Cricket news round-up – April 24: Chennai regain top spot, Mumbai get Hendricks

Chennai Super Kings beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 6 wickets to displace Delhi Capitals at the top of the IPL 2019 points table; Oman continued to dominate ICC WCL Division Two; Mumbai Indians signed up Beuran Hendricks; and Soumya Sarkar became the first Bangladeshi to register a List A double-hundred.

Chennai back on top

Chennai are back at the top of the IPL points table after beating Hyderabad at Chepauk. Asked to bat, Hyderabad put up 175/3 thanks to Manish Pandey (83 in 49 balls) and David Warner (57 in 45). Deepak Chahar had figures of 4-0-30-1.

Chennai hardly broke a sweat in the chase. Shane Watson settled the match with a 56-ball 93, eventually gloving one behind off a bouncer. Suresh Raina chipped in with a 24-ball 38, and Chennai won with 1 ball to spare despite some tight bowling from Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-1-18-1), Khaleel Ahmed (4-0-26-0), and Khaleel Ahmed (4-0-27-0).

Hendricks comes to Mumbai

Mumbai Indians have signed up Beuran Hendricks as replacement for Alzarri Joseph, the man who had taken 6/12 – the best IPL figures till date – on debut. Joseph himself was drafted in after Adam Milne had ruled himself out.

Hendricks had played for Kings XI Punjab in 2014 and 2015. A left-arm fast bowler, he has also played 2 ODIs and 10 T20Is for South Africa.

Oman juggernaut continues

With 3 wins in as many matches, Oman are at the top of the ICC World Cricket League Division Two points table. Bilal Khan (4/20) and Khawar Ali (3/35) bowled out Hong Kong for 176 at Windhoek, Babar Hayat scoring 56. Oman won by 7 wickets thanks to Jatinder Singh’s 65.

USA and Namibia registered their respective second wins as well. Stephan Baard (90) and Craig Williams (65 in 59 balls) took Namibia to 258/6 despite Saad Bin Zafar’s 2/32 and Nikhil Dutta’s 2/38. Jan Frylinck (3/24) and Zhivago Groenewald (3/42) then bowled out Canada for 160.

Elsewhere, Karima Gore (4/23) and Ali Khan (3/41) shot out Papua New Guinea for 127 before Monank Patel (70*) and Xavier Marshall (54*) took USA to a comfortable 10-wicket win.

History for Soumya Sarkar

Soumya Sarkar became the first Bangladeshi to slam a List A double-hundred (208* in 153 balls), thus guiding Abahani Limited to a Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League title.

Opting to bat at Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan No 3 Ground, Savar, Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club put up 317/9 after Mashrafe Mortaza (4/56) reduced them to 85/5. Tanbir Hayder led the resurrection with a 115-ball unbeaten 132.

Sarkar reached his first fifty in 52 balls, the second in just 26, the third in another 26, and the fourth in 45. He hit 14 fours and 16 sixes, adding 312 with Jahurul Islam for the opening stand. Abahani won by 9 wickets with 29 balls to spare.