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Sarfraz leads Pakistan to Champions Trophy semi-final

Agencies
June 13, 2017

Cardiff, Jun 13: Pakistan marched into the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy after recording a dramatic three-wicket victory against Sri Lanka here at Sophia Gardens on Monday.

Sarfraz

The fast bowlers set up the win before fifties from rookie opener Fakhar Zaman and skipper Sarfraz Ahmed sealed it. But above all, it was a horrible fielding display from Sri Lanka that allowed Pakistan to set a date with title-favourites England in the last-four on Wednesday (tomorrow).

With a place in the semi-finals at stake, there were many twists and turns in the match. Sri Lanka squandered a chance of posting a big total as they slipped from 160-3 in 30 overs to 167-7. Then Pakistan allowed them to inch to a somewhat respectable 236.

Later, Pakistan seemed cruising towards a comfortable win as they raced to 92-1 in just over 11 overs on the back of a blazing 50 off just 36 balls from Fakhar Zaman. But they slumped to 162-7 before Sarfraz and Mohammad Amir resurrected the chase with an unbeaten 75-run partnership for the eighth wicket to take them past the finish line.

Sarfraz, Pakistan’s hero with an unbeaten 61 off 79 balls, lived dangerously but was given a series of reprieves by the Sri Lankan fielders. They could have ran him out, caught him out but kept wasting the chances. Sri Lanka’s worst moment in the game came in the 39th over when Thisara Perera dropped a dolly after Sarfraz had hit a Lasith Malinga delivery straight into the hands of the all-rounder at mid-on.

In the end, it weren’t Pakistan who won the match. It were Sri Lanka who lost it. The winning shot came from Sarfraz as he hit Malinga to the third-man boundary and then celebrated as if Pakistan had won the Champions Trophy. It was certainly was a big moment for Sarfraz, who is captaining Pakistan for the first time in an ICC event. “I can’t believe it,” Sarfraz said. “Dropped catches are part of the game. Allah helped us and that’s why Pakistan won today,” he added.

Earlier, Amir woke up from his slumber with a fiery spell that put Pakistan on top at the end of the first innings. Having gone wicketless in his team’s first two games of the event, Amir scalped the dangerous duo of Niroshan Dickwell (73) and Angelo Mathews (39) in quick succession as the rest of Pakistan’s pace attack also sizzled to dismiss Sri Lanka for 236 in 49.2 overs in what was a virtual quarter-final of the eight-nation spectacle. Junaid Khan (3-40) and Hasan Ali (3-43) had better figures than Amir (2-53) but it was the left-armer’s twin strike that squeezed the life out of Sri Lanka’s innings.

The Sri Lankans, who took the field in Cardiff after a sensational win against defending champions India at The Oval, were undone by some superb swing bowling by Pakistan’s pace quartet that included debutant Faheem Ashraf (2-37). Apart from Dickwella who hit 73 from 86 balls and Mathews, no Sri Lankan batsmen could offer any worthwhile resistance. Pakistan opted to bowl on a fresh wicket that had a tinge of green. They chose uncapped Fahim over leggie Shadab and didn’t regret the move.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 236, 49.2 overs (N Dickwella 73; Junaid Khan 3-40, Hasan Ali 3-43)

Pakistan 237-7, 44.5 overs (Sarfraz Ahmed 61 no, Fakhar Zaman 50; N Pradeep 3-60)

Result: Pakistan won by three wickets.

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News Network
June 11,2020

New Delhi, Jun 11: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has indicated that this year's IPL could be conducted in empty stadiums, insisting that all possible options are being explored to ensure that the suspended event does take place despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to all the affiliated units sent late on Wednesday after the ICC Board meeting, Ganguly seemed confident of an IPL this year despite its current status of being indefinitely suspended because of the raging pandemic, which has claimed more than 8,000 lives in India.

"The BCCI is working on all possible options to ensure that we are able to stage IPL this year, even if it means playing the tournament in empty stadiums," Ganguly wrote.

"The fans, franchises, players, broadcasters, sponsors and all other stakeholders are keenly looking forward to the possibility of IPL being hosted this year.

"Recently, a lot of players both from India and other countries, participating in the IPL have shown keenness on being part of this year's IPL. We are optimistic and the BCCI will shortly decide on the future course of action on this," the former India captain said.

It is widely speculated that the IPL is eyeing the October event if the T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in Australia at that time is postponed. The ICC has deferred a decision on the World Cup's fate until next month.

Ganguly also said that the BCCI is working on the domestic schedule while exploring various formats which would make tournaments like Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Vijay Hazare "competitive and feasible".

"Moving ahead, the BCCI is in process of planning the domestic competitions for the next cricketing season. We are working on various options and formats in our endeavour to ensure that various domestic tournaments are held, they stay competitive and participation feasible," said the former India captain.

