India beat Sri Lanka by 5 wickets

June 2, 2013

India_beat_Sri_Lanka

Birmingham, Jun 2: Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik smashed a century each as India warmed up their Champions Trophy campaign with a five-wicket thumping of Sri Lanka in their first practice game here today.

Kohli (144) teamed up with Dinesh Karthik (106 not out) to rescue India from a wobbly start with a 186-run stand for the fifth wicket in just 23.2 overs to chase down a huge target of 334 with one over to spare.

India were reduced to 62 for three in the 13th over and then to 110 for four in the 21st over before Kohli and Karthik resurrected the innings and sent the Sri Lankan bowlers for a leather hunt in the second part of their run chase.

Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews used nine bowlers in the 15-a-side warm-up game and all of them were punished by Kohli and Karthik.

Kohli, who was coming at the back of a strong performance in the recent Indian Premier League, struck 11 fours and three sixes in his 120-ball flawless innings.

Coming in the second over at the team score of five for one, Kohli was cautious at the start of his innings as the situation demanded but played some delightful strokes after he settled down.

Karthik was more than an able partner to Kohli. He gave more strike to Kohli during their partnership, but at the same time also did not let it go any chance of scoring boundaries. He ended the match in style with a four as India reach 337 for five in 49 overs.

Karthik's unbeaten 81-ball innings was studded with 12 fours and two sixes.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni also got some useful time at the middle as he remained not out on 18 from 17 balls, coming after Kohli's departure in the 44th over. Suresh Raina chipped in with a quick-fire 31-ball 34.

India play their second warm-up game against Australia on June 4 in Cardiff before opening their campaign in the main tournament against South Africa at the same venue two days later.

India were in trouble early on a batsmen-friendly pitch as opener Shikhar Dhawan (1) was run out cheaply in the second over as he failed to beat Lahiru Thirimanne's direct hit from mid on.

The other opener Murali Vijay could not contribute much as he was out for 18 from 30 balls in the 10th over, spooning a catch to short extra cover fielder Thirimanne of the bowling of pacer Shaminda Eranga.

Rohit Sharma (5), another player who shone with the bat in the IPL for champion side Mumbai Indians, could not spend much time and lost a chance to acclimatise on English conditions ahead of the main tournament, as he fell in the 13th over.

The recovery job for India, in fact, began with Raina who scored a quickfire 31-ball 34 which was laced with four fours before he was out in the 21st over.

At the fall of Raina, India needed 223 runs for a win at an asking rate approaching eight an over but Kohli and Karthik kept their cool.

Kohli, in particular, stamped his class with some beautiful shots all over the park. When he was out in the 44th over, India needed 38 runs from 37 balls for a win with five wickets in hand.

Earlier, young left-hander Kusal Perera and seasoned Tillekaratne Dilshan took the Indian bowling attack to the cleaners as Sri Lanka posted a mammoth 333 for three.

Dilshan smashed a 78-ball-84 (9x4, 1x6) while Perera hit 82 off 94 balls (7x4, 3x6) as they added 160 runs in 26 overs. The Indian bowlers were unable to dismiss the duo as both retired in order to allow other batsmen get a decent hit out in the middle.

Seamers Pathan (0/45), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/58), Ishant Sharma (1/41) weren't consistent with their length while spin trioka of Ravichandran Ashwin (0/45), Ravindra Jadeja (0/41) and Amit Mishra (1/53) also failed to make inroads.

With the ball nicely coming onto the bat and not much assistance from the pitch for bowlers, Perera and Dilshan hardly faced any difficulty in hitting through the line from the outset.

It started with a pulled boundary by left-hander Perera off Pathan's first over. The runs started flowing after that as Dilshan launched into Pathan, cover driving him for three boundaries in his second over. With no movement and dishing out military medium stuff, Pathan was smoked for 30 runs in his first spell.

Perera hit Pathan for a straight six and then got a couple of big ones off Ishant -- a pull and one over extra cover. With all 15 players being allowed to play as this match doesn't have ODI status, Mahendra Singh Dhoni used as many as seven bowlers.

Perera was the first to reach half century, in 48 balls, while the team's 100 came in the 16th over. Dilshan reached his 50 in the 21st over and it took the veteran opener 45 balls.

Once Perera retired with the score at 160, Mahela Jayawardene came in and chipped in with 30 (3x4). Dilshan retired at the score 195 while Jayawardene was the first batsman dismissed by Ishant.

Kumar Sangakkara (45, 7x4) and Dinesh Chandimal (46) also got much needed batting practice.

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News Network
July 24,2020

Dubai, Jul 24: The eagerly-awaited Indian Premier League will start on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the final slated on November 8, IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel told PTI on Friday.

While the event's Governing Council will meet next week to chalk out the final details and approve the schedule, it is understood that the BCCI has informally intimated the franchises about the plan.

"The GC will meet shortly but we have finalised the schedule. It will run from September 19 to November 8. We expect the government approval to come through. It is a full 51-day IPL," Patel confirmed the development after PTI reported the dates on Thursday.

The IPL has been made possible by the ICC's decision to postpone the October-November T20 World Cup in Australia owing to the COVID-19 pandemic due to which the host country expressed its inability to conduct the event.

Patel said that the Standard Operating Procedure to combat the COVID-19 threat is being prepared and the BCCI will formally write to the Emirates Cricket Board.

"We are making the SOP and it will be ready in a few days. To allow crowd or not depends on the UAE government. Anyway social distancing has to be maintained. We have left it for their government to decide on that. Will also be writing to the UAE board formally," Patel said.

