IPL: PBKS stun CSK by four wickets in last ball thriller
Chennai, Apr 30: Punjab Kings sealed a stunning four-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings with Sikandar Raza holding his nerve to knock off the required three runs off the final ball in a tense Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.
Chasing 201 for a win, Punjab needed nine runs from the final over bowled by Matheesha Pathirana who conceded just two from the first three deliveries. But Raza remained calm under immense pressure, scoring two runs each from the next two deliveries.
Raza (13 not out) sent the final ball towards the boundary but Maheesh Theekshana stopped it just before the ropes in a brilliant fielding effort but by that time the PBKS batters had completed three runs to the stunned silence of the home crowd at Chepauk.
Punjab finished at 201 for 6 as Prabhsimran Singh (42), Liam Livingstone (40), Sam Curran (29) and Jitesh Sharma (21) playing crucial roles as CSK opener Devon Conway's brilliant knock of 92 not out went in vain.
Punjab batters did well to pull off a win after victory looked difficult in the middle overs before Livingstone and Curran turned things around. The 24 runs conceded by Tushar Deshpande in the 16th over proved crucial in the final analysis.
With 22 runs needed from 12 balls, Jitesh Sharma (21 off 10 balls) hit the first ball for a four and got two off the next. He fell off the fourth ball, caught by substitute Shaik Rasheed in the deep. The third umpire ruled the batter out after the fielder caught the ball and tripped back close to the boundary rope.
Deshpande finished with 3 for 49 from his four overs while Ravindra Jadeja took 2 for 32 in his quota of four overs.
Punjab batters began the run chase with a rapid stand between captain Shikhar Dhawan (28) and Prabhsimran Singh before the former fell to Deshpande. The openers brought up the 50 in the powerplay. Dhawan's attempt to cut over the in-field saw him find Matheesha Pathirana off the top-edge.
Prabhsimran and Atharva Taide (13) added 44 runs in quick time before the latter became Jadeja's first victim. Prabhsimran jumped out of the crease and saw the ball turn slightly, beating him for Dhoni to complete an easy stumping.
Taide was the next to go, caught and bowled by Jadeja for 13 as Punjab slipped to 94 for 3 in the 11th over.
Things seemed to slip away from PBKS as the batters could not find the big over and required run-rate kept climbing. But Raza and M Shahrukh Khan (2 not out) scored 15 runs from eight balls to see PBKS cross the target.
Earlier, CSK rode on Conway's superb unbeaten 92 to post 200 for 4. Dhoni sent the home crowd into raptures with two sixes from the last two deliveries.
The talismanic Dhoni walked in at the fall of Ravindra Jadeja (12) to a massive roar from the crowd. He could not connect the first ball he faced from Sam Curran (4-0-46-1) and picked up a single from the next delivery, thumping one down the ground.
One delivery later, Dhoni hit a six from a wide delivery and then smacked a full toss for a maximum to finish on 13 not out as CSK finished the innings in style.
Opting to bat first, Conway, who struck 16 fours and a six during his 52-ball unbeaten knock, and his opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad (37) added 86 for the first wicket to put the home team on the road to a good total.
For Punjab, Curran, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh and Sikandar Raza took one wicket apiece.
Conway and Gaikwad continued their impressive form with the bat as they got the team off to yet another strong start, raising 50 runs in the sixth over.
Conway hit two boundaries off Kagiso Rabada's first over to set the tone and continued to bat fluently. He hit two consecutive fours in the sixth over bowled by Curran as CSK gradually stepped up the pace. The powerplay yielded 57 runs as the Punjab Kings bowlers struggled to make an impression.
Gaikwad fell against the run of play, jumping out to a Sikander Raza delivery to be stumped by Jitesh Sharma for 37.
The big-hitting Shivam Dube was pushed up the order and he hit two big sixes, including one off Rabada. He helped add 44 runs in 26 balls with Conway to enable the Super Kings up the ante.
Dube looked good for more when he fell while going for a big hit only to be caught by Shahrukh Khan in the deep for a 17-ball 28.
Brief Scores:
Chennai Super Kings: 200 for 4 in 20 overs (Devon Conway 92 not out; Rahul Chahar 1/35).
Punjab Kings: 201 for 6 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 42, Liam Livingstone 40; Tushar Deshpande 3/49).
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Kerala Story 2: Report reveals more people converting to Hinduism in Kerala than other religions
Thiruvanthapuram: Amid the uproar over ‘The Kerala Story 2‘and allegations that the film wrongly portrays Kerala, an analysis by The News Minute has presented claims that contradict the narrative shown in the movie.
In a teaser released by the filmmakers, the film depicts several Hindu women being converted to Islam.
However, TNM’s analysis of Kerala Gazette records shows a different trend.
According to the report, Hinduism has attracted the highest number of converts in the state, followed by Islam and Christianity, offering a data-based view of religious conversion patterns in Kerala.
The plot of the upcoming film ‘The Kerala Story 2’ revolves around a two-decade-old conspiracy theory alleging a jihadist scheme to marry Hindu women and convert them to Islam. The film’s release has been stayed by the Kerala High Court on Thursday, the movie was supposed to release on Friday, February 27.
The first film, released in 2023, claimed that 32,000 women had been converted by jihadists in Kerala. That claim was later questioned by the Supreme Court of India, which pulled up the makers for using fake data.
Despite the premise of the sequel remaining the same, the producers have claimed that this time they spent seven months conducting “research.”
The TNM team stated in its report that for several months they researched religious conversions in Kerala and uncovered what they described as significant facts.
According to the report, Hinduism has been attracting the largest number of converts in the state, more than Christianity or Islam.
An earlier TNM report in the same series had pointed to the existence of a statewide network of Hindutva groups, including the Vishva Hindu Parishad, which focuses on converting Dalits to Hinduism.
The News Minute in its report mentioned that their team went through more than 10,000 pages of the Kerala Gazette and found that 365 Keralites converted to Hinduism between January and December 2024.
Of these, 262 were Dalit Christians and Muslims. The report stated that many among them were induced by the promise of securing Scheduled Caste status after conversion to Hinduism.
Who has converted to which religion ?
According to the published figures in the state gazette, according to The News Minute, conversions to Islam included 276 people who moved from Hinduism to Islam, comprising 154 women and 122 men. In addition, 67 people converted from Christianity to Islam, of whom 42 were women and 25 were men. Taken together, a total of 343 people converted to Islam during the period.
Meanwhile, conversions to Hinduism accounted for 329 people who moved from Christianity to Hinduism, including 180 women and 149 men. Another 36 people converted from Islam to Hinduism, with 24 women and 12 men. In total, 365 people converted to Hinduism.
In Christianity 234 people shifted from Hinduism to Christianity, comprising 130 women and 104 men. A further 21 people converted from Islam to Christianity, including 13 women and 8 men. Altogether, the total number of people who converted to Christianity stood at 255 .
