In a bid to keep their play-off hopes alive, Mumbai Indians will be eyeing victory in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match against a confident Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Saturday.

The Rohit Sharma-led side are lying at the seventh place in the eight-team points table after managing a single win from six games so far while CSK tops the chart with five wins from six matches.

When the two sides met earlier in this year’s league at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, CSK had pipped Mumbai Indians by one wicket and with a ball to spare.

Saturday’s game will be a must-win encounter for Mumbai if they want to survive in the tournament.

So far, the Mumbai batters have struggled, except for Suryakumar Yadav. Both the skipper and Kieron Pollard hve failed to fire in five of the six games.

Barring the match-winning knock of 94 runs against Royal Challengers Banglore (RCB), Rohit has failed to get past 20 runs in five innings.

Not just the batters, but the Mumbai bowlers have also let the team down. Twenty-year-old leggie Mayank Markande has been the find for Mumbai but lacked support from the others.

While Markande has scalped 10 wickets from six games, pacer Jasprit Bumrah has eight wickets in his kitty.

However, Bumrah, known as a ‘death overs’ specialist, and Bangladesh pacer Muztifizur Rahman have not lived up to the expectations after leaking plenty of runs in the late stages.

Mumbai bowlers will need to perform as a unit to stop a in-form CSK batters.

On the other hand, Chennai have once again shown why they are considered as the most successful IPL team and will be looking to continue their dream run in the league.

Most of CSK batters – Shane Watson, Ambati Rayadu, Dwayne Bravo and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni are in form. Only Suresh Raina has failed to click and will be desperate to find his touch.

While Rayudu has amassed 283 runs from six games, averaging 47.16, Dhoni and Watson have accumulated 209 and 191 runs respectively.

Chennai batsmen have fired on more than one occassion, guiding CSK home. The yellow brigade has the ability to put a massive total on board or chase any challenging target.

In the bowling department, Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar have been impressive, leading Chennai’s pace attack.

While Thakur has eight wickets from five games, Chahar has six wickets from as many games.

Also, all-rounder Watson has six wickets to his name with an economy of around eight.

Leg-spinner Imran Tahir, medium-pacer Dwayne Bravo and leggie Karn Sharma have also came with breakthroughs for CSK at crucial times.

Keeping in view their fine form, Chennai will once again be the favourites in Saturday’s game against Mumbai.

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni(captain/wicketkeeper), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Kanishk Seth, Lungi Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Kshitiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan, David Willey

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Mustafizur Rahman, Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Rahul Chahar, Evin Lewis, Saurabh Tiwary, Ben Cutting, Pradeep Sangwan, Jean-Paul Duminy, Tajinder Singh, Sharad Lumba, Siddhesh Lad, Aditya Tare, Mayank Markande, Akila Dananjaya, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, MD Nidheesh, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne

Junior Indian Women’s Hockey Team will take on Thailand

The junior men’s team will take on Hong Kong China and South Korea in their third and fourth pool games on Friday (April 27), while the women’s side will take on Thailand.

The five-day tournament is a qualifying event for Youth Olympic Games 2018 to be held at Buenos Aires, which will follow the futuristic Hockey 5’s format.

The junior Indian men and women’s hockey teams continued their good form at the Youth Olympic Games Qualifiers in Bangkok on Thursday (April 26). The Junior women’s team crushed South Korea 10-0 while the men’s side beat Japan 6-2.
In their second Pool B match, the junior women’s team ended the first period in India’s favour at 3-0. The Indian team continued to attack scoring four goals in the second period. Three more goals were scored in the final period for the final scoreline to read 10-0. This win put India on top of Pool B with six points.

Meanwhile, the men’s team got the better of Japan 6-2 in their second fixture of the event. The win helped the men’s team to top of Pool A with six points.

Hindusthan Samachar/Shri Ram Shaw

Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, P V Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy will play their singles quarterfinal matches of Asia Badminton Championships at Wuhan in China on Friday (April 27).

Saina will take on unseeded Lee Jang Mi of Korea. PV Sindhu faces seventh seed Sung Ji Hyun of Korea. K Srikanth will meet Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia. HS Prannoy will clash with second seed Son Wan Ho of Korea.

Hindusthan Samachar/Shri Ram Shaw

(IANS) Flying high on confidence, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be eyeing to keep their winning momentum flowing when they face Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) tie at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Wednesday.

The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai side, who staged a comeback in the cash-rich league after two years, have yet again shown why they are considered the the IPL’s most successful team.

The yellow brigade have won four of their five games and most of their batsmen have fired on more than one occassion, guiding CSK home.