There are three grounds available in the UAE -- Dubai International Stadium, Sheikh Zayed Stadium (Abu Dhabi) and the Sharjah ground.

It is learnt that the BCCI will be renting the grounds of the ICC Academy for training of the teams.

The ICC Academy has two full-sized cricket grounds along with 38 turf pitches, 6 indoor pitches, a 5700 square foot outdoor conditioning area along with physiotherapy and medicine centre.

As per the current health protocol in Dubai, there is no need to be in quarantine if people are carrying a negative COVID-19 test report, but if they are not, they will have to undergo a test.

While there was speculation that the IPL will start from September 26, the BCCI decided to advance it by a week in order to ensure that the Indian team's tour of Australia is not jeopardised.

"The Indian team will have a mandatory quarantine of 14 days as per the Australian government rules. A delay would have sent the plans haywire," a BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

"The best part is that 51 days is not at all a curtailed period and broadcasters will be happy with full seven-week window," he added.

While the original schedule had five double-headers, Patel said the new one will feature around 12 double-headers which means two matches each on both Saturdays and Sundays.

The Indians are set to play a four-match Test series against Australia starting December 3 in Brisbane after the IPL.

It is expected that with each and every team needing at least a month's time to train, the IPL franchises will be leaving base by August 20 which gives them exactly four weeks time to prepare.

The cash-rich event was originally scheduled to start at the end of March but the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions that were put in place to contain the virus, led to an indefinite postponement.

However, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had always maintained that the event will be held some time this year.

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News Network
February 18,2020

Berlin, Feb 18: Sachin Tendulkar being lifted on the shoulders of his teammates after their World Cup triumph at home in 2011 has been voted the Laureus best sporting moment in the last 20 years.

With the backing of Indian cricket fans, Tendulkar got the maximum number of votes to emerge winner on Monday.

Tendulkar, competing in his sixth and last World Cup, finally realised his long-term dream when skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smacked Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Kulasekara out of the park for a winning six.

The charged-up Indian cricketers rushed to the ground and soon they lifted Tendulkar on their shoulders and made a lap of honour, a moment etched in the minds of the fans.

Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh handed the trophy to Tendulkar after tennis legend Boris Becker announced the winner at a glittering ceremony.

“It's incredible. The feeling of winning the world cup was beyond what words can express. How many times you get an event happening where there are no mixed opinions. Very rarely the entire country celebrates,” Tendulkar said after receiving the trophy.

“And this is a reminder of how powerful a sport is and what magic it does to our lives. Even now when I watch that it has stayed with me.”

Becker then asked Tendulkar to share the emotions he felt at that time and the Indian legend put in perspective how important it was for him to hold that trophy.

“My journey started in 1983 when I was 10 years old. India had won the World Cup. I did not understand the significance and just because everybody was celebrating, I also joined the party.

“But somewhere I knew something special has happened to the country and I wanted to experience it one day and that's how my journey began.”

“It was the proudest moment of my life, holding that trophy which I chased for 22 years but I never lost hope. I was merely lifting that trophy on behalf of my countrymen.”

The 46-year-old Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in the cricket world, said holding the Laureus trophy has also given him great honour.

He also shared the impact the revolutionary South African leader Nelson Mandela had on him. He met him when he was just 19 years old.

“His hardship did not affect his leadership. Out of many messages he left, the most important I felt was that sport has got the power to unite everyone.

"Today, sitting in this room with so many athletes, some of them did not have everything but they made the best of everything they had. I thank them for inspiring youngsters to pick a sport of their choice and chase their dreams. This trophy belongs to all of us, it's not just about me.”

In a tweet on Tuesday, Tendulkar dedicated the award to his country, teammates and fans.

"Thank you all for the overwhelming love and support! I dedicate this @LaureusSport award to India, all my teammates, fans and well wishers in India and across the world who have always supported Indian cricket," he tweeted.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Kingston, Jun 10: "Enough is enough", said West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo as he opened up on the raging issue of racism and called for "respect and equality" for black people, who have faced discrimination for years.

Bravo joined the likes of his former captain Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle in denouncing racism in the wake of African-American George Floyd's killing at the hands of a white police officer in the USA.

"It's sad to see what's going on around the world. As a black man, we know the history of what black people have been through. We never ask for revenge, we ask for equality and respect. That's it," Bravo told former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa in an Instagram live chat on Tuesday.

"We give respect to others. Why is it that we are facing this over and over? Now enough is enough. We just want equality. We don't want revenge, war.

"We just want respect. We share love and appreciate people for who they are. That's what is most important."

The 36-year-old, who has played 40 Tests, 164 ODIs and 71 T20Is for West Indies, said he wants the world to know that they are powerful and beautiful people and gave the example of greats such as Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan.

"I just want our brothers and sisters to know that we are powerful and beautiful. And at the end of the day, you look at some of the greats of the world, whether it is Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan we have had leaders who paved the way for us," he said.

Two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain Sammy had earlier alleged that a racist nickname was used to address him during his IPL stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad and demanded an apology.

Sammy said he was called 'Kalu' while he was in India. 'Kalu' is a derogatory word to describe black people.

Gayle, who too plays in the IPL, took to Twitter to back Sammy, saying that racism does exist in cricket.

"It's never too late to fight for the right cause or what you've experienced over the years! So much more to your story, @darensammy88. Like I said, it's in the game!!," Gayle tweeted.

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