Defending champions India beat South Africa by 8 wickets, book semi-final spot

Agencies
June 12, 2017

London, Jul 12: Defending champions India outclassed South Africa in all departments of the game to enter the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy with a comprehensive eight-wicket victory on sunday.

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India will meet Bangladesh in the semi-finals in Birmingham on Thursday.

The Proteas lived up to their 'Perennial Chokers' tag in a virtual quarter-final clash that turned out to be a thoroughly one-sided encounter.

Shikhar Dhawan (78 off 83 balls) and skipper Virat Kohli (76 off 101 balls) made it look like a walk in the park as India chased down a target of 192 in only 38 overs.

It was Dhawan's third 50-plus score in the competition, while skipper Kohli made amends for a rare failure against Sri Lanka in style, notching up his 41st ODI half-century.

On a day when it mattered the most, India brought their A-game to the fore while AB de Villiers' men wilted under pressure, as it has been with them in high-stakes games.

The Indian bowling was disciplined, the fielding exceptional with three run-outs, and then there was a professional batting performance.

If it's the Champions Trophy, Dhawan can hardly put a foot wrong as he hit 12 fours and a flicked six off Morne Morkel over deep square leg.

If Dhawan muscled the ball through the off-side cordon, Kohli caressed it with care, hitting seven fours and a six as the duo added 128 runs for the second wicket.

A rhythm player to the core, Dhawan has made the best use of the second lease of life that he has got in this Champions Trophy. The ferocity with which he drove was a treat to watch. A lot of his shots were in the arc between cover and mid-off. When Imran Tahir bowled short, he pulled him with disdain.

Skipper Kohli also made merry with no pressure. He saw off Morkel's first spell before teeing off with a cover-driven six off rookie pacer Andile Phehlykwayo.

He later used the extra pace of Morkel to hit him down the ground, whip him through mid-wicket and slash the pacer over the off-side cordon.

By the time India's total touched 100, the match was as good as over. It was Yuvraj Singh, who finished the match with a pulled six off JP Duminy.

Earlier, an impressive bowling performance that was complemented by fantastic fielding effort, saw the holders skittle out South Africa for a paltry 191 in 44.3 overs after winning the toss.

It was yet another embarrassing batting collapse after the openers put on 76 runs. The world's number one team lost the last eight wickets for 51 runs after being comfortably placed at 116 for one at one stage.

Two run-outs of skipper AB de Villiers (16) and David Miller (1) within the space of six deliveries triggered the slide from which they could never recover, with almost all the Indian bowlers succeeding in choking the runs.

India bowled an astounding 141 dot balls which are equivalent to 23.3 maiden overs out of the 44.2 overs that South Africa batted.

India took control of the match in the second powerplay (between overs 11-40), in which South Africa managed only 143 runs, losing six wickets in the process.

After a poor match against Sri Lanka, Ravindra Jadeja (1/39 in 10 overs) was at his accurate best, stifling the runs in those middle overs in tandem with comeback man Ravichandran Ashwin (1/43 in 9 overs).

Man of the Match Jasprit Bumrah (2/28 in 8 overs) was on target with his blockhole deliveries and cleverly mixed short balls, which did the trick.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/22 in 7.3 overs) was on a hat-trick as he not only polished off the tail but also maintained a brilliant channel outside the off-stump, making life difficult for the top-order batsmen.

Even Hardik Pandya (1/52 in 10 overs) gave a much better account of himself, bowling as many as 29 dot balls and also got Faf du Plessis (36) to drag one back onto his stumps.

Ashwin and Jadeja may not have got too many wickets but removed openers Hashim Amla (35) and Quinton de Kock (53, 72 balls) after a sedate start.

It was a safe start by South Africa with both Amla and India's nemesis in recent times, De Kock, not taking any undue risks in the first 10 overs (first powerplay) that yielded only 35 runs.

They were restrictive but both Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah couldn't produce too many wicket-taking deliveries during that phase.

The next seven overs saw South Africa score another 36 runs with Amla's return catch being dropped by Pandya, who erred in length. Amla flicked him over square leg boundary for a six.

Finally, it was Ashwin who got the much-needed breakthrough when Amla tried to cut a delivery that didn't have much width, only for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to complete a smart catch.

Du Plessis and De Kock also had a steady partnership of 40 runs for the second wicket before things went all awry. De Kock tried to sweep a straight ball onto the stumps to be plumb in-front.

De Villiers, who has been in horrible form, couldn't make his ground as Dhoni whipped off the bails in a flash.

The In-form Miller was involved in a horrible mix-up with Du Plessis to end up at the same end.

South Africa slumped to 142 for four from 140 for two in a space of six deliveries. India never took their foot off the pedal after the two run-outs.

