Ashwin shines as India canter home by innings & 115 runs

August 26, 2012

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Hyderabad, August 26: Ravichandran Ashwin produced a career-best 12-wicket match haul as a merciless India relied on the spinners to crush New Zealand by an innings and 115 runs to take a 1—0 lead in the two—match Test series in Hyderabad on Sunday.

New Zealand batting collapsed yet again as they lost the last seven wickets for 26 runs to get bundled out for a meagre 164 in the second innings, shortly after the tea break to give the hosts an easy victory with more than a day to spare.

Ashwin’s match figures of 12 for 85 is the best by an Indian in a Test match against New Zealand, eclipsing S Venkatraghavan’s 12 for 140.

The Tamil Nadu spinner foxed the inexperienced Kiwi batsmen by extracting a lot of turn and bounce from the strip as he capped 6/54 to follow up his first innings tally of 6/31.

Ojha returned with figures of three for 48 to lend a fine support at the other end as the spin duo shared nine wickets between them exposing the Black Caps’ vulnerability to play spin.

India had a frustrating first session as the overnight duo of Brendon McCullum (42) and Kane Williamson (52) put up a brave front after resuming at 44 for one, following on in the second innings.

But after Umesh Yadav (1/32) broke the 72—run second wicket partnership, New Zealand lost their remaining nine wickets in 34.4 overs with more than a day left for the match.

New Zealand were 146 for six at tea but lost the remaining four wickets in 25 minutes after resumption as the spin duo wreaked havoc in the camp.

It was also India’s first Test win in nine months following a 0—4 spanking in Australia as the batting stalwarts Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman retired in the aftermath of the series.

The two teams will now travel to Bangalore for the second Test to begin from August 31.

After a frustrating first-half, India got their first breakthrough of the day after lunch when a poor decision by Steve Davis ruled McCullum out.

McCullum got an inside edge before the ball hit the pads but umpire Davis ruled the batsman out as the Indian fielders appealed.

Predictably, McCullum was angry as he started trudging back towards pavilion nodding his head in disbelief.

The absence of DRS certainly hurt the New Zealanders as the partnetship between McCullum and Kane Williamson was proving to be a thorn in the flesh of the Indians. They had defied the Indian attack for 30.3 overs.

Once the resolute stand was broken, it was a one—way traffic for the Indian spinners who returned to haunt the inexperienced Kiwi line—up.

Ross Taylor (7) followed becoming Ashwin’s first victim of the second innings when the New Zealand skipper was foxed by the turn to see his stumps tumbling.

Flynn and Williamson looked to build on a partnership as the latter, who had scored a century in his debut in Ahmedabad two seasons ago, went on to complete a fine half century.

But soon after he too ran out of patience with Ojha adding a second to his tally when the youngster was caught in the slip by Virender Sehwag.

Ashwin took two wickets in two overs in the form of Flynn and James Franklin as with spin at both ends, it was just a matter of time for the Indians to take an unassailable 1—0 lead.

Sehwag took a diving catch at the first slip to dismiss Franklin off Ashwin’s bowling and it enthralled the 20,000—plus Sunday crowd in the 39,000—capacity stadium.

Ashwin was simply unplayble as the Indian offspinner took his 10th wicket haul in the match in the form of Van Wyk.

Earlier, India straightway began the proceedings with the spin duo of Ojha and Ashwin but there was little assistance in the morning as the Kiwi batsmen played them out sensibly.

The duo of McCullum and Williamson played with patience, waiting for the loose deliveries as India struggled to get the first breakthrough of the day.

There was a setback for India when centurion Cheteshwar Pujara while fielding at short leg in the 33rd over, was hit near his right knee, around the same place he had a surgery last year in London.

Grimacing in pain, Pujara was taken out of the field by the support staff as Ajinkya Rahane came as the replacement.

Pujara did not come back but there was an announcement that he was alright and it was just a minor “bruise”. India brought on the medium—pacers Zaheer and then Yadav at one end hoping for some reverse swing but there was no success with the Kiwi duo keeping their intact.


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Agencies
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Expressing solidarity with the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign, star West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has alleged that he faced racist remarks during his career and cricket is not free of the menace.

Gayle did not elaborate when he faced racial remarks but hinted it might have been during his stints at global T20 leagues.

