Kohli eye Zimbabwe whitewash after 4th consecutive win

August 2, 2013

Kohli_eyeBulawayo, Aug 2: After hammering minnows Zimbabwe yet again, India skipper Virat Kohli now has his eyes trained on a 5-0 clean sweep of the hosts in the ODI series.

India today spanked Zimbabwe by nine wickets for a 4-0 lead in the five-match series.

"Definitely (that's the aim). We want to end on a high and go home with smile on face. We want to finish the series properly and if we execute things, proper results will follow," Kohli said when asked if he has a 5-0 result in mind.

Kohli credited his bowlers and top-order batsmen.

"The pitch was doing a bit early and we tried to extract. Our bowlers did a great job and then Rohit and Raina finished it off well," he said.

Rohit Sharma (64) and Raina (65) scored unbeaten half-centuries and shared a 122-run strand in 21.2 overs in India's chase of 145.

"It was good to see Rohit performing consistently. He was not getting runs early in the series."

Kohli had good words to say about debutant paceman Mohit Sharma and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

"Jadeja is a good allrounder and he showed what he can do with the wickets and that run-out. Mohit was accurate from ball one which was pleasing to see as it was his first game. We are really proud of him and I wish him luck," Kohli said.

Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor looked dejected after the side's fourth successive defeat.

"It is pretty frustrating. It was a good batting wicket. We did all the hard work but couldn't execute it there. We keep getting ourselves out and keep capitulating, it's difficult to come back from that," he said.

Nevertheless he hoped that the team would put up a good show in the last match on Saturday.

"We try to stay relax and keep the morale up. The series has not gone well and fortunately there's one more game. We've had our chances but couldn't grab them."

Mohit Sharma was named Man of the Match for returning figures of two for 26 on debut.

"I am feeling good. Thanks to the coach and captain for giving me this chance. I did not try much, just kept the things simple, I stuck to basics. Hopefully I will do well in the next match as well," he said.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Columbo, Jan 28: The Sri Lanka Cricket Board on Monday announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Women`s T20 World Cup, slated to commence from February 21. The board also announced five standby players for the ensuing tournament.

The squad members are -- Chamari Atapattu (captain), Harshitha Madavi (vice captain), Anushka Sanjeewani, Hansima Karunaratne, Shashikala Siriwardene, Nilakshi De Silva, Ama Kanchana, Kavisha Dilhari, Udeshika Probodhani, Achini Kulasuriya, Hasini Perera, Sathya Sandeepani, Umesha Thimashini, Sugandika Kumari, Dilani Manodara.

The standby players are -- Sachini Nisansala, Prasadani Weerakkody, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Tharika Sewwandi, Inoka Ranaweera.

Sri Lanka will take on New Zealand in their opening encounter on February 22.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Lahore, Apr 27: Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has been banned from all forms of cricket for three years for failing to report spot-fixing offers, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced Monday.

Umar, who turns 30 next month, pleaded guilty to not reporting the fixing offers which led to his provisional suspension on February 20 this year.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: It was on April 2, 2011, when the Men in Blue went on to win their second 50-over World Cup title.

India won its first World Cup in 1983 and then had to wait for 28 years to again lift the title.
Going into the 2011 tournament, India went in as the clear favourites as the competition was to be played in the sub-continent.

Under MS Dhoni's leadership, India lost just one match in the competition against South Africa.
India had defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the semi-final to set up a summit clash with Sri Lanka.

In the finals, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. Mahela Jayawardene top-scored for Sri Lanka as he struck a century to take the team's score to 274/6.

India in their chase got off to a bad start as the side lost Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag with just 31 runs on the board.

But Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni stepped up and stitched a match-winning 109-run partnership.

Gambhir perished after playing a knock of 97 runs, but in the end, Dhoni and Yuvraj took the team over the line by six wickets.

The winning six struck by Dhoni is still viewed as one of the most exciting moments in India's sporting history. 

As the winning six was hit, Ravi Shastri was doing commentary then, and he famously remarked, "Dhoni, finishes it off in style, India lifts the World Cup after 28 years".
As soon as the match-winning shot was hit, Tendulkar erupted with joy and had tears to see his dream finally being fulfilled.

Earlier this year, former Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the 2011 World Cup win, titled 'Carried On the Shoulders Of A Nation', was voted the greatest Laureus Sporting Moment of the last twenty years.

The lap after the World Cup is still edged into everyone's hearts.

Playing in his last mega 50-over tournament, it was the last chance for Tendulkar to lift the coveted trophy.

Before the 2011 World Cup, Tendulkar had played five tournaments (1992,1996,1999,2003 and 2007), and he fell short every time.

The closest he came to winning the trophy was in 2003 as India made the finals under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly.

But the Men in Blue fell short in the finals against Australia.

Then in 2007, the biggest setback was in store for the legend has India bowed out of the tournament in the group stages.

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