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News Network
July 18,2020

Johannesburg, Jul 18: Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Saturday mourned the demise of former spinner Ismail 'Baboo' Ebrahim who died in Durban at the age of 73.

"Baboo was one of the outstanding South African spin bowlers of the 1960s and 1970s who would undoubtedly have played as many Test matches for his country as the 48 first-class games to which he was limited," CSA said in a statement.

In those matches, he took 179 wickets at an average of 21.33 with an economy rate of 2.12 including 8 five-wicket hauls and 2 ten-wicket hauls.

The left-arm spinner only had one opportunity on the international stage when he played for a SA Invitation XI against the International Wanderers at Kingsmead in 1976.

"At the age of 29, he was in his prime and took a match-winning 6/66 in the second innings, his victims including international captains, Greg Chappell of Australia and Mike Denness of England. It was a clear indication of what he could have achieved on grounds around the world at the highest level had he been given the opportunity. He was a master of flight and spin and had a good arm ball to back it up," the statement read.

His ability to perform at this level had become apparent much earlier when he went to watch the Australians at practice before their Test match against South Africa in 1970.

He persuaded the Australians to let him bowl to them and made an immediate impression, bowling experienced Test batsman Ian Redpath and impressing the likes of Ian Chappell and Ashley Mallett, the latter being Australia's leading spinner of the 1970s.

He had one season for Radcliffe in the Lancashire Central League when he took 62 wickets at 14.62 apiece.

Baboo finally got his chance to represent his country in Masters events in one of which he dismissed both Sir Vivian Richards and Gordon Greenidge.

"Baboo Ebrahim was one of the countless number of outstanding cricketers who was denied the opportunity to display his talents to the world and live his cricketing dreams," said CSA Acting Chief Executive, Dr Jacques Faul.

"On behalf of the CSA Family I extend our deepest sympathy to his family, friends and cricketing colleagues," he added. 

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News Network
January 28,2020

Columbo, Jan 28: The Sri Lanka Cricket Board on Monday announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Women`s T20 World Cup, slated to commence from February 21. The board also announced five standby players for the ensuing tournament.

The squad members are -- Chamari Atapattu (captain), Harshitha Madavi (vice captain), Anushka Sanjeewani, Hansima Karunaratne, Shashikala Siriwardene, Nilakshi De Silva, Ama Kanchana, Kavisha Dilhari, Udeshika Probodhani, Achini Kulasuriya, Hasini Perera, Sathya Sandeepani, Umesha Thimashini, Sugandika Kumari, Dilani Manodara.

The standby players are -- Sachini Nisansala, Prasadani Weerakkody, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Tharika Sewwandi, Inoka Ranaweera.

Sri Lanka will take on New Zealand in their opening encounter on February 22.

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Agencies
July 7,2020

Mumbai, Jul 7: Australias second largest city Melbourne is set to go for another round of lockdown — for six weeks — from midnight Wednesday as the coronavirus has reared its ugly head in Victoria. And this has further confirmed that this years T20 World Cup in Australia is practically not possible. Even as the ICC keeps delaying the announcement, BCCI hopes that the official call will now be taken with this latest development.

Despite ICC's Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA) chief Ehsan Mani as well as Cricket Australia making it clear time and again that hosting a T20 World Cup in the October-November window is practically impossible, the ICC hasn't made an official announcement and that hasn't impressed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Speaking to media persons, a BCCI official said that it is only the ICC which has kept speaking about delaying the inevitable — announcing a postponement — even as Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings wrote to the international body that it looks highly unlikely that a T20 World Cup can be hosted in these trying times.

"As it is there were so many logistical difficulties and that is perfectly understandable. The Australian government has been addressing the public health issue efficiently and there are regulations in place which are crucial to address the challenges. In that background even Cricket Australia has been practical in their assessment of the situation.

"With this present situation where Melbourne is in lockdown, the ICC really must take the final call of closure on the issue if they have any concept of responsible decision making," the official said.

Not just CA chairman Eddings, but also Mani — who is also the PCB chief — recently told the media that the T20 World Cup cannot be held in a bio-secure environment.

"We have had a lot of discussions and the feeling is it (T20 World Cup) would not be possible this year. ICC has World Cups lined up in 2021 and 2023, so we have a gap year where we can adjust this event. God forbid if some player(s) falls ill or mishap occurs during the tournament, it will have a big impact and create panic in the cricket world and we can't take that risk. Having a bio-bubble environment is feasible for say a bilateral series like Pakistan in England, but it is very difficult when 16 teams are involved," he had said.

Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley echoed the sentiments when he said the biggest challenge was to get the players from so many teams into the country.

"Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country. If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise," he had said.

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