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Fitness concerns are understood to be the reason behind his axing from the squad, which has not yet been released but has been sent to the sports ministry for ratification

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Sep-2018Days after he was removed from the limited-overs captaincy, Angelo Mathews has been dropped from Sri Lanka’s ODI squad, possibly over fitness concerns. Mathews has responded almost immediately, demanding the selectors allow him to take a fitness test.The ODI squad for the forthcoming series against England has not yet been released, but it has been named and sent to the sports ministry for the minister’s mandatory approval. As the squad is not official yet, there is a small chance Mathews could find his way back into it. For now, however, he is in a standoff with the selectors.It is understood that concerns over Mathews’ fitness were a central feature of the meeting between him, coach Chandika Hathurusingha, and the selectors, which took place on Friday – the same meeting in which Mathews was asked to step down from the captaincy. ESPNcricinfo also understands Mathews was one of at least two players asked by Hathurusingha not to undergo a yo-yo test ahead of the Asia Cup, the reasoning being Mathews had played every one of the eight matches during South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka, and the risk of injury was thus high.Mathews has also had recurring injuries in his legs, but it is his match fitness that has been called into question on this occasion. In the Asia Cup, he had been sluggish between the wickets, and had played a role in the run-outs of two batting partners.But although he has stopped bowling in order to prevent further injury, Mathews has been consistent with the bat in ODIs. Since the start of 2017, Mathews has made 888 ODI runs at an average of 59.20, across 22 innings, albeit with a modest strike rate of 76.35. In Sri Lanka’s most recent bilateral series, against South Africa, Mathews was in fact the highest scorer across the five matches, having scored 235 runs at 78.33, with a strike rate of 83.62. Since the start of 2017, no other Sri Lanka batsman with over 500 ODI runs averages more than 45.Mathews has already hit back at the selectors’ decision to remove him from the captaincy by sending a letter to SLC CEO Ashley de Silva, in which he said he resented being made the “scapegoat” for Sri Lanka’s failure at the Asia Cup. The same selection committee, along with coach Hathurusingha, had asked him to take up the limited-overs captaincy in January, six months after he had resigned as captain last year, ending a five-year tenure.Sri Lanka’s five-match ODI series against England begins on October 10.

‘I think they have had better sides in the past. They have had better players with more experience, this is considerably an inexperienced side’

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2018India have their “best chance” to win a Test series in Australia for the first time, Sachin Tendulkar has said. He doesn’t expect it to be easy, but he suggested that the current Australian team, which will most likely be without Steven Smith and David Warner, is inexperienced and not at the level of past teams India have played against.”Possibly our best chance to go out there and beat them,” Tendulkar told . “If you see the Australia teams in the past and compare them to this one, yes we have a very good chance.”I mean playing cricket at the highest level, I don’t think it is at the highest level at this stage. I think they have had better sides in the past. They have had better players with more experience, this is considerably an inexperienced side.”They are kind of getting back together and forming a solid unit. But Australians are known for being competitive and I won’t be surprised if they put up a competitive fight. To go out there and challenge them is also not going to be easy, but we have the ammunition to go out there and challenge them.”We have good fast bowlers, quality spinners. We have good batters. You win Test matches when you score a lot of runs on the board.”Scoring those runs, Tendulkar said, would require India’s batsmen to respect the new ball. If they did that, he reckoned they could cash in and play their shots in “beautiful” batting conditions.”I think when you go to Australia, especially playing with Kookaburra, it’s the first 20-25 overs that one needs to respect the hardness of the seam, the hardness of the ball,” he said. “After the ball has worn off, then the wickets are beautiful to bat on.”I would say we need to bat the first 25 overs differently, respect the hardness of the ball. And later on, most of our guys are big shot players and they like attacking approach. Australian surfaces are perfect for that.”

