The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Dhoni on song

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 21, 2005

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Sport - Cricket

Dhoni on song

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

BANGALORE: : Defeat under the sun, victory under lights. It was truly a mixed day for the Bradman World XI in the Unibic 20-20 Bradman Cup tournament at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

After suffering a 33-run defeat against KSCA XI in Saturday's opening match, World XI came back strongly as night descended to defeat Chemplast by six wickets in Zone A. And leading World XI's victory march was M.S. Dhoni, who with a belligerent unbeaten 91 (61b, 6x4, 6x6) ensured that there were no last-minute glitches while chasing Chemplast's 132.

Dhoni was at the other end while L. Balaji castled Kamran Akmal. Later he watched R. Satish's throw leaving Salman Butt stranded. However, Dhoni soldiered on with judicious use of the long handle. Jesuraj, Ram Kumar and Hemang Badani were all hoisted over the ropes during Dhoni's initial burst and the runs just kept coming while Shoaib Malik proved to be a bystander.

The match between KSCA and Chemplast on Sunday will be decisive in determining the Zone A topper, which will clash with Air-India in the final.

Earlier, the Chemplast innings was in a shambles in the beginning but found sustenance through the efforts of Hemang Badani (47), V. Saravanan (20) and Ajay Kudua (24).

Afternoon jitters

Earlier, the World XI opened its campaign on a disastrous note and suffered a shock 33-run defeat against hosts KSCA XI. Bharath Chipli's breezy 48 (40b, 6x4, 1x6) set the tone for KSCA's near-perfect afternoon. An opening slump triggered by lively spells from Mohammed Sami and J. Srinath, failed to deter Chipli from driving with elan and flicking with finesse.

CAB wins

Later in the afternoon, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) defeated New South Wales (NSW) by 23 runs in an inconsequential Zone B match as Air-India has already topped the group. CAB powered by M. Tiwary's 55 and Subhomoy Das' 45, scored 134 for five in 20.

The scores:

Chemplast 132 for seven in 20 overs (H. Badani 47, Shoaib Malik two for 16) lost to Bradman World XI 135 for four in 17.5 overs (M.S. Dhoni 91 n.o., Balaji three for 21).

KSCA XI 137 for eight in 20 overs (B. Chipli 48, Upul Chandana two for 23) bt Bradman World XI 104 in 17.5 overs (R. Arnold 28, C. Raghavendra three for 15, Vinay three for 22, B. Akhil two for 16).

CAB 134 for five in 20 overs (M. Tiwary 55, Subhomoy Das 45, Jarrad Burke two for 30) bt NSW 111 in 19.1 overs (S. Lahiri four for 11, A. Jhunjhunwala three for 26).

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