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SCO vs ZIM| Milton Shumba's career-best helps Zimbabwe chase down 178, win series

It was a blinder of an innings by 20-year-old Zimbabwean Milton Shumba, who redeemed himself from not being able to chase down 142 in the first match of the match T20I series against Scotland, by casing down 178 in the last match and thereby winning the match by five wickets and the series 2-1. 

Shumba scored 66 of just 29 balls in a knock that consisted of only two fours and six humungous sixes to help his team chase down a tough total at the Grange in Edinburgh. His 99 runs partnership with fellow young all-rounder Wesley Madhevere for the fourth wicket was the key to the Zimbabwean run chase. 

After the team lost three experienced batters in skipper Sean Ervine, wicket-keeper batter Regis Chakabva and senior all-rounder Sean Williams at the score of 63, chasing down a stiff total of 178, the two young men aged 20 and 21 respectively, showed composure and strength beyond imagination in the eye of the storm and 99 runs in just 53 balls to get to the target. 

While Madhevere got out for 43 off 31 balls with still 15 needed from 11 balls, Shumba and Ryan Burl made sure that there were no hiccups in a Chevron win. 

Earlier in the day, after winning the toss, Scotland decided to bat first and courtesy of a brilliant innings from George Munsey at the top (54 off 30 balls), followed by some crucial runs down the order by Calum McLeod (39 off 29 balls) and Richie Berrington (44 off 39 balls), Scotland for the first time ever, crossed the 150 run mark in the series. 

This was a series decider game with both the teams winning one match each before. Left-handed batter Shumba, who scored his very first career fifty in international cricket, was awarded Man of the Match as well as Man of the series for scoring 112 runs at an average of 56.

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IPL 2021 | CKS vs MI: Hits and Flops as Bravo, Gaikwad help Chennai drub Mumbai in UAE leg opener

It was a perfect display of what the people even slightly associated with the Indian Premier League have come to know of over the years- the Chennai Super Kings classical- looking like they are not going to make it, staging a comeback with the bat and then their bowling defending a total of 165 as if it were 195, winning at the end quite comprehensively. While this was a miss in the last edition of the IPL when it happened in UAE, the old fox, MS Dhoni made sure that this time around it came back. And came it did, that too in the same style as in the very first match of the UAE leg of the IPL, the Super Kings beat their arch-rivals Mumbai Indians by 20 runs and thereby overtook Delhi Capitals to reach the top of the points table based on superior run rate, as both teams are now tied at 12 points each from eight games played. There were many heroes for CSK in this win and many a flop stars for MI in their fourth loss of the season. All of them would be discussed in detail in the section called Hits and Flops. Hits Ruturaj Gaikwad There could be a no bigger hit than the Chennai opener who played through the storm and guided the boat what could be called ‘near the shores’ if not safe harbours, courtesy of some very composed batting. He scored 88 off just 58 balls even as the wickets fell like a pack of cards at the other end at the start of the Super Kings innings. Gaikwad added 81 runs with Ravindra Jadeja for the fifth wicket which was essentially the sixth wicket as Ambati Rayudu had returned to the pavilion as retired hurt alongside four genuine dismissals. After playing it slowly, the 24-year-old Punekar hit top gear at the death and having completed his fifty in 41 balls, scored 37 runs in the next 17 balls. He together with Dwayne Bravo and Shardul Thakur managed to gather 51 runs off the last 20 balls of the CSK inning. Dwayne Bravo The second name and very deservingly so in the list is of West Indian ‘Champion’ Bravo, who not only added crucial 23 runs off just eight deliveries with the bat but also took three important wickets to restrict Mumbai to 136 and help Chennai win the game. Removing Ishan Kishan was an important phase in the defence of the runs and then the 37-year-old came back and bowled the final over too, taking two wickets in it and finishing with figures of 3-25 with the ball. After Gaikwad, Bravo was surely the best performer for the Super Kings Deepak Chahar Wen Mumbai got off to a relatively good start with Quinton de Kock and Anmolpreet Singh hammering the more fancied CSK pacer, Josh Hazlewood all over the park, Deepak Chahar curtailed their speed courtesy of a pitch outswinger, which swung back into left-handed de Kock, hitting right at middle and leg, and thus the big fish was caught. Although Chahar usually bowled all his overs on the trot during the India leg of the IPL, even after getting Anmolprret out in his thyroid over, skipper Dhoni conserved Chahar for the death. And even though he showed great signs of dehydration and cramps, Chahar completed the 18th over, giving away only 10 runs and also creating a chance which went begging, thereby repaying the faith that his captain had shown. Flops Kieron Pollard The biggest flop of the day was Mumbai Indians, Kieron Pollard, as he messed up the bowling order and instead of going for the kill when he had the Super Kings reeling at 24-5 with the Mumbai pacer making the ball talk, he completely removed pacers from the attack and gave a freebie to Jadeja and Gaikwad by operating with spinners until they settled down. While that was his mistake while fielding, in batting too, just as Mumbai looked like getting some momentum with a 29 run stand between him and Saurabh Tiwary, he played across the line to Hazlewood and not only lost the momentum, but also his team’s chances of winning the game. Suryakumar Yadav Having represented India at the senior level in ODIs, T20Is and being drafted into the Test squad too alongside being an experienced and trustworthy member of the Mumbai set-up, it was expected of Surya to play more responsibly than he did. Especially under the circumstances that senior pros like regular skipper Rohit Sharm and Hardik Panday were not available and Quinton de Kock’s wicket was already gone, the shot that Yadav played to get out could never be justified. He played a check inside outdrive that was caught brilliantly by du Plessis at the mid-off. This was the last meeting between the two most followed rivals at the league stage of this year’s IPL and after this win by CSK, the tally stands at one each. While CSK now has five days rest and will face RCB in their next encounter on September 24th, Mumbai play the Knight Riders on 23rd.

