India vs South Africa: India survive Christiaan Jonker onslaught to win T20I series

Agencies
February 25, 2018

India survived a late onslaught by debutant Christiaan Jonker and edged South Africa by seven runs to win the third T20I in Cape Town on Saturday to clinch the series 2-1.

Jonker scored 49 off 24 balls to almost snatch victory from India, who, after posting 172/7, looked on course for an easy win by limiting the hosts to 52/2 in 10 overs. But skipper JP Duminy (55 off 41) and then Jonker almost took SA home before Bhuvneshwar defended the 19 runs they needed to win off the last six balls.

Bhuvneshwar finished with best figures of 2/24, while Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Hardik Pandya and Suresh Raina took one wicket each.

The match came alive in the last seven overs as Duminy and Jonker took the battle to the Indian bowlers. The hosts were struggling at 79/3 after 13 overs when the duo decided to change gears with a 30-run stand that came off just three overs.

Although Duminy fell looking for big shots, Jonker continued to trouble the visitors with some superb strokeplay. He almost took the hosts to victory before falling off the last ball of the match.

Earlier, India started the day with a setback as Virat Kohli was ruled out of the game with a stiff back, handing over captaincy duties to Rohit Sharma.

Shikhar Dhawan top-scored with his 47 while Suresh Raina contributed 43 as the visitors were asked to bat first. Raina was declared 'Man of the Match' for his all-round show as he chipped in with a three-over spell of 1/27.

Paceman Junior Dala (3/35) took three wickets while Chris Morris (2/43) accounted for two Indian wickets.

Rohit fell early to Dala but the left-handed pair of Dhawan and Raina added 65 runs for the third-wicket when the latter was removed by Tabraiz Shamsi.

Dhawan got two lives on 9 and 34, dropped on both occasions by Shamsi. He was then run out by Dala's direct hit from the fence.

Manish Pandey (13) and Dhoni (12) couldn't repeat their heroics from the last match and were sent back by Dala.

Hardik Pandya's 17-ball 21 and Dinesh Karthik's 13 off 6 then pushed India's score past the 170 mark.

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News Network
July 16,2020

Kolkata, Jul 16: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday went into home quarantine after his elder brother and Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) joint secretary Snehasish Ganguly tested positive for Covid-19.

Snehasish, a former Bengal first-class player, has been admitted to the Belle Vue hospital in Kolkata after his COVID report came positive.

"He was suffering from fever for the last few days and his test report came positive today. He's been admitted to Belle Vue Hospital," a CAB official said.

"The reports arrived late in the evening. As per health protocols, even Sourav will have to be in home quarantine for a stipulated period," a source close to the BCCI President added.

Snehasish had shifted to their ancestral house, where Sourav is based, in Behala after his wife and in-laws at his Mominpur residence tested positive for the dreaded virus.

The former India captain was, however, unavailable for a comment on the development.

Recently, during an interview to India Today, Sourav had spoken about how life around him has changed, making people more vulnerable.

"My brother visits our factories everyday and he is more at risk," the former batting star had said

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News Network
June 6,2020

New Delhi, Jun 6: Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding has come out in support of MS Dhoni, saying that the wicket-keeper batsman indeed wanted to win the match against England in the 2019 World Cup.

India's performance in the World Cup match against England last year has once again become a matter of debate as all-rounder Ben Stokes in his book titled 'On Fire' questioned the intent of the Indian side.

Stokes also said that Dhoni's intent was questionable as he did not go for big shots when India still had a chance to win the match.

However, Holding said that nowadays people tend to write anything in their books.

"Well, people will write anything in books these days, because people are a lot more free with their opinions and when they are writing books, they need to be making headlines at times," Holding said on his official YouTube channel.

"But, to be honest, a lot of people watching that game perhaps wouldn't have arrived to the same conclusion that Ben Stokes arrived at that India were not trying to win," he added.

Holding did say that it seemed like that India did not have the same intensity as they would have had if the match was a do-or-die match.

"It was not the game that India had to win, but I don't think anyone can say that was a team tactic to lose the game. I watched that game and it appeared to me as if India weren't putting up their 100 per cent, but I realised it was not the case when the expression on MS Dhoni's face told me that he desperately wanted to win, so I do not think it was a team decision to not try to win," the former Windies pacer said.

"But I don't think they went with the same intensity of wanting to win the game, say, if it was a do-or-die situation. If it was, we would have seen a different game," he added.

On his official YouTube channel, Holding also said that no team goes in with a set pattern in terms of chasing targets.

In the round-robin stage match against England in Birmingham, India failed to chase down the massive target of 338 and fell short by 31 runs.

That was the only game that India lost in the premier tournament last year before the semifinal loss against the Kiwis.

India's chasing approach, in particular of wicket-keeper batsman Dhoni, was criticised by many, including the fans at home.

As soon as Stokes mentioned Dhoni's lack of intent in his book 'On Fire', Pakistan fans started saying that India deliberately lost the match to knock out their neighbours.

However, Stokes clarified that he never said India lost deliberately and some people were twisting his words.

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News Network
May 9,2020

May 9: Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has donated an undisclosed amount to financially help 4,000 underprivileged people, including children from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) schools, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tendulkar made the donation to the Hi5 Foundation, a non-profit organisation based out of Mumbai.

“Best wishes to team Hi5 for your efforts in supporting families of daily wage earners,” Tendulkar tweeted.

The organisation, through a tweet, thanked Tendulkar for doing his bit for the needy.

“Thanks @sachin_rt for proving once again that #sports encourages compassion! Your generous donation towards our #COVID19 fund enables us to financially aid 4000 underprivileged people, including children from @mybmc schools. Our budding sportspersons thank you, Little Master!”

The legendary batsman had earlier contributed Rs 25 lakh each to Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the country’s fight against COVID-19. Tendulkar had earlier pledged to bear the cost of feeding 5,000 people for a month in a couple of areas in Mumbai.

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