England win will give team lot of confidence: Mahela

Agencies
June 22, 2019

Leeds, Jun 22: Sri Lankan's shock win over England should change things for the better, feels batting great Mahela Jayawardene, after a run of matches in which they seemed to have "played with a little bit of fear".

Defending a relatively modest target of 233, Sri Lanka bowled out favourites England for 212 for a 20-run win at the Headingley on Friday.

"I hope this game will give Sri Lanka a lot of confidence in this ICC Men's Cricket World Cup. They have beaten one of the best teams in the world, and they need to believe in themselves," Jayawardene wrote in his column for the ICC.

"At times it feels like they have played with a little bit of fear and have not been able to really express themselves. This win should change that."

The former skipper praised Lasith Malinga's match-winning spells, during which he picked up four big English wickets.

"It's not about the six pack, it's about the skill and Lasith Malinga showed that in spades in Sri Lanka’s win over England.

"He has done it so many times for Sri Lanka over the years but it was great to see him at his best," Jayawardene said.

The Lankans needed a Malinga special and the veteran obliged the team with his fine exhibition of fast bowling.

"He was on a mission with the new ball, taking two crucial early wickets which Sri Lanka needed to defend a total like 232.

"Then when Joe Root looked like he was playing one of those innings where he just takes the game away from you, Dimuth Karunaratne turned to Mali and threw him the ball. He told him that he needed him and Mali delivered," said Jayawardene.

"Big players perform in big games and that is what he did, removing Root and then Jos Buttler who could have won the game for England as well."

The batting legend also lavished praise on the Lankan skipper.

"I was really impressed with Dimuth's captaincy, trusting his players, bringing on the off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva at an important time and getting rewarded for that.

"Even after they had batted, I felt that it was a competitive total because the wicket was fairly slow."

He was happy to see Angelo Mathews among the runs.

"It was great to see Angelo Mathews scoring some runs. He still isn't quite in top form and you could tell that he really needed a score.

"At times I wanted him to be more aggressive, but with wickets falling around him, he produced a great innings and was the rock of that batting line-up. A word also for Avishka Fernando. His performance should give Sri Lankan fans a lot of hope for the future."

Jayawardene said the unexpected result will open up the tournament.

"It's a great win for Sri Lanka, but also for the World Cup and it opens things up a little.

"The top four so far have a lot of matches against each other coming up, so they will inevitably drop some points. You look at New Zealand, Australia and England who all have to play each other which does make it interesting.

"That leaves Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the West Indies with a chance to close the gap if they can pick up a few more wins."

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News Network
February 18,2020

Feb 18: Spinner Poonam Yadav claimed three wickets as India geared up for the ICC women's T20 World Cup with a thrilling two-run win over the West Indies in a low-scoring warm-up match in Brisbane on Tuesday. Electing to bat, India posted a lowly 107/8 in their stipulated 20 overs before returning to restrict the West Indies to 105/7. Chasing 108 to win, West Indies were comfortably placed at 57 for one in 13 overs when Deepti Sharma struck, cleaning up opener Lee-Ann Kirby (42) to trigger a collapse. Soon skipper Stafanie Taylor (16), Chedean Nation (0) and Deandra Dottin (1) were back in the hut as West Indies slipped to 67 for five in the 17th over.

Hayley Matthews (25) and Chinelle Henry (17) blasted three fours and a six in the 19th over to leave them with 11 to get off the last six balls.

Henry blasted Poonam for a four but the Indian dismissed Matthews in the fourth ball.

West Indies needed three runs off the last ball but Henry was caught by Veda Krishnamurthy.

Earlier, India's top-three failed to fire as they were reduced to 17 for three in 3.1 overs.

Opener Smriti Mandhana (4) lasted just six balls, while Jemimah Rodrigues (0) failed to open her account.

Young Shafali Verma blasted a couple of fours before being caught by Britney Cooper off Shamilia Connell (2/20).

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (11), too, didn't stay long, while Krishnamurthy was cleaned up by Afy Fletcher (1/26), as India slumped to 52 for five in 11.2 overs.

Deepti Sharma made a 32-ball 21 before becoming a victim of Anisa Mohammed (2/16), while Pooja Vastrakar (13) was removed by Aaliyah Alleyne (1/9).

Stafanie taylor then got rid of Taniya Bhatia for 10. Shikha Pandey finally smashed a 16-ball 24 to give some respectability to the total.

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News Network
April 21,2020

New Delhi, Apr 21: India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said people seem to have become more compassionate while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and hoped the sense of gratitude towards frontline workers like doctors and police personnel remains even after the crisis is over.

Speaking in an online class organised by "Unacademy", Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma spoke at length about the challenges they faced before tasting success.

"The one positive out of this crisis that we as a society have become more compassionate. We are showing more gratitude to the frontline workers in this war, be it police personnel, doctors or nurses.

"I hope it stays this way even after we overcome this crisis," said Kohli with Sharma seated next to her.

Kohli said the pandemic has taught the world a very important lesson.

"Life is unpredictable. So, do what makes you happy and not get into comparisons all the time. People have a choice now how to come out of this phase. Life is going to be different after this," said the skipper.

For Sharma, the pandemic has forced people to care about the basics in life.

"There is a learning in all of this. Nothing happens without a reason. If the frontline workers were not there, we would not have access to basics," she said..

"This has taught us that no one is special than the other. Health is everything. We are more connected as a society now," she added.

During the session, Kohli was asked about the moment when he felt most helpless.

"I felt nothing was working for me when I was not picked for the state team initially. I cried the whole night and asked my coach 'why did I not get selected'?" he responded.

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News Network
June 23,2020

Karachi, Jun 23: Pakistan cricketers Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and rookie Haider Ali on Monday tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed three players - Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan - have tested positive for Covid-19," said the PCB in a statement.

"The players had shown no symptoms until they were tested in Rawalpindi on Sunday ahead of the Pakistan men's national cricket team's tour to England."

The infected players will go into self-isolation.

"The PCB medical panel is in contact with the three who have been advised to immediately go into self-isolation," the statement said.

Earlier this month, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was tested positive for the deadly virus.

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