Indian Cricket Team Updates

13 Number of consecutive matches won by Rajasthan Royals at home this year – all 8 IPL games and all 5 CLT20 games. (Also Read:  Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings, SF 1 - Report: CLT20-2013 ) 28 Number of wickets taken by Dwayne Bravo in CLT20 – most by any bowler. He was earlier at level with CSK teammate R Ashwin, with 25 wickets. (Also Read:  Pravin Tambe: I Hope To Take Sachin Tendulkar's Wicket ) 46 R Ashwin’s score – highest by a No.9 batsman in CLT20. Lasith Malinga held the previous record with an unbeaten 37 against Chennai Super Kings at Chennai in 2011. 73 Runs added by Chris Morris and R Ashwin – highest partnership for eighth wicket in a CLT20 match. The previous best was 53 (unbeaten) between Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga for Mumbai Indians against Chennai Super Kings at Chennai in 2011. 90 Number of balls Pravin Tambe has bowled in the tournament without getting hit for a six – most by any bowler in this edition of CLT20. 100...

On a day when the Afghanistan cricket team wrote a fairytale script to clinch their berth in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, the Rajasthan Royals – underdogs in the first semi-final of the Karbonn Smart CLT20 2013 – scripted one of their own as they overcame the formidable Chennai Super Kings by 14 runs to march to the title clash on October 6. After posting a competitive 159 runs, RR restricted CSK to 145/8.(Also Read:  Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings, SF 1 - Stats Highlights: CLT20-2013 ) The Royals needed an out-of-the-world performance from their bowlers and fielders to humble the mighty Super Kings. And that is exactly what Rahul Dravid’s men brought to the ground on the day. They were led by their 41-year-old leg-spinner Pravin Tambe, who broke the backbone of the CSK innings with sensational figures of 4-0-10-3. (Also Read:  Pravin Tambe: I Hope To Take Sachin Tendulkar's Wicket ) Royals’ bowlers and fielders ensured they made it difficult for the ...

It will be a battle to watch out for as MS Dhoni’s 2010 champions take on Rahul Dravid’s men who are yet to be beaten at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in 2013, in the first semi-final of the Karbonn Smart Champions League Twnety20. (Also Read:  CSK: CLT20 2013 ) With the semi-finalists decided only on the last day of the league phase, the tournament has kept interests piqued till the very end. Toppled from their pole position by Trinidad & Tobago in Group B, the Chennai Super Kings will be pitted against Group A toppers Rajasthan Royals on Friday evening. (Also Read:  RR: CLT20 2013 ) To examine and evaluate the strengths and the weaknesses of these teams ahead of their clash we caught up with commentator and cricket expert Harsh Bhogle to give us an insight into the semi-final.  Here’s what Harsha Bhogle had to say:  The Royals – It’s a ground where they have won four games on the trot so they must me doing something right. In the IPL they made...

579 Runs scored by Suresh Raina in CLT20 – most by any batsman. He is also the leading run-scorer in IPL with 2802 runs. (Also Read:  Chennai Super Kings vs Trinidad & Tobago, M20 - Report: CLT20-2013 ) 118 Chennai Super Kings’ total – their lowest ever in CLT20. 49 Chennai Super Kings’ total after first six overs. They could manage only 69 runs in next 14 overs losing 9 wickets! 8 Wickets – margin of defeat for Chennai Super Kings – their biggest in a CLT20 match. 7 Number of times Chennai Super Kings have been dismissed in a Twenty20 match – their second time in CLT20. The only other such instance was against New South Wales at Chennai in 2011 when they were dismissed for 155. source: clt20.com

Trinidad & Tobago caused a huge upset when they defeated the Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets in the final Group match of the Karbonn Smart CLT20 2013. The win for T&T shut the door on the Titans, who would have otherwise progressed to the semi-finals along with CSK. (Also Read:  Chennai Super Kings vs Trinidad & Tobago, M20 - Stats Highlights: CLT20-2013 ) Needing to chase down a modest 119, the team from the Caribbean were given a solid platform by their openers and cruised past the finish line in 15.1 overs. T&T got off to a streaky start. Lendl Simmons picked up a boundary between the wicketkeeper and slip to get the run-chase off the blocks, while Evin Lewis’ square-cut had just enough height to elude the point fielder. Both openers settled down after that and ensured the scoreboard kept ticking. Lewis was the more enterprising of the two T&T openers; he picked up three boundaries off Albie Morkel’s second over and picked up two more b...