"The BCCI will come up with more details in next couple of weeks," he added.

He also informed that BCCI is preparing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for resumption of cricket in all state units to ensure medical safety of those involved.

The president also informed that the BCCI has made "all efforts to release funds/grants to its various members."

"Associations which have made proper submission of their accounts and funds utilization certificates have already received their grants," he said.

The other units will also receive their grants once they submit relevant documents, the president assured while informing that vendors have also been paid.

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News Network
February 5,2020

Aukland, Feb 5: Striker Navneet Kaur scored a brace to guide the Indian women's hockey team to a convincing 3-0 win over New Zealand in the last game of its five-match tour here on Wednesday.

Navneet found the net in the 45th and 58th minutes, while Sharmila scored a field goal in the 54th minute as India drew curtains on the New Zealand tour on a bright note.

After a goalless opening two quarters, Navneet finally broke the deadlock for India in the 45th minute.

Sharmila then doubled the lead when she struck a powerful shot past the New Zealand goalkeeper in the 54th minute. Navneet found the net again just two minutes from the final hooter with a beautiful field strike.

India began the tour by thrashing New Zealand Development squad 4-0 before suffering close 1-2 and 0-1 defeats to the home senior team.

In penultimate game of the tour, skipper Rani's lone strike handed India a 1-0 win over Great Britain.

"...I am happy we produced three goals against New Zealand in the last match. This tour gave us a good insight about where we need to improve and one of the things is to create faster play than we do now," said India's chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

Commenting on his side's performance during the tour, Marijne said, "Sometimes we tend to keep the ball too long on the stick and then we create pressure. We need to avoid that by passing faster.

"On the defence side, we need to be a bit more calmer and need to improve our tackling. We will have a four week camp after a short break when we return home and we will be working on these points."

The Indian team will return home on February 7.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: "Want to know what makes him tick," said Australian pacer Kane Richardson will talking about playing alongside Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.

The IPL 2020 will be played in the UAE from September 19-November 10 and the tournament will run for 53 days.

In the players' auction which was conducted in December 2019, RCB managed to bag key players like Richardson, Chris Morris, Aaron Finch, Dale Steyn, Joshua Philippe, and Isuru Udana.

In an interaction with news agency, Richardson talked about playing alongside Kohli and the learning curve which is in store for him by being in the same squad as Proteas great Dale Steyn.
"Huge. These guys (Virat, AB de Villiers) are the absolute legends of the game. Anything I can learn from them will be a bonus, that's for sure.

I am really looking forward to playing with Virat, there are few more competitive players in the world. I am really looking forward to seeing what makes him tick," Richardson said.

The 29-year-old pacer also said that he would want to learn from Steyn as to how to be consistent in all formats of the game over a long period of time.

"There are loads I can learn from Dale. He has been amongst the best at the highest level for so long. His control and ability to swing the ball without losing his pace is really impressive. 

I look forward to getting in his ear about how he performs so consistently over a long period, in all forms," said Richardson who has 39 ODI wickets to his credit.

Richardson has so far played 14 games in his IPL career so far and has picked up 18 wickets. The bowler played for Pune Warriors India in 2013, Rajasthan Royals in 2014, and RCB in 2016.

For this year's IPL, RCB has also bagged Australia's limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch, and Richardson thinks having a familiar face in the camp would help him to settle better in the franchise.

"Finchey is an awesome player and a fantastic leader. I am sure it will help to have two Aussies in the side along with Josh who is playing his first tournament after a massive summer in the BBL. We are all professionals, I'm sure it won't take long for us to gel as a side," Richardson said.

However, before the IPL starts, Australia is expected to tour England for a limited-overs series, comprising of three ODIs and as many T20Is.

The side was last seen in action in March this year as they played one ODI against New Zealand in Sydney. After the first match, the remaining two ODIs were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Talking about the series against England, Kane replied: "We will be fresh, that's one thing, while the England players have been in a bubble for some time now. As long as we get enough practice in before and possibly some centre wicket it should not be an issue."

"They are World Cup holders and the number one ranked side for a very good reason. It will be a tough series also given they will have played a fair bit of cricket together by then. We know we need to work hard on our one-day game which will be a priority over the next period," he added.

The pacer also talked about how the lockdown was like for him, and Richardson feels that everyone would come back strong as a result of this break.

"The break from playing has been refreshing, to be honest. We have come back strong and are well into pre-season training with our states. As a bowler, our loads are not at their peak but we are working towards getting ready for a tour of the UK in a few weeks," Richardson said.

The Australian quick has so far played 25 ODIs and 18 T20Is, managing to take 39 and 19 wickets respectively.

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