Kohli, Rahane tons lead India fightback on Day 3

December 28, 2014

Virat Kohli

Melbourne, Dec 28: Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane struck fluent centuries and stitched a record 262-run fourth-wicket partnership as India fought back bravely before a late-order slide allowed a sloppy Australia to claw back in the third cricket Test, here today.

Resuming the day on 108 for one in response to the hosts' first innings score of 530, India lost their overnight batsmen early but Kohli (169), registering his third ton in this series, and Rahane (147) made sure that their stand is the highest for India in Australia at the MCG for any wicket.

The visitors ended the day on 462 for eight as they still trail by 68 runs at the end of Day 3.

Aided by five dropped catches, India responded well only to lose a bit of a momentum in the end as new-ball bowler Ryan Harris returned with figures of 4-69.

Pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson (1-133), who bled runs through the day, also got Kohli caught behind to get a consolation wicket as umpires called stumps.

Getting into heated exchanges with Johnson at different stages of his innings, Kohli was dropped on 88 by Shane Watson (1-65) at first slip in the 85th over and made full use of the spill.

Kohli, recording his ninth Test ton, mixed the right dose of caution and aggression in his 272-ball stay, his innings laced with 18 boundaries.

Rahane, who got his century in just 127 balls, hitting 21 fours in his three-hours ten minute stay in the middle.

Rahane was finally trapped lbw off Lyon but not after maintaining a strike rate of 85.96.

Rahane's wicket opened up the gates for the host, who struck back with four wickets for 53 runs in the final session of play.

Debutant Lokesh Rahul (3) failed to capitalise on a dropped chance at mid-wicket off Lyon only to play another similar stroke against the off-spinner on the very next delivery as the ball took a top adge and settled into the hands of Josh Hazlewood (0-75) at fine leg.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (11) fiddled around for sometime but his tentative approach from the very start cost him his wicket after Harris got the wicketkeeper-batsman caught behind.

Ravichandran Ashwin was the next as part of the mini-procession and the No.8 batsman could only face four balls before being caught and bowled off Harris for a nought.

Harris was supported by Lyon (2-108) and Watson. The bowlers gave away far too many runs but were disciplined in the sense that they conceded just 2 extra in the innings so far.

Post-tea, the two batsmen had looked to increase their 189-run stand and did so quite well. They crossed the 200-run partnership mark in the 99th over of the innings, becoming the first batting pair ever to put on a 200-standd for the 4th wicket at the MCG.

Then they scored the next fifty at brisk pace, the 250-stand coming in the 106th over with the 400-mark coming the next over. India were scoring at more than six runs per over in that passage of play.

But things changed soon in the 108th over when Lyon trapped Rahane lbw to trigger a late-order collapse. Rahul was a bag of nerves and was dropped by substitute fielder Peter Siddle at mid-wicket in the 110th over.

But the youngster played a horrendous sweep shot to on the very next ball get a top-edge and get caught at fine leg.

Harris returned to account for Dhoni and Ashwin (0) as India went from 409/4 to 434/7. Meanwhile, Kohli stayed solid and crossed the 150-run mark in his Test career for the first time. He was out just before stumps, putting up 28 runs for the eighth wicket with Shami.

Earlier, Kohli and Rahane built on their 77-run platform they had laid in the morning. The latter had been more aggressive of the two batsmen and he continued in the same vein. He got to his half-century in the 71st over, off 60 balls, and two overs later brought up the 100-run partnership between them.

India crossed the 250-mark in the 74th over and were nearing the follow-on mark when things got a bit frantic in the middle. First, Lyon dropped Rahane (70 not out) in the 80th over, completely missing a simple return catch.

Then as the second new ball was taken, Johnson hit Kohli with a return throw. The batsman had an angry go at him and then lost his composure. In the 85th over he edged behind off the same bowler and was dropped by Watson at first slip.

Kohli then top-edged one off Johnson in the following over only for keeper Brad Haddin not being able to reach the ball.

Things settled down as their 150-run partnership came up in the 87th over and from thereon, it was all about the milestones. Rahane was the first to get to his triple-figures, reaching his 3rd Test century in the 90th over, off 127 balls.

It is his 3rd overseas Test hundred this year. Then, four overs later, Kohli got to his 9th Test hundred – his 4th in Australia – as the duo closed out the session with 112 runs without losing a wicket.

Earlier in the day, Cheteshwar Pujara (25) did not trouble the scorers as the No.3 batsman was out on the second ball of the day as Harris induced an outside edge and the catch was beautifully held Haddin in front of first slip.

Opener Murali Vijay (68) did add a few runs to his score and hit a couple of lovely boundaries before he got hit on the back of the helmet off a Johnson snorter.

The hit sure did shake him up as he was soon picked by Watson, edging one to first slip as Shaun Marsh made no mistake.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 9: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has said that Virat Kohli understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come through success in the longest format of the game.

Dravid, popularly known as 'The Wall', also said that Test batsmanship has become exciting to watch now as batters play aggressive shots more often.

"I actually believe Test batsmanship has become more exciting than before, the aggressive element of Test batsmanship is going forward, players are playing shots and it is good to see, a good thing for India is Virat Kohli really values Test cricket, he understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come from his success in Test cricket," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

He also said that defensive batting in cricket is not irrelevant, but added that players can have successful careers without having a good defensive technique.

"I don't think it is becoming irrelevant, maybe the value of defensive batting is not the same as it was a generation ago, it can never become irrelevant, I think you still need to defend your wicket if you want to score suns, I feel now you can survive without a good defensive technique in cricket," Dravid said.

