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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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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News Network
March 29,2020

New Delhi, Mar 29: Former Indian batsman Wasim Jaffer on Sunday picked his all-time IPL team and appointed wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni as its captain.

Jaffer's team's feature opener Rohit Sharma, current Indian skipper Virat Kohli, all-rounder Hardik Pandya, spinner R Ashwin, and pacer Jasprit Bumrah as seven domestic players.
While the foreign players spot have been occupied by West Indies' swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle, all-rounder Andre Russell, Afghanistan's spinner Rashid Khan, and Sri Lanka's veteran pacer Lasith Malinga.
Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been picked as 12th man by Jaffer.

Earlier this month, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to postpone the IPL to April 15, 2020, as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 outbreak.
The board also assured that it will work in unison with the Sports Ministry and will adhere to the guidelines issued.

The 13th edition of IPL was scheduled to commence from March 29. 

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Agencies
August 9,2020

Manchester, Aug 9: Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler played knocks of 84 and 75 respectively as England gained an improbable three-wicket win over Pakistan in the first Test of the three-match series here at the Emirates Old Trafford.

England chased down a total of 277 on the fourth day of the first Test.

Chasing 277, England openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley put on 22 runs for the first wicket, but Mohammad Abbas finally provided the breakthrough to Pakistan as he had Burns (10) adjudged leg-before wicket in the 12th over.

Skipper Joe Root came to the crease next, and he along with Sibley ensured that the side does not lose any more wickets before the lunch break, and England went into the lunch break at 55/1.

Sibley and Root eventually put up a 64-run stand, but their partnership was finally brought to an end by Yasir Shah as he dismissed Sibley (36) in the 36th over. Soon after, skipper Root (42) was also sent back to the pavilion by Naseem Shah, reducing England to 96/3 in the 39th over.

All eyes were on all-rounder Ben Stokes (9), but Pakistan's Yasir Shah sent him back to the pavilion in the 42nd over, and England was left in a spot of bother. Shaheen Shah Afridi, then also got among the wicket-taking charts as he scalped the wicket of Ollie Pope (7), reducing England to 117/5 in the 45th over.

Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler then got together at the crease, and the duo played in an aggressive manner to retrieve the innings for England. The hosts went into the tea break at 167/5, still, 110 runs away from the target with five wickets in hand.

Buttler and Woakes continued their march to frustrate the Pakistan bowling attack and the duo brought the target within the grasp of England. Both batsmen put up a stand of 139 runs, however, with just 21 runs away from the target, England lost the key wicket of Buttler (75) as Yasir Shah had him trapped in front of the wicket.

With England just needing four more runs for the win, Yasir Shah dismissed Stuart Broad (4), but in the end, Woakes and Dom Bess ensured England's win by three wickets.

For Pakistan, Yasir Shah was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped four wickets.

Earlier, resuming day four at 137/8, Yasir Shah (33) along with Mohammad Abbas (3*) and Naseem Shah (4) added 32 more runs to the overnight score to give England a target of 277 to win the first Test.

Stuart Broad was the pick of England bowlers as he scalped three wickets.

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