Mumbai, May 17 (IANS) Nicholas Pooran hammered an audacious sensational 29-ball 75 while skipper K.L Rahul scored a trademark patient half-century as Lucknow Super Giants posted 214/6 in 20 overs against Mumbai Indians in Match 67 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Friday.

Coming in with his team crawling at 69/3 at the halfway mark, Pooran blasted five boundaries and eight maximums, making him the player to hit the maximum number of sixes for LSG, as he and Rahul cobbled together a superb partnership in which the West Indies batter did most of the scoring.

Pooran raced to his fifty off 19 balls and raised a 100-run partnership off 40-odd deliveries to set up LSG on course for a total past 200. Nuwan Thushara and Piyush Chawla claimed three wickets each — picking three wickets without the addition of a run in the death overs to pull things back for the inexperienced Mumbai Indians bowling unit in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah after skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Earlier, Lucknow Super Giants got off to a poor start losing Devcutt Padikkal, who came in for Quinton de Kock and opened the innings for the first time this season, was trapped lbw by Nuwan Thushara off the third ball of the opening over, in which he bowled two wides. Padikkal left for a zero, exhausting one DRS review in the process.

Skipper K.L Rahul and Marcus Stoinis propelled the score to 49, with the overseas player hitting five boundaries as he scored 28 off 22 balls before he was sent back by Piyush Chawla, LSG down to 49/2 in the sixth over.

Stoinis was trapped plumb in front by a wrong’un and LSG were down to 69/3 when Deepak Hooda was out for 11, caught brilliantly by Nehal Wadhera off Chawla. He failed to keep down his slice through off-side and Wadhera pulled off a double-handed catch off a perfectly-timed dive. LSG were 69/3 at the halfway stage.

But Nicholas Pooran, who stepped into the field, changed the complexion of the game with a stunning assault on the Mumbai Indians bowling, hammering five sixes in his first 35 runs.

Pooran put on a dazzling display of power-hitting as he started his extraordinary knock with a six off Anshul Kamboj in the 11th over. In the next over by Kamboj, Pooran smashed a four and two sixes, picking the attempted yorkers cleanly out of the ground. Hardik was hit for two sixes in the 14th over as the Mumbai Indians bowlers bowled to the West Indies batter’s strength, giving him width and an opportunity to chance his arms.

Pooran went berserk in the 15th over, hitting Arjun for sixes off successive balls, picking the full-tosses cleanly as he raced to his third fifty of IPL 2024 off just 19 balls.

Tendulkar walked off the ground with cramps and Pooran celebrated the landmark by hammering Naman Dhir, who completed the over, for a six and four off successive deliveries. He handed Nuwan Thushara, brought in by Hardik Pandya to quell the rampaging Pooran, by hitting him for back-to-back boundaries before the Sri Lankan pacer had the last laugh, getting him to swing straight down to Suryakumar Yadav at long-on.

Meanwhile, K.L Rahul, who was soldiering on from the other end, completed his half-century off 37 balls, hitting two boundaries and three maximums as he and Pooran raised 109 runs for the fourth wicket off 44 balls, with Pooran doing the bulk of the scoring. Rahul kept one end intact as he has done throughout the season, building up the platform for Pooran to launch his audacious attack.

However, Mumbai Indians pulled things back by taking three wickets on the same score, as Arshad Khan (0) and K.L Rahul fell quickly. Thushara claimed two of those wickets off successive balls while Chawla got the third as MI salvaged the situation.

Ayush Badoni blasted 22 off 10 balls and Krunal Pandya struck 12 off 7 as Lucknow Super Giants struck 36 runs off the last 17 balls to take their score past the 200-run mark. Badoni struck two sixes and a four in the last two overs as LSG set Mumbai Indians a challenging target.

Brief scores:

Lucknow Super Giants 214/6 in 20 overs (Nicholas Pooran 75, K.L Rahul 55; Nuwan Thushara 3-28, Piyush Chawla 3-29) against Mumbai Indians

–IANS

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Astana (Kazakhstan), May 17 (IANS) Four Indian men pugilists Yaiphaba Singh Soibam, Abhishek Yadav, Vishal and Gaurav Chauhan ended their Elorda Cup 2024 campaign with bronze medals after going down in their respective semi-finals on Friday.

Yaiphaba (48kg) and Abhishek (67kg) suffered close 3-4 defeats against Kazakhstan’s Zhussupov Askhat and Mursal Nurbek respectively after their bouts were reviewed.

Meanwhile, Vishal (86kg) ended his campaign with a 0-5 loss against the reigning world champion Oralbay Nurbek of Kazakhstan. Gaurav also lost 0-5 to another Kazakh boxer, Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Kamshybek Kunkabayev, in the 92+kg semi-finals.

Late on Thursday, Shalakha Singh Sansanwal (70kg) and Monika (81+kg) ended their campaigns with bronze medals after losing in their respective semi-finals.

On Saturday, Reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen (52kg), Minakshi (48kg), Anamika (50kg) and Manisha (60kg) will fight for the gold medals.

The finals will be played on Saturday.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR) have signed Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan for the upcoming second season of the Major League Cricket (MLC), the American franchise-run T20 league.

LAKR in a photo posted on social media ‘X’ wrote, “Shakib Al Hasan joins LA Knight Riders for the 2024 Major League Cricket in USA.”