With the likes of in-form Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo and the skipper himself, CSK has the ability to put a massive total on board or chase any challenging target.

In the bowling department, young Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur have been impressive with each bagging six wickets from five and four games respectively.

While Chahar has an economy rate of 7.60, Thakur has been a bit expensive with 9.50 runs per over.

Also, all-rounder Watson has six wickets to his name with an economy of under eight.

Leg-spinner Imran Tahir, medium-pacer Dwayne Bravo and leggie Karn Sharma have also came with breakthroughs for CSK at crucial times.

On the other hand, RCB, led by Virat Kohli are placed six in the points-table with just a couple of wins from five games.

Despite having stars like AB De Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Quinton de Kock and Brendon McCullum, Bangalore’s batting has been inconsistent, except for Kohli.

The RCB skipper has accumulated 231 runs from five games, averaging 57.75.

If De Villiers, who blasted an unbeaten 90 off 39 balls in RCB’s last game against Delhi Daredevils, repeats the show, life would be difficult for Chennai.

Bangalore however, has failed to find the perfect opening partnerships, which could be a major cause of concern.

In the bowling department, the spin duo of Yuzuvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar, who have bagged five and four wickets respectively, will again be eager to put a better show as CSK have struggled against spin this season.

All-rounder Chris Woakes has been outstanding so far, picking up 8 wickets, while pacer Umesh Yadav also been equally good with eight wickets.

Overall, an exciting contest will be on cards when the two sides resume their intense rivalry after two years at the batting-friendly Chinnaswamy wicket.

Teams:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (Captain), Quinton de Kock(WK), Brendon McCullum, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Chris Woakes, Washington Sundar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Manan Vohra, Aniket Choudhary, Navdeep Saini, Murugan Ashwin, Pawan Negi, Mohammed Siraj, Corey Anderson, Parthiv Patel, Aniruddha Joshi, Pavan Deshpande, Tim Southee.

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain/WK), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, K.M. Asif, Kanishk Seth, Lungi Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Kshitiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan.

In a bid to maintain the Lodha Committee recommendation, which says a mandatory 15-day gap is required between the Indian Premier League (IPL) final and any international match, India will have to open their 2019 ICC World Cup campaign against South Africa on June 5, 2019.

At the ICC Chief Executives Meeting here on Tuesday, it was decided that Virat Kohli and Co. will take on the Proteas three days later than what was originally planned as the IPL now has a separate window and was included in the Future Tours Programme as a global event last year.

The 2019 World Cup will be held in England and Wales from May 30 to July 14.

Meanwhile, it was also decided that India will play a maximum of 309 days of international cricket in this cycle across formats which is a reduction of 92 days from the previous cycle.

The number of home tests will be increased from 15 to 19.

It was also decided that India won’t take part in any Day/Night Test match, which was expected against the West Indies later this year. The reason being, the ICC World Test Championship matches won’t be D/N tests.

(Ians)

One of the two Tests against the West Indies later this year will be a day-night affair, BCCI Acting Secretary Amitabh Chaudhary said on Monday.

“I had consulted the Indian team management, the selectors, the office bearers and all were in agreement that one of the two Tests against West Indies will be a day-night Test,” Chaudhary told reporters on the sidelines of the five-day International Cricket Council (ICC) meet here.

The Committee of Administrators (COA) led by former CAG Vinod Rai had previously said no to Chaudhury’s idea of holding a D/N test, saying the India team management should be consulted first.

Hyderabad and Rajkot are the two venues which are slated to host the two Tests against West Indies, although the dates for it have not been released as of now by the BCCI.

(IANS)

Kings XI Punjab pipped Delhi Daredevils by four runs in the 22nd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here at the Feroz Shah Kotla Cricket stadium on Monday.

The nail-biting win over Delhi also lifted Punjab to the top spot in the points table.

Chasing a paltry 144-run target, lack of big partnerships hurt Delhi as they suffered a hattrick of defeats in this year’s edition of the cash-rich league.

Delhi started their proceedings on a shaky note as pacer Ankit Rajpoot came with the first breakthrough for Punjab in the third over, dismissing opener Prithvi Shaw for 22 runs.

Incoming batter Glen Maxwell (12) and skipper Gautam Gambhir (4) once again struggled to gather runs as both were back in the dug-out in the fifth and sixth over respectively, leaving Delhi at 42/3.

Gambhir’s dismissal brought Shreyas Iyer in the middle, who tried his best to change Delhi’s fortune, but lacked partnership from the other end.

