India complete clean sweep of Sri Lanka in Twenty20

Agencies
December 25, 2017

Mumbai, Dec 25: It was far from a dominating batting effort after young bowlers' inspiring show but India managed to inflict a 3-0 series whitewash on Sri Lanka with a tense five-wicket win in the third Twenty20, here at the Wankhede stadium on Sunday.

Sri Lankan hopes to end the miserable tour on a high were raised when India struggled in a 136-run chase but eventually the hosts crossed the finish line with four balls to spare. Sri Lanka will go home with just one ODI win from this tour while India would head to South Africa with convincing victories in all three formats.

Supremely confident Indian bowlers came out firing with Jaydev Unadkat (2/15) being outstanding even as the Lankans appeared to be in dilemma as if to attack or stay patient. In a hurry to collect runs, they ended up playing poor shots on good balls, resulting in tame dismissals and put on board a modest 135 for seven.

India lost in-form openers -- captain Rohit Sharma (27) and KL Rahul (4) -- early and that affected their run-rate badly as Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey found the going tough against a fired-up Lankan attack. No boundary was scored for more than six overs at one stage with scoreboard moving at snail's pace.

Shreyas broke the shackles with a long-off six off Dasun Shanka but was soon run out in an unfortunate manner after scoring 30 off 32 balls. Hardik Pandya (4) came ahead of MS Dhoni this time but did not last long and was caught behind off Shanka, whom Pandey had smashed for two consecutive fours in the same over.

Paceman Dushmanta Chameera cleaned up Pandey (32 off 29 balls) with a faster delivery that crashed through the gates of the batsman, bringing Dhoni at the crease. India then required 28 from 23 balls. Boundaries were still hard to come but Dinesh Karthik (18 not out) tilted the match in India's favour by hitting a massive six off Nuwan Pradeep's full toss in the last ball of the 19th over. Needing three from the last over, Dhoni (16 not out) got a couple from first ball and flicked the next one from Thisara Perera to the mid-wicket boundary to finish the game.

Earlier, Asela Gunaratne was the only batsman, who applied himself well and played a slow but crucial 36-run knock that took Sri Lanka past the 100-run mark. Unadkat, who generated a lot of pace in his first spell, was the most outstanding Indian bowler.

Debutant Washington Sundar (1/22) and Unadkat removed the top three batsmen in space of 11 balls to rattle the visitors. The 18-year-old Sundar maintained a tight line and length, and caught dangerous Kusal Perera (4) off his own bowling after Unadkat got rid of Niroshan Dickwella (1). The Saurashtra paceman added wicket of Upul Tharanga (11) to his tally as the Lankan opener was guilty of playing a reckless shot considering the situation.

Sundar erred slightly in his length, allowing Gunaratne to pull the ball away towards mid-wicket for a much-needed boundary. In a three-over spell, Sundar conceded 18 runs while Unadkat gave away only seven runs in his impressive two-over spell as Sri Lanka managed 37 runs in the Powerplay. Sadeera Samarawickrama (21) also did not last long and was dismissed by Pandya, who had struck him on the helmet before having him caught by Karthik.

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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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News Network
June 10,2020

Kingston, Jun 10: "Enough is enough", said West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo as he opened up on the raging issue of racism and called for "respect and equality" for black people, who have faced discrimination for years.

Bravo joined the likes of his former captain Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle in denouncing racism in the wake of African-American George Floyd's killing at the hands of a white police officer in the USA.

"It's sad to see what's going on around the world. As a black man, we know the history of what black people have been through. We never ask for revenge, we ask for equality and respect. That's it," Bravo told former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa in an Instagram live chat on Tuesday.

"We give respect to others. Why is it that we are facing this over and over? Now enough is enough. We just want equality. We don't want revenge, war.

"We just want respect. We share love and appreciate people for who they are. That's what is most important."

The 36-year-old, who has played 40 Tests, 164 ODIs and 71 T20Is for West Indies, said he wants the world to know that they are powerful and beautiful people and gave the example of greats such as Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan.

"I just want our brothers and sisters to know that we are powerful and beautiful. And at the end of the day, you look at some of the greats of the world, whether it is Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan we have had leaders who paved the way for us," he said.

Two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain Sammy had earlier alleged that a racist nickname was used to address him during his IPL stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad and demanded an apology.

Sammy said he was called 'Kalu' while he was in India. 'Kalu' is a derogatory word to describe black people.

Gayle, who too plays in the IPL, took to Twitter to back Sammy, saying that racism does exist in cricket.

"It's never too late to fight for the right cause or what you've experienced over the years! So much more to your story, @darensammy88. Like I said, it's in the game!!," Gayle tweeted.

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News Network
April 14,2020

Melbourne, Apr 14: As all sporting action across the world has come to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, Australian bowlers are pondering as to how Indian skipper Virat Kohli might play in front of no spectators.

India and Australia are scheduled to play a four-match Test series later this year, and it is being speculated that the series might end up taking place without any crowds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australian spinner Nathan Lyon on Tuesday said that it would be interesting to see how Kohli goes about it if he does not get a chance to get the audience behind him.

"He is probably good enough to adapt to any scenario. But I was talking to Mitch Starc the other day and we actually said that if we are playing with no crowd, it'll be quite amazing to see Virat trying to rev up the empty seats," cricket.com.au quoted Lyon as saying.

"It is going to be a little bit different, but Virat is a superstar. He will be able to adapt to any climate that we are able to play in," he added.
During the 2018-19 series, India managed to defeat Australia in Australia for the first time in a Test series.

Australia, at that time were without the services of David Warner and Steve Smith. However, the series later this year promises to be a mouth-watering prospect.

"I am excited about the prospect of India coming out to Australia, it's up there with the biggest series alongside the Ashes. They are an absolute powerhouse of the cricket world, and to have those guys out here is going to be fantastic. Playing in front of crowds or no crowds is out of our control, we have got to follow the advice of all the amazing medical people around the world," Lyon said.

"I have not thought about no crowds or massive crowds, it is just about the opportunity of playing against India again. They had the wood over us last time they came over here but we are a much stronger Australian cricket side at the moment, and I am just unbelievably excited about playing them here at home," he added.

Lyon was slated to represent Hampshire in County Championship this year, however, his stint was called off last week due to COVID-19.
He is Australia's third-highest wicket-taker in the longest format of the game as he has total of 390 wickets in Test cricket.

Lyon was last seen in action in the Big Bash League for Sydney Sixers.

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