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Karnataka outplay Kerala by 9 wickets in Vijay Hazare

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Vijay Hazare

Bengaluru: Karnataka leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal bagged a five-wicket haul to help the defending champions pack Kerala for 49 runs and register a nine-wicket win in their Group B Vijay Hazare cricket match, here today.

Electing to bat at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the Kerala batting line-up fell like a pack of cards in 22 overs against a disciplined Karnataka bowling attack.

Pace spearhead and captain R Vinay Kumar started the opposition fall by bagging a couple of wickets as left-arm bowler Sreenath Aravind also picked two scalps.

But Gopal soon took over to rattle the middle and the lower-order in no time.

Opener Nikhilesh Surendran (11) and skipper Sachin Baby (12) were the only two batsmen to get into double figures as the innings saw four ducks in all.

Coming into bat, Karnataka top-order wasted little time in chasing down the score in 5.5 overs. Mayank Agarwal (5) was out early, but Lokesh Rahul (19) and Karun Nair (24) made sure that there were no hiccups in the remaining chase.

Karnataka have registered three wins in five matches.

Brief Scores:

Kerala 49 all out in 22 overs (Nikhilesh Surendran 11, Sachin Baby 12; Chreyas Goapl 5-19)

Karnataka 51/1 in 5.5 overs (Lokesh Rahul 19 not out, Karun Nair 24 not out; Unnikrishnan Manukrishnan 1-27).

(Agencies)

Dhoni goes to Pune, Raina heads to Rajkot in IPL draft

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Dhoni-Raina

Mumbai: India’s limited-overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni todaye emerged as the top draw in the IPL draft with the Sanjeev Goenka-owned new franchise Pune opting to pick him first for the stipulated price of Rs 12.5 crore here.

Dhoni’s India teammate Suresh Raina was the first preference for the other new team Rajkot, which is owned by Intex Mobiles. He will also get an identical Rs 12.5 crore by virtue of being the first player selected by the franchise.

“Excited to play for the beautiful vibrant city- Rajkot in @IPL. Looking forward to have new teammates and support from the people of Gujarat,” Raina tweeted after the draft.

In-form Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane was the second choice for Pune, while Rajkot opted for Ravindra Jadeja in the same position. Both players will be entitled to a purse of Rs 9.5 crore per year.

The draft process was necessitated following the suspension of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals from the IPL for two years in the wake of the 2013 spot-fixing and betting scandal.

The suspension was ordered by the Supreme Court-appointed Justice (retd) R M Lodha committee, which was formed to decide the quantum of punishment following the investigations.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was picked by Pune as their third choice and will get a purse of Rs 7.5 crore. New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was Rajkot’s choice.

In the fourth spot, both the teams opted Australians with Steve Smith going to Pune and James Faulkner going to Rajkot.

Pune opted for South African batsman Faf du Plessis as their fifth and final player, while West Indian Dwayne Bravo was Rajkot’s pick. Both players will get Rs 4 crore.

The draft pool only included players from Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals,. the two teams which have been barred from participation. The players not picked will now go to the general IPL auction scheduled for February 6.

The next edition of the Twenty20 league will be held from April 9 to May 29.

Teams Pune’s picks: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Steve Smith, Faf du Plessis.

Team Rajkot’s picks: Suresh Raina, R Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner, Dwayne Bravo.

(Agencies)

Pune, Rajkot become interim IPL franchises to replace CSK, RR

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ipl

New Delhi: Pune and Rajkot on Tuesday became the new franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL), replacing the suspended teams of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for a period of two years.

The Pune franchise was bought by Kolkata-based business tycoon Sanjeev Goenka’s company New Rising, while the Rajkot bid was won by Intex Mobiles.

The new IPL teams will be called New Rising Pune and Intex Rajkot.

While Goenka will shell out Rs 10 crore per year to the BCCI, Intex Mobiles will pay Rs 16 crore for the two-year deal.

