Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Suresh Raina ton helps UP thump Bengal; Jharkhand on the brink of exit

Agencies
January 23, 2018

Jan 23: Suresh Raina roared back to form with an unbeaten century in Uttar Pradesh's 75-run win even as Bengal and Jharkhand stood on the brink of exit at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament on Monday.

Delhi and Punjab, on the other hand, posted second successive wins in their respective Super League group matches to brighten their hopes of making the final.

Without a half-century for more than 10 innings across formats, Raina cracked a 49-ball century en route to an unbeaten 126 (59b; 13x4, 7x6) to become the second Indian after Virat Kohli to score 7000 runs in the Twenty20 format. He is the ninth player to scale 'Mount 7000' runs in the Twenty20 format.

This was also Raina's fourth T20 century and second highest individual score by an Indian in T20s as he missed Murali Vijay's record 127 by just one run here. Raina's century helped Uttar Pradesh pile up 235 for 3 after the UP skipper opted to bat.

In reply, Bengal folded for 160 in 16.1 overs with India chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav returning with 4 for 26. It was a second successive defeat for Bengal at Eden Gardens as they virutally crashed out of the group B race for final.

Raina found a fine ally in Akshdeep Nath, who smashed 80 off 43 balls including seven fours and four sixes as they stitched a 163-run partnership for the third wicket to open their campaign with a bang. Later, Delhi shone bright under lights as Dhruv Shorey (74 from 56 balls; 8x4, 2x6) laid the foundation for an intense two-wicket win over Baroda.

It was No 8 Pradeep Sangwan's unbeaten 23 from 12 balls (3x4, 1x6) which helped Delhi to romp home with five balls to spare. Put in, Baroda rode on Kedhar Devdhar's 77 to post a modest 140/8 and in reply Delhi were 66/5 midway into their chase with their star duo of Gautam Gambhir (7) and Rishabh Pant (0) getting out cheaply. But Shorey kept them in the fight before Sangwan finished the chase.

In a group A match at the Jadavpur University second campus ground in Saltlake, the stylish Yuvraj Singh struck a 34-ball 40 to help Punjab beat Mumbai by three wickets for their second successive win. Chasing a challenging 199, Punjab were 72 for two when the out-of-favour India left-hander took control of the match with opener Manan Vohra (42 from 31 balls; 3x4s, 2x6s).

Yuvraj's knock was studded with two fours and two sixes and it also inspired Gurkeerat Singh to bring out his best with a quickfire 18-ball 43 (6x4s, 2x6s), as they chased down the target with four balls to spare. Punjab, who pipped Karnataka in the Super Over yesterday, now have two wins in Group A while Jharkhand are virtually ousted after suffering a loss against Rajasthan.

Aditya Garhwal (43 and 2/15) dished out an all-round show as Rajasthan chased down 158 with five balls to spare earlier in the day. Mumbai's butterfingered fielders helped Punjab as Yuvraj was dropped twice -- on 8 and 32 -- the second being a sitter grassed by Shreyas Iyer at long-off. Yuvraj smashed two clean sixes, the first a flash over deep cover region and then he hit Parikshit Valsangkar straight down the ground.

After Vohra was dismissed by Shivam Dubey (3/27), Yuvraj found an able ally in Gurkeerat, who grew in confidence and punished the Mumbai bowling, helping the team race to 100 in 57 balls. Gurkeerat broke free with an incredible reverse sweep off Dubey before unleashing his fury against Akash Prakar with two sixes and three fours in the 14th over.

After Gurkeerat and Yuvraj's departure, Sharad Lumba held his nerve to complete the chase with an unbeaten 21 from 10 balls, which included two sixes and a boundary. Yuvraj was trapped LBW by Dubey in the 18th over but Lumba kept the scoreboard ticking and hit a huge six over fine leg to bring the equation down to 13 runs from last two overs. Earlier, Shreyas Iyer hit an unbeaten 79 off 44 balls with eight boundaries and four sixes to lift Mumbai to 198-4.

Opener Akhil Herwadkar (42 off 36 balls) gave Iyer a fine support as the duo put together 73 runs for the second wicket.

Brief Scores:

At Eden Gardens:

Uttar Pradesh 235/3; 20 overs (Suresh Raina 126 not out, Akashdeep Nath 80) beat Bengal 160; 16.1 overs (Shreevats Goswami 57; Kuldeep Yadav 4/26) by 75 runs.

Baroda 140/8; 20 overs (Kedar Devdhar 77; Subodh Bhati 4/20) lost to Delhi 143/8; 19.1 overs (Dhruv Shorey 74, Pradeep Sangwan 23 not out; Meriwala 4/24) by two wickets.

At Jadavpur University second campus ground:

Mumbai 198/4; 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 79, Akhil Herwadkar 42) lost to Punjab 199/7; 19.2 overs (Gurkeerat Mann 43, Manan Vohra 42, Yuvraj Singh 40; Shivam Dubey 3/27) by three wickets.

Jharkhand 157/5; 20 overs (Virat Singh 43, Ishan Kishan 39; Aditya Garhwal 2/15, Chahar 2/35) lost to Rajasthan 158/6; 19.1 overs (Aditya Garhwal 43, Salman Khan 34, Deepak Chahar 20 not out; Varun Aaron 2/24, Jaskaran Singh 2/42) by four wickets.

