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India extend domination with 9-wicket win in rain-marred tie

Agencies
October 8, 2017

New Delhi: Rain almost ruined the effort of Indian bowlers before letting up just in time to allow the hosts an easy nine-wicket win by D/L method in the first T20I of the five-match series in Ranchi on Saturday.

Clouds opened up when India had crippled Australia, leaving them at 118/8 in the 18.4 overs. But the rain gods showed mercy five minutes before cut-off time to allow India chase a re-worked target of 48 in 6 overs.

India achieved the mark in the last over of their shortened innings in an exciting finish, where they needed six runs to win in six balls. But captain Virat Kohli (22* off 14) didn't allow Australia to take it to the last ball, finishing in style with a boundary off Dan Christian.

Shikhar Dhawan remained unbeaten on 12. Rohit Sharma (11) was the only wicket India lost. He was bowled by Australia's lone wicket-taker Nathan Coulter-Nile.

Earlier, led by Kuldeep Yadav's 2/16 and Jasprit Bumrah's toe-crushing spell of 2/17, India reduced the visitors from 76/3 in 9.5 overs to 114/8 in 18.1.

Barring Aaron Finch's 42 in 30 balls, none of the Australian batsmen could get the measure of either the pitch or the Indian bowlers after Kohli opted to bowl due to overcast conditions.

India welcomed left-handed opener Dhawan back into the eleven, while replacing Axar Patel - who played the fifth ODI - with chinaman spinner Yadav. Dhawan took Rahane's place.

Australia received a blow ahead of the series opener when their regular skipper Steve Smith was ruled out for the rest of the tour with a shoulder injury. He was replaced by David Warner as skipper.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave India the perfect start when, after being hit for two consecutive boundaries, he castled Warner (8) who chopped an outswinger onto his stumps.

Finch and a scratchy Glenn Maxwell then added 47 runs for the second wicket. That partnership was ended by the introduction of Chahal, who dismissed the dangerous Australia allrounder for the fourth time on this tour.

Maxwell (17 off 16) hit a rank short ball straight into the hands of Bumrah at short mid-wicket, bringing a wry smile on Chahal's face.

Finch was then joined by Travis Head but the two could take the score only to 76 in the 10th over when Yadav outfoxed Finch with a straight delivery that beat the opener's bat to rattle the stumps.

The innings was then reduced to a procession of batsmen as Moises Henriques (8) and Head (9) fell within the space of two runs.

Wicketkeeper Tim Paine showed some spark hitting a six and a four in his 16-ball 17 but didn't have an answer to death-over specialist Bumrah, who cleaned him up and followed that by Coulter-Nile's (1) wicket.

The two wickets also made him the second highest Indian wicket-taker in T20Is, after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

In all, six of the eight Australian batsmen were bowled.

Bhuvneshwar, Hardik Pandya and Chahal took a wicket each and Australia had Adam Zampa (4*) and Andrew Tye (0*) at the crease when the umpires signalled for the covers to be brought on.

The second T20I will be played on Oct 10 in Guwahati.

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News Network
May 30,2020

New Delhi, May 30: Former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand will be finally reaching India late on Saturday after being stuck in Germany for over three months due to the travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yes.. Anand will be returning today," the chess maestro's wife Aruna told PTI on Saturday morning. Anand, who boarded an Air India flight (AI-120) from Frankfurt on Friday night will reach Bengaluru via Delhi.

He is expected to reach Bengaluru at 1.15 pm. The five-time world champion will undergo 14 days quarantine as per rules laid down by the Karnataka government.

"He will complete quarantine procedures and come to Chennai as per protocol," Aruna Anand said. The flights from Germany are only scheduled to land only in Delhi and Bengaluru.

The chess ace was in Germany to play in the Bundesliga chess league and was to return to India, but was forced to stay put after the COVID-19 outbreak disrupted sporting schedules across the globe, apart from restricting movement.

He was staying near Frankfurt and was doing online commentary for the Candidates tournament which was called off mid-way due to the pandemic and led the Indian team in the Online Nations Cup early this month.

Anand had been in touch with his family in Chennai on a regular basis via video calls and kept himself busy with chess-related work.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Islamabad, Aug 7: Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, known for his blistering deliveries on the cricket field, recently baffled many with a deadly off-field bouncer by claiming he is willing to eat grass if it enabled an increase in budget for his country's Army!

"If Allah ever gives me the authority, I will eat grass myself but I will increase the budget of the army," said Akhtar in an interview with ARY News.

The 'Rawalpindi Express', considered the fastest bowler in history said he does not understand why the civilian sector cannot work in collaboration with the Armed forces.

"I will ask my army chief to sit with me and make decisions. If the budget is 20 per cent, I will make it 60 per cent. If we insult each other, the loss is ours only," the once feared fast-bowler said.

Akthar had also claimed to ARY News interview that he was willing to take a bullet for his country and had turned down a county stint just because he wanted to fight the 1999 Kargil War.

Ties between India and Pakistan have been strained in the recent months over several issues, the latest being Pakistan's attempt to broach in the UNSC the issue of Kashmir on the first anniversary of the India's move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and to split the erstwhile state into two union territories .

Pakistan also has not been in a good financial position and under prime minister Imran Khan, himself an all rounder cricketer, has added nearly USD 22 billion, that is 35 per cent to the nation's international debt pile in the last two years, according to an Asia Times report in July.

While Pakistan recently received USD 1.39 billion from the IMF to cushion the economic shocks caused due to COVID-19 outbreak, Akthar had a few months ago proposed that a joint cricket match be played between India and Pakistan to raise funds to fight the coronavirus. The suggestion that was put down by cricketers in India.

Meanwhile the 'Pindi boy' whose deadly pace and bounce was once dreaded by batsmen had recently taken to Twitter to deny former India cricketer Virender Sehwag's claim of sledging him.

Sehwag along with other Indian crickerters such as Harbhajan Singh and even Rahul Dravid had been at the receiving end of Akthar's sledging and antics during their playing days.

"Yes, totally self made story by him. Mujhe yeh bol k bach k jana kidhar tha us nay," Akthar tweeted to a report in which Sehwag claimed that he had sledged the 'Rawalpindi Express' by telling him that Sachin Tendulkar was his father.

During an awards ceremony Sehwag had recounted that fed up with Akthar's sledging and retaliated by telling him to say the same things to Tendulkar, who smashed the 'Pindi boy' for a six. Sehwag quipped that he told Akthar then that "Baap baap hota hai".

In the recent ARY interview, asked about the allegation made against him by former India cricketer Virendra Sehwag that he makes pro-India comments for greater following on social media channels, Akhtar said, "I cannot talk on the basis of hate." 

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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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