He has a bag full of tricks. It’s variations galore every time he has the ball in his hands. Every time you meet him, you cannot help but ask him about these variations and what else he has up his sleeve. Clt20.com caught up with the off-spinner after Chennai Super Kings’ eight-wicket victory over the Brisbane Heat, which made them the first team in the tournament to qualify for the semi-finals. (Also Read:  Chennai Super Kings vs Brisbane Heat, M13 - Report: CLT20-2013 ) In this chat we meet Ashwin the bowler and Ashwin the thinker, who gives us an account of the different aspects of his bowling. (Also Read:  Chennai Super Kings vs Brisbane Heat, M13 - Stats Highlights: CLT20-2013 ) Excerpts from his interview: First of all, the team must be happy to qualify for the semi-finals, isn’t it?  We were in the Champions league T20 the last two times but we could not make it to the semis and it is quite natural – you are playing champions from all over the...

1 Chennai Super Kings became the first team to qualify for semi-finals of CLT20 2013. 2.50 R Ashwin’s economy-rate in the match. He equals the record of most economical figures by an Indian bowler in a CLT20 match. Anil Kumble had also conceded 10 runs in four overs against Guyana at Centurion in the 2010 edition. (Also Read:  Chennai Super Kings vs Brisbane Heat, M13 - Report: CLT20-2013 ) 11 Number of matches won by the Chennai Super Kings in CLT20 – most by any side. (Also Read:  Ravichandran Ashwin the bowler and the thinker ) 25 Number of balls remaining when Chennai Super Kings reached the target – biggest win in CLT20 2013. 53.75 Michael Hussey’s average for the Chennai Super Kings in all Twenty20 matches in 2013. 59 Number of dot balls in Brisbane Heat’s innings – equals the record of maximum dot balls in CLT20 2013. Mumbai Indians had also faced 59 dot balls against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur on Sep 21. 71 Runs added by Chris Hartley ...

The Chennai Super Kings registered their third win in three matches in the Karbonn Smart CLT20 2013 when they defeated Brisbane Heat by eight wickets at the JSCA International Cricket Stadium in Ranchi. After restricting the Australian side to 137, CSK romped home in 16 overs to bag four points from the match and confirm their progression to the knockouts. (Also Read:  Chennai Super Kings vs Brisbane Heat, M13 - Stats Highlights: CLT20-2013 ) Needing to score at close to seven runs an over, CSK opener Michael Hussey got the run-chase off to a brisk start scoring a boundary off the second delivery. He picked up a second boundary in the second over when he dispatched Matthew Gale through square-leg. (Also Read:  Ravichandran Ashwin the bowler and the thinker ) The Australian dominated the strike early on, facing 11 deliveries in the first two overs. Murali Vijay, who had been dismissed for a duck in the previous two outings, began cautiously, but pounced on the opp...

331.57 Dhoni’s strike-rate in the match – third highest in an innings of 50 runs or more in all Twenty20 cricket. Only Kieron Pollard (373.33 with 56* off 15 balls, vs Leeward Islands in 2012) and Yuvraj Singh (362.50 with 58 off 16 balls, vs England in 2007) are ahead of him. (Also Read:  Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, M10 - Report: CLT20-2013 ) 190 Sunrisers’ total – their highest in a T20 match, eclipsing 178/3 against the Mumbai Indians at Wankhede in IPL 2013. (Also Read:  Suresh Raina Yearns No.3 Spot in Indian Line-Up: CLT20 2013 ) 61 Runs scored by Chennai Super Kings in last three overs of their innings – a record for a CLT20 match. The Titans had scored 57 against the Sydney Sixers at Centurion in 2012. 60 Runs conceded by Thisara Perera in the match – most by a bowler in a three-over spell in a CLT20 match. The previous record was of 50 runs held by Guyana’s Steven Jacobs and Somerset’s Peter Trego. 34 Runs conceded by Thisara Pe...

Before MS Dhoni stole his thunder with a scorching 63 off 19 balls, Suresh Raina was the beneficiary of the loudest cheers from the Ranchi crowd. It was his knock of 84 (57 balls) that not only helped CSK recover from the first-over loss of Murali Vijay, but also set up a platform for a big total. And when he was done batting, he got rid of JP Duminy and ran Parthiv Patel out. (Also Read:  Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, M10 - Report: CLT20-2013 ) In the end, Raina got his thunder back when he was named the Man of the Match after CSK’s 12-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad. He spoke to clt20.com after the match about his knock, the conscious effort to bat big after getting a start and his favourite shots. He also listed down the things he has learnt from the inimitable Mr. Dhoni.  (Also Read:  Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, M10 - Stats Highlights: CLT20-2013 ) Here are excerpts from his interview: The best thing about your knock wa...

