Chase pays off as Mumbai beat Sunrisers in IPL by 4 wickets
Afghanistan’s Shahzad fails drug test
MUMBAI, India, April 13, (Agencies): The chasing team at Wankhede Stadium won for the sixth straight Indian Premier League game as Mumbai Indians beat defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets on Wednesday.
Mumbai won the toss and opted to field in what turned out to be a wise decision, given the recent success of teams batting second at this ground. Sunrisers made 158-8 off 20 overs, with only openers Shikhar Dhawan (48) and David Warner (49) achieving significant scores. Man-of-the-match Jasprit Bumrah took 3-24 as Sunrisers’ on Thursday.
Kohli missed the franchise’s first three matches as he underwent rehabilitation after injuring his right shoulder while fielding during the third Test against Australia at Ranchi.
The injury forced him to miss India’s series-sealing final Test win over Australia in Dharamsala but the BCCI said on Thursday the 28-year-old has regained match fitness.
“He will now be available for RCB’s next match against Mumbai Indians on April 14 in Bengaluru,” the board said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s big-hitting batsman Mohammad Shahzad has tested positive for the banned substance Clenbuterol and will be suspended, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said Thursday.
The 29-year-old wicket-keeper, a key player in the team’s charge towards potential Test match status, returned a positive test in an out-of-competition test conducted on Jan 17 at the ICC Academy in Dubai.
“The ICC today announced that Afghanistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad has been charged with an anti-doping rule violation under the ICC Anti-Doping Code,” said a statement from the governing body in Dubai.
“The sample analysed at the WADA-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, was found to contain the presence of Clenbuterol, a prohibited substance.”
Shahzad
Shahzad, who made his international debut in 2010, has played 58 matches in each of the ODI and Twenty20 formats.
He has scored 1,901 runs in onedayers with a best score of 131 not out while smashing 1,779 runs in T20 with a high of an undefeated 118.
Shahzad is the fourth highest runmaker in T20 internationals, even passing Indian superstar Virat Kohli in the rankings when Afghanistan whitewashed Ireland 3-0 earlier this year.
The ICC said that he will be banned from April 26 “unless he exercises his right to challenge the imposition of the provisional suspension before such date”.
“The matter will now be dealt with in accordance with the process set down in the code, and until such time as the process is resolved, the ICC will make no further comment on this matter,” added the statement.
England limited overs captain Eoin Morgan has been unveiled as one of eight “marquee” players for South Africa’s new domestic Twenty20 competition to be played in November and December this year.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Thursday that Morgan has signed up for the first two seasons of the tournament, along with two South African-born past and present England internationals, Kevin Pietersen and Jason Roy.
A trio of leading West Indies limited overs players, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, will also feature, as well as ex-New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum and Sri Lanka seamer Lasith Malinga.
The eight will be distributed among the as yet unnamed teams via a draft system similar to that in the Indian Premier League. Each team will have 17 players in their squad, with a maximum of four from outside of South Africa.
Last week, a $600,000 donation to flood recovery work was made by the IOC and Pan American Sports Organization.
The 50km walk will remain in the Olympics and world championships after the IAAF voted unanimously to retain the longest event in the athletics programme.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had put pressure on the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to drop the event, starting with the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, partly because there is no women’s race over the distance.
Women do race over the distance in the world race walking championships, but their longest event at the Olympics is 20km, which was introduced in 2000.
“The IAAF support for the 50km fully comports with the objectives of the IAAF Constitution,” American lawyer Paul DeMeester said following the decision by the IAAF’s Council in London on Thursday.
“When it comes to the inclusion of women athletes, the IAAF has been miles ahead of the IOC,” added DeMeester, in London to support the 50km distance.
“The IAAF recognises world records for women at 50km