New Zealand draw the 5 match ODI series at Ranchi - both teams tied 2-2

It was a disappointment for Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who lost his first match in his home-town of Ranchi as the Indians lost by 19 runs. Thereby, the Kiwis leveled the five-match One-Day International (ODI) cricket series at the JSCA International Stadium.
Winning the toss, the visitors chose to bat first and managed to post a sore of 260 for 7 that looked easy because of star Indian batmen in the team but turned out to be not so easy. Martin Guptill brought up his fifty in 56 balls and went on to score 72.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 27 October 2016.

Chasing 261, the down-slide began when Rohit Sharma (11) fell early to Tim Southee. Then, Virat Kohli (45) and Axar Patel (38) tried to hold fort but wickets kept falling and, when captain Dhoni (11) also fell cheaply to Neesham, it was an uphill task. Opener Ajinkya Rahane (57) was the only Indian batsman to post a fifty. Tailenders Dhawal Kulkarni (25 not out) and Umesh Yadav (7) put up a record 10th wicket stand of 34 against the visitors but, in the end, India were all out for 241 in 48.4 overs.
The bowlers who wreaked havoc were Tim Southee (3/40) and all-rounder James Neesham (2/38).


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3rd test at St Lucia - thanks to Ashwin, India manage to score 233 for 5 on first day

It was the 3rd test match of the 4-match series in St Lucia, West Indies, and the home team managed to restrict the Indian batsmen to 233 for 5. Ravichandran Ashwin is gradually turning out to be a real all-rounder because he scored 75 of the 233 runs. Such a low score was not due to rain, fog or bad light but a result of a dedicated West Indies team and smart bowling and captaincy from Holder.
He kept himself and the three other of his fast bowlers fresh by rotating them. His bowlers bowled consistently in the channel outside off stump and tempted the batsmen to go after the ball. There were no free hits, the boundary-riders manned their territories diligently. Saha, for one, struggled to rotate the strike (he was 1 off 34 balls before a miscued slog landed safely in front of deep midwicket). At one stage of the game, there wasn't a boundary hit for 21 overs.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 10 August 2016.

Shikhar Dhawan went for 1, Virat Kohli for 3 and Rohit Sharma for 9. Lokesh Rahul went for 50 and Ajinkya Rahane for 35. Ashwin (75) and Saha (46) were at the crease at close of play.
Runs were hard to come by - the St Lucia pitch had plenty of bounce, the outfield was sluggish and the West Indies bowlers operated to a plan. Their teasing lines tied down the stroke-making Indian batsmen. The exception was Ravichandran Ashwin - he has three Test centuries to his credit and all three have come against West Indian attacks. In the first session of play, 87 runs were scored in 23 overs. In the second session, 43 runs from 29 overs. And in the last session, 104 runs from 38.


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IPL9 - Rising Pune Supergiants beat Delhi Daredevils by 7 wickets at Feroz Shah Kotla

Ajinkya Rahane carried his bat through till the last ball and continued with his fine run of form. His 63 unbeaten paved the way for a much needed win for RPS at Feroz Shah Kotla. The new team have been dogged by injuries to important players who had to withdraw midway.
This has been reported in sports.ndtv.com dated 6 May 2016.

M S Dhoni won the toss and opted to field and his bowlers did a good job, especially in the middle overs, to restrict the in-form Delhi Daredevils to 162 for seven. Subsequently, chasing the not-too-large total on a good track, RPS came home with 5 balls to spare. Rahane scored unbeaten 63 off 48 balls while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni played a fiery 27 off 20 balls.
RPS continue to remain at number six in the points table but with four more matches to go, who knows whether they can get back into reckoning. T20 is, after all, an unpredictable game and anything can happen at any time to upsetr someone's apple cart.
The forthcoming matches for RPS are -

May 10 - vs Sun Risers Hyderabad at Visakhapatnam

May 14 - vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Kolkata

May 17 - vs Delhi Daredevils at Visakhapatnam

May 21 - vs Kings XI Punjab at Visakhapatnam


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M S Dhoni proves his worth - wins IPL9 encounter against last year's champions MI

M S Dhoni knows just how to deliver and, even with a new franchisee in Rising Pune SuperGiants, he showed that he is always the Boss. It was a fantastic debut for his team as it scripted a 9 wicket win over Mumbai Indians, the IPL8 champions, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to set in motion the prestigious IPL9 season.
It has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 10 April 2016.

