemic due to which the host country expressed its inability to conduct the event.

Patel said that the Standard Operating Procedure to combat the COVID-19 threat is being prepared and the BCCI will formally write to the Emirates Cricket Board.

"We are making the SOP and it will be ready in a few days. To allow crowd or not depends on the UAE government. Anyway social distancing has to be maintained. We have left it for their government to decide on that. Will also be writing to the UAE board formally," Patel said.

There are three grounds available in the UAE -- Dubai International Stadium, Sheikh Zayed Stadium (Abu Dhabi) and the Sharjah ground.

It is learnt that the BCCI will be renting the grounds of the ICC Academy for training of the teams.

The ICC Academy has two full-sized cricket grounds along with 38 turf pitches, 6 indoor pitches, a 5700 square foot outdoor conditioning area along with physiotherapy and medicine centre.

As per the current health protocol in Dubai, there is no need to be in quarantine if people are carrying a negative COVID-19 test report, but if they are not, they will have to undergo a test.

While there was speculation that the IPL will start from September 26, the BCCI decided to advance it by a week in order to ensure that the Indian team's tour of Australia is not jeopardised.

"The Indian team will have a mandatory quarantine of 14 days as per the Australian government rules. A delay would have sent the plans haywire," a BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

"The best part is that 51 days is not at all a curtailed period and broadcasters will be happy with full seven-week window," he added.

While the original schedule had five double-headers, Patel said the new one will feature around 12 double-headers which means two matches each on both Saturdays and Sundays.

The Indians are set to play a four-match Test series against Australia starting December 3 in Brisbane after the IPL.

It is expected that with each and every team needing at least a month's time to train, the IPL franchises will be leaving base by August 20 which gives them exactly four weeks time to prepare.

The cash-rich event was originally scheduled to start at the end of March but the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions that were put in place to contain the virus, led to an indefinite postponement.

However, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had always maintained that the event will be held some time this year.

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July 19,2020

Manchester, Jul 19: Former England pacer Dominic Cork reckons star all-rounder Ben Stokes will go on to become one of his country's greatest cricketers ever.

Stokes, the hero of England's World Cup triumph last year, sparkled with a fine 176 and powered his side to a strong first-inning total of 469/9 declared in the ongoing second Test against the West Indies here.

"I genuinely think he can get better because of his work ethic. He wants to bat, he wants to bowl, he wants to work on his game, wants to get better," Cork said on Sky Sports show The Cricket Debate.

"I know he works a hell of a lot on his bowling as well. I just see this man not becoming only the best in the world but one of the best we have had ever. That's how highly I rate him."

The former seamer thought things changed for better for the World Cup hero after the Bristol bar brawl three years ago.

Last year, Stokes himself had said that the unsavoury incident and the ensuing chain of events, which dogged his career for 15 months, may be the best thing that could have happened to him.

Following the incident in September 2017, Stokes was acquitted of affray by a Bristol court in August 2018, before the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) ended his 15-month exile after a hearing in December 2018.

Former England batsman Ravi Bopara also spoke about the remarkable change in Stokes' approach.

"I think there has definitely been a change with Ben. He has made his mistakes and learnt from them. He looks a formidable cricketer," he said.

"He is a fiery character and always has been - even if you are playing PlayStation in hotel rooms.

"But as he has had a more important role in the side as an all-rounder, making an impact with bat and ball, winning games for England, and since England have started looking at him as the main guy, his attitude has changed with it."

West Indies lead the three-match series 1-0 after their win in the opener at Southamton.

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