Destructive Dhawan leads India to another series win

Agencies
December 18, 2017

Visakhapatnam, Dec 18: Shikhar Dhawan struck a sublime hundred in the nick of time as India delivered yet again in a series decider to beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the third ODI and record their eighth successive win in a bilateral contest.

India raced to the 216-run target in 32.1 overs with Dhawan (100 n.o. off 85) completing his 12th ODI ton in what turned out to be the penultimate over of the match.

Shreyas Iyer made a significant 65 off 63 balls, his second successive half century, but missed on the opportunity of scoring a hundred in a winning cause. Dinesh Karthik remained unbeaten on 26 alongside Dhawan and hit the winning runs.

The quick run chase came after a Sri Lankan collapse that saw them getting all out for 215 from a promising 160 for two.

The visitors failed to apply themselves on a pitch that offered decent turn as Indian spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav picked up three wickets apiece.

With the professional performance tonight, India won their sixth ODI series of the year and eighth in a row since July 2016.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, were consigned to yet another defeat in a rather miserable year in which they have won only five matches.

The hundred was there for the taking and Dhawan grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

During the course of his match-winning knock, Dhawan crossed the 4,000-run barrier in his 96th ODI. He hit 13 boundaries and two sixes overall as he toyed with the Sri Lankan attack.

Iyer reached his second ODI fifty in 44 balls before throwing his wicket away by attempting a big shot off Thisara Perara only to sky a catch to Suranga Lakmal at mid-on.

The Mumbai batsman survived two dropped chances, when on 25 and 38. In the first instance, Angelo Matthews grassed a catch at slip off Sachith Pathirana's first delivery and the second life came when Akila Dhananjaya couldn't hold on to a tough chance at the deep third-man when on 38.

India skipper Rohit Sharma was not able to reproduce his Mohali magic here as he fell in the fourth over after hitting a big six off Akila Dhananjaya.

The leggie got his googly to come in sharply and deceive Sharma much to the disappointment of the crowd. The captain made just seven after having decimated the Lanka attack in Mohali with a brilliant double ton.

Dhawan and Iyer made light of the early departure of their skipper and put on 135 runs in 19 overs to put India on the road to victory.

Iyer, who scored his maiden ODI fifty at Mohali, hit a flurry of boundaries after a cautious start and hoisted Pathirana for six over long-on.

Earlier, Sri Lanka suffered a dramatic collapse undoing the good work done by opener Upul Tharanga.

Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal shared three wickets each for India as Sri Lanka squandered a blistering start provided by Tharanga (95 off 82).

The wicket offered decent turn for the spinners but the visitors failed to apply themselves, losing the last five wickets in the space of 18 runs and the last eight for 55 runs.

Put in to bat by India captain Rohit Sharma, Sri Lanka were cruising with Tharanga and Sadeera Samarawickrama (42) sharing a 121-run stand for the second wicket after Danushka Gunathilaka (13) fell in the fourth over.

Tharanga played some superb shots and was not afraid to hit aerial. The southpaw hit all his three sixes off Chahal, who otherwise was the best bowler on show with his drift and turn troubling the batsmen.

Hardik Pandya came in as the first change bowler in the seventh over, replacing Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He was taken for 20 runs in his second over by Tharanga, who looked increasingly confident but got lucky on a few occasions.

The seasoned Angelo Matthews, who walked in following his exit, put on 24 overs with Tharanga, before the left-hander was stumped by MS Dhoni off Kuldeep's bowling for 95.

The opener, who missed out on a well-deserved ton, completed 1,000 runs for the calendar year during the course of the knock. Thereafter, it all went downhill for Sri Lanka.

Both sides made one change each to their playing eleven with India bringing in Kuldeep in place of an ill Washington Sundar and Lanka replacing the misfiring Lahiru Thirimanne with Samarawickrama.

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News Network
March 6,2020

Melbourne, Mar 6: Experienced middle-order batter Veda Krishnamurthy believes that "destiny" is in favour of first-time finalist India to win their maiden ICC Women's T20 World Cup title provided they get a grip on their nerves in the summit clash against Australia on Sunday.

India will have a psychological advantage going into the final as they had stunned the defending champions by 17 runs in the tournament opener.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India reached the final on the basis of their unbeaten record in the tournament after their semifinal against England was washed out on Thursday.

Krishnamurthy, who was a part of the Indian team that finished runner-up to England in the 2017 Women's ODI World Cup, knows the pain of missing out on a world title.

