England win fifth Ashes Test even as Aussies retain urn

Agencies
September 16, 2019

London, Sept 16: England crushed Australia by 135 runs in the fifth and final Ashes Test on September 15 to level the series at 2-2, ending their historic World Cup-winning season on a high.

Victory for the home side at the Oval means the Ashes ends in a draw for the first time since 1972, although holders Australia retain the urn.

The tourists, chasing an unlikely 399 to win in a shade under two days, clung on late into the evening session on the fourth day before finally collapsing as the shadows lengthened in south London.

Australia, 2-1 up going into the match, were bidding to win their first Ashes series in England since 2001 but were denied by the fired-up hosts, with paceman Jofra Archer named man of the match for his six first-innings wickets.

"A very good performance," said England captain Joe Root.

"I thought we were brilliant. To bounce back from a very difficult emotional week, to come and play in the manner we have, the team has character in abundance.

"This was more of a template of how to play moving forward. It is a step in the right direction. I am very proud of everyone's effort throughout the summer."

Stuart Broad struck early to remove openers Marcus Harris and David Warner but while former captain Steve Smith was at the crease, Australia retained a faint hope of victory.

But when Ben Stokes dived to his left at leg slip to catch Smith for 23, giving Broad his third wicket of the innings, England knew they had removed the biggest obstacle in their victory charge.

Smith, who scored an astonishing 774 runs in just seven innings, was out for a score of less than fifty for the first time in the series.

The Oval crowd gave him a standing ovation as he walked back to the dressing room in the September sunshine, with Australia in deep trouble at 85-4 in the post-lunch session.

Matthew Wade offered brave resistance, scoring 117 as Archer cranked his speed up to 95 miles-per-hour in the evening sunlight, eye-balling the Australian batsman in an attempt to intimidate him.

Occasional bowler Root finally got his man, luring him forward as Jonny Bairstow whipped off the bails.

Left-arm spinner Jack Leach removed Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood in successive balls, meaning England salvaged pride two months after winning the one-day World Cup for the first time.

Broad and Leach both finished with four wickets.

Earlier, England added 16 runs to their overnight tally, with Archer and Leach the last men out.

Broad then pounded in, roared on by a packed crowd, reducing Australia to 29-2.

Warner, who returned to international cricket in June after a 12-month ban for ball-tampering, scored just 95 runs in 10 innings and was dismissed by Broad seven times.

Warner's dismissal brought Smith to the crease and he opened his account with a sweet drive through the covers for four off Archer but this time he could not find the magic.

The exit of Smith, also banned over the ball-tampering scandal, led to one or two isolated boos but they were drowned out by applause from the crowd in appreciation of his run-scoring feats.

His run haul put him fifth on the list of highest tallies in an Ashes series behind Don Bradman's two entries, England's Wally Hammond and former Australia skipper Mark Taylor.

Smith was named Australia's man of the series while Stokes won the award for England.

"It meant a lot to have that reception from the crowd today," said Smith.

"It's been an amazing couple of months with the World Cup and the Ashes, the cricket has been spectacular.

"The series has ebbed and flowed. I've loved every minute and I'm really proud of how I've been able to perform for Australia and to bring the urn home."

The tourists won the first Test at Edgbaston and the fourth at Old Trafford while Stokes inspired England to victory in the third Test at Headingley.

The second match, at Lord's, was drawn.

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News Network
March 12,2020

New Delhi, Mar 12: No foreign player will be available for this year's IPL till April 15 due to visa restrictions imposed by the government to contain the novel coronavirus threat, a top BCCI source told PTI on Thursday, casting fresh doubts on the fate of the event.

"The foreign players who play in the IPL come under the Business Visa category. As per the government's directive, they can't come till April 15," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

The government issued fresh advisory with a ban on all existing foreign visas, except a few categories like diplomatic and employment, till April 15 in the wake of new positive cases of novel coronavirus in the country.

India has reported 60 positive cases in the outbreak which has led to over 4,000 deaths globally.

The fate of the IPL itself will be decided on March 14 at the event's Governing Council meeting in Mumbai. "All decisions will be taken by the GC in Mumbai," the source said.

Having the IPL, starting March 29, played in empty stadiums is an option being explored.