Winning the toss, MI opted to bat first and Dhoni, the captain of the new entrant Rising Pune Supergiants, lost no time in putting his plans into action that left the MI bewildered. They kept losing wickets too fast for comfort and only three batsmen reached double figures - Harbhajan Singh (45 not out), Ambati Rayudu (22) and Vinay Kumar (12). Finally, MI wa all out for 121/8.
And, that score was overhauled in 14.4 overs by RPS - Ajinkya Rahane scored 66 not out and was declared Man of the Match.
With this win, RPS have announced their arrival but, one must remember that MI is a determined team with many big names and, in IPL8, it had lost five matched on the trot before recovering to win the trophy. This is just the start of, what promises to be, an exciting contest as always. It will keep people glued to their TV sets.


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India wins 2nd test at Colombo to equal the score 1-1

India won the 2ns test match at Colombo comfortably by 278 runs. Set to score 412 for a win, the home team could not bear the pressure and succumbed to the inevitable. This victory was a special one for Virat Kohli, the captain of India Test team and also for Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara because it was his last match and ended a 15-year illustrious career.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 24 August 2015.

For the Indians, batsmen who scored centuries were Lokesh Rahul (1st innings - 108) and Ajinkya Rahane (126 in 2nd innings) while for the Sri Lankans, the only centurion was Angelo Mathews (1st innings – 102).
Bowlers Ravichandra Ashwin (3 for 76 and 6 for 42) and Amit Mishra (3 for 43 and 3 for 29) took 5 wickets each – and Sri Lanka folded up at 134 in 2nd innings giving India a fantastic win of 278 runs. There were clouds in the sky but, in the final tally, the rain gods did not pose any problem and the game ended as expected.
This win keeps alive India's hopes of carving a win in Sri Lanka after 23 years - the last time India won a Test series in Sri Lanka was in 1993 and, there are possibilities that the new look India team will win the series.
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Ajinkya Rahane sets a world record - latches on to eight catches in the slips

The slip position in any form of cricket is a vital one and fielders in that position have to be super swift, agile and be able to anticipate and coordinate the motions of the bowlers, the batsman and the ball – all in one split second.
And, kudos to Ajnkya Rahane for latching on to eight catches in the first test match at Galle between India and Sri Lanka as reported in zeenews.india.com dated 14 August 2015.

The match would be remembered for the contribution of Ajinkya Rahane and the world record that he has set. He is now a safe bet in the position after his impressive performance.
Ever since the retirement of former India's most successful catcher Rahul Dravid, it is now Rahane who has shown his ability to take that position. This has been acknowledged by former India batsman Sanjay Manjerekar.
By taking eight catches in a test match, Rahane has overtaken the likes of Greg Chappell, Hasan Tillakaratne, Stephen Fleming and Mathew Hayden who all had seven catches. In India Yajuvendra Singh held the record with seven catches in 76/77 vs England.
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India gifts away 2nd T20 to Zimbabwe in Harare – lose by 10 runs

#INDvsZIM #AjinkyaRahane #Zimbabwe #stuartbinny India, true to tradition, played some forgettable cricket and paid the price for complacency like their seniors. The team of Ajinkya Rahane gifted away the 2nd T20 played at Harare to Zimbabwe – India lost by 10 runs. This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 20 July 2015.

Zimbabwe won the toss, elected to bat and put up 145 runs which was probably not enough – but, they defended it admirably and won the match defeating India by 10 runs. Zimbabwe opener Chamu Chibhabha was responsible to ensure that Zimbabwe put up a respectable total with a superb 51-ball 67.
In their chase of 146 runs for a win, India were looking down the barrel at 69 for five in nine overs. It was then that Stuart Binny (24) and debutant Sanju Samson (19) played cameo innings, but it was ultimately Zimbabwe’s day at the Harare Sports Club.
There were three runouts in the Indian side – Ajinkya Rahane (4), Kedar Jadhav (5) and Bhubaneshwar Kumar (9). However, there was not a single runout in the home side. This reveals that Indians are an impatient lot and do not hesitate to throw their wickets away.
Graeme Cremer wreaked havoc with his three wickets for 18 runs in his four overs, while other wickets were shared by SC Williams (1/31), Taurai Muzarabani (1/23) and Chris Mpofu (1/26).
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India wins 1st T20 in Harare – new, promising faces of Indian cricket emerge

#INDvsZIM #AxarPatel #AjinkyaRahane #Zimbabwe #HarbhajanSingh After the brilliant whitewash in ODI meted out to Zimbabwe at Harare, India has shown its mettle in T20 as well by beating the hosts by 54 runs as reported in zeenews.india.com dated 18 July 2015.

