Dhawan misses double ton, but India reach 282/2 at tea

Agencies
July 26, 2017

Galle, Jul 26: Opener Shikhar Dhawan registered his highest Test score and shared a huge 253-run stand with Cheteshwar Pujara to guide India to commanding position at tea on the opening day of the first cricket Test against Sri Lanka, here today.

Dhawan (190), who was dropped on 31, missed his maiden double century by just 10 runs as India comfortably piled up the runs in 55 overs.

Dhawan played a whirlwind knock as his runs came off just 168 balls with the help of 31 boundaries.

Together with Pujara (75 not out off 135 balls, 5x4s) Dhawan tormented the Lankan bowling attack to stitch 253 runs for the second wicket.

After lunch, India crossed the 150-mark in the 34th over as Dhawan and Pujara brought up their 100-run partnership off 130 balls.

The left-handed opener reached his fifth Test century in 110 balls during which he hit 16 fours.

Dhawan scored at an impressive strike rate of 91.81 until then, and only accelerated once he crossed this landmark. In total, he scored at a strike rate of 113.09 during his stay at the crease.

Dhawan reached 150 off 147 balls with another eight boundaries as India crossed 200 in the 41st over.

Dhawan unleashed a plethora of sweep shots against the Lankan spinners as the home team looked clueless.

His 200-run partnership with Pujara came up off 236 balls and then crossed 250 off 280 balls.

Dhawan soon crossed his previous best score of 187 (against Australia scored at Mohali in March 2013) and looked set for scoring his maiden Test double hundred.

But it wasn't to be as he miscued a shot straight to Angelo Mathews at mid-off off Nuwan Pradeep (2/42) minutes before the tea break.

Captain Virat Kohli (1 not out) had joined Pujara in the middle at the break.

Earlier, Dhawan opened the innings with Abhinav Mukund (12) and the two batsmen got off the blocks very quickly. Despite a sprinkling of green on the Galle pitch, pacers Pradeep and Lahiru Kumara could not make optimal use of the new ball.

The opening duo scored at will as they rotated strike with ease.

With a great batting track available, Mukund wasted a golden opportunity as he edged behind off Pradeep in the eighth over.

Sri Lanka introduced spin in the seventh over but it was not stand-in skipper Rangana Herath who came on to bowl. Instead, off-break bowler Dilruwan Perera was introduced into the attack but he failed to make any impact.

Dhawan was lucky to get a life as Asela Gunaratne dropped him at second slip off Lahiru Kumar. He was on 31 not out at that time and went on to score his fourth half-century off 62 balls with four shots to the fence.

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News Network
January 17,2020

Jan 17: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza cruised into the women's doubles final of the Hobart International with her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok here on Friday.

Sania and Kichenok sailed past the Slovenian-Czech pair of Tamara Zidansek and Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (3) 6-2 in the semifinal contest that lasted one hour and 24 minutes.

The fifth-seeded Indo-Ukrainian combination will lock horns with second seeds Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang of China. The Chinese pair got a walkover after Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck conceded the other semifinal match because of injury.

While Sania and Kichenok had to fight hard in the opening set, the second set was a cakewalk for the combination.

The first set was a tough contest between the two pairs, bringing the tie-breaker into the equation after it was level at 6-6.

In the tie-breaker, Sania and Kichenok upped their game by a few notches to outsmart their opponents and take the lead.

The second set was a no-contest as Saina and Kichenok broke their opponents thrice -- in the second, sixth and eighth game -- to easily pocket the set and a place in the summit clash.

Saina and Kichenok got 11 break chances out of which they converted four, while their opponents utilised two out of the five break chances that came their way.

The 33-year-old Sania is returning to the WTA circuit after two years. During her time away from the game, she battled injury breakdowns before taking a formal break in April 2018 to give birth to her son Izhaan. She is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

Before the ongoing event, Sania last played at China Open in October 2017.

A trailblazer in Indian tennis, Sania is a former world No.1 in doubles and has six Grand Slam titles to her credit.

She retired from the singles competition in 2013 after becoming the most successful Indian woman tennis player.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Northamptonshire, Jul 31: Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez has tested positive for coronavirus, and as a result, he will miss the British Grand Prix.

The Racing Point driver was absent from the circuit on Thursday after self-isolating following what his team called an "inconclusive" test. Perez then re-tested later in the day and it returned positive.

Formula 1 is following a strict testing regime as part of the safety protocols put in place when racing resumed earlier this month, and this is the first time a driver has tested positive.

"Perez has entered self-quarantine in accordance with the instructions of the relevant public health authorities, and will continue to follow the procedure mandated by those authorities," Formula 1 and the FIA said in a statement.

"With the assistance of the local organiser of the British Grand Prix, local health authorities and the FIA COVID-19 delegate, a full track and trace initiative has been undertaken and all close contacts have been quarantined," the statement added.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Batting great Rahul Dravid has attributed Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the IPL to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts and the incredible amount of work that goes behind the scenes.

N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the CSK franchise, agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings and going over data.

Both were speaking at a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Dravid said at the webinar according to ESPNcricinfo.

The former India captain added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts.

"So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."

The Super Kings have won the lucrative tournament three times -- one less than Mumbai Indians -- and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have been a part of.

Srinivasan also spoke about how Dhoni's instinct and judgement contributed to his team's success at a time when a lot of emphases is placed on data.

"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness etc.

"So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go.

"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyse. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)."

Srinivasan also recalled how Dhoni once refused to take "one outstanding player" suggested by the franchise boss as that could have broken the team's cohesion.

"There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: 'no sir, he will spoil the team'. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time," he said.

"In India, we're just starting and we're new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels."

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