Punia's 75 goes in vain as WI defeats India

News Network
November 2, 2019

North Sound, Nov 2: Opener Priya Punia's well-compiled fifty went in vain as the Indian women's team suffered a narrow one-run defeat against the West Indies in the first ICC Women's Championship ODI here.

Chasing 226 to win, Punia smashed six boundaries in her 107-ball innings, while Jemimah Rodrigues (41) scored a 67-ball 41 at the top but they didn't get enough support from lower-order to be dismissed for 224 in 50 overs by the hosts.

Earlier, Stefanie Taylor opted to bat first and produced a captain's knock, scoring a 91-ball 94 studded with eight boundaries and two sixes.

Opener Natasha McLean also put up a good show, smashing an 82-ball 51 as West Indies posted a competitive 225 for 7 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Friday.

Defending the total, off-spinner Anisa Mohammed came up with a superb bowling performance, claiming five wickets for 46 runs. She was ably supported by Taylor (2/30) and Shabika Gajnabi (2/25), who snapped two wickets each.

India couldn't score the required eight runs in the last over with Mohammed removing Ekta Bisht (0) and Poonam Yadav (0) in the first and final deliveries respectively to hand West Indies a thrilling win.

Earlier batting first, Taylor (94) and McLean (51) did the bulk of the scoring, while Chedean Nation (43 off 55) also chipped in with a useful contribution but rest of the batting failed to fire against the Indian bowlers.

For India, Deepti Sharma (2/41) and Shikha Pandey (2/38) took a couple of wickets, while Jhulan Goswami (1/46) claimed one.

Punia and Rodrigues gave India a good start, forging a 78-run opening partnership before Taylor dismissed the latter in the 22nd over.

Punia and Poonam Raut (22) then looked to build the innings but a run-out ended the partnership as India slipped to 124 for two in 32nd over.

Punia also shared a 46-run stand with skipper Mithali Raj (20) but she was removed by Mohammed in the 40th over with India still needing 56 to win.

Harmanpreet Kaur (5), Deepti Sharma (19) and Jhulan Goswami (14*) tried their bit but there was hardly any support from the lower order in the finishing stages.

The two teams will face off again in the second ODI on Sunday.

Brief Score:

West Indies 225 for 7 in 50 overs (S Taylor 94; S Pandey 2/38) beat India 224 all out in 50 overs (P Punia 75; A Mohammed 5/46) by one run.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said the Women's IPL or the Challenger series, as it is better known, is "very much on", ending speculation about the parent body not having a plan for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team.

The men's IPL will be held between September 19 and November 8 or 10 (final date yet to be locked in) in the UAE due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in India. The women's IPL will also be fit in to the schedule, according to the BCCI chief.

"I can confirm to you that the women's IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also," Ganguly told PTI ahead of the IPL Governing Council meeting later on Sunday.

The BCCI president, who is awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on waiver of the cooling-off period to continue in the position, did not divulge details but another senior official privy to the development said that women's Challenger will be held during the last phase of IPL like last year.

"The women's Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that," the source said.

The former India captain also said that the centrally contracted women players will have a camp which has been delayed due to the prevailing situation in the country.

"We couldn't have exposed any of our cricketers -- be it male or female to health risk. It would have been dangerous," Ganguly said.

"The NCA also remained shut because of Covid-19. But we have a plan in place and we will have a camp for women, I can tell you that," he added.

The BCCI's cricket operations team is chalking up a schedule where Indian women are likely to have two full-fledged white-ball series against South Africa and the West Indies before playing the ODI World Cup in New Zealand. 

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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
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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