Charles, Gayle lift West Indies to 179/5

September 27, 2012

VBK-JOHNSON

PALLEKELE (SRI LANKA), September 27: A little-known Johnson Charles scored his maiden half-century while big-hitting Chris Gayle too made a quick-fire fifty to propel West Indies to a competitive 179 for five against England in a Super Eights match of the ICC World Twenty20 in Pallekele on Thursday.


After an incredibly slow start, Charles used his long handle to great effect to notch up his personal best score off 84 that came off just 56 balls with help of 10 fours and three sixes.


Opting to bat in the second Group 1 game of the Super Eights, Charles and Gayle (58 off 35) produced a 103-run opening partnership to set the platform for the West Indies’ total.


Skipper Stuart Broad was the pick of the English bowlers with figures of two for 26.


Gayle turned the heat on the English bowlers in the second over when he hit Jade Dernbach for three fours.

Charles, on the other hand, was slow to get off the blocks and wasted too many deliveries in the six overs of powerplay to put additional pressure on Gayle.


But it hardly had any affect on Gayle as the big-hitting left-hander welcomed left-arm spinner Samit Patel with three huge sixes to pick up 19 runs of the eight over.


Gayle’s pyrotechnics seemed to have inspired Johnson, who made up for his slow start by spanking Graeme Swann for two sixes and a four to notch up 18 runs of the next over.


In the process, Gayle also notched up his ninth T20 half century off just 29 balls.


In the 11th over of West Indies innings both the team’s witnessed mixed fortunes, but in the end it was England who had the last laugh.


The drama started with Gayle hitting Swann for another of his huge sixes and then Steven Finn added salt to the bowler’s wound when he dropped Charles in the fifth ball. But Finn made amends for his drop a ball later by holding on to dangerous-looking Gayle’s catch. He struck six fours and four sixes during his 35-ball stay.


Charles, however, continued his fine display and smashed two more fours, this time of Luke Wright’s bowling, to score his fifty off just 36 balls.


Marlon Samuels (2), Kieron Pollard (1) and captain Darren Sammy didn’t trouble the scorers much.


In search of quick runs, Charles finally fell in the 18th over, caught by Jonny Bairstow off Dernbach.


Dwayne Bravo (11 not out) and Andre Russell (10 not out) made full use of the few deliveries they got and picked up 15 runs of the final over of the innings, courtesy three hits to the fence off Dernbach.


Brief Score:

West Indies:

Johnson Charles c Bairstow b Dernbach 84

Chris Gayle c Finn b Swann 58

Marlon Samuels c Morgan b Broad 2

Kieron Pollard c Wright b Finn 1

Dwayne Bravo not out 11

Darren Sammy b Broad 4

Andre Russell not out 10

Extras: (B—1 LB—7 W—1) 9

Total: (For 5 wkts in 20 overs) 179

Fall of wickets: 1/103 2/118 3/128 4/154 5/158

Bowling: Steven Finn 4—0—26—1, Jade Dernbach 4—0—38—1, Stuart Broad 4—1—26—2, Graeme Swann 3—0—32—1, Samit Patel 4—0—38—0, Luke Wright 1—0—11—0.

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News Network
April 8,2020

London, Apr 8: England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has raised more than 65,000 pound (USD 80,000) to help fight the coronavirus by auctioning off his World Cup final shirt.

Buttler's shirt, which he wore when completing the last-ball run-out that saw England beat New Zealand at Lord's last year, was sold to raise money for specialist heart and lung centres provided by the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in London.

Buttler, who earlier in the showpiece match had hit a fifty and batted in the Super Over, put his long-sleeve keeping jersey up for sale on eBay a week ago.

By the time the auction closed on Tuesday, the shirt had attracted 82 bids with the winner paying 65,100 pound.

Buttler, speaking on Monday, said: "It's a very special shirt but I think it takes on extra meaning with it being able to hopefully go to the emergency cause.

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News Network
March 19,2020

London, Mar 19: Talking about the break in cricketing activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa pacer Dale Steyn said that the disease seems to be to the only topic of conversation these days.

"I don't know how to describe it. Doesn't matter where you go, everyone is talking about it - whether it is on an airplane or you are just popping into a grocery store. It just seems like it is the only topic of conversation," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Steyn as saying.

"Yeah, it's so strange. Normally if I am on holiday I'll be planning a fishing trip or a surfing trip. At the moment I am just chilling at home," he added.

Steyn was last seen in action in the Pakistan Super League where he took two wickets in two matches.

When asked whether he has enough hand sanitizers, he replied: "We just decided that stockpiling is definitely not the way to go. It is not fair on everybody who needs that stuff. I went to the grocery store the other day and everyone had bought all the toilet paper. We have what we need, and when that runs out, that runs out, and we need to go and get some more".

"We didn't feel it was necessary to go and absolutely just, like, zombie our lives up. There's other people that live on a day-to-day basis. They are not going to get all of that stuff, so we thought it was best not to do that".

Steyn also had a message for the fans, "Stay healthy, wash your hands, look after yourself, don't be greedy. Right now they are saying old people are really struggling, so if in a position to help, rather help them than help yourself. Pretty simple, really."

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the ODI series between India-South Africa and Australia-New Zealand have been postponed.

The start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has also been postponed until April 15.

Cricket South Africa has suspended all forms of cricket for 60 days while Cricket Australia has advised all its employees to work from home.

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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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