Kieron Pollard powers Mumbai to first win

April 7, 2013

Pollard

Chennai, Apr 7: When three top line bowlers strike in their opening over, and two others in their second in this blink-and-you-miss format, one can safely assume that the combined effort, more often than not, will hand their team the winning advantage.

It certainly appeared so for two-time champion Chennai in their opening match at Chepauk on Saturday, until West Indian Kieron Pollardturned it around for Mumbai with abreathtaking 57 not out (38 balls; 4x4, 5x6) to lift his team to a fighting 148-6.

Batting-heavy Chennai struggled early on with their chase as they managed just 36 for the loss of two wickets in the Powerplay period of the first six overs, and were never quite in the hunt until MS Dhoniturned the contest on its head with a stunning 26-ball 51 (5x4, 3x6).

Chennai needed 12 from the final over by pacer Munaf Patel when off the first ball when Pollard got into the act again, pulling off a mind-boggling catch on the midwicket fence to dismiss Dhoni as Chennai lost by nine runs after finishing at 139-9.

Chennai must have felt the absence of South Africa allrounder Albie Morkel , but the new ball pair of Dirk Nannes and Ankit Rajpoot couldn't have got off to a better start on their debut for Chennai after sending back Sachin Tendulkar (0) and Ricky Ponting (6) in their for first and second overs respectively.

Dwayne Bravo then struck in successive overs to dismiss Rohit Sharma (8) and the in-formDinesh Karthik (37) to derail star-studded Mumbai, which had lost a cliffhanger to Bangalore on Thursday.

Australian pacer Ben Laughlin had Ambati Rayudu caught at third man to leave Mumbai struggling at 75-5, and it appeared to be curtains when India spinner Ashwin had Dwayne Smithcaught by Bravo in his first over.

Only, it is never quite over as long as Pollard is around, as the big-hitting West Indian smashed five sixes and four boundaries in his 38-ball knock and put on 65 off 48 balls for the unbroken seventh wicket with Harbhajan Singh.

India spinner Ravindra Jadeja let go off a difficult caught and bowled opportunity that Pollard offered on 18 and the effortless striker that Pollard is, hit Ashwin and Bravo for two sixes each and one off Jadeja as he helped Mumbai add 52 runs in the last five overs without losing a wicket.

Mumbai were without their pace ace Lasith Malinga, but pacers Mitch Johnson and Munaf Patel struck early blows before off-spinner Harbhajan Singh clean bowled Hussey for 20.

Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha struck in quick succession to dismiss Bravo and Badrinath.

Kevon Cooper's brilliant last over helps Rajasthan clinch thriller

Kevon-CooperNew Delhi, Apr 7: Kevon Cooper is a largely unknown quantity. The Trinidad and Tobagoallrounder has done very little in this event apart from briefly shining for Rajasthan last year.

After a spectacular start in 2012, when he picked up seven wickets in his first two matches, Cooper fell off the radar when he was sidelined with a fractured right knee. On Saturday, he pulled a rabbit out of the hat by bowling a dream last over as Rajasthan secured an unlikely five-run win at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Given the task of bowling the final over where Delhi needed just nine runs to win, Cooper dismissed Botha (2) with his third ball and with six to win off two balls, sent back his West Indies counterpart Andre Russell (7).

Delhi almost had the match in the bag with David Warner leading the stiff 166-run chase. Warner had the Kotla crowd swooning to his tune with his 56-ball 77 (1x6, 9x4) but his run out changed things as Delhi succumbed to their second defeat of the tournament.

The needless run out of Warner with just 13 runs to win came back to haunt Delhi.

It was a chanceless knock apart from a drop by Rahul Dravid at gully off Sreesanth when on two. Dravid was off the field for the rest of the innings after having landed awkwardly trying to take the catch. Warner opened up after his skipper Mahela Jayawardene's departure (19; 16b, 1x4) reaching his seventh fifty in the league off just 41 balls.

Earlier, Rajasthan skipper Rahul Dravid started off in the same vein as last year in his sixth season of the tournament. His methods might have been a bit crude and not quite out of the manual but results were effective nonetheless as his 51-ball 65 (2x6, 6x4) set the platform for animpressive 165/7 after Rajasthan elected to bat first.

