Chennai Super Kings demolish Delhi Daredevils

April 22, 2014

Kings_demolishAbu Dhabi, Apr 22: After their first loss against the Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings under the stewardship of the Indian skipper M S Dhoni wanted to win.

They wanted to win badly. And, Delhi Daredevils suffered as the formidable outfit batted, bowled and fielded brilliantly to massacre them by 93 runs, CSK’s biggest margin of victory in the Indian Premier League.

CSK’s batting line-up is the most ruthless among the teams in this tournament. Although Brendon McCullum lost his wicket early, everybody else in the top five chipped in. Suresh Raina, among the most reliable t20 batsmen in the Indian team, paced his knock really well to score 56 off 41 deliveries. Dwayne Smith (28) and Faf du Plessis (24) got starts, while Dhoni scored a superb 32 off 15 deliveries towards the end, an innings which will probably be best remembered for a booming straight drive against the bowling of speedster Jaidev Unadkat. Unadkat showed fantastic reflexes to get out of the ball’s way. Had he been fractionally slower, he might have been seriously injured.

CSK’s total of 177 for 7 was made possible largely due to the listless and wayward bowling of Mohammed Shami, who gave away 45 runs in his four overs. J P Duminy (0 for 26) who opened the bowling, Unadkat (3 for 32) and Jimmy Neesham (1 for 29) bowled well without being exceptional. Shahbaz Nadeem (1 for 29 in 3 overs) was expensive, and replacing him in the next match doesn’t appear to be beyond the realms of possibility.

DD’s response was a feeble one. The team was all out for 84, with only Jimmy Neesham (22) and skipper Dinesh Karthik managing to reach the 20s. CSK’s comprehensive win was helped by top class fielding, with not a single catch being spilled and Raina and du Plessis being particularly exceptional while holding on to the aerial balls that came their way. The inclusion of seamer Ben Hilfenhaus (1 for 9 in 2 overs) proved to be a worthy decision, and young Ishwar Pandey (2 for 23) who hit the deck and made the ball talk showed why he is being spoken of as a serious Indian prospect for sometime.

The solitary criticism of the CSK is why Dhoni isn’t coming up the batting order and giving himself more time before launching an assault on the bowlers. All said and done, however, the team won the match by a comprehensive margin. The facts of figures tell the story

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Former India women's team captain Anjum Chopra firmly believes that the BCCI has a plan for women's cricket but she wants the Board to communicate its ideas more specifically.

Speaking to news agency, Chopra, who is now a successful broadcaster, said the BCCI is thinking in earnest about the progress of women's cricket.

"It's not that the BCCI is not thinking about women's cricket. I only think they need to be more specific in communication about women's cricket," Chopra said.

"I firmly believe that they must be thinking about women's cricket but the communication all this while has been very specific to men's cricket."

The latest trigger for criticism of BCCI was India's withdrawal from a tour of England in September owing to logistical issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chopra concedes it was "not nice" but Indian players' participation in the women's IPL, in November, will still be useful preparation for next year's ODI World Cup.

"It is heartening to see women's cricket making headlines. They should have been a part of that England tour and it did not feel nice initially but the women's IPL, irrespective of the format, will be helpful for World Cup preparations. Any form of cricket is good preparation," Chopra said.

"Missing out on a tournament is not nice, but logistically there may have been issues. And you can't send an under-prepared team."

"If you see in isolation we may have missed out on an opportunity to play in England. The more the girls play the better it is, before playing a tournament of the stature of World Cup. The assurance from the president is a very good thing."

Chopra welcomed the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI's decision to hold the women's event in the UAE alongside the IPL, which will run from September 19 to November 10. The women's IPL will coincide with the business end of the men's league.

"I am definitely happy, it's always nice to be part of any cricket anywhere across the world.

"They should have been nearing the final stages of the preparation for the World Cup by now, but because of the pandemic things did not go as planned," she added.

Chopra had a successful international career spanning over 17 years, during which she represented India in a record six World Cups and became the first woman cricketer to appear in 100 One-day Internationals.

She also felt that the pandemic would not have much impact on the women's game that has gained momentum in recent times.

"...Cricket was on pause button...Once cricket resumes and players are back on the park, everything is going to get picked up. It might take some time to get started as everything starts from zero...

"The awareness the women's game has created, I hope it stays. They will just restart, not start after the pandemic."

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News Network
July 2,2020

Jul 2: Cricket Australia has decided to not use the Dukes ball from this summer's Sheffield Shield, having used it alongside Kookaburra for four seasons.

CA has confirmed that the Kookaburra ball will be used for the entire 2020-21 first-class season.

Australia has been using Dukes ball since the 2016-17 season in Shield matches with an aim to help its cricketers prepare for the hostile English conditions.

CA's Head of Cricket Operations, Peter Roach, said the decision to axe the Dukes was the right call. "The introduction of the Dukes ball has been a worthwhile exercise, particularly in the lead up to overseas Ashes series where the Dukes is used so well by our English opponents," Roach said.

"We have been happy with how the ball has performed when used in Australian conditions over the past four seasons. We do, however, feel that reverting to one ball for 2020-21 will provide the consistent examination of our players over a full season that CA and the states are presently seeking. The Kookaburra is the ball used for international cricket in Australia and many parts of the world and we see benefits this season of maximising our use of it," he added.

Roach said the ineffectiveness of spinners in first-class cricket in recent times played a role in CA's decision to do away with the Dukes. "We have noted that spin bowlers in the Sheffield Shield have been playing less of a role in recent seasons, most notably in games when the Dukes ball is in use. We need spinners bowling in first-class cricket and we need our batters facing spin. We hope that the change to one ball will have a positive benefit here," he said.

The CA official, however, didn't rule out the possibility of re-introducing it later.

"We see a definite opportunity to reintroduce the Dukes ball at some stage in the future."

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News Network
May 30,2020

New Delhi, May 30: Former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand will be finally reaching India late on Saturday after being stuck in Germany for over three months due to the travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yes.. Anand will be returning today," the chess maestro's wife Aruna told PTI on Saturday morning. Anand, who boarded an Air India flight (AI-120) from Frankfurt on Friday night will reach Bengaluru via Delhi.

He is expected to reach Bengaluru at 1.15 pm. The five-time world champion will undergo 14 days quarantine as per rules laid down by the Karnataka government.

"He will complete quarantine procedures and come to Chennai as per protocol," Aruna Anand said. The flights from Germany are only scheduled to land only in Delhi and Bengaluru.

The chess ace was in Germany to play in the Bundesliga chess league and was to return to India, but was forced to stay put after the COVID-19 outbreak disrupted sporting schedules across the globe, apart from restricting movement.

He was staying near Frankfurt and was doing online commentary for the Candidates tournament which was called off mid-way due to the pandemic and led the Indian team in the Online Nations Cup early this month.

Anand had been in touch with his family in Chennai on a regular basis via video calls and kept himself busy with chess-related work.

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