Sachin Believes 2003 World Cup Final Against Australia Could've Been Different If T20 Format Existed

Johannesburg, Jul 18: Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Saturday mourned the demise of former spinner Ismail 'Baboo' Ebrahim who died in Durban at the age of 73.

"Baboo was one of the outstanding South African spin bowlers of the 1960s and 1970s who would undoubtedly have played as many Test matches for his country as the 48 first-class games to which he was limited," CSA said in a statement.

In those matches, he took 179 wickets at an average of 21.33 with an economy rate of 2.12 including 8 five-wicket hauls and 2 ten-wicket hauls.

The left-arm spinner only had one opportunity on the international stage when he played for a SA Invitation XI against the International Wanderers at Kingsmead in 1976.

"At the age of 29, he was in his prime and took a match-winning 6/66 in the second innings, his victims including international captains, Greg Chappell of Australia and Mike Denness of England. It was a clear indication of what he could have achieved on grounds around the world at the highest level had he been given the opportunity. He was a master of flight and spin and had a good arm ball to back it up," the statement read.

His ability to perform at this level had become apparent much earlier when he went to watch the Australians at practice before their Test match against South Africa in 1970.

He persuaded the Australians to let him bowl to them and made an immediate impression, bowling experienced Test batsman Ian Redpath and impressing the likes of Ian Chappell and Ashley Mallett, the latter being Australia's leading spinner of the 1970s.

He had one season for Radcliffe in the Lancashire Central League when he took 62 wickets at 14.62 apiece.

Baboo finally got his chance to represent his country in Masters events in one of which he dismissed both Sir Vivian Richards and Gordon Greenidge.

"Baboo Ebrahim was one of the countless number of outstanding cricketers who was denied the opportunity to display his talents to the world and live his cricketing dreams," said CSA Acting Chief Executive, Dr Jacques Faul.

"On behalf of the CSA Family I extend our deepest sympathy to his family, friends and cricketing colleagues," he added. 

Berlin, May 17: Top-flight football in Germany kicked off again on the weekend, becoming the first major sports league in the world to resume play, as parts of Europe took more tentative steps towards normality after the devastation unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic.

With the worldwide death toll past 310,000 and the global economy reeling from the vast damage caused by lockdowns, the reopenings in some of the hardest-hit countries provided much-needed relief from the pandemic.

The French returned to the beach and Italy announced a resumption of European tourism with outbreaks in Europe slowing, but the rising number of fatalities in the United States and Brazil were a grim reminder of the scale of the crisis, with more than 4.6 million infections reported globally.

With governments trying to reopen their economies while avoiding the second wave of infections that could necessitate more lockdowns, Germany's Bundesliga resumed its season on Saturday with games played in vacant, echoing stadiums.

League heavyweights Borussia Dortmund hosted rivals Schalke at the all-but-empty Signal Iduna Park -- which would usually be packed with more than 80,000 raucous fans.

"It's sad that matches are played in empty stadiums, but it's better than nothing," said 45-year-old Borussia Dortmund fan Marco Perz, beer in hand, as he prepared to watch the game on TV.

Dortmund's Erling Braut Haaland became the first player to score a goal after the two-month shutdown and celebrated by dancing alone -- away from his applauding teammates -- in keeping with the strict hygiene guidelines which allowed the league to resume.

The only noise was the cheering and clapping of players and coaches.

League champions Bayern Munich will play Union Berlin in the capital on Sunday, with the resumption in Germany seen as a test case as other top sports competitions try to find ways to resume play without increasing health risks.

"The whole world will be looking at Germany, to see how we get it done," said Bayern boss Hansi Flick.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy, however, said Saturday he needed more guarantees before the government can give the green light for the resumption of its top football league, which is struggling with logistical difficulties as clubs try to arrange training sessions and quarantine facilities.

With the Northern Hemisphere's summer approaching, authorities are moving to help tourism industries salvage something from the wreckage.

Italy, for a long stretch the world's worst-hit country, announced that European Union tourists would be allowed to visit from June 3 and a 14-day mandatory quarantine would be scrapped.

"We're facing a calculated risk in the knowledge that the contagion curve may rise again," Conte said during a televised address.

"We have to accept it otherwise we will never be able to start up again."

