IPL9 – Pune finally scripts a win against Hyderabad, thanks to Ashok Dinda

Rising Pune Supergiants has finally managed to script a win in the IPL9 against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Hyderabad – thanks to a beautiful display of bowling by Ashok Dinda who was rightly adjudged Man of the Match.
This has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 27 April 2016.

Sudden showers had delayed the start and M S Dhoni won the toss for RPS and decided to bowl first. Whether it was the failure pf the SRH batsmen or the superb bowling of RPS, the fact was that SRH were bowled out for just 118 runs. It was a very poor score and, even though Ajinkya Rahane failed to deliver this time, the other two Steve Smith and Faf DuPlessis played a determined knock and put together 75 runs before DuPlessis fell. It was the turn of M S Dhoni to show some fireworks – but, he fell cheaply. And – the rains played spoilsport to bring the match to an early close.
Finally, RPS won by 34 runs by D/L method. It was a big relief for RPS who have match winning players in their side but are unable to deliver the goods when needed. If RPS is able to maintain the winning momentum, they could enter the top four instead of languishing at the bottom of the points table. Let us hope the tide has turned.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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South Africa beat India by 18 runs in 3rd ODI at Rajkot

#INDvsSA #mornemorkel #QuintondeKock #fafduplessis It was another forgettable outing for India’s Men in Blue when they succumbed to pressure and lost the 3rd ODI at Rajkot by 18 runs. The disappointment was because of the failure of the Indian batting attack in front of disciplined bowling of the visitors who gave nothing away. At the end of the day, India could not overhaul the target of 270 set by the South Africans thanks to the knocks of Quinton de Kock (103) and Faf de Plessis (60).
This has been reported in oneindia.com dated 19 October 2015.

India lost the chase in the last 15 overs with a flurry of wickets falling like nine pins as they ended at 252 for six. Most of the damage was done by Morne Morkel who returned figures of 4 for 39 and, literally, throttled the home side batsmen in the final stages.
In spite of half centuries from Rohit Sharma (65) and Virat Kohli (77) and with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni chipping in with 47 in 61 balls, India could not get a win. After 35 overs, India were 162 for 2 but the as game progressed it gradually slipped out of their hands.
Suresh Raina went for a big one off Imran Tahir and perished in the 44th over. And, then, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane were dismissed by Morkel in successive balls in the 46th over – and, it was all over.
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IPL8 – poor bowling by CSK leads to loss against MI who enter the finals

#IPL8 #MIvsCSK #LendlSimmons #KeironPollard Winning the toss, Mumbai Indians did not hesitate to opt for batting at the Wankhede Stadium and, in front of the home crowd, they played havoc with the bowling attack of Chennai Super Kings. Mumbai posted an imposing total of 187 for 6 and, it turned out to be an insurmountable total for CSK.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 19 May 2015.

This was the 3rdtime that MI has entered the finals after 2010 and 2013, and the scoring was mainly thanks to the hard hitting duo of Kieron Pollard who smashed a 17-ball-41 on the platform laid by Lendl Simmons who smashed 65 off 51 balls. Both of them hit 5 sixes each.
Chasing 188 to win, CSK were all out for 162 runs in the 19th over – they could not even play out the full quota of 20 overs!! Dwayne Smith and M S Dhoni could not open their accounts and Faf du Plessis top scored with 45.
And, for this loss, Chennai only have their bowlers to blame. They sent down a total of 8 wides and six of these were in the 19th over bowled by Mohit Sharma and 20th over bowled by Dwayne Bravo. MI jumped from 164 for 5 in the 18.5 ove185 for 6 in 19.4 overs – which means within a span of six balls, MI scored 21 runs.
The experiment with Pawan Negi failed – he went for 46 runs in his 4 overs.
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IPL8 – Chennai defeats Punjab at Mohali to retain the top of the table position

#IPL8 #CSKvsKXIP #fafduplessis #pawannegi #sureshraina Chennai Super Kings retained their winning momentum and defeated Kings XI Punjab convincingly to remain on top of the points table scoring 18 points in 14 matches. KXIP won the toss and elected to bat first and Wriddhiman Saha (15) quickly hit a six and a four but fell to the guiles of diminutive left-arm spinner Pawan Negi.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 16 May 2015.

It was the spinners Pawan Negi (2/25 in 4 overs), Ravichandran Ashwin (1/14 in 4 overs) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/18 in 3 overs) who gave away a total of only 57 runs to capture 4 wickets.
CSK managed to restrict Kings XI Punjab to 130/7 in 20 overs and getting it was like chicken feed to CSK batsmen. Faf du Plessis (55, 41 balls) and Suresh Raina (41 no, 34 balls) added 92 runs for the third wicket to lay the foundation of a victory that was achieved in just 16.5 overs.
By finishing on top of the table, CSK will play the first qualifier and, in case they lose, will get another chance when they will face the winner of the 'Eliminator' between teams placed third and fourth.
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