On the day, all the calculated risks paid off as Dravid as he raced to his eighth fifty in the tournament off just 40 balls. It was his third-wicket partnership with Stuart Binny (40; 20b, 3x6, 2x4) which produced 55 runs in just 28 balls that gave Rajasthan a major push.

The target could have been for the home side, who had Umesh Yadav to thank for stopping the slide. The Nagpur paceman, returning from a back injury, looked much more impressive in his second match of the tournament, scalping 4/24 in his four overs.

Yadav mixed up his pace well, cranking it up to 147kph to keep the batsmen in check on a batting paradise. His twin strikes in the 19th over of the innings -- when he dismissed Dravid and Brad Hodge (5) off successive deliveries -- gave Delhi some relief. Ashish Nehra (2/35) complemented Yadav by bowling an excellent last over, picking up two wickets.

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News Network
March 23,2020

Colombo, Mar 23: Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara has said he is currently in self-quarantine, following his government's guidelines for those recently returning from Europe, which has now become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authorities are concerned over people returning from the most-affected COVID-19 countries in Europe not registering with the police and practising isolation.

"I have no symptoms or anything like that, but I'm following government guidelines," Sangakkara told News First.

"I arrived from London over a week ago and the first thing was there was a news bulletin saying that anyone who had travelled from within March 1 to 15 should register themselves with the police and undergo self-quarantine. I registered myself with the police."

The former captain said this even as the government confirmed there have been at least three cases of recent returnees attempting to hide the novel coronavirus symptoms from authorities.

Both Sangakkara and his former teammate Mahela Jayawardene have been active on social media, urging Sri Lankans to avoid panic and to exercise proper social distancing, as the country went into curfew on Friday evening.

Sri Lanka has so far reported more than 80 active COVID-19 positive cases in the country.

Across the world, the number of infected has crossed three lakh besides a death toll of more than 14,000 people.

Meanwhile, former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie has also gone into a two-week isolation after returning from the United Kingdom.

Gillespie, who is the head coach at Sussex, had been in Cape Town with the team for a pre-season tour, which was cut short as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

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Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

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Agencies
February 5,2020

Hamilton, Feb 5: Talented Shreyas Iyer hit his maiden century while KL Rahul and skipper Virat Kohli carried on their fine form as India dished out a clinical batting effort to post 347 for four against New Zealand in the first ODI here on Wednesday.

Iyer showed why he is considered as the next big thing in Indian cricket, scoring 103 off 107 balls, his first ODI ton. Besides, Rahul continued his purple patch, smashing unbeaten 88 off 64 balls while Kohli made 51 off 63 deliveries.

Iyer's knock was laced with 11 fours and a six and together with Rahul shared 136 runs for the fourth wicket as India scored 96 runs in the last 10 overs after being sent into bat.

This was after Tom Blundell featured his maiden ODI for the Black Caps, while India gave debuts to two openers -- Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal.

It was the fourth such instance in Indian history with Rahul-Karun Nair being the last such pair in 2016 against Zimbabwe.

Shaw and Agarwal got the innings off to quick start, adding 50 off 48 balls for the opening stand.

But both Shaw and Agarwal fell in the space of five balls as India were reduced to 54 for 2.

Shaw was the first to go, nicking behind a Colin de Grandhomme (1/41) delivery, while Agarwal was caught at point by Blundell off Southee (2/85).

It brought Kohli and Iyer together, and they dominated the middle overs with a 102-run stand for the third wicket. They manoeuvred the field well and kept the scorecard ticking as India crossed 150 in the 28th over.

Kohli fell against the run of play as a wrong one from Ish Sodhi (1/27) got through his defence to clip the leg stump.

Rahul though didn't let the innings lose any momentum as he smacked six sixes along with three fours.

But the day belonged to Iyer, who, despite a scratchy start, had crossed 50 off 66 balls. Once he passed the 50-run mark, the stylish right-hander batted fluently to notch up his first century in 16 ODIs.

The centurion fell shortly afterwards, caught off Southee even as Rahul took control.

He reached his half-century off 41 balls as India eased past 300 in the 47th over.

Rahul's carnage meant that New Zealand conceded 191 runs in the last 20 overs. Kedar Jadhav remained unbeaten on 26 off 15 balls, stitching 55 off 27 balls with Rahul.

Brief Scores:

India: 347 for 4 in 50 overs (Shreyas Iyer 103, KL Rahul 88 not out, Virat Kohli 51; Tim Southee 2/85).

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