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News Network
January 14,2020

Sydney, Jan 14: Retired South African big-hitter AB de Villiers on Tuesday said efforts are on to ensure his comeback in the national team for the T20 World Cup in Australia, a plan in which his IPL form will play a crucial role.

Speaking to Cricket Australia's official website 'cricket.com.au', the 35-year-old swashbuckler said he would love to be back two years after calling it quits internationally. He is currently in Australia to play in the Big Bash League.

"I would love to. I've been talking to 'Bouch' (new South Africa coach Mark Boucher), (new director of cricket) Graeme Smith and (captain) Faf (du Plessis) back home, we're all keen to make it happen," he said.

"It's a long way away still, and plenty can happen – there's the IPL coming up, I've still got to be in form at that time. So I'm thinking of throwing my name in the hat and hoping that everything will work out," he added.

De Villiers, nonetheless, is keeping a check on his expectations.

"It's not a guarantee, once again. I don't want to disappoint myself or other people, so for now I'm just going to try and keep a low profile, try and play the best possible cricket that I can and then see what happens towards the end of the year," he said.

"There are a lot of players (involved with CSA) who I used to play with. Guys who understand the game, leaders of the team for many years" he said of the present dispensation.

"So it's much easier to communicate than what it used to be in the past. They understand what players go through – especially players that have played for 15 years internationally.

"It doesn't mean that everything is going to be sunshine and roses, but it's definitely a lot easier and it feels comfortable, the language that's being used and just the feel that everyone has at the moment in South Africa about the cricket," he added.

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News Network
February 11,2020

Melbourne, Feb 11: Opener David Warner received Allan Border Medal, while all-rounder Ellyse Perry bagged Belinda Clarke medal in the 2020 Australian Cricket Awards on Monday.

Warner secured his third (2016, 2017, 2019) Allan Border Medal and Perry a trio of Belinda Clarke Awards (2016, 2018, 2019) as voted by their peers, umpires and the media across all forms and every game of international cricket in 2019.

Warner dominated the ICC World Cup with 647 runs including a highest score of 166 at an average of 71.88, including three centuries. He then rebounded from a challenging Ashes series to dominate at home in the T20I series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the Test series against Pakistan - which included his memorable innings of 335 not out in Adelaide - and the Test series against New Zealand.

Warner (194) outpolled Ashes hero Steve Smith by a single vote for the Allan Border Medal with paceman Pat Cummins, the ICC International Cricketer of the Year, third in the polling with 185 votes.

Perry enjoyed an incredible year with both bat and ball, starting with dominant Ashes performances which included an innings of 116 in the Test in Taunton and 11 wickets in the three ODIs.

Her figures of 7-22 at Canterbury were the best ODI figures by an Australian woman's player. She backed that up against the West Indies by taking 3-17 in the opening ODI and then scoring 112 not out in Antigua before finishing the year with a solid series against Sri Lanka at home. Perry (161) was a comfortable winner of her third Belinda Clarke Award from Alyssa Healy (153) and Jess Jonassen (87) taking second and third place respectively in the voting.

Breakout batsman Marnus Labuschagne's superlative Test summer and Ashes series secured him the Male Test Player of the Year. Having replaced Steve Smith as a concussion substitute in the Lord's Test, Labuschagne went on to make 353 runs at 50.42 in the Ashes.

His outstanding form continued at home with a first-up 185 against Pakistan at the Gabba and a Test high 215 against New Zealand in Sydney. He scored 347 runs at an average of 173.5 against Pakistan and 549 runs at 91.5 against New Zealand. Limited overs captain Aaron Finch (38) capped a stellar year by being voted the Men's One-Day International Player of the Year ahead of Usman Khawaja (33) and Warner (24).

Finch's year included a massive series against Pakistan in the UAE with 451 runs at 112.75, including knocks of 116, 153 not out and 90. He then dominated the World Cup with 507 runs at 50.7, including 153 against Sri Lanka and 100 against England at Lords. Warner (19) continued his magical year in the T20I game to become the Men's T20 International Player of the Year from Glenn Maxwell (16). Kane Richardson and Steve Smith (8) tied for third.

Alyssa Healy claimed top honours as the women's One-Day International Player of the Year with 39 votes ahead of Perry (33) and Jonassen (19). Healy scored a double by also claiming the women's T20 Player of the Year with 18 votes, ahead of Jonassen and Meg Lanning who were tied on 15. It was the second consecutive year that Healy has won the women's ODI and T20 Awards.

West Australian veteran Shaun Marsh was voted Men's Domestic Player of the Year with 1322 runs at 52.88 in all forms of the game, including the highest score of 214, while breakout paceman Wes Agar was named the Bradman Young Cricketer for his 41 wickets at 22.62 in the year.

Molly Strano and Tayla Vlaeminck took the prized Women's Domestic Player of the Year and Betty Wilson Young Cricketer of the Year awards respectively.

Strano took 28 wickets in 22 games while Vlaeminck's 19 wickets for the year reinforced her enormous potential.

Former Hobart Hurricane Corrine Hall was named Community Champion for her work as an Ambassador of the Kindness Factory, grassroots cricket, and upcoming book Victress, which features 35 iconic female athletes and their stories. Each portrait is accompanied by the athlete's story, with a particular focus on how kindness impacted their journey.

The awards for international cricket are based on votes from players, umpires and the media on a 3-2-1 basis from each match. For the domestic awards, the votes are collected from all players.

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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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