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ICC awards Uganda Cricket Association's Covid-19 relief fund as Cricket 4 Good Social Impact Initiative of the Year

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Commending the works done by the Uganda Cricket Association in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has recognised the relief works done as Cricket 4 Good Social Impact Initiative of the Year.

The Uganda men's and women's cricket teams, known as the Cricket Cranes and Lady Cricket Cranes were hoping to have a busy year ahead last year before they along with others such as cricket volunteers, such as coaches, umpires, curators and sports teachers were confined in isolation.

The funding started in March, with a cash transfer to 20 of the best male players and ten of the best female players. Ground staff received assistance, followed by another ten women, umpires, and coaches in April. Around 100 games teachers and their families from schools involved in UCA development programmes had been included by May and by the time the country started to pick up after early outbreak, around 1500 people had benefited by November.

Those in need from development hubs such as Soroti, Jinja, Kasese, and Entebbe were also brought into the fold, in addition to poor families in the Lugogo district.

The chairman of the UCA, Bashir Badu, said that giving back to the communities that helps the game prosper in the country has been long overdue. 

“We have so many people working pro-bono and those who are not so well to do in our fraternity, who have selflessly helped the association with the spread of the game. It was a great opportunity for the Association to appreciate them and extend its genuine feeling by supporting them with food, water and some kits. It was a way to show them that we appreciate their support and that we do not take them for granted for all they have done for the Association,” he said.




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IPL 2021 Preview: In-form CSK lock horns with depleted KKR