Chennai Super Kings skipper and local lad, MS Dhoni, set the JSCA International Cricket Stadium on fire as his team defeated the Sunrisers Hyderabad by 12 runs in Match 10 of the Karbonn Smart CLT20 2013. Powered by Dhoni’s 63 – during which he smashed the fastest half-century in CLT20 history – CSK posted 202 batting first and then restricted the Sunrisers to 190 to register their second win in the competition. (Also Read:  Suresh Raina Yearns No.3 Spot in Indian Line-Up: CLT20 2013 ) After being put in to bat, CSK lost Murali Vijay to the second ball of the innings. But Suresh Raina and Michael Hussey wrested the initiative back in style, adding 45 runs over the next six overs. Raina opened his account with two crisp boundaries off Steyn, while Hussey got stuck into Ishant Sharma hitting him for two boundaries and a six. The partnership was separated when Hussey edged one from JP Duminy to the wicketkeeper; he made 23 from 21 balls.  (Also Read:  Chennai Super...

The crowd that had thronged the JSCA stadium in Ranchi expecting a few fireworks from their local hero’s bat, had to be content with just one six over long-on when the game was well in control of the Men in Yellow. MS Dhoni was out two balls later and the deafening cheers were reduced to a dead silence. (Also Read:  Chennai Super Kings vs Titans, M3 - Report: CLT20-2013 ) Four balls later, CSK won the match beginning their CLT20 campaign on a positive note and the smiles and joys so familiar to the CSK dugout were back. Michael Hussey who scored a 26-ball 47, one of the architects of the big run-chase, was all smiles. “It is great to have a win in the first game. We are notoriously slow starters whether be it in the IPL or the Champions League T20 and to get a win in the first game is really pleasing,” Michael Hussey told clt20.com after the game. (Also Read:  Chennai Super Kings vs Titans, M3 - Stats Highlights: CLT20-2013 ) On display was a typical Hussey knock...

4 Number of overs taken by the Chennai Super Kings to race to their fifty – their fastest ever in all matches. 6 Number of players with the all-round double of 3000 runs and 100 wickets in Twenty20 cricket. Dwayne Bravo emulated Albie Morkel, Scott Styris, Azhar Mahmood, Kieron Pollard and Shane Watson. (Also Read:  Chennai Super Kings vs Titans, M3 - Report: CLT20-2013 ) 10  Number of stumpings MS Dhoni has effected off the bowling of R Ashwin – most by an Indian bowler-‘keeper combination. 24 Number of wides conceded by the Titans – most by any side in a CLT20 match. Guyana had conceded 17 wides against Mumbai Indians at Durban in 2010. In fact it just failed to beat the T20 record of 25 wides conceded by Colombo Cricket Club against Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club in 2007. 27 Number of balls taken by AB de Villiers to race to his fifty – fastest fifty by any batsman against the Chennai Super Kings in CLT20. The previous record was held by New S...

The Chennai Super Kings announced themselves in the Karbonn Smart CLT20 2013 with a four-wicket victory over the Titans. Set to chase 186 on a track that had good pace and bounce, CSK were powered by cameos from Suresh Raina and Michael Hussey and romped past the finish line in the 19th over. (Also Read:  Chennai Super Kings vs Titans, M3 - Stats Highlights: CLT20-2013 ) The CSK run-chase was rocked in the first over when Roelof van der Merwe breached past the defence of Murali Vijay. After a couple of quiet overs, during which Suresh Raina picked up three boundaries, the southpaw turned on the heat when he pulled a Morne Morkel bouncer into the stands at midwicket. In that very over – the fourth of the innings – Morkel lost his radar, offered lots of width, sprayed it down the leg side and banged it short too. One particular delivery landed so far down the leg-side that the ‘keeper couldn’t get his hands to it and the ball raced away to the fence. (Also Read:  Micha...

What It will be a celebration of sorts when the Chennai Super Kings take on the Titans in Match 3 of the Karbonn Smart CLT20 2013. (Also Read:   CLT20 2013 Squad - Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ) The Titans, runners-up in the RAM Slam T20 Challenge, will be up against not only the Chennai Super Kings, but also a very vocal crowd who will be supporting local lad MS Dhoni and his team. The Titans, making their second appearance in the CLT20, will be looking to improve on their performance from 2012 when they made it to the semi-finals but lost out to eventual winners Sydney Sixers. CSK on the other hand are competing in the CLT20 for the fourth successive season. Champions in 2010, CSK are in the competition by virtue of finishing second in IPL 2013. Their performance in the last couple of seasons of CLT20 hasn’t been up to the mark and that is not something one associates with this champion team. CSK have retained the team since their formation in 2008 and coach Stephen ...