Afghan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman struck in the ninth over to dismiss in-form Rishabh Pant (4) cheaply. All-rounder Daniel Christian (6) was the next to fall for Delhi however, Iyer kept the scoreboard ticking.

With the match slipping from Delhi’s hand as the host were reeling at 76/5, Iyer and Rahul Tewatia (24 off 21 balls) stiched a 47-run partnership for the sixth wicket, bringing back the host back in the contest.

As the low-scoring issue went to the final over with Delhi needing 17 runs, Iyer six off the first delivery gave Delhi a ray of hope. However, Iyer failed to give a finishing touch to his fighting knock as Delhi fell short of the 144-run target by four runs.

For Punjab, Rajpoot, Rahman and Andrew Tye bagged two wickets apiece while Barinder Sran took one wicket.

With this nail-biting win, Punjab one again have become the table toppers with five wins from six games and 10 points in their kitty. On the other hand, Delhi continues to be seated at the bottom with just two points.

Earlier, a disciplined bowling effort by Delhi restricted Punjab to a moderate 143/8.

Pacer Liam Plunkett scalped three wickets while Avesh Khan and Trent Boult chipped in with two each to hurt the Punjab’s batting line-up.

Put in to bat, the visitors received the early blow when Avesh dismissed opener Aaron Finch (2) in the second over.

Incoming batter Mayank Agarwal and opener Lokesh Rahul (23) then showed some resistance, putting a 36-run partnership for the second wicket to take Punjab to 42 runs. However, Plunkett struck in the fifth over to put an end to Rahul’s innings.

Agarwal (21) was the next to depart as in-form Plunkett struck again in the eighth over, which left Punjab reeling at 60/3.

After adding 15 more runs tot he total, Avesh sent back veteran batsman Yuvraj Singh (14) to make things worse for the visitors.

Yuvraj’s fall brought Karun Nair in the middle, who showed a little fight against the hosts and slammed 34 runs to take his team past the 100-run mark before falling in the 17th over to Plunkett.

Delhi’s Daniel Christian also joined the party and dismissed David Miller (26) with Punjab’s scorecard reading 127/6.

Meagre contributions by Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin (6 runs off 7 balls), Andrew Tye (3) and with the help of 14 extra runs, Punjab managed to put 143

Brief Scores: Kings XI Punjab 143/8 (Karun Nair 34, Lokesh Rahul 23; Liam Plunkett 3/17) beat Delhi Daredevils 139/8 (Shreyas Iyer 57, Rahul Tewatia 24; Ankit Rajpoot 2/23) by 4 runs.

(IANS)

There are chances that India might host Bangladesh more in future with the isuue of a greater number of bilateral series between the two set to be discussed when Future Tours Programme (FTP) for 2019-2023 is confirmed here during the on-going five-day International Cricket Council (ICC) meet.

“We are expecting some more matches in the next ICC FTP cycle. There will be more number of India-Bangladesh matches in both India and Bangladesh. We are hopeful,” Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury told IANS on Tuesday.

The FTP for 2019-2023 may have already been agreed upon by the ICC full members, but the document that binds the Test-playing nations to adhere to the programme will be submitted to the ICC at its quarterly board meeting here on April 25 and 26.

India have hosted Bangladesh for a bilateral series only once so far, in Hyderabad in 2017 when Virat Kohli and his team pummelled their neighbours by 208 runs.

In total, there have been six India-Bangladesh Test series, including the 2017 five-day affair.

With Bangladesh’s rising status as a cricketing force, Chowdhury felt the likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafiqur Rahim should tour India more and in general engage in more bilateral ties with Kohli and his boys.

Asked if he had any agenda to address in the ICC meet, Chowdhury said, “All the issues are specific and general in nature.”

Bangladesh cricketers smashed dressing room glass into smithereens during their narrow victory over Sri Lanka in a Nidahas Trophy Twenty20 tri-series match which helped them reach the final.

The match had descended into chaos as tempers flared due to some umpiring decisions. Drama unfolded when Mustafizur missed two bouncers from Isuru Udana in the final over and was run out. But the Bangladesh players contested the call, saying it was a no-ball due to its height.

Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan was seen in an altercation with an off-field umpire and even waved to call the batsmen back to the pavilion.

However, better sense prevailed as the match continued with Bangladesh going on to register a thrilling win.

Asked about the incident, Chowdhury refused to comment although adding the BCB have taken note of the matter.

Five Indian women boxers assured themselves of medals, two of them also inching closer to qualifying for this year’s Youth Olympic Games in Argentina, after advancing to the semifinals of the Asian Championships here today.

