IND vs WI 4th ODI: India crush West Indies by 224 runs, take 2-1 lead

Agencies
October 29, 2018

Mumbai, Oct 30: India embarrassed the West Indies by 224 runs in the fourth One-day International on Monday for one of their biggest wins and a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

Rohit Sharma (162) and Ambati Rayudu (100) struck belligerent centuries to guide India to an imposing 377 for five after the hosts opted to bat.

The duo took centre stage after a rare failure by skipper Virat Kohli.

Rohit's 21st century came off 137 balls with the help of 20 fours and four hits over the fence, while Rayudu decorated his 100-run knock with eight boundaries and four sixes.

Chasing 378, West Indies simply caved in against India's clinical bowling attack on what was a batting-friendly wicket to be bundled out for a paltry 153 in 36.2 overs.

Young pacer Khaleel Ahmed (3/13) impressed upfront before chinaman Kuldeep Yadav (3/42)) ran through the West Indies' tail.

The Indians dished out an impressive effort on the field, inflicting two run outs besides Rohit holding onto three fine catches in the slips.

This is India's third biggest win in the format. Their biggest-ever win in ODI remains the 257-run demolition of Bermuda in the 2007 ICC World Cup.

West Indies' chase never really got going as they lost half of their side inside the 50-run mark with Khaleel doing the bulk of the damage.

Except for skipper Jason Holder (54 not out), no other West Indian batsmen could withstand the Indian attack, as the visitors lost wickets at regular intervals and were never really in the hunt.

West Indies lost two wickets - Chandrapul Hemraj (14) and Shai Hope (0) - in the fifth over. While Hemraj gave a sitter to Rayadu off Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Hope was run out courtesy a stunning direct hit by Kuldeep from mid-on.

Matters became worse for the visitors after Kieran Powell (4) was run-out in the very next over by Kohli.

Wickets kept tumbling and the next to be dismissed was Shimron Hetymar (13), who was trapped in front by Ahmed in the 10th over, even though the batsman went for an unsuccessful review.

The 20-year-old Ahmed was on fire as he picked up two more wickets in quick succession. He first cleaned up Rovman Powell (1) and then accounted for Samuels, who edged one to Rohit in the first slip.

Batting first, India made a quick start with Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan (38) and added a run-a-ball 71 for the opening stand before the latter pulled a Keemo Paul short delivery straight to Powell at the midwicket boundary.

Kohli, who hit three consecutive tons before Monday's match, played aggressively for his 16 before edging a Kemar Roach delivery to Hope behind the stumps.

Rohit and Rayudu held fort and continued to play aggressive brand of cricket.

The duo continued the onslaught and made the West Indies attack look ordinary, picking up boundaries and sixes at will.

After Kohli's dismissal, Rohit, who had scored a match-winning unbeaten 152 in the lung-opener at Guhawati, and Rayudu built the innings and in the process shared a breezy 211-run stand for the third wicket, which came off just 163 deliveries.

Rohit didn't spare a single West Indian bowler and made his intentions clear when he opened the account with a boundary over point.

The Mumbaikar initially played second fiddle to Dhawan but after his half century, that came off 60 balls, he upped the ante.

Rohit displayed all the shots in the book - the drives, pulls, flicks and cuts - before he departed in the 44th over.

Rayadu, on the other hand, took time to settle down, but then hammered the bowlers with his exquisite stroke-play - first in Rohit's company and then alongside veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni (23).

Kedar Jadhav (16) and Ravindra Jadeja (7) remained unbeaten as the hosts amassed 116 runs in the last 10 overs.

India won the first ODI by eight wickets before the second game ended in a tie. West Indies bounced back to win the third ODI by 43 runs. The final match of the series will be played in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.

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News Network
February 14,2020

London, Feb 14: Former Sri Lanka skipper and current Marylebone Cricket Club's president Kumar Sangakkara has said that the 2009 Lahore terror attack taught him about his own character and values.

His remarks came as MCC arrived in Pakistan to play T20I matches against Lahore Qalandars. This will mark his first return to the Gaddafi Stadium, where a shocking atrocity took place when the Sri Lankan bus was attacked by terrorists.

The Sri Lankan team was on their way to Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium for a Test match with Pakistan in 2009 when terrorists from the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) fired indiscriminately at their bus. The attack left eight people dead and injured seven Sri Lankan players and staff.

Ever since the incident, no cricket team toured Pakistan to play a cricket series, however, the landscape changed last year as Sri Lanka paid a visit to the country to play a series across formats. After that, even Bangladesh toured Pakistan and now there are talks of South Africa going to the country to play a series.

"I don't think I need any flashbacks, because I remember that day and those moments so very clearly. It's not something I relive or wallow in. But it's an experience you should never forget, because it gives you perspective in terms of life and sport, and you learn a lot about your own values and characters, and those of others," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Sangakkara as saying.

"I have no reservations about talking about it, it's not something that upsets me, but these sorts of experiences can only strengthen you. Today I consider myself very fortunate to be able to come back here to Lahore, and at the same time remember the sacrifice of all those who lost their lives that day," he added.

Sangakkara said that every human has his own way of dealing with such adversity.