This Zimbabwe series has thrown up many exciting new talents and the emergence of such players mean a lot for India where the players are gradually aging and there is a need to inject new fresh blood.
In this T20 match, India won the toss, opted to bat first and put up an impressive score of 178 for 5 and, with an asking rate of around 9 runs per over from the word go, it was a tough ask for Zimbabwe.
Captain Ajinkya Rahane (33), Murali Vijay (34) and Robin Uthappa (39 not out) helped the visiting side to post 178 for 5 after electing to bat and the Zimbabweans conceded 25 runs as extras to boost the Indian total.
Young 21-year-old Axar Patel with 3 for 17 was the pick of the bowlers – this left-arm spinner was one of five Indians who made T20 International debut today. Experienced Harbhajan Singh with 2 for 39 gave him able support and Zimbabwe batting order slumped to 124/7 while chasing the target and India the match.
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India outplay Zimbabwe in 2nd ODI in Harare and seal series

#INDvsZIM #AjinkyaRahane #Zimbabwe #BhuvaneshwarKumar It was an all-round performance of confidence that helped India win the 2nd ODI at Harare and beat the home team to seal the series 2-0 as reported in dnaindia.com dated 11 July 2015.
Once again Zimbabwe won the toss and sent the visitors in to bat but, this time, the openers played to their potentials and put on a century partnership before being separated. Murali Vijay put on 72 runs while skipper Ajinkya Rahane added 63 runs. The Indians put up a score of 271 for 8 in the allotted 50 overs.

In reply, Zimbabwe could score 209 in 49 overs and India won the match.
The Indian bowlers maintained their stranglehold on the opposition throughout and Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4 for 33 in 10 overs. Others chipped in with their contributions. Dhawal Kulkarni (1/39 in 9 overs) provided initial breakthroughs while spinners Harbhajan Singh (1/29 in 10 overs) and Axar Patel (1/40 in 10 overs) succeeded in keeping the home team a tight leash.
For Zimbabwe, Chamu Chibhabha (72, 100 balls) was the top-scorer.
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India must win ODI series 3-0 against Zimbabwe to retain 2nd position in ICC ranking

India begins their ODI series against Zimbabwe on Friday 10 July and they must win all the series 3-0 in order to remain at the No 2 position in the ICC ODI ranking. All the ODIs and T20 matches would be played at Harare. This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 8 July 2015.

India has a new captain in Ajinkya Rahane for the series with some new players it would be up to him to ensure that India maintains its position in world ranking.
India is now the No 2 with a total of 115 points while Zimbabwe, the hosts, are at No 11 with 44 points. India is obviously the favorites but, cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties and no one can forecast the result until the last ball is bowled.
A 2-1 win for India means they will drop two points but still maintain their second spot. However, a 1-2 loss will mean India will have to surrender four points and go down to fourth.
Against this, a 3-0 win for Zimbabwe will help them jump to 52 points. Thereby, they will be able to overtake Ireland and move to the 10th spot, while India will slip down to the fifth spot with 109.
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Indian ODI team gets Ajinkya Rahane as new captain for Zimbabwe tour

#AjinkyaRahane #Zimbabwe #Harare #harbhajansingh #INDvsZIM There was a certain amount of uncertainty regarding the Zimbabwe tour to play ODI and T20 and matters appear to have been resolved. The BCCI has agreed to rest a whole lot of players because of ‘too much cricket’ and tiredness and fatigue creeping in which was affecting the performance of key players.
The BCCI has, therefore, given the captaincy to Ajinkya Rahane who will be taking a new crop of players to Zimbabwe to play three ODIs and two T20 matches beginning July 10 in Harare. Ajinkya Rahane is a consistent batsman and, in the just concluded tour of Bangladesh, he got a chance to pay in only one ODI.
This has been reported in oneindia.com dated 29 June 2015.

The new team will see the return of Harbhajan Singh to the shorter formats of the game and new players will be seen in the form of some who have proved their worth in the IPL. They are Murali Vijay, Manoj Tewari, Robin Uthappa, Kedar Jadhav, Karn Sharma, and uncapped Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey and paceman Sandeep Sharma.
There is no specialist wicketkeeper but both Robin Uthappa and Manoj Tywari can carry out the role. Seniors who have been rested are M S Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravichandra Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Obviously, the BCCI wants to give chances to newcomers and look out for new talent for the future because cricket is a game that will continue to hold attention for a longtime to come and, there is bound to be wastages.
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IPL8 – Rajasthan defeats Kolkata to move up to No 2 position

#IPL8 #RRvsKKR #ChrisMorris #ShaneWatson Riding on a century by Shane Watson and the wonderful spell of 4 for 23 by Chris Morris, the Rajasthan Royals defeated the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders by 9 runs at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. RR thus go into the playoffs.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 17 May 2015.

