A loss would have almost killed off MS Dhoni and co’s chances of qualifying for the knockout stages.

CHENNAI: Stop the press. Maybe Chennai Super Kings’ demise was exaggerated a touch. There is still some life left in the old dog yet. On Tuesday, they played a near-perfect T20 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai for their third win this year. A loss would have almost killed off their chances of qualifying for the knockout stages.

The 20-run win was based on a few things they did for the first time this IPL. After their last match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, skipper MS Dhoni spoke about the importance of being more expressive with the bat. “Our main worry remains the batting department. In the coming games, we will try to be more expressive.”

There was more than a grain of truth in that statement. They had been unsure, there was next to no intent and some of the batsmen had used the middle overs to further the art of the perfect forward defence.
There was none of that against David Warner & Co., at least in the opening exchanges.

Right from the get go, Chennai showed intent. After winning the toss, MS Dhoni opted to bat — a first this season — and the sight of Sam Curran walking out was a further indication that the penny had dropped.
The way the southpaw attacked the powerplay suggested that. His 31 off 21 allowed the ones who followed to play the game at their own pace.

Shane Watson scored 42 off 38 and Ambati Rayudu made 41 off 34. After the finishers — Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja — helped the team to 75 runs in the last seven overs, the target of 168 on a slowish, wearing wicket was always going to be tricky.

And that’s what transpired as the bowlers mixed and matched their pace. They were also aided by a lethargic Hyderabad batting unit, whose work was reminiscent of some of Chennai’s previous batting displays.

Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings: 167 for 6 in 20 overs. (Shane Watson 42, Ambati Rayudu 41; Sandeep Sharma 2/19, T Natarajan 2/41). Sunrisers Hyderabad: 147 for 8 in 20 overs. (K Williamson 57, J Bairstow 23; K Sharma 2/37, D Bravo 2/25).

Kolkata lost wickets at regular intervals and never looked in the zone during the chase. Bangalore bowlers did not give any freebies.

SHARJAH: Sharjah has been a batting paradise this IPL, but things are changing. Sixes have reduced in numbers from the first game, which witnessed 33. Ten sixes were hit in the contest between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday. Pitches have become slower. Both teams saw that the ball did not come on to the bat, and strokeplay was difficult.

But, AB de Villiers has this uncanny habit of playing those scintillating knocks and taking everyone by surprise. It makes him one of the most feared batsmen in world cricket. After a decent start by Aaron Finch and Devdutt Padikkal, finding the ropes was difficult during the middle overs for Virat Kohli, but the South African, who walked into bat in the 13th over, counterattacked, scoring a 33-ball 73 and steering his team to 194/2. It proved to be the difference between two teams with Bangalore winning the contest by 82 runs. Bangalore thus climbed to third on the points table.

Kolkata lost wickets at regular intervals and never looked in the zone during the chase. Bangalore bowlers did not give any freebies. Their struggle with the bat made De Villiers’ innings look even more special. It was from the 16th over, when the 36-year-old unleashed mayhem, finishing the innings with five fours and six sixes. Andre Russell, Pat Cummins and Kamlesh Nagarkoti were at the receiving end.

By the look of his innings, it seemed as if De Villiers was batting on a highway while the rest were on a different surface.

Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore: 194 for 2 in 20 overs (AB de Villiers 73 not out, Aaron Finch 47; Prasidh Krishna 1/42).

Kolkata Knight Riders: 112 for 9 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 34; Chris Morris 2/17, Washington Sundar 2/20).

Paris: Rafael Nadal tied Roger Federer with 20 Grand Slam titles by producing a nearly perfect performance against Novak Djokovic in the French Open final.

Nadal equalled long-time rival Federer for the most major singles tennis championships won by a man and added to his own record at Roland Garros with No 13 on the red clay, courtesty of a surprisingly dominant 6-0 6-2 7-5 victory over the No 1-ranked Djokovic on Sunday.

When Nadal ended it with an ace, he dropped to his knees, smiled widely and pumped his arms. He did not cede a set in his favorite tournament this year.

