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IPL 2022: De Kock, Lewis give Super Giants first win, CSK lose

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West Indies star Evin Lewis blazed to the fastest half-century — of the IPL 2022 — off just 23 deliveries and helped Lucknow Super Giants chase down a stiff target to beat defending champions Chennai Super Kings by six-wicket defeat at the Brabourne stadium here on Thursday.

Lewis exploded into action in the last five overs. He and Ayush Badoni, who struck a half-century on debut against Gujarat Titans, blasted 25 runs off the penultimate over bowled by spinner Shivam Dube as Lucknow reached 211/4 in 19.3 overs.

Lucknow skipper KL Rahul had decided to field first as he wanted to avoid bowling in the dew. But when Chennai Super Kings rode on a 25-ball half-century by veteran Robin Uthappa and 30-ball 49 by Shivam Dube, it looked like they had a match on their hands.

But Rahul and Quinton de Kock raised 99 for the opening wicket, which in the end proved a good platform for Lewis (55 of 23), Deepak Hooda (13 off 8) and Ayush Badoni (19 of 9) to guide Lucknow Super Giants over the line for their maiden win in IPL.

Lucknow got off a brilliant start as skipper Rahul and Quinton de Kock raised 99 runs in the opening stand. De Kock struck the first boundary off Tushar Deshpande in the second over and Rahul got into the act in the next over, slapping Mukesh Choudhary for a six from just outside off. On the next ball, he sliced an overpitched delivery over point for four.

De Kock struck Deshpande for three boundaries in an over, while both of them joined forces to hand Mukesh Choudhary the same treatment in the fifth over — Rahul hitting one and his South African partner two fours.

Both were dropped early in their innings — de Kock was given a life by Moeen Ali off Bravo when he was on 13 while Deshpande put down a difficult skier by Rahul.

Rahul (40) was the first to go — caught by Ambati Rayudu off Dwaine Pretorius’ first delivery. Manish Pandey did not last long and when de Kock was out for 61 of 45 deliveries, hitting nine fours, Lucknow Super Giants looked in trouble at 139/4 in the 15th over. With the asking rate climbing up with 56 runs needed off the next five overs.

Deepak Hooda got out for 13 off eight deliveries but Evin Lewis and Ayush Badoni blasted 25 runs off the 19th over bowled by Shivam Dube — Lewis blasting 4, 4 and 6 of the last three balls after Badoni had planted him over the square leg on the first ball of the over.

Lewis then completed his fifty as the West Indies batsman guided Lucknow to victory.

Earlier, defending champions Chennai Super Kings rode on a breezy half-century by veteran Robin Uthappa and a fine 49 by local lad Shivam Dube to post 210/7 in their 20 overs, the fourth time a team posted a 200-plus score in IPL 2022 so far.

Uthappa, promoted to the opener’s slot after they decided to drop New Zealand’s Devon Conway, gave CSK a flying start they were hoping for as he blasted three boundaries off Avesh Khan in his opening over. Though the bowler responded by hitting him on the helmet in that over as Uthappa tried to duck a bouncer, the Karnataka veteran continued in the same vein.

He handled Dushmantha Chameera in the same fashion, hitting the Sri Lankan pacer for a four and six in his first over.

Though Ruturaj Gaikwad failed to click for the second successive match, there was no stopping Uthappa as he completed his 50 off 25 deliveries. He struck Avesh Khan for a six and also despatched Andrew Tye a couple of times to the boundary. Uthappa added 56 runs for the second wicket with Moeen Ali (35), who blasted four boundaries and two sixes during his 22-ball stay at the wicket.

He was out soon after completing his half-century, trapped by young spinner Ravi Bishnoi, the only Lucknow bowler who made an impression on the CSK batters, eventually ending with figures of 2/24 off his four overs. Avesh Khan and Andrew Tye (2/41) and Avesh Khan (2/38) claimed a couple of wickets each.

Dube continued from where Uthappa left off, hitting a couple of massive sixes and five fours, contributing 49 runs off 30 balls as he made the most of batting in his hometown. He added 60 runs for the fourth wicket with Ambati Rayudu (27).

In the end the platform set up by Uthappa and Dube helped CSK cross the 200-run mark with skipper Ravindra Jadeja and his predecessor M.S Dhoni landing a few lusty blows towards the end.

Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 210/7 in 20 overs (Robin Uthappa 50, Moeen Ali 35, Shivam Dube 49; Bishnoi 2/24, Andrew Tye 2/41, Avesh Khan 2/38) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 211/4 in 19.3 overs (K.L Rahul 40, Quinton de Kock 61, Evin Lewis 55 not out; Dwaine Pretorius 2/31) by six wickets.

International

CT 2025: India to take on Pakistan on Feb 23, likely to play in Colombo or Dubai: Sources

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New Delhi, Dec 19: The much-awaited clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025 will be played on February 23 with Colombo and Dubai front-runners to play host for India’s matches in the tournament being played in hybrid format. The development comes after the ICC Board said that “India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue.”

“India will take on Pakistan at a neutral venue on February 23, 2025. ICC looking at Colombo and Dubai to host their matches.”

The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be played in February and March 2025. Meanwhile, ICC said the schedule for the marquee tournament will be confirmed in the coming days.

Pakistan are the defending champions of the tournament, having defeated India by 180 runs in the final at The Oval in 2017. Both teams last played against each other in the T20 World Cup in New York earlier this year which India won by six runs and went on to claim their second silverware in the format.

Due to the strained political relations between the two neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan only play each other in international events including World Cups and Asia Cup. The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was held in 2012-13 when the latter toured India for the five-match white-ball series.

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It’s OFFICIAL! All India vs Pakistan Matches At ICC Events To Be Played At Neutral Venue Till 2027

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India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue, the ICC Board confirmed on Thursday, 19 December. The schedule for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is set to be confirmed soon, with Pakistan aiming to defend the title they won in 2017.

The eight-team event will feature Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, and South Africa, alongside hosts Pakistan.

This will apply to the upcoming ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (hosted by Pakistan), set to be played in February and March 2025, as well as the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (hosted by India) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (hosted by India and Sri Lanka).

It was also announced that the PCB has been awarded hosting rights of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028, where neutral venue arrangements will also apply. Cricket Australia is set to host one of the senior ICC women’s events during the period 2029 to 2031.

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‘Our dream is getting fulfilled’: Coach Sumit Bhatia elated to see Kho Kho going global

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New Delhi, Dec 16: Coach Sumit Bhatia is all pumped up for the first edition of the Kho Kho World Cup scheduled to take place from January 13-19, 2025. Bhatia, who holds a distinct record of being the only head coach to have won the Asian Championship twice, believes that this historical step is an indication of the realisation of the dream to take the sport to the international level and help it gain global recognition.

Having been honoured with the best coach award by the Delhi government, Bhatia has been a part of various Indian teams’ success, including the 2016 and 2023 Asian Kho Kho Championship victories, and has trained players like Nasreen Shaikh and Sarika Sudhakar Kale. Both of them have been Arjuna Awardees.

Nasreen, who is also a part of the World Cup camp, is the only player who has played in two Asian Championships and won the gold. The coach-student duo is now gearing up for the global event.

Sharing how the journey of Kho Kho World Cup’s inception, the coach said, “We organised an international camp here before COVID happened, in 2020. Coaches and players from 16 countries came here and we gave them training. Now they will be coming here for the World Cup but this campaign started in that camp”.

He further said, “Around 30-35 countries were willing to play the tournament but we picked the best 20 teams for both men and women. Some countries have single teams while some have double teams but a total of 24 countries will be participating in the tournament. It was our dream to take Kho Kho to the international level and now we can see that our dream is getting fulfilled.”

He also lauded the launch of the Ultimate Kho Kho League and shared how the franchise-based model has helped the players and coaches gain recognition, while also bringing forward grassroot talent.

“When the Ultimate Kho Kho league started, I also joined Telegu Yodhas as their head coach and we also played the final. Players have gotten exposure through the league and it’s not just financial. Earlier we used to hesitate while admitting being a Kho Kho coach but today our players introduce us as their coach,” said Bhatia.

He added, “The league got so much coverage that wherever we go, the players are approached for autographs. So the platform of the league started a new world for both coaches and players and now not just India but the entire world knows us. Earlier we used to tell people about our game but now they know what is Kho Kho and Ultimate Kho Kho league and are also waiting for the third season.”

Bhatia also discussed the impact of sports science on Kho Kho and lauded the newly introduced technology and said, “We have benefitted a lot from it. Sometimes we don’t understand why a player is not performing well. But with the introduction of sports science, we now know about the details of the problem.

“For example, a player might be facing issues with his left leg while sitting and so, it gives us an opportunity to work on that weakness… Sports science has helped us in identifying the accuracy and weakness of a player. So it’s very beneficial for us.”

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