In battle for top-two, DC prevail over CSK by 3 wickets
Dubai, Oct 4: Shimron Hetmyer kept his nerves and played some fine shots under pressure to guide Delhi Capitals to a three-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings in a battle for top-two finish in the Indian Premier League here on Monday.
Needing 28 from the last three overs to reach the target of 137, the Guyanese picked 12 runs against Dwayne Bravo and then got 10 off pacer Josh Hazlewood to bring down the equation to six runs from six balls.
DC completed the job with two balls to spare despite losing Axar Patel.
Hetmyer remained not out on a vital 28 off 18 balls, including a crucial six in the penultimate over.
A disciplined performance by Delhi Capitals bowlers restricted Chennai Super Kings to 136 for five despite a 43-ball 55 not out from the seasoned Ambati Rayudu.
The flashy Prithvi Shaw smashed three boundaries in seven balls to get the DC innings going but, while trying to go for one too many, the Mumbaikar threw his wicket away when he failed to negotiate Deepak Chahar's extra bounce and Faf du Plessis ran backwards from mid-off to complete the catch.
Josh Hazlewood bowled a tight fourth over, conceding just three runs, but Shikhar Dhawan (39 off 35 balls) clobbered Chahar for two sixes and as many fours to get 21 in the fifth over.
However, Hazlewood cut short Shreyas Iyer's (2) brief stay in the middle when he could not execute a pull shot.
Ravindra Jadeja sent back Rishabh Pant (15) when the DC skipper tried to sweep a quicker delivery from the left-arm spinner.
Debutant Ripal Patel hit two fours as DC required 53 from 54 balls, but Jadeja came back to get the better of the new man from Gujarat.
R Ashwin too followed suit and when Dhawan, three balls after getting a decision against him overturned through a review, played Shardul Thakur to cover in a soft dismissal, DC were in trouble at 99 for six at the end of the 15th over.
Thakur returned excellent figures of 2/13 in four overs, while Jadeja had 2/28.
Substitute fielder K Gowtham dropped Shimron Hetmyer at a crucial stage of the game, the ball instead going past the ropes.
Earlier, Rayudu reached his fifty when he slashed Anrich Nortje over point for a boundary, following a six over deep extra over in the innings' 19th over, from which CSK scored 14 runs.
However, Avesh Khan bowled a fantastic final over in which he conceded only four runs while taking the wicket of Mahendra Singh Dhoni (18).
Rayudu smashed five fours and two sixes during his stay in the middle.
A major part of DC's bowling effort was a far cry from pacer Nortje's horrendous first over when he conceded 16 runs, with nine off them coming off a leg bye and a bye that Rishabh Pant couldn't get his hand to despite a diving attempt.
In between, Ruturaj Gaikwad was given out lbw, but the decision was overturned after the batsman reviewed as TV replays showed the ball was missing the leg stump.
Faf du Plessis got two boundaries on either side of the wicket against Avesh Khan as CSK raced to 26 in only two overs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
There was swing on offer but DC's bowlers were not able to get their act right until left-arm spinner Axar Patel (2/18) struck when du Plessis' attempted pull shot was held by a diving Shreyas Iyer in the deep mid-wicket region.
The in-form Gaikwad welcomed Kagiso Rabada with a drive straight down the ground, even as Robin Uthappa, playing this game in place of Suresh Raina, walked into the middle.
Nortje removed Gaikwad in the fifth over when the batsman failed to connect his pull shot for Ravichandran Ashwin to complete a neat catch.
With a win over #CSK in Match 50 of the #VIVOIPL, @DelhiCapitals registered their 1⃣0⃣th win of the season & moved to the top of the Points Table 🔽#DCvCSK pic.twitter.com/lgh6V2a5nc
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 4, 2021
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India & Israel elevate ties to special strategic partnership, vow to soon conclude free trade deal
Jerusalem (PTI): India and Israel on Thursday elevated their "time-tested" relationship to a special strategic partnership and agreed to soon firm up a "mutually beneficial" free trade deal even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed the Gaza peace initiative, asserting that humanity must never become a victim of conflict.
Following talks between Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the two sides inked a plethora of agreements to expand cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, energy, cyberspace and digital payment.
India and Israel also vowed to expand their already close defence partnership by working towards joint development and joint production of military hardware under the framework of the transfer of technologies.
In his media statement, Modi said India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in the Middle East, adding that New Delhi fully supports the Gaza Peace Initiative.
"India's stance is clear: humanity must never become a victim of conflict. A path to peace has been created through the Gaza Peace Plan. India has fully supported these efforts," he said.
"In the future as well, we will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries," he said.
PM Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday on a two-day visit. It is his second visit to Israel in nine years.
In his remarks, the prime minister said India and Israel have a united view that there is no place for terrorism in the world and both sides stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering terrorism and its supporters.
"Our relationship is founded on the strong bedrock of deep trust, shared democratic values, and human sensitivities. Our bond has stood the test of every trial of time," he said.
"Today, we have taken the historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to the status of a 'Special Strategic Partnership'," he said.
The prime minister also announced the establishment of an India-Israel critical and emerging technologies partnership to impart a new momentum for cooperation in areas of artificial intelligence, quantum, and critical minerals. "I am pleased that an agreement has been reached for the use of UPI in Israel," he said.
The prime minister, referring to the threat of terrorism, said India and Israel will continue to confront the menace unitedly.
"India and Israel are completely clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world. In any form, in any expression, terrorism cannot be accepted," he said.
"We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in opposing terrorism and its supporters, and we will continue to do so," he added.
India and Israel also discussed the implementation of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA).
