Cricket news round-up – 12 April 2019: Dhoni loses calm as Chennai pull off heist

Chennai Super Kings pulled off a last-ball heist against Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2019. During the course of the chase, Chennai captain MS Dhoni lost his calm and was fined 50 per cent of his match fee.

In other news, Tom Latham will lead New Zealand in Australia; Floyd Reifer has been named West Indies interim coach; and Cameron Bancroft started his stint as Durham captain.

Chennai extend lead on points table

With a last-ball win over Rajasthan Royals at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, Chennai Super Kings now have a 4-point lead over second-ranked Kolkata Knight Riders.

Rajasthan put up 151/7 as eight of their nine batsmen scored between 13 and 28. Ravindra Jadeja impressed with 4-0-20-2 while Mitchell Santner had 4-0-25-1.

In response, Chennai were reduced to 24/4 in the sixth over, but Ambati Rayudu (57 in 47 balls) and MS Dhoni (58 in 43) added 95 in 71 balls to turn the match on its head.

Chennai needed 18 off the last over. Jadeja then hit Ben Stokes for six. A no-ball followed, and Dhoni got two off the free hit. Then Stokes cleaned up Dhoni with a yorker.

Then Santner took two twos. The first of these also involved a no-ball, which the umpires later revoked. This resulted in Dhoni uncharacteristically losing his calm and walking on to the ground.

With 4 to defend from the last ball, Stokes bowled a wide; then Santner hit straight over Stokes’s head for six to finish the match.

Not quite Captain Cool

Following a confusion over a no-ball, Dhoni had stormed out from the dugout to initiate an argument with the umpires, thereby committing a Level 2 offence under Article 2.20 of ICC’s Code of Conduct.

Dhoni was subsequently fined 50% of his match fee.

Reifer to coach West Indies

As part of a major overhaul in the West Indies cricket, Floyd Reifer has replaced Richard Pybus as interim coach of West Indies. Ricky Skerritt, the new Board President, has also sacked the entire selection committee, appointing Robert Haynes as interim chief selector.

Reifer played 6 Tests, 8 ODIs, and a T20I without much success. He had led West Indies in 9 of his 15 international matches.

Latham to lead New Zealand

With Kane Williamson away for his IPL stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad, New Zealand have appointed Tom Latham as captain for a 3-match series in Australia. The three matches, to be played at Allan Border Field, Albion, will not be given ODI status.

The squad reads:
Tom Latham (c & wk), Tom Blundell (wk), Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Doug Bracewell, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Hamish Rutherford, Blair Tickner, George Worker, Will Young.

County Championship Division 1 round-up

Yorkshire piled up 310/3 on Day One against Hampshire. Adam Lyth scored 67 at the top, Gary Ballance is still batting on 120, while Joe Root fell for 94.

Somerset bowled out Nottinghamshire for 263 despite fifties from Chris Nash and Luke Wood. Lewis Gregory took 6/68. In response, Somerset were 74/3 at stumps. Their first three batsmen – Marcus Trescothick and Azhar Ali included scored 10 apiece. Stuart Broad took 2/12.

Surrey finished Day One against Essex on 342/7 with fifties from Will Jacks, Ben Foakes, and Ryan Patel (who is still batting). Peter Siddle took 4/82.

Zak Crawley’s 108, followed by fifties from Heino Kuhn and Ollie Robinson, enabled Kent to finish the day on 367/5 against Warwickshire.

County Championship Division 2 round-up

Cameron Bancroft scored 33 on his first match as Durham captain, against Sussex. Liam Trevaskis’s 54 helped Durham reach 210/8 as Chris Jordan took 3/38 and Ollie Robinson 3/49.

Glamorgan hammered the Northamptonshire attack to finish the day on 433/4. Marnus Labuschagne (121), Billy Root (126*), and Kiran Carlson (101*) all got hundreds.

Powered by Tom Lace’s 83, Derbyshire scored 256/7 against Gloucestershire. Daryl Mitchell (114) and Hamish Rutherford (116*) took Worcestershire to 348/4 against Leicestershire. And Tom Bailey (4/51) and James Anderson (3/41) of Lancashire restricted Middlesex to 236/9.