"Today, you do not need to have a good Test career to have a successful career, look at the best players in the world today, a lot of them have a good defensive technique and they can play out difficult periods of the game," he added.

The 47-year-old Dravid also said that all young players want to represent their country in all three formats during their initial days, but eventually, they become realistic as time passes by.

"I would say in my interaction with the younger players, everyone's hero is someone who has succeeded in all formats of the game. I think all players start off wanting to play all formats, but then guys get a little realistic about their careers, superstars of the game will still want to play to all formats of the game," Dravid said.

Dravid is the only player in the history of cricket to be involved in two 300-plus ODI partnerships.

He played 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and one T20I for India. Dravid had announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2012.

He finished his career with 48 international centuries.

He has also coached the Indian junior sides (India U-19 and India A) and he is now the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Dravid has also led the side during his playing days and under his leadership, the side had managed to register their first Test series win in England.

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News Network
January 31,2020

Wellington, Jan 31: A nervous New Zealand threw it away yet again as a perseverant India prevailed in the Super Over for the second successive time to take a 4-0 lead in the T20 International series on Friday.

Needing just 11 runs off the last two overs with seven wickets in hand, New Zealand dug a hole for themselves yet again, taking the game to a Super Over two nights after doing the same in Hamilton.

New Zealand managed 13 runs in six balls and India got there effortlessly.

KL Rahul smashed 10 runs off the first two balls before he was caught. Then, a fired-up Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson finished the game in style.

Earlier, Manish Pandey proved his value to the team with an unbeaten 50 off 35 balls, taking India to 165 for eight from 88 for six in the 12th over.

India's total wasn't enough considering the batting-friendly conditions but the hosts made life a lot tougher for themselves from a commanding position before succumbing to pressure.

The entertaining knocks from Colin Munro (64 off 47) and Time Seifert went in vain (57 off 39).

Mohammed Shami, who was rested on Friday, had bowled a brilliant 20th over on Wednesday and man of the match Shardul Thakur was up to the task this time, conceding just six runs when the opposition needed seven for victory.

With the series already in the bag, India gave opportunity to Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini for the first time in the five-match series, resting Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Shami. However, none of them was able to make an impact in the game.

Chasing 165, New Zealand lost Martin Guptill early. But Munro and Seifert put on 74 runs for the second wicket to put themselves on track.

Munro scored a half-century of 38 deliveries, inclusive of six fours and three sixes. He was out against the run of play as Kohli's direct hit surprisingly found the target after a relay throw from the deep.

It was the turning point as New Zealand lost regular wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled Tom Bruce (0), but Seifert found a partner in Ross Taylor as they pushed the score past 150 in the 18th over.

Seifert scored a half-century off 32 balls, including four fours and three sixes. But the great choke was yet to come again. Needing 18 off 18, the Black Caps lost four wickets in the last over bowled by Thakur.

Taylor holed out of the first ball, while Seifert was run out two balls later. Daryl Mitchell (4) was caught next and Mitchell Santner (2) couldn't steal two runs off the last ball as the sides engaged in a tie-breaker for the second game running.

This was after New Zealand won a fourth consecutive toss and opted to field. Kane Williamson didn't take part in the match owing to a shoulder niggle.

Tim Southee was the stand-in skipper, with the Black Caps making two changes.

Put in to bat, the visitors were struggling at 88-6 at one stage before Pandey's lonesome rescue act took them to a respectable total. KL Rahul contributed 39 runs off 26 balls, inclusive of three sixes and two fours.

Leg spinner Ish Sodhi got into the act and ran through India's batting order. First to go was Shreyas Iyer (1) and then Shivam Dube (12) was caught at mid-wicket.

Sodhi finished with 3-26 while Santner dismissed Sundar for nought as the New Zealand spinners rounded up a good outing with 4-54 in eight overs.

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News Network
February 13,2020

Feb 13: Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were buried in a private funeral service in Southern California last week, multiple outlets reported late Tuesday.

Citing Kobe Bryant's death certificate, Los Angeles Fox affiliate KTTV reported the remains of the former Lakers star and his daughter were transferred to Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary in Corona del Mar. Kobe and Brianna were laid to rest in a private ceremony there last Friday.

According to KTTV, the death certificate cited Kobe's cause of death as "blunt trauma" sustained in a "commercial helicopter crash." It also said his death was "rapid."

Corona del Mar is a community within Newport Beach, where the Bryant family lives.

Kobe, 41, and Gianna, 13, were among nine people killed when the helicopter they were in crashed on a hillside in Calabasas, Calif., northwest of Los Angeles, on Jan. 26. Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, 56; his wife, Keri; and their daughter Alyssa, 14 -- who played on the same club basketball team as Gianna Bryant -- also were killed. Christina Mauser, a 38-year-old who was the top assistant coach of the Mamba girls basketball team, was also killed in the accident, as were Sarah Chester, 45; her daughter Payton Chester, 13; and pilot Ara Zobayan, 50.

A public memorial service for the Bryants will be held Feb. 24 at Staples Center, beginning at 10 a.m. PT.

While the date -- 2/24 -- conveniently falls between two Lakers' home games, it still could have been chosen symbolically. Gianna -- one Kobe and Vanessa' four daughters -- wore No. 2 on her basketball jersey while Kobe was No. 24 for part of his 20-year-tenure with the Lakers, and his retired jerseys -- he also wore No. 8 -- hang at Staples Center.

The Los Angeles Times reported that "entry is expected to be severely restricted" at the venue despite Staples Center's capacity of about 20,000.

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