RR won the toss and opted to bat first and the opening pair of Shane Watson and Ajinkya Rahane (37) put on 80 runs before Rahane was run out attempting a second run when there was none. Shane Watson hit five sixes and nine fours in his 59 ball blitz of 104 not out.
RR finally posted 199 for the loss of 6 wickets and KKR had to score at the rate of 10 runs per over.
But, KKR began on a dismal note losing Gautam Gambhir in the first over itself. But, they had hard hitting batsmen like Yusuf Pathan and Andre Russell in their midst. They did their best but Pathan fell to Watson for 44 and Russell fell to Morris for 37. The KKR innings ultimately ended at 190 for 9.
With this win, RR climb up the ladder to No 2 position – they have 16 points from 14 games.
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IPL8 – CSK beat RR by 12 runs to once again prove that they have the firepower

#IPL8 #CSKvsRR #RavindraJadeja #BrendonMcCullum It was a home game for Chennai Super Kings but, at one time, it appeared that the score of 157 for 5 that they had put up might not have been enough. But, Ravindra Jadeja rose to the occasion to scalp 4 wickets for just 11 runs to defeat Rajasthan Royals by 12 runs and allow CSK to regain the No 1 spot in the points table.
Mohit Sharma (3/25) also bowled a good spell and added to the miseries of Rajasthan Royals.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 11 May 2015.

MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat first but when Dwayne Smith and Suresh Raina returned to the dugout with the score at 15 for 2 in the 4th over, it meant trouble ahead. However, Brendon McCullum smashed a quick-fire 81 and in the company of Faf du Plesis (29) steadied the ship with a 101-run stand for the third-wicket.
However, RR bowler Chris Morris (3/19) produced a brilliant display with the ball and managed to restrict CSK to a modest 157 for five.
Chasing this apparently achievable target, Rajasthan's innings just fell apart after a steady start by Ajinkya Rahane (23). He and Shane Watson (28) shared 37 runs for the opening wicket before disaster struck in the form of Mohit Sharma when he scalped Rahane.
Samson (26 off 17), James Faulkner (16 off 13) and Chris Morris (16 not out off 10) made useful contributions but Dwayne Bravo (2/43) got two wickets towards the end to snuff out any opposition.

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IPL8 – Hyderabad beat Rajasthan to move up the points table

#IPL8 #RRvsSRH #ShikharDhawan #Brabourne Sun Risers Hyderabad kept their play-off hopes alive by pulling off a well-deserved seven-run victory over Rajasthan Royals – Hyderabad now have 10 points from 10 matches and four matches remain. The contest went to the wire at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai as reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 7 May 2015.

SRH won the toss and elected to bowl first and with Shikhar Dhawan (54) and Eoin Morgan (68 off 28 balls), they managed to put up a 200 plus score (201 for 4 in 20 overs) which put pressure on the RR batsmen from the word go.
For Rajasthan Royals, their in-form batsman Ajinkya Rahane (8) went out cheaply but there were others who wanted to pull off this match. The superb knock from Steve Smith (68) brought them back in contention. Subsequently, there was a late-order recovery from James Faulkner (30), Sanju Samson (21) and Chris Morris (34 not out). One got an impression that RR would retain their superiority but that did not happen and the hosts lost by 7 runs.
Incidentally, when RR won the toss and elected to bowl first, there was a feeling among exerts that it was not a correct decision – RR should have elected to bat first. And the fears were proved.

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IPL8 – Rajasthan Royals back to winning ways – defeat Delhi Daredevils by 14 runs

#IPL8 #RRvsDD #AjinkyaRahane #orangecap #IPL500 It was an Ajinkya Rahane and Karun Nair show at Brabourne Stadium when they helped beat Delhi Daredevils by 14 runs and regain the top spot in the points table by displacing Chennai Super Kings as reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 3rd May 2015.

