A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming is not only ruing the absence of Brendon McCullum from the batting line-up for Indian Premier League qualifier but also the fact that Tuesday's match is an away game for them.
This edition of the league will bear special significance with the mega ODI World Cup starting only two and half weeks after the final on May 12. In 2011 and 2015, the World Cup was held before the IPL and this is the first time that it will be held post the tournament.
High on confidence after their fourth consecutive victory, Mumbai Indians will look to extend their winning run and sneak into the top-four when they lock horns with table-toppers Chennai Super Kings in an Indian Premier League match at the Chepauk on Friday.
Mumbai Indians will look to extend their winning run and sneak into the top-four.
Captain Rohit Sharma continued to lead by example as a thoroughly professional Mumbai Indians outclassed Pune Supergiants by eight wickets in an Indian Premier League encounter.
Andrew Tye was a frustrated bystander for his first two seasons in the Indian Premier League but the Australia paceman grabbed his chance when it came on Friday, taking five wickets including a hat-trick to set up a first win for the Gujarat Lions.
A clinical Chennai Super Kings defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by three wickets in a nail-biting second qualifier to sail into the final of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament in Ranchi, making it a record sixth appearance in eight editions of the event.
Rohit Sharma and Lendl Simmons hit half-centuries as Mumbai Indians demolished Chennai Super Kings by 41 runs to win their second Indian Premier League title, in Kolkata, on Sunday.
Rajneesh Gupta presents all the important numbers of IPL 2020.
Michael Hussey believes Mahendra Singh Dhoni does not have "too many weaknesses" but even if he has, the Chennai Super Kings batting coach wouldn't share them with the Australian team.
New Zealand will have their tails up and eye another upset when they resume the trans-Tasman rivalry with a strong Australian side.
Michael Hussey and Dirk Nannes were the top performers as Australia beat Bangladesh by 27 runs to storm into the Super Eights of the Twenty20 World Cup on Wednesday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad face an uphill task to find their way through in the ongoing Indian Premier League as they get ready to take on formidable Chennai Super Kings.
Be it the jam-packed stadiums at the UEFA Champions League, the intense trans-Tasman rivalry in cricket, there are certain events that enthralls fans. Brendon McCullum blasting into history with the fastest Test hundred in his farewell Test; but that wasn't enough as Australia completed a 2-0 clean sweep of the Kiwis. Rohit Sharma, yet again showing why is considered to be a special talent in limited-overs cricket as India thrashed host Bangladesh in the Asia Cup opener. In Champions League football, Lionel Messi's Barcelona proving too hot for old-rivals Arsenal. Be ready to be amazed as Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this super photo feature.
Virat Kohli and Indian cricket remained an enduring love story and Sourav Ganguly held out promise for a path-breaking reign off the field in a year during which the country finally embraced pink ball Tests. There were the heartbreaks, the biggest one being a World Cup semi-final exit, and not to forget the anxious wait on what Mahendra Singh Dhoni might do next after being on a sabbatical for half the year.
With more than half the tournament over, rediff.com analyses the performances of some of the top 'lefties' in the IPL who happen to be very much on the right track.
Images from Day 3 of the first Test between South Africa and Australia in Durban on Saturday.
Virtually assured of a berth in the playoffs, Chennai Super Kings will aim to tighten their grip on the No 1 position in the points' table when they take on out-of-contention Delhi Daredevils in Tuesday's IPL match in Raipur.
The R Ashwin-led Kings XI slipped to the fifth spot after suffering back-to-back losses against Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively. Overall, the hosts have registered four wins from eight matches this season.
South Africa captain Grame Smith won the toss and elected to bat against India in the Super Eights match of the ICC World Twenty20 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, on Tuesday.
South Africa were 140 for six wickets in their first innings when rain brought an early close to play on the second day of the first test at SuperSport Park on Thursday. Mitchell Johnson had figures of 4 for 51.
Mumbai Indians have won three out of the four IPL finals they have been part of, including the two against CSK in 2013 and 2015.
Left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell claimed a maiden five-for to help South Africa score a comfortable five-wicket victory over New Zealand and revive their campaign in the Champions Trophy at the Centurion on Thursday
England, says former Australia captain, were outstanding against Australia and deserve their place in the final.
After making impressive debuts in their respective openers, Rising Pune Supergiants and GujaratLions will test each others' strengths when the two new entrants clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in Rajkot on Thursday. The two teams feature a lot of faces from the suspended Chennai Super Kings and at least six players, who played in the same side till last year, will now be in opposite camps. Close friends and CSK teammates Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina will now be devising strategies as rival captains. Both have admitted that playing in a jersey other than 'yellow' has been very "emotional" but have promised to give their all for their new teams. The Dhoni-led Pune Supergiants were very convincing and dominant when they handed defending champions Mumbai Indians a nine-wicket drubbing. They did not even require their middle order, packed with Dhoni himself and players such as Steven Smith, to come out with the top-order delivering it for them comfortably.
After putting up just 128 for 7, the Proteas restricted the Kiwis to 127 for 5.
With the batting firepower in Australia's ranks, they cannot be ruled out as contenders to grasp it at the sixth attempt.
Mitchell Johnson took his match haul to 10 after claiming three South Africa wickets on Saturday as Australia reduced the hosts, facing a 482-run target for victory, to 132 for five in the first Test.
Late call-up Shaun Marsh scored an unbeaten century in his first Test in two years to lead a middle-order recovery as Australia closed at 297 for four on the first day of the first Test against South Africa on Wednesday.
India's highest ranked shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Chetan Anand crashed out of the All England badminton tournament after suffering contrasting defeats in the first round of the Super series event in London on Wednesday.
India's limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named captain of new Indian Premier League franchise Rising Pune Supergiants on Monday.
Rajasthan Royals pacer Tim Southee said that their Indian Premier League match against Chennai Super Kings will be an exciting affair.
Fast bowler Dale Steyn walked away with four major awards, including Cricketer of the Year, at Cricket South Africa's annual award ceremony. Steyn, who played for the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the Indian Premier League, won all four awards for which he was nominated. He was also named Test Cricketer of the Year, Players' Player of the Year and the SuperSport Fans' Cricketer of the Year at the ceremony in Johannesburg on Tuesday night.
Mumbai Indians beat Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in an Indian Premier League match at the MA Chidambaram stadium.
From Captain Cool losing his, well, cool to Rabada's super over, and Malinga's unbelievable bowling for the cup, IPL 2019 was not short of magical moments. Here are a few.
Chennai Super Kings overcame some anxious moments before huffing and puffing to a five-wicket win over a fighting Sunrisers Hyderabad in a thrilling Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket match in Sharjah on Sunday.
Chennai Super Kings produced a clinical performance to crush Delhi Daredevils by 93 runs and register their first win in the seventh edition of Indian Premier League in Abu Dhabi on Monday.