Deepak Chahar recalls Rahul Dravid's belief on him after match-winning knock

Watch: 40-year-old Rajagopal Sathish bags second-best figures in TNPL's history

Rajagopal Sathish a familiar name for those who follow domestic cricket in India continues to spring surprises as he picked up 5/10 in the second game of the Tamil Nadu Premier League’s 2021 edition. This is the second-best figure in the league’s five season’s history so far. The record for the best figure's is held by Sathish's teammate Ramadoss Alexandar who recorded 5/9 against Trichy Warriors in 2019. Playing for Chepauk Super Gillies, the two-time champions at their home ground of M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk, the 40-year-old struck in the very first cover removing S Dinesh of the Tiruppur Tamizhans. The wily old fox then came back in his second over which was the third over of the innings and removed two more Tiruppur batters S Aravind and P Francis Rokins. As if all this was not enough, the 41 First-Class matches and 67 T20 matches veteran bowled all his four overs on a trot removing Tushar Raheja and R Rajakumar in his third and fourth over respectively and putting the Tiruppur team in all sorts of trouble, reducing them to 24-6 in only the seventh over of the innings. All these efforts by the Tiruchchirappalli born however summarised to nothing as the match was eventually called off due to incessant rain at the venue. This is now the second successive game since the start of the tournament on July 20 that has been called off.

SL vs IND | 2nd ODI: Deepak Chahar - Suryakumar Yadav dig deep, inspire India to series win

Maiden half-centuries by Deepak Chahar and Suryakumar Yadav helped India dig deep and win the series 2-0 with a game to go in the three-match ODI series. If the first ODI had highlighted the gulf between sides in terms of ability, the second ODI established a huge gap between the sides in terms of mental toughness and attitude. Even after they were left five wickets down with the target well beyond their comfortable reach, the Indian middle-order batted with supreme confidence and flair before Chahar took over the domination. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, dropped their towel just when they had to dig deep and find a bit of inspiration after the all-rounder Wanindu Hassaranag had brought them in the game through his remarkable leg-spin bowling. He finished with three big wickets of Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, and Krunal Pandya—and all of them beaten in one way or the other. But, others failed to rise to the occasion, and in the end, gifted the match they should have won to India. The showstopper however was Chahar who showed remarkable composure that would mimic the temperament of his Chennai Super Kings and former India captain. When he walked out to bat, the chips were down but required run rate and he decisively defended against pacers. As Dasun Shanaka switched to spinners, he got an opening and put pressure on Lakshan Sandakan with a crisp drive through cover and a stylish lofted shot over long-off boundary. Bhuvneshwar Kumar played the role of an anchor perfectly and denied Sri Lanka any opportunity to sneak through the other end. Chahar did cut loose against pacers as well, but only after things shifted considerably in India’s favour. India suffered a min collapse in the middle order as Manish Pandey was dismissed in one of the most unfortunate manner while Hardik Pandya was done in by a cutter from hosts’ skipper Shanaka. Hungry for the opportunity and always ready to prove his worth with flair and substance, Suryakumar Yadav started his batting on the unflustered note. He was sublime as usual against spinners and played delightful strokes against them on both sides of the wicket. One on-drive he played between off Rajitha through the right of the mid-on fielder would have made AB de Villiers feel proud, and reached his first fifty in the fifty-over format with some unorthodox but signature shots. He was at the top of his game, especially against spinner Sandakan, who yielded 71 runs from his 10 overs, but soon after fifty found his pad in front of the stumps. A promising innings was cut short and India were under the pump before Krunal Pandya and Chahar resurrected them. When Hassaranaga deceived Krunal with a leg spinner that did not turn as much as the left-hander expected, India were left to search for inspiration and never say die attitude. The pair of Bhuvneshwar and Chahar had plenty of them and they carried India over the line in the last over. Earlier, Sri Laka skipper Shanaka won yet another toss and decided to bat first once again. The pitch was similar to the one used in the first game, but it was not that slower and also the outfield was a bit lighter than in the last game. India’s bowling struggle in the first 10 overs continued as neither Bhuvneshwar and Chahar could not find enough assistance off the pitch and in the air to trouble Sri Lankan batsmen. Once again, the breakthrough was achieved by Yuzvendra Chahal and the leg spinner struck twice in quick succession to bring India back in the upward momentum. Avishka Fernando bettered his performance from the first game and put his head down to bring the hosts back on the track. However, just after reaching a much-deserving fifty, he threw his wicket away once again and his partner Dhananjaya de Silva followed suit very soon to gift India cheap wickets. Charith Asalanka struggled at the start but attacked spinners as he grew in confidence and put a crucial fifty runs partnership with Chamika Karunaratne, who added yet another valuable contribution lower down the order in the series. It was his efforts in the end overs that Sri Lanka could post a challenging total for the tourists. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Chahar shared five wickets between them but India would be curious about what is ailing them in the first 10 overs. Kuldeep Yadav went wicketless but Chahal’s three-wicket haul saved the day for India. India would be delighted to clinch the series but they would be fretting over a lack of wicket-taking opportunities with the new ball. India are likely to change their playing XI in the next game but so far they can take pride in the level of performance put in by the players.