There are few reasons why Chennai Super Kings are one of the most successful teams in the Indian Premier League. While they are consistent, the CSK team has a habit of learning quickly from their mistakes. The MS Dhoni-led side has just turned the tables for themselves after suffering a defeat in their opening match of the tournament against Delhi Capitals. Dhoni’s men made a fine return to form first with the ball against Punjab Kings restricting them to minimal total and later against the Rajasthan Royals on Monday where the positive aspect was the contributions made by all the batsmen to hand them a good and defendable total. Kolkata Knight Riders have had a totally opposite campaign so far. They began the proceedings on a positive note with a win against the Sunrisers Hyderabad but lost momentum after that to suffer defeats in the next two encounters against Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively. In-form CSK vs depleted KKR Chennai Super Kings probably had a gala time during their clash against the Rajasthan Royals on Monday in Mumbai. It was a sheer all-round performance from the three-time champion team. They first dominated the RR bowling unit with some fireworks during the course of the innings and then rattled the Royals with a fine display of bowling. A major aspect or can say the positive that emerged for the Chennai-based franchise was that all the players had their roles fixed and they did perform in the best manner they could have. Faf du Plessis who opened the innings for CSK showed his class and took on the in-form fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat who was coming into the game with an economical spell of bowling in the previous match. Du Plessis gathered 18 runs in one over from Unadkat just with the boundaries which included his favourite stroke paddle sweep. While Du Plessis thoroughly dominated the RR bowling attack, Moeen Ali too showed up the reasons as to why he is known to be someone who has provided a perfect balance to CSK team. Apart from Moeen and Faf, the CSK middle order did play an important and crucial role in taking the total to 188/9 in 20 overs. Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Sam Curran and Dwayne Bravo played small cameos during the course. Coming down to the bowling, the Super Kings have one of the most steady attack. While Deepak Chahar can move the ball both ways, Curran fills in that place of the left-arm seamer perfectly. The spin department has got more strength after the inclusion of Moeen. The England cricketer along with Ravindra Jadeja is a lethal combination in itself and an instance of this was seen during the match between CSK and RR. Both Jadeja and Moeen took full advantage of the conditions and the track that did help the spinners a bit at the Wankhede stadium and shared a total of 5 wickets between themselves. In fact, the right-arm off-spinner Ali returned with brilliant figures of 3/7 in 3 overs. Apart from these four, the West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is also a prominent member of Chennai’s bowling arsenal. Bravo is one of the finest bowlers and probably the most intelligent one to bowl in the death overs. He has the ability to deceive the batsmen with his pace and Dhoni’s captaincy skills just add on to that talent. The right-handed medium pace bowler doesn’t let the opponent batsmen cut loose easily and resist the batsmen from scoring runs at a brisk pace in the death overs. One major reason for CSK's high success rate is their fielding. We all saw how Jadeja grabbed four catches and he has been doing that for ages now. CSK have probably ticked all the boxes to be called a “balanced side” for now. They are pretty sorted with their line up and don't really need to make much changes. The only thing that has been hurting them is the opening stand and Ruturaj Gaikwad’s awkwardness while batting. He is evidently not confident while he is out there in the middle. This is probably the only tweak that is required from the CSK management and think tank. Coming down to Kolkata Knight Riders and their “problems”. Well to begin with, the major and the most important cause of concern for KKR is their middle-order batting. While Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana have managed to give the Knight Riders a steady start, the team has missed out on taking the advantage of the opportunities. Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Shakib and Andre Russell haven’t really done much justice to their calibre. Though Russell did try to chip in with some big hits during their last game against RCB but his efforts were not enough to take them over the line. KKR’s bowlers had a hard time against RCB when Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers hit them all around the park but the situation is still under control. Morgan doesn’t really need to make much changes in the bowling line up but he can still think of getting Kuldeep Yadav in place of either Harbhajan Singh or Varun Chakravarthy. A chinaman bowler is always an asset to the team. Balancing act of Moeen Ali “Moeen Ali is adding an all-round aspect to our game which we lacked last year. His contribution was just what we were looking for,” coach Fleming said in the post-match press conference after the match against RR. Well, the former New Zealand captain is on spot in his observation. Moeen has the ability to take on the bowlers right from the word go. The left-handed batsmen generally face a bit of trouble against short deliveries or those pitched on the back of the length but for Moeen, these sort of balls are the ones that fetch him easy boundaries. The left-handed batsman’s pull shot is on point. Moeen’s contribution doesn’t just end with the bat. He is a handy bowler who can be a surprise package. We witnessed this during the match against the Royals. As soon as the track had something to offer for spinners, Dhoni got Moeen into the act and what followed next was a forgettable side for RR for sure. He spun the web around the Rajasthan batsmen inviting them to attempt glory strokes off his bowling. While David Miller was trapped in front of the stumps by Moeen trying to sweep the ball, Chris Morris and Riyan Parag gave away their wickets after getting caught in the deep. The England all-rounder has certainly filled the void in the CSK team and some credit goes to Dhoni as well for using his services in a brilliant way. Derailed Russ When you talk about Andre Russell, you ought to talk about some brutal knocks unleashed by this cricketer in the past. But from the last IPL edition, Russell has certainly lost that groove for which he was actually known in the business. The aggressive batsman did show a glimpse of his excellence in the previous game against RCB after he took on Yuzvendra Chahal. But that all went in vain as he failed to take his side over the line. Russell might have been struggling with his batting, he unfolded a fine piece of bowling display against the Mumbai Indians after bagging a fifer. The tactics of bowling wide Yorkers pinned around the fourth and fifth stump channel worked pretty well for him in that match as he returned with figures of 5/15 in 2 overs. But his change in technique with the ball went for a toss against RCB when AB de Villiers took up the challenge against the West Indian player. The former South African batsman had probably done his homework properly before coming out to bat. De Villiers totally disrupted Russell’s plans and smacked some good strokes to put him under pressure. This time the West Indian returned with figures of 0/38 in 2 overs. All said and done, KKR need a lot of planning before they come out to lock horns with CSK on Wednesday. Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders: Match Details Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2021 Time: 7:30 PM Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Pitch Report & Toss The pitch at the Wankhede Stadium produced a couple of high-scoring games. The dew is also a major factor in this part of the country. So, defending a total might be a tricky task here. The strip would have something to offer to the batsmen at least in the early stage of the game so if you win the toss bat first. Team News CSK The Chennai Super Kings are pretty sorted with whatever they have in their kitty. The team management and the captain are looking satisfied with the balance they have got and won’t be looking to make much of the changes. But we still might see a change in the opening partners. There is a possibility that Gaikwad faces the axe in the top-order while Robin Uthappa can find a place for himself. KKR The Kolkata Knight Riders have an uphill task to get the momentum back. They are tottering at number fifth spot with just one win and two points under their belt. Eoin Morgan might not make much of the changes in the starting XI but the big guns need to fire and they should fire with all guns blazing. Two possible changes can be made in the team with, one, Kuldeep Yadav coming into the team in place of Harbhajan Singh. Another change that KKR might think of getting is someone like Ben Cutting against a half-fit Andre Russell. This should ideally give them an additional batting depth and a better-suited bowler in a potentially sluggish track. Strongest XI CSK: Robin Uthappa, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar KKR: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Shakib Al Hasan, Andre Russell/Ben Cutting, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna Fantasy XI Nitish Rana, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Rahul Tripathi, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Andre Russell, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar

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IPL 2021 | PBKS vs SRH: Punjab looks to revive fortunes against dormant Hyderabad