Nadal, No 2 in the rankings, improved to 100-2 at the French Open, including a combined 26-0 in semifinals and finals, and picked up his fourth consecutive title in Paris.

The 34-year-old left-hander from Spain previously put together streaks of four French Open championships from 2005-08, then five in a row from 2010-14, to go alongside his four trophies at the US Open, two at Wimbledon and one at the Australian Open.

Nadal is now even with Federer for the first time since each man had zero Slams to his name in 2003. Federer’s first arrived at Wimbledon that year; Nadal, naturally, earned his first in France in 2005, by which point he trailed 4-0.

Djokovic’s loss left him at 17 majors; had he won, the trio’s standings would have read 20-19-18.

Nadal is the oldest French Open champion since 1972 and the more than 15 years between his first and most recent Grand Slam titles is the longest such span for a man.

This was the 56th installment of Nadal vs Djokovic, the most meetings between any pair of men in the professional era, and their ninth in a Grand Slam final, equalling Nadal vs Federer for the most.

Djokovic had won 14 of the last 18 matchups against Nadal, and led 29-26 overall, including a 6-3 6-2 6-3 win at the 2019 Australian Open final. Nadal allowed Djokovic one fewer game this time. 

DUBAI: Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Mumbai Indians in a thrilling Super Over contest in the Indian Premier League on Monday after the match was tied.

Bangalore’s Navdeep Saini came up with a brilliant over, giving away just seven runs. It was a surprise that Ishan Kishan did not walk into bat as he had made 99 runs earlier in the second innings. Pollard and Hardik Pandya, who came onto bat, did not make great connection when it mattered most while Bangalore’s Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers reached the target in Jasprit Bumrah’s last delivery.

It is quite unbelievable that the game actually went to a super over, considering Mumbai were 35/2 in six overs while chasing 202. But Pollard and Ishan Kishan had some other ideas and kept on fighting even when things looked improbable.

In fact, Pollard and Ishan, at one point, needed 104 from 36 balls, but a last ball four by Pollard meant the game was tied. The duo’s heroic partnership of 119 runs and Ishan’s 58-ball 99 went in vain.

Chasing a target of 202, Mumbai Indians managed 201 for 5 after Ishan Kishan (99 off 58 balls) and Kieron Pollard (60 off 24 balls) nearly pulled off an incredible chase but could manage 8 off the required 19 runs in the last over.

Bangalore should, more importantly, thank their batsmen for putting up a good score. Else, they would have suffered another loss. Finch starred with 35-ball 52 and laid the foundation with a partnership of 81 alongside Devdutt Padikkal. Kohli failed, but De Villiers (55 n.o) and Padikkal (54) delivered.

Padikkal, at one point of time was 25 from 23, and he made his intent clear with back-to-back sixes off James Pattinson. But, when the South African smashed two sixes and a four off Bumrah in the 17th, and there was no holding back despite Padikkal’s wicket.

Whatever was bowled to him resulted in a four or a six, such was De Villiers’s form. It was a special innings considering the likes of Bumrah, Trent Boult and Pattinson were on the receiving end. Shivam Dube also played his part, smashing Pattinson for three sixes in the last over.

Abu Dhabi Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Dinesh Karthik finds it extremely “unfair” that his premier pacer Pat Cummins is being criticised after just one bad performance that too when he played straight after completing his quarantine.

All eyes were on Cummins, this edition’s highest paid overseas recruit and he was taken apart by Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma as he went for 49 runs in 3 overs during KKR’s 49-run IPL defeat on Wednesday.

“It is very unfair to judge him (Cummins) right now. He is just off quarantine, (it is) at 3.30/4.00 PM when he got permission to come and play the match itself. We are just happy to have him and I don’t think this is a game where we need to judge him at all,” Karthik said at the post-match press conference.

The KKR skipper termed Cummins as a champion bowler who will eventually come good.

