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
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 9: Bangladesh clinched their maiden ICC U-19 World Cup title after beating favourites India by three wickets in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Set a revised target of 170 after a brief rain interruption, Bangladesh won the match with 23 balls to spare.

Sent in to bat, India's batting wilted under pressure as a superb Bangladesh bowling attack shot the defending champions out for a paltry 177 in 47.2 overs.

Yasashvi Jaiswal (88 off 121 balls) was once again a standout performer but not for once did he look like dominating the Bangladesh bowling unit whose new ball bowlers Shoriful Islam (2/31 in 10 overs) and Tanzim Hasan Shakib (2/28 in 8.2 overs) literally stifled the Indians for runs.

The third seamer Avishek Das (3/40 in 9 overs) was the most successful bowler in terms of figures but it was Shoriful's first spell with channelised aggression that put the Indians on the back-foot from the onset.

After a short rain break towards the end, the target was revised to 170 from 46 runs but Bangladesh reached 170 for 7 in 42.1 overs to win the match.

Opener Parvez Hossain Emon top-scored for Bangladesh with a 79-ball 47 while captain and wicketkeeper Akbar Ali was not out on 43 from 77 deliveries.

For the India U-19 side, Ravi Bishnoi was the most successful bowler with figures of 4/30 while Sushant Mishra had 2/25.

India thus missed out on a record fifth title in their seventh final appearance.

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Agencies
February 5,2020

Hamilton, Feb 5: Talented Shreyas Iyer hit his maiden century while KL Rahul and skipper Virat Kohli carried on their fine form as India dished out a clinical batting effort to post 347 for four against New Zealand in the first ODI here on Wednesday.

Iyer showed why he is considered as the next big thing in Indian cricket, scoring 103 off 107 balls, his first ODI ton. Besides, Rahul continued his purple patch, smashing unbeaten 88 off 64 balls while Kohli made 51 off 63 deliveries.

Iyer's knock was laced with 11 fours and a six and together with Rahul shared 136 runs for the fourth wicket as India scored 96 runs in the last 10 overs after being sent into bat.

This was after Tom Blundell featured his maiden ODI for the Black Caps, while India gave debuts to two openers -- Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal.

It was the fourth such instance in Indian history with Rahul-Karun Nair being the last such pair in 2016 against Zimbabwe.

Shaw and Agarwal got the innings off to quick start, adding 50 off 48 balls for the opening stand.

But both Shaw and Agarwal fell in the space of five balls as India were reduced to 54 for 2.

Shaw was the first to go, nicking behind a Colin de Grandhomme (1/41) delivery, while Agarwal was caught at point by Blundell off Southee (2/85).

It brought Kohli and Iyer together, and they dominated the middle overs with a 102-run stand for the third wicket. They manoeuvred the field well and kept the scorecard ticking as India crossed 150 in the 28th over.

Kohli fell against the run of play as a wrong one from Ish Sodhi (1/27) got through his defence to clip the leg stump.

Rahul though didn't let the innings lose any momentum as he smacked six sixes along with three fours.

But the day belonged to Iyer, who, despite a scratchy start, had crossed 50 off 66 balls. Once he passed the 50-run mark, the stylish right-hander batted fluently to notch up his first century in 16 ODIs.

The centurion fell shortly afterwards, caught off Southee even as Rahul took control.

He reached his half-century off 41 balls as India eased past 300 in the 47th over.

Rahul's carnage meant that New Zealand conceded 191 runs in the last 20 overs. Kedar Jadhav remained unbeaten on 26 off 15 balls, stitching 55 off 27 balls with Rahul.

Brief Scores:

India: 347 for 4 in 50 overs (Shreyas Iyer 103, KL Rahul 88 not out, Virat Kohli 51; Tim Southee 2/85).

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8: Skipper Virat Kohli struck an unbeaten 30 as India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 international in Indore on Tuesday.

The hosts rode a 71-run opening stand between KL Rahul, who hit 45, and Shikhar Dhawan, who made 32, to chase down their target of 143 in 17.3 overs and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after the first match was rained off.

Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga took the wickets of the Indian openers but Shreyas Iyer, who scored 34 before falling to paceman Lahiru Kumara, and Kohli, who hit the winning six, got the team home.

The third match is on Friday in Pune.

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