England laid traps and Sri Lanka’s batsmen fell into them, said coach Chandika Hathurusingha after heavy defeat in Galle

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle09-Nov-2018England laid traps and Sri Lanka’s batsmen sometimes fell into them with such willingness, it was as if they were “school kids”. That was Sri Lanka head coach Chandika Hathurusingha’s take, following the 211-run drubbing at Galle – a match in which Sri Lanka mustered scores of only 203 and 250, after England racked up 342 and 322 for 6.Several Sri Lanka batsmen made starts and appeared confident at the crease in both innings, before a loose stroke brought about their dismissal. In the first innings, for example, Niroshan Dickwella pushed at a Moeen Ali delivery, and put it straight in the hands of the short cover that had been placed there for exactly that stroke. In the second dig, Kusal Mendis ran at Jack Leach immediately hitting him over mid-off for a boundary, and wound up holing out to the same fielder.Even Angelo Mathews could easily have fallen for a trap that England set for him early in his innings, when he pulled a short ball from Ben Stokes to the midwicket fielder, but he earned a reprieve as he was dropped by James Anderson.Hathurusingha was not unhappy with Sri Lanka’s positive intent, even when they were batting to save a Test. But their option-taking irked him.”When you play Test cricket, you need to understand how people are going to get you out – even at club cricket you need to understand that,” Hathurusingha said. “You cannot come to international cricket and learn that. If you are doing things like playing against turn and getting out, it is sad. The opposition looks like they are playing with school kids.”It is very disappointing with the way we got out – getting out to the traps they set. You can play your natural game, but that doesn’t mean you are given free licence to play shots regardless of the situation. You need to understand what the opposition is trying to do. “Hathurusingha also expected a little more gamesmanship from his batsmen. Dhananjaya de Silva, for example, was out in the over before lunch on day four – an over that began just in the nick of time, but might not have done so had Sri Lanka’s batsmen delayed during the previous over that Joe Root delivered specifically to speed up the match.”This is something I didn’t see in my first tenure with the team [before 2010] – it’s in this tenure I am seeing it. Prior to this, people were more intelligent,” he said. “You can do simple things like wasting a bit of time to ensure that they didn’t bowl an extra over. You take your shoe lace off. We learned that when we were playing school cricket. When we used to play cricket, we learned from people who played with us, and we had like certain periods of game where we bowl short. Or certain times we bowl on certain areas of the wicket to test the batsmen’s patience.”In addition to the wasteful batting across both inning, Hathurusingha also rued allowing England to mount 342 in the first innings, having had them at 103 for 5 in the first session. The contributions of offspinner Akila Dananjaya came in for especial scrutiny – Dananjaya got only two wickets in the match, and conceded more than 4.7 runs per over.”We had taken five wickets early but we couldn’t take the game forward,” Hathurusingha said. “Players with not much experience scored runs for them. I thought the support we got from Akila was not sufficient. After reducing them to 100 for five, if you had given only another 150 runs for the next five batters, we would have been still in the game at this stage.”

Kevin Roberts, the CA chief executive, has called upon cricket boards to be open to the concept outside the Test championship and beyond its first two cycles

