India thrash Sri Lanka to reach Champions Trophy final

June 21, 2013

India_thrash

Cardiff, Jun 21: Inspired by their bowlers, India made short work of Sri Lanka in the second ICC Champions Trophy semi-final in overcast Cardiff by eight wickets with 15 overs to spare. Like the other semi-final on Wednesday at The Oval, the match turned out to be an anticlimax as the weight of expectation got to Sri Lanka. Their batting, barring skipper Angelo Mathews, was lacklustre and a total of 181 for 8 was never going to challenge India, for whom Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli scored fifties.

The match was won in the first half, when in conditions heavily weighted in favour of seam bowling, India's bowlers restricted Sri Lanka to a sub-par total. No doubt having the weather forecast and conditions on his mind, and perhaps influenced by the fact that teams batting first have won just two of 11 completed ODIs at Sophia Gardens, MS Dhoni opted to field after a delayed start. It proved an excellent toss to win, and with his trio of pace bowlers finding appreciable movement off a tricky surface and Suresh Raina holding three catches at second slip, India took charge early on.

In three victories during the league stage, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had struck in his opening spell and so the start he provided in seam-friendly conditions was always going to be important. True to form, he produced a breakthrough early by having Kusal Perera (4) caught by Raina in the third over. Finding appreciable swing off the surface, Bhuvneshwar operated with a full length and beat the bat several times as well as producing a some edges.

Tillakaratne Dilshan hobbling off the field with a thigh strain midway through the fifth over left Sri Lanka struggling, and with Umesh Yadav supporting Bhuvneshwar well in good first spell (5-2-16-0) India kept the scoring on a leash. There were 75 dot balls bowled in the first 15 overs - nine of which beat the bat - at which time Sri Lanka were 36 for 1.

The early pressure from Bhuvneshwar, who reeled off nine overs for 18 at the start, was a contributory factor to Sri Lanka's problems but the innings really turned after the first drinks break. Ishant Sharma produced edges off the bats of Lahiru Thirimanne (7) and Kumar Sangakkara (17) in successive overs, both left-handers poking to Raina at second slip. The low take off Thirimanne was especially sharp.

Sri Lanka survived lbw appeals against MS Dhoni, who gave the gloves to Dinesh Karthik and took the ball for the 24th over, and Ravindra Jadeja by virtue of using the reviews, but failed to accelerate.

Mahela Jayawardene got to 38 before he missed a swipe at Jadeja and was bowled, and India tightened their grasp in the batting Powerplay by conceding just 12 runs - two maidens - in five overs. Mathews scored Sri Lanka's first boundary for an hour by heaving Yadav for four and reached his half-century in 85 balls, but one run later was out slogging at R Ashwin in the 46th over. Two quick wickets to Ashwin ensured there was no late surge and Sri Lanka ended up with a disappointing total.

Defending 181, Sri Lanka's only chance was to bowl India out but Dhawan and Rohit Sharma put on 77 in 17 overs to lay the platform for victory. Nuwan Kulasekara found a bit of movement but India's openers played out the first 15 overs after which the surface eased out.

Dhawan, dropped on 18 by Mathews at first slip off Kulasekara, continued his rich vein of form in his second coming as an ODI batsman while Rohit played a few pleasing shots in his 33. Again he failed to convert a start, but his exit to Mathews allowed Kohli to get his highest score this tournament.

Dhawan was the slowest he has been in the tournament, but reached another fifty. He was given another life on 62, this time at point off Kulasekara, and carried on to 68 before Sangakkara effected a smart stumping.

Kohli was content to play second fiddle yet still found time to drive Kulasekara inside-out for four and swat Jeewan Mendis to the midwicket boundary. Once Dhawan departed, he hurried to fifty in 58 balls and finished off the game with 58* off 64 balls.

India will now play England in the final on Sunday.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8: Skipper Virat Kohli struck an unbeaten 30 as India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 international in Indore on Tuesday.

The hosts rode a 71-run opening stand between KL Rahul, who hit 45, and Shikhar Dhawan, who made 32, to chase down their target of 143 in 17.3 overs and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after the first match was rained off.

Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga took the wickets of the Indian openers but Shreyas Iyer, who scored 34 before falling to paceman Lahiru Kumara, and Kohli, who hit the winning six, got the team home.

The third match is on Friday in Pune.

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News Network
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has proposed radical changes in the LBW laws, stating that a batsman should be given out leg before as long as the ball is hitting the stumps irrespective of the spot of its landing and impact.