“They won’t take a single penny from the BCCI. In fact they will pay the BCCI,” Board Secretary Anurag Thakur told reporters after a meeting of the IPL Governing Council here.

The teams were sold through the reverse bidding process for which the base price was set at Rs 40 crore and bidders had to quote an amount less than that. The lowest bidder was given the franchises.

IPL welcomed two new teams after the Board of Cricket for Control in India (BCCI) opened tenders for the same in the national capital.

The two new teams will get to buy 10 players on December 15.

The process was necessitated by the suspension of CSK and RR for the involvement some of their officials and co-owners in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal, which was probed by the Supreme Court-appointed Justice (retd) R M Lodha committee.

However, both the CSK and RR will be allowed back in the league after serving out their suspension.

The interim franchises, which have been picked on Tuesday, will participate in a draft to first retain their share of players.

Players from CSK and RR will be divided into two groups of capped and uncapped and the top names will be sold through the draft system. The two new teams will have a minimum of Rs 40 crore and a maximum of Rs 66 crore to buy their players.

The other three bidders in fray were Harsh Goenka of RPG properties, Axis Clinical and Chettinad Cement, all of whom quoted higher bids than New Rising and Intex Mobiles.

(Agencies)

India win by 337 runs, clinch series 3-0

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South Africa

New Delhi: India ended South Africa’s second innings at 143 runs to win the fourth and final cricket Test by 337 runs and clinch the series 3-0 at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Monday.

This was the first series victory at home for Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his second consecutive one after the triumph in Sri Lanka in September.

India had won the first Test in Mohali and the third in Nagpur earlier in this series. With the series-win, India climbed to the second position in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was the most successful among the Indian bowlers in the second innings with figures of 5/61.

Fast bowler Umesh Yadav bagged three quick wickets just after tea to return figures of 3/9. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja returned with 2/26.

Jadeja bowled 17 consecutive maiden overs in the second innings. He fell four maiden overs short of the existing record of former India spinner Bapu Nadkarni when Faf du Plesis walloped him to the long-on boundary.

A.B. de Villiers was the highest scorer for the visitors with 43. De Villiers consumed 296 deliveries during his marathon innings.

Usually known and revered for his ability to repeatedly hit bowlers out of the park in limited-overs cricket, the 31-year-old showed he is one of best when it comes to defensive batting as well.

Although Hashim Amla, du Plessis and J.P. Duminy fell at the other end, the experienced right-hander continued to hold back the Indian bowlers at the other end.

His lengthy partnerships with Amla and du Plessis gave the Proteas genuine hopes of snatching a draw before they suffered a dramatic collapse shortly after the tea break.

Resuming at the overnight score of 72/2, South Africa batsmen de Villiers and Amla continued their efforts to deny a victory to the hosts.

Du Plessis took 53 deliveries to open his account. He is now third on the list of batsmen consuming most number of balls before opening their account.

England’s John Murray (80 deliveries) holds the record in this dubious category which came against Australia in the Ashes series of 1962.

England’s Stuart Broad is second on the list with 62 balls which came against New Zealand in 2013. Grant Flower of Zimbabwe is fourth with 51 balls. He achieved the feat in the year 2000 against New Zealand.

Jadeja knocked back Amla’s off-stump in the morning session before du Plesis joined de Villiers in the middle and the duo ensured that the visitors did not lose any more wickets till lunch.

Amla scored 25 runs off 244 deliveries. The elegant right-hander has not been at his best in this series. But he played a captain’s innings when his team needed it the most and it needed a superb delivery from Jadeja to dislodge him.

The Kotla pitch became slow as the Test match progressed and lost most of its bounce which allowed the visitors more time to read the deliveries and play their shots.

Kohli used eight bowlers, including himself, in an attempt to dislodge the Proteas batsmen.

Jadeja struck another big blow to South African hopes when he trapped du Plessis leg before almost immediately after lunch with one that kept straight after pitching.

Ashwin sent Duminy back to the pavilion before the South African had opened his account to revive Indian hopes just before tea.

