Harmanpreet’s historic century studs Indian win over New Zealand

Agencies
November 10, 2018

Guyana, Nov 10: The hitting was incredible and the sixes unbelievably monstrous, making Harmanpreet Kaur the first Indian woman to record a century in the format and propelling her team to a 34-run win over New Zealand in the World T20 opener Friday.

The 29-year-old smashed 103 off 51 balls and her carnage included eight sixes, some of them towering, and seven boundaries.

Opting to bat after the coin landed in her favour at the Providence Stadium, Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodrigues (59 off 45 balls) added 134 runs for the fourth wicket to guide India to an imposing 194 for five in the stipulated 20 overs.

In reply, New Zealand were stopped at 160 for nine.

"good game but we still have a long way to go. (Regarding my batting) I needed to settle down," Harmanpreet said after the convincing win.

Harmanpreet was required to walk into the middle early, at the fall of debutant Dayalan Hemalatha's wicket in only the sixth over. India were in a spot of bother when Hemalatha was dismissed, and another wicket would have only added to their worry.

However, Harmanpreet and Jemimah had other ideas, adding runs at a quick pace, which included a phase when India scored 56 runs in five overs.

Harmanpreet, whose scintillating 171 against Australia in the World Cup semifinal last year remains fresh in the memory, looked comfortable from the word go and, in the company of Jemimah, built the innings with consummate ease.

Harmanpreet got into the mode with two sixes off Jess Watkin in the 10th over, as India reached 76 for the loss of three wickets. Her team added a staggering 118 runs in last 10 overs, thanks to a flurry of boundaries and sixes by Harmanpreet.

The big-hitting Harmanpreet played shots on all sides of the wicket, and was most effective towards the long-off, long-on and the deep mid-wicket region.

The 100-run partnership was up in quick time, after the duo scored 16 runs in one of the overs in the back 10. That was just one of the big overs for the team.

Having cleared the fence eight times, Kaur now has the most number of sixes for India in a T20 innings, beating her own record of, five-set against Sri Lanka in September this year.

Having struck seven boundaries, Rodrigues, at 18, became the youngest player to score a fifty in Word T20 tournament. But, in her attempt to up the ante, gave away her wicket.

Chasing a stiff target, New Zealand were off to flyer with the seasoned Suzie Bates (67 off 50 balls) and Anna Peterson (14) racing to 52 in just under seven over.

While Peterson was dismissed by Hemalatha for India's first breakthrough, Bates continued to bat fluently and kept New Zealand in the hunt.

However, Bates, who became the highest run-getter in T20 Internationals, could not find support at the other end as New Zealand were reduced to 93 for four in the 13th over.

India got the big wicket of Bates when she played Arundhati Reddy's low full-toss to the backward point fielder. Bates struck eight boundaries during her stay in the middle.

The contest was as good as over for New Zealand after Bates' dismissal and India kept up the pressure on their opponents.

Hemalatha and Poonam Yadav finished with three wickets apiece for India, and there were two for Radha Yadav.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Jeddah, Jan 9: Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde criticised the new Supercopa format and said that "football has become a business and as a business it looks for income".

"The bottom line is football has become a business and as a business it looks for income. That's the reason we are all here," Goal.com quoted Valverde as saying ahead of Barca's semi-final against Atletico.

"It's a completely different format to what we're used to. It was always the first title and the opener of the season and to me, that seemed fine," he added.

The Supercopa was traditionally a two-legged affair played between the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Rey at the beginning of the season, but following last term's one-off meeting between Barca and Sevilla in Tangier, Morocco, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) went ahead with a full revamp.

Instead of just two teams being involved, the Supercopa has been expanded to also include the runners-up from La Liga and the Copa - meaning Barca and Valencia are joined by Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. It is also set to be hosted in Saudi Arabia for the next three editions.

"It's been changed and let's see, it will be judged once it has happened. It's interesting, with four good teams, but from a sporting point of view, I'm not sure," Valverde said.

"We must bear in mind that the football we are involved in is an industry, sources of income are sought and in the same way that there are special connotations in this country, there are also in Morocco, where we played last year," he added.

Barcelona will face Atletico Madrid in the semifinal of the Supercopa at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on January 10.

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Agencies
March 6,2020

Mumbai, Mar 6: Former India batsman Virender Sehwag expressed excitement over the upcoming Road Safety World Series and said he is looking forward to playing with Sachin Tendulkar again.

"I am very excited about this tournament because I will get another chance to play with Sachin. We have played many international matches together and there was a gap and then we played an All-Star match and now again getting a chance. I am looking forward to playing with Tendulkar," Sehwag told media persons.

In the opening match of the Road Safety World Series, India Legends will play against West Indies Legends on March 7. The main aim of the Series is to create awareness about road safety and change people's mindset towards their behaviour on the roads.

Sehwag hailed the initiative of Road Safety World Series and said: "I think it is a very good initiative by the government that they are working towards creating awareness regarding road safety. Awareness regarding road safety is important for everyone."

Road Safety World Series, a five-nation T20 cricket tournament, will showcase some of the biggest names in cricket from India, Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and South Africa.

Players who will feature in this series include Tendulkar, Sehwag, Brian Lara, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Brett Lee, Brad Hodge, Jonty Rhodes, Muttiah Muralitharan, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Ajantha Mendis and many more. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is the Commissioner of the Series.

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News Network
June 6,2020

Mumbai, Jun 6: Reminiscing about his 'special knock' of 208 runs from 153 balls, Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma revealed why his wife Ritika had got emotional after he smashed his third double century in ODIs.

Rohit narrated the incident during his appearance in Episode 2 of the 'Open nets with Mayank'.

The batsman, who was accompanied by Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank on the show, said his wife thought that he had twisted his hand while diving for the 196th run during the innings.

"As you can see my wife got emotional there, this day was special as it was my anniversary. Probably the best gift I could give it to her while I am on the field, it was quite emotional though," said Rohit during the candid chat.

"When I came from the ground, I just asked her why did you (Ritika) cry? So she told me that she thought I (Rohit) twisted my hand when I dived for my 196th run and that was a little worrying factor for her, she got little emotional of because of that I guess," Rohit added.

In the match, the 32-year-old scored 208 runs with 13 fours and 12 sixes against Sri Lanka at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.

This enabled India to post a score of 392/4 in the allotted fifty overs.

India then went on to win the match by 141 runs.

"To be honest I was going pretty slow, I never thought I will get to a double hundred but once you cross 125, I feel it gets easier for you because bowlers are under pressure. Unless you make a mistake I don't think you can get out," said Rohit.

Rohit has scored two double hundreds against Sri Lanka and one against Australia in ODIs. The right-handed batsman is the only cricketer to make three double hundreds in ODI history.

Rohit, Shikhar, and Mayank would have been in action for Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, and Kings XI Punjab respectively, had the Indian Premier League (IPL) commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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