WI vs Ind: West Indies defeat India by one wicket in second ODI

July 1, 2013

Kemar_RoachKingston, Jul 1: Kemar Roach got himself a perfect birthday present as he guided West Indies to a thrilling one-wicket victory over India in a nail-biting encounter in the second ODI of the Tri-series on Sunday.

Chasing a modest target of 230, West Indies made a heavy weather of the chase despite a sparkling knock of 97 by opener Johnson Charles but finally managed to register their second win in the tournament with 14 balls to spare.

With nine points from two matches, West Indies are in with a bright chance of making it to the finals.

Roach (14 no) kept his cool as he flicked Umesh Yadav (3/43) towards square leg to bring up the victory in a match where fortune swung like a pendulum.

The foundation of the victory was laid by opener Charles who faced 100 balls hitting eight boundaries and four huge sixes. He added 116 runs for the fourth wicket with Darren Bravo (55) and the victory didn't look out of sight.

Credit to Indian bowlers who made a fantastic comeback as they got some quick breakthroughs including to come right back into the match before Roach finally sealed it for the hosts.

At the start of the chase, West Indies were in dire straits as they lost both Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels within the first five overs as they were precariously placed at 26 for three.

Yadav removed opposition's best batsman Gayle (11) and followed it up with wicket of Devon Smith (0) while Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled Samuels (1) to reduce West Indies to 26 for three.

Gayle was dismissed as a delivery from Umesh rose awkwardly and it hit the upper portion of his bat. The resultant catch was taken by Suresh Raina stationed at short cover.

In his next over, Yadav removed left-hander Smith with an inswinger while Samuels dragged one from Kumar back onto his stumps.

Opener Charles however batted positively. The first six scoring strokes were boundaries as he punished both Yadav and Kumar. With minimum backlift and least footwork, Charles successfully hit through the line whenever it was slotted in his zone. He found an able ally in Bravo as the duo resurrected the innings.

The 50-run partnership came off 70 balls. Bravo, who was slow to begin with but chanced his arms against Ravindra Jadeja hitting the bowler over his head for a six.

The duo batted sensibly as the 100 came up in the 22nd over and Charles completed a well-deserved half-century off 60 balls. To celebrate his 50, Charles gave Jadeja the charge to hit him into the stands. The 100 runs for the fourth wicket partnership came off 131 balls and in the 26th over.

With the pitch easing out a bit compared to first half, the West Indian pair didn't have any problems in negotiating the Indian bowlers. Spin twins Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin weren't as effective as one expected them to be.

A desperate Virat Kohli leading the side in regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's absence brought back Yadav for his second spell but Charles greeted him with one of the biggest six of the match.

Finally, after a 116-run partnership, Bravo was gone for 55 trying to dispatch a half-tracker from Ashwin but only managing to find Shikhar Dhawan at short mid-wicket.

The wicket rejuvenated the Indians as Ishant Sharma came back for his second spell and bowled a perfect length to induce an edge off rival captain Kieron Pollard which was smartly taken by Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps. From 142 for three, West Indies suddenly became 155 for five.

From 155 for five, it soon became 161 for six as Ashwin operating from round the wicket pushed one which breached Denesh Ramdin's defence.

Sammy announced his arrival with a huge six off Ishant and followed it up with a backfoot cover drive off Ashwin. If this wasn't enough, Sammy used Yadav's pace to hit him over deep square leg for a second six to bring down the required runs to below 50 with 15 overs still remaining.

The former skipper scored a quickfire 29 off 25 balls before he was holed out in the third man region of Ishant's bowling.

Earlier, Indian batsmen battled hard on a difficult track as they managed 229 for seven in stipulated 50 overs.

Rohit Sharma (60) scored a composed half-century while Suresh Raina contributed a useful 44 after the 'Men In Blue' were put into bat by West Indies' stand-in captain Kieron Pollard.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni battled cramps that hampered his running between the wickets badly yet he carried on manfully to chip in with 27 off 34 balls before he was cleaned up by a Tino Best inswinger.

There were two notable partnerships in the Indian innings -------- 59 for the third wicket between Sharma and Dinesh Karthik and 58 for the fifth wicket between Raina and Dhoni.

Indian batsmen could manage only 17 boundaries in all apart from three sixes. The mandatory batting Powerplay also yielded only 27 runs which was a testimony to the fact that the track wasn't conducive for ODI cricket.

Sharma frittered away another opportunity to score big as he got out after a well-compiled 60 off 89 balls.

Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and Karthik didn't make significant contributions although Karthik was engaged in a half-century stand with Sharma.

Darren Sammy had a decent outing with the ball as he took two for 41 from his 10 overs. Kemar Roach also had identical figures of 2/41 from 10 overs. Best took 2/54 in 10 overs.