"It's all about destiny, and I'm a big believer in destiny. I feel like this is the way it was meant to be. There is a joke going around that this World Cup is made in such a way that it's helping us, starting from the wickets to everything else," she was quoted as saying by the tournament's official website.

"Being in the final is just reward for the way we played in the group stages. There was an advantage to having won all our games with the weather not in our hands."

The team's first target of reaching the final having achieved, the 27-year-old player said the Indians now need to hold their nerves and remain focussed leading up to the big day on Sunday.

"We said the first aim was to get to the final and take it from there. We've crossed the first stage. We need to make sure we hold our nerves and we do what we need to do on the final day," she said.

India's recent rivalry with Australia has taken fascinating twists and turns, with Kaur's outfit chasing down 173 in their recent tri-series, then getting home by 17 runs in the T20 World Cup opener.

But all is not hunky-dory for Krishnamurthy on the personal front. Considered a great finisher, she has recovered from a series of single-digit scores in the tri-series to score 20 from 11 balls in a finishing role against Bangladesh.

Having amassed just 35 runs from four matches in the tournament so far, the Karnataka batter knows her role in the team.

"As an individual, the role given to me is very consistent in the last year. They've put the effort in the last year to keep me there and I've been supported by every individual, not just one or two. The entire team, with all the support staff, have shown faith in me," she said.

"I know coming into the World Cup, I would play a crucial role to finish the innings well, which I felt I was unable to do in the last World Cup in the West Indies," she added.

Krishnamurthy said specific roles have been set for every player of the squad and they all are trying to contribute as much as they can to help the team achieve its goal.

"I was very motivated to do my role and I've been working on that. It's not just me, all 15 players involved know what their role is," she said.

"I'm happy we're all putting in efforts and executing our role properly. Even if it's a smallish contribution of saving a couple of runs, it's all panned out really well."

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News Network
March 27,2020

New Delhi, Mar 27: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar on Friday donated Rs 50 lakh to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far claimed 17 Indian lives and wreaked havoc globally.

Tendulkar's donation is so far the biggest contribution among India's leading sportspersons, some of whom have pledged their salaries while a few others have donated medical equipment to fight the dreaded outbreak, which has caused more than 24,000 deaths globally.

"Sachin Tendulkar decided to contribute Rs 25 lakh each to Prime Minister's Relief Fund and Chief Minister's Relief Fund in his bid to join the fight against COVID-19. It was his decision that he wanted to contribute to both funds," a source privy to the development, told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Tendulkar has been associated with a lot of charity work and there has been umpteen times, he has taken up social causes, helped people, which has never been brought to public notice.

Among other prominent cricketers, the Pathan brothers -- Irfan and Yusuf -- donated 4000 face masks to Baroda police and health department while Mahendra Singh Dhoni, through a Pune based NGO, made a contribution of Rs 1 lakh.

Among athletes from other disciplines, wrestler Bajrang Punia and sprinter Hima Das are some of the prominent names to have donated their salaries in the battle against the dreaded virus which has led to a 21-day national lockdown.

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News Network
June 5,2020

Jun 5: The Asian Football Confederation has awarded the hosting rights of the 2022 Women's Asian Cup to India for the first time since 1979.

The decision was taken at the AFC Women's Football Committee meeting. In February, the AFC Women's Football Committee had recommended India to be hosts.

In a letter to the All India Football Federation, Dato Windsor John, General Secretary, AFC wrote: "The Committee awarded the hosting rights of the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022 Finals to the All India Football Federation."

The tournament will likely be held in the second half of the year. In the 1979 edition, India had finished as runners-up.

"I need to thank the Asian Football Confederation for finding us suitable to host the AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2022," AIFF President, Praful Patel said.

"The tournament will galvanise the aspiring women players and bring in a holistic social revolution as far as women's football in the country is concerned," he added.

The tournament will feature 12 teams, expanded from the previous slot of eight teams.

India qualifies directly as hosts. The event will also serve as the final qualification tournament for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The tournament comes as the latest boost to AIFF as India is slated to host the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup next year.

India had also hosted the AFC U-16 Championships in 2016 and the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017.

"The tournament will play a huge role in further popularising women's football in India. The Women’s Asian Cup 2022 comes on the back of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2020, and will help us sustain, and build on the momentum gained," AIFF General Secretary, Kushal Das said.

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