Daniel Brettig in Perth15-Dec-2018A November 2020 home fixture against Afghanistan looms as a likely rehearsal for four-day Test matches in Australia, as the Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts declared the governing body and other nations needed to be more open to the concept beyond the end of the first two editions of the World Test Championship from 2019 to 2023.Television ratings for the first Test against India in Adelaide, the inaugural home Test under the new dual broadcast deal with Fox Sports and Seven, spiked noticeably on the Sunday, a day that would likely become the consistent final day of matches should four-day Tests become more prevalent. The two networks gained a combined audience of 1.261 million during the third session, comfortably the largest of the match.Roberts, who replaced James Sutherland as CA chief executive in October, said that the combination of audience sizes, easing of scheduling squeezes, and Test cricket’s own history of variable playing hours made the four-day question a serious one for all administrators, particularly for Tests played outside the championship locked into five-day matches.”Outside the Test Championship that’s the opportunity,” Roberts told SEN Radio. “The Test Championship is five-day Test cricket out to 2021, so that doesn’t change, but outside of that there are other possibilities to consider and beyond that, beyond 2021 what it might look like. There’s a bit to be said for it isn’t there, and it’s certainly something I think we need to be open-minded to down the track.”The average duration of a Test match is just a shade over four days and certainly without jumping to conclusions that that is the right solution, it is one possibility we’ve got to be open to. There’s been timeless Tests over the years, we know there were even three-day Tests, so Test cricket has not been five days in duration forever, and I think the concept of four days going forward is something we need to be open to without jumping to conclusions.”The Perth Stadium hosted its first Test•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Australia entered into discussions with Ireland about playing an inaugural Test ahead of next year’s Ashes series before being outmanoeuvred by the ECB, which scheduled a Test against Ireland at Lord’s by way of England’s own preparation for the same series. The Afghanistan Test, scheduled for November 2020 in the lead-up to the next home series against India, would provide an ideal chance to try the shorter match, probably played over around 100 overs per day.A crowd of 20,641 turned up to Perth Stadium for the first day of the second Test against India, comfortably less than half the venue’s cavernous 60,000 capacity. While claiming that the crowd was greater than the capacity of the venerable WACA Ground across the Swan River – larger attendances were recorded for each of the first three days of last year’s Ashes Test – Roberts was unable to answer why the premium space behind the bowler’s arm at the Justin Langer Stand end of the stadium had been shut. This has meant that only members have been able to watch play from that vantage point.”Good question and I don’t have an answer to that one right now,” Roberts said. “I’m not familiar with the specific details as to how level 5 operates and can you operate sections at a time. I don’t know the answer to that but it’s a good question as you look at it from the box here, a brilliant view down the wicket from where we’re sitting. They’re the sorts of things that we always need to consider, how many people can we get behind the bowler’s arm. So it’s a good question and unfortunately I don’t have a good answer for you.”The facts are we had about 3,000-4,000 spare seats in the shade that were available for people who required them. In the event that those were used and we needed more we had plans to immediately open level five as well. We judged that based on need and there were enough seats in the shade based on need and in the event we ran out of those, then level five was being opened up, so there was a lot of talk about it. But in terms of the facts of that one, there were more seats available in the shade.”I wouldn’t suggest that was an economic decision, it was a practical decision yesterday in terms of the most practical way to operate the stadium. In the event there was need then there was absolutely no opposition from a CA perspective to opening up level 5. There’s always a balance and we’re conscious that things will never be perfect for absolutely every individual at a stadium, but certainly we seek to optimise them as much as we can.”

Warriors’ all-West Indian top five propelled their side to 140 for 3, and the Shahid Afridi-led Pakhtoons fell decisively short despite Andre Fletcher’s fireworks

The Report by Barny Read in Sharjah02-Dec-2018Northern Warriors sealed T10 League glory in Sharjah on Sunday night, thanks to a 22-run win over Pakhtoons.The Warriors had Rovman Powell (61*) and Andre Russell (38) to thank with the bat while Chris Green (2-11) and Hardus Viljoen (2-24) starred with the ball to deny Shahid Afridi, his thousands of fans, and the Pakhtoons a first T10 title.A public holiday celebrating the UAE’s 47th National Day and free entry to the north stand of the ground made for a packed Sharjah stadium in full party mode.Some Afridi stardust guaranteed a stream of yellow-clad Pakthoons supporters too, the man who has been Sharjah’s main draw for over two decades once again showing his pulling power.The result was a stadium swarming with fans both inside and out as hundreds sprawled across the roads surrounding the ground. And while a roaring crowd welcomed the two protagonists for the showpiece, many more chose the road’s partitions as a vantage point with their eyes fixed on the big screen that broadcasts back out to the stadium’s surrounds.Inside the ground, both teams were more than worthy finalists having topped their respective groups in the opening stage of the tournament and then finished at the top two in the final league table.They had avoided each other until Saturday’s first eliminator, which saw Pakhtoons advance to the final with a 13-run victory that meant the Warriors had to see off Bengal Tigers in the final qualifying match.Darren Sammy’s men duly obliged to set up Sunday’s showdown between the league’s most dominant teams.And having been put into bat by Afridi, the Warriors knew they were up against it considering just seven out of the previous 28 games had been won by the team batting first.But the side’s entirely West Indian top five made a more than competitive 140 for 3 from their ten overs with Powell’s unbeaten 61 from just 25 balls providing the bulk of the ammunition.Powell’s innings included eight fours and four sixes and the right-hander was ably supported by Russell (38 off 12) and Sammy (14* from 9).This year’s tournament has frequently seen individual moments turn games on their head and at the interval, Russell’s destruction of England all-rounder Liam Dawson looked like it could have been the defining over of the game as the Warriors man took Dawson for 27 in the sixth over.It left Pakhtoons with the task of making the highest successful chase ever across T10’s two seasons if they were to lift the trophy.Andre Fletcher – who has been superb throughout the T10 League – got his side off to the perfect start in reply and by the halfway stage, on 62 for 1, Pakhtoons were well on course. Fletcher departed just two balls later with 37 which, despite bringing hero of the hour Afridi to the crease, was a major setback.South African offspinner Green was the man to remove Fletcher and his two-over spell looked just as pivotal as Russell’s demolition of Dawson earlier on. It proved to be the case, despite Afridi (17) briefly threatening to send Sharjah into delirium with a rescue act that was abruptly ended by the tournament’s leading wicket-taker Viljoen.Those same fans that earlier flooded the entrances in their droves in the hope of seeing Afridi lift the trophy, headed for the exits in similar volume with the writing on the wall.Pakhtoons would go on to fall significantly short as Northern Warriors became the second T10 League champions following on from the rebranded Kerala Knights’ inaugural triumph.

