Asia Cup: Rohit, Jadeja fire India to emphatic win over Bangladesh

Agencies
September 22, 2018

Dubai, Sept 22: India captain Rohit Sharma played another classy knock after comeback man Ravindra Jadeja picked up a four-wicket haul to set up a seven wicket win over Bangladesh in their opening Super Four match at the Asia Cup here on Friday.

All-rounder Jadeja made a roaring return to limited overs cricket, helping India dismiss Bangladesh for 173 after Rohit opted to chase at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

India then cruised to victory in 36.2 overs courtesy Rohit, who struck an unbeaten 83 off 104 balls, his second consecutive fifty plus score of the tournament. He was all class in his delightful innings that comprised five fours and three huge sixes on the leg-side.

Rohit and M.S. Dhoni (33 off 37) shared a 64-run stand before the former India captain gave his wicket away towards the end.

India play their next Super Four game against Pakistan on Sunday.

India were hardly trouble in the chase after Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan (40 off 47) provided a solid start with a 61-run stand. Dhawan, in like the game against Pakistan, looked in good touch but was not able play a long innings.

Rohit changed gears after Dhawan's departure. He brought his 36th ODI fifty with a towering hit off Shakib Al Hasan over deep mid-wicket.

The captain's form augurs well for India going forward into the competition. Dhoni too got much needed time in the middle, having not batted against Pakistan on Wednesday. The former captain had failed to open his account against Hong Kong in the team's tournament opener.

Dhoni wanted to finish off the game with a boundary but could only find the fielder at sweeper cover.

Earlier, Jadeja, playing his first ODI since July 2017, broke the backbone of Bangladesh batting with his accurate left-arm spin and ended with impressive figures of four for 29 in 10 overs.

Bangladesh batsmen faltered again, having come a cropper in the run chase against Afghanistan on Thursday night. The seasoned pace duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/32) and Jasprit Bumrah (3/37) too made life tough for the opposition.

The saving grace for Bangladesh was the 66-run stand for the eighth wicket between Mehidy Hasan Miraz (42 off 50) and captain Mashrafe Mortaza (26 off 32) before the team was all out in 49.1 overs.

Bangladesh, who lost to Afghanistan less than 24 hours ago and had to take the 90-minute journey from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, paid the price for reckless batting.

They lost their openers Liton Das (7) and Nazmul Hossain Shanto (7) by the sixth over.

From 15 for two, the experienced pairing of Shakib (21) and Mushfuqir Rahim had a task of rebuilding the innings but the former fell to a loose shot off Jadeja. The star Bangladesh all-rounder, having hit Jadeja for two boundaries in the 10th over, went for another one but his sweep went straight into the hands of Dhawan at square leg.

Jadeja, who was playing Vijay Hazare Trophy in Delhi but got a last-minute call-up to join the national team here in the wake of injuries to Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur, grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

He removed Mohammad Mithun in typical fashion for his second wicket, darting the ball into the middle stump to trap him in front of the stumps, reducing Bangladesh to 60 for four in the 16th over. In his next over, the wily spinner sent back Rahim, leaving Bangladesh in deep trouble.

Mahmudullah (25) and Mossadek Hossain (12) batted sensibly, sharing a 36-run stand for the sixth wicket. They could have added a lot more if Mahmudullah had not got a rough call from the umpire in the 33rd over. He was adjudged leg before wicket off Bhuvneshwar but replays showed he got bat on ball before it hit his pads. Bangladesh could not review the questionable call as they had already used up their review.

Much to their relief, Mortaza and Miraz stitched a much needed partnership to give their bowlers something to bowl at.

Mortaza, who is well past his prime, and Miraz entertained the crowd with some clean hitting. The skipper smashed two straight sixes off Bhuvneshwar in the 47th over before getting caught at short fine leg.

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News Network
May 2,2020

Melbourne, May 2: After becoming the number one side in Test cricket, Australia's head coach Justin Langer has said that his team has won back the respect of the country.

Australia dethroned India from the top spot in Tests and now the Men in Blue are in the third place.

Langer came in as the coach of Australia after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal and it took him some time to get the side back to winning ways.