“Just the fact that he is a world champion bowler, from whatever I have heard and seen he is one of the best going around in the world. I trust him and I’m sure, he will come good,” said Karthik.

Karthik also had a word of praise for young Shivam Mavi, who returned with figures of 2/32, with wickets of Rohit and Quinton de Kock.

“Upfront he (Mavi) was very good. The poor guy missed out due to an injury last year and he is looking forward to this competition and he is shaping up well and that’s a good sign for KKR,” he added.

While someone like Andre Russell once again batted down the order at No 6, Karthik defended the decision, saying that it was more to do with keeping a left-right combination going.

“I think it is a strategy because it is done universally only simply because it is not easy for a bowler to bowl consistently to left-hander and a right-hander (and) even if they get their line a little wrong, it could go for runs. Because we have the advantage of doing that, sometimes we tend to do that,” he said.

Karthik said his side didn’t execute the slower deliveries well enough in these conditions.

“Some didn’t execute slower balls) that well because it was a little shorter and that is why the square boundaries came into play a lot more.”

For Mumbai Indians, Suryakumar Yadav, who came in at No 3 was one of the architects of MI’s victory with 47 off 28 balls, said that he won’t mind opening the innings if required.

“That is the team management’s call. I have loved opening for Mumbai Indians in the last two years and whenever they give me that opportunity, I would love to do that”.

While the ground dimensions are different, it didn’t change their game plan insisted Surya.

“Yes, the boundaries are big but I don’t think there was any drastic change in his batting, he just kept things very-very simple, played his natural game, what he is known for and the result is there in front of you,” sais the MI batsman.

“We were actually keeping things pretty simple, we were just backing ourselves and we knew we had played one game here and what strokes are to be executed on this ground, so we just stuck to our plan and it went out really well, he explained.

Jasprit Bumrah had a rare off-day against CSK, but he bounced back in style and Surya termed the India pace-spearhead as the “best bowler in the world.”

“His rhythm, his work ethics and his discipline during the training sessions is unbelievable as I have been seeing in the last few days. He came back stronger and he will keep getting stronger as the game progresses,” he added. 

Manchester City had already confirmed that Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte have tested positive for COVID-19.

LONDON: The Premier League on Monday announced three new coronavirus cases after the latest round of testings.

The league said it tested 1,605 players and club staff from August 31 to September 6.

“The Premier League can today confirm that between Monday 31 August and Sunday 6 September, 1,605 players and club staff were tested for COVID-19. Of these, there were three new positive tests,” Premier League said in a statement.

“Players or club staff who have tested positive will self-isolate for a period of 10 days. The Premier League is providing this aggregated information for the purposes of competition integrity and transparency. No specific details as to clubs or individuals will be provided by the League and results will be made public after each round of testing,” it added.

Manchester City had already confirmed that Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte have tested positive for COVID-19. However, the identity of the third player is unknown.

“Manchester City FC can confirm that Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte have tested positive for COVID-19,” Manchester City had said in a statement.

“Both players are currently observing a period of self-isolation in accordance with Premier League and UK Government protocol on quarantine. Neither is displaying symptoms of the virus,” the statement had added.

The 2020-2021 season of the league is set to begin on September 12.

Shami said for sportspersons it is even more difficult because they have been used to running around all life and have hardly seen a phase where they have been stuck indoors unless they have an injury

NEW DELHI: If there is one Indian cricketer who kept working on his game even during the coronavirus-induced lockdown, it was pace spearhead Mohammad Shami.

Thanks to the facilities available at home, he did not miss training and the pacer said that has benefited him immensely now that he is back on the ground preparing for the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Shami threw light on the six-day quarantine period after reaching UAE, the hunger among players to play, the absence of fans this IPL, the much-debated saliva ban and how he wishes to help young captain KL Rahul on the pitch by sharing his inputs with the bowling unit.

While one would think that getting onto the plane and reaching the UAE for the IPL would have been a relief after spending months in lockdown at home, the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) pacer begged to differ. He said the six days inside the hotel room was harder for him.

