Sri Lanka book another final spot; holders out

April 4, 2014

Sri_Lanka_into_finalMirpur, Apr 4: Sri Lanka 160 for 6 (Thirimanne 44, Mathews 40) beat West Indies 80 for 4 (Bravo 30, Malinga 2-5) by 27 runs (D/L method)

West Indies banked on a frenetic finish, but Sri Lanka's bowlers had choked the chase to suffocation-point before heavy rain, then marble-sized hail, cut the innings short and sent Sri Lanka to yet another major final. When the heavens opened, West Indies had needed 81 from 37 balls, with six wickets remaining. The Duckworth-Lewis calculation had them 27 runs adrift.

It was always a dangerous ploy to begin the chase slowly, but doubly so with rain in the air, and against an attack that features better death bowlers than most in the competition. West Indies had actually scored 17 from the first, wayward over from Nuwan Kulasekara, but as an unambitious Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels hunkered down, they mustered only 17 from the next six.

Sri Lanka's spinners were allowed to settle, and soon, even the expansive shots were being mistimed. Dwayne Bravo tonked 30 for 19, as messages from the dugout implored Samuels to shift into overdrive, but when Bravo fell in the 14th over, West Indies' chances grew desperately slim.

Darren Sammy, who has been the finisher of the tournament, was about to face his first ball when the weather intruded. Two Lasith Malinga overs remained, however, and the required rate may have been beyond even Sammy's rapid blade.

Only Tillakaratne Dilshan prospered out of Sri Lanka's senior batsmen, and even he scored only at a run-a-ball, running two batsmen out, including himself, in the process. Kusal Perera's bold 26 from 12 and Angelo Mathews' canny 40 from 23 gave the innings its flourishes, while Lahiru Thirimanne's 44 from 35 was its substance.

Perera had dealt powerfully to Krishmar Santokie through the leg side, to set Sri Lanka off at more than 10 an over in the first four, before Santokie had him playing on to a leg cutter. Mahela Jayawardene, so often Sri Lanka's big-game performer, was dismissed cruelly before he had had the chance to make an impact with the bat. Dilshan called him through after chopping one to point, but sharp work in the infield and a good throw over the stumps caught Jayawardene short, before he faced a ball. Kumar Sangakkara's demise for 1 from six balls was of his own making. He pushed out early against a slower Samuel Badree ball and lobbed a simple catch to the bowler.

Dilshan lacked fluency, as he has done throughout the tournament, but combined sagely with Thirimanne for 42 to lift Sri Lanka from 49 for 3. He would run himself out too, haring out of the crease when there was no run to be had, but Thirimanne completed the recovery, striking two sixes - including an uppercut over third man off Andre Russell. Thirimanne's innings was as secure as it was well-paced, setting the team up for a death-over spike, with wickets in the bank.

Mathews had been tentative against Sunil Narine early in his innings, often having his outside edge beaten as he prodded. But having been 13 from 14 balls, he gathered pace against Santokie in the penultimate over, to help deliver a furious finish worth 32 in the final two overs. Mathews slammed Santokie over long-on first ball, before collecting a four in the same spot.

Then, when West Indies strengthened the on side, he made room to loft a length ball over cover for four. A flat, fast six over cover next over was the shot of the innings, and a hooked four sent Sri Lanka to 160, before Mathews was athletically caught at deep midwicket by an advancing Bravo, last ball.

Dwayne Smith slogged a four then launched a six off the first two balls of the reply, but following that over, West Indies slowed almost to a stall - first by choice, then by coercion. Malinga arrived in the Powerplay and in his first over bowled Gayle, then Smith with offcutters, before Llendl Simmons was out lbw to Seekkuge Prasanna's first ball of the tournament. At 34 for 3 in the eighth over, West Indies had backed themselves into a mighty corner.

Bravo lashed out valiantly as Sri Lanka's slow-bowling phalanx sought to tamp the run rate down even further. He walloped Rangana Herath and Prasanna over cover, but with Samuels flatlining at the other end and Sri Lanka's fielders throwing themselves around to save boundaries, he could not quite spur a game-breaking charge. A Kulasekara slower ball had him caught at square leg as the required rate spiked over 12. When wild winds brought the downpour over the Sher-e-Bangla later in that over, Samuels was unbeaten on 18 from 29.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Atlanta, Jan 9: Top tennis stars like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams will be playing an exhibition match to raise funds for Australia's bushfire relief.

Apart from these three, Naomi Osaka, Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas have also confirmed their availability for the match, CNN reported.

The match will be played on January 15 at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena. The Australian Open Rally for Relief will be donating the proceedings from the ticket sales to the bushfire relief efforts.

