GUWAHATI, India: Nitish Rana’s batting blitz combined with a four-wicket haul by Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga led Rajasthan Royals to their first victory of this IPL season against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday.
Rajasthan depended on a 36-ball 81 by Rana to post 182-9 after being invited to bat first at their second home in Guwahati.
Hasaranga then turned on the heat with his leg-spin to help restrict Chennai to 176-6 and a six-run win to bounce back from two losses in the T20 tournament.
The left-handed Rana put on 82 for the second wicket with Sanju Samson to lay the foundations.
Afghanistan left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad once again proved his worth as he broke the stand with the wicket of Samson, who is Rajasthan’s regular captain but playing only as a batsman due to an injury.
Rana reached his fifty in 21 balls and bludgeoned the bowlers with 10 fours and five sixes in his stay at the crease.
Veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin cut short Rana’s knock as he had the batsman stumped to check Rajasthan’s surge.
Stand-in-skipper Riyan Parag hit 37 off 28 balls before being bowled by Sri Lankan pace bowler Matheesha Pathirana.
Pace spearhead Khaleel Ahmed dismissed Jofra Archer for a duck for his second wicket.
Noor and Pathirana both returned figures of 2-28.
In Chennai’s reply, Archer struck in the first over to have Rachin Ravindra caught behind for a duck as he celebrated his first wicket this IPL season.
Archer had a disastrous start to the tournament when he went for 76 in his four overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad for the league’s most expensive bowling figures ever.
Hasaranga struck with his first ball to send back Rahul Tripathi before skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad attempted to put the chase on track in his 63 off 44 balls.
Hasaranga claimed a wicket each in his next two overs including impact player Shivam Dube to dent the opposition chase but Gaikwad stood strong to reach his fifty.
Hasaranga dismissed Gaikwad in his last over to return figures of 4-35.
M.S. Dhoni attempted to see his team over the line in his late blitz of 16 but fell to a stunning catch in the deep by Shimron Hetmyer off Sandeep Sharma who defended 20 runs in the final over.
Ravindra Jadeja hit a valiant 32 not out as Chennai suffered their second straight loss after they started the season with a win over Mumbai Indians.
Rana, Hasaranga help Rajasthan Royals to first season win in IPL
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Rana, Hasaranga help Rajasthan Royals to first season win in IPL
- Rana reached his fifty in 21 balls and bludgeoned the bowlers with 10 fours and five sixes
Inter thump Como to top Serie A ahead of Liverpool visit
- Strike partnership Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram scored in each half
- “Today we showed how good we are against a really good side in Como,” said Martinez
MILAN: Inter Milan moved top of Serie A on Saturday after hammering high-flying Como 4-0 at the San Siro, ahead of the visit of struggling Liverpool in the Champions League.
Strike partnership Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram scored in each half before Hakan Calhanoglu and Carlos Augusto netted late as Inter eased to a victory which pushed them two points ahead of AC Milan and Napoli who are both yet to play.
Champions Napoli host fierce rivals Juventus on Sunday night while Milan will be favorites to leapfrog back over their local rivals at Torino on Monday.
“Today we showed how good we are against a really good side in Como,” said Martinez.
“We showed just how hungry we are to get as many points as we can... it’s a really good win for us.”
Saturday’s win was the perfect warm-up for Tuesday’s clash with Liverpool, which could be key to whether Cristian Chivu’s team secure direct qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League.
A good sign for Chivu was the strong display by Luis Henrique at right wing-back, which has been a trouble position for Inter since Denzel Dumfries’ picked up an ankle injury last month.
It was Henrique who was key to Martinez’s opener in the 11th minute, the Brazilian surging into the area from his own half, cutting back inside and perfectly feeding his captain who netted a league-leading seventh goal of the Serie A campaign.
And in the 59th minute Thuram added to his brace in Inter’s midweek cup thumping of Venezia with his first league goal since returning from a hamstring injury suffered in September.
France forward Thuram poked home from close range after Federico Dimarco’s corner caused chaos for Como, who had started the second half the better team and should have levelled from one of two great chances for Tasos Douvikas and Alex Valle.
Cesc Fabregas’ Como drop down a place to sixth, six points behind Inter after falling to their first defeat since August, which was made emphatic by Calhanoglu firing home his seventh goal of the season in the 81st minute and Carlos Augusto’s fine volley shortly afterwards.
“It’s hard to analyze when you’ve been beaten 4-0. It’s a heavy defeat... but honestly I didn’t see a huge difference between the two teams tonight,” insisted Fabregas.
“A result like today’s helps you develop... A heavy defeat is when you grow the most and when you learn the most.”
- Fiorentina’s crisis continues -
Fiorentina plunged deeper into crisis with a 3-1 defeat at promoted Sassuolo which left them bottom of the division without a single win this season.
Once the home of players like Gabriel Batistuta and Rui Costa and sixth-placed finishers last season, Fiorentina have collected just six points from 14 matches.
And even with the backing of some 4,000 traveling fans the “Viola” were dreadful in Reggio Emilia, collapsing to an eighth league loss of the league campaign after going ahead through Rolando Mandragora’s ninth-minute penalty.
Cristian Volpato levelled for Sassuolo with a deflected strike five minutes later. Tarik Muharemovic gave the hosts a deserved lead on the stroke of half-time when he was given the freedom of the Fiorentina penalty area to head home his first Serie A goal.
From that point Fiorentina showed nothing to suggest a comeback and Ismael Kone sealed the points for Sassuolo in the 65th minute, shortly after Volpato had a screamer ruled out for a soft looking foul on Fabiano Parisi.
That decision incensed eight-placed Sassuolo’s coach Fabio Grosso who was subsequently sent off for dissent.
Grosso’s counterpart Paolo Vanoli, who took charge of Fiorentina a month ago, screamed on the sidelines to no avail as his team stayed six points from safety with just over a third of the season done.
Raffaele Palladino looks to continue his good start as Atalanta coach, a job he took last month after quitting Fiorentina in the summer, at Verona in the day’s late fixture.
