Kohli scores century as India beat South Africa by six wickets in first ODI

Agencies
February 2, 2018

Durban, Feb 2: Captain Virat Kohli further enhanced his reputation as a 'chase master' as he smashed his 33rd hundred to lead India to a six-wicket victory over South Africa in the first cricket one-dayer here today.

Kohli struck 112 off 119 balls with the help of 10 boundaries and put on 189 runs for the third wicket with Ajinkya Rahane (79 runs of 86 balls) as India chased down the target of 270 with 4.3 overs to spare.

It was the highest stand for India in South Africa, while Kohli notched up his 20th hundred in a run-chase, out of which 18 have been successfully converted to victories.

After scoring freely all across the world, this was Kohli's first ODI hundred on South African soil.

Also, this was India's first ODI win against South Africa at Durban, and only their sixth overall in bilateral engagements here since 1992-93.

India got off to a quick start with Rohit Sharma (20) and Shikhar Dhawan (35) adding 33 for the opening wicket. Rohit was looking to play his strokes but miscued one off Morne Morkel (1/35) in the seventh over and was out caught.

Dhawan and Kohli then added 34 runs for the second wicket and the duo were looking good to take advantage of South Africa's spinners, when the former was run-out.

Kohli took off for a quick single in the 13th over but Dhawan was late in responding having taken strike, and was run-out by Aiden Markram's direct throw.

Kohli and Rahane came together thereafter and did not give the Proteas a sniff. Imran Tahir (0/51) was duly taken for runs, while JP Duminy (0/16) and Markram (0/20) had no impact in their short spells.

The most vital aspect of this partnership was the running between wickets. The duo looked to cut down on errors, calling loud and clear. They brought their 100-stand off 112 balls.

Rahane brought up his half-century off 60 balls as their partnership crossed 150 off only 154 balls. India reached 200 in the 36th over.

Kohli then celebrated his maiden hundred on South African soil in style, reaching there off 105 balls. In doing so, he equalled Sourav Ganguly's record of most ODI hundreds as Indian captain. Both now have 11 centuries, with Kohli reaching the milestone in 41 innings as compared to Ganguly's 142 innings.

Rahane was out caught in the 43rd over, while Kohli's innings ended three overs later. He walked off to a rousing reception from the Durban faithful even as the home side were subjected to a demoralizing defeat.

This was after India's leg-spin twins Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal shared 5 wickets between them as South Africa were restricted to 269/8.

Yadav took 3/34 and Chahal returned 2/45 as the duo excelled in their first proper overseas outing, underlining the team management's faith in leg spin since July last year.

Proteas' skipper Faf du Plessis (120 runs, 112 balls, 11 fours, 2 sixes) scored his ninth ODI hundred after South Africa's top-order collapse. The hosts lost 4 wickets for 51 runs before du Plessis and Chris Morris (37) rescued them with 74-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

Hashim Amla (16) and Quinton de Kock (34) got off to a watchful start. The latter, in particular, took his time for he had been enduring a poor run of form. At the other end, Amla looked in good nick and was scoring at a strike-rate of 90-plus.

They put on 30 runs for the opening wicket before Jasprit Bumrah (1/56) struck in the 8th over. He trapped Amla plumb lbw, albeit was lucky to have his front-foot only millimetres behind the line.

Just before this, India had a major injury scare when Virat Kohli hurt his knee while fielding in the seventh over.

He struggled with his right leg for a while thereafter, and even went off to the Indian dugout to get attention from the physiotherapist.

South Africa scored 49/1 in the first 10 overs even as Hardik Pandya (0/41) came on to bowl first-change. More importantly though, Kohli went off the field -- this time to the dressing room to get further treatment -- in this interim as the knee niggle continued to bother him.

Meanwhile, du Plessis began his innings in attacking fashion. He put on 53 runs off 46 balls with de Kock for the second wicket. India had brought on spin from the 11th over itself as Chahal exerted control over proceedings. However, the Proteas' batsmen attacked Pandya and he was expensive in his first spell.

