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Heinrich Klaasen, JP Duminy mastermind Proteas' series-levelling win in 2nd T20I

Agencies
February 23, 2018

Centurion, Feb 23: Unheralded Heinrich Klaasen played a blinder of an innings while skipper JP Duminy led from the front with an unbeaten half-century to hand South Africa a series-levelling six-wicket win in the second Twenty20 International at Centurion on Wednesday.

Set a challenging target of 189, South Africa rode on local boy Klaasen's 69 off 30 deliveries and skipper Duminy's unbeaten 64 off 40 balls to chase down the score in 18.4 overs.

The Indian bowlers, especially leg-spinner spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, found it difficult to grip the bowl with constant drizzle pouring in for most part of the South African innings.

South Africa made a modest start to their chase with openers Reeza Hendricks (26) and Jon-Jon Smuts (2) sharing 24 runs for the opening wicket.

But left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat (2/42) broke the partnership when he induced a leading edge in the fourth over from Smuts and it was gleefully accepted by Suresh Raina.

To make matters worse for the hosts, Hendricks departed in the final ball off the next over when he was holed out by Hardik Pandya at deep square leg off Shardul Thakur.

However, credit should go to Klaasen and Duminy who brought South Africa back into the match with a blazing 93-run stand for the third wicket which came off just 49 balls after they were down to 38 for 2 at one stage.

Klaasen used the crease to perfection and struck three boundaries and as many as seven sixes during his fiery knock in front of his home crowd.

Duminy played the second fiddle and gave Klaasen the perfect support from the other end as the wicket-keeper batsman went hammer and tongs.

After bringing South Africa in sight of victory, Klaasen finally departed when he top-edged a Unadkat delivery straight to Dhoni behind the stumps in the 14th over.

Thereafter Duminy took the onus on himself to guide South Africa home and together with Farhaan Behardien (16 not out) shared unconquered 48 runs for the fifth wicket to seal the series-levelling victory.

Duminy was cool as cucumber as he never panicked after Klaasen's dismissal and finished off the chase in style with two consecutive sixes of Unadkat.

Earlier, Manish Pandey and Mahendra Singh Dhoni slammed quickfire half-centuries to guide India to a challenging 188 for four.

While Pandey remained unbeaten on 79 off 48 balls, veteran Dhoni made 52 off 28 deliveries.

The duo shared 98 runs for the fifth wicket in just 9.2 overs to take India to the commanding total.

Sent into bat, India were dealt a severe blow in the first ball of the second over when Rohit Sharma was caught plumb in front of the wicket for a golden duck by Junior Dala (2/28).

But thereafter, Shikhar Dhawan (24 off 14) came to the party and clobbered Chris Morris for two fours and as many sixes in the third over over to up the ante.

Raina (31 off 24) matched his partner stroke-for-stroke and hit right-arm pacer Dane Peterson for three boundaries in the next over to take India to 40 for one after four overs.

With his pacers going for runs, skipper Duminy brought himself on to the attack in the next over but was welcomed by Dhawan with an exquisite pull to the midwicket boundary.

Duminy, however, got his man in the next ball as Dhawan hit a full toss straight to Behardien at mid-on.

India received a big blow in the next over when skipper Virat Kohli gloved a rising Dala delivery straight to Klaasen behind the stumps.

Thereafter, Raina and Pandey added quick 45 runs off 31 balls for the fourth wicket to take India forward.

But the dangerous-looking partnership was broken by Andile Phehlukwayo in the 11th over when he had Raina lbw.

After Raina's dismissal, Pandey and Dhoni mixed caution with aggression to take India forward.

The duo took time to settle down but once they got their eyes set, they smashed the South African bowlers to all around the park.

While Pandey struck six boundaries and three sixes during his knock, Dhoni was not far behind his younger partner as he found the fence four times and over it thrice.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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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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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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