Australia beat India by 4 wickets in 2nd ODI of tri-series at Melbourne

January 18, 2015

Australia romped

Melbourne, Jan 18: Australia romped home to a four-wicket victory over India in the second One-Day International (ODI) of the tri-series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It went down to the wire although Australia seemed in control in control of their run-chase. Aaron Finch’s 96 had put Australia on course, but then India hit back with crucial wickets. Ultimately, they won with a few balls to spare. Like the first ODI, Australia ran it close but got home in the end.

Having won the toss, India had chosen to bat first with Rohit Sharma‘s century taking India to 267 for eight. Mitchell Starc‘s six-wicket haul did not allow the tourists to score big on a good batting wicket. In reply, Finch held the innings together and gave the Indians no chance of making inroads. India did hit back with a few wickets at the end, but it was too late.

Finch’s innings was calm and assured. He took 81 balls to get to his fifty, but Australia were always over the required rate. Finch was also helped by David Warner upfront and Shane Watson, who scored 41. Watson got off to yet another star but did not convert it into a big one. Steven Smith walked in made it look all too easy. During this innings, he also completed 1,000 Test runs. Smith and Finch were looking set to complete it, but both fell short of milestones. Smith was dismissed on 47 when he found mid-wicket and then Finch was caught behind for 96 off Umesh Yadav. As Australia got closer, India bowler better and lost George Bailey and Glenn Maxwell. A few tight overs then increased the pressure with Australia needing 15 off the last two overs. However James Faulkner and Brad Haddin finished it with an over to spare.

Earlier in the day, the crowd were given a good display of batting by Rohit Sharma. The Indian opener was the anchor on show. India had lost wickets early and were struggling at 59 for three. In partnership with Suresh Raina, who scored 51, Rohit setup a platform for an assault. It was an innings of temperance combined with the necessary aggression. Rohit had cleared the boundaries a few times with some exciting shots, none better than the pull shot off Starc.

That 126-run stand gave India hope of putting up a big score, but Starc came back to dent India. he started off by dismissing Raina for 15 in the batting powerplay. And then, he dismissed MS Dhoni and Akshar Patel in an over. That troubled India at the end and they could not score as quickly as they would have wanted to. Rohit had worked his way to a century, his third against Australia, but he cut a lone figure as wickets fell at the other end. He was ultimately dismissed for 138, handing a five-wicket haul to Starc, who then got his sixth by yorking Bhuvneshwar off the first ball.

Starc now has 10 wickets in two games in this series. He bowled with pace and extracted good movement to trouble the Indians through the innings. Rohit too made a mark with his batting, but was eclipsed by a team effort from Australia. India now face England on January 20 at the Gabba.

Brief scores:

India 267 for 8 in 50 overs (Rohit Sharma 138, Suresh Raina 51; Mitchell Starc 6 for 43) lost to Australia 269 for 4 in (Aaron Finch 96, Steven Smith 47*; Umesh Yadav 2 for 55) by 4 wickets.

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News Network
June 29,2020

Jun 29: The West Indies cricketers will sport a 'Black Lives Matter' logo on the collars of their shirts during the upcoming three-Test series against England to protest against racism in sports.

Skipper Jason Holder, who has voiced his support to the cause that has once again come to the forefront after the killing of American George Floyd, said in a statement on Sunday: "We believe we have a duty to show solidarity and also to help raise awareness."

The ICC-approved logo, designed by Alisha Hosannah, will be the one which featured in the shirts of all 20 Premier League football clubs since the sport's resumption earlier this month.

"This is a pivotal moment in history for sports, for the game of cricket and for the West Indies cricket team," Holder was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"We have come to England to retain the Wisden Trophy but we are very conscious of happenings around the world and the fight for justice and equality. "As a group of young men, we know of the rich and diverse history of West Indies cricket and we know we are guardians of the great game for a generation to come."

Holder, who wants racism to be treated at par with doping and corruption, said they arrived at the decision to wear the logo after much thought.

"We did not take our decision lightly. We know what it is for people to make judgments because of the colour of our skin, so we know what it feels like, this goes beyond the boundary. There must be equality and there must be unity. Until we get that as people, we cannot stop," he said.

"We have to find some way to have equal rights and people must not be viewed differently because of the colour of their skin or ethnic background."

The West Indies players are likely to wear the shirts for the first time in this week's four-day warm-up match at Emirates Old Trafford, starting on Monday.

The opening Test of the series, which will mark the resumption of international cricket after the coronavirus-forced hiatus, will get underway at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on July 8.