The Proteas hopes of avoiding defeat vaporised right at the start of the final session when they lost their last five wickets in the space of seven runs.

Dane Vilas was a bit unlucky when he was slightly late in bringing his bat down to an off-cutter from Yadav that moved sharply in from outside the off-stump. The ball took the edge of the bat before hitting the stumps.

Ashwin finally ended de Villiers’ marathon vigil in the very first ball of the next over when the South African was surprised by the extra bounce and was caught by Jadeja at leg slip.

An Indian victory was only a matter of time after that.

Yadav dismissed Kyle Abbott and Dane Piedt in quick succession before Ashwin bowled Morkel to send his team-mates and the crowd into raptures.

(IANS)

Amla dismissed but SA reach 94/3 at lunch on Day 5

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Amla

New Delhi: Ravindra Jadeja ended Hashim Amla’s dogged vigil with a beautiful delivery but AB de Villiers frustrated the Indian bowlers no end as South Africa crawled to 94/3 in 107 overs at lunch, raising visions of a draw in the fourth and final cricket Test here today.

The Proteas continued with their ‘Blockathon’ as they added only 21 runs in the first session of the final day consuming another 35 overs in the process.

Amla faced 244 balls for his ‘epic’ 25 before Jadeja bowled him with one that drifted in and then straightened to knock the off-stump.

AB de Villiers showed another side of his game as he gave Amla stiff competition in stonewalling, reaching unbeaten 26 off 203 balls with four boundaries to his credit.

If Amla was not enough, in came Faf Du Plessis (2 not out off 61 balls), who surpassed his skipper’s South African record of playing 46 dot balls before opening account. Du Plessis played 52 dots before taking a single of the 53rd delivery.

Du Plessis has done this kind of defending earlier in Adelaide (2012) when he batted close to eight hours (7 hours and 46 minutes) to score 110 and denied the Aussies what looked like an inevitable win. And his partner in crime was none other than ‘ABD’ who had played 220 balls for his 33 in that particular match.

Du Plessis in fact also surpassed Grant Flower (51 balls vs New Zealand in 2000) to become the third slowest player of all time to open his account

Amla’s strike-rate of 10.44 might have put everyone to sleep but his was a perfect example of how to save a Test match from a miraculously hopeless position. His innings might set future templates on how to save a match as the art of drawing a Test match has become virtually extinct.

Obviously, the drab Kotla wicket which became literally lifeless on the final morning did help but it is never easy to save a Test match by batting out more than 160 overs.

Such was the mindset of the South African batsmen that Jadeja has now bowled 16 consecutive maiden overs with his figures reading 35-28-10-1. Ashwin has 2/43 from 35 overs.

There was the odd good ball like the one that got Amla but both the Indian spinners’ limitations on slightly unhelpful pitch was thoroughly exposed. Ashwin went back to his old habit of trying too many variations without much success. When the pacers bowled, it did not carry to the wicketkeeper.

(Agencies)

Kohli, Rahane take India to 190/4

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Image Credit: BCCI.

Image Credit: BCCI.

New Delhi: Skipper Virat Kohli (83 not out) and Ajinkya Rahane (52 not out) took India to 190/4 in their second innings against South Africa at stumps on the third day of the fourth and final cricket Test at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Saturday.

They forged an unbeaten 133-run stand for the fifth wicket after pacer Morne Morkel had struck early blows to leave India reeling at 57/4.

India now have a strong lead of 403 runs.

(IANS)

Defending champs Karnataka knocked out of Ranji Trophy

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Robin Uthappa

Pune: Defending champions Karnataka crashed out of the Ranji Trophy after losing to Maharashtra by 53 runs in their final league match of the season here today.

Karnataka, resuming the day at 61/1, ended their second innings at 239 all out after having set a 293-run target. The winners of the prestigious competition for the last two years were on the backfoot ever since their first innings folded up for 180, in reply to Maharashtra’s 212.

