Ind vs SL: Kohli, Raina lead India to series win against Sri Lanka

August 1, 2012

kohli-raina


Colombo, August 1: Young India was to the fore again. Two of India's most exciting batsmen, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina showed why they are regarded so as they helped their team register a comprehensive six-wicket win in the fourth ODI and hand Sri Lanka one of their rare series defeat at home.

Kohli and Raina set the Premadasa stadium alight with their superlative strokeplay under lights to post a series clinching 146-run partnership, rendering the last game in Pallekele academic. Kohli, who hammered his second century of the series, is fast emerging as the top ODI batsman in the world today. Ace finisher Raina is not far behind, getting his third half-century of the series.

The two had come together at a stage when the match could have gone either way but the way the two took control of the situation, injury-depleted Sri Lankans did not stand a chance. The performance of the two overshadowed the heroics of part-time bowler Manoj Tiwary who, with his four-wicket haul, had helped India restrict the home team to 251 for eight which the visitors overhauled with eight overs to spare.

Ostensibly, Manoj Tiwary was picked in the team to showcase his batting prowess. But even before he could lay his hands on the bat, he showed his skills with the ball, with his innocuous-looking leg-spin.

After the Sri Lankan top-order had given the home team a solid start, it was the part-time bowlers led by Tiwary, who helped India to restrict the opponents total to a manageable proportion. Such was the effectiveness of India's part-time bowlers, they bowled as many as 22 overs for 112 runs and five wickets. Tiwary's figures would have been even more impressive if he had not conceded 18 runs in the last over of the innings.

It was, however, surprising that skipper MS Dhoni continued to persist with non-regular bowlers when the pace trio of Zaheer Khan, Ashok Dinda and Irfan Pathan had four overs each left. Probably the slowness of the wicket prompted the Indian skipper to rely on the slower bowlers.

After Upal Tharanga and Dilshan had given a solid platform of 91 runs and Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal continuing on with the good work, subsequent batsmen struggled to get a move-on. The slowness of the pitch may have played a part. The only batsmen, apart from the openers, who showed the ball could be hit were Chandimal and Thirimanne, during their half-century stand for the third wicket.

Sri Lanka seemed to be running away towards a big total but Tiwary's introduction in the 32nd over triggered a slide. Tiwary with his looping flight foxed the batsmen and ran thought the middle order, even getting rid of the experienced Mahela Jayawardene. Thirimanne was bowled by Ashwin for 47 after a patient innings to leave Sri Lanka at 219 for 8.

But the Sri Lanka tail bit back. Dhoni persisted with Tiwary, who was hammered by Malinga for a six and then went for 18 in the final over. That helped Sri Lanka touch the 250-mark to give their bowlers a target to put some pressure on the mighty Indian batting which was not to be.

Landmarks and milestones:

- Virat Kohli is the first Indian batsman to register 1,000 ODI runs in successive years - 1,381 (ave.47.62) in 34 matches in 2011 and 1,003 (ave.77.15) in 15 matches in 2012 so far.

- Kohli is the first batsman to manage five hundreds this year, which have come in his last eight innings - four against Sri Lanka and one against Pakistan.

- Of his 13 hundreds, eight resulted in successful chases for India. Only three batsmen have recorded more hundreds in successful chases - Sachin Tendulkar (14), Sanath Jayasuriya (9) and Saeed Anwar (9).

- Kohli is averaging 76.57 in successful chases - 1,991 runs in 34 matches. Only three batsmen have averaged better than Kohli - Mahendra Singh Dhoni (101.40), Michael Clarke (89.20) and Michael Bevan (86,25) (minimum 1000 runs).

- India became the third team to register 400 wins in one-dayers, joining Australia (490) and Pakistan (416).

- India's success rate in ODIs is 52.13 - 400 wins, 367 losses, 6 tied games and 35 no-results out of 808 played.



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News Network
February 26,2020

Melbourne, Feb 26: On a high after two easy victories on the trot, including one against defending champion Australia, the Indian women's cricket team will aim to inch closer to a semifinal berth when it takes on New Zealand in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup here on Thursday.

The Indians have hardly broke a sweat in their 17-run and 18-run wins over hosts Australia and Bangladesh in their previous two matches, and they are perched at the top of five-team Group A standings with four points from two matches.

A win against New Zealand on Thursday will take the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side on the threshold of a knock-out stage spot, to be competed among top two teams from Group A and B.

In the two matches so far, the Indian team has been impressive both in batting and bowling.

The 16-year-old sensation Shafali Verma has been the standout batter with a whirlwind 17-ball 39 against Bangladesh, following her 29 against Australia.

One-down Jemimah Rodrigues has also been among the runs with 26 and 34 in the two matches so far.

Only captain Harmanpreet, among the top order batters, has not scored big and she is due big innings.

India is also likely to be bolstered by the return of star opener Smriti Mandhana who missed the match against Bangladesh due to fever.

The middle-order has also done its bit with Deepti Sharma playing a major role against Australia with an unbeaten 49 while Veda Krishnamurthy hit a match-defining 11-ball 20 not out for a late flourish against Bangladesh.

The bowling department has been led admirably by seasoned leg-spinner Poonam Yadav -- seven wickets in the first two matches -- with pacer Shikha Pandey ably supporting her with five scalps so far.

New Zealand, though, have a better head-to-head record against India in recent years, having won the last three matches between the two sides.

Exactly a year back, they had beaten the Indian team 3-0 in a three-match T20 International home series.

India will, however, remember their massive 34-run win against New Zealand in the previous edition of the T20 World Cup in 2018 in the West Indies. Harmanpreet had struck a memorable 103 to lead her side to victory.

