Champions Trophy: South Africa choke again as dominant England reach final

June 20, 2013

England_reach_final

London, Jun 20: An impressive bowling performance powered England to the Champions Trophy summit clash as the hosts thrashed South Africa by seven wickets in the first semifinal on Wednesday.

The hosts bundled out South Africa for a meagre 175 after inserting them in to bat and then comfortably overhauled the target with 12.3 overs to spare.

Such was the domination of the England bowlers that AB de Villiers and Co found it difficult to buck the trend of faltering in major ICC tournaments.

It was complete team effort by England as all the bowlers played a part in demolishing the South African top and middle batting order.

England had their rivals on the mat as they had reduced them to 80 for 8 at one stage and Proteas owed their recovery to some gritty batting by David Miller (56), who in the company of tail-ender Rory Kleinveldt (43) added 95 runs for the ninth wicket in 16 overs.

James Anderson (2/14) and Steven Finn (1/45) excelled with the two new balls and were duly complemented by Stuart Broad (3/50) and off-spinner James Tredwell, (3/19).

England lost their openers early but Jonathan Trott (82 not out) and Joe Root (48) batted with clam and assurance to lead the hosts to the finish line. They shared a 105-run stand for the third wicket.

Trott paced innings well as he batted cautiously initially and started playing strokes once it was sure that England had reached a safe position.

It is second time that England have qualified for the Champions Trophy final. The last time they featured in the final was in 2004. That time also they had hosted the event and ended runners-up to the West Indies.

England will now play the winner of tomorrow's semifinal between World Champions India and Sri Lanka in the summit clash on June 23 at Birmingham.

South African bowlers did a decent job, specially spinner Robin Peterson, but England had the luxury of wickets with a small target at hand.

Proteas removed openers Alastair Cook (6) and Ian Bell (20) early but Trott and Root did not allow South African to seize the momentum. They batted with a lot of responsibility as they waited for loose deliveries.

Trott's knock came off 84 balls with 11 boundaries while Root helped himself with seven shots to the fence in his 71-ball knock. By the time Root JP Duminy dismissed Root, England were inches from the win.

Earlier, South Africa scripted a remarkable late recovery as they were down in the dumps at 80 for eight at one stage but managed to give their bowlers something to fight for.

Miller's unbeaten half-century and Kleinveldt's fighting knock provided some semblance of respectability to the total.

Miller's innings off 51 balls contained five fours and two sixes as he launched a swift counter-attack with an able ally in Kleinveldt who also didn't get bogged down by the reputation of the English bowlers. The South African pacer hit four boundaries and a six.

Just when it looked like South Africa would be dismissed for one of their lowest totals in ODI history, the duo provided stiff resistance with some positive strokeplay. Finally, Broad dismissed Kleinveldt with a rising delivery on the rib-cage, giving a catch to glovesman Jos Buttler.

Buttler enjoyed a field day behind the stumps with six catches to his credit as he also caught last man Lonwabo Tsotsobe to take his sixth scalp.

After being put into bat, Proteas wilted under pressure as none of the top-order batsmen save Robin Peterson (30), Faf du Plessis (26) were able to reach double digits.

The slide started in the very first over when the wily Anderson got one to straighten after pitching as he found the left-handed opener Colin Ingram (0) plumb in-front.

It became worse in the next over when Finn bowled a beauty which kissed Hashim Amla's (1) bat to be taken by glovesman Jos Buttler. The delivery landed on seam and moved a shade to take a faint edge for Buttler to take a smart catch.

At four for two, Peterson and Du Plessis joined forces to add 41 runs for the third wicket. They did show some positive intent with the former going for the horizontal bat shots. However that proved to be his undoing when Anderson found his pads while trying a cross-batted shot.

Once Peterson was gone, there wasn't any resistance from other batsmen as wickets tumbled at regular intervals. Skipper De Villiers (0) played an irresponsible shot as he chased a wide delivery from Broad to offer Buttler a simple chance.

Once the top-order was polished off, Tredwell came into the act and Cook's decision to field him was vindicated as he ran through the middle-order.

First, Jean-Paul Duminy (3) was bowled while going for a cut and was played on. Du Plessis, who looked set for a big score then edged a ball that didn't spin much after pitching.

Miller was getting frustrated at the other end as Ryan McLaren was run-out and Chris Morris (3) was out giving Buttler his fourth catch of the innings.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
August 3,2020

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not end its partnership with Chinese companies. Vivo, the Chinese smartphone maker, is the main sponsor of the new IPL season as well. Apart from Vivo, PayTM and Dream 11 will also be at the helm of the 13th edition of the IPL. The IPL governing council meeting on Sunday decided to retain the old sponsors.

As soon as the IPL GC announced the decision of retaining the sponsors, a huge number of fans took to Twitter to slam the board for the same. #BoycottIPL started trending as the users urged others to boycott the tournament for the Chinese connection.