'Man of the moment' Shikhar Dhawan pulled Best and then hit a crisp cover drive off Roach to get couple of boundaries.

Sharma, whose performance has been much better since he started opening the innings started off with a six off Best -- a slash that flew over third man.

However Roach had the last laugh when Dhawan (10) failed to check his uppish drive which the bowler caught on the second attempt.

Virat Kohli (11, 21 balls) struggled to get going on a slow pitch before he tried an expansive drive off Darren Sammy but Chris Gayle standing wide of first slip took a fantastic one-handed catch diving to his right.

For Karthik, it was an onerous task to rotate strike as Sammy was in the middle of a good spell where he kept things tight. With the ball not coming onto the bat, the two batsmen proceeded on a sedate note during the initial phase.

It was one such occasion when Sharma was prepared to play the waiting game as he got the occasional boundary. One such shot was a lofted drive over extra cover off Best.

The 50 partnership for the third wicket came off 88 balls and just when it looked like that Karthik was getting a hang of the track, he offered a simple return catch to Marlon Samuels to end a 59-run stand.

Sharma, however carried on without much fuss. A deft cut past backward point off Sunil Narine was sheer class and he completed his 16th half-century in limited overs format off 77 balls with a double as the 100 of the team came in the 27th over.

Just when the Mumbaikar was looking good for a big score, he frittered away yet again trying to hoick a length delivery from Sammy only to be holed out at long-off boundary.

Raina and Dhoni mainly dealt in singles although the UP left-hander hit some attractive boundaries as the duo slowly started a recovery act from 124 for four.

They ran some well-judged singles as the 50-run partnership for the fifth wicket came off 65 balls.

However Dhoni suffered from cramps in the 43rd over which led to a medical break which must have hampered Raina's concentration as he edged one to Denesh Ramdin behind the stumps. Raina faced 55 balls and hit four boundaries. With Raina gone and Dhoni injured, the possibility of reaching 250 became out of question.

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News Network
March 3,2020

Sydney, Mar 3: Former Australia pacer Brett Lee foresees a "different" looking India making their maiden T20 Women's World Cup final and attributed their rise to the emergence of star players like 16-year-old Shafali Verma.

Besides opener Shafali, experienced leg-spinner Poonam Yadav has been the other match-winner for India in the competition. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side topped the group stage with four wins in as many games and play their semifinal here on Thursday.

"They've never reached the final but this is a different India team from the one they’ve seen before. They've combined match-winners in Shafali Verma and Poonam Yadav with consistent players with both bat and ball," Lee was quoted as saying by ICC.

"We've always known they have some of the best players in the world but now Harmanpreet Kaur has a team around her that can support the big players, and fill in the gaps when they have an off day."

Only a special effort from their opponents can stop India from reaching their maiden final, feels Lee.

They'll go into the semi-finals full of confidence and it will take an excellent team to stop them from reaching the Final."

Talking more about Shafali, who has got 47, 46, 39, and 29 so far, Lee backed the teen sensation to make a bigger score in the semifinal.

"Shafali Verma has been excellent at the top of the order, she’s brought a fearless energy to India’s batting and been brilliant to watch.

"You feel she can go even bigger as well – she hasn't reached 50 yet, which is both exciting for those watching and worrying for the bowlers.

"We saw from the opener against Australia just how good India can be, and it’s no surprise they’ve continued that form to top Group A," he added.

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Agencies
July 7,2020

Mumbai, Jul 7: Australias second largest city Melbourne is set to go for another round of lockdown — for six weeks — from midnight Wednesday as the coronavirus has reared its ugly head in Victoria. And this has further confirmed that this years T20 World Cup in Australia is practically not possible. Even as the ICC keeps delaying the announcement, BCCI hopes that the official call will now be taken with this latest development.

Despite ICC's Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee (F&CA) chief Ehsan Mani as well as Cricket Australia making it clear time and again that hosting a T20 World Cup in the October-November window is practically impossible, the ICC hasn't made an official announcement and that hasn't impressed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Speaking to media persons, a BCCI official said that it is only the ICC which has kept speaking about delaying the inevitable — announcing a postponement — even as Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings wrote to the international body that it looks highly unlikely that a T20 World Cup can be hosted in these trying times.

"As it is there were so many logistical difficulties and that is perfectly understandable. The Australian government has been addressing the public health issue efficiently and there are regulations in place which are crucial to address the challenges. In that background even Cricket Australia has been practical in their assessment of the situation.

"With this present situation where Melbourne is in lockdown, the ICC really must take the final call of closure on the issue if they have any concept of responsible decision making," the official said.

Not just CA chairman Eddings, but also Mani — who is also the PCB chief — recently told the media that the T20 World Cup cannot be held in a bio-secure environment.

