David Warner and Shane Watson help Australia maul India by 9 wickets

September 28, 2012

watson

Colombo, September 28: David Warner and Shane Watson blasted their way to propel Australia to an emphatic nine-wicket victory over India in the Super Eight match of the ICC World Twenty20 at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Warner remained unbeaten on 63 off 41 to take Australia to victory target of 141/1 in 14.5 overs. Warner and Watson stitched 133-run stand in just 13.3 overs to pile misery on Indian bowlers and ensured Australia's victory over listless India.

Yuvraj Singh was the lone Indian bowler who got rid of dangerous Watson. Watson notched up 28-ball fifty, smashing six huge sixes and a four as he took the full advantage of clueless Indian bowling. Warner, on the other hand, also complimented his partner with a 37-ball fifty, smacking six fours and two sixes.

Chasing 141-run target, the Warner and Watson duo gave Australia steady start as they took team's fifty in 6.4 overs.

Earlier, Indian batsmen struggled to tackle the top class Australian bowling as they were restricted to modest 140/7. Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh were remained unbeaten on 12 and 1 respectively.

Australian fast bowlers on a roll as they sent half of the Indian batsmen back to the pavilion inside 12 overs. Shane Watson was pick of the Aussie bowler, capturing three wickets including the prize scalp of Yuvraj Singh.

Shane Watson struck twice in one over to dismiss Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan and left India struggling at 74/4 in 11 overs. Mitchell Starc also joined the party in the next over by removing Rohit Sharma to put India in deep trouble.

Pat Cummins struck in his first over of the second spell to give Australia huge breakthrough, dismissing Virat Kohli. Kohli and Irfan Pathan tried to build on the Indian innings, adding 35 runs for the second wicket in 26 balls. It was rare failure for Kohli, who contributed 15 runs with the help of two boundaries.

India suffered early blow when Gautam Gambhir got run-out by Australian pacer Cummins. The southpaw started off well as he smashed three fours in his 17 runs knock off 12 balls after Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat against Australia.

India made the good use of the mandatory powerplay after losing the vice-captain as Irfan Pathan and Virat Kohli took the team past fifty-run mark in six overs.

India made two changes, bringing in Ravichandran Ashwin and Zaheer Khan in place of Ashok Dinda and L Balaji. Dhoni stuck with his plans of playing five specialist bowlers as he decided not to get Virender Sehwag back in the squad.

Teams:

India: Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni (captain & wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla and Zaheer Khan.

Australia: David Warner, Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, Cameron White, George Bailey(captain), Glenn Maxwell, Matthew (wk), Dan Christian, Brad Hogg, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.

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News Network
June 29,2020

Jun 29: The West Indies cricketers will sport a 'Black Lives Matter' logo on the collars of their shirts during the upcoming three-Test series against England to protest against racism in sports.

Skipper Jason Holder, who has voiced his support to the cause that has once again come to the forefront after the killing of American George Floyd, said in a statement on Sunday: "We believe we have a duty to show solidarity and also to help raise awareness."

The ICC-approved logo, designed by Alisha Hosannah, will be the one which featured in the shirts of all 20 Premier League football clubs since the sport's resumption earlier this month.

"This is a pivotal moment in history for sports, for the game of cricket and for the West Indies cricket team," Holder was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"We have come to England to retain the Wisden Trophy but we are very conscious of happenings around the world and the fight for justice and equality. "As a group of young men, we know of the rich and diverse history of West Indies cricket and we know we are guardians of the great game for a generation to come."

Holder, who wants racism to be treated at par with doping and corruption, said they arrived at the decision to wear the logo after much thought.

"We did not take our decision lightly. We know what it is for people to make judgments because of the colour of our skin, so we know what it feels like, this goes beyond the boundary. There must be equality and there must be unity. Until we get that as people, we cannot stop," he said.

"We have to find some way to have equal rights and people must not be viewed differently because of the colour of their skin or ethnic background."

The West Indies players are likely to wear the shirts for the first time in this week's four-day warm-up match at Emirates Old Trafford, starting on Monday.

The opening Test of the series, which will mark the resumption of international cricket after the coronavirus-forced hiatus, will get underway at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on July 8.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Sydney, Jan 6: Nathan Lyon captured five for 50 and 10 match wickets as Australia crushed New Zealand by 279 runs on Monday, capping a golden domestic summer as they swept the three-Test series.

