Sehwag, Gambhir century stand gives India blazing start

November 15, 2012

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Ahmedabad, November 15: Virender Sehwag blasted his first half century in nearly 10 months and put on an unbeaten century stand with Gautam Gambhir as India made a blazing start on the opening morning of the first Test against England here today.

Sehwag was batting on 79 off only 66 balls, laced with 12 fours and a six while Gambhir remained unconquered on 37 in 103 balls as India went for lunch at 120 for no loss after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted to bat first at the Sardar Patel Stadium.

The Delhi duo, who had failed to fire in unison for some time, stitched their 11th century stand for the opening wicket and their first in nearly two years. The last century stand between them was the 137 at Centurion Park in second innings of the opening Test against South Africa in December, 2010.

Sehwag and Gambhir started a tad shakily with the latter inside-edging James Anderson close to his stumps for the first of his three boundaries and the former being almost bowled by Stuart Broad while attempting an expansive drive and missing the ball.

However, after Sehwag whipped a ball from Anderson off his hips for his first four in the fifth over, things settled down for the Delhi duo on a bone-dry wicket of a slow pace pitch where the ball hardly rose above shin level unless banged short.

Sehwag packed off Anderson from the attack by smacking him for three fours between third man and covers in the bowler's fourth over while Gambhir struck his second four by turning Broad off his legs. Anderson's opening spell was a costly 4-0-24-0.

The duo's aggressive batting helped India race to 50 in the 12th over and at the end of the first hour, the hosts were 61 without loss, prompting England to summon off-spinner Graeme Swann in place of Broad immediately after the first drinks break. Broad gave away 23 runs in his six-over spell.

Sehwag hit the accurate Tim Bresnan for a couple of boundaries in the off side when the bowler erred in line. The Najafgarh marauder pushed Swann for a single to the off to complete his 50 in 45 balls and 81 minutes.

It was the batsman's 33rd half ton in his 99th Test and the second after his second innings 62 against Australia in the fourth and final Test at Adelaide in January.

Growing in confidence, Sehwag blasted Bresnan for two four and a six over long on in successive balls to further stamp his authority on the proceedings.

Fifteen runs came off the 19th over of the innings as the home team's as well as the partnership's hundred came in the first ball of the next over in 89 minutes. It was the duo's first three-figure stand after 26 innings.

Bresnan, after his expensive sixth over, was replaced by Broad at the far end of the ground to bowl the 21st over. The pace bowler operated without a slip fielder against Sehwag just before lunch.

Just before the break, the visitors brought on left-arm spinner Samit Patel in place of Broad after the latter's 2-over second spell for seven runs and the bowler's first ball, a full toss, was hit for a boundary by Sehwag.

In the morning, India left out Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Murali Vijay, Ashok Dinda and Ajinkya Rahane.

England omitted Steven Finn, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Graham Onions, Eoin Morgan, Monty Panesar and Stuart Meaker, giving opener Nick Compton his first Test cap.

Scoreboard at lunch on the first day of the opening cricket Test between India and England here today.

India 1st innings:

Gautam Gambhir batting 37

Virender Sehwag batting 79

Extras: (B-1 LB-2 NB-1) 4

Total: (for 0 wkts in 28 overs) 120

Bowling: Anderson 4-0-24-0, Broad 9-1-30-0, Bresnan 6-0-37-0, Swann 8-1-19-0, Patel 1-0-7-0.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Auckland, Jan 27: : K.L. Rahul made an unbeaten 57 Sunday to steer India to a seven-wicket win over New Zealand in the second Twenty20 international and to a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Rahul and Shreyas Iyer put on 86 for the third wicket as India cruised past New Zealand's total of 132-5 with 2.3 overs to spare. Shivam Dube (13 not out) hit a six from the bowling of Tim Southeein in the 18th over to lift India to 135-3.

Iyer made 58 not out and Rahul 56 as India beat New Zealand by six wickets with an over to spare in the first match of the series.

New Zealand made 203-5 batting first in that match but on Sunday, on the same pitch, it struggled to achieve any real momentum. During the second match the pitch played much slower and India bowled expertly to restrict New Zealand's total.

Martin Guptill made 33 in a 48-run opening partnership with Colin Munro and Tim Seifert made an unbeaten 33 at the end of the innings but New Zealand wasn't able to reach a total that could stretch India's deep batting lineup.

Rohit Sharma (8) and captain Virat Kohli (11) were out relatively cheaply but Rahul and Iyer (44) sped India towards a comprehensive victory.

Dube came to the crease shortly before the end and quickly brought the match to a conclusion.

"I think we backed up the first match with a very good performance today, especially with the ball," Kohli said. "We demanded that the bowlers stood up and took control of what we wanted to do out there.

"I think our line and length and the way we wanted to bowl on that wicket, sticking to one side of the wicket and being shorter was a very good feature of us as a team and helped us restrict a very good New Zealand team."