Earlier, the demand for exclusion of Chinese companies from the IPL was strong in the wake of the India-China border dispute. But the BCCI cannot abruptly end its collaboration with them. Because of the signed contract itself. And in this age of declining economy, it is difficult to find new sponsors quickly.

The current BCCI contract with Vivo is for five years. Vivo has invested Rs 2,199 crore to become the main sponsor of the IPL. The contract was signed in 2017. However, the BCCI’s move is paving the way for new discussions as calls are mounting across the country to boycott Chinese companies.

The BCCI announced other important decisions besides retaining sponsors. The IPL will be held from September 19 to November 10. The Indian government has given permission to the BCCI to hold the IPL in the UAE. With this, all obstacles in the way of organizing the tournament were removed.

The IPL matches will be played at 7.30 pm Indian time (6 pm UAE time). Most matches are about one match a day. There are a total of ten ‘double headers’ (two matches a day) in the tournament. Franchisees are allowed to appoint as many replacements as they want in the new season in view of the new health situation. At the same time, the maximum number of players a franchise can accommodate is 24. The BCCI is also planning to host a women’s IPL tournament.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Melbourne, Jul 21: Cricket Australia's chief executive Nick Hockley has said that the Indian players and staff will most likely be asked to face two weeks of quarantine before the four-match Test series.

This scenario will bring the Adelaide Oval and its newly constructed hotel firmly into view as the sort of biosecure bubble, ESPNCricinfo reported.

India and Australia are slated to face each other in a four-match Test series, which is to begin from December 4 at Brisbane.

"The two-week quarantine is pretty well-defined. What we are working on is making sure that even within that quarantine environment, the players have got the absolute best training facilities, so that their preparation for the matches is as optimal as it can possibly be," ESPNCricinfo quoted Hockey as saying.

"Certainly the fact that the Adelaide Oval has a hotel. It does provide a facility not dissimilar to Old Trafford or Ageas Bowl where the hotels are integrated into the venue," he added.

Hockley also said that an exacting standard of biosecurity and testing would be applied before the series against India as the coronavirus cases are spiking in the subcontinent.

"It's widely known and it's unlikely that international travel restrictions would have lifted by the time that India will be due to come into the country. Clearly there will be testing regimes. We will be able to test people before that they get on to the plane and it is the nature of the situation of making sure we have the quarantine arrangements in line with government and health authority protocols," Hockley said.

"The key thing for the players is that there's regular testing and that we appropriately quarantine them when they come in and all of those plans are currently in development," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the postponement of the T20 World Cup 2020 slated to be held in Australia from October 18-November 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the announcement, the BCCI is likely to go ahead with the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October-November window. However, it is known where the T20 tournament will be played as cases continue to rise in India.
"I think the BCCI has made no secrets that they are considering what that means for the IPL. For us, it's about getting a bit of an understanding and certainty around what that means. Clearly, in a normal course, some of our best players are obviously top picks for those IPL teams," Hockley said.

"It's a bit premature to speculate on that. We need to understand what the plans are if any and once we understand that we will make decisions accordingly," he added.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

London, Jan 11: Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the World Cup 2011 win has been nominated in Laureas's list for the most inspiring sporting event in the last twenty years.

The moment featuring Tendulkar has been described as "Carried on the shoulders by a nation".

On his sixth attempt at the World Cup and with India not having won the competition since 1983, Tendulkar finally became a part of the team that lifted the coveted trophy. Carried on the shoulders of the Indian team, he made a lap of honour, shedding tears of joy after the victory was sealed in his home city.

The 2011 World Cup was also the first time, in which a host nation ended up winning the trophy.

Apart from Tendulkar, England's Andrew Flintoff is the only other cricketer to feature in the list. In 2005, England managed to defeat Australia in an Ashes Test, but Flintoff chose to first shake hands with Brett Lee rather than celebrate with his side.

Matthias Steiner (weightlifting), Natalie du Toit (swimming), Sky Brown (skateboarding), Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee (triathlon), Xia Boyu (mountaineering) have been nominated in the list.

Female tennis stars also feature in the list for coming up with an equal play, equal pay campaign. After pressure from Venus Williams and others, Wimbledon announced that female tennis players would receive prize money equal to the men's.

German international footballer Miroslav Klose was playing for Lazio in Italy's Serie A in 2012 against Napoli when he rose for a ball in the early moments of the game.

The ball came spiraling off his hand and skirted into the back of the net and a goal was awarded. While most players would carry on as if nothing had happened, Klose was honest with the referee and admitted that he handled the ball.

As a result, he also finds a place on the list.

The Laureus Sporting Moment Award celebrates the moments where the sport has unified people in the most extraordinary way.

This campaign has shortlisted 20 sporting stories from the last 20 years that have left their mark on the world.

The winner will be decided on the basis of public voting. It has already started, and the final date to cast the vote is February 16.

Finally, the result will be declared on February 17.
With three knock-out rounds, the top-20 moments will be whittled down to ten then five, with the top-five moments going head-to-head.

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