Kohli's ton helps India draw Wellington Test; NZ win series 1-0

February 18, 2014

Kohlis_tonNew Delhi, Feb 18: Virat Kohli hit his sixth Test ton while Brendon McCullum became the first Kiwi to score a triple on Day 5 of the second Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington as the match finished in draw. With this, the hosts win the two match series 1-0.

Kohli (105*) has been in supreme touch since he strode out. He has been favouring the elegant cover drive and playing it to perfection. While he has continued to hook and pull, sometimes a bit too much, they have been far more controlled. He brought up his sixth Test century with a copy book straight drive for four.

However, the morning session belonged to the hosts with the skipper putting up the highest score by any batsman for the country: 302. Giving him company was overnight batsman Jimmy Neesham who made his Test debut with a sparkling century, finishing with 137 not out when his captain declared. The two put up 179 runs between them for the seventh wicket.

Thanks to that partnership, and another one posted on Day 4 between McCullum and BJ Watling got New Zealand to a mammoth total of 680 runs. They led by 434 runs and were firmly in control of a match that they had almost lost by an innings.

Zaheer Khan did get a five wicket haul, getting McCullum to edge to Dhoni in the process, but that came a bit too late to do the touring team much good.

Indian batsmen took to the feild just before tea and were in trouble two overs after the break, losing both openers in consecutive overs.

The first over after lunch, Trent Boult removed Shikhar Dhawan (2), trapping him in front of the wicket. He got a few balls to move away from the left hander and then bowled a length delivery that did not. Dhawan failed to pick it, decided to shoulder arms to it but got hit on the pads for an LBW.

In the next over, Tim Southee came to the party to get rid of Murali Vijay (7). Another good length delivery on the off stump shaped slightly away from the right handed Vijay and got an edge from his defensive bat to go to the slip cordon.

India would have ben in deeper trouble but for an umpiring howler. He got quite a pronounced edge to the 'keeper off Trent Boult's bowling. The entire New Zealan team had started to celebrate but the umpire's finger never went up. Kohli had not walked and survived a sure dismissal.

But Kohli took charge at that point and tried to get the team to safety. Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara (17) stitched together a 44 run partnership, trying to make sure the team does not suffer a total batting collapse.

But Southee put paid to those plans, getting Pujara to glove one to BJ Watling behind the stumps. He peppered Pujara with the short ball, repeatedly around the off stump. Then finally, he brought one to the leg and the Indian batsman could not get his bat out of the way in time.

With the team in deep trouble, Rohit Sharma (31*) came out to bat. He showed uncharacteristic determination and stayed with Kohli till the end. The two put up a 112-run partnership to make sure the team suffered no more setbacks till the umpires declared the match draw. India had reached 166/3.

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News Network
June 23,2020

Karachi, Jun 23: Pakistan cricketers Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and rookie Haider Ali on Monday tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed three players - Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan - have tested positive for Covid-19," said the PCB in a statement.

"The players had shown no symptoms until they were tested in Rawalpindi on Sunday ahead of the Pakistan men's national cricket team's tour to England."

The infected players will go into self-isolation.

"The PCB medical panel is in contact with the three who have been advised to immediately go into self-isolation," the statement said.

Earlier this month, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was tested positive for the deadly virus.

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Agencies
June 7,2020

Mumbai, Jun 7: The Mumbai airport became home for a 23-year-old Ghanaian footballer for 74 days after he got stranded there due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown that led to cancellation of flights.

The ordeal of Randy Juan Muller reminded people of Tom Hank's character in the Hollywood film "The Terminal", and it ended after Yuva Sena, the youth wing of the Shiv Sena, reached out to help him.

Muller has now shifted to a local hotel and is waiting for airlines to resume operations so that he can fly home.

The Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) also provided him all help, including food, and allowed him to use the airport WiFi network to make calls, an official said.

Muller, a Ghana national who used to play for a club in Kerala, was scheduled to fly home by Kenya Airways flight when the lockdown was announced and he found himself stranded at the Mumbai airport.

"He would spend his time at the airport's fancy artificial gardens and somehow buy food from stalls and pass his time with the airport staff. Muller told me the airport staff was very helpful," Yuva Sena office-bearer Rahul Kanal said.

A security officer at the airport gave him mobile phone to call his family back home.

A Twitter user brought Muller's plight to the notice of Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray following which Kanal reached out to the footballer and helped him move into a hotel.

On Saturday, Muller thanked Thackeray and Kanal for their help.

"Thank you Aaditya Thackeray, Rahul Kanal. Thank you very very so much. I appreciate what you have done. Salute," he said.

Kanal in a tweet said when he met Muller at the airport, the latter cried with happiness.

"Have no words to salute his willpower and fight for survival in such circumstances at this age," Kanal said.

An official at the Mumbai International Airport Ltd said the footballer was provided all help.

"All personnel at the airport, including from MIAL and CISF, gave him every possible help during his stay at the airport. Besides food, he was also allowed to use the airport WiFi network to make calls. Airport staff would recharge his phone at their own expense," the official said.

The 2004 film "Terminal" of Steven Spielberg was about a man stranded at a US airport after being denied entry into the country and a military coup back home.

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News Network
April 14,2020

Melbourne, Apr 14: As all sporting action across the world has come to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, Australian bowlers are pondering as to how Indian skipper Virat Kohli might play in front of no spectators.

India and Australia are scheduled to play a four-match Test series later this year, and it is being speculated that the series might end up taking place without any crowds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australian spinner Nathan Lyon on Tuesday said that it would be interesting to see how Kohli goes about it if he does not get a chance to get the audience behind him.

"He is probably good enough to adapt to any scenario. But I was talking to Mitch Starc the other day and we actually said that if we are playing with no crowd, it'll be quite amazing to see Virat trying to rev up the empty seats," cricket.com.au quoted Lyon as saying.

"It is going to be a little bit different, but Virat is a superstar. He will be able to adapt to any climate that we are able to play in," he added.
During the 2018-19 series, India managed to defeat Australia in Australia for the first time in a Test series.

Australia, at that time were without the services of David Warner and Steve Smith. However, the series later this year promises to be a mouth-watering prospect.

"I am excited about the prospect of India coming out to Australia, it's up there with the biggest series alongside the Ashes. They are an absolute powerhouse of the cricket world, and to have those guys out here is going to be fantastic. Playing in front of crowds or no crowds is out of our control, we have got to follow the advice of all the amazing medical people around the world," Lyon said.

"I have not thought about no crowds or massive crowds, it is just about the opportunity of playing against India again. They had the wood over us last time they came over here but we are a much stronger Australian cricket side at the moment, and I am just unbelievably excited about playing them here at home," he added.

Lyon was slated to represent Hampshire in County Championship this year, however, his stint was called off last week due to COVID-19.
He is Australia's third-highest wicket-taker in the longest format of the game as he has total of 390 wickets in Test cricket.

Lyon was last seen in action in the Big Bash League for Sydney Sixers.

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