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James Faulkner stars as Lancashire win T20 Blast final

August 30, 2015

London, Aug 30: Australia all-rounder James Faulkner capped an eventful couple of months by helping Lancashire to a 13-run win over Northamptonshire in the final of English domestic cricket`s Twenty20 Blast tournament at Edgbaston on Saturday.

Faulkner

Faulkner, man-of-the-match in Australia`s World Cup final win over New Zealand in Melbourne in March, was fined £10,000 ($15,650, 14,350 euros) and banned from driving for two years by an English court on August 5 after being found to be nearly three times over the legal alcohol limit when his car was involved in a minor collision with the back of another vehicle in Manchester.

Prior to that drink-drive punishment, Cricket Australia temporarily banned Faulkner for "conduct that is unbecoming of a representative", ruling him out of both last week`s one-day international against Ireland in Belfast and the upcoming white-ball matches against England, starting with Monday`s Twenty20 in Cardiff.

But the focus was back on the 25-year-old Faulkner`s cricket on Saturday as Lancashire, last season`s beaten finalists, ended a 16-year wait for a limited overs trophy.

The Tasmanian took two for 25, including both Northamptonshire openers David Willey and Richard Levi, and afterwards Lancashire coach Ashley Giles told Sky Sports: "(Faulkner has) a huge impact on the whole team. He`s been a pleasure to have around.

"His skills are undoubted and he loves these big occasions -- he just steps up and gets on with it," the former England left-arm spinner added.

Sent into bat, Lancashire made 166 for seven in their 20 overs, a total built on a 77-run opening stand between South Africa`s Ashwell Prince (43) and Alex Davies (47), who was named man-of-the-match.Pakistan star Shahid Afridi helped check Lancashire`s progress, the veteran all-rounder taking a superb three for 14 in a maximum four overs with his leg-spinners.

Meanwhile, Northampton-born Willey, set to leave his native side for county champions Yorkshire, saw his left-arm fast-medium bowling yield figures of two for 21.

Northamptonshire had stormed into finals day on the back of Willey`s blistering 40-ball hundred against Sussex -- the quickest Twenty20 century by an Englishman.

The way he struck Faulkner into the Eric Hollies Stand for six on Saturday hinted at similar heroics.

But Faulkner responded by removing Levi (16) and England limited overs all-rounder Willey (24) in the space of four balls, with the aid of catches at mid-off and mid-wicket respectively.

Josh Cobb (44 not out) and Afridi (26) revived Northamptonshire`s hopes with a rapid fifth-wicket stand of 52.

Afridi, nicknamed `Boom Boom` on account of his penchant for big-hitting, struck one huge six while another fierce hit straight back at Faulkner left the Australian needing to have his finger straightened out by a member of the Lancashire medical staff.

But Gavin Griffiths effectively ended Northamptonshire`s victory charge when he induced Afridi to hole out to Liam Livingstone in the deep.

"To win would have been a dream finish for me," said Willey. "As has been well documented, we`re a small club and we`ve overachieved so credit to the lads and backroom staff.

"Unfortunately we couldn`t get across the line."

The semi-finals saw Lancashire dismiss Hampshire for 115 in a six-wicket win, while Northamptonshire beat Edgbaston-based Warwickshire by five wickets, with Levi making 63 not out as they chased down a target of 132.

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News Network
February 29,2020

Melbourne, Feb 29: India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur on Saturday said the team management has given Shafali Verma the freedom to play her natural game, which has set the Women's T20 World Cup ablaze.

The 16-year-old announced her emergence on the global stage by becoming the second highest run getter in the ongoing tournament. She has so far scored 161 runs, hitting 18 fours and nine sixes in four matches at an astounding strike rate of 161.

On Saturday, Shafali hit a 34-ball 47 to steer India to a seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka after spinner Radha Yadav produced a career-best 4/23.

"Shafali is someone who loves to play big shots, and we don't want to stop her. She should continue doing the same and she should continue enjoying her game," Harmanpreet said after the match.

India entered the semifinals with an all-win record as they led Group A with eight points from four games and the captain insisted it is important to continue the winning momentum.

"It's really important to keep the momentum when you are winning games. You really work hard, so you can't afford to lose that momentum. You can't bowl same pace and lengths on these wickets, so you need to keep rotating the bowlers."

"Today I tried to be positive and got a few boundaries. In the upcoming games I'll try to give my best," Harmanpreet said.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Atapattu rued the reprieves given by her side to Shafali in the form of two dropped catches.

"I think that score was not enough, we lost couple of chances, specially Shafali, it was hard to stop her," she said.