Chahal trapped de Kock lbw in the 15th over, and the batsman walked without bothering for a review. Had he opted for the referral, he would have survived. Du Plessis, alternately, would have been given out lbw on 18 if India had opted for DRS at the end of the 13th over.

The spinners took quick wickets thereafter and did not allow South Africa's partnerships to settle even as 100 came up in the 21st over. Aiden Markram (9) was caught off Chahal shortly after.

Then Yadav got into the act. He bowled JP Duminy (12) with one that kept low, whilst foxing David Miller (7) into a false shot as Kohli completed a smart forward-diving catch at short extra-cover.

Du Plessis reached his half-century off 54 balls and brought up his 50-partnership with Morris off 57 balls. South Africa recovered to reach 200/5 at the end of 40 overs.

Yadav returned for a final spell to bowl Morris in the 41st over. Du Plessis though stood tall and added 56 runs for the seventh wicket with Andile Phehlukwayo (26 not out). In doing so, he brought up his century off 101 balls.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

London, Jan 11: Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the World Cup 2011 win has been nominated in Laureas's list for the most inspiring sporting event in the last twenty years.

The moment featuring Tendulkar has been described as "Carried on the shoulders by a nation".

On his sixth attempt at the World Cup and with India not having won the competition since 1983, Tendulkar finally became a part of the team that lifted the coveted trophy. Carried on the shoulders of the Indian team, he made a lap of honour, shedding tears of joy after the victory was sealed in his home city.

The 2011 World Cup was also the first time, in which a host nation ended up winning the trophy.

Apart from Tendulkar, England's Andrew Flintoff is the only other cricketer to feature in the list. In 2005, England managed to defeat Australia in an Ashes Test, but Flintoff chose to first shake hands with Brett Lee rather than celebrate with his side.

Matthias Steiner (weightlifting), Natalie du Toit (swimming), Sky Brown (skateboarding), Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee (triathlon), Xia Boyu (mountaineering) have been nominated in the list.

Female tennis stars also feature in the list for coming up with an equal play, equal pay campaign. After pressure from Venus Williams and others, Wimbledon announced that female tennis players would receive prize money equal to the men's.

German international footballer Miroslav Klose was playing for Lazio in Italy's Serie A in 2012 against Napoli when he rose for a ball in the early moments of the game.

The ball came spiraling off his hand and skirted into the back of the net and a goal was awarded. While most players would carry on as if nothing had happened, Klose was honest with the referee and admitted that he handled the ball.

As a result, he also finds a place on the list.

The Laureus Sporting Moment Award celebrates the moments where the sport has unified people in the most extraordinary way.

This campaign has shortlisted 20 sporting stories from the last 20 years that have left their mark on the world.

The winner will be decided on the basis of public voting. It has already started, and the final date to cast the vote is February 16.

Finally, the result will be declared on February 17.
With three knock-out rounds, the top-20 moments will be whittled down to ten then five, with the top-five moments going head-to-head.

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News Network
January 10,2020

New Delhi, Jan 10: Injured Assam archer Shivangini Gohain underwent a critical surgery at the AIIMS. Dr. Deepak Gupta, professor of Pediatric neurosurgery at AIIMS, revealed about the delicate nature of the procedure and said there was no room for error.

"It was touching vertebral artery which supplies blood to the brain stem. The arrow was 0.5 cm in front of the spinal cord and the child could have become quadriplegic if someone tried to pull it out," Gupta said.

According to doctors, the arrow accidentally went inside the body damaging the shoulder bone, part of the neck, spinal cord and left lung.

Dr Gupta said, "Now the patient is fine. We had planned the surgery in a very unique way. Last whole night, our team was doing the planning and plotting to conduct this complex surgery. About 15 cm part of the arrow was inside the body which has entered through shoulder bone and affected neck, spinal cord and left lung".