Sanction confirmed by match referee Jeff Crowe in the wake of three-day contest at Sir Vivian Richards Ground

George Dobell06-Feb-2019The Sir Vivian Richards Ground in Antigua, the venue of West Indies’ series-winning victory over England last week, has received one demerit point after being deemed to be “below average” by ICC match referee, Jeff Crowe*.The sanction, which ESPNcricinfo reported on Tuesday was imminent, comes after the match finished inside three days, with variable bounce evident throughout. However, officials at CWI had been hopeful that the fact West Indies batted for 131 overs and scored more than 300 runs in their first innings showed the pitch was not so bad.Several batsmen were struck on the hands or body in the course of the contest, and a couple more received unplayable deliveries. Roston Chase, for example, was bowled by a short ball that kept impossibly low, while Joe Root was dismissed by one that lifted sharply to take him on the glove.By the time the game ended, England’s keeper, Ben Foakes, had gone for a scan on an injured hand – it showed no fracture – while Darren Bravo, who made a match-defining half-century, lifted his shirt to show spectators the bruises he had sustained during the innings.England coach, Trevor Bayliss, had said the surface “wasn’t the greatest wicket we’ve ever seen in world cricket”.”It looked to me as if you had to be careful of the ball leaping off a length,” he said. Bravo also admitted “it wasn’t the best”.Pitches deemed to be “unfit” are given five demerit points, “poor” pitches are given three points and “below average” strips are given one demerit point. Any ground which receives five demerit points over a five-year period will be banned from hosting internationals for 12 months. They can be banned for two years if they receive 10.That could prove especially problematic as Antigua is pencilled in – the venues are not confirmed – to host a Test against India in August. The other Test venue for that series is likely to be Trinidad.In 2009, another Test against England at the Sir Vivian Richards Ground was abandoned after 10 deliveries due to an unfit outfield.The ruling comes after Jason Holder, West Indies’ captain, was suspended from playing in the final Test due to his side’s slow over-rate in Antigua.The sanction will do little to dissuade some of the view that nations outside the ‘Big Three’ of India, Australia and England are more harshly treated.Last week, Dave Cameron, CWI’s president, described the Holder sanction as a “crippling decision” that threatened to overshadow West Indies’ series victory, and called on the ICC to modify the rule.*February 10, 2130 GMT – This story was updated after confirmation of the sanction from the ICC

Having dug deep into their reserves all series, India will be looking to do more of the same in Ranchi against Australia

The Preview by Deivarayan Muthu in Ranchi07-Mar-20199:22

Badani: India should pick Rahul, Pant, Chahal for third ODI

Big Picture

Australia challenged India in the first two ODIs, but they just couldn’t close those matches out. In Hyderabad, the tourists had reduced India to 99 for 4 in a fairly tricky chase of 237 on a two-paced pitch, but then they couldn’t find a way past MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav.Then, in Nagpur, they were in the hunt when Peter Handscomb was marshalling Australia’s chase of 251, but Marcus Stoinis came up short in the end, despite seeing off a masterful spell from Jasprit Bumrah.While Australia will be buoyed by the return of Aaron Finch to form, they need to rotate the strike more frequently against spin in the middle overs. Shaun Marsh, Australia’s best ODI batsman in the past year, and Handscomb will be crucial in this regard.At the other end, India, having dug deep into their reserves, will look for more of the same to seal the series in Ranchi. They have received another major boost, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar returning to the roster after being rested for the first two ODIs.If India get the series win out of the way, they might have some extra time to test out KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant ahead of the World Cup. What about Shikhar Dhawan? And what about Ambati Rayudu blowing hot and cold? Does Vijay Shankar have the game to bat at No.4? India have three ODIs to answer these questions.After the five ODIs in India, Australia head to the UAE for another five-match series, but the time’s running out for them as well.

