Son of Barry Richards dies

May 20, 2009

Barry Richards, former South African opener and one of the newest inductees into the ICC Hall of Fame, announced that his eldest son, Mark Richards, committed suicide.

The tragedy occurred at a rehabilitation centre where Mark, who was in his 20s, was admitted for a drug problem. Said Richards who now resides in Perth, Australia, “It’s a difficult time to talk about it now. We are shattered.”

Richards, who is now 63 years old, enjoyed a very successful cricketing career scoring an impressive 28,358 runs for an average of 54.74. Nicknamed the ‘Big Bird’, he was very tall, vicious at the bat, and fast. He played with Natal from 1964 to 1983 and also for Hampshire and Western Australia.

The entire Team here at Amuse.co.za extend our deepest condolences to the Richards family and their friends and hope that they find the strength and courage to overcome this terrible tragedy.

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Super 14 is heating up

May 17, 2009

RUGBY SUPER 14

The Chiefs won the game against the Brumbies in Hamilton earlier today with a mere 3 poits: 10/7 for a final score, but no walk in the park for the Chiefs. The Brumbies put it all in and gave us a very good performance! In the end, it was the Chiefs with a penalty to secure their win. This gives them 45 points to top the log, remembering that all other teams must still play one more game. Will they stay on top, or end 2nd on the log? It does not matter for the Chiefs as they are assured of a home semi final! This is so tense with the last round of the Super 14.

The Blue Bulls are facing the Sharks tomorrow in Durban, with everything riding on the result for a home semi final for the Bulls. The Sharks will give it their all to be in the top 4 to play in a semi final. If they finish 4th, they would have to tour either to Pretoria or overseas. The tension is electrifying in Gauteng as everybody wants the two SA teams to be in the top 4, but for the Bulls, they want a home semi and that means “WIN TOMORROWS GAME”!!!

Super rugby is a tough and very competitive sport, and there is no mercy for the teams that do not perform in Super Rugby. We have seen the Cheetas and Lions fighting back the past 3 weeks with a vengeance, but one thing is certain: Too little, too late! It is still possible for us to witness the log been upset by a team or two, depending on this weekends results. The Sharks and Crusaders want to play next week in the semi final, so we can expect super performances from them. We are on the edge of our seats this weekend!

Here is the update on the S14 Log followed by games to be played this weekend!

Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA BPts Pts
1 Chiefs 13 9 0 4 338 236 102 43 30 9 45
2 Vodacom Bulls 12 9 0 3 311 245 66 34 29 6 42
3 Hurricanes 12 8 0 4 343 251 92 44 31 7 39
4 Brumbies 13 8 0 5 311 305 6 36 41 6 38
5 Crusaders 12 7 1 4 216 185 31 27 21 7 37
6 The Sharks 12 8 0 4 256 212 44 27 25 4 36
7 Waratahs 12 8 0 4 203 179 24 23 18 4 36
8 Western Force 12 5 1 6 295 247 48 38 29 9 31
9 Blues 12 5 0 7 326 354 -28 46 46 11 31
10 Highlanders 12 4 0 8 226 236 -10 28 31 8 24
11 Auto & General Lions 12 4 0 8 261 381 -120 33 51 8 24
12 Vodacom Stormers 12 4 0 8 207 227 -20 25 26 7 23
13 Reds 12 3 0 9 230 343 -113 32 44 6 18
14 Vodacom Cheetahs 12 2 0 10 191 313 -122 23 37 3 11
Upcoming weeks fixtures:
Auto & General Lions v Waratahs Coca-Cola Park
Blues v Crusaders Auckland
Reds v Hurricanes Brisbane
Western Force v Highlanders Perth
Vodacom Cheetahs v Vodacom Stormers Vodacom Park
The Sharks v Vodacom Bulls The Absa Stadium Durban
Semi Final:
1st v 4th
2nd v 3rd
FINALS:
Winner SF1 v Winner SF2

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Delhi Daredevils won by 7 wickets

May 11, 2009

The Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to field. This was a wise choice by the Daredevils whose precise bowling caused wicket after wicket to fall for the Kolkata Knight Riders. The first wicket fell in form of McCullum when the team score was just 7. It was evident practically from the onset who would be the victor in the match. With the exception of a small upset by Saurav Ganguly who scored 44 runs and, then later, Ajit Agarkar who scored 39 runs pushing the Knight Riders to 123/8 in 20 overs, Kolkata never recovered.

Brendon McCullum, though hitting one over square leg for a 6, was given LBW to Nehra who angled one across to him. Brad Hodge soon after chased a wide ball that he edged to AB de Villiers at slip. Morne van Wyk pulled Nannes straight to Rajat Bhatia at short square leg in the next over.

