Brilliant Johnson inspires Australia to second Test success

December 21, 2014

Mitchell Johnson

Brisbane, Dec 21: Mitchell Johnson’s brilliance with both bat and ball inspired Australia to a four-wicket second Test victory over India at the Gabba in Brisbane on Saturday and an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

Mitch Marsh hit the winning runs as Australia survived a few wobbles to chase down their target of 128 after tea on the fourth day of the contest but there was little doubt that two interventions from Johnson set up the victory.

On Friday, Australia were 247-6 chasing India’s first innings 408 when Johnson came out and smashed 88 runs from 93 balls in a Gabba record seventh-wicket stand of 148 with skipper Steve Smith that turned the match on its head.

On Saturday, India had resumed their second innings on 71-1 looking to quickly make up the 26-run deficit on Australia’s total of 505 and build another imposing score.

Half an hour later, their hopes were shattered as Johnson (4-61), ably assisted by debutant paceman Josh Hazlewood (2-74), ripped through the batting to leave India pondering yet another collapse at 87 for five.

In one dizzying 11-ball spell, Johnson took three for 10 by removing Virat Kohli (1), Ajinkya Rahane (10) and Rohit Sharma (0). Hazlewood, who took 5-68 in the first innings, removed India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for a duck in the next over.

“Mitch certainly turned it on for us in that little spell this morning, that really cracked the game open for us,” said Smith after tasting victory in his first match as captain in place of the injured Michael Clarke.

“All the bowlers, to be fair, produced the goods for us. I thought Josh Hazlewood was outstanding and Nathan Lyon came on and did a job here and there.”

It was another disappointing day on the road for the tourists, who had dominated the first day on the back of Murali Vijay’s 144 as Australia’s bowlers wilted in the sweltering heat.

They were still in the contest at the start of play on Saturday and Dhoni blamed the confusion after Shikhar Dhawan declaring himself unfit to resume his innings for creating ‘unrest’ in the dressing room.

“It is disappointing but what is more important is to reason out why it happened,” he told reporters.

“The first session today was crucial and we didn’t handle it very well. If we had been able to get a decent partnership together and pushed it into a fifth day, then we could have exploited the conditions more.”

Dhawan, who injured his right wrist in the nets, was later forced to cancel his trip to the hospital for scans and resume his innings, providing some resistance in an innings of 81 before India were dismissed for 224.

Australia’s run chase was far from perfectly handled either and question marks will be raised over the batting of Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh and Brad Haddin who were among the six wickets to fall.

Smith, who was also run out with six runs still required, was fairly relaxed about the high casualty rate before Mitch Marsh’s cover drive for four got them over the line.

“I would have liked to have been there in the end but I guess that’s cricket and I’m just happy we got there,” he said. “The wicket was still pretty good and the boys were going after them to try and get the runs pretty quickly tonight, so no real hiccup there.”

Smith was ‘extremely satisfied’ with the victory to take a 2-0 lead into the final two matches in Melbourne (Dec 26-30) and Sydney (Jan 6-10), especially after a day one when Australia were under the cosh with bowlers, as he put it, “dropping like flies”.

Taking the man-of-the-match award for his superbly controlled 133 in the first innings, Smith was happy to pay credit to Johnson for his role in turning the match around.

“I think it was a big turning point in the game to get that partnership there with Mitch. To get 500 runs in the first innings was just crucial for us,” he said. “It was just amazing the way Mitch came out and took on the bowlers on from ball one. It was outstanding.”

Australia won the first Test in Adelaide by 48 runs.

Scoreboard

INDIA (1st Innings 408 (M. Vijay 144, A.M. Rahane 81; J.R. Hazlewood 5-68, N.M. Lyon 3-105).

AUSTRALIA (1st Innings) 505 (S.P.D. Smith 133, M.G. Johnson 88, C.J.L. Rogers 55, M.A. Starc 52; U.T. Yadav 3-101, I. Sharma 3-117).