"We have had a lot of discussions and the feeling is it (T20 World Cup) would not be possible this year. ICC has World Cups lined up in 2021 and 2023, so we have a gap year where we can adjust this event. God forbid if some player(s) falls ill or mishap occurs during the tournament, it will have a big impact and create panic in the cricket world and we can't take that risk. Having a bio-bubble environment is feasible for say a bilateral series like Pakistan in England, but it is very difficult when 16 teams are involved," he had said.

Cricket Australia's interim CEO Nick Hockley echoed the sentiments when he said the biggest challenge was to get the players from so many teams into the country.

"Our biggest challenge is getting 15 teams into the country. If I compare it with the prospect of a bilateral tour, you're talking about bringing one team in and then playing individual matches. But the prospect of bringing 15 teams in and having six or seven teams in one city at the same time, it's a much more complex exercise," he had said.

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News Network
March 10,2020

New Delhi, Mar 10: Six-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) and world number one Amit Panghal (52kg) were among three Indian boxers who secured Olympic berths by advancing to semifinals of the Asian Qualifiers here on Monday, taking the total number of the country's Tokyo-bound pugilists to eight.

Second-seeded Mary Kom notched up a comfortable 5-0 win over Philippines' Irish Magno in her quarterfinal bout for a ticket to her second Olympic Games. She won a bronze in the 2012 London Olympics when women's boxing was first introduced at the showpiece.

The 37-year-old will square off against China's Yuan Chang in the semifinals. Chang is a former Youth Olympics champion.

Earlier, world silver-medallist and top seed Panghal edged out familiar foe Carlo Paalam of Philippines in a 4-1 split verdict to be assured of his maiden Olympic appearance and a medal at the qualifiers.

In the last Indian bout of the day, world bronze-medallist Simranjit Kaur (60kg) upstaged second seed Namuun Monkhor of Mongolia 5-0 to secure her first Olympic place.

With this, the number of Indian boxers securing Olympic berths went up to eight after Satish Kumar (+91kg), Pooja Rani (75kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Ashish Kumar (75kg) advanced to the semifinals on Sunday.

"I dedicate my Olympic quota to my uncle Raj Narayan, it's his birthday and he is someone who gives me a lot of courage," said Panghal after his bout.

World bronze-winner and Commonwealth Games silver-medallist Manish Kaushik, however, lost 2-3 to third seed Chinzorig Baatarsukh of Mongolia after an intense battle but is not out of contention for an Olympic berth just yet.

Kaushik has to win the box-off between losing quarterfinalists as the top six boxers will claim Tokyo tickets in the 63kg category. He will face Australia's Commonwealth Games champion Harrison Garside in the box-off. The two clashed in the CWG final in 2018 with Garside ending up on the winning side.

Panghal started India's winning run on Monday by managing to pull off a close win.

The 23-year-old, who is the reigning Asian Games and Asian Championships gold-medallist, had earlier beaten Paalam in the semifinals of the 2018 Asian Games and the quarterfinals of 2019 world championships, which were also split decisions.

"I followed the instructions given by my coaches. I ensured that he didn't get on top of me. I think I was pretty consistent in all three rounds," Panghal said.

Next up for Panghal is China's Jianguan Hu, who stunned world bronze-medallist and fourth seed Kazakh Saken Bibossinov 5-0.

"I have beaten him in the Asian Championships and I know how to get the better of him," Panghal said of his next opponent.

The Haryana lad didn't exactly look at his best during the bout but his trademark counter-attacking game fetched him the desired result against a rival, who is challenging him more with every fresh encounter.

Mary Kom, on the other hand, put out a near-perfect performance against the very spirited Magno. The Manipuri dictated the pace of the bout, drawing from her huge reservoir of experience to put Magno on the backfoot with a very effective counter-attacking strategy.

Simranjjit, also an Asian silver-medallist, will face third seed Shih-Yi Wu of Taiwan in the semifinals after a fine performance against Monkhor. Simranjit's right hand connected accurately all through.

Kaushik, who was up against an Asian Games silver-medallist, started well but lost steam in the face of relentless body shots by Baatarsukh, a two-time podium finisher at the Asian Championships.

Baatarsukh had lost to Kaushik in the second round of the world championships last year and he exacted revenge with an aggressive takedown of the Indian, especially in the final three minutes.

However, former junior world champion Sakshi Chaudhary (57kg) failed to secure an Olympic berth after going down to Korea's Im Aeji in the quarterfinals.

The 19-year-old Chaudhary lost 0-5 to Im, who is also a former world youth champion. Only the semifinalists are entitled to an Olympic berth in the women's 57kg category of the ongoing event.

Her next shot at Tokyo qualification would be the world qualifiers in May, provided she is selected for it.

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