RCB clinch Super-Over thriller

April 17, 2013
Bangalore, Apr 17: Once Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers attained full flow, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s chase seemed destined for a smooth end. But it wasn’t to be.

superThe run out of de Villiers triggered a spectacular collapse with Royal Challengers losing five wickets for nine runs. The hosts slipped from a comfortable 129 for two to 152 for seven for the scores to be levelled with Delhi Daredevils after the regulation time, extending the match into the Super Over.

Royal Challengers had earlier suffered an agonising defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad a few days back at Uppal in the one-over eliminator, but this time they held their nerve to score a win to go on top of the points chart.

Earlier, the customary profligacy of Royal Challengers bowlers in the death overs helped Daredevils post a competitive total. The visitors rattled 58 runs in the last five overs, 30 in the last two overs, to post 152 for five, a total that seemed far from possible at one stage. It certainly gave RCB something to chase, and they appeared well on course till Daredevils made a late comeback into the match through a clutch of wickets in the final stages of the chase.

But De Villiers, who smoked two sixes off UmeshYadav, and Ravi Rampaul, who bowled cleverly, combined well to help RCB survive the Super Over test.

Before the match came to a tense finale, Chris Gayle’s two sixes early on gave the impression of a night of Caribbean party at the M Chinnaswamy stadium. But an aimless flay at a fuller delivery from Morne Morkel that ended in the hands of Yadav at third man snapped Gayle’s stay.

A near capacity crowd went into a mute mode, but they regained their voices once Kohli and de Villiers milked 103 runs for the entertaining third-wicket stand.

Uncanny similarity

There is no better sight on a cricket field than watching Kohli and de Villiers in their zone. There’s an uncanny similarity as well to their batting, especially in their off-side play. Both the batsmen fuse power, elegance and timing quite effortlessly, leaving the fielders mere companions of the ball on its way to the ropes.

De Villiers could be slightly more engaging to watch as the South African right-hander comes up with breathtaking innovative shots now and then. He showed his special skills when he sliced Ashish Nehra over backward point for a six on a bent knee – the shot a wonderful example of his ability to manufacture a stroke out of nowhere.

At the other end, Kohli, who made a superb fifty, didn’t rely too much on innovativeness on the night, but then he was hardly faced with the need to do anything garish.

The Delhi lad has an amazing array of strokes at his disposal, and even more amazing amount of time to play them. Yadav slipped in a scorching bouncer that caught Kohli in an awkward position, but still he managed to pull that away, giving no chance to the square leg fielder to block it.

But it wasn’t that the Daredevils were completely absent from the frame. Openers – David Warner and Virender Sehwag – spurred the Delhiites to 43 in little over five overs, playing a few crisp shots.

However, R Vinay Kumar managed to produce a moment of absolute magic while latching on to a full-blooded shot from Warner off his own bowling. Even the arrival of skipper Mahela Jayawardene didn’t provide the steam to their innings as Delhi meandered along like a dying river.

Scoreboard

DELHI DAREDEVILS: David Warner c&b Vinay 15 (13b, 3x4), Virender Sehwag c Kohli b McDonald 25 (23b, 4x4), Manpreet Juneja c Vinay b Unadkat 17 (16b, 2x4), Mahela Jayawardene (run out) 28 (31b, 2x4), Ben Roherer c Kohli b Unadkat 14 (14b, 2x4), Kedar Jadhav (not out) 29 (16b, 2x4, 1x6), Irfan Pathan (not out) 19 (8b, 2x4, 1x6). Extras (LB-1, NB-1, W-3) 5. Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 152.

Fall of wickets: 1-43 (Warner), 2-43 (Sehwag), 3-73 (Juneja), 4-91 (Roherer), 5-122 (Jayawardene).

Bowling: Ravi Rampaul 4-1-28-0 (nb-1), RP Singh 4-0-48-0 (w-1), Jaydev Unadkat 4-0-24-2 (w-2), R Vinay Kumar 4-0-21-1, Andrew McDonald 2-0-17-1, Syed Mohammad 2-0-13-0.

Runs during Power Play: 1-6 overs: 43/1.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: Chris Gayle c Yadav b Morkel 13 (9b, 2x6), KL Rahul c Jayawardene b Nehra 12 (12b, 24), Virat Kohli c Jayawardene b Yadav 65 (50b, 7x4, 1x6), AB de Villiers (run out) 39 (32b, 3x4, 1x6), Andrew McDonald c&b Nadeem 0 (2b), KB Arun Karthik (run out) 5 (5b), Syed Mohammad c Warner b Yadav 1 (2b), Vinay Kumar (not out) 1 (1b), Ravi Rampaul (not out) 12 (7b, 1x6). Extras (B-1, LB-1, W-2) 4. Total (for 7 wkts, 20 overs) 152.

Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Rahul), 2-26 (Gayle), 3-129 (De Villiers), 4-129 (McDonald), 5-136 (Arun), 6-138 (Mohamamd), 7-138 (Kohli).

Bowling: Ashish Nehra 4-0-31-1 (w-1), Morne Morkel 4-0-32-1 (w-1), Irfan Pathan 4-0-39-0, Umesh Yadav 4-0-22-2, Shabaz Nadeem 4-0-26-1.

Power Play: 1-6: 48/2.