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IPL 2021 | CSK vs MI: What experts said as Super Kings script 'fantastic' comeback vs Mumbai Indians

The Chennai Super Kings couldn’t have asked for a better start to the second leg of the IPL 2021 in UAE. The MS Dhoti-led side beat Mumbai Indians by 20 runs in Dubai to move to the top of the points table. The Chennai bowlers dominated the MI batting line up and restricted them to 136/8 in 20 overs while chasing a target of 157 runs. The Mumbai side had a disappointing start after they lost some early wickets and were reduced to 58/4 with the likes of Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan back in the pavilion. Later, Saurabh Tiwary and stand-in captain Kieron Pollard joined hands and tried to provide the resistance to the side as the two batsmen put 29 runs for the fifth wicket before Pollard was undone for 15 off 14 after he was trapped in front of the stumps by Josh Hazlewood. Mumbai Indians then lost Krunal Pandya in a short span of time, courtesy a confusion while running between him and Toward. Pandya was run out for 4 by Bravo and was replaced by Adam Milne in the middle. Tiwary and Milne stitched a partnership of 40 runs but it went in vain as the side eventually fell short of the target. Saurabh Tiwary went on to score a fifty during the course. For CSK, it was Deepak Chahar and Dwayne Bravo who were the pick of the bowlers. While Chahar returned with figures of 2/19 in 4 overs, Bravo scalped a three-for at the cost of 25 runs in 4 overs. Earlier, in the day, the CSK had a horrific start to the proceedings after they were left tottering at 24/4. But opener Ruturaj Gaikwad along with Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo saved the day and helped the side put up a decent total on the board. Gaikwad remained unbeaten at 88 off 58 while Jadeja scored 26 in 33 deliveries. But Bravo totally turned the tables and struck 23 off just 8 balls that included three maximums. CSK gathered a total of 49 runs in the last three overs. Adam Milne picked up a couple of wickets for MI while Rahul Chahar only gave 22 runs in 4 overs. Experts’ Opinion Mumbai Indians regular skipper Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Hardik Pandya had missed this match against CSK due to injury issues. Acknowledging the same, former India opener Aakash Chopra said that the absence of the two players can create some problems for the MI side. “MI is a solid team and you’d expect them to find ways to bounce back. But the absence of Rohit and Hardik isn’t helping their cause. If they aren’t available for a little longer, they’ll find it tough to make it through…they still need 4 wins from 6 games,” he tweeted. Chennai made a solid comeback after losing early wickets in the match and former fast bowler Irfan Pathan lauded the side’s performance. “It was a fantastic comeback from a very experienced team CSK especially after losing early 4 wickets. MI missed the trick not bowling their attacking bowlers in the middle over phase,” Pathan pointed. Commentator Harsha Bhogle said that the MI batsmen didn’t go all guns blazing in the earlier stage of the chase and the team had to face the struggle later on. “Afraid MI have left it till too late. Really had to get a move on earlier. Needed the set batsman to hit the big shots earlier. Hasn't really been a chase,” he said. Former India player Kris Srikanth also hailed the way CSK made a comeback to win the match. “One of the best victories for CSK ! What a comeback! Can't wait to see the mentor MS Dhoni in Indian colours in the upcoming t20 world cup, if he can do what he did today on the field I think we will see a repeat of 2007 coming Oct,” he wrote on Twitter. Former India fast bowler RP Singh lavished praise on Deepak Chahar for his bowling performance in the game especially in the powerplay overs. “Deepak Chahar is such a predictable bowler! Again 2 wickets in his 3 overs in power-play. With a new ball , Deepak is not deepak but Suraj,” RP tweeted. MI will now face KKR on Thursday in Abu Dhabi while CSK will be up against RCB on Friday in Sharjah in their next respective match.