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
June 3,2020

Colorado, Jun 3: Formula One boss Chase Carey has said that races will go ahead even if a driver tests positive for coronavirus.

His remarks come as organisers revealed a revised 2020 calendar and the schedule for the first eight races was put in the public domain.

"An individual having been found with a positive infection will not lead to a cancellation of a race. We encourage teams to have procedures in place so if an individual has to be put in quarantine, we have the ability to quarantine them at a hotel and to replace that individual," the official website of Formula One quoted Carey as saying.

"Some things we'd have to talk through and work through. The array of 'what ifs' are too wide to play out every one of them, but a team not being able to race would not cancel the race. I do not think I could sit here and lay out the consequences," he said.

Carey added the organisers will be having the necessary procedures in place so that the race does not get cancelled if a driver ends up testing positive for coronavirus.

"But we will have a procedure in place that finding infection will not lead to a cancellation. If a driver has an infection, teams have reserve drivers available," Carey said.

"We would not be going forward if we were not highly confident we have necessary procedures and expertise and capabilities to provide a safe environment and manage whatever issues arrive," he added.

The Formula One 2020 season will be beginning with the Austrian Grand Prix in July.

F1 currently expects the opening races to be closed events but hopes that fans will be able to attend again when it is safe to do so.

The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race on the same track.

The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that, before a break. There will be then two back to back races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

The Belgian Grand Prix will follow that, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6.

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News Network
January 23,2020

Dhaka, Jan 23: Left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who is part of the Bangladesh squad traveling to Pakistan, posted a cryptic tweet before team's departure which raised a few eyebrows.

On Wednesday evening, Rahman took to Twitter to post a selfie along with his teammates before the team's departure and asked his followers to pray for them, writing: "Heading to Pakistan. Remember us in your prayers."

Bangladesh were earlier reluctant to travel to Pakistan. However, the officials of both the teams met in Dubai and it was after many deliberations, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) agreed to send their team for a cricket series.

Bangladesh will be playing three T20Is, two Tests and an ODI in Pakistan between January and April. The T20I series will be played from January 24-27 in Lahore, followed by the first Test from February 7 to 11.

Bangladesh will then return to Pakistan in April for the one-off ODI which will be played on April 3 and the second Test from April 5-9.

Senior players like Mushfiqur Rahim decided against traveling to Pakistan citing personal reasons. After that, five members of the Bangladesh coaching staff also pulled out of the tour.

Pakistan have also recalled the experienced duo of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, along with pacer Shaheen Afridi for the T20I series.

Squads:

Bangladesh: Mahmudullah (Captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Naim Sheikh, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Liton Kumer Das, MD Mithun, Afif Hossain Dhrubo, Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam Biplob, Mustafizur Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Al-Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Hasan Mahmud.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Ahsan Ali, Amad Butt, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Musa Khan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Usman Qadir.

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Agencies
February 20,2020

New Delhi, Feb 20: Grappler Divya Kakran on Thursday became the second Indian woman to win a gold medal at the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championship.

Divya, a bronze medallist at Asian Games 2018, earned her first gold by winning all her four bouts against Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Japan.

Her final bout against Naruha Matsuyuki of Japan was the closest one but she managed to outclass her opponent 6-4 to seal her name on the gold medal. The 68 kg category was played in round-robin format as only five wrestlers were in the fray.

India is likely to add some more medals to its tally when Nirmala Devi, Pinki, and Sarita go out to grapple for the yellow metal in their respective weight categories.

Three-time Commonwealth championship gold medallist, Nirmala Devi (50 kg) first defeated Munkhnar Byambasuren of Mongolia in the quarterfinals by 6-4 to reach the semis.

In the semi-finals, Nirmala got the better of Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of Uzbekistan by 10-0 and will play against 2018 Under-23 World Champion Miho Igarashi of Japan for the gold medal.

Pinki (55 kg) started her day on a winning note against Shokhida Akhmedova of Uzbekistan by 12-4 in round 3 and lost to Kana Higashikawa of Japan to enter the semis where she defeated Marina Zuyeva of Kazakistan by a score of 6-0.

Pinki will play in the gold medal bout against Dulguun Bolormaa of Mongolia.

Sarita (59 kg) will now face Battsetseg Altantsetseg of Mongolia in the gold medal bout after winning against her opponents in the qualifiers, quarterfinals and semi-final by a score of 10-0, 11-0 and 10-3, respectively.

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