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Mumbai Indians outplay Chennai Super Kings to win maiden IPL title

May 27, 2013

mumbai

Kolkata, May 27: Lasith Malinga has been a rather passive presence in this edition of the IPL. But the pacer slipped into his zone in the final match of the tournament, setting up a 23-run win for Mumbai Indians over Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.

The victory ensured a maiden IPL title for Mumbai. After notching up 148 for nine, Mumbai restricted the Super Kings to 125 for nine to begin a night of frenzied celebrations.

Hunting down 149 wouldn’t have been a big task for a team like Super Kings that boasts of an array of batsmen tailor-made for T20s, and they have also been arguably the finest chasers in the IPL. So, Mumbai needed a bright start to their defence, and Malinga provided just that.

The Sri Lankan fast bowler took two wickets in the first over of Super Kings’ innings, netting two big fishes – Michael Hussey, the highest scorer in the tournament, and Suresh Raina. Hussey’s dismissal was an example of the ferociousness of Malinga’s craft. A perfect yorker sent Hussey’s leg-stump for a walk, giving hardly any time for the batsman even to react.

Raina followed Hussey to the hut in the very next ball, but the dismissal revealed the meticulousness with which Mumbai approached the title clash. Knowing Raina’s weakness against short-pitched ball, Mumbai skipper placed a fielder – Dwayne Smith – at short square leg, and the ploy worked just brilliantly. Malinga’s snorter surprised Raina a bit, and his attempt to fend that away resulted only in a tame catch to Smith, and Mumbai were off to a flier. More importantly, they never let that momentum slip away, pegging Chennai back with regular strikes.

Mitchell Johnson, Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha ensured that the Super Kings would not have a moment of easiness in the middle. There was a glimmer of hope for Chennai even after they were reduced to a sorry-looking 58 for eight in the 12th over, and their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni provided that little flicker.

Not many asking rates will be in the realm of impossible when the Jharkhand man is in the middle, and there was some of those trademark shots that reached the ropes and stands in a flash. But on this night, even Dhoni was powerless to alter the course of the match.

It indeed was a superb collective effort from the Mumbai bowlers that made it sure that the trophy would rest in the Mumbai cabinet for next one year. But Kieron Pollard’s contribution was as immense as the Mumbai bowlers.

Mohit Sharma and Albie Morkel had combined to reduce Mumbai to 16 for three, and a Super Kings romp seemed the only possibility at that stage. Dwyane Smith, Aditya Tare and Rohit walked back to the pavilion without making any significant impact, but Kieron Pollard chose the best time to come up with an innings of rare maturity and calmness.

The Trinidadian has been in the forefront of many Mumbai victories this season, especially after getting a much-needed promotion up the order. Pollard (60 n.o, 32b, 7x4, 3x6) and Ambati Rayudu did a nice repair job for the fifth wicket, adding 48 runs in 5.4 overs that gave some steam to the Mumbai innings.

There was a bit of frustration for Pollard when he was largely stranded in the non-striker’s end in the death overs. But two successive sixes off Bravo, who took four wickets, fetched him a fifty and Mumbai a defendable total.

MUMBAI INDIANS: Dwayne Smith lbw Mohit 4 (4b, 1x4), Aditya Tare b Morkel 0 (1b), Dinesh Kaarthick b Morris 21 (26b, 3x4), Rohit Sharma c&b Morkel 2 (5b), Ambati Rayudu b Bravo 37 (36b, 4x4), Kieron Pollard (not out) 60 (32b, 7x4, 3x6), Harbhajan Singh c Hussey b Bravo 14 (8b, 3x4), Rishi Dhawan (run out) 3 (3b), Mitchell Johnson c Dhoni b Bravo 1 (2b), Lasith Malinga c Dhoni b Bravo 0 (2b), Pragyan Ojha (not out) 1 (1b). Extras (LB-2, W-3) 5. Total (for 9 wkts, 20 overs) 148.

Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Smith), 2-8 (Tare), 3-16 (Rohit), 4-52 (Kaarthick), 5-100 (Rayudu), 6-125 (Harbhajan), 7-133 (Dhawan), 8-135 (Johnson), 9-135 (Ojha). Bowling: Mohit Sharma 4-0-26-1, Albie Morkel 3-0-12-2, Chris Morris 4-0-25-1 (w-1), R Ashwin 3-0-22-0 (w-1), Ravindra Jadeja 2-0-19-0, Dwayne Bravo 4-0-42-4 (w-1).

Power Play: 1-6: 34/3.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Michael Hussey b Malinga 1 (2b), Murali Vijay c Rohit b Johnson 18 (20b, 2x4), Suresh Raina c Smith b Malinga 0 (1b), S Badrinath c Kaarthick b Johnson 0 (3b), Dwayne Bravo c Johnson b Dhawan 15 (16b, 3x4), Ravindra Jadeja c Pollard b Harbhajan 0 (2b), MS Dhoni (not out) 63 (45b, 3x4, 5x6), Albie Morkel b Ojha 10 (10b, 1x6), Chris Morris c Kaarthick b Harbhajan 0 (1b), R Ashwin c sub b Pollard 9 (18b), Mohit Sharma (not out) 0 (2b). Extras (LB-2, W-7) 9. Total (for 9 wkts, 20 overs) 125.

