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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News Network
June 18,2020

New Delhi, Jun 18: Premier Indian off-spinner R Ashwin has described Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a "massive influence" on his career, revealing that at the beginning of his IPL stint, he was driven by an intense desire to get the former captain's attention.

Ashwin got his contract with CSK, one of the most successful IPL sides, in 2008 and said the stint with CSK shaped his career.

"IPL and CSK is a stage that everyone wants. For me it was more about recognition. MSD did not know who Ashwin is, (Matthew) Hayden and (Muttiah) Muralithan did not know who Ashwin is. The first thing that came to my mind was that 'I will show these people that Ashwin is here'," Ashwin told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"I don't know it was being foolish or arrogance but that was how I was made. Nobody was giving me a chance that Ashwin will play alongside Muralitharan or ahead of Muralitharan. I thought, I will get there ahead of him one day," he added.

Ashwin said Dhoni, who led CSK, had "massive influence" on him and the only way to impress him was by troubling him in the nets.

"I got the eye of Hayden, Jacob Oram, and Stephen Fleming while bowling to them at the nets. They were finding it difficult to face me in the first year (2008) but I had not caught the eye of MSD," he said.

"I never had massive interactions with him. It was going to the nets and getting MSD...he was hitting Muralitharan out of the park and I thought, if I bowl better than him, I met get to play ahead of Murali.

" I got his attention when I got him during a Challenger trophy and celebrated like a crazy kid," he recalled.

After that, Ashwin said during CSK's match against Victoria Bushrangers in the now defunct Champions League, he volunteered to bowl the Super Over and Dhoni gave him the ball without hesitation.

Ashwin did not fare well and ended up conceding 23 runs. The off-spinner said when Dhoni walked past him after the match, he only said that, "you should have bowled the carrom ball."

"MS always maintained that you are exceptionally skilful and you should keep doing what you do."

Ashwin has been very successful against the left-handers as 189 of his 365 wickets are of southpaws. Ashwin credited his engineering background and advice from Duncan Fletcher for the success.

"He made a statement that changed cricket. He said it's all about geometry and left it at that. Understanding angles (engineering background) has given me edge over others," he said.

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News Network
May 27,2020

Bengaluru, May 27: Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has revealed that he was never able to dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq in the nets.

The Rawalpindi Express praised the former Pakistan skipper and said Inzamam could see the ball one second earlier than the rest of the batsmen could.

"Honestly, I don't think I could ever get him (Inzamam) out, he had the time and I always felt he saw the ball a second earlier than the rest of the batsmen because I had a complicated action unlike Brett Lee, I felt I could never dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I couldn't get him out in the nets, I think he could see the ball a second before anyone else," he added.

Inzamam played 120 Tests and 378 ODIs for Pakistan.

He finished his career with 20,569 runs across all formats.

The right-handed batsman called time on his career in 2007 and he played his last Test against South Africa in Lahore.

On the other hand, Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

The Rawalpindi Express last played an ODI in 2011 as he played against New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup.

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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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