Anamika (51kg) and Astha Pahwa (75kg) were assured of medals and remained in the hunt for booking a berth to the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires.

For women, four weight categories — 51kg, 57kg, 75kg and 60kg — will feature at the Games and from the ongoing event, the top-four will make the cut.

While Anamika defeated Mongolia’s Mungunsaran Balsan, Astha Pahwa got the better of China’s Xiyue Wang. Both the boxers won in unanimous verdicts.

However, world championships gold-medallist Sakshi Choudhary (57kg) and Jony (60kg) bowed out of medal and Olympic berth contention. Sakshi was beaten by Thailand’s Panpatchara Somnuek, while Jony lost 2-3 to Kazakhstan’s Mariya Gladkova.

In other weight categories, Lalita (69kg) defeated Vietnam’s Thi Giang Tran, while Divya Pawar (54kg) sailed past China’s Xueqing Cao.

Also advancing to the semifinals were Nitu Ghanghas (48kg), who defeated China’s Zhifei Hu.

The ongoing tournament also features male boxers in nine weight categories. The top four will qualify for the Youth Olympics.

Each country is entitled to a maximum of two women and three men qualifiers and if it ends up achieving more than that, the nation in question will have to pick among the qualifiers.

Sunrisers Hyderabad will aim to recover from the recent slump and get back to winning ways when they face an under-pressure Mumbai Indians in a league encounter of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium here on Tuesday.

Sunrisers have slipped from a comfortable three-match winning start, suffering back-to-back defeats to Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) respectively, and would be keen to bounce back.

Defending champions Mumbai, on the other hand have a tough task to rediscover themselves after slumping to their fourth loss in five games.

Mumbai had started their campaign with three losses on the trot before registering their first win over Royal Challengers Bangalore, but the three-wicket defeat to Rajasthan Royals on Sunday has once again put them under tremendous pressure.

With nine games left before the play-off stage, Mumbai find themselves in a tight situation to win at least seven of them to improve their chances. As such, a win over SRH on Tuesday is imperative to keep them in the hunt.

Barring local boy Suryakumar Yadav’s heroics with the willow, Mumbai have very little to boast of this season, with the other batsmen yet to deliver.

Yadav has had a consistent run of good scores in the opening slot, leaving him four short of reaching the 200 mark for the season, while skipper Rohit Sharma struck one match-winning knock of 94 against RCB.

Mumbai’s biggest misery in batting has been the repeated failures of West Indian Keiron Pollard and his compatriot Evin Lewis, at the top while the all-rounder duo of Pandya brothers — Hardik and Krunal — have also failed to impress with the bat this season.

In the bowling department, the pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mustafizur Rahman have been right on the money while Mitchell McClenaghan has got among the wickets despite finishing with a higher economy rate. The Pandya siblings have done a decent job with the ball.

Meanwhile, despite a three-match winning streak, Sunrisers find themselves at the lower half of the IPL table, thanks to the successive defeats to Kings XI and CSK.

While captain Kane Williamson has been in superb form, carrying the batting on his shoulders to amass 230 runs in five games, the other batsmen, including opener Shikhar Dhawan, have not given him adequate support.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha has been particularly below par with a tally of just 62 runs and may soon make way for Shreevats Goswami.

Among other batsmen, Yusuf Pathan showed glimpses of his old attacking self against Rajasthan with a quick 27-ball 45, but still lacks consistency.

The bowling unit looks formidable with Bhuvneshwar Kumar leading the pack in the company of youngsters Siddarth Kaul, Billy Stanlake and T.Natarajan.

Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan along with Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan will aim to contain the fancied Mumbai line-up in the middle overs.

Teams:
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (Captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shikhar Dhawan, Shakib Al Hasan, Manish Pandey, Carlos Brathwaite, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha, Rashid Khan, Ricky Bhui, Deepak Hooda, Siddarth Kaul, T.Natarajan, Mohammad Nabi, Basil Thampi, K Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Sachin Baby, Chris Jordan, Billy Stanlake, Tanmay Agarwal, Shreevats Goswami, Bipul Sharma, Mehdi Hasan, Alex Hales.

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Mustafizur Rahman, Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Chahar, Evin Lewis, Saurabh Tiwary, Ben Cutting, Pradeep Sangwan, Jean-Paul Duminy, Tajinder Singh, Sharad Lumba, Siddhesh Lad, Aditya Tare, Mayank Markande, Akila Dhananjaya, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, MD Nidheesh, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne.