Sri Lanka decimate India by 161 runs

July 3, 2013

Upul_TharangaKingston, Jul 3: Upul Tharanga scored a career-best unbeaten 174 as Sri Lanka produced a clinical display to thrash India by 161 runs in the third match of the ODI tri-series here.

Sent into bat, Sri Lanka first rode on Tharanga's 174 and Mahela Jayawardene's 107 to pile up a mammoth 348 for one yesterday and then shot out the Indians for a paltry 187 in 44.5 overs.

Apart from Tharanga and Jayawardene, skipper Angelo Mathews made a quickfire 44.

The Indians looked a pale shadow of themselves with Ravindra Jadeja top-scoring with an unbeaten 49 followed by Suresh Raina (33), Murali Vijay (30), Shikhar Dhawan (24) and Dinesh Karthik (22).

Rohit Shamra was the first to depart, caught by Mathews at short mideicket off Nuwan Kulasekara's bowling. With a mountain to chase, the Indians found boundaries hard to come by as they dealt mostly in singles and twos.

The ever-climbing asking rate took a tool on the Indians as they lost Dhawan and skipper Virat Kohli in successive overs.

While trying to break the shakles Dhawan found out Tharanga at deep midwicket off Rangana Herath (3/37), Kohli hooked a Mathews delivery straight to Lasith Malinga at fine-leg in the next over.

Maling then went through Vijay's defence two overs later as India slumped to 70 for four after the end of 19 overs.

Wicket-keeper Karthik and Raina added 53 runs off 63 balls for the fitth wicket before the former perished, stumped by Kumar Sangakkara off Herath in the 29th over.

Raina tried hard to get India back on track with a run-a-ball 33 but fell victim of a run out.

Thereafter, the Indian innings fell apart as none other batsmen managed doubled digit scores with only Jadeja showing some teeth before the discipleined Sri Lankan bowling attack.

This is India's second defeat in the tournament after having lost to West Indies by one wicket in their tournament opener.

Earlier, Tharanga smashed a career-best unbeaten 174, while Jayawardene made 107 as Sri Lanka produced a dominant batting display to post an imposing 348 for one. Tharanga scored his runs off just 159 deliveries with the help of 19 boundaries and three hits over the fence.

Jayawardene, on the other hand, faced 112 balls during his century knock. He hit nine fours and two sixes during his innings.

Towards the end, captain Mathews played a 29-ball 49-run cameo to help help Sri Lanka get near the 350-run mark. He struck fours boundaries and one six in the process.

Sent into bat, Sri Lanka made a quiet start to their innings before Jayawadene and Tharanga opened up. Jayawardene and Tharanga mixed caution with aggression to pile up 47 runs in the first 10 overs.

Shami Ahmed, who replaced Bhuveneshwar Kumar, and Umesh Yavad failed to derive any assistance from the low and slow Sabina Park wicket as the Sri Lankan opening duo milked the Indian attack to surge ahead.

Jayawardene, who was dropped by Vijay off Jadeja at the personal score of 25, cashed in on the chance and played sensibly thereafter to reach his fifty in 60 balls with the help of four boundaries and one six.

Tharanga, on the other hand, played second fiddle initially and reached his fifty in 76 balls balls during which he struck five hits to the fence.

Nothing seemed to have worked in favour India captain Virat Kohli, who is leading the side in place of injured Mahendra Singh Dhoni, as his bowling changes came a cropper against the Sri Lankans today.

Kohli, who will captain India in the remainder of the tournament after Dhoni has been ruled out due to a hamstring injury, found the going tough as none of his bowlers managed to produce result till the 39th over of the innings.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin finally managed to break the deadlock when he dismissed the dangerous-looking Jayawardene but not before the batsman had scored 107 off 112 balls with the help of nine boundaries and two sixes.

Jayawardene was caught by a diving Yadav at short third man after the batsman went for reverse sweep.

Tharanga, however, went about his business in a quiet fashion and notched up his century in 124 balls during which he hit 11 boundaries. After Jayawardene's dismissal, Tharanga took the lead and in skipper Mathews' company he blossomed to take Sri Lanka forward.

The duo of Tharanga and Mathews pressed on the gas and registered their 50-run stand in just 27 balls.

Jadeja, who was the bowler of the tournament in the ICC Champions Trophy, came in for some harsh treatment as Tharanga and Mathews hit the left-arm spinner for a six each to pile up 15 runs in the 44th over.

Tharanga and Mathews took the ordinary-looking Indian attack for a task and struck boundaries and sixes at will to pile a whopping 124 runs off the last 10 overs.

Score Board

Sri Lanka:

Upul Tharanga not out 174

Mahela Jayawardene c Yadav b Ashwin 107

Angelo Mathews not out 44

Extras: (B-1, LB-6, W-16) 23

Total: (1 wicket in 50 overs) 348

Fall of wickets: 1-213

Bowling: Ahmed 10-0-68-0, Yadav 8-0-64-0, Sharma 9-0-68-0, Jadeja 9-0-55-0, Ashwin 10-0-67-1, Kohli 2-0-9-0, Raina 2-0 -10-0.

India innings:

Rohit Sharma c Mathews b Kulasekara 5

Shikhar Dhawan c Tharanga b Herath 24

Murali Vijay b Malinga 30

Virat Kohli c Malinga b Mathews 2

Dinesh Karthik st Sangakkara b Herath 22

Suresh Raina run out 33

Ravindra Jadeja not out 49

Ravichandran Ashwin c Malinga b Senanayake 4

Shami Ahmed b Senanayake 0

Ishant Sharma c Sangakkara b Herath 2

Umesh Yadav b Malinga 0

Extras: (LB-4, W-12) 16

Total: (all out in 44.5 overs) 187

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-52, 3-57, 4-65, 5-118, 6-142, 7-153, 8-153, 9-166, 10-187.

Bowling: Kulasekara 9-0-37-1, Mathews 8-2-23-1, Senanayake 10-0-46-2, Herath 10-0-37-3, Malinga 7.5-0-40-2.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

Sydney, Feb 7: "I received a message from Brett Lee," said former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Friday when asked as to who recruited him to take part in the Bushfire relief fundraiser match.

Tendulkar will be coaching the Ponting XI in the upcoming Bushfire Bash on Sunday, February 9 at the Junction Oval.

"I received a message from Brett Lee. Brett said that Kevin (Roberts, Cricket Australia's chief executive) would like to be in touch with you. It was a no-brainer. From the moment I was asked, I said, 'yes I'm more than happy to come here," cricket.com.au quoted Tendulkar as saying.

Bushfire Bash was originally slated to be played at Sydney on Saturday but weather forecast prompted Cricket Australia to reschedule the game to ensure the best possible pitch and outfield conditions for the final of Big Bash League.

The match will be played to raise funds and all match profits will go to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund.

"This is an alarming situation, it's catastrophic - that's an understatement. You see the number of lives it has affected, not only humans but also wildlife which sometimes people don't talk about. That is equally important. I'm so happy I'm here in whatever way to support the cause, to raise money," Tendulkar said.

Ponting XI: Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (c), Elyse Villani, Brian Lara, Phoebe Litchfield, Brad Haddin (wk), Brett Lee, Wasim Akram, Dan Christian, Luke Hodge. Coach: Sachin Tendulkar

Gilchrist XI: Adam Gilchrist (c & wk), Shane Watson, Brad Hodge, Yuvraj Singh, Alex Blackwell, Andrew Symonds, Courtney Walsh, Nick Riewoldt, Peter Siddle, Fawad Ahmed (one more to be announced). Coach: Tim Paine

The Bushfire Bash exhibition match will be a 10-overs-per-side contest, with a five-over Powerplay, no bowling restrictions, and batters unable to get out from the first ball they face.

Bowlers will not have over limits, fielders can sub on and off as it suits, while captains will have the ability to sub batters in and out during an innings.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: Indian cricketers Suresh Raina and Harmanpreet Kaur were on Wednesday appointed as the global brand ambassadors of the WTF Sports.