"Yeah, I got a good start but unfortunately got out in the 10th, would have wanted to stay in there till the 16th or the 17th over. I hope we can beat Bangladesh in our last game," she added.

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News Network
February 11,2020

Dubai, Feb 11: Two Indian players-- Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi -- and three Bangladeshis have been charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for involvement in the quarrel just after the U-19 cricket World Cup summit clash in Potchefstroom, South Africa on Sunday.

Akash and Bishnoi and three Bangladeshi players -- Md. Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan -- were found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct after a few players from both sides nearly came to blows after Bangladesh beat India by three wickets to win their maiden U-19 World Cup title.

"Five players have been found guilty of a Level 3 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Support Personnel ... (they) were charged with violating Article 2.21 of the code, whilst Bishnoi received a further charge of breaching Article 2.5," the ICC said in a statement.

"All five players have accepted the sanctions proposed by ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup Match Referee Graeme Labrooy," it added.

A near brawl broke out after Bangladesh’s historic win over India in the final. The Bangladesh players were aggressive during the Indian innings with lead pacer Shoriful Islam frequently sledging the Indian batsmen.

As soon as the match ended, Bangladeshi players rushed into the playing area.

"India's Akash accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of eight suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years," the ICC said.

Compatriot Bishnoi accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of five suspension points, which equates to five demerit points.

"Bishnoi also accepted a level 1 charge of breaching Article 2.5 for a separate incident during the match, where he used language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter following the dismissal of Avishek Das in the 23rd over," said the ICC.

"For this he received a further two demerit points meaning seven demerit points will remain on his record for the next two years."

Bangladesh's Towhid Hridoy accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of ten suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

Shamim Hossain accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of eight suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

Rakibul Hasan accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of four suspension points, which equates to five demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

All charges were levelled by on-field umpires Sam Nogajski and Adrian Holdstock, third umpire Ravindra Wimalasiri as well as fourth umpire Patrick Bongni Jele. Level 3 breaches carry a minimum penalty of four suspension points and a maximum penalty of 12 suspension points.

The suspension points will be applied to the forthcoming international matches the players are most likely to participate in at either senior or U-19 level. One suspension point equals a player being ineligible for one ODI or T20I, U-19 or A team international match.

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Agencies
August 6,2020

New Delhi, Aug 6: The BCCI on Thursday suspended the IPL title sponsorship deal with Chinese mobile phone company Vivo for the event's upcoming edition amid heightened tensions in Sino-India diplomatic ties.

The BCCI sent out a one-line statement, without giving details, saying that Vivo would not be associated with the IPL this year. "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd have decided to suspend their partnership for Indian Premier League in 2020," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Vivo released its own statement saying that the two entities "have mutually decided to pause their partnership for the 2020 season".

Vivo won the IPL title sponsorship rights for five years from 2018 to 2022 for a reported sum of Rs 2,190 crore, approximately Rs 440 crore per annum.

The two parties are now working out a plan in which Vivo might come back for a fresh three-year period starting 2021 on revised terms.

However, a top BCCI official offered a different view. "Here we are talking about diplomatic tensions and you expect that after November, when IPL ends and before the next IPL starts in April 2021, there would be no anti-China sentiment? Are we serious?" a veteran BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

The anti-China sentiment in the country peaked after the violent face-off between the Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh. India lost 20 soldiers in the clash, while China also acknowledged unspecified casualties.

The stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) caused outrage across India with several calls for boycotts of Chinese companies and products.

The BCCI is now likely to float a tender for new IPL title sponsors as mandated by its constitution. The glitzy T20 league starts on Sept. 19 in the UAE, forced out of India due to the rising COVID-19 cases.

The new development is in stark contrast to what came out of Sunday's IPL's Governing Council meeting, where it was decided that Vivo, along with all the other sponsors, will remain on board.

This was after the BCCI had announced in June that all sponsorship deals pertaining to IPL will be reviewed in the aftermath of the clash in the Galwan Valley.

However, after Sunday's meeting, there was a huge backlash on social media about the BCCI holding on to Vivo.

Both parties then began thrashing out an amicable separation plan, at least for this season.

However, the end of this deal could spell losses for the franchises as they get a substantial share from the sponsorship pool. Half of the annual Vivo sponsorship money is distributed equally among eight franchises, which comes to Rs 27.5 crore.

"As of now, it will be very difficult for the BCCI to match the sponsorship amount at such short notice. Therefore, both BCCI and the franchises should be prepared to lose out on some money -- BCCI more but each franchise from Vivo's exit will potentially lose 15 crore," the official said.

"This year will be difficult for everyone but the show must go on," the official said.

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