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Hussey), 2-2 (Raina), 3-3 (Badrinath), 4-35 (Bravo), 5-36 (Jadeja), 6-39 (Vijay), 7-57 (Morkel), 8-58 (Morris), 9-99 (Ashwin). Bowling: Lasith Malinga 4-0-22-2 (w-2), Mitchell Johnson 4-0-19-2  (w-2), Pragyan Ojha 4-0-28-1, Rishi Dhawan 1-0-6-1, Harbhajan Singh 3-0-14-2, Kieron Pollard 4-0-34-1 (w-3).

Power Play: 1-6: 35/4.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: Virat Kohli's natural talent makes him a cricketing equivalent of Roger Federer while Steve Smith's mental fortitude matches that of Rafael Nadal, said South African swashbuckler AB de Villiers comparing the two contemporary greats.

In an instagram chat with former Zimbabwe seamer Pommie Mbangwa, de Villiers spoke about the two batsmen, who are easily the game's biggest crowd-pullers right now.

"It's a difficult one, but Virat is definitely the more natural ball-striker, there's no doubt about that," de Villiers said during his interaction on 'Sports Hurricane'.

"In tennis terms, I'd say he's more like a (Roger) Federer whereas Smith is like a (Rafael) Nadal. Smith is mentally very strong and figures out a way of scoring runs - he doesn't look natural, but he ends up writing records and doing amazing things at the crease.

"I think mentally, Smith is one of the best I have ever seen. Virat has also scored runs all over the world and won games under pressure," de Villiers,himself a modern day great, said.

De Villiers also felt that when it comes to chasing, Kohli is a shade ahead of Tendulkar.

"Sachin is a role model for both of us (him and Kohli). The way he stood out in his era, the things he achieved and with the grace he did all that is a great example for everyone," de Villiers said.

"And I think Virat will also say that he set the standards for us to follow.

"But personally, in a chase, I'd say Virat is the best I've seen in my life. Sachin was amazing in all formats and all situations, but Virat comes out on top while chasing."

The world knows Kohli as a prolific cricketer but for de Villiers, he is a friend, who has interests beyond cricket and is spiritual at one level.

"He's much deeper than just a cricket player...I think most people realise after a while that there's more to life than just cricket," de Villiers said.

"...Virat's always been a thinker, he experiments (with) a lot of things, he loves trying new things out - gym wise, what he puts in his mouth. He thinks a lot about life after life - what's to come, the different religions, we talk about everything."

De Villiers said that he also shares a great bond with Indian captain's actor wife Anushka Sharma, conversing on a lot of issues including family life.

"We go pretty deep and his missus as well, Anushka, we have very deep conversations, which is fantastic. We talk about children and family. We're waiting for that first little Kohli to come.

"It's a good friendship and we always find a way to talk about cricket as well, but 90 per cent of the time we talk about other stuff. It's refreshing and in the middle of a very intense IPL tournament," he shared.

IPL, for de Villiers, is not just a tournament but also about friendships that he cherishes.

"Obviously, when it comes to the IPL in India, it's been more than friendship," De Villiers said, when asked who his best friends in cricket are.

"Virat obviously - not only during the IPL, we chat throughout the year, which means it's different than just the IPL or cricketing friendship.

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News Network
January 24,2020

Auckland, Jan 24: K L Rahul and Shreyas Iyer smashed quick-fire half-centuries, while skipper Virat Kohli made 45 as India defeated New Zealand by six wickets in the first T20 International to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series here on Friday.

Chasing a challenging 204-run target, Rahul smashed 56 off 27 balls and together with Kohli shared 99 runs for the second wicket to lay the foundation for the chase.

Later, Iyer (58 not out off 29 balls) and Manish Pandey (14 not out) remained unbeaten as India chased down the target with an over to spare.

Earlier, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor smashed scintillating half-centuries to power New Zealand to a challenging 203 for five.

Opener Munro blasted six fours and two sixes in his 42-ball 59, while skipper Williamson treated the Indian bowlers with equal disdain, hitting them out of the park four times in his 26-ball 51.

Taylor then clobbered an unbeaten 54 off 27 balls. His innings was laced with three sixes and as many fours.

Opener Martin Guptill also chipped in with a 19-ball 30.

Earlier, India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to field.

For India, Jasprit Bumrah (1/), Shardul Thakur (1/44), Yuzvendra Chahal (1/32), Shivam Dube (1/24) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/18) snapped one wicket each.

Brief Score:

New Zealand: 203 for 5 in 20 overs (Colin Munro 59, Kane Williamson 51, Ross Taylor 54; Jasprit Bumrah 1/31).

India: 204 for 4 in 19 overs (Shreyas Iyer 58 not out, K L Rahul 56, Virat Kohli 45; Ish Sodhi 2/36).

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