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Delhi Capitals ace two powerplays to down Chennai Super Kings
Led by half-centuries from David Warner and Rishabh Pant, backed up by fine spells from Khaleel Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar, Delhi Capitals registered their maiden win of IPL 2024 and handed Chennai Super Kings their first loss of the season as the hosts secured a 20-run win in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
On paper, David Warner and Prithvi Shaw form one of the most destructive opening combinations in the IPL. However, they couldn’t live up to that reputation last season and Shaw was left out for the opening two games this season. On his return though, the duo exhibited exactly why they are so fearsome. After a couple of scratchy overs, they found the rhythm and took the attack to the CSK bowlers. Warner took down Deepak Chahar in the fifth by picking his slower delivery over the square fence and then carting his low full toss and bouncer for boundaries. Shaw too got going with a hat-trick of boundaries against Mustafizur Rahman in the last over of the powerplay, helping the side to 62 for no loss – their best score in the powerplay this season.
Even when the field restrictions eased, the duo continued their attack, especially against Ravindra Jadeja, smashing the left arm spinner for 24 runs in his first two overs. By the ninth over, Warner even brought up his 62nd IPL half-century with a flick towards mid wicket. By the end of the ninth over, DC were well placed on 91 for no loss.
In attempting to force Prithvi Shaw away from his arc led to a couple of wides in Matheesha Pathirana’s first over, but amidst the carnage around, he still bowled an impressive first over. However, the changing moment of the innings came when he plucked a stunning, one-handed diving catch at short third to dismiss Warner, whose reverse scoop proved counter-productive. In the 15th over, after being pulled for a boundary, he cleaned up Mitchell Marsh and Tristan Stubbs in a space of three balls with fast yorkers.
In the four overs separating the two efforts of Pathirana was Shaw’s dismissal when he was caught behind while attempting to cut Jadeja, making MS Dhoni the first wicketkeeper to bag 300 catches in T20s. Tushar Deshpande and Chahar bowled a couple of tight overs even as Jadeja continued to be attacked. By the end of Pathirana’s second over, DC were reduced to 134 for 4. In the process, CSK had seized the momentum back courtesy the Sri Lankan’s brilliance with the ball and in the field and it left the with a new batter along with Rishabh Pant, who himself was struggling for timing.
Till the end of the 17th over, Pant barely managed to get a clear connection on the ball. A couple of boundaries notwithstanding, he was still moving along at run-a-ball 23. And then, suddenly he found his old mojo back. He first pulled Mustafizur’s short delivery for a boundary and a few balls later, he brought out the one-handed flick to hit a full delivery for a six. He continued the assault against Pathirana in the next over, taking the bowler apart for a six and two boundaries off successive deliveries before he toe-ended a yorker for the long off fielder to take a fine catch. Nonetheless, he late attack not only helped him register his first fifty on return to IPL but also took DC to a commanding 191 for 5.
A fine spell of swing bowling by Khaleel Ahmed, in helpful conditions, helped Delhi Capitals snap two early wickets. There was also some seam movement and spongy bounce which helped DC’s new ball pair. Ruturaj Gaikwad got a faint edge to the ‘keeper in the first over, and Rachin Ravindra – who struggled through his 12 ball stay – was snapped in the third, top-edging a swipe to mid off. The left-arm pacer conceded only nine runs in his three-over spell in the powerplay and CSK were restricted to 32 for 2.
Daryl Mitchell and Ajinkya Rahane helped CSK dig themselves out of a troubled situation with a 68-run partnership in 45 balls. They both were slow to get going in the face of the rising required rate, but clubbed a six each of Rasikh Salam in the 10th over to give hopes of turning the momentum. However, a mistimed loft off Axar Patel in the next over, ended Mitchell’s stay. Rahane looked to continue CSK’s recovery in the company of Shivam Dube, but with the latter struggling to middle his attempted big shots, DC retained the control. In the 14th over, Mukesh Kumar snapped the wicket of Rahane and Sameer Rizvi in quick succession to further dent CSK’s charge.