Form guide

(last five completed matches)
India WWWLW
Australia LLLLWBhuvneshwar is India’s best swing bowler, a useful trait in England•Getty Images

In the spotlight

MS Dhoni (who else?). This could be his last international at his hometown, and all roads lead to the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi. He was smoking the net bowlers and the spinners during training, often pinging the pavilion that has been named after him. Ranchi is waiting with large eyes and bated breath to watch its beloved son finish it off in style.Pat Cummins enjoyed a rare opportunity to bowl with the new ball in the second ODI, and bounced out Rohit Sharma. He also found swing at speeds north of 145kph and threatened both the edges. If Cummins continues to fire with the new ball, he could give the Australia management a happy headache when Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood return from injuries

Team news

Bhuvneshwar had a fairly long stint – both with the bat and ball – on the eve of the match and is set to comeback in place of either Mohammed Shami or Jasprit Bumrah.India (possible) 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Vijay Shankar, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Mohammed Shami/ Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Jasprit BumrahAustralia are likely to retain a twin-spin attack in conditions that are expected to aid spin. With another arduous series in the UAE looming, they might look to rotate the injure-prone Nathan Coulter-Nile in favour of Jason Behrendoff or Jhye Richardson.Australia (possible) 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Aaron Finch (capt), 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Peter Handscomb, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Marcus Stoinis 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Nathan Lyon 11 Adam Zampa

Pitch and conditions

The Ranchi track is likely to be slow, but the ball will skid onto the bat under lights when the dew sets in later in the evening. The weather is likely to be fine for the duration of the match.

Stats and Trivia

• Stoinis has seven 50-plus scores in 26 ODIs, but none have resulted in a win for Australia
• Bhuvneshwar had Finch’s number in the ODI series in Australia, dismissing him three times in three matches

Quotes

“It’s very important. You know that he can win matches and win matches for the country from whatever situation. It’s very important that he returns to form because when he’s in form, he knows how to handle situations and players coming after him, know how to approach the game. His experience and form is very important for India.”
“They are a very talented side, but to be honest I am just concerned about what we are doing as the Australian cricket team. I’m not really concerned about what India are doing or their preparation.”

Colin Graves’ term as ECB chairman could be extended by six months, to allow him to oversee the first season of The Hundred

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Apr-2019Colin Graves’ term as ECB chairman could be extended by six months, to allow him to oversee the first season of The Hundred.Graves, who has been in his post since 2015, was due to step down in May 2020 after a five-year stint. However, he has been instrumental in the development of The Hundred, and is understood to be keen to preside over the competition’s first season, which is due to be launched in July 2020.His move has been proposed by the ECB’s non-executive directors, including Lord Kamlesh Patel, Lucy Pearson and Jim Wood.It now needs to be approved by at least 31 of the 41 counties at the board AGM on May 7, after the ECB’s constitution was rewritten in 2018 to ensure it complied with Sport England’s code for sports governance.Should the motion pass, Graves would remain in office until November 2020, though the ECB has confirmed that a search for his successor would begin in September 2019.”2020 promises to be an exciting year for cricket in England and Wales,” Lord Patel said. “Given that Colin Graves has played a key role in overseeing the development of The Hundred, the Non-Executive Directors believe it is important to retain his services over the course of the 2020 domestic season.”This will also provide the opportunity for the Chair elect to be able to shadow Colin Graves for a six-month period, over the course of a season, which will help ensure there is a smooth succession.”