Chappell also said captains should agree on one way of working up the ball which will encourage swing bowling, even as the ICC is considering the use of artificial substances to shine the ball instead of sweat and saliva in post-COVID-19 scenario.

"The new lbw law should simply say: 'Any delivery that strikes the pad without first hitting the bat and, in the umpire's opinion, would go on to hit the stumps is out regardless of whether or not a shot is attempted'," he wrote in a column for ESPNcricinfo.

"Forget where the ball pitches and whether it strikes the pad outside the line or not; if it's going to hit the stumps, it's out."

The 76-year-old said the change in lbw law would attract expected criticism from the batsmen but it would make the game more fair.

"There will be screams of horror - particularly from pampered batsmen - but there are numerous positives this change would bring to the game. Most important is fairness.

"If a bowler is prepared to attack the stumps regularly, the batsman should only be able to protect his wicket with the bat. The pads are there to save the batsman from injury not dismissal.

"It would also force batsmen to seek an attacking method to combat a wristspinner pitching in the rough outside the right-hander's leg stump," said Chappell.

He cited Sachin Tendulkar's example on how he negotiated Shane Warne's round the wicket tactic during the 1997-98 Test series in India.

"Contrast Sachin Tendulkar's aggressive and successful approach to Shane Warne coming round the wicket in Chennai in 1997-98 with a batsman who kicks away deliveries pitching in the rough and turning in toward the stumps. Which would you rather watch?

"The current law encourages "pad play" to balls pitching outside leg while this change would force them to use their bat. The change would reward bowlers who attack the stumps and decrease the need for negative wide deliveries to a packed off-side field," he said.

Chappell said his proposed change to the lbw law would also cut down "frivolous" DRS challenges.

"This change to the lbw law would also simplify umpiring and result in fewer frivolous DRS challenges. Consequently, it would speed up a game that has slowed drastically in recent times.

"It would also make four-day Tests an even more viable proposition as mind-numbing huge first-innings totals would be virtually non-existent."

On the substitute of shining the ball without sweat and saliva, Chappell said international captains should find out a way of working up the ball.

"With ball-tampering always a hot topic, in the past I've suggested that administrators ask international captains to construct a list (i.e. the use of natural substances) detailing the things bowlers feel will help them to swing the ball.

"From this list, the administrators should deem one method to be legal with all others being punishable as illegal," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

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Agencies
January 6,2020

Washington D.C., Jan 6: 'The Irishman,' and 'Two Popes' were shut out from the winners list despite getting multiple nominations, the movies didn't win a single award at the Golden Globes Award held on Sunday (local time). Other movies in the list include 'Bombshell,' 'Dolemite Is My Name,' 'Harriet,' 'Jojo Rabbit,' 'Knives Out' and 'Little Women.'

According to The Hollywood Reporter, 'The Irishman' may have gone into the 2020 Golden Globes with the second-highest number of film nominations, tied with 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' with five nods, but Martin Scorsese's highly anticipated mob epic for Netflix was completely shut out at the award ceremony.

Netflix landed the most film nominations of any company with 17 mentions, but it won only one award which is the best-supporting actress for 'Marriage Story's' Laura Dern. Netflix's nominated films 'Dolemite Is My Name' and 'The Two Popes' was tied with 'Joker' with four mentions each and failed to grab any awards.

'Dolemite Is My Name' star Eddie Murphy was expected by a number of pundits to win for best actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy.

'Bombshell', 'Harriet',' Frozen 2', 'Jojo Rabbit', 'Knives Out', 'The Lion King', 'Little Women' and 'Pain and Glory' are among the other films that received multiple nominations but didn't win a single award.

On the TV side, Netflix's 'Unbelievable' tied in the race to most small-screen nominations with 'Chernobyl' and 'The Crown' with four nominations, and 'The Crown' won only one award, for star Olivia Colman.

The three-time nominees 'Barry', 'Big Little Lies', 'The Kominsky Method' and 'The Morning Show' also didn't grab any award. 'Catch-22', 'Killing Eve', 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' and 'The Politician' who were two-time nominees that were also iced out.

'Hustlers' star Jennifer Lopez failed to take home the best-supporting actress award as she was predicted to win the award by a number of pundits. Billy porter also failed to make history with the best drama actor win for his role on 'Pose,' if he would've won the award, he reportedly would have been the first openly gay African-American to win that award.

'Chernobyl' won two of its four nominations. Despite that, star Jared Harris didn't win the best actor in a limited series Globe which was predicted by many prognosticators. The award was bagged by Russell Crowe for his portrayal of Roger Ailes in 'The Loudest Voice.' But the star was absent from the ceremony.

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