Chennai beat Gujarat to win fifth IPL title

(BBC) - CHENNAI Super Kings hit 10 off the last two balls to beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets and win the Indian Premier League for a fifth time

Sai Sudharsan’s 96 had helped put the Titans in a commanding position as they finished their innings on 214-4

A rain delay saw the Super Kings’ innings reduced to 15 overs and set a target of 171.

And Ravindra Jadeja struck the decisive runs , a six and final-ball four, to settle a thrilling encounter.

The match was likely to be the last of Chennai captain M S Dhoni’s career, with the 41-year-old having said he would take a call on his future later this year

He entered the fray late on but was out for a first-ball duck, briefly resulting in stunned silence before Chennai rallied to seal victory in dramatic fashion

The final had originally been scheduled for Sunday, but heavy rain in Ahmedabad meant organisers moved it to its reserve day.

An impressive display by the 21 - year - old Sudharsan , whose 96 runs came off 47 balls and included six sixes, put the Titans in a strong position to defend the title they won for the first time last year.

Openers Wriddhiman Saha (54) and Shubman Gill (39) also shone, while Matheesha Pathirana took 2-44 for Chennai.

The Super Kings had to wait almost three hours to get their run chase under way and, by the time they finally emerged to bat, it was well after midnight local time

But the 75,000 who had waited patiently inside the stadium were treated to a fearless display of cricket.

Devon Conway made 47 and Shivam Dubey was unbeaten on 32 as Chennai scrapped towards their target as Mohit Sharma took 3-36

Jadeja sealed a tense victory under the Duckworth-Lewis method by hitting Sharma’s last two balls for crucial boundaries.

Frank Tucker, at 71 years old, showed that age is just a number as he dominated the Masters 4 Equipped category. Tucker broke records in all three lifts and set a new total record in the 93kg weight class. His record-breaking lifts included a 120kg squat, a 77.5kg bench press, and a 140kg deadlift, resulting in a total of 337.5kg.

Matthew Maycock and Saif Abdool also had impressive performances, each breaking three records. Maycock, competing in the Masters 1, 83kg classic division, set records in the squat (197.5kg), deadlift (230kg), and total (537.5kg). Abdool, in the Men’s 93kg sub-junior Equipped division, established new records in the bench press (100kg), deadlift (185kg), and total (460kg).

Other notable lifters during the event included Kezia Joseph in the Intermediate female classic division, Shaquille Alexander in the Intermediate male classic division, Nicholas Teju in the Intermediate male Equipped division, and Marlon Wilson in the Master’s Classic division.

In addition to the powerlifting competition, senior strongmen performed as guest lifters, and a fundraising Bar-B-Que took place. The championship was sponsored by Fitness Express, Space Gym 2.0, and the Trophy Stall. This event marked the second statutory championship organised by the federation in the year, with over 20 lifters participating.

The upcoming event on the GAPF calendar is the Raw Nationals Championship, tentatively scheduled for July.

Namilco ‘Flour Power’ under-17 football…

Buxton surge to top of league with win on Sunday

THE East Demerara Football Association (EDFA) National Milling Company ( NAMILCO) ‘ Flour Power’ under-17 league continued on Sunday at the Buxton Community Centre ground with a double header that saw wins for Buxton United and Melanie.

In the opening match, Melanie upstaged Haslington with a needling victory thanks to Konami Browne’s successful 51st minute strike

The loss saw Haslington drop from being joint leaders in the league following Buxton United’s win in the feature match of the evening

In that match, Buxton eased past Mahaica Determinators 2-0 with both goals coming in the first half of play

Akton Fraser opened the scoring in the 10th minute before his teammate Compton Hope doubled their advantage with a 37th minute goal

The win now sees Buxton at the top of the league after five rounds of play