Chennai Super Kings to face Mumbai Indians in Vivo IPL 2019 final on May 12
Visakhapatnam, May 10: Defending champions Chennai Super Kings produced a clinical performance to beat Delhi Capitals by six wickets and enter their eighth final of the Indian Premier League, here Friday.
CSK dished out a disciplined bowling and fielding effort to first restrict DC to 147 for nine and then chased down the target with ease, reaching 151 or four in 19 overs.
Dwayne Bravo (2/19), Ravindra Jadeja (2/23), Deepak Chahar (2/28) and Harbhajan Singh (2/31) shared eight wickets between them to keep DC in check after opting to bowl.
CSK will play Mumbai Indians in the final of the ongoing IPL in Hyderabad on Sunday. The two teams have met each other thrice in summit clashes of the tournament earlier with MI finishing on the winning side twice while the Chennai outfit came out triumphant once.
While CSK won the final battle in 2010, MI finished on the victorious side in 2013 and 2015.
Chasing the modest total, Faf du Plessis (50 off 39 balls; 7x4s, 1x60 and Shane Watson (50 off 32; 3x4s, 4x6s) got CSK off to a flier, stitching 81 runs in 10.2 overs.
The duo started cautiously before opening up to not allow any DC bowler to settle down.
Du Plessis was the aggressor among the duo, scoring 50 off 39 balls with the help of seven boundaries and one six while Watson played the second fiddle initially.
But just after notching up his 12th IPL fifty, Du Plessis departed while going for a big shot over deep square-leg off Trent Boult (1/20), only to be holed out by Keemo Paul.
After Du Plessis' dismissal, Watson took the centrestage and struck Paul for one four and three sixes to pile up 25 runs off the 12th over and also registered his half-century off 31 balls in the process.
Watson looked in a hurry to finish off the chase and that eventually led to his downfall, caught by Boult off Amit Mishra (1/21) in the second ball of the next over.
Suresh Raina (11) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (9) got out cheaply but Ambati Rayudu (2 not out) remained at the crease to ensure a comfortable win for the three-time champions.
Earlier sent into bat, DC made a shaky start with Prithvi Shaw (5) and Shikhar Dhawan (18 off 14) adding 21 runs in 2.3 overs before the former was caught plumb in front of the wicket by Chahar.
Shaw's dismissal opened the floodgates as DC lost three wickets in quick time to slump to 75 for four in 11.3 overs.
Dhawan was the next to depart, caught by Dhoni off Harbhajan and then Colin Munro (27) was holed at deep square-leg by Bravo off Jadeja as the South African went for a slog sweep.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer (13 of 18) tried to anchor the innings but he too fell while going for a big shot, caught by Raina off Imran Tahir (1/28) in the 12th over.
To make matters worse for DC, new man in Axar Patel departed in the next over, hitting a short delivery of Bravo straight to Tahir at third man.
Rishabh Pant (38 off 25) and Sherfane Rutherford (10) shared 22 runs for the sixth wicket but CSK didn't allow the Delhi outfit to get any momentum, picking up wickets at regular intervals to rattle their innings.
Rutherford became Harbhajan's second victim, followed by Paul who was cleaned up by Bravo's perfect yorker in the 18th over.
The onus was on hard-hitting Pant to take DC to a challenging total but he too failed to cope up with the pressure, caught by Bravo at long-on off Chahar.
Towards the end, Mishra (6 not out) and Ishant Sharma (10 not out off 3 balls) used their long handles to great effect and struck some lusty blows to take the Delhi side close to the 150-run mark.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
