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Saturday April 21, 2018
Kaieteur News
Royals fall flat after Watson century
Dwayne Bravo was the fifth bowler used and also struck in consecutive overs ©BCCI ESPNcricinfo - For the 1000-odd Chennai Super Kings fans who endured the 26-hour train journey to Pune, this was a night to r e m e m b e r. F o r R a h u l Tripathi, a Pune boy who plays his domestic cricket for Maharashtra at the MCA Stadium, this was a night to forget. He put down a regulation catch at slip to reprieve Shane Watsonin the first over of the match and watched him
smack the season’s second c e n t u r y, o ff 5 1 b a l l s , against his former side, with whom he masterminded a fairytale a decade ago. Wa t s o n a n d S u r e s h Raina, who replaced M Vijay, joined forces in the fifth over. When they were separated courtesy an outstanding catch by K Gowtham at deep midwicket, they had put on 81 off just 44 deliveries,
with CSK in line to score 240. Some fine end-overs bowling by leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal and Ben Laughlin restricted them to 204, but that was hardly any consolation for Rajasthan Royals, who never got going in the chase and were bowled out for 140 in 18.3 overs. Watson turns it on They said he was a spent force. His previous season with Royal Chal-
Nothing to prove says, ‘Universe Boss’ Gayle MOHALI, India, CMC – Superstar opener Chris Gayle has taken aim at detractors following his scintillating hundred on Thursday, contending he had nothing further to prove in his career. The 38-year-old blasted an unbeaten 104 off 63 balls – his 21 st Twenty20 hundred and sixth in the Indian Premier League – to help Kings XI Punjab end Sunrisers Hyderbad’s unbeaten campaign with a 15-run defeat. “A lot of people thought I’m too old. After this innings, I have nothing to prove,” said the veteran West Indies lefthander. “Time waits for no one but I’m not here to prove anything to anyone. I just want to move on, enjoy my cricket.” He added: “I’m not really here to prove it to anyone. I’ve done it all before. Been there, done that. Just here to put some respect on the name.”
Gayle was released by Royal Challengers Bangalore after spending seven seasons at the franchise and scoring 3 636 runs at an average of 41.20 from 101 matches, and gathering five hundreds. However, he managed only 200 runs from nine innings last season, prompting speculation his immense powers were on the wane. In a shock development, Gayle nearly missed out on this year’s IPL campaign, after going unsold in the first two rounds of bidding during the auction last January. And just when it appeared he would have no takers, Kings XI came in for the charismatic Jamaican at his reserve price of US$314 000 and in his only two innings so far, has repaid their faith in him with scores of 63 and 104. “I’m always determined. I always give it my all for whatever franchise I represent,” said Gayle, the only batsman
in world cricket with over 10 000 T20 runs. “I’m a 100 percent. Like I said, it’s a new franchise. A lot of people might say that Chris has a lot to prove – he didn’t get selected or picked early in the auction. I think Virender Sehwag has saved IPL by picking me. This is a brilliant start.” Behind Gayle’s phenomenal efforts, Kings XI’s victory lifted them to third in the IPL standings but level with leaders Kolkata Knight Riders and second-placed Sunrisers on six points. Gayle will now pit his talents against KKR – which includes Windies teammates Sunil Narine and Andre Russell – when Kings XI travel to Kolkata for their next fixture on Saturday. The self-proclaimed ‘Universe Boss’ of cricket, Gayle said his focus was already on the KKR contest. “Overall, [I’m] happy with the win and now [time to] move on to Kolkata,” he noted. “It all depends on the mood and conditions is also tricky as well. Playing so many years in India, I know what the conditions are like. I am glad to get a hundred …”
Shane Watson launched Super Kings’ innings with fierce slog sweep ©BCCI lengers Bangalore was a disaster by any stretch of imagination, just like it was for Thursday’s centurion Chris Gayle. While Gayle came into the tournament in patchy form, Watson was the fifth-highest run-getter (319 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 135.16) in the PSL season that finished late last month. Wa t s o n a n n o u n c e d himself inside the first six overs. This made the generally effervescent Raina look subdued in comparison. But that was only until he launched Ben Stokes for four successive fours in the sixth over to move CSK to 69 for 1, their highest Powerplay score this season. That was the start of a giant yellow party that continued until the end of the match.In two of the first three matches, Watson had got off to starts but fell trying to muscle the ball. Here, there was a calculated effort to bide his time, but that wasn’t at the cost of scoring quickly. It also helped that the Royals bowlers, particularly K Gowtham and Stuart Binny, kept feeding him longhops. Gowtham went for 31 off the 13 balls he bowled to Watson, including three sixes and one four while half of Binny’s ten balls to Watson disappeared to the boundary. Watson profited from the pull, with his legside strokes fetching him 63 runs in all. He ended up with a control percentage of 84, noteworthy in a T20 innings of this length, and reflecting the ease with which he picked apart Royals’ bowling. Wa t s o n r e a c h e d h i s half-century with a slog
sweep for six off his 28th ball. The next 50 took just 23 balls, the landmark coming in the 18th over with a single completed to the backdrop of wild cheers and manic whistles and celebrated with a subdued lift of the arms. He was dismissed off the penultimate ball of the innings for 106 off 57 balls, with nine fours and six sixes. He slowed down towards the end, making only 15 off the last 12 balls he faced, but it didn’t cost his team much. Shreyas Gopal holds his own amid the carnage In an innings where CSK were motoring along at close to 11 an over for a better part of their first 15 overs, legspinner Shreyas Gopal maintained a tight leash and conceded just two fours in his four overs, ending up with figures of 3 for 20. The reward for his persistence were the wickets of Raina and MS Dhoni in successive overs. Then he returned for his final over, the 16th of the innings, to dismiss the inform Sam Billings. These strikes somewhat softened Watson’s stinging blows at the other end, with Royals managing to put some sort of lid on the scoring in the last seven overs, which only went for 54. Gopal’s wickets this season also include Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. A forgettable initiation Tripathi strikes at over 10 an over in the Powerplay, but Royals have pushed him into the middle order to accommodate D’Arcy Short. On Friday, Royals left out Short but did not open with Tripathi, instead sending out Heinrich Klaasen.
Klaasen was dropped by Watson at slip off the second ball of the innings, but he couldn’t capitalise. Indecisive footwork cost him big as Shardul Thakur’s length ball skidded through to beat his feeble push and crash into middle stump. Off the next over, Royals’ best batsman this season, Sanju Samson, fell to the pull shot for 2. When Ajinkya Rahane was bowled after charging down the pitch and missi n g D e e p a k C h a h a r ’s knuckle ball, Royals were 33 for 3 in the fifth over. Royals’ ‘quantum of defeat’ As steep their task was from there on, Royals had some hope with Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes in the middle. Both had trouble revving up the scoring rate. This forced shots out of desperation. While a few came off, like a Buttler six off Imran Tahir that sailed over long-on, CSK were always in with a chance of breaking the partnership. When Dwayne Bravo’s slower delivery felled Buttler, who sliced a catch to point, the chase was well and truly over. Then, Tripathi came out slogging, and holed out to deep midwicket. Out came the Bravo jig as whatever else Royals did from there on only served to “reduce the quantum of defeat”, as MS Dhoni put it the other night. Stokes top-scored with 45, taking 37 balls to make his runs. Scores: Chennai Super Kings 204 for 5 (Watson 106, Raina 46) beat Rajasthan Royals 140 (Stokes 45, Karn 2-13, Bravo 2-16, Thakur 2-18, Chahar 2-30) by 64 runs.