New Zealand's total was inadequate, even on a slower pitch, and India almost toyed with the home side as it made its way to a comfortable win.

New Zealand named the same team that lost the first match of the series and batted after winning the toss, just as it batted when it was outplayed in the first match of the series.

The match raised further questions about the coaching and captaincy of the New Zealand team after its humiliating test series loss in Australia last month. New Zealand showed again Sunday it hasn't the talent to compete with the best teams in the world.

"As a batting unit we probably needed another 15 or 20 to make that total more competitive," said New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. "But credit to the way the India side bowled, they're a class side in all departments and they put us under pressure throughout that middle period."

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News Network
March 2,2020

Mar 2: Indian captain Virat Kohli was left frustrated and deflated as New Zealand won the second Test inside three days in Christchurch on Monday to sweep the series.

India started the day at 90 for six and were all out for 124, before New Zealand chased down the required 132 to win for the loss of three wickets in 36 overs.

It ended a disappointing tour for India and Kohli as New Zealand, who won the first Test by 10 wickets early on day four, wrapped up the series with ease.

New Zealand are now unbeaten in their last 13 home Tests, winning nine of them, and in the past decade their record as hosts is played 39, won 20, drawn 13 and lost five.

In the latest series, on traditional New Zealand green wickets, India managed scores of 165, 191, 242 and 124, reflecting the low contributions from Kohli of 2, 19, 3 and 14.

Kohli came to New Zealand as the world's top Test batsman and oozing charm as he described New Zealand as the “nice guys” of cricket.

But during the series he lost his top ranking to Australian Steve Smith and when Kane Williamson went for three in the first innings of the second Test the pressure showed when he gave the New Zealand skipper a very animated send-off.

There was further evidence of frustration when he was caught on camera yelling an obscenity at a group of New Zealand supporters on Sunday.

The end came quickly for India on day three as Tim Southee and Trent Boult tormented the batsmen with their variety of inswing and outswing deliveries targeting both sides of the stumps.

Hanuma Vihari was the first to fall, in Southee's second over, when he turned a legside delivery too fine and was caught by BJ Watling diving to his left.

Five balls later and with no addition to the score, India's other overnight batsman Rishabh Pant was caught behind off a Boult delivery that swung away.

Mohammed Shami was caught for five by Tom Blundell at deep mid-wicket and Jasprit Bumrah was run out when trying to give the strike to Ravindra Jadeja, who was unbeaten on 16.

Boult and Southee signed for most of the dismissals with Boult taking four for 28 and Southee three for 36. The swing pair accounted for 25 of the 40 Indian wickets in the series.

There was enough seam and swing available for India to keep the New Zealand batsmen guessing but Bumrah and Umesh Yadav were unable to apply consistent pressure and Mohammed Shami was troubled by a sore shoulder.

New Zealand coasted through a century opening stand by Tom Latham and Blundell before losing three quick wickets.

Latham notched his 18th half-century and second of the Test before he was caught behind off Yadav for 52, Kane Williamson had a short stay for five, and Blundell went for 55.

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News Network
February 13,2020

Feb 13: Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were buried in a private funeral service in Southern California last week, multiple outlets reported late Tuesday.

Citing Kobe Bryant's death certificate, Los Angeles Fox affiliate KTTV reported the remains of the former Lakers star and his daughter were transferred to Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary in Corona del Mar. Kobe and Brianna were laid to rest in a private ceremony there last Friday.

According to KTTV, the death certificate cited Kobe's cause of death as "blunt trauma" sustained in a "commercial helicopter crash." It also said his death was "rapid."

Corona del Mar is a community within Newport Beach, where the Bryant family lives.

Kobe, 41, and Gianna, 13, were among nine people killed when the helicopter they were in crashed on a hillside in Calabasas, Calif., northwest of Los Angeles, on Jan. 26. Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, 56; his wife, Keri; and their daughter Alyssa, 14 -- who played on the same club basketball team as Gianna Bryant -- also were killed. Christina Mauser, a 38-year-old who was the top assistant coach of the Mamba girls basketball team, was also killed in the accident, as were Sarah Chester, 45; her daughter Payton Chester, 13; and pilot Ara Zobayan, 50.

A public memorial service for the Bryants will be held Feb. 24 at Staples Center, beginning at 10 a.m. PT.

While the date -- 2/24 -- conveniently falls between two Lakers' home games, it still could have been chosen symbolically. Gianna -- one Kobe and Vanessa' four daughters -- wore No. 2 on her basketball jersey while Kobe was No. 24 for part of his 20-year-tenure with the Lakers, and his retired jerseys -- he also wore No. 8 -- hang at Staples Center.

The Los Angeles Times reported that "entry is expected to be severely restricted" at the venue despite Staples Center's capacity of about 20,000.

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