"I think everyone deals with it in their own personal way. But at the same time, what really unites us is that you face adversity and you face challenges, and you have to get past it, and you've got to do that successfully. It's about moving forwards and upwards and being part of cricket. Being Sri Lankan you learn those lessons quite well, because, throughout our civil war, cricket was a unique vibe," Sangakkara said.

"We speak about the attack at various times. We even have a laugh about it, in terms of what we went through because it helps sometimes to look at it with a bit of humour, even though there was a tragic loss of life, and other serious injuries within that incident," he added.

MCC in the weeklong tour will take on Lahore Qalandars in a T20 match at the Gaddafi Stadium later today.

Kumar Sangakkara will lead the MCC's twelve-man squad for the tour, which includes Ravi Bopara, Roelof van der Merwe, Ross Whiteley among others.

Fixtures for the upcoming tour are as follows:

MCC vs Lahore Qalandars, T20I, Gaddafi Stadium, February 14

MCC vs Pakistan Shaheens, ODI, Aitchison College, February 16

MCC vs Northern, Aitchison College, T20I, February 17

MCC vs Multan Sultans, Aitchison College, T20I, February 19.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Kuala Lumpur, Jan 9: BWF World Championships defending champion PV Sindhu on Thursday cruised to the quarterfinals of the ongoing Malaysia Masters after winning a second-round match.

The 24-year-old had the upper hand in the clash and thrashed Japan's Aya Ohori in straight games 21-10, 21-15 that lasted for 34-minute. The world number six will now play in her quarterfinal match on January 10.

Earlier in the day, Saina Nehwal defeated South Korea's An Se Young 25-23, 21-12 in 38 minutes. The first game saw back and forth action between both shuttlers. In the end, Nehwal kept her cool to win the match.

On Wednesday, the 29-year-old had outclassed Belgium's Lianne Tan 21-15, 21-17 to progress to the pre-quarterfinals.

Shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the tournament after losing their matches to Japan's Kento Momota and Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei respectively. 

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Agencies
February 23,2020

Madrid, Feb 23: Lionel Messi scored four goals and Barcelona reclaimed the top spot in the La Liga as Real Madrid suffered a surprise defeat by Levante last night, a week before the Clasico.

Madrid's nightmare afternoon was made worse by another injury to Eden Hazard, who was forced off in the second half of their 1-0 defeat in Valencia and is now doubtful to face Manchester City on Wednesday in the Champions League.

"It doesn't look good," said Real coach Zinedine Zidane afterwards.

Messi, meanwhile, ridiculed talk of a goal drought by scoring four against Eibar after four games without one, while emergency signing Martin Braithwaite made two assists off the bench, teeing up Messi and then Arthur Melo in injury-time.

Their 5-0 rout, coupled with Madrid's defeat, means Barca move back to the summit of La Liga, two points ahead of Zidane's side ahead of next Saturday's showdown at the Santiago Bernabeu.

It amounts to a considerable shift in momentum, with Barcelona away at Napoli in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday.

Madrid host City a day later and the plan had been for Hazard to regain form and fitness in what was only his second start since returning from three months out with a broken right foot.

But the Belgian sat in the dug-out with an ice pack around the same foot after going off and Zidane suggested it was a repeat injury after the match. "It can be weak where you've had an injury," he said.

For Madrid, playing catch-up again next weekend will be a particularly heavy psychological blow, especially given the series of off-field problems engulfing Barcelona in recent weeks.

Yet on the pitch, Messi showed no sign of distraction as the 32-year-old completed the second fastest of his now 36 league hat-tricks, after less than 40 minutes at Camp Nou.

"There's nothing left to do but stand up and applaud," Eibar wrote on Twitter afterwards.

"I won't wash my kit after hugging Messi," said Braithwaite.

Braithwaite's arrival from Leganes drew criticism after Barcelona capitalised on a curious La Liga rule that allows clubs to sign outside of the transfer window if they have lost a player to serious injury.

Brilliant Messi

Messi quickly got to work, scoring a brilliant first goal in the 14th minute after collecting the ball centrally, around 30 yards out. He had three Eibar defenders in front of him but found a way through, nutmegging Anaitz Arbilla before chipping delicately into the corner.

The second came in the 37th minute as Sergio Busquets found Arturo Vidal, who feathered a flick into Messi's path. Messi surged forward, past his stumbling opponents, and fired in.

His third, three minutes later, was the simplest of the trio and arrived only after he tried to play in Antoine Griezmann. His generosity was rewarded as a sloppy Griezmann touch meant the ball cannoned back to Messi, who apologetically poked in.

Coach Quique Setien was able to take Griezmann off with 18 minutes left and introduce Braithwaite for his debut. Braithwaite's first contribution was a skewed cross but things improved immeasurably from there, as two passes across goal gave Messi his fourth and Arthur his first.

Madrid were never in control of a chaotic contest against Levante but might have taken the lead if Hazard had done better with a long ball over the top from Marcelo, which he failed to control and then scuffed into the hands of Aitor Fernandez.

He limped off and Madrid lost their way, finally punished with 11 minutes left by a straight ball through to Morales. Luka Modric, exposed on the right side of Madrid's defence, was unable to recover and Morales caught Courtois by surprise by firing early past the goalkeeper and into the top corner.

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