IPL set to ease T20 heartache – Stokes ready

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NEW DELHI, April 8, (AFP): The glitzy Indian Premier League (IPL) starts Saturday, helping to ease the heartache of millions of fans following India’s failure to win the World Twenty20 on home soil this month.

India’s short-form extravaganza, famous for its fireworks and dancing cheerleaders as well as unwanted corruption scandals, gets under way with the Mumbai Indians taking on the Rising Pune Supergiants.

Fans hope the cash-rich league, featuring blockbuster stars including Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli, will soothe the pain of India’s shock semi-final defeat to eventual World T20 champions West Indies.

Meanwhile, England all-rounder Ben Stokes has insisted he is willing to bowl at the ‘death’ again despite being struck for four sixes in the last over of the World Twenty20 final defeat by the West Indies.

With the West Indies needing 19 off the final six balls of last Sunday’s tournament climax in Kolkata, England were strong favourites for victory.

It was a chastening experience for Stokes and one which the Durham fast-medium bowler said had left him feeling “completely devastated”.

Also:

DUBAI: West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine was Thursday cleared to resume his career after a suspension for a suspect bowling action ruled him out of his team’s World Twenty20 title-winning campaign.

The 27-year-old Trinidadian was suspended in November last year after being cited during a one-day match in Sri Lanka. He had also been reported for a similar problem at the 2014 Champions League T20 tournament.

But powerful batsman Carlos Brathwaite made a mockery of the match position by sending four successive Stokes deliveries soaring into the stands, a total of 24 runs, as West Indies won with two balls to spare.

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