Sport
Rajasthan survive Dhoni-Jadeja scare to top IPL table
Rajasthan Royals survived a late blitz from M.S. Dhoni, in his landmark 200th match as captain of Chennai Super Kings, and Ravindra Jadeja to prevail in a last-ball Indian Premier League finish on Wednesday.
Chasing 176 for victory, Chennai were 113/6 when Dhoni (32) joined Jadeja (25) and the pair put on an unbeaten stand of 59 but fell short of Rajasthan’s 175/8 by three runs.
Dhoni (41) rolled back the years as he smashed Sandeep Sharma for two sixes in the final over with Chennai needing 21 to win from the last six balls.
But the medium-pace bowler, who started with two wides, kept his nerve to bowl two yorkers to deny Dhoni and Chennai a miracle as the hosts ended on 172/6.
England white-ball skipper Jos Buttler stood out with his 52, guiding last year’s runners-up Rajasthan to a total which was just enough for the team’s third win in four matches and sent them top of the 10-team table, AFP reported.
Buttler was helped along by Devdutt Padikkal (38) and Ravichandran Ashwin, who started slowly but smashed two sixes in his 30-run cameo.
Rajasthan’s spinners and Sandeep then combined to restrict Chennai, with Ashwin taking an impressive 2/25 including the key wicket of Ajinkya Rahane for 31.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal struck twice in one over, removing Chennai impact player Ambati Rayudu (one) and then New Zealand’s Devon Conway soon after the opener reached 50.
Rajasthan’s impact sub Adam Zampa, who came in for Buttler, was expensive with his leg spin but got the wicket of Moeen Ali.
Dhoni, the once premier finisher in the game, raised the noise at the MA Chidambaram Stadium with a four and six off Zampa and more big hits, but the asking rate remained too high.
Earlier Chennai’s bowlers, led by left-arm spinner Jadeja, who returned figures of 2/21, kept chipping away with wickets, but Buttler stood firm.
Rajasthan benefited from some sloppy fielding as Chennai’s Moeen dropped two catches at slip and missed a run out.
Moeen though made some amends when he bowled Buttler with his off spin after the in-form batsman reached his fifty in 33 balls, AFP reported.
West Indies big-hitter Shimron Hetmyer finished unbeaten with 30 off 18 balls.
Abu Muslim Farah defeated Khurasan Faryab 2-0 in the 25th match of the sixth season of Afghanistan Champions League Roshan.
The match was played on Saturday at the Afghanistan Football Federation Stadium in Kabul.
Both teams pushed for an opening goal in the first half, but neither side managed to find the net, and the teams went into the break goalless.
Just two minutes into the second half, Abu Muslim Farah broke the deadlock to take a 1-0 lead.
Alireza Panahi later doubled Abu Muslim Farah’s advantage, sealing a 2-0 victory for the Farah side.
Abu Muslim Farah committed 13 fouls and received two yellow cards, while Khorasan Faryab committed seven fouls and received one yellow card.
Matches from the sixth season of the Roshan Afghanistan Champions League are being broadcast live and exclusively on Ariana Television.
Omar Zawak Herat secured a 1-0 victory over Toofan Herat in the 24th match of the sixth season of Afghanistan Champions League Roshan in Kabul.
The match was played on Saturday at the Afghanistan Football Federation Stadium.
Both sides created scoring opportunities in the first half, but neither team managed to find the net before the break.
Omar Zawak Herat broke the deadlock in the 86th minute when Shadab Malikzadah scored with a fine strike to give his side the lead.
Toofan Herat committed eight fouls and received two yellow cards, while Omar Zawak Herat recorded six fouls and received one yellow card and one red card.
Toofan Herat will face Aino Mina Kandahar on September 29, while Omar Zawak Herat will take on Abu Muslim Farah on September 30.
Matches from the sixth season of the Roshan Afghanistan Champions League are being broadcast live on Ariana Television.
Afghanistan are set to face India in the Asian Games cricket quarter-finals after Saturday’s rain-hit match between Nepal and Japan confirmed the Pool A standings.
The quarter-final between India and Afghanistan is scheduled to take place on September 28 in Nisshin, Japan.
Nepal secured first place in the group after Japan’s chase was washed out. Nepal had scored 149 runs for four wickets in 15 overs after being sent in to bat, but persistent rain prevented Japan from starting its innings.
The result saw Nepal advance as Pool A winners, with Afghanistan joining them in the quarter-finals as the other qualifying team. Nepal will face Sri Lanka in the quarter-finals.
Japan have been eliminated from the tournament.
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