Mukesh returned to bowl his second over and had Dube flatbatting a slower ball straight to the long off fielder. With 72 needed off 23 balls when Dhoni walked out to bat, the task was too stiff for CSK. Nonetheless, a flurry of boundaries by Dhoni, who was returning to competitive batting after nearly a year, and Jadeja, brought the equation down to 46 off the last two overs.
That’s when Mukesh bowled the decisive over which sealed the fate of the contest. For a long time, DC bowlers had maintained the wide line outside the offstump towards the longer part of the boundary. Mukesh kept it full and wide and conceded only five runs in the penultimate over, ending CSK’s hopes. For a second game in a row, Anrich Nortje had a forgettable final over, this time conceding two sixes and two boundaries, but despite Dhoni’s late flourish 16-ball 37* – CSK fell 20 runs short of DC’s total.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals 191/5 in 20 overs (Prithvi Shaw 43, David Warner 52, Rishabh Pant 51; Matheesha Pathirana 3-31, Mustafizur Rahman 1-47, Ravindra Jadeja 1-43) beat Chennai Super Kings 171/6 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 45, MS Dhoni 37*, Daryl Mitchell 34, Ravindra Jadeja 21*; Mukesh Kumar 3-21, Khaleel Ahmed 2-21, Axar Patel 1-20) by 20 runs
The aid group Doctors Without Borders has reported recovering 11 bodies and rescuing dozens of people off the coast of Libya as it criticised the migration policies of the North African country and European countries.
In a statement on Friday, the group, known by its French initials MSF, said its Geo Barents rescue vessel managed to recover the bodies following a search operation lasting more than nine hours after being alerted by German nongovernmental organisation Sea-Watch, which also rescues refugees and migrants.
“As we cannot determine the reason behind this tragedy, we know that people will continue to take dangerous routes in a desperate attempt to reach safety, and Europe must find safe and legal pathways for them,” MSF said in a post on X. “This catastrophe must end!”
Sea-Watch said it is unclear whether the bodies were victims of a previously unknown shipwreck, adding that they tried to contact Libya’s coastguard to go and retrieve the dead, but received no reply.
“The so-called Libyan coastguard – financed by the EU – ignored our call demanding that the bodies be recovered,” the group said.
Thousands of people trying to head from Africa to Europe use Libya as a departing point, with the Italian island of Lampedusa the nearest European destination as they undertake the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to escape war, poverty and persecution.
Italy, which wants to put a stop to the migration stream, has said Libya and neighbouring Tunisia must do more to stop people from going to sea. It has also clamped down on the operation of the rescue ships, arguing that they encourage people to head to Europe, a charge that is denied by the charities.
Emphasising its policy on the rescue ships, Italy said on Friday that it forced the MSF rescue vessel to take the 165 people that it had saved from boats in the Mediterranean operation to the northern port of Genoa. The port was more than 650 nautical miles (1,200km) from their position and much farther than the more convenient ports in nearby Sicily, significantly delaying assistance to the rescued.
The route in the central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world, with the United Nations registering more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the area since 2014.
More than 3,000 refugees and migrants went missing in 2023 while attempting to use the route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
According to Italy’s interior ministry, the number of arrivals in the country has dropped in 2024 to fewer than 21,800 people since the beginning of the year, compared with close to 53,300 in the same period last year.
[Aljazeera]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
Afghanistan boosted their Super Eight chances with yet another dominating win, this time thumping New Zealand by 84 runs in Providence. Having beaten Uganda by 125 runs in their opening match, they are now at the top of Group C with a net run rate of 5.225.
After being sent in, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a start of 103 in 14.3 overs. It came off the back of the 154 the pair added against Uganda, thus making them the first opening pair to register two successive century stands in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan’s was an innings of two halves. They scored 55 for no loss in the first ten overs and 104 for 6 in the last ten, with Gurbaz contributing 80 off 56 balls. New Zealand, who had decided not to play any warm-up games, looked every bit rusty as their fielders dropped catches and missed run-out opportunities.
With the pitch assisting both seamers and spinners, chasing 160 was not going to be easy. But few would have expected New Zealand to collapse in the manner they did.