New Zealand have some top-class players in their ranks in the form of captain and all-rounder Sophie Devine and top-order batswoman Suzie Bates while pacer Lea Tahuhu and leg-spinner Amelia Kerr will lead the bowling department.

They will go into this match on a high after an easy seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka on Saturday.

Devine had led her side from the front with an unbeaten 75 off 55 balls at the top of the order in that win.

The Teams:

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Richa Ghosh, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar.

New Zealand: Sophie Devine (capt), Rosemary Mair, Amelia Kerr, Suzie Bates, Lauren Down, Maddy Green, Holly Huddleston, Hayley Jensen, Leigh Kasperek, Jess Kerr, Katey Martin (wk), Katie Perkins, Anna Peterson, Rachel Priest, Lea Tahuhu.

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News Network
February 27,2020

Melbourne, Feb 27: Shafali Verma's 34-ball 46 followed by a superlative performance from the bowlers helped India notch up a narrow four-run win over New Zealand in a crucial group A match of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup on Thursday.

Invited to bat, India posted a below-par 133 for eight against New Zealand in the crucial group A match with Shafali top-scoring with a 34-ball 46 and Taniya Bhatia chipping in with a 25-ball 23.

India, however, produced a disciplined performance with the ball to restrict New Zealand to 129 for six and register their third successive win in the tournament.

With this win, India topped Group A, having beaten Australia and Bangladesh in their last two outing.

Defending the total, India introduced spin straight away but Deepti Sharma bled 12 runs with opener Rachel Priest (12) hitting her for two boundaries.

But experienced pacer Shikha Pandey removed Priest in the next over when she had her caught at mid wicket.

With Shikha and left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad bowling in tandem, New Zealand played with caution to reach 28 for one.

Back into the attack, Deepti then cleaned up Bates with a beauty of a delivery as New Zealand slipped to 30 for two.

Poonam Yadav and Radha Yadav then mounted the pressure on the Kiwis and soon the Black Caps were 34 for 3 when the former dismissed skipper Sophie Devine (14).

Maddy Green (24) and Katey Martin (25) then tried to resurrect the innings with a 36-ball 43-run stand.

However, Gayakwad returned to remove Green, who danced down the pitch only to end up with an outside edge as Bhatia did the rest.

Radha then dismissed Martin to leave New Zealand at 90 for 5 in 16.3 overs.

Needing 44 off 21 balls, Kerr (34) blasted four boundaries to accumulate 18 runs in the penultimate over bowled by Poonam to bring the equation down to 16 off six balls.

In the final over, Heyley Jensen (11) and Kerr cracked a four each but Shikha held her nerves in the end to complete the win.

Earlier, 16-year-old Shafali provided the fireworks as India scored 49 for one in the powerplay overs. But they lost six wickets for 43 runs to squander the good start.

Smriti Mandhana (11), who returned to the playing XI after missing the last match due to illness, departed early but Shafali and Taniya (23) kept the scoreboard ticking, adding 51 runs for the second wicket.

In the 10th over, Taniya was caught by Amelia Kerr at backward point, while Jemimah Rodrigues (10) was caught by Kerr in the 12th over as India slipped to 80 for 3.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's (1) poor form also continued as she was soon back to the hut after being caught and bowled by Leigh Kasperek.

Shafali, who was dropped at long-on in the 8th over and at mid-wicket in the 10th over, then holed out to Jensen at deep extra cover. She had four hits to the fence and three maximum shots in her innings.

Left-handed batter Deepti Sharma (8) and Veda Krishnamurthy (6) brought up the 100 in the 15th over but both departed soon as India slumped to 104 for 6.

Radha Yadav then blasted 14 off nine balls, which included a six in the final over, to give some respectability to the total.

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News Network
June 6,2020

New Delhi, Jun 6: Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding has come out in support of MS Dhoni, saying that the wicket-keeper batsman indeed wanted to win the match against England in the 2019 World Cup.

India's performance in the World Cup match against England last year has once again become a matter of debate as all-rounder Ben Stokes in his book titled 'On Fire' questioned the intent of the Indian side.

Stokes also said that Dhoni's intent was questionable as he did not go for big shots when India still had a chance to win the match.

However, Holding said that nowadays people tend to write anything in their books.

"Well, people will write anything in books these days, because people are a lot more free with their opinions and when they are writing books, they need to be making headlines at times," Holding said on his official YouTube channel.

"But, to be honest, a lot of people watching that game perhaps wouldn't have arrived to the same conclusion that Ben Stokes arrived at that India were not trying to win," he added.

Holding did say that it seemed like that India did not have the same intensity as they would have had if the match was a do-or-die match.

"It was not the game that India had to win, but I don't think anyone can say that was a team tactic to lose the game. I watched that game and it appeared to me as if India weren't putting up their 100 per cent, but I realised it was not the case when the expression on MS Dhoni's face told me that he desperately wanted to win, so I do not think it was a team decision to not try to win," the former Windies pacer said.

"But I don't think they went with the same intensity of wanting to win the game, say, if it was a do-or-die situation. If it was, we would have seen a different game," he added.

On his official YouTube channel, Holding also said that no team goes in with a set pattern in terms of chasing targets.

In the round-robin stage match against England in Birmingham, India failed to chase down the massive target of 338 and fell short by 31 runs.

That was the only game that India lost in the premier tournament last year before the semifinal loss against the Kiwis.

India's chasing approach, in particular of wicket-keeper batsman Dhoni, was criticised by many, including the fans at home.

As soon as Stokes mentioned Dhoni's lack of intent in his book 'On Fire', Pakistan fans started saying that India deliberately lost the match to knock out their neighbours.

However, Stokes clarified that he never said India lost deliberately and some people were twisting his words.

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