Tennis star Maria Sharapova had also announced on Wednesday that she had left 10 signed pairs of her tennis shoes in her Brisbane hotel that members of the public could buy with a donation to the Australian Red Cross.

"Brisbane, I have signed ten pairs of my tennis shoes, left them at the @BrisbaneTennis
desk at the Westin Hotel, alongside a donation envelope for fire rescue efforts.They're yours to keep,we just ask you to donate AUD 300 a pair. All money going directly to Red Cross," Sharapova tweeted.

Earlier, former Australian spinner Shane Warne on Monday had announced to auction his Baggy Green cap to raise funds for victims of devastating bushfires in Australia.

Taking to Twitter, Warne made the announcement and posted a statement.

"The horrific bushfires in Australia have left us all in disbelief. The impact these devastating fires are having on so many people is unthinkable and has touched us all. Lives have been lost, homes have been destroyed and over 500 million animals have died too," Warne wrote.

"Everyone is in this together and we continue to find ways to contribute and help on a daily basis. This has led me to auction my beloved baggy green cap (350) that I wore throughout my Test career," he added.

Warne joined a growing list of cricketers to raise money for the bushfire victims. Australian players Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell and D'Arcy Short have already announced that they will donate AUD 250 each for every six they hit in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) to support bushfire victims.

Athletes from other sports too joined the movement as tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic decided to donate 25,000 dollars each for Australia's bushfire relief fund.

Wildfires have been raging across Australia for months, killing 23 people, burning about 6 million hectares (23,000 square miles) of bushland and killing a billion animals.

Naval and air rescue operations were launched on Friday as mass evacuations of towns at risk of being engulfed by flames got underway.b

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Agencies
January 19,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 19: Opening batsman Rohit Sharma on Sunday became the third-fastest batsman to register 9,000 runs in the 50-over format.

He achieved the feat in the ongoing third ODI against Australia here at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Only Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have achieved the feat faster than Rohit.

Sharma brought up the milestone in the first over of the Indian innings as he clipped Mitchell Starc away for a single.

With this, the right-handed batsman has become just the sixth Indian to achieve the milestone.

Apart from Sharma, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar have more than 9,000 runs in the 50-over format.

Overall, 20 batsmen have more than 9,000 ODI runs to their name.

In the match between India and Australia, the former won the toss and elected to bat first.

Steve Smith played a knock of 131 runs to propel Australia to 286/9 in the allotted fifty overs.

 

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News Network
February 21,2020

Sydney, Feb 21: Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav bowled a magical spell in her comeback game to steer India to a comfortable 17-run win over defending champions Australia in the opening match of the Women's T20 World Cup on Friday.

Put in to bat, India struggled to a below par 132 before Poonam (4/19 in 4 overs) foxed the Aussies with her googlies, turning the match decisively into her team's favour.

Australia, who have won the competition four times in six editions, were all out for 115 in 19.5 overs

"A bowler like Poonam is someone who leads from the front. We were expecting a great comeback from her. Our team is looking nice, earlier we depended on two-three players," India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said after the match.

Poonam, who missed the preceding tri-series due to a hand injury, also got good support from other bowlers including pacer Shikha Pandey.

The 28-year-old from Agra was on a hat-trick but narrowly missed out as wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia dropped a difficult chance.

The tournament-opener saw a record 13,000 plus attendance with a sizeable chunk supporting India.

India next play against Bangladesh in Perth on February 24.

"It was great for me to come back from injury and perform like this. It was the third time that I was on a hat-trick but satisfied that I was able to do the job for the team," said Poonam at the post-match presentation.

Australia were off to a good start to their chase with opener Alyssa Healy making a 35-ball 51, laced with six boundaries and a six.

However, Indian spinners led by Poonam triggered a collapse as Australia suddenly slipped to 82 for six.

Poonam (4/19) snapped four wickets, two in successive deliveries in the 12th over, to break the back of Australia's chase.

Ashleigh Gardner (34 off 36) tried her bit but didn't get any support from the other end.

Earlier, India squandered a flying start to end up with a below-par total.

Sixteen-year-old Shafali Verma took India to 40 for no loss in four overs with a typically aggressive 29 off 15 balls but her fall derailed the innings as the other batters disappointed.

Deepti Sharma made a composed 46-ball 49 in the second half of the innings but the firepower that India needed in the death overs was badly missing.

India were cruising initially with Shafali taking the opposition to the cleaners, hitting five fours and a six.

However, left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen (2/24) snapped two quick wickets, Smriti Mandhana (10 off 11) and Harmanpreet (2 off 5) to reduce India to 47 for three.

Deepti then shared 53 runs with Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 33) to bring up the 100 in the 16th over.

For Australia, Ellyse Perry (1/15) and Delissa Kimmince (1/24) were the other wicket-takers.

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