The Delhi Daredevils batsmen were fearless, with Gambhir and Dave Warner putting on 53 for the first wicket before the skipper scooped a wide delivery from Australian all-rounder Moises Henriques to Hodge at backward point. A strategic timeout was made just when Ishant Sharma dismissed Warner and then three balls later Tillakaratne Dilshan thanks to a well judged catch by Henriques on the deep backward square leg boundary. The Daredevils coasted to victory with 17 balls to spare. De Villiers made 40 runs (not out) and hit five 4s. Between him and Karthik, they shared a partnership of 56 runs taking the Daredevils to 125/3.

McCullum conceded their loss as due to inconsistency. “We have just been too inconsistent, if we bowl well, we do not bat well or field well, we just have not got all three facets of the game going well at the same time, but we will keep fighting and hopefully we will get that win soon.”

Amit Mishra bowled a good spell for the Delhi Daredevils earning him the Man of the Match title.

Some other game highlights include:

  • Kolkata Knight Riders: 50 runs in 8.5 overs (57 balls), Extras 4
  • Drinks: Kolkata Knight Riders - 52/5 in 10.0 overs (SC Ganguly 27, MC Henriques 2)
  • Kolkata Knight Riders: 100 runs in 17.5 overs (113 balls), Extras 8
  • Innings Break: Kolkata Knight Riders - 123/8 in 20.0 overs (M Kartik 11)
  • Delhi Daredevils: 50 runs in 6.2 overs (40 balls), Extras 7
  • 1st Wicket: 50 runs in 40 balls (G Gambhir 18, DA Warner 26, Ex 7)
  • Drinks: Delhi Daredevils - 72/3 in 10.0 overs (AB de Villiers 7, KD Karthik 1)
  • Delhi Daredevils: 100 runs in 14.6 overs (94 balls), Extras 12
  • 4th Wicket: 50 runs in 47 balls (AB de Villiers 30, KD Karthik 17, Ex 3)

Relive the excitement of this match. Watch the game highlights below:

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Kings XI Punjab have done it again

May 4, 2009

In Sunday’s match between the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Kings XI Punjab came out on top by six wickets. They needed only 7 runs to win off the final over. Scores were tied on the last ball. The anticipation was so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. Irfan Pathan sliced teh ball giving his team the all-important single and a 4th victory in 7 matches.

The Kings XI Pujnab moved up to second spot in the DLF IPL standings for this season, making them 1 of 3 teams level on 8 points. Many conclude that it was poor fielding by Kolkata, who dropped 4 catches, that edged the Kings past them. On the other hand Sunny Sohal (25 off 17 balls, three sixes) and Simon Katich (34 off 28 balls, three fours and a six) also gave them the push they needed.

The Man of the Match went to Jayawardene (52 not out off 41 balls). Credit must go to Brad Hodge who delivered a commendable performance - undefeated 70 to rise to third in the race for the Orange Cap for leading run-scorers in Season 2009 with a total of 230 runs. Hodge follows 2 players from the Chennai Super Kings – left hand opening batsmen Mathew Hayden who with 246 runs leads the Orange Cap standings, who is closely followed by his team-mate Suresh Raina with 232 runs. Hodge, whose 70 came off 43 balls, hit 10 fours and a six. With Sourav Ganguly (22 off 17 balls) and Morne van Wyk (18 off 12), he helped add 75 runs in the final six overs of the Kolkata Knight Riders innings.

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Kings XI Punjab Moves Up to 2nd Place

April 30, 2009

Mumbai Indians were 19 runs short of the 120-run target, so leg-spinner, Piyush Chawla, stepped up to the KXIP acting captain Kumar Sangakkara and volunteered to bowl the penultimate over. With the first ball, he took Harbhajan Singh’s wicket. He conceded 7 runs off the next 5 deliveries. Abdulla was up next and had the task of trying to stop JP Duminy, Mumbai’s left-hander. He did a fantastic job of frustrating Duminy and got him to strike a catch to the man on the deep mid-wicket fence. This move secured Kings XI Punjab with its 3rd win in 5 games and moved them up to 2nd place in the table behind Deccan Chargers.

For the second time in the tournament so far, Kings XI Punjab bowlers came out believing that they could defend the small total their batsman had put up. Mumbai Indians needed a good start but were shocked when Sanath Jayasuriya (0) and Sachin Tendulkar (1) were sent to the dug out by Irfan Pathan and Vikramjeet Singh Malik in the opening overs with the new ball.

Several boundary hits were accomplished. Kings XI Punjab struck four 4s and two 6s and managed to muster 119 for eight in 20 overs. Mumbai Indians hit seven 4s and one 6, with only 3 players scoring double figures - Duminy (59), Dwayne Bravo (15) and Abhishek Nayar (15).

Thanks are due to Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Abdulla, and Piyush Chawla for putting on such a magnificent show.

Watch this game’s cricket batting highlights:

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