Irani Cup: Gopal, Vinay seal title for Karnataka

February 12, 2014

Irani_Cup2014

Bangalore, Feb 12: Karnataka ended their golden first-class season with their eighth outright win in nine matches with Vinay Kumar registering his fourth first-class 10-wicket haul on his 30th birthday, and legspinner Shreyas Gopal delivering Karnataka's eighth first-class hat-trick to run through the tail. In the process, Karnataka became the first Ranji champion side to win the Irani Cup in the last nine seasons.

The win for Karnataka was imminent with a huge first-innings lead to their credit and only seven wickets left to take, but they will be pleased with the hurry it came with. Vinay and Abhimanyu Mithun began the morning with long spells. Vinay bowled nine overs on the trot for 43 runs and picked up the crucial wickets of overnight batsman Dinesh Karthik and then Mandeep Singh. Both batsmen fell to what looked like outswingers, but seamed and skidded after pitching. Karthik was bowled while Mandeep caught in front. Amit Mishra, whom CM Gautam dropped on nought, soon ran himself out, and it was all Gopal after that.

Harbhajan Singh holed out to mid-on, half-centurion Baba Aparajith ran out of partners and found long-off looking for quick runs. The next two balls were wrong'uns that went through the big bat-pad gap provided by Ashok Dinda and Pankaj Singh. Pankaj's wicket also marked the end of the match, and loud cheering among the 50 or so spectators that turned up.

Vinay, who became the third Karnataka captain to have won both Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup as a Karnataka captain, said the win was a great birthday gift from his team to him. "It's a great feeling," he said, "We have been waiting for 15 years as a team, and I have been waiting for 10 years as a player to play for Karnataka in the Irani Cup. It's been a great performance by the team. Everyone who got a chance to play has performed well, and it's been a great experience to lead such wonderful bunch of players."

Vinay was also full of praise for J Arun Kumar and Mansoor Ali Khan, the batting and bowling coaches of the side. "They have been both part of Ranji- and Irani-winning squads, and they used to tell us about the feeling of being double champions. They instilled the feeling of togetherness, and they were more of friends than coaches. It was a pleasure to have them around and work with them."

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Former India women's team captain Anjum Chopra firmly believes that the BCCI has a plan for women's cricket but she wants the Board to communicate its ideas more specifically.

Speaking to news agency, Chopra, who is now a successful broadcaster, said the BCCI is thinking in earnest about the progress of women's cricket.

"It's not that the BCCI is not thinking about women's cricket. I only think they need to be more specific in communication about women's cricket," Chopra said.

"I firmly believe that they must be thinking about women's cricket but the communication all this while has been very specific to men's cricket."

The latest trigger for criticism of BCCI was India's withdrawal from a tour of England in September owing to logistical issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chopra concedes it was "not nice" but Indian players' participation in the women's IPL, in November, will still be useful preparation for next year's ODI World Cup.

"It is heartening to see women's cricket making headlines. They should have been a part of that England tour and it did not feel nice initially but the women's IPL, irrespective of the format, will be helpful for World Cup preparations. Any form of cricket is good preparation," Chopra said.

"Missing out on a tournament is not nice, but logistically there may have been issues. And you can't send an under-prepared team."

"If you see in isolation we may have missed out on an opportunity to play in England. The more the girls play the better it is, before playing a tournament of the stature of World Cup. The assurance from the president is a very good thing."

Chopra welcomed the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI's decision to hold the women's event in the UAE alongside the IPL, which will run from September 19 to November 10. The women's IPL will coincide with the business end of the men's league.

"I am definitely happy, it's always nice to be part of any cricket anywhere across the world.

"They should have been nearing the final stages of the preparation for the World Cup by now, but because of the pandemic things did not go as planned," she added.

Chopra had a successful international career spanning over 17 years, during which she represented India in a record six World Cups and became the first woman cricketer to appear in 100 One-day Internationals.

She also felt that the pandemic would not have much impact on the women's game that has gained momentum in recent times.

"...Cricket was on pause button...Once cricket resumes and players are back on the park, everything is going to get picked up. It might take some time to get started as everything starts from zero...

"The awareness the women's game has created, I hope it stays. They will just restart, not start after the pandemic."

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News Network
February 29,2020

Feb 29: India were all out for 242 in their first innings following a stunning battling collapse, triggered by paceman Kyle Jamieson on the opening day of the second cricket Test against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval, here on Saturday.

India were steady at 194 for five at tea but lost wickets in quick succession after the play resumed. Jamieson returned figures of 14-3-45-5.

Hanuma Vihari top-scored for India with his combative 55 while Prithvi Shaw (54) and Cheteshwar Pujara (54) hit contrasting half-centuries.

Virat Kohli's (3) poor run continued while his deputy Ajikya Rahane (7) also fell cheaply.

India lost last five wickets for 48 runs, of which 26 were contributed by last-wicket pair of Mohammed Shami (16) and Jasprit Bumrah (10).

Brief Scores:

India 1st innings: 242 all out in 63 overs. (H Vihari 55, P Shaw 54, C Pujara 54 batting; Kyle Jamieson 5/45, Tim Southee 2/38, ).

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Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

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