In France, the first weekend after the strictest measures were lifted saw many ventures out into the spring sunshine -- and hit the beach.

In the Riviera city of Nice, keen swimmers jumped into the surf at daybreak.

"We were impatient because we swim here all year round," said retiree Gilles, who declined to give his full name.

With the threat of a second wave of infections on their minds, authorities in many countries have asked people not to throng public spaces like beaches as they are made accessible again.

Officials in parts of England on Saturday warned people to stay away from newly reopened beauty spots and avoid overcrowding.

Germany also saw the latest in a growing wave of anti-lockdown protests in many parts of the world, with rallies in major cities bringing together conspiracy theorists, anti-vaccine activists and other extremists.

There were similar protests in France, Switzerland and Poland.

Since emerging in China late last year, the coronavirus has whipped up a catastrophic economic storm, which has left tens of millions unemployed in the United States and many are wondering when a recovery will be possible.

With more than 88,000 deaths and 1.47 million confirmed coronavirus cases, the United States is the worst-hit country on the planet, and the administration of President Donald Trump has faced intense criticism of the way it has handled the crisis.

Former president Barack Obama took a swipe at the response to the pandemic, telling graduates at a virtual commencement ceremony that many leaders today "aren't even pretending to be in charge" -- a remark widely regarded as a rare rebuke of his successor.

Trump is keen to reopen the US economy -- the world's largest -- despite warnings from experts that infections could flare up again if social distancing measures are eased too quickly.

Forty-eight of the 50 US states have now eased lockdown rules to some extent.

Much like Trump and his political allies, Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is also keen to end lockdowns, which he claims have unnecessarily damaged the South American nation's economy over a disease he has dismissed as "a little flu".

But the virus has continued its deadly march in Brazil, where the death toll passed 15,000 on Saturday and it became the country with the fourth-largest coronavirus caseload with 230,000 infections.

Sydney, Feb 21: Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav bowled a magical spell in her comeback game to steer India to a comfortable 17-run win over defending champions Australia in the opening match of the Women's T20 World Cup on Friday.

Put in to bat, India struggled to a below par 132 before Poonam (4/19 in 4 overs) foxed the Aussies with her googlies, turning the match decisively into her team's favour.

Australia, who have won the competition four times in six editions, were all out for 115 in 19.5 overs

"A bowler like Poonam is someone who leads from the front. We were expecting a great comeback from her. Our team is looking nice, earlier we depended on two-three players," India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said after the match.

Poonam, who missed the preceding tri-series due to a hand injury, also got good support from other bowlers including pacer Shikha Pandey.

The 28-year-old from Agra was on a hat-trick but narrowly missed out as wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia dropped a difficult chance.

The tournament-opener saw a record 13,000 plus attendance with a sizeable chunk supporting India.

India next play against Bangladesh in Perth on February 24.

"It was great for me to come back from injury and perform like this. It was the third time that I was on a hat-trick but satisfied that I was able to do the job for the team," said Poonam at the post-match presentation.

Australia were off to a good start to their chase with opener Alyssa Healy making a 35-ball 51, laced with six boundaries and a six.

However, Indian spinners led by Poonam triggered a collapse as Australia suddenly slipped to 82 for six.

Poonam (4/19) snapped four wickets, two in successive deliveries in the 12th over, to break the back of Australia's chase.

Ashleigh Gardner (34 off 36) tried her bit but didn't get any support from the other end.

Earlier, India squandered a flying start to end up with a below-par total.

Sixteen-year-old Shafali Verma took India to 40 for no loss in four overs with a typically aggressive 29 off 15 balls but her fall derailed the innings as the other batters disappointed.

Deepti Sharma made a composed 46-ball 49 in the second half of the innings but the firepower that India needed in the death overs was badly missing.

India were cruising initially with Shafali taking the opposition to the cleaners, hitting five fours and a six.

However, left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen (2/24) snapped two quick wickets, Smriti Mandhana (10 off 11) and Harmanpreet (2 off 5) to reduce India to 47 for three.

Deepti then shared 53 runs with Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 33) to bring up the 100 in the 16th over.

For Australia, Ellyse Perry (1/15) and Delissa Kimmince (1/24) were the other wicket-takers.