Knight Riders retained Sunil Narine—the star of KKR’s incredible run at the top of the league in the current IPL 2024. Andre Russell, Jason Roy, Spencer Johnson, Unmukt Chand, Ali Khan, Saif Badar, Nitish Kumar, and Shadley van Schalkwyk are also in the squad. They have also brought in local players Derone Davis, Matthew Tromp, Cirne Dry, and Adithya Ganesh for the next campaign.

LAKR came last in the 2023 MLC, the inaugural season. LAKR is owned by the parent body of Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL which also owns the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, in the ILT20, and the Trinbago Knight Riders men and women in the CPL.

The match between MI New York and Seattle Orcas, the winners and runners-up of the first tournament, will kick off the second edition on July 5. The 29th of July will mark the final.

This year’s MLC player draft took place on March 21. To fill out the rosters of the six teams, a second draft is scheduled for June 16.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) Sunil Chhetri has been the face of Indian football on the global stage for nearly two decades and as he gets ready to hang his boots, Indian head coach Igor Stimac has expressed his respect for his decision to retire and showered praise on what he has done for Indian football for the last so many years.

Currently standing as the third-highest active goal-scorer in the world behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, the Indian football team captain announced on Thursday that he will draw the curtains on his illustrious 19-year international career after the upcoming World Cup Qualifier game against Kuwait on June 6. As he prepares to play his final match in national colours, he leaves behind a legacy that will endure.

His remarkable football career has earned him the honour as the nation’s highest goal-scorer with 94 goals and amassing an impressive 150 appearances for his country.

Stimac also expressed his optimism about delivering a standout performance in their forthcoming match against Kuwait next month to bid a heartwarming farewell to their captain.

“He knows best how he feels and when it’s the appropriate time to do things,” the Croat told the-aiff.com.

“I just wish we all do everything to make June 6 very memorable for him and all Indian football fans,” he added.

Chhetri not only impresses with his performance and records but also with his approach to the game, his hard work, dedication, and leadership qualities both on and off the pitch, setting himself as a role model to be idolized by the nation for years to come.

“He became a legend while still playing, and that’s something only a few can do,” opined Stimac.

“He’s an inspiration to everyone, absolutely committed to the Indian jersey, which is something these youngsters need to follow. Playing for the country with passion and love, and as he said, with ‘intense joy’,” he added.

Stimac expressed his delight at the opportunity to coach a player like Chhetri, who has established himself as a modern-day legend during his playing career. The Croatian revealed the special relationship that he shared with the 39-year-old over the past five years as the head coach of the Blue Tigers.

“I had the pleasure of coaching such a wonderful human being and getting to know his beautiful family,” he shared.

The Croatian extends his best wishes to his most reliable forward for his retirement days. The head coach also believes that whatever Chhetri pursues in his post-football career will ultimately benefit the entire country in a broader sense.

“We were more than simply a coach and a player, and I am very proud of the relationship we have amongst us and the group. I am very confident that whatever he decides to do after football will have an immense impact on society in a very positive way. He was born to become a GOAT,” Stimac commented.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) Dealt a huge blow by the suspension of Parveen Hooda, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) will attempt to recover lost ground by trying to get another boxer to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games via the 2nd World Olympic Qualification Tournament to be held in Bangkok next month.

The BFI had managed to salvage the situation for the country by getting this second chance in consultation with the Boxing Paris Unit, which is responsible for the boxing competition at the Paris Olympics.

However, India can only field a boxer already registered as a reserve for the qualifiers before April 11, 2024, which means that only two boxers, named as reserved in the 60kg and 66 kg categories, are eligible to compete in Bangkok.

Parveen Hooda, who had won a quota for Paris 2024 by winning the bronze medal at the 2022 Asian Games, has been suspended for 22 months by the International Testing Agency (ITA) for three whereabouts failures.

Parveen’s legal representatives, comprising the Krida Legal team led by Vidushpat Singhania and representatives from OGQ along with Boxing Federation of India officials led by Colonel Arun Malik, were in touch with the WADA’s Anti-Doping Ombuds as well as the International Testing Agency (ITA) – the concerned Results Management Authority.

“While it’s regrettable that Parveen won’t be able to compete for India and will be serving the suspension, I am happy that we were able to at least reduce the suspension period and she will be back in the ring soon. I also extend my gratitude to all who contributed to securing India’s continued representation in this weight category for the Paris Olympics,” stated Ajay Singh, President of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI).

Following multiple discussions and representations, the ITA has proposed a sanction on Parveen, entailing the imposition of an ineligibility period of 22 months, which has been now backdated by eight months as compared to the initial suspension period of 24 months backdated by 6 months. In essence, the sanction is of 14 months, starting from May 17, 2024.

“We exhaustively pursued every avenue and explored all potential solutions to safeguard the Olympic quota and supported Praveen against potential suspension. Our proactive outreach to ITA and WADA emphasized the unintentional nature of the boxer’s actions, particularly given her father’s terminal illness,” said Hemanta Kalita, Secretary General, Boxing Federation of India.

“The failure arose on account of Hooda lacking the ability and technical know-how required for operating the Anti-Doping Administration & Management System (ADAMS) platform, owing to which a gap arose in Hooda being able to fill her whereabouts information accurately and consistently. Hooda’s failure to comply in the present instance arose solely on account of her lack of knowledge and technical understanding of the ADAMS platform,” said Singhania, the boxer’s legal counsel.

To once again open the pathway, after receiving an email communication from Parveen expressing her sincere regret in being unable to participate at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris and bringing glory for India, the Federation has declined the quota spot won by Parveen in the 57kg category so that it becomes eligible to compete at the 2nd World Olympic qualifier once again and aim to regain the spot.

–IANS

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