The Punjab Kings after their first win against the Rajasthan Royals seemed to have been derailed. They have lost back to back matches and have now flown to a new venue in search of any change in the fortune. But in this endeavour of theirs, they face a Sunrisers Hyderabad who seemed to have run out of fortunes altogether, having lost all their three matches in the tournament so far. The two teams have had to struggle but in contrasting fashion. While Punjab had a batting collapse against Chennai Super Kings, it was their bowling that was thrown around against both Delhi Capitals and the Royals. Hyderabad on the other hand have been suffering from their batting form ever since the start of the tournament. In the lead up to this game, the battle between the two teams is being led by the Sunrisers 7-3 for the last 10 games. Low striking KL is one of many Punjab problems Punjab skipper KL Rahul has been facing the problem of low striker rates ever since the last season. Even in the last game, when his teammates were scoring at more than 150 (except Nicholas Pooran), Rahul, even after playing 51 balls, was able to score just 61 runs at a strike rate below 120, which in this day and age is considered criminal for a T20 opener, who spends that much of time in the middle. Rahul was great in the game against Rajasthan where he scored a 50 ball 91. It is the same kind of application that is required from him going into the game against Sunrisrers. Given the fact that the wicket at Chepauk would be slow and hence keeping a high strike rate wouldn’t be that easy. But the likes of Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers and Andre Russell showed that in a day game at the MA Chidambaram, it could very well be targeted. Apart from the low strike rate of KL, the Punjab management also needs to find good use of the speedster Riley Meredith, who has so far been wanted away in the last three games. He has picked up two wickets no doubt but has given away too many runs in the process. His trajectory and the use of that in a certain phase of the game needs to be planned and executed well to get the real worth of spending made on him. Warner's men need re-modification The Hyderabad side has not been able to click as a unit n any of the games, especially as a batting unit. The team has struggled and made several changes as well. Also, the fact that they have not been able to get a chance to defend a total has been a problem. In the three matches that they have chased, the team has always been able to come close, but not being able to finish off the game. The introduction of Kane Williamson is becoming a necessity now. They need someone in the middle who could pace up the chase. With Jonny Bairstow and skipper David Warner himself opening the innings, Abhishek Sharma, who has batted up the order in domestic cricket can be utilised with Williamson to block the number three and four spots and get the left-right combination going. Vijay Shankar, Manish Pandey and Abdul Samad need to be told that their role in the team is that of the finisher. And both Samad and Shankar need to be bowled regularly alongside Sharma to fill up the fifth bowler’s quota. Only then the top four bowlers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Rashid Khan and Sandeep Sharma would be able to bowl up to their best. Punjab Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: Match Details Date and Time: April 21, 2021, 03: 30 pm IST, 10: 00 am GMT Match Number- 14 Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Broadcast and Livestream: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report The Chennai pitch has thrown a surprise in a day game when RCB managed to get past 200. But will Chepauk have a similar track in this game too, is hard to tell. Historically, the MA Chidambaram Stadium has been a happy hunting ground for spinners and thus not much high scoring affair is expected. Weather and Toss The weather at Chennai tomorrow would have hazy sunshine at the time of the match and thus would help the team batting first as it would give them time to assess the condition and then utilised the used pitch by their spinners. The team winning the toss would therefore look to bat first. Team News Punjab Kings The kings in the north would like to utilise the condition in the south through their two wrist spinners in Murugan Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi. The Rajasthan born 20-year-old leggie is most likely to begin his IPL 2021 campaign with this game in Chennai for sure. The question is at whose place will Bishnoi play. Most likely he would take Jalaj Saxena’s place or of Mohammad Shami as well in the side. Strongest XI KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Ravi Bishnoi, Jalaj Saxena/ Mohammed Shami, Riley Meredith, Arshdeep Singh Sunrisers Hyderabad Hyderabad would like to go back to basics and bring in Williamson and Sandeep Sharma into the squad in place of Mujeeb ur Rahman and Virat Singh. Strongest XI David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Kane Williamson, Abhishek Sharma, Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan Dream XI Predictions / Fantasy XI Suggestions Jonny Bairstow (wk), Lokesh Rahul (c), David Warner, Kane Williamson, Shahrukh Khan, Mayank Agarwal (vc), Deepak Hooda, Jhye Richardson, Rashid Khan, Murugan Ashwin, T. Natarajan

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ICC wait on before pressing 'panic button' on crisis in South Africa Cricket

In what would come as a relief for cricket fans and players in South Africa, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has refused to intervene in the turmoil and impasse between the government and Cricket South Africa. “The ICC encourages Members to work with governments to resolve issues. Not all government intervention is problematic and for the ICC to get involved it requires a formal complaint from our Members that it is unwanted,” ICC said in a statement. The global governing body of the game has said that not every intervention from governments is problematic and that even funds and financial helps they offer come under the umbrella of government interventions. “ICC doesn’t want to press the panic button yet and want them to solve the issue themselves. We aren’t saying that the government intervention, in this case, is problematic or not. It is a general view in terms of the process we follow. When the government grants funds etc. under certain conditions that are also termed as government intervention,” PTI quoted an ICC source as saying. Earlier, captains of the Tests, ODIs and T20Is had expressed concerns that the government intervention and an ongoing governance dispute might see South Africa facing a ban by the ICC and disqualification for the ICC World T20 scheduled to be held later this year in India. “At a time when we should be enthusiastic about the future, we have to be concerned about the future. The Proteas Men’s team has an ICC World T20 event in November. The current state of cricket administration undermines our preparation in this regard. It may even lead to our suspension from this event should the ICC decide to suspend South Africa,” captains had said.