National selector says decision was a ‘consensus’ rather than unanimous

ESPNcricinfo staff21-May-2019England’s decision to leave David Willey out of the final World Cup squad was a “consensus” decision rather than a unanimous one, national selector Ed Smith has revealed.Announcing the make-up of the squad to contest the tournament starting on May 30, in which left-arm seamer Willey missed out in favour of newcomer Jofra Archer, Smith also said the decision to bring Liam Dawson in for Joe Denly was driven by concerns over a niggle suffered by spinner Adil Rashid.Willey was outspoken earlier this year in his opposition to a bowler who had helped England become the No.1 one-day side in the world possibly missing out to Archer, who only recently qualified to represent the country. Smith, who told Willey of his omission when he contacted players on Monday, said he had been “honest” and “dignified” in receiving the news.”That was a very difficult decision, I think the situation we were in as a selection panel, and in consultation with the captain, was we had more players we wanted to fit into the squad than we were allowed to, so it was a very tough call,” Smith told Sky Sports.”David Willey has been a big part of the one-day side, he has had such a good run, it was a really tough call but someone had to miss out. David was very unfortunate in missing out but he could easily have been in this World Cup squad, he deserves to be in the World Cup squad, but that’s sport. Sometimes there are more deserving people than there are places in the squad.”He’s an outstanding man. He’s very honest, very, very dignified, very clear to the conversation we had, a very impressive man. He’s a very impressive cricketer, it is extremely unfortunate.”Smith was reluctant to give detail on the selection panel’s discussions but indicated captain Eoin Morgan had an important role in the final decisions. Asked if leaving Willey out was a unanimous call, Smith said: “I wouldn’t get into that, I’d say it was a consensus decision. I would say that everyone in the room was comfortable with the squad that the selection panel has come up with.”It was very important for me as a selector, that the captain feels comfortable with the squad he takes into the World Cup, obviously. Eoin has been captain for over four years, the England one-day side has done extremely well, this is the culmination of a long campaign, a lot of planning, the culture of that team has been very strong under Eoin Morgan. He’s very comfortable with the squad, as we all are.”Smith said that ultimately, Willey fell victim to the fact that England’s pace bowling stocks are strong, and deep. And he did not expect Archer’s inclusion to cause any unrest within the squad.Meanwhile, it was Rashid’s recent worries with a slight injury that sparked the selectors’ decision to plump for a back-up spinner in Dawson rather than a back-up batsman in Denly. Dawson has taken 18 wickets for Hampshire in the Royal London One-Day Cup at 20.33 and scored 274 runs at 45.66, including a 90-ball century against Surrey last month. Denly only bowled a handful of overs as England experimented with him as a third spin option during the warm-up ODI series against Ireland and Pakistan and took one wicket – a stumping off a leg-side wide – while with the bat he managed 25 runs from two innings, plus an unbeaten 20 in a T20 against Pakistan.”The first thing to say is with that position of the spinner or reserve batter, it’s a very subtle balance issue,” Smith said. “Do you tend towards someone who’s mainly a batter who also is a very handy bowler in Joe Denly, or do you tend towards someone who’s tilted more towards the bowling side of it but also as a handy batter?”It could have gone either way. In actual fact, Liam Dawson was always in contention he was in the team in Sri Lanka and then a side injury forced him out of that, Joe Denly came in and has stayed in, limited opportunities even though he’s had.”Adil Rashid has a little niggle, hopefully he’ll be fine, and it won’t affect him having a full part in the competition. But that’s slightly tilts things towards spin bowling cover as a priority rather than one of your batting reserves.”Dawson played the last of his three ODIs against Sri Lanka last October.

With 26 to get in the last over, the Super Kings captain got it down to two off one ball before being beaten by Umesh’s gutsy change of pace