Super Over: Royal Challengers Bangalore: 15/0 (1, 1, 1, 0, 6, 6) bt Delhi Daredevils: 11/2 (w, 4, 0, 6, 1, w).

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News Network
June 10,2020

New Delhi, Jun 10: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has praised the batting of MS Dhoni during the backend of a match, saying that the wicket-keeper often played during the period as if the result did not really matter to him.

Dravid also said that in pressure-cooker situations, not worrying about consequences can help players bring out the best in themselves.

"You watch MS Dhoni play during the backend of a match when he was at his best, you always felt like that he is doing something really important to him but he is playing it like the result does not really matter to him," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar during a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I think you need to have that or you need to train for it. It is a skill that I never had. The consequences of any decision mattered to me. It would be interesting to ask MS Dhoni that is this something that has come naturally to him or did he work on this during his career," he added.

Dhoni made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004, but he truly arrived in the series against Pakistan in 2005 when he scored 148 runs in the second ODI of the six-match series at Vishakapatnam.

He is the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy). Under his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

He first led an inexperienced Indian side to the T20 World Cup triumph in 2007. He then took over ODI captaincy, but he had to wait for leading the Test side as Anil Kumble was doing the duties in the longest format.

Over his career, Dhoni has been reowned for his finishing skills and he is often viewed as the best finisher that the game has ever seen.

In December 2014, Dhoni announced his retirement from the longest format of the game.

Then in 2017, Dhoni handed over the captaincy reins to Virat Kohli in the 50-over format.

Dhoni was slated to return to the cricket field on March 29 in the IPL's opening match between CSK and Mumbai Indians. However, the tournament has been suspended indefinitely as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni recently had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches.

Earlier this year, Dhoni did not find a place in the list of BCCI's centrally contracted players from October 2019 to September 2020.

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News Network
March 5,2020

Mar 5: India reached a maiden women's Twenty20 World Cup final Thursday after their last four clash against England was washed out, sparking calls for the International Cricket Council to include reserve days in future events.

Harmanpreet Kaur's unbeaten side were due to face the 2009 champions at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but the rain began pouring early in the day with barely any let-up.

With a minimum 10 overs per side needed for a result and no break in the weather, the umpires called it off without a ball being bowled.

Normally, five overs per side are needed to constitute a Twenty20 match, but the rules are different for ICC tournaments.

Four-time champions Australia are scheduled to take on South Africa later in the second semi-final, with that match also under threat.

With no reserve day, the highest-ranked teams from the two groups move into the final if play is not possible

That would pit India against South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, where organisers are hoping to attract 90,000 plus fans, denying Australia a chance to defend their crown.

A reserve day is allowed for the final and the lack of one for the semis has been criticised by some players, with England captain Heather Knight among those calling for change.

"If both semi-finals are lost it would be a sad time for the tournament," she told reporters ahead of the match. "It's obviously going to be a shame if it does happen and I'm sure there will be a lot of pressure on the ICC to change that."

Cricket Australia chief Kevin Roberts said he sought clarification from the ICC about adding a reserve day with the Sydney weather looking ominous, but the request was denied.

"We've asked the question and it's not part of the playing conditions and we respect that," he told Melbourne's SEN radio.

"It gives you cause to reflect and think about how you might improve things in the future, but going into a tournament with a given set of playing conditions and rules, I don't think it's time to tinker with the rules."

It is not the way India would have wanted to make the final, but they are deserving of being there having gone through the group phase as the only unbeaten team.

After opening their campaign by upsetting Australia, they beat Bangladesh, New Zealand and then Sri Lanka.

While the entire team played well, teenage batting prodigy Shafali Verma excelled, which saw her elevated to the top of the ICC T20 batting rankings this week aged just 16.

She is only the second Indian after Mithali Raj to reach number one, pushing New Zealand veteran Suzie Bates down to second.

Ranked four in the world, India had made three semi-finals before this year and lost every time, including against England at the last World Cup.

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News Network
January 17,2020

Jan 17: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza cruised into the women's doubles final of the Hobart International with her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok here on Friday.

Sania and Kichenok sailed past the Slovenian-Czech pair of Tamara Zidansek and Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (3) 6-2 in the semifinal contest that lasted one hour and 24 minutes.

The fifth-seeded Indo-Ukrainian combination will lock horns with second seeds Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang of China. The Chinese pair got a walkover after Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck conceded the other semifinal match because of injury.

While Sania and Kichenok had to fight hard in the opening set, the second set was a cakewalk for the combination.

The first set was a tough contest between the two pairs, bringing the tie-breaker into the equation after it was level at 6-6.

In the tie-breaker, Sania and Kichenok upped their game by a few notches to outsmart their opponents and take the lead.

The second set was a no-contest as Saina and Kichenok broke their opponents thrice -- in the second, sixth and eighth game -- to easily pocket the set and a place in the summit clash.

Saina and Kichenok got 11 break chances out of which they converted four, while their opponents utilised two out of the five break chances that came their way.

The 33-year-old Sania is returning to the WTA circuit after two years. During her time away from the game, she battled injury breakdowns before taking a formal break in April 2018 to give birth to her son Izhaan. She is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

Before the ongoing event, Sania last played at China Open in October 2017.

A trailblazer in Indian tennis, Sania is a former world No.1 in doubles and has six Grand Slam titles to her credit.

She retired from the singles competition in 2013 after becoming the most successful Indian woman tennis player.

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