ICC World Cup: South Africa beats Sri Lanka by 9 wickets

Agencies
June 29, 2019

London, Jun 29: Former champions Sri Lanka are all but out of the ongoing World Cup after suffering a nine-wicket drubbing against a clinical South Africa on Friday.

Sent in to bat, Sri Lanka produced a dismal batting show to manage a modest 203, a target which the Proteas overhauled with 76 balls in hand.

With just six points from seven games, Sri Lanka still have a mathematical chance to be in the semifinals.

First, they need to win their last two games against already-eliminated West Indies (on July 1) and India (July 6) and then depend on favourable results from other remaining league stage games.

The win, however, came as a welcome relief for South Africa, who have endured a nightmarish World Cup campaign.

The Proteas are already out of the tournament after registering just two wins out of their eight games.

Chasing the modest target, South Africa lost Quinton de Kock (15) at the score of 31 in the fifth over but thereafter Hashim Amla and skipper Faf du Plessis held the fort and stitched an unbeaten 175-run stand to guide the Proteas home comfortably.

While Du Plessis remained unbeaten on 96 off 103 balls, hitting 10 boundaries and one six, Amla finished on 80 not out off 105 balls with the help of five fours.

Lasith Malinga (1/47) was the only successful bowler for Sri Lanka.

Earlier, the Proteas picked up wickets at regular intervals after the first 10 overs, never allowing the Sri Lankan middle-order settle down.

Drafted into the playing eleven in place of Lungi Ngidi, pacer Dwaine Pretarius (3/25) justified his selection with a three-wicket haul.

Chris Morris (3/46) and Kagiso Rabada (2/36) shared five wickets between them.

Sri Lanka had a horrible start as they lost skipper Dimuth Karunaratne in the first ball of the match, caught by his counterpart Du Plessis at the second slip off Rabada.

Thereafter, Kusal Perera (30 off 34) and Avishka Fernando (30 off 29) took the counter-attacking approach and played fearlessly to stitch a 67-run stand off 58 balls before the duo perished in quick succession.

Right-arm pacer Pretorius sent both the batsmen packing in consecutive overs as Sri Lanka slumped to 72 for three in 11.3 overs.

New man Angelo Mathews looked in no hurry and took 29 balls to score his 11 runs before he played on a Morris delivery in the 22nd over.

Kusal Mendis (23 off 51) had to dug deep for his runs before he became Pretorius' third victim, spooning one to Morris at extra cover.

Dhananjaya de Silva (24) , Jeeva Mendis (18) and Thisara Perera (21) all got starts but threw away their wickets when Sri Lanka needed them to carry on

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News Network
February 29,2020

Feb 29: India were all out for 242 in their first innings following a stunning battling collapse, triggered by paceman Kyle Jamieson on the opening day of the second cricket Test against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval, here on Saturday.

India were steady at 194 for five at tea but lost wickets in quick succession after the play resumed. Jamieson returned figures of 14-3-45-5.

Hanuma Vihari top-scored for India with his combative 55 while Prithvi Shaw (54) and Cheteshwar Pujara (54) hit contrasting half-centuries.

Virat Kohli's (3) poor run continued while his deputy Ajikya Rahane (7) also fell cheaply.

India lost last five wickets for 48 runs, of which 26 were contributed by last-wicket pair of Mohammed Shami (16) and Jasprit Bumrah (10).

Brief Scores:

India 1st innings: 242 all out in 63 overs. (H Vihari 55, P Shaw 54, C Pujara 54 batting; Kyle Jamieson 5/45, Tim Southee 2/38, ).

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Mumbai, Mar 3: India on Tuesday retained their number one spot and captain Virat Kohli remained static at second in the ICC rankings despite a dismal Test series against New Zealand.

India have 116 rating points, six more than New Zealand with third-placed Australia accumulating 108 points. The 0-2 result against New Zealand was India's first series loss in the World Test Championship.

Kohli remains in second position in the batting rankings despite a forgettable Test series in which he made 38 runs in four innings, the ICC said in a statement.

New Zealand opener Tom Blundell and his Indian counterpart Prithvi Shaw and debutant paceman Kyle Jamieson were among the biggest movers in the rankings, released on Tuesday.

Blundell had a successful series against India, scoring 117 runs in four innings, with one half-century, which put him among the top two run-scorers in the series.

The performance meant he was rewarded with a jump of 27 places to No. 46. Shaw, who returned for his first series since his Test debut against West Indies in 2018, and made a punchy 54 in the first innings of the Christchurch Test, rose 17 places to No.76.

Australia's Steve Smith retained his top spot, holding a 25-point advantage over Kohli. Smith's apprentice Marnus Labuschagne jumped one spot to round off the top three, taking the place of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes and India opener Mayank Agarwal moved a spot each and swapped places to break into and fall out of the top 10 respectively.

Among bowlers, Tim Southee's Player of the Series winning performance against India took him into the top five, with a jump of two places to No.4, while Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult returned to the top 10, gaining four places each to occupy the seventh and ninth positions respectively.

But the biggest gainer was Jamieson, who rose from No. 80 to 43.

There was only one change in the top ten among all-rounders, with Southee dropping a spot to No.10 and team-mate Neil Wagner falling out of the top 10 with a drop of four spots.

As with the bowling rankings, Jamieson, who frustrated India with handy lower order runs, gained big on the all-rounders' table, rising 26 places to No. 22.

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Agencies
June 23,2020

Belgrade, June 23: Novak Djokovic tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday after taking part in a tennis exhibition series he organized in Serbia and Croatia.

The top-ranked Serb is the fourth player to test positive for the virus after first playing in Belgrade and then again last weekend in Zadar, Croatia.

His wife also tested positive. “The moment we arrived in Belgrade we went to be tested. My result is positive, just as Jelena's, while the results of our children are negative," Djokovic said in a statement.

Djokovic has been criticized for organizing the tournament and bringing in players from other countries amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Viktor Troicki said Tuesday that he and his pregnant wife have both been diagnosed with the virus, while Grigor Dimitrov, a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist from Bulgaria, said Sunday he tested positive.

Borna Coric played Dimitrov on Saturday in Zadar and said Monday he has also tested positive. There were no social distancing measures observed at the matches in either country and Djokovic and other players were seen hugging each other and partying in night clubs and restaurants after the matches.

 “Everything we did in the past month, we did with a pure heart and sincere intentions,” Djokovic said.

“Our tournament meant to unite and share a message of solidarity and compassion throughout the region.” Djokovic, who has previously said he was against taking a vaccine for the virus even if it became mandatory to travel, was the face behind the Adria Tour, a series of exhibition events that started in the Serbian capital and then moved to Zadar.

He left Croatia after the final was canceled and was tested in Belgrade. The statement said Djokovic was showing no symptoms.

Despite the positive test, Djokovic defended the exhibition series. “It was all born with a philanthropic idea, to direct all raised funds towards people in need and it warmed my heart to see how everybody strongly responded to this,” Djokovic said.

"We organized the tournament at the moment when the virus has weakened, believing that the conditions for hosting the Tour had been met. “Unfortunately, this virus is still present, and it is a new reality that we are still learning to cope and live with.”

Djokovic said he will remain in self-isolation for 14 days and also apologized to anyone who became infected as a result of the series. Organizers of the Adria Tour said the third stage of the event, scheduled to held next week in Bosnia, has been cancelled.

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