Ever since the return of David Warner and Steve Smith, Australia went on to become a commendable side and the results reflect that.

"We have got lots of work to do to become the team we want to be. But over the last couple of years, not only have we performed well on the field, we have performed well off it. We have earned some respect back from other teams around the world but also from Australia," Langer said in an official statement.

"When we started on this journey, there had been a lot of talk about Australia wanting to be No. 1 in the world in all three forms of the game.

We took a different approach. Not once did we talk about being No. 1 ranked in the world. We wanted to be No.1 in our values and process. That is what I am most proud of," he added.

In the latest ICC rankings update, that rates all matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, Australia (116) have taken over from India as the top-ranked side in the ICC men's Test team rankings with New Zealand (115) remaining in second place.

India is now third with 114 points. With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003.

The closest for the top three teams were in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point.

Australia has also moved to the top spot in the T20I rankings for the first time in the format.

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Agencies
February 5,2020

Hamilton, Feb 5: Talented Shreyas Iyer hit his maiden century while KL Rahul and skipper Virat Kohli carried on their fine form as India dished out a clinical batting effort to post 347 for four against New Zealand in the first ODI here on Wednesday.

Iyer showed why he is considered as the next big thing in Indian cricket, scoring 103 off 107 balls, his first ODI ton. Besides, Rahul continued his purple patch, smashing unbeaten 88 off 64 balls while Kohli made 51 off 63 deliveries.

Iyer's knock was laced with 11 fours and a six and together with Rahul shared 136 runs for the fourth wicket as India scored 96 runs in the last 10 overs after being sent into bat.

This was after Tom Blundell featured his maiden ODI for the Black Caps, while India gave debuts to two openers -- Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal.

It was the fourth such instance in Indian history with Rahul-Karun Nair being the last such pair in 2016 against Zimbabwe.

Shaw and Agarwal got the innings off to quick start, adding 50 off 48 balls for the opening stand.

But both Shaw and Agarwal fell in the space of five balls as India were reduced to 54 for 2.

Shaw was the first to go, nicking behind a Colin de Grandhomme (1/41) delivery, while Agarwal was caught at point by Blundell off Southee (2/85).

It brought Kohli and Iyer together, and they dominated the middle overs with a 102-run stand for the third wicket. They manoeuvred the field well and kept the scorecard ticking as India crossed 150 in the 28th over.

Kohli fell against the run of play as a wrong one from Ish Sodhi (1/27) got through his defence to clip the leg stump.

Rahul though didn't let the innings lose any momentum as he smacked six sixes along with three fours.

But the day belonged to Iyer, who, despite a scratchy start, had crossed 50 off 66 balls. Once he passed the 50-run mark, the stylish right-hander batted fluently to notch up his first century in 16 ODIs.

The centurion fell shortly afterwards, caught off Southee even as Rahul took control.

He reached his half-century off 41 balls as India eased past 300 in the 47th over.

Rahul's carnage meant that New Zealand conceded 191 runs in the last 20 overs. Kedar Jadhav remained unbeaten on 26 off 15 balls, stitching 55 off 27 balls with Rahul.

Brief Scores:

India: 347 for 4 in 50 overs (Shreyas Iyer 103, KL Rahul 88 not out, Virat Kohli 51; Tim Southee 2/85).

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Agencies
March 14,2020

Sydney, Mar 14: New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson has been placed under 24-hour isolation amid the fears of coronavirus after he reported a sore throat following the first ODI of the ongoing three-match series against Australia in Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) which the hosts won by 71 runs.

"In accordance with recommended health protocols, Lockie Ferguson has been placed in isolation at the team hotel for the next 24 hours after reporting a sore throat at the end of the first ODI," said New Zealand Cricket in a statement.

"Once the test results are received and diagnosed, his return to the team can be determined," it added.

The first ODI of the Chappell-Hadlee series was played in front of empty stands as the spectators were not allowed to be at SCG as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier, Australian fast bowler, Kane Richardson was also tested for the coronavirus, after suffering from a sore throat on Thursday. That saw him left out of the squad for Friday's game but the test was negative.

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