Bangladesh whitewash Zimbabwe, gain valuable 10 CWC Super League points

Bangladesh skipper Tamim Iqbal finally hit form as he hit a fine century to lead his team to a five-wicket win in the third and final ODI of the three-match series against hosts Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club. With this win, Bangladesh registered a 3-0 whitewash over the Brendan Taylor led team, which was playing in absence of regular skipper Sean Williams who was ruled out due to injury. Along with the whitewash, the Tigers gained valuable 10 Cricket World Cup Super League points to remain at the top of the table. Chasing a huge total of 299, the Bangladeshi team started off brilliantly with the opening pair of Liton Das and Tamim adding 88 in the first 14 overs. Even as Liton was removed by Wesley Madhevere, the best Zimbabwean bowler on the day, the Men in Green and Red continued powering on. Tamim then got useful contributions from Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Mithun to get to his hundred. However, there came a turn in the game when the match would have gone to any side when both Tamim and Mahmudullah got out in two successive deliveries from Donald Tiripano and the Tigers still needed 95 to win from 96 balls. However new batsmen in Nurul Hasan showed exactly why he was picked into the squad after a gap of almost five years as he took the attack to the opposition scoring a quickfire 45 from 39 balls to lead his team to the victory. He was well supported by Afif Hossain who hit 26 off just 17 balls and continued his good form in the series. Earlier in the day, after winning the toss Bangladesh asked Zimbabwe to bat first and Regis Chakabava accepted the offer with open hands hitting his highest individual ODI score of 84 off just 91 balls. Later on, quick fifties from Sikandar Raza (57 off 54) and Ryan Burl (59 off 43) helped the team in Red and Gold get past 270 and then target even 300. Hadn’t Mohammad Saifuddin got three wickets in the 49th over, it was very much possible. Zimbabwe lost their last five wickets under 14 runs and 12 balls. While Tamim was announced Man of the Match, Shakib, for his 145 runs and eight wickets in the three matches was adjudged Man of the Series. The two teams will now compete in the three-match T20I series starting Thursday, July 22.

SL vs IND | 2nd ODI: Deepak Chahar scores maiden ODI fifty to propel India

Deepak Chahar scored his maiden ODI fifty to bring India back in the game in the second ODI of the series against Sri Lanka. He was under pressure as India were struggling after the loss of too many wickets but put the sem back on the track. He was very composed to start with and showed good defence to begin his innings. Then, as Sri Lanka bowlers became desperate for wickets, he attacked them with full authority. He bettered his previous highest score of 12 and left the side in a good position to win the match which seemed very difficult in the middle phase. Earlier, he also picked up two wickets albeit by giving away 53 runs from his eight overs. He completed half-century on the back of four fours and one sixes off the bowling of Lakshan Sandakan. India were rocked early as Prithvi Shaw and Ishan Kishan failed to replicate their success from the last game. The wicket of Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey and Hardik Pandya put them under stern pressure but first Suryakumar Yadav and then Krunal Pandya and Chahar put brought India back in the game.