“Four months have been difficult for everyone, be it sportsman or a normal person. Thank god I had the facilities to do my own training. When we came here (UAE) and got quarantined, these six days felt more difficult than those four months because in those months I was training myself, helped the needy and was busy in activities. But in these six days, I have felt how difficult those four months must have been for people. Now it feels comfortable on the field.

“The training I have done (during lockdown) has helped now. The stiffness isn’t there and it has felt more like I took a break for recovery. The body feels good and in rhythm. The normal flow is missing in some. Those who played in the Caribbean Premier League are looking in flow, but those who have been stuck indoors are looking a little stiff. Important to use the 25 to 30 days going into the tournament,” he explained.

Shami said for sportspersons it is even more difficult because they have been used to running around all life and have hardly seen a phase where they have been stuck indoors unless they have an injury.

“When you are habituated to running around 24×7, it is very difficult to stay at home, especially for those who are professionals and put cricket on top of the priority list. This then irritates you and makes you uncomfortable. But touchwood for me, I had a lot of activities to stay busy with.

“I spent a lot of time on the farm, worked closely with the workers. Was busy doing my activities and training. The friends I have spoken to, I was thanking God that I was in a safe place,” he revealed.

Talking about the fear that some people have with a couple of players testing positive for coronavirus, Shami cleared the air and said reports of fear or worry are a result of the media not being in the UAE and not witnessing the kind of energy the players are showing in training sessions.

“You guys are not here so you are not being able to see the training sessions. But one can see the hunger in the players. The intention to give their 100 per cent is visible. The players are giving their everything in training and nobody is willing to miss any activity. Everyone is looking really involved and the thing is that you are back to your real love (cricket). The guys have started to look in touch after the 5-6 days of training sessions that we have had and it looks like the boys want to give more than a 100 per cent on the ground,” he smiled.

And how is the pacer coping with the new rules like the saliva ban? Shami had no bones admitting that he sometimes forgets about it and the hand automatically reaches the mouth when the ball is in hand.

“What happens is that one is a natural way, in which we have played from childhood. That is our nature as we have done this all life. But now it is important to follow the guidelines given to us by the country (UAE) as well as ICC and the BCCI. Hurdles will come no doubt but this is also our family and we need to take care.

“What also happens is that sometimes we remember things a tad bit late like the ban on saliva. So the hand automatically goes to the mouth. But once the hand goes to the mouth, then one remembers that you cannot put saliva on the ball. You do struggle in between, but it isn’t impossible. You must enjoy yourself, but within the rules,” he pointed out.

Just like the new cricketing rules with an eye on the virus, fans are also set to be kept away from the tournament due to safety and Shami said while he will miss the fans, it is important for everyone that the fans stick to television this one time. But he is confident that the IPL will see a lot of smiling faces.

“Fans or players shouldn’t take it to heart as the rules have been made keeping in mind the health of the people. So, if we can go through this rule one year, the players and fans can once again reunite next season. We must remember that safety is paramount and if we are safe this year, we can all come back together again next year. Hats off to all the fans for constantly showing us support and love.

“Will definitely miss the fans and you cannot ignore that. But we will look to use this opportunity to divert the mind of the fans and give them joy. Even if it is on television, they will get to see their role models,” he said.

Another interesting aspect this year will be KL Rahul leading the Punjab unit and Shami said while the batsman is new to the leadership role, the maturity Rahul has shown over the years is testimony that he will do well in the cash-rich league. The pacer went on to add that he will also look to help Rahul by sharing his inputs with the bowlers.

“Be it IPL, domestic or international cricket, I always try to fulfil the role given to me. As for Rahul, I have spent quality time with him in the Indian dressing room and that is most important because at the end of the day what counts is mutual understanding.

“If the bonding is good, the result will show. He is mature and has played some quality knocks. He has a well-balanced team and has confidence. As a senior player one should take small responsibilities and help the captain relax. I will try to take the bowling unit forward so that Rahul doesn’t feel any pressure,” he signed off.