Archives for April 2018

Sam Billings played a little gem as Chennai Super Kings once again pulled off a thrilling chase, beating Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets in an IPL encounter here on Tuesday.

Chasing a stiff target of 203, CSK won the match with a ball to spare as Ravindra Jadeja deposited military medium stuff from R Vinay Kumar into stands. The India discard bowled a forgettable final over where CSK needed 17 runs to win.

This was after Englishman Billings set it up nicely with a magnificent 56 off 23 balls that contained five huge sixes apart from a couple of boundaries.

The pressure put by Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s slow batting (25 off 28 balls) was neutralised by Billings.

Chasing a target of 203 needed a blazing start and veteran Shane Watson was up for a challenge, hitting 42 off 19 balls with three fours and an equal number of sixes in a 75-run opening stand with Ambati Rayudu (39 off 26 balls). Tom Curran making his IPL debut got rid of Watson with a short ball and Rayudu was accounted by Kuldeep Yadav as he tried an inside-out shot.

Suresh Raina (14) sustained a calf muscle injury which hampered his running between the wickets with Sunil Narine sending him back. Dhoni and Billings got the chase back on track with a 54-run stand.

Earlier, Andre Russell hit an incredible 11 sixes in his 36-ball-88 as Kolkata Knight Riders scored a competitive 202 for six after being put into bat.

In one of the finest counter-attacking innings in recent editions of IPL, Russell came in at 89 for 5 and then took the bowling apart with as many as seven sixes being hit off West Indies team-mate Dwayne Bravo, including three in an over.

Russell was involved in a 76-run sixth wicket partnership with skipper Dinesh Karthik (26) as KKR went onto post a good total. In fact, the last five overs yielded 79 runs that got KKR back into the match.

CSK captain MS Dhoni’s strategy to use his slow bowlers in the initial stages on a surface aiding spin worked well but Russell had other ideas as he attacked the pacers including Shardul Thakur (1/37 in 4 overs) and Bravo (0/50 in 3 overs).

Bravo, who was frugal against Mumbai Indians in the first game, was taken for 50 runs in three overs with Russell hammering him all over the park, sending two balls out of the stadium.

Earlier, Sunil Narine got off to a flying start as he did in the game against RCB by hammering Deepak Chahar for two big sixers on the leg-side in the first over of the match.

However, he departed off the first ball he faced from the experienced Harbhajan Singh (1/11 in 2 overs) in the second over, going for a big hit to be caught by Suresh Raina.

Chris Lynn, the dangerman, appeared to be getting into his groove and had hit four boundaries, before being castled by Ravindra Jadeja for 22.

Nitish Rana underlined his potential in his brief knock of 16 before an edge lobbed up to Dhoni. Robin Uthappa, who appeared in good touch, hitting three sixes in his 16-ball-29 was run-out as Raina’s throw caught him short of his ground.

The talented young Rinku Singh didn’t last long and fell to Shardul Thakur to leave KKR in a spot of bother at 89 for 5 in 10 overs. Although Russell rescued KKR with a blistering knock, CSK pulled off another heist.

The legendary but on the wane Lee Chong Wei was one of the casualties as a rampaging Indian mixed badminton team claimed its maiden Commonwealth Games gold medal, thrashing three-time defending champions Malaysia in the final here on Monday.
The pair of Satwik Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa claimed the mixed doubles match against Peng Soon Chan and Liu Yong Goh 21-14, 15-21, 21-15 before Kidambi Srikanth stunned three-time Olympic silver medallist Lee 21-17, 21-14 in straight games, his first victory over the Malaysian giant.
“Perhaps Lee was not at his best but then you can never be too sure against a player like him. You always have to be on your guard, which I was. And I also gave my best. I was not expecting it to be this easy,” Srikanth said after one of the biggest wins of his career.

“Pressure was there on him but Srikanth enjoys the pressure and that got him the result,” added chief national coach Pullela Gopichand. The Games debutant men’s doubles pair of Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost narrowly to Goh and Wee Kiong Tan 15-21, 20-22 keeping Malaysia afloat for a while. But the in-form Saina Nehwal put paid to their hopes with a 21-11, 19-21, 21-9 win over Sonia Cheah.

“It was exhausting, I actually lost focus during the match but thankfully managed to hold it together and ensure that the gold medal winning shot was mine,” said the London Olympics bronze-medallist. “It is a medal that I will forever cherish, it is very special. Team gold is always way more cherishable,” she added. Earlier, India had won the mixed team silver and bronze respectively in the 2010 and 2006 editions of the Commonwealth Games.

Malaysian legend Chong Wei walked out to a thunderous applause to face Srikanth but it wasn’t meant to be his day despite the arena resonating with the chants of his name. The Indian, who has never beaten Lee on the circuit, was neck-and-neck with his rival before taking a 10-8 lead in the opening game.

The ever-so-elegant Lee was surprisingly off colour. As graceful as his on-court movement was, the strokes lacked accuracy as he took the lemon break trailing 8-11. The gap widened as the game progressed and it was quite a dampener for the sizeable Malaysian fans to watch their icon struggle.

Sindhu fit: Gopi Forced out of the gold medal winning mixed team campaign due to an ankle injury, top shuttler P V Sindhu has recovered to be fit for the singles event, Gopichand said. “She is fine now and will compete in the singles competition,” Gopichand said when asked about Sindhu’s fitness status.

“She had an ankle injury, which was not major but we did not want to risk her when Saina was giving us the results we wanted. Now she has recovered and will be there from April 11,” he added. Sindhu, who was to captain the side, had sustained the injury during a practice session in Hyderabad before arriving here for Games.

She was, however, present on the sidelines during all the matches India played, vociferously cheering the team.

As Chennai Super Kings (CSK) braces to take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) this evening amid protests over delay in Cauvery Management Board (CMB), around 4,000 police personnel have been pressed in at MA Chidambaram or Chepauk Stadium in Chennai to ensure the Indian Premier League (IPL) match is played without any disruption or untoward incidents.

Political parties and fringe groups have been demanding cancellation or postponement of all seven IPL matches in Chennai till the Centre constitutes the CMB. They are even asking spectators to boycott the matches.
The protesters feel that empty galleries would send a strong message to the Centre which they say is defying the Supreme Court order by not forming the neutral body which would independently assess and share Cauvery waters between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu according to the water sharing deal.

Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) workers carried out protests outside MA Chidambaram Stadium ahead of CSK vs KKR IPL match, carrying balloons stating, ‘We do not want IPL, we want Cauvery Management Board,” but they were immediately removed by the police and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association who were on their toes.
Tough restrictions have been imposed amid reports that some groups were planning to stage protests and wave black flags inside the stadium during the match. Therefore, spectators won’t be allowed to carry banners, festons, mobile phones, cameras or any other gadget to the venue. They’ve also been warned against use of abusive language.

All roads leading to the stadium will have tight police cover to keep protesters at bay.

Calling IPL matches in Chennai amid widespread Cauvery protests an embarrassment, superstar-turned-politician Rajinikanth on Sunday said, “If they don’t cancel, at least they should allow players and spectators to wear black badges.”