Pakistan notches 11 runs win in second T20 against Australia

Agencies

October 27, 2018

Dubai, Oct 27: Pakistan survived a late Glenn Maxwell charge to beat Australia by 11 runs in the second Twenty20 on Friday. Maxwell, dropped twice, made 52 off 37 balls and Nathan Coulter-Nile scored a fighting 27 but Pakistan restricted Australia to 136-8.

Earlier, opening batsman Babar Azam once again top scored with 45 and together with Mohammad Hafeez (40) anchored Pakistan to 147-6 after captain Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and opted to bat.

The victory ensured top-ranked Pakistan notches its 10th successive Twenty20 series victory under Ahmed that began with a 1-0 win over England in 2016. The last match of the series will be played at the same venue on Sunday.

“It’s not easy to get 10 out 10 in Twenty20, but credit goes to the boys, the way we have improved our bowling, batting and fielding,” Pakistan captain Ahmed said.

“It’s a big win and now we will try to give the boys sitting on the bench a chance in the last match.”

Australia top order batsmen once again choked against the left-arm spin of Imad Wasim (1-8) and legspinner Shadab Khan (2-30) before Maxwell and Coulter-Nile made a late recovery.

Wasim, who grabbed three wickets in the first match which Australia lost heavily by 66 runs on Wednesday, had the wicket of dangerman Chris Lynn.

D’Arcy Short was run-out after the ball brushed the left-arm spinner Wasim’s fingers and crashed onto the stumps at the non striker’s end.

Finch’s (3) struggle continued against Wasim before he holed out in the deep in Shadab’s first over while attempting a desperate big shot before the legspinner had Mitchell Marsh caught behind.

“We were probably just a bit tentative in the Powerplay,” Finch said. “Being six down in the last game, we tried to be conservative and when Pakistan put the squeeze on you, it can get tough. They are No.1 for a reason.”

Ben McDermott was run out for the second successive time in the series by Fakhar Zaman, this time the fielder hitting the stumps with a brilliant backhand flick.

Australia was stuttering at 73-6 in the 14th over before Maxwell and Coulter-Nile put on 59 runs but both were dismissed by 18-year-old left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi in the last over.

Like in the first match Pakistan innings revolved around Azam and Hafeez’s 70-run second wicket stand.

Australia pegged back Pakistan through its spinners Short and Adam Zampa with Short featuring in the dismissal of both batsmen.

Hafeez holed out to Short at deep square leg while Finch caught Azam on the edge of the boundary at long off off Short’s left-arm spin.

Coulter-Nile (3-18) returned to remove Shoaib Malik (14) and Hasan Ali off successive deliveries before Faheem Ashraf’s unbeaten 17 off 10 balls gave Pakistan enough runs to defend.

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Racism has to stop: Paul Pogba pays tribute to George Floyd

News Network

June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Manchester United's Paul Pogba on Monday paid tribute to George Floyd, stressing that violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated and they have to stop.

Pogba took to Instagram to write: "During the past few days I have thought a lot about how to express my feelings about what happened in Minneapolis. I felt anger, pity, hatred, indignation, pain, sadness."

"Sadness for George and for all black people who suffer from racism Every day! Whether in football, at work, at school, Anywhere! This has to stop, once and for all! Not tomorrow or the next day, it has to end today! Violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated," he added.

Protests erupted in Minneapolis and other US cities on Tuesday after Floyd, an African-American man, died following his arrest by the four officers.

A viral video showed a police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning 46-year-old Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes. Floyd died at a local hospital shortly thereafter.

The four police officers were fired. Chauvin was also charged with murder and manslaughter, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

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Thank you for correcting us. Grateful.

This photograph in the above mentioned article is of Floyd Mayweather Jr , the world welterweight & super heavy weight champion & wrongly menitoned as Pogba .

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'Your character stood out for me': Kohli to Mayank Agarwal

Agencies

July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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Amir, Wahab Riaz left us at the wrong time: Bowling coach Waqar Younis

News Network

April 7,2020

London, Apr 7: Bowling coach Waqar Younis feels that it was the absence of pacers Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir which saw Pakistan getting whitewashed during Australia tour last year.

Amir and Riaz had quit the red-ball format ahead of the matches against Australia in 2019.

"Just before the Australia series, they ditched us and we had the only choice to pick youngsters.

We were the new management and decided to go on with taking in the younger lot and groom them. ESPNcricinfo quoted Younis as saying.

Pakistan was not able to win a single match in Australia as they got defeated both in T20Is and Test series.

"It's not like we have lost a lot, but yes they left us at the wrong time. But anyway, we don't have any grudge against them," Younis added.

"We cannot control players' choice on what they want to play, but then there should be a mechanism so we all are on board. "It's not like I am saying we could have won in Australia but we could have done better than what we have done," he opined.

Amir gave up the red ball format in July in order to manage his workload and extend his white-ball career for Pakistan as well as in T20 leagues around the world, while Riaz took an "indefinite break" from Test cricket in September last year.

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