Raina is also joining the brand as a Strategic Partner. WTF Sports, a fantasy sports gaming platform, was today formally launched in India and globally.

The announcement was made through a web conference with prominent cricket host, Vikram Sathaye moderating and hosting the webinar and Vinit Bhatia, Manit Parikh and Yash Kadakia Co-Founders - India and Global, WTF Sports introducing the cricketers as the Global Brand Ambassadors.

Kaur said it was a perfect fit for her and she can use her strategy and experience while playing.
"WTF Sports was the perfect fit with me, I can use strategy and my experience while playing, I've actually learnt to strategize better as I've played along. Additionally, when we were under lockdown and I couldn't really practice, it was fun to come on the platform and feel like I'm still playing," Kaur said in a statement.

On the other hand, Raina said, "It is exciting to be a part of a fantasy sports platform like WTF Sports not just as an ambassador but also as the strategic partner, it is everything that I embody and what I believe in, it's fierce, fun and competitive."

The app currently hosts three major sports, multiple playing modes, and exciting contests, ensuring that sports fans can get more skillful by letting them strategize and use their sports knowledge into rewarding behaviour.

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News Network
February 24,2020

Wellington, Feb 24: Indian batsmen's inadequacies in adverse conditions were laid bare as they crashed to an embarrassing 10-wicket defeat against a ruthless New Zealand side that wrapped up the opening Test in just over three days here on Monday.

Starting the day on 144 for four, India were all out for 191 in their second innings. This was only a shade better than their dismal 165 in the first innings, which eventually proved to be decisive.

Trent Boult (4/39 in 22 overs) and Tim Southee (5/61 in 21 overs), the most under-rated new ball pairs in world cricket, showed that when it boils down to playing incisive seam and swing bowling, this batting line-up is still a work in progress.

The required target of nine runs was knocked off by New Zealand without much ado for their 100th Test win.

India's last defeat was against Australia at Perth during the 2018-19 series but the loss at the Basin Reserve would hurt them more because the visitors have not surrendered in such a fashion of late.

There was no resistance from a star-studded line-up and more than intent, the failure was due to poor technique on a track that had something on the third and fourth day as well.

This is a team that plays fast bowling much better than their predecessors, the reason for their success on the bouncy Australian tracks.

But when it comes to facing conventional seam and swing bowling in testing conditions, they are yet to learn the art of saving a Test match.

India had lost the mental battle on the first day itself when they saw the moisture on the wicket.

The toss became a factor and not for one session did they look comfortable. Mayank Agarwal was the only batsman, who felt at home in patches, as New Zealand showed what a Test match strategy is all about.

If the first innings was about mixing back of length deliveries with fuller length balls, the second innings saw the pacers coming from round the wicket and targeting the rib-cage. The line was disconcerting and it stifled them for good.

It affected their mindset and once Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari stepped out on the fourth morning, defeat was written all over as both looked ill-equipped to handle such high quality seam bowling.

Rahane (29 off 75 balls) and Vihari (15 off 79 balls) are players who only play long-form cricket at the international level and both are known for their patience.

But little would have the Indian vice-captain apprehended that he would get a delivery from Boult, which he thought would move away after pitching but it held its line and he had no option but to jab at it, and all he got was an edge.

Southee, who bowls a lovely classical outswinger, then bowled an off-cutter from the other end and before Vihari could comprehend, it came back sharply to peg the stumps back.

Within first 20 minutes, the two seasoned practitioners of swing had knocked the stuffing out of India's resistance.

Rishabh Pant (25 off 41 balls) batted only in the manner he can and played one breathtaking shot off Southee, a slog sweep off a 130 kmph-plus delivery to the deep mid-wicket boundary.

But there was too much left to do with too little support from the other end. Bending on one knee, he tried another audacious slog scoop but couldn't clear.

Southee, who had a terrific match, deservingly completed his 10th five-wicket haul and all it took was 16 overs to end the innings and the match.

New Zealand now have 120 points in the World Test championship and India stayed on top with 36 points.

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