Maharashtra were anyway not in the race for the quarterfinals but they certainly played party poopers to Karnataka, who finished fifth in the points table with two wins, a loss and five draws from eight games. The home team finished seventh with a win, couple of losses and five draws in eight games.

Vidarbha, Bengal, Assam qualified from Group A with 29, 28 and 26 points respectively.
The famed Karnataka batting failed to deliver in the crunch situation and there was not much positive apart from the contributions from Robin Uthappa (61) and wicket-keeper CM Gautam (65 not out), who ran out of partners in the end.

Maharashtra medium pacers Anupam Sanklecha and Nikit Dhumal did the maximum damage, snaring up four and five wickets respectively.

Brief scores:

Maharashtra 212 and 260
Karnataka 180 and 239 all out in 72 overs (Robin Uthappa 61, CM Gautam 65 not out; Anupam Sanklecha 4/64, Nikit Dhumal 5/78).

India again put South Africa in a spin bind

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Ravindra Jadeja

New Delhi: A five-wicket haul by Ravindra Jadeja and a well-deserved century by Ajinkya Rahane helped India to a strong position in the fourth and final cricket Test against South Africa at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Friday.

Having dismissed India for 334 runs, the Proteas were bundled out for 121 in their first innings with Jadeja boasting figures of 5/30.

The Indians however, decided against enforcing the follow-on and will begin their second innings when play resumes on Saturday.

The hosts suffered a scare when Cheteshwar Pujara was hit by a Dean Elgar shot while fielding and was taken to the hospital with a minor injury. The Indian team management however, assured that he will be fit to play on Friday.

The Indian bowlers claimed as many as nine wickets in the final session of the day to push South Africa to the wall. Pacers Umesh Yadav (2/32) and Ishant Sharma (1/23) and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (1/12) were all among the wickets.

Earlier, Rahane notched up his fifth Test century to propel India to a big total. The Mumbai batsman scored 127 runs with 11 boundaries and four sixes before being dismissed by Dane Piedt.

Ashwin (56) also tormented the South African bowlers, scoring a half-century with six hits to the fence and a six. Rahane and Ashwin added 98 runs between them, the highest partnership of the series so far, to help the hosts post a big total.

The visitors rode on superb bowling from leg-spinner Imran Tahir and pacer Kyle Abbott to end India’s first innings just after the lunch break.

Tahir claimed the vital wicket of Rahane in the morning session for figures of 1/66 while Abbott sent back Ashwin and Ishant off successive deliveries to have a handosme return of 4/117.

Off-spinner Dane Piedt (5/40) did not manage to add to his tally on Friday.

The visitors then endured a difficult start to their first innings as Indian pacers Yadav and Ishant bowled with pace and aggression. The occasional delivery was keeping low, which complicated matters for the batsmen.

Openers Temba Bavuma and Elgar survived several close calls before the latter edged Yadav to wicketkeeper Wriddhhiman Saha.

That saw Hashim Amla join Bavuma in the middle and the duo ensured that the visitors did not lose any more wickets till lunch.

Jadeja came into his own when play resumed, bowling Bavuma in the very first over after the break. Amla continued his recent run of low scores, offering an easy catch behind the stumps while attempting to cut a Jadeja delivery that was spinning away.

The in-form Faf du Plesis virtually gifted his wicket to Jadeja with a miscued paddle-sweep before Yadav sent J.P. Duminy’s off-stump for a walk with a beautiful delivery that shaped slightly in after pitching.

The Proteas continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and by the time A.B. de Villiers holed out in the deep, their innings was virtually over.

(IANS)

Ajinkya Rahane shines but India falter to end Day 1 on 231/7

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ajinkya-rahane

New Delhi: Ajinkya Rahane stood tall amidst ruins with an unbeaten 89 as the much-vaunted top-order failed yet again with India reaching a shaky 231 for 7 against South Africa on the opening day of fourth and final cricket Test, here today.

