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Sri Lanka beat New Zealand in super over thriller

September 28, 2012
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Hosts Sri Lanka today pulled off a nail-biting victory over a spirited New Zealand via the Super Over after their opening 'Super Eight' match of the ICC World Twenty20 saw fortunes fluctuating from one team to the other till the very end, here.

With both teams tied at 174 after the end of their innings, the result was decided with the help of a Super over.

Sri Lanka batsmen Mahela Jayawardene, Thisara Perera and Tillakaratne Dilshan scored 14 for one in the Super Over before paceman Lasith Malinga restricted New Zealand's challenege to six for one, accounting for Martin Guptill's wicket on the fifth delivery.

The thrilling climax followed an equally dramatic run-chase by Sri Lanka as they replied to New Zealand's 174 for seven with opener Tillakaratne Dilshan's blitzkreig at the top and his 80-run opening-wicket partnership with skipper Jayawardene at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

Sri Lanka required 28 from three overs, 21 from two and 8 runs in the last over, bowled by Tim Southee.

In the last over, Southee conceded just three runs off his first four deliveries to make the equation 5 required from two balls.

Lahiru Thirimanne tied the score with a four over short long leg and put his side in charge.

With one needed off the last ball, Thirimanne managed an inside edge and ran towards the non-striker's end. James Franklin targeted the non-striker's end where New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor was stationed.

Taylor dropped the ball which ricocheted off his hand and dislodged the bail, prompting the umpire to refer the decision to the third umpire.

TV replays showed that the ball deflected off Taylor's hand and fell onto the stump, resulting in scores being tied.

The match provided complete entertainment to a sell-out crowd, who were left on the edges of their seat as both the teams fought for supremacy.

Dilshan (76) and Jayawardene (44) gave a dream start to Sri Lanka's run chase before New Zealand pulled back through some fine bowling and fielding.

The hosts made heavy weather of their run chase after losing Kumar Sangakkara (21) and Jeevan Mendis (8) in quick succession.

Dilshan departed in the pen-ultimate over of the innings after hitting Franklin for a six off the first ball before being run out off the next.

It was the seventh tied match in all Twenty20 cricket, with New Zealand involved in four of them.

Earlier, a brisk half-century by opener Rob Nicol helped New Zealand reach a competitive total. He struck 58 off 40 balls and his knock was laced with three fours and four sixes.

Nicol took his time before launching an assault on the host bowlers to lay a solid platform for the Kiwis.

Nicol along with fellow opener Guptill got off to a cautious start before the latter started to fire, picking up boundaries on a regular basis.

It was debutant Akila Dananjaya who dismissed Guptill for a well-made 30-ball 38 off his first over. Guptill's knock was studded with six hits to the fence.

After Guptill's departure, Nicol and McCullum were watchful, but kept the scoreboard moving by hitting the occasional fours and sixes off the loose deliveries.

Luck was on Nicol's side as he was dropped by Dananjaya when on 31.

Ajantha Mendis, however, cut short McCullum's quickfire innings of 25 in the 13th over with New Zealand yet to reach the 100-run mark.

But in the very next over off Mendis, Nicol smashed three sixes to change the complexion of the game totally, adding 24 more runs to the Black Caps' total.

Just when things started to look dangerous for the hosts, Dananjaya took his second wicket of the match, sending back Nicol.

Taylor (23) thereafter chipped in with some crucial runs that lifted the New Zealanders to a healthy total.

HR

T20 WC: Rob Nicol fifty takes New Zealand to 174/7 against Sri Lanka

A brisk half-century by opener Rob Nicol helped New Zealand reach a competitive 174 for seven against Sri Lanka in the opening Super Eight match of the ICC World Twenty20 here today.

Live Cricket Scorecard

Nicol struck 58 off 40 balls and his knock was laced with three fours and four sixes.

Nicol took his time before launching an assault on the host bowlers to lay a solid platform for the Kiwis at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

Opting to bat, Nicol along with fellow opener Martin Guptill got off to a cautious start before the latter started to fire, picking up boundaries on a regular basis.

It was debutant Akila Dananjaya who dismissed Guptill for a well-made 30-ball 38 off his first over. Guptill's knock was studded with six hits to the fence.

After Guptill's departure, Nicol and Brendon McCullum were watchful, but kept the scoreboard moving by hitting the occasional fours and sixes off the loose deliveries.

Luck was on Nicol's side as he was dropped by Dananjaya when on 31.

Ajantha Mendis, however, cut short McCullum's quickfire innings of 25 in the 13th over with New Zealand yet to reach the 100-run mark.

But in the very next over off Mendis, Nicol smashed three sixes to change the complexion of the game totally, adding 24 more runs to the Black Caps' total.

Just when things started to look dangerous for the hosts, Dananjaya took his second wicket of the match, sending back Nicol.

Captain Ross Taylor (23) thereafter chipped in with some crucial runs that lifted the New Zealanders to a healthy total.


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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
July 7,2020

Mumbai, Jul 7: Australias second largest city Melbourne is set to go for another round of lockdown — for six weeks — from midnight Wednesday as the coronavirus has reared its ugly head in Victoria. And this has further confirmed that this years T20 World Cup in Australia is practically not possible. Even as the ICC keeps delaying the announcement, BCCI hopes that the official call will now be taken with this latest development.

Despite ICC's Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA) chief Ehsan Mani as well as Cricket Australia making it clear time and again that hosting a T20 World Cup in the October-November window is practically impossible, the ICC hasn't made an official announcement and that hasn't impressed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Speaking to media persons, a BCCI official said that it is only the ICC which has kept speaking about delaying the inevitable — announcing a postponement — even as Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings wrote to the international body that it looks highly unlikely that a T20 World Cup can be hosted in these trying times.

"As it is there were so many logistical difficulties and that is perfectly understandable. The Australian government has been addressing the public health issue efficiently and there are regulations in place which are crucial to address the challenges. In that background even Cricket Australia has been practical in their assessment of the situation.

"With this present situation where Melbourne is in lockdown, the ICC really must take the final call of closure on the issue if they have any concept of responsible decision making," the official said.

Not just CA chairman Eddings, but also Mani — who is also the PCB chief — recently told the media that the T20 World Cup cannot be held in a bio-secure environment.

"We have had a lot of discussions and the feeling is it (T20 World Cup) would not be possible this year. ICC has World Cups lined up in 2021 and 2023, so we have a gap year where we can adjust this event. God forbid if some player(s) falls ill or mishap occurs during the tournament, it will have a big impact and create panic in the cricket world and we can't take that risk. Having a bio-bubble environment is feasible for say a bilateral series like Pakistan in England, but it is very difficult when 16 teams are involved," he had said.

Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley echoed the sentiments when he said the biggest challenge was to get the players from so many teams into the country.

"Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country. If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise," he had said.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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