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News Network
April 14,2020

Karachi, Apr 14: Disappointed with Kapil Dev's response, Pakistan's Shahid Afridi has backed his former teammate Shoaib Akhtar's proposal for an ODI series against India to help raise funds for the less privileged in their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Afridi told reporters in Kohat that he was surprised by the comments of Indian great Kapil and former IPL chairman, Rajeev Shukla, who outrightly dismissed Akhtar's suggestion.

"The entire world is fighting against coronavirus and we need unity in our region to defeat this common enemy. Such negative comments don't help at all," Afridi said.

"I don't see anything wrong with Shoaib Akhtar's suggestion for Pakistan and India to play cricket.

"Kapil's reaction has surprised me. I expected better from him and feel one should not talk like this in these crisis times."

Afridi said that he was also surprised at some of the "negative comments" Indian stars Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh's support for his charity foundation attracted.

"Sport is supposed to bring people together and build bridges. It is pretty disappointing."

Afridi also urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to order the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to restore departmental cricket in the country to save the livelihood of hundreds of domestic players.

"I myself played for the departments and witnessed how departments really salvaged domestic cricket in Pakistan and helped it thrive decade after decade.

"Departments take good care of the players and spend lots of money on the development of domestic cricket, so how can departmental cricket hurt Pakistan cricket," questioned Afridi.

He also questioned the PCB and the Pakistan team management for making a fitness of players a big issue.

"They are always talking about hard training and fitness tests. I have never seen fitness tests taken with such frequency and the result is that many players are getting injured and many of them are also unhappy with the situation."

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News Network
January 7,2020

Indore, Jan 7: With the first T20I being washed out, India and Sri Lanka will now hope that rain gods stay away from the Holkar Stadium when the two teams face each other in the second match of the ongoing three-game series on Tuesday.

Only toss could take place on Sunday at Guwahati`s Barsapara Cricket Ground before rain gods came in and left damp spots on the pitch thus forcing the game to be called off without a ball being bowled.

Hairdryers were used to dry the pitch after water seeped in through leaking covers at the Barsapara Stadium, a sight which is not usually seen in international cricket. And that hasn`t gone down well with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which now awaits chief curator Ashish Bhowmick`s report on the same.

The Men in Blue, who enjoyed a brief break, are coming into the series on the back of T20I series victories against Bangladesh and West Indies respectively and thus would be the more confident side out of the two.

Just like Guwahati, the team management and other Indian cricket fans would focus on comeback man Jasprit Bumrah who is making his return to international cricket. Bumrah has been out of action after India`s tour of the West Indies in July-August due to a stress fracture on his back and thus would be rearing to go and perform for the team.

Dhawan, like Bumrah, was not part of the West Indies series after he hurt his knee during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The left-handed opener was not at his absolute best in the T20I series against Bangladesh and faced criticism from several quarters.

While Bumrah will grab more eyeballs during the remaining two matches, the series is also important for left-handed opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan, making a comeback into the team post knee injury.

However, recently, he scored a century in the Ranji Trophy and showed glimpses of returning to form.

In the bowling department, the team management would be checking out how the likes Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur react to pressure situations in death overs alongside Bumrah in the absence of frontline speedsters Mohammed Shami Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Young-off spinner Washington Sundar would like to put up performances to ensure that he gets to be part of the squad travelling to Australia for the World T20 in October.

Shivam Dube would also like to perform better - both with bat and ball - till Hardik Pandya is fully fit and back in action.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant - like recent times - will once again be watched with careful eyes. Pant knows that he cannot take things lightly and need to perform as Sanju Samson as already warmed the benches for six straight T20Is.

For Sri Lanka, the remaining two matches of the series would be about giving match practice to the likes of Angelo Mathews who is returning to the national side having last played a T20I against South Africa in August 2018

In their last T20I series, Sri Lanka suffered a 0-3 rout in Australia as all their three departments failed to put in a commanding performance.

India and Sri Lanka have faced each other in 17 T20Is, out of which India have won 11 -- joint most for them against all opponents faced in shortest format.

With the three-match series now effectively turning into a two-game affair, both India and Sri Lanka would want to win in Indore to make sure they can`t lose the series. Also, Sri Lanka have never beaten India in a bilateral T20I series, a record which they would desperately like to change in the remaining two games.

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, Manish Pandey, Washington Sundar, Sanju Samson.

Sri Lanka: Lasith Malinga (c), Dhanushka Gunathilaka, Avishka Fernando, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya De Silva, Isuru Udana, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Oshada Fernando, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lahiru Kumara, Kusal Mendis, Lakshan Sandakan, Kasun Rajitha.

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