Save for Rahane, who came back to form with a top quality unbeaten 89-run innings from 155 balls, and skipper Virat Kohli (44), who looked in good touch, the other specialist batsmen did not make use of a slow but decent enough track for batting after the skipper had won the toss.

Rahane’s innings had nine boundaries and two sixes and he is 11 short of a well-deserved fifth Test hundred.

Giving Rahane company was R Ashwin (6) when play was called off slightly early owing to bad light.

The tormentors for India were spinner Dane Piedt (4/101 in 34 overs), playing his first Test of the series, and pacer Kyle Abott (3/23 in 17 overs), who was economical as well as incisive with his swing bowling as South Africa sent down 84 overs during the day.

Rahane, who scored his first ever half-century on home soil, kept his cool even as wickets tumbled at the other end. For the record, this is only the third half-century by an Indian batsman in the series so far and eighth half-century of Rahane’s Test career.

The total was also the highest by any team in the series so far. There were only two significant partnerships — 70 between Kohli and Rahane for the 4th wicket and 59 for the 7th wicket between Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja (24).

While he played second fiddle to Kohli during their stand, Rahane took charge once Wriddhiman Saha (1) was castled by Abbott’s reverse swing.

Piedt, who came from round the wicket, fired at an angle which was dispatched for maximum over deep mid-wicket. His 50 came off 91 balls when he hit Piedt for a boundary as Jadeja also grew in confidence at the other end.

However, Morne Morkel, coming for his final spell of the day, got Jadeja to flick one as Dean Elgar snapped a smart catch at mid-wicket.

The team’s 200 came in the 74th over when Rahane hit an Imran Tahir half-tracker towards mid-wicket boundary and followed it up with a lofted hit over mid-on.

Skipper Kohli’s promising innings was cut short by a freak dismissal while Rohit Sharma’s indiscreet shot selection compounded the home team’s problems on a Feroz Shah Kotla track which was far better than the ones provided at Mohali and Nagpur.

(Agencies)

India, South Africa gear up for final Test

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amla

New Delhi: India aims to be “ruthless” in the final test against South Africa despite having taken a winning 2-0 lead in the four-game series,” captain Virat Kohli said on Wednesday.

“We want to be ruthless and will try to go 3-0 up,” Kohli said ahead of the match starting Thursday in Delhi. “We will not be experimenting just because we have won the series. We want to create a hard-working side with a winning culture. The team is in a good space and we will go all out for a win.”

India won the first test at Mohali by 104 runs, and the third at Nagpur by 124 runs. The second test at Bangalore was a rain-affected draw.

The Nagpur pitch, where South Africa folded for only 79 in the first innings, has been termed “poor” by match referee Jeff Crowe in his report to the International Cricket Council which awaits a reply from the Indian cricket board.

“I think the pitches have been discussed too much. No one talks about the Adelaide test (Australia vs New Zealand day-night game) which ended in two and a half days. People don’t talk about the number of times teams have been bowled out for less than 100 in South Africa but pitches are highlighted in India,” Kohli said.

Kohli, who will lead India for the first time on his home ground, said he was not giving a thought to whether the pitch at the Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium will also help turn as much.

“We’re confident of our abilities whether the game lasts three days or four or five. The pitch being different won’t change our mindset. We’ve come to win,” Kohli said.

South Africa captain Hashim Amla hopes to end the series on a high.

“Since we started this tour by winning the one-day internationals and Twenty20 series we would like to win this match and make it 2-1. We’ve got the England series very close, two weeks after we get back. It’s very important for us to get back to winning ways and cap it off well,” Amla said.

South Africa had won a five-game ODI series 3-2 and a three-game T20 series 2-0.

“It’s been a challenge against good bowlers on difficult tracks. It has been exciting with the games condensed into three days. But as a batsman, you are never settled,” he added.

Amla said pace bowler Dale Steyn would miss a third consecutive test owing to a groin injury he got during the opening test but that the team was not looking to experiment even though the series was already lost.

“It’s important to win and salvage some pride,” said Amla.

(IANS)

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