The Report by Liam Brickhill21-Apr-20193:13

I will never question what Dhoni does in the back end – CSK coach Fleming

Royal Challengers Bangalore kept their campaign hanging on with a last-gasp, one-run win over Chennai Super Kings at M Chinnaswamy stadium, surviving an MS Dhoni special as the Super Kings captain marshalled the chase expertly but couldn’t quite get his team over the line.Parthiv Patel’s second fifty of the competition glued Royal Challengers’ innings together, but their 161 for 7 didn’t look like enough to challenge the table-topping Super Kings outfit. However, Dale Steyn spearheaded a spirited defence with two wickets in his first over, and at the end of the Powerplay, Super Kings were floundering at 32 for 4.Yet, thanks to Dhoni’s unbeaten 84 off 48, the match went down to the wire, and were it not for Parthiv’s ice-cold direct-hit when the batsmen were attempting to steal a bye off the last ball, the game would have gone into a Super Over.Super Kings needed 70 from the last five, and 26 off the last over. Off those last six balls, Dhoni crunched three sixes – one clean out of the ground – and a four, but couldn’t lay bat on the final delivery when two runs were needed to win. Called through for a bye, Shardul Thakur dived to make his ground, but Parthiv, who had his right glove removed, threw down the stumps with the batsman inches short to secure a vital win for Royal Challengers by the narrowest of margins.Kohli falls earlyFresh from a hundred against Kolkata Knight Riders three days ago, Virat Kohli flicked the second ball he faced tonight handsomely through square leg for four, but he couldn’t replicate his effort from Friday night and was out in the third over, edging a wafty drive. AB de Villiers ensured the early loss of their captain didn’t slow Royal Challengers down too much, but when he holed out off Ravindra Jadeja in the seventh over with the score at 58, much of the early momentum was lost.Parthiv anchorsAfter the dismissals of their two leading batsmen, Royal Challengers needed another member of the top order to step into the breach, and Parthiv held the innings together with his second fifty of IPL 2019. Before Kohli and de Villiers overtook him, Parthiv was Royal Challengers’ leading run-scorer in the early rounds this season, but his 53 was only his second fifty-plus score of the season. Attacking almost exclusively on the leg side, Parthiv reached a 36-ball fifty in the 16th over with a pick-up off a Dwayne Bravo slower ball but was out immediately afterwards.Moeen’s late burstParthiv’s departure finally brought Moeen Ali to the crease, who has been inexplicably held back by Kohli. Despite having made 50 off 32 and 66 off 28 in his last two innings, both times batting at No. 4, Moeen only arrived at the crease tonight at No. 6 when there were only 4.2 overs left in Royal Challengers’ innings. Moeen showed he is clearly still in decent nick, and despite not having much time to impose himself, his 26 off 16 helped to give the bowlers something of a total to defend.Steyn’s double strikeSteyn has tempered the steel in Royal Challengers’ bowling ranks since his return to the IPL, and he was at the forefront of a Powerplay dominated by fast bowling. With his fifth ball, Steyn had a driving Shane Watson caught at slip, with his sixth he castled Suresh Raina with a pinpoint yorker, and suddenly Royal Challengers had reason to believe despite their sub-par total. Steyn couldn’t strike a third time with the hat-trick ball but Umesh Yadav, likewise bowling with vim and purpose, followed Steyn’s lead to have a virtually shotless Faf du Plessis caught off a spliced pull for a 15-ball 5 before Kedar Jadhav spooned a simple catch to de Villiers at mid-off. Super Kings emerged bloodied and bruised from the Powerplay, the required rate already closing in on ten an over.Middle order repair jobThe last time Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni batted together for Super Kings in Bengaluru, they shared in a 101-run stand that helped their side chase down 205 with two balls to spare. This time around, their partnership was cut down at 55 – enough to dig Super Kings out of immediate peril after their early stumbles, but not enough to put them ahead of the game. Though the pair generally managed a boundary an over, they couldn’t quite keep touch with the inflating required rate. Having survived a very close stumping call, Rayudu eventually lost his battle with a buzzing Yuzvendra Chahal, bowled off his pad for a run-a-ball 29 in the 14th over. From then on, Super Kings’ hopes were entirely pinned on Dhoni.Parthiv’s pinpoint throwSuper Kings went into the last five needing 70, and vitally Dhoni was still at the crease. Kohli, meanwhile, had an over each from Chahal, Yadav, Steyn, Navdeep Saini and Marcus Stoinis to play with. Chahal was seen off, but Dhoni went to a 35-ball fifty with a hearty biff down the ground for six off Steyn. Dhoni uppercut a Saini no-ball over third man for another maximum, but the lanky quick bounced back to dismiss Bravo caught-behind in the penultimate over to leave Yadav with 25 runs to defend in the last over. Dhoni’s hitting took his team to the brink, but when he couldn’t lay bat on the final delivery – a slower ball, just outside off – the result of the match hinged on Parthiv’s ability to hit the stumps under pressure. He did so, and Royal Challenger lived to fight another day.