The off-spinner led the powerful Australian bowling attack to dismiss the Kiwis for 136 and seal another heavy win over the Black Caps after similar victories in Perth and Melbourne.

Australia have been unbeatable this season, winning all five Tests at home -- two against Pakistan and three against New Zealand -- after retaining the Ashes by drawing the series 2-2 in England.

"It's been a great summer for the Australian Test side," Lyon said.

"It's pretty special to be part of it, we have been impressive, pretty clinical, the batters have done well and given us bowlers plenty of time."

Australia declared their second innings at 217 for two with David Warner scoring an unbeaten century, leaving the Black Caps with a revised 416-run target in the fourth innings on a wearing Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.

But the Kiwis buckled under the pressure of Australia's superior bowling attack with Mitchell Starc taking three for 25 to support the wiles of spinner Lyon.

"They were clinical in all areas and after the first match they put us under pressure session after session," said skipper Kane Williamson, who missed the Test with a virus.

New Zealand were reeling early at 27-4 and never recovered after Starc and Lyon took two wickets each in the middle session to put the skids under the tourists.

Starc removed both openers, Tom Latham and Tom Blundell, in the first five overs. Blundell fell to a stunning catch by a diving Lyon at point for two and stand-in skipper Latham lost a review for leg before wicket.

Jeet Raval was out in a review to the faintest of edges on 'Snicko' in Lyon's first over for 12.

First-innings top-scorer Glenn Phillips went for a duck after technology detected a faint outside edge to wicketkeeper Paine off Lyon.

Taylor's Kiwi record

Ross Taylor became the leading all-time Kiwi batsman, going past Stephen Fleming (7,172) before he was bowled by Pat Cummins for 22 to take his Test aggregate to 7,174.

Big-hitting Colin de Grandhomme smacked Lyon for six to bring up his fifty but went next ball hoicking to Joe Burns at deep mid-wicket for 52.

Todd Astle was out to a superb diving catch by James Pattinson in the outfield for 17.

Starc yorked William Somerville's middle stump for seven and BJ Watling was the last to fall, caught at backward square leg by Pat Cummins for 19.

Earlier, Warner completed his 24th Test century and remained unbeaten when skipper Paine declared upon the dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne.

"You know you're capable of doing so," Warner said, when asked about how he had bounced back from his disastrous Ashes campaign in England last year.

"I was in the nets hitting the ball well and had the skipper backing me. To be able to play with freedom helped me. It's all paying off."

Labuschagne, who was dropped on four in a regulation caught-and-bowled chance by leg-spinner Astle, was caught at long on off Matt Henry for 59 -- his seventh score over 50 in eight innings this domestic summer.

Labuschagne finished the home five-Test season with a stunning aggregate of 896 runs, made up of his 215 in the first innings, three other centuries and three half-centuries in eight innings.

There was drama late in the Australian innings when Warner was given an official warning by umpire Aleem Dar for running down the middle of the pitch in scampering a single.

It resulted in five penalty runs being added to New Zealand's first innings total meaning their target was revised down from 421 to 416.

The Test was played against the backdrop of one of Australia's most devastating bushfire seasons with at least 24 people losing their lives in blazes raging across the country, including on the outskirts of Sydney.

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Agencies
March 6,2020

Mumbai, Mar 6: Former India batsman Virender Sehwag expressed excitement over the upcoming Road Safety World Series and said he is looking forward to playing with Sachin Tendulkar again.

"I am very excited about this tournament because I will get another chance to play with Sachin. We have played many international matches together and there was a gap and then we played an All-Star match and now again getting a chance. I am looking forward to playing with Tendulkar," Sehwag told media persons.

In the opening match of the Road Safety World Series, India Legends will play against West Indies Legends on March 7. The main aim of the Series is to create awareness about road safety and change people's mindset towards their behaviour on the roads.

Sehwag hailed the initiative of Road Safety World Series and said: "I think it is a very good initiative by the government that they are working towards creating awareness regarding road safety. Awareness regarding road safety is important for everyone."

Road Safety World Series, a five-nation T20 cricket tournament, will showcase some of the biggest names in cricket from India, Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and South Africa.

Players who will feature in this series include Tendulkar, Sehwag, Brian Lara, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Brett Lee, Brad Hodge, Jonty Rhodes, Muttiah Muralitharan, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Ajantha Mendis and many more. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is the Commissioner of the Series.

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