"I have travelled the globe and experienced racial remarks towards me because I am black, believe me, the list goes on," he posted on instagram on Monday night.

"Racism is not only in football, it's in cricket too. Even within teams as a black man, I get the end of the stick. Black and powerful. Black and proud," he said.

The big-hitting batsman's comments came in the backdrop of African-American George Floyd's death in the USA after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on the handcuffed man's neck as he gasped for breath.

The incident has sparked violent protests across the USA.

"Black lives matter just like any other life. Black people matter, p***k all racist people, stop taking black people for fools, even our own black people wise the p***k up and stop bringing down your own!," Gayle wrote.

Racism in cricket was drew attention most recently last year when England pacer Jofra Archer was abused by a spectator in New Zealand.

New Zealand's top players and the cricket board had offered apologies for the incident to the Englishman.

Also on Monday night, the England cricket team's official twitter handle posted a message denouncing racism.

"We stand for diversity, We stand against racism," the message read.

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News Network
January 17,2020

Jan 17: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza cruised into the women's doubles final of the Hobart International with her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok here on Friday.

Sania and Kichenok sailed past the Slovenian-Czech pair of Tamara Zidansek and Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (3) 6-2 in the semifinal contest that lasted one hour and 24 minutes.

The fifth-seeded Indo-Ukrainian combination will lock horns with second seeds Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang of China. The Chinese pair got a walkover after Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck conceded the other semifinal match because of injury.

While Sania and Kichenok had to fight hard in the opening set, the second set was a cakewalk for the combination.

The first set was a tough contest between the two pairs, bringing the tie-breaker into the equation after it was level at 6-6.

In the tie-breaker, Sania and Kichenok upped their game by a few notches to outsmart their opponents and take the lead.

The second set was a no-contest as Saina and Kichenok broke their opponents thrice -- in the second, sixth and eighth game -- to easily pocket the set and a place in the summit clash.

Saina and Kichenok got 11 break chances out of which they converted four, while their opponents utilised two out of the five break chances that came their way.

The 33-year-old Sania is returning to the WTA circuit after two years. During her time away from the game, she battled injury breakdowns before taking a formal break in April 2018 to give birth to her son Izhaan. She is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

Before the ongoing event, Sania last played at China Open in October 2017.

A trailblazer in Indian tennis, Sania is a former world No.1 in doubles and has six Grand Slam titles to her credit.

She retired from the singles competition in 2013 after becoming the most successful Indian woman tennis player.

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News Network
January 18,2020

Hobart, Jan 18: In a dream start to her second innings after a two-year break, Sania Mirza lifted the WTA Hobart International trophy with partner Nadiia Kichenok after edging out Shaui Peng and Shuai Zhang in the final, here on Saturday.

The unseeded Indo-Ukrainian pair pipped the second seed Chinese team 6-4, 6-4 in one hour 21 minutes.

Playing her first tournament after giving birth to son Izhaan, the 33-year-old Sania has begun well in the Olympic year as she warmed up for the Australian Open in style.

It is Sania's 42nd WTA doubles title and first since Brisbane International trophy in 2007 with American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Sania did not compete on the WTA circuit in the entire 2018 and 2019 seasons to start a family with Pakistani cricketer husband Shoaib Malik.

Sania and Nadiia began by breaking the Chinese players in the very first game of the match but only to drop serve in the next.

The two pairs played close games towards the end and at 4-4, 40-all, Sania and Nadiia got the crucial break, earning the opportunity to serve out the set.

There was no twist in 10th game with Sania and Nadiia comfortably pocketing the first set.

The second set could not have started better for them as they broke the Chinese rivals to take early lead and consolidated the break with an easy hold.

The game of the Chinese was falling apart as they dropped serve again in the third but broke back immediately to repair some damage.

Sania and Nadiia were now feeling the heat at 0-30 in the sixth game but Peng and Zhang let them hold serve for a 4-2 lead. The Chinese though kept fighting and made it 4-4 with another break in the eighth game.

The Indo-Ukraine team raised its game when it mattered as it broke Peng and Zhang for one final time in the ninth and served out the match in the next game.

Sania and Nadiia split USD 13580 as prize money and eared 280 ranking points each for their winning effort.

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