INDIA (2nd Innings, overnight 71-1):

M. Vijay b Starc 27

S. Dhawan lbw b Lyon 81

C.A. Pujara c Lyon b Hazlewood 43

V. Kohli b Johnson 1

A.M. Rahane c Lyon b Johnson 10

R.G. Sharma c Haddin b Johnson 0

M.S. Dhoni lbw b Hazlewood 0

R. Ashwin c Haddin b Starc 19

U.T. Yadav c Haddin b Johnson 30

V.R. Aaron c Hazlewood b Lyon 3

I. Sharma not out 1

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-5, NB-2) 9

TOTAL (all out, 64.3 overs) 224

FALL OF WKTS: 1-41, 2-76, 3-86, 4-86, 5-87, 6-117, 7-143, 8-203, 9-211.

BOWLING: Johnson 17.3-4-61-4 (1nb, 5w); Hazlewood 16-0-74-2 (1nb); Starc 8-1-27-2; Watson 13-6-27-0; Lyon 10-1-33-2.

AUSTRALIA (2nd Innings):

C.J.L. Rogers c Dhawan b I. Sharma 55

D.A. Warner c Dhoni b I. Sharma 6

S.R. Watson c Dhoni b I. Sharma 0

S.P.D. Smith run out 28

S.E. Marsh c Dhoni b Yadav 17

B.J. Haddin c Kohli b Yadav 1

M.R. Marsh not out 6

M.G. Johnson not out 2

Extras (b-4, lb-4, w-1, nb-6) 15

Total (for six wkts, 23.1 overs) 130

FALL OF WKTS: 1-18, 2-22, 3-85, 4-114, 5-122, 6-122.

BOWLING: I. Sharma 9-2-38-3 (5nb); Yadav 9-0-46-2; Aaron 5.1-0-38-0 (1nb, 1w).

RESULT: Australia won by four wickets.

UMPIRES: M. Erasmus (South Africa) and I.J. Gould (England).

TV UMPIRE: S.D. Fry (Australia).

MATCH REFEREE: J.J. Crowe (New Zealand).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Steve Smith.

FIRST TEST: Adelaide, Australia won by 48 runs.

THIRD TEST: Melbourne, Dec 26-30.

FOURTH TEST: Sydney, Jan 6-10.

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News Network
July 2,2020

Jul 2: Cricket Australia has decided to not use the Dukes ball from this summer's Sheffield Shield, having used it alongside Kookaburra for four seasons.

CA has confirmed that the Kookaburra ball will be used for the entire 2020-21 first-class season.

Australia has been using Dukes ball since the 2016-17 season in Shield matches with an aim to help its cricketers prepare for the hostile English conditions.

CA's Head of Cricket Operations, Peter Roach, said the decision to axe the Dukes was the right call. "The introduction of the Dukes ball has been a worthwhile exercise, particularly in the lead up to overseas Ashes series where the Dukes is used so well by our English opponents," Roach said.

"We have been happy with how the ball has performed when used in Australian conditions over the past four seasons. We do, however, feel that reverting to one ball for 2020-21 will provide the consistent examination of our players over a full season that CA and the states are presently seeking. The Kookaburra is the ball used for international cricket in Australia and many parts of the world and we see benefits this season of maximising our use of it," he added.

Roach said the ineffectiveness of spinners in first-class cricket in recent times played a role in CA's decision to do away with the Dukes. "We have noted that spin bowlers in the Sheffield Shield have been playing less of a role in recent seasons, most notably in games when the Dukes ball is in use. We need spinners bowling in first-class cricket and we need our batters facing spin. We hope that the change to one ball will have a positive benefit here," he said.

The CA official, however, didn't rule out the possibility of re-introducing it later.

"We see a definite opportunity to reintroduce the Dukes ball at some stage in the future."

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News Network
March 4,2020

Sydney, Mar 4: Teenage Indian batting sensation Shafali Verma on Wednesday rose to the top spot in the ICC women's T20 International rankings, riding on her stellar run at the ongoing World Cup here.

The 16-year-old Verma takes over from New Zealand's Suzie Bates, who had been the top batter since October 2018 after wresting the spot from West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor.