"We started the surgery in the morning at 6 am which lasted for three and a half hours. We have successfully removed the arrow. The patient is stable now and shifted to ICU for observation," he added

Shivangini Gohain, the 12-year-old Assam archer who was impaled by an arrow shot accidentally at the SAI centre in Dibrugarh, was training unsupervised and the mishap was a result of negligence by the local coach and officials, the state's archery association has said.

The child was training at the Dakha Devi Rasiwasia College at Chabua, which serves as an extension centre under the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Regional Centre in Guwahati when the incident took place on Wednesday.

She was airlifted to Delhi on Thursday night and admitted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre. Pulin Das, a joint secretary of Assam Archery Association and executive member of the state Olympic association said the injury to the school girl from the Deodhai village, which is 3km from Chabua, happened as the trainees were practising without any coach and other officials.

“There is a SAI contractual coach Marcy and he has left for the Khelo India Games in Guwahati. He didn't instruct the trainees to stop the camp for some time nor did the college principal, who acted as administrator of the extension centre, looked after the practice,” Das said on Friday.

The extension centre has 11 trainees, six boys and five girls, and they were training under SAI contractual coach A C Marcy from Nagaland, who is in Guwahati for the Khelo India Youth Games.

“The training ground itself is in very bad shape, it was not even a dedicated ground for archery training, some play football, cricket and other sports on that ground. But the worst part is that the SAI coach did not give instructions to stop the camp for a while and the archers were training without any supervision,” he added Das said Gohain was struck by an arrow shot by boys doing practice for compound event. The arrow remained stuck for more more than a day before she was airlifted to New Delhi on Thursday night.

“There was nobody to look after the archers, they were training on their own though their parents were outside the ground. An arrow shot by a boy trainee who was doing compound event practice hit her on the shoulder,” the official said.

Gohain's father Brinchi Gohain was outside the practice area and with no official of the college and SAI coming for help, she was taken to Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh, 33km from Chabua.

“She could reach the AMC in Dribugarh only on Thursday morning. There, the doctors told her parents to take her to a more reputed hospital like AIIMS in Delhi. With help from people close to the local Member of Parliament and Assam CM himself, she was taken by air ambulance to Delhi.

“I was told that she had a very tough time as the arrow remained stuck for more than a day. She is a strong-willed girl and she fought. Her father must be a daily wage labourer and he was distraught also.”

The SAI said that it will bear all the expenses of her treatment. The Assam Archery Association has contributed Rs 20,000 towards her treatment.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Mumbai, Apr 27: The pressure to replace iconic Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps was "immense" due to high expectations from fans says K L Rahul, who has been doing the wicket-keeping duty for India in the limited overs format for some time now.

Dhoni quit Test cricket in 2014 and has not played for India in the limited overs format since last year's ODI World Cup in England.

Rahul kept the wickets in the limited overs series against Australia in January this year and also during the team's tour to New Zealand.

"I was nervous when I was doing it for India because of the crowd pressure. If you fumble, people feel that you cannot replace MS Dhoni. The pressure of replacing a legendary wicket-keeper like MSD was immense as it involved people accepting someone else behind the stumps," Rahul told Star Sports on its show 'Cricket Connected'.

Rahul, who has played 32 ODIs and 42 T20Is, said keeping the wickets is not alien to him since he dons the gloves during the Indian Premier League (IPL) and also when he plays for his Ranji side Karnataka.

"People who follow cricket know that I haven't been away from wicket-keeping for too long as I donned the gloves in the IPL and every time I played for Karnataka," the 28-year-old said.

"I am always in touch with wicket-keeping but am also somebody who is more than willing to take up the role if the team needs me to," he stressed.

Dhoni's career is a matter of intense speculation. Many former players feel that it won't be easy for Dhoni to make it to the national squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in Australia. 

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