India win toss, elect to bowl in 1st Australia T20

Agencies
November 21, 2018

Brisbane, Nov 21: India captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bowl in their opening Twenty20 international in Brisbane on Wednesday, kicking off a two-month long tour.

The visitors are favourites to get off to a winning start having claimed victory in their last four games over the short format. In contrast, Australia have lost their previous four.

India are boosted by a full-strength squad with batting powerhouse Kohli back leading the team after he skipped their recent series against the West Indies

He named a strong pace attack led by the experienced Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar on a Gabba pitch expected to offer bounce.

"It looks like a hard track with a decent amount of grass on it," said Kohli.

"We haven't had much of time here, so we would like to see how the pitch behaves. It's going to be competitive."

Australia opted for spinner Adam Zampa instead of paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile, with Andrew Tye and Billy Stanlake leading the attack. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins are all rested for the series.

"I would have preferred to bowl first, but I don't mind putting up a score on the board. It is a beautiful wicket," said Australia skipper Aaron Finch.

The game is the first of three T20s between the two sides in the space of five days before they face off in four Tests, followed by a one-day series.

The last time India played a T20 series in Australia (in 2016) they blanked the hosts 3-0.

Australia: D'Arcy Short, Aaron Finch (capt), Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Ben McDermott, Alex Carey, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff, Billy Stanlake

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (capt), Lokesh Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed

Umpires: Paul Wilson (AUS) and Simon Fry (AUS)

TV umpire: Gerard Abood (AUS)

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

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News Network
April 8,2020

London, Apr 8: England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has raised more than 65,000 pound (USD 80,000) to help fight the coronavirus by auctioning off his World Cup final shirt.

Buttler's shirt, which he wore when completing the last-ball run-out that saw England beat New Zealand at Lord's last year, was sold to raise money for specialist heart and lung centres provided by the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in London.

Buttler, who earlier in the showpiece match had hit a fifty and batted in the Super Over, put his long-sleeve keeping jersey up for sale on eBay a week ago.

By the time the auction closed on Tuesday, the shirt had attracted 82 bids with the winner paying 65,100 pound.

Buttler, speaking on Monday, said: "It's a very special shirt but I think it takes on extra meaning with it being able to hopefully go to the emergency cause.

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Agencies
April 25,2020

London, Apr 25: Former Australian cricketer Graeme Watson who was fighting cancer, has died at the age of 75.

Primarily a middle-order batsman and a medium-pace bowler, he featured in five Tests from 1967 to 1972 and two ODIs in 1972, ESPNcricinfo reported.

The all-rounder earned the national call during the 1966-67 tour of Rhodesia and South Africa. Watson slammed a half-century in the first innings of the second Test of the series.

However, the medium-pace bowler was ruled of the next test after suffering an ankle injury. He returned for the fourth Test in Johannesburg where scalped his career-best 2 for 67 but failed to leave a mark with the bat as Kangaroos lost the series.

In 1971-72 he moved to Western Australia and played a major role in their Sheffield-Shield win in 1971-72, 1972-73, and 1974-75 seasons.

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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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