Rahane remained not out with 91 runs (9 fours, 3 sixes) while Karun Nair contributed 61 runs (6 fours, 2 sixes) to put up an imposing total of 189 for 2 and, the DD boys could score only 175 for 7 in the stipulated 20 overs. Thereby, RR won by 14 runs and moved up with 14 points in 11 matches.
Of course, CSK has played 9 matches so far and have 12 points – the situation in the points table could change. For Delhi Daredevils, captain J P Duminy top scored with 56 runs (3 fours, 3 sixes) but, Yuvraj Singh could contribute only 22 runs ( 4 fours and no sixes). Obviously, he has yet to get back his form.
Man of the Match was Ajinkya Rahane – he also got back his Orange Cap being top scorer in IPL8 till now.
Incidentally, it was the 500th match of IPL.

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IPL8 – CSK suffers second consecutive loss, this time at the hands of SRH

#IPL8 #CSKvSRH #DavidWarner #orangecap CSK suffered the second consecutive loss, this time at the hands of SRH, due to the whirlwind innings of its captain David Warner who hammered the CSK bowlers to all corners of the stadium to score 61 runs off 28 balls (his 50 came in 20 balls). The final score of 197 was quite big enough but, the CSK is known for its batting power and, could have put up an equal fight but that did not happen.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 3 May 2015.

Dhoni won the toss and, unlike his normal logic, opted to bowl first. And, realized his mistake when David Warner (28-ball 61) and Shikhar Dhawan (37) put up am imposing total of 86-run in their opening stand in less than 9 overs to help SRH post 197 for seven in 20 overs.
Chennai kept losing its batsmen at regular intervals and, when Faf du Plessis (33) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (20) came together to put upa 46-run fourth wicket partnership, there were hopes that CSK could still win.
But, the unfortunate run out of Faf du Plessis coupled with the way Dhoni went out spelled doom for the CSK.
However, in spite of the win, SRH continued to flounder at the bottom of the points table while CSK, in spite of its loss, remained in the No 1 position.
With his 5th half-century of the tournament, David Warner snatched the orange cap from Rajasthan Royals' Ajinkya Rahane.

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IPL8 – Kings XI Punjab outsmarts Rajasthan Royals in Super-over

#IPL8 #RRvKXIP #SuperOver #ShaunMarsh This was a game in Ahmedabad that went down to the wires – literally. It was a tie with both teams at 191 at the end of the stipulated 20 overs and a Super-over had to be bowled to decide the fate of the match. This was the first Super Over in IPL8.
This has bee reported in sports.ndtv.com dated 22 April 2015.

The winner KXIP was declared based on the super over in which they scored 12 runs while RR had to be content with only 6 runs. This win by KXIP put a brake on the winning spree of the RR because they had won all 5 previous matches and this would have been their 6th straight win. Bit, the Gods willed otherwise.
RR had posted a formidable score of 191 and, in the chase, captain Virender Sehwag (2) failed to click while Murali Vijay (21) gave some support. However, Shaun Marsh managed to score a half-century off 32 balls with a down the ground six. He had an able partner in David Miller and their 58-run stand ended when Marsh fell to a catch taken by Rahane in the deep. At the time, KXIP were 117 for four.
Previously, Ajinkya Rahane hit a glorious 74 off 54 balls with six boundaries and two sixes as he laid the foundation for a reasonable total adding 95 for the opening wicket with skipper Shane Watson who scored 45 off 35 balls, 5x4, and 2x6.
But, in the end, Lady Luck did not favor the Royal Rajasthan Royals.

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IPL8 – Chennai Super Kings mauled by Rajasthan Royals at Motera

#IPL8 #CSKvsRR #Motera #AjinkyaRahane #ShaneWatson It was a day of disappointments for Chennai Super Kings as the Rajasthan Royals mauled them on their home turf at Motera in Ahmedabad – it was the 5th straight win for RR. This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 20 April 2015.

Captain M S Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat under the scorching 43 degrees Celsius temperature and, their top three batsmen returned to the pavilion with hardly 30 runs on the board. It was then the turn of Dhoni himself and Dwayne Bravo to set things right and put up at least 180 runs on the board. But, while Bravo did bat aggressively, the same aggression was missing from Dhoni’s bat. In the end, the CSK could not go beyond 156 which was peanuts for the RR.
Dhoni is known to be one of the best finishers in T20 cricket but, this was one occasion when he looked totally at sea and could not hit the sixes as he usually does when near the finishing line. He would have this loss on his hands for a long time to come.
Chasing 157 for their 5th consecutive win at their adopted home ground at Motera, RR posted a 144-run record opening stand between skipper Watson (73 off 47 balls) and Rahane (76 not out). RR made it home 18.2 overs to hand CSK their first loss in IPL8.

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