Pakistan Stun South Africa, Win By 19 Runs (DLS) In Rain-Hit Match

June 8, 2017

Jun 8: A rejuvenated Pakistan put their miserable hammering by arch-rivals India behind them with a shock 19-run win over South Africa at Edgbaston on Tuesday that kept their Champions Trophy semi-final hopes alive.

Pak

Just three days after suffering a humiliating 124-run defeat by title-holders India at Edgbaston in their opening group match, with former skipper Shahid Afridi among those slamming a "clueless" display, Pakistan's return to the Birmingham ground saw them make a mockery of the rankings which had them bottom and South Africa top in this eight-team one-day international tournament. Having conceded 319 for three against title-holders India, Pakistan restricted South Africa to 219 for eight after losing the toss.

After the spinners did the initial damage, paceman Hasan Ali took three for 24 in eight overs.

David Miller's unbeaten 75 kept the Proteas in the game.

When fast bowler Morne Morkel took two wickets in three balls, Pakistan were faltering at 41 for two under the floodlights in this day/night fixture.

But Babar Azam (31 not out) and Shoaib Malik (16 not out) took Pakistan to 119 for three off 27 overs when heavy rain stopped play at 7:41pm.

That left them well ahead of their target score of 101 so that when the umpires finally decided more than two hours later that a resumption was impossible, Pakistan had beaten South Africa under the Duckworth/Lewis method for the second successive ICC 50-over tournament following a 29-run win at the 2015 World Cup.

It left Group B wide open, with three teams on a win apiece after South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by 96 runs at the Oval last week.

"It's a very important win for us," said Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed.

"We were good in all departments today.

"Steve Rixon (the Pakistan fielding coach) was very happy today, we didn't field well the other day, today we were much better."

Hasan, the man-of-the-match, added: "We all worked very hard on our fielding."

- 'Under pressure' -

South Africa captain AB de Villiers, who suffered the first golden duck in his 212 career ODI innings during the Proteas' top-order collapse, said: "They bowled pretty well, put us under pressure."

De Villiers, struggling with a hamstring problem, added: "The hamstring is okay, felt a little tweak, but we'll check it out tomorrow (Thursday). I don't think it's too serious."

Pakistan's Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan, in for the injured Wahab Riaz, took the new ball.

But it was the spin duo of Imad Wasim and Mohammad Hafeez who did the early damage.

Left-armer Imad struck second ball when Hasim Amla (16) was lbw.

Off-spinner Hafeez then had Quinton de Kock (33) lbw on the sweep.

The two spinners combined when de Villiers departed by slicing Imad to Hafeez at backward point -- a wicket greeted by huge cheers from the large Pakistan contingent in a crowd of more than 18,000.

Hasan, as Imad had done, struck second ball when Faf du Plessis (26) played on.

He then took two wickets in two balls with a couple of brilliant deliveries to reduce South Africa to 118 for six in the 29th over.

He took the outside edge of JP Duminy's bat, with Babar holding a good diving slip catch, and then knocked over Wayne Parnell's off-stump.

Miller, however, received good support from Chris Morris (28) and Kagiso Rabada (26) in stands of 47 and 48 respectively.

Pakistan's collapse to 164 all out against India would have given South Africa hope, despite their below par total.

But Fakhar Zaman, making an ODI debut in place of the dropped Ahmed Shehzad, got Pakistan's chase off to a brisk start.

The left-hander eventually fell for 33 when, deceived by Morkel's slower ball, he edged to Amla at slip.

Two balls later, Azhar Ali (nine) carelessly uppercut Morkel to Pakistan-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who took three for 18 in seven overs.

Tahir took another good catch, at long leg to dismiss Hafeez (26) off an uppish pull against Morkel.

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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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News Network
July 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 24: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was earlier banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the Anti-Corruption Code, on Friday, said that people are bound to make mistakes and the important thing is that how well they make a comeback.

Shakib was banned from all forms of cricket on October 29 last year after he accepted the charges of breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. He will be able to resume international cricket from October 29, 2020.

"You have to be honest. You just can't lie to the people and pretend different things. Whatever happened has happened. People are bound to make mistakes. You are not 100%. The important thing is how well you can comeback from those mistakes. You can tell other people not to make those mistakes. Tell them the path so that they never take those paths," Shakib told Deep Dasgupta in a videocast hosted by ESPNcricinfo.

The 33-year-old all-rounder said he has seen many controversies ever since he was first made captain in 2009. He had trouble with the board chief, selectors and the media, mainly about selectorial decisions and not being made permanent captain between 2009 and 2010.
He believes those experiences have changed him as a person over time.

"I think [it's] combination of both [controversy following him, and vice versa]. I got the responsibility so early in my career, I was bound to make mistakes. I was captain when I was 21. I made a lot of mistakes, and there are so many things that people think about me. Now I realise that it was my fault in some areas, and in some I was misunderstood. But I get it completely. It is part and parcel in the subcontinent," Hasan said.

"Of course I will try to minimise [my mistakes] as much as I can, but by the time I got married, and now I have two kids, I understand the game and life better. It has made me a calmer person than I was in my twenties. I have changed quite a lot. People won't see me doing a lot of mistakes now. My two daughters changed my life completely," he added.

Shakib is likely return to international cricket during Bangladesh's proposed Test series against Sri Lanka in October. 

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Agencies
March 25,2020

Lausanne, Mar 25: The World Archery has hailed as a 'brave decision' the International Olympic Committee (IOC) move to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics until next year due to coronavirus pandemic.

"We commend the conscientious and brave decision taken by Tokyo 2020 and the International Olympic Committee to delay this summer's Games in the face of an unprecedented challenge to humanity," Ugur Erdener, the World Archery president, said in an official statement.

The decision to postpone the Summer Olympics was confirmed by the IOC, on Tuesday, after the organising body for the event and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to reschedule the quadrennial event in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This is not an easy situation, especially for the athletes who had been training hard for Tokyo 2020. I hope that everyone understands why this decision has been made and I urge archers around the world to retain hope and reset for this new timetable," he added.

The IOC has, however, said that the original name of Tokyo 2020 will remain intact irrespective of the fact that it will take place next year.

The Tokyo Olympic Games were slated to be held from July 24 to August 9.

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