SPORTS

Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled off a thrilling win over RCB in the IPL 2021 encounter in Abu Dhabi. The game went to the final over with RCB leading 13 runs off the six balls, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a superb over to give away just 9 runs off it. The only loose ball that was bowled to AB went for a maximum. RCB skipper Virat Kohli reacted to this loss, saying T20 is a game of fine margins. He added losing Glenn Maxwell was the turning point of the match.

“Having lost a couple of early wickets, rebuilding was key. Maxi’s run-out was the game-changing moment. With AB you are never out of the game, but it is about making sure that the guy who’s in flow should be on strike. Not as effective when chasing that down. Shahbaz played a crucial knock at that stage, it is a game of small margins, I think Sunrisers held their nerve and bowled their last few deliveries pretty well to not allow us to get away,” he said.

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made their way back to the IPL in the 2018 edition, after their two-year suspension on account of the infamous spot-fixing scandal. Since then, the MS Dhoni-led franchise have remained one of the most consistent sides -- like they were before the suspension -- but endured a forgettable campaign in IPL 2020. Nonetheless, the Yellow Army continue to be one of the most-followed IPL franchises to date. Since their return, they have added one more trophy to their cabinet (in 2018) and plethora of fans worldwide.

Delhi Capitals registered the ninth win of the season as they beat MS Dhoni‘s Chennai Super Kings in a final-over thriller in Dubai. Chasing a par score of 137, Delhi found themselves in a tricky situation after losing their top five batters with just 99 runs on board at the end of the 15th. Shimron Hetmyer and Axar Patel were then the only two recognisable batting options left for Delhi, with them still needing 38 runs from the remaining 30 balls. When it looked like the duo would take Delhi home, Dwayne Bravo struck for Chennai as the match reached a tricky point. But DC batters stood firm and eventually got over the line, handing over a win to their skipper Rishabh Pant on his 24th birthday.

Eoin Morgan was around at the non-strikers' to see Dinesh Karthik finish it off for KKR who won by 6 wickets. On the other side of his commiserations for losing was Kane Williamson, who would smile his lower-jaw smile politely, shake his head in stoic acceptance and gently ease off proceedings, like his usual nice self. Not that Kane isn't able to bubble in all the excitement that plays out on the field. His outfield catch running back earlier brought something resembling a shoulder Ketchup Song jig with Jason Roy. But a loss in the low-scoring game on a slow wicket, even as things went into the last over, put him in a familiar downer of a result, as SRH is all but out of contention. Later he would be seen post the game chatting away gleefully with DK and Morgan, doing another animated upper body jive, narrating some source of amusement. The world will stay hung up on that 50 over dramatic final that the national team of England whisked away from NZ. The two captains remain affable totems of normalcy, as if to say, it's just a game of cricket.

When Ravichandran Ashwin was involved in a heated exchange with Eoin Morgan and Tim Southee during an IPL 2021 game on Tuesday, nobody thought it would spiral into such a big controversy.

With the cricket experts like Shane Warne hell-bent on making Ashwin the villain in this whole matter by questioning his spirit of the game, the veteran off-spinner, through a series of tweets, addressed the whole issue and hit back at Morgan and those who are targeting him for not abiding by the spirit of cricket.

During a league game between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders, Ashwin and Morgan were seen exchanging words after the former was dismissed and was on his way back to the pavilion.