Fazalhaq Farooqi picked up three wickets in the powerplay and Rashid Khan three just after it. Eventually, both ended with identical figures of 4 for 17 as New Zealand were bowled out for 75 in the 15.2 overs. Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry were the only New Zealand batters to reach the double digits.
Trent Boult found some swing in the opening over but Gurbaz and Ibrahim showed their intent by picking up three fours off Henry from the other end. Both batters had luck on their side, too. Gurbaz got a second life when he skipped down the track to Santner and missed the ball, which went on to brush the leg stump but the bails did not budge. In the following over, Finn Allen dropped Ibrahim off Henry at the deep-square-leg boundary.
That was not all. Gurbaz got another reprieve after being involved in a miscommunication with Ibrahim. Having taken off for a single, Gurbaz had to retrace his steps and would have been run out had Conway not fumbled the throw.
Two balls later, New Zealand finally seemed to have found success when Santner pinged Ibrahim’s pads and umpire Kumar Dharmasena ruled it lbw. But the batter got the decision overturned on review as the ball was heading down the leg side. Immediately after that, Ibrahim hit Santner for an inside-out four as Afghanistan ended the powerplay on 44 for no loss.
New Zealand went against the prevailing wisdom of not bowling an offspinner when two right-hand batters at the crease, and Michael Bracewell repaid that faith by conceding only six off his first two overs.
Lockie Ferguson was even more frugal, going for five in his first two. He could have had Ibrahim off a slower full toss but a leaping Kane Williamson failed to pull off a one-handed stunner at mid-off. That meant while Afghanistan remained unscathed, they had only 55 on the board after ten overs.
Afghanistan had not hit a single six in the first ten overs, but there were five in the next three, including three in one Bracewell over as Gurbaz and Bracewell stepped on the accelerator. The pair took the side past 100 in the 14th over. New Zealand finally broke through when Ibrahim bottom-edged a short ball from Henry onto his stumps, after having been hit on the grille on the previous delivery.
Promoted to No. 3, Azmatullah Omarzai played his part with 22 off 13, which included two sixes in three balls off Henry. Mohammad Nabi fell for a first-ball duck but Gurbaz kept finding the boundary at regular intervals. However, a three-wicket, three-run final over by Boult kept Afghanistan to 159.
Farooqi gave Afghanistan a dream start with the ball. With the very first delivery of the innings, he uprooted Finn Allen’s leg stump as the ball moved in late. In the seamer’s next over, Conway pushed at one that seemed to come slower off the surface and was caught at extra cover.
The decision to give Farooqi a third over in the powerplay brought further rewards. This time, bowling around the wicket to Daryl Mitchell, he got a length delivery to just straighten and take the outside edge. Gurbaz took a regulation catch to complete the dismissal and leave New Zealand 28 for 3.
It could have been worse for New Zealand. In between, Naveen-ul-Haq had rapped Kane Williamson’s front pad after the batter had moved across to play a delivery. Afghanistan sent it upstairs for an lbw review but the umpire’s call saved the New Zealand captain.
Afghanistan did not have to wait too long for Williamson’s wicket. Rashid brought himself on after the powerplay and struck straightaway as Williamson guided one to first slip. But Rashid was just warming up. In his next over, he dismissed Mark Chapman and Bracewell off successive deliveries to leave New Zealand on 43 for 6. Chapman went for a pull and got bowled; Bracewell was late to bring his bat down and was lbw.
Phillips was New Zealand’s last hope. He did hit a couple of boundaries but was soon caught at long-on when he tried to take on Nabi. That ended any hopes of revival New Zealand might have had.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 159 for 6 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 80, Ibrahim Zadran 44, Azmatullah Omarzai 22; Trent Boult 2-22, Matt Henry 2-37, Lockie Fergusoan 1-28) beat New Zealand 75 in 15.2 overs (Glenn Phillips 18; Rashid Khan 4 for 17, Fazalhaq Farooqi 4 for 17, Mohammad Nabi 2-16) by 84 runs
[Cricinfo]
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