However, Smriti Mandhana has slipped a couple of rungs to sixth in the latest list.

Verma and England spinner Sophie Ecclestone will go into the semifinals of the event as the top ranked batter and bowler respectively. India will take on England on Thursday.

Verma's explosive batting at the top of the order saw her score 161 runs in four innings, including knocks of 47 and 46 against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. It helped her become only the second India batter after Mithali Raj to top the women's T20I batting rankings, according to an ICC statement.

Ecclestone, who took eight wickets in four matches including a best of three for seven against the West Indies, is the first England bowler to be number one since Anya Shrubsole in April 2016 and the first England spinner at the top since Danni Hazell in August 2015.

Among the Indian bowlers, Poonam Yadav is up four places to eighth after a good run in World Cup.

Some valiant performances from Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu have seen her move from 18th to 14th spot for batters.

England's Nat Sciver is again in the top 10 and captain Heather Knight in the top 15 for the first time.

South Africa opener Laura Wolvaardt has advanced 23 places to 44th, while Pakistan's Aliya Riaz has gained 24 places and is 48th while New Zealand's Maddy Green is in the top 100 after advancing 28 slots.

In the bowlers' list, leg-spinners Amelia Kerr of New Zealand (up two places to fourth) and Australia's George Wareham (up nine places to 10th) have made significant gains in the latest rankings update.

Other bowlers to advance include new-ball bowler Diana Baig of Pakistan (up 34 places to 13th), Shashikala Siriwardena of Sri Lanka (up seven places to 14th), Anya Shrubsole of England (up five places to 17th), Dane van Niekerk of South Africa (up 12 places to joint-22nd) and Shikha Pandey of India (up 23 places to joint-22nd).

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine is now the sole number one all-rounder after coming into the tournament as a joint number one along with Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry.

India's Deepti Sharma has advanced nine places to seventh, the first time that she is among the top 10 in the all-rounders' list after also moving up to 53rd among batters.

Australia remain at the top of the T20I team rankings with 290 points and England in second position with 278.

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News Network
February 19,2020

New Delhi, Feb 19: An Indian wrestler whose family story was immortalised by Bollywood is hoping to create a blockbuster of her own by becoming her country's first world champion in the high-octane sport of mixed martial arts.

Ritu Phogat, who initially followed her father and two elder sisters into wrestling, is now charting a new path after making an explosive MMA debut in November.

Phogat's father Mahavir, and her sisters Geeta and Babita were the subject of 2016 movie "Dangal", telling the story of the wrestling coach who raised his daughters to become Commonwealth champions.

But Ritu, 25, is forging a different career. After winning her first MMA fight in less than three minutes, she will face China's Wu Chiao Chen at this month's ONE Championship fight night in Singapore, which will be held behind closed doors because of the coronavirus.

The youngest Phogat daughter is trading an attempt at an Olympic medal to tackle MMA, but she said she was attracted by the lure of making history in her new sport.

"I got a chance to train with the best in Singapore and there was no looking back," she told AFP during a promotional event in New Delhi.

"There was the 2020 Olympic Games but I thought that I would do well in mixed martial arts. I have come with an aim of becoming the first girl from India to become a world champion in mixed martial art."

The nimble but strongly built Phogat said wrestlers were a good fit for the fast-growing contact sport, which is yet to take off in India.

"Top seven champions in mixed martial arts are wrestlers, so I believe that wrestlers have an edge in this sport with their ability to take down the opponent," she said.

"It is all a matter of skill. You just have to practise hard. I think MMA is not much different from wrestling in terms of preparation.

"One has to take risks to do something new and as an athlete I am ready to embrace every challenge."

She added: "Without the support of my father and sisters I would not have been where I am. My father always taught me to be far-sighted, hard-working and with strong resolve. Three traits will take you a long way."

Phogat won 48kg gold at the 2016 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship and followed it up with a silver in the under-23 world championships the next year.

"She used to watch a lot MMA and one day told me that I will win a gold in this game. So we all backed her and the result is there for everyone to see," he said.

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