2nd Test: Vijay, Pujara deny SA pacers as India enjoy upper hand before bad light

December 27, 2013

SA_pacersDurban, Dec 27: The light kept falling as M Vijay continued to shine. The Chennai opener has been under a bit of pressure of late, but his unbeaten innings of 91 might just act as the perfect breather.

As he closed in on his first overseas century, umpires Rod Tucker and Steve Davis said that the pace bowlers couldn't operate in such fading light. The South African skipper Graeme Smith didn't need a second invitation and took his troops out, as India finished the day at 181/1.

There were still 29 overs of play left and it could easily have got tougher for the hosts because of the way Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara (58 batting) batted and put up 140 runs for the second wicket. While Pujara was his usual composed self, starting from where he left off at Johannesburg, Vijay's innings had glimpses of the flair that he has often shown in the subcontinent.

To his advantage, the 'Indianness' of Durban seemed to have crept into its Test pitch as well. There was hardly any movement, the pace was slow, and the Indian batsmen looked well equipped to handle anything that was thrown at them.

The best thing about the Indian batsmen during these two Tests has been their desire to spend time in the middle. Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan (29) were ready to leave outside the off-stump in the first hour. Dhawan has a distinctive way of leaving balls outside off.

He always looked to play inside the line of the delivery, so the ones moving away naturally missed his outside edge. But anything that was pitched up or was close to his leg-stump was promptly dealt with.

Dhawan and Vijay played out the first hour and it seemed that both the openers are destined for more. But Morne Morkel got Dhawan to drive away from his body off the first ball after drinks and induced an edge to be caught at slips.

Morkel, who sustained an ankle injury at Wanderers, was cleared to play the match only on Thursday morning after he passed a fitness test. But he was easily South Africa's best bowler. He kept bowling short of length and extracted some bounce making it difficult for the Indian batsmen. To their credit, they didn't give it away.

Vijay grew in confidence even as he was very choosy in his shot making. But he has the gift of timing and some of the shots that he played both on the on and off-side were a real treat. Dale Steyn, who was a shadow of his real self in the first session, looked much better when he came in to bowl in the middle session. He worked up good pace, bowled a little short and asked a few tough questions to Vijay and Pujara under fading light. But the Indian duo played with soft hands and got it down to irritate the pacer.

Skipper Graeme Smith kept throwing the ball to Robin Peterson, brought in place of leggie Imran Tahir, but the left-armer could hardly make any impression. Vijay and Pujara used their feet and tucked him away for some easy runs as SA kept running out of ideas.

Smith had the option of employing spinners from both ends when the light started fading, but he didn't want to take the chance.

Ashwin dropped

The Indian team dropped offie R Ashwin and brought in left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. "Ashwin has done nothing wrong, just that Jadeja is a very good bowler himself and is better suited for these conditions," Indian bowling coach Joe Dawes said.

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March 7,2020

Melbourne, Mar 7: He will be supporting Australia for sure but former pacer Brett Lee feels an Indian victory in Sunday's T20 Word Cup final could be a "start of a major breakthrough" for the women's game in the cricket-mad country.

India and Australia will lock horns in what is expected to be a blockbuster title clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

"As an Australian, I'd love nothing more than for (Meg) Lanning's team to do the job. But if India were to win the World Cup for the first time, victory would do so much for women's cricket in a country that already adores the sport," Lee wrote in an ICC column.

"This could be the start of a major breakthrough, particularly with the amount of talent that is coming through."

The former speedster said Australia will have to look for ways to counter the in-form 16-year-old Shafali Verma.

"In Shafali Verma, India boast one of the most talented players in the world and you feel that for Australia to win the game, dismissing her will likely be their first job.

"I've been so impressed with the opener - it's staggering to believe she's only 16 with the confidence she has in her own ability and the way she strikes the ball so cleanly.

"She's such good fun to watch and I'm not sure the women's game has seen anyone like her for such a long time."

Shafali has been the star of the tournament, having amassed 161 runs at a strike rate of 161, consistently providing India solid starts, and that was not lost on Lee.

"To be the world's best T20 batter already shows just how far she has progressed in such a short space of time and the experience in this tournament will hold her in good stead for years to come.

"Even with the way she's played in Australia and her fearless brand of cricket, you still get the feeling she has more to come as well."

He reckoned Shafali may have another big score awaiting her.

"She's got a big score in her locker and there's probably no better place to do that than the MCG. Shafali is already a record breaker but if she can steer her side to their first Women's T20 World Cup title at just 16, then the sky really is the limit for her career."

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Jeddah, Jan 9: Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde criticised the new Supercopa format and said that "football has become a business and as a business it looks for income".

"The bottom line is football has become a business and as a business it looks for income. That's the reason we are all here," Goal.com quoted Valverde as saying ahead of Barca's semi-final against Atletico.

"It's a completely different format to what we're used to. It was always the first title and the opener of the season and to me, that seemed fine," he added.

The Supercopa was traditionally a two-legged affair played between the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Rey at the beginning of the season, but following last term's one-off meeting between Barca and Sevilla in Tangier, Morocco, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) went ahead with a full revamp.

Instead of just two teams being involved, the Supercopa has been expanded to also include the runners-up from La Liga and the Copa - meaning Barca and Valencia are joined by Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. It is also set to be hosted in Saudi Arabia for the next three editions.

"It's been changed and let's see, it will be judged once it has happened. It's interesting, with four good teams, but from a sporting point of view, I'm not sure," Valverde said.

"We must bear in mind that the football we are involved in is an industry, sources of income are sought and in the same way that there are special connotations in this country, there are also in Morocco, where we played last year," he added.

Barcelona will face Atletico Madrid in the semifinal of the Supercopa at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on January 10.

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