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News Network
July 26,2020

Chennai, Jul 26: Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand suffered his fifth straight defeat in the USD 150,000 Legends of Chess online tournament, going down 2-3 to Peter Leko of Hungry.

The former world champion got off to a good start and won the first game of the best-of-four contest. The next two games were drawn before Leko levelled by winning the fourth.

The Hungarian then claimed the Armageddon (a tie-breaker) to ensure Anand remain winless and at the bottom of the points table.

Anand, who is making his maiden appearance on the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour, had earlier lost to Peter Svidler, Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik and Anish Giri.

World no. 1 Carlsen bounced back strongly to avoid an upset, beating veteran Vasyl Ivanchuk 3-2 to stay on top.

Legends of Chess is a unique event where Carlsen, Liren, Nepomniachtchi and Giri, semifinalists at the Chessable Masters (part of the Magnus Carlsen Tour), received an automatic invite and are up against six legends aged 40-52, who have been at the top of world chess at various points in their career.

The tournament is part of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour. The winner of this event will qualify for the USD 300,000 Grand Final scheduled from August 9 to 20.

Results of Round 5: Peter Leko beat Viswanathan Anand 3-2; Magnus Carlsen beat Vasyl Ivanchuk 3-2: Vladmir Kramnik beat Ding Liren 2.5-1.5; Anish Giri beat Boris Gelfand 2.5-1.5; Ian Nepominiachtchi beat Peter Svidler 3-1. 

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Agencies
February 5,2020

Hamilton, Feb 5: Ross Taylor and Tom Latham played knocks of 109 and 69, respectively, as New Zealand defeated India by four wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series here at the Seddon Park on Wednesday.

Chasing 348, New Zealand got off to a steady start as openers Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls put on 85 runs for the first wicket, however, India finally got the breakthrough in the 16th over as Shardul Thakur dismissed Guptill (32).

Tom Blundell and Nicholls then put on 24 runs for the second wicket, but their vigil came to an end in the 20th over as Kuldeep Yadav had Blundell (9) stumped at the hands of wicket-keeper KL Rahul, reducing Kiwis to 109/2.

Nicholls then retrieved the innings for the hosts as he found support in Ross Taylor. The duo mixed caution with aggression to stitch together a partnership of 62 runs. But with their back against the wall, skipper Kohli lifted the side up as he ran out Nicholls (78) in the 29th over, reducing New Zealand to 171/3.

Skipper Tom Latham, came out to bat next, and he increased the tempo of the Kiwi innings. He took a special liking to Kuldeep and kept on sweeping him to pick easy boundaries on the legside.

Taylor and Latham put on a stand of 138 runs to take Kiwis closer to victory. But with 39 runs away from the target, Kuldeep dismissed Latham (69) to revive India's hopes of making a comeback.

Mohammed Shami removed Jimmy Neesham (9) in the 46th over while Colin de Grandhomme (1) was sent packing via a run-out to send cat among the pigeons in the Kiwi camp. In the end, Mitchell Santner and Taylor took the hosts over the line by four wickets and with 11 balls to spare.

Earlier, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul's knocks of 103 and 88, respectively, helped India post 347/4 in the allotted twenty overs.

After being put in to bat, India got off to a quickfire start as openers Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal put on 50 runs. Colin de Grandhomme finally provided the breakthrough to the Kiwis as he sent Shaw (20) back to the pavilion in the eighth over.

Agarwal (32) was also dismissed soon after by Tim Southee and the Men in Blue were reduced to 54/2 in the ninth over.

Skipper Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer then retrieved the innings for the visitors as the duo put on 102 runs for the third wicket. Kohli brought up his 58th half-century in the 28th over.

Ish Sodhi got the crucial breakthrough of Kohli (51) in the 29th over as he clean bowled him to reduce India to 156/3. However, Iyer continued to march on and brought up his maiden ODI century in the 43rd over.

KL Rahul, who came in to bat at number five provided the much-needed impetus to the innings. He along with Iyer put on a stand of 136 runs for the fourth wicket.

Iyer (103) was finally sent back to the pavilion by Southee in the 46th over, reducing India to 292/4.

In the final overs, Rahul and Kedar Jadhav hammered the Kiwi players to take India's score past the 340-run mark. Jadhav remained unbeaten on 26.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 348/6 (Ross Taylor 109*, Henry Nicholls 78, Kuldeep Yadav 2-84) defeat India 347/4 (Shreyas Iyer 103, KL Rahul 88*, Tim Southee 2-85) by four wickets.

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