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World Cup set to see first-time winner as England beat Australia by 8 wickets

Agencies
July 12, 2019

Birmingham, Jul 12: With England thrashing Australia by 8 wickets in the second semifinal at the Edgbaston Cricket Stadium on Thursday to set up a summit clash with New Zealand, the World Cup is all set to see a frist time winner at the Lord's on Sunday.

Jason Roy once again laid the foundation for what was a clinical chase by England. While Roy hit a magnificent 65-ball 85 to set the ball rolling, skipper Eoin Morgan (45*) and Joe Root (49*) took the team home with eight wickets to spare.

Neither the hosts, nor New Zealand have laid their hands on the coveted trophy so far.

Chasing Australia's total of 223, the Englishmen got off to a cautious start, picking up 50 off the first 10 overs. But what followed was absolute carnage as the next 6 overs leaked 66 runs as Roy and Jonny Bairstow (34) ensured that the platform was set for the middle-order to come in and walk the team home. The packed crowd had every reason to cheer as they saw the home team dominate the show from start to finish.

Roy was absolutely ruthless in his approach as he attacked the bowlers both off the front and back foot. Drives, pulls, flicks and cuts were all there on display as the Australian bowlers looked clueless in front of the England opener.

Australia did strike twice to send back Bairstow (leg before off Mitchell Starc) and Roy (caught by Alex Carey down the leg side off Pat Cummins), but it was a little too late in the day as the duo of Root and Morgan ensured that there were no further hiccups.

Earlier, after a string of low scores, former Australia skipper Steve Smith rose to the occasion and hit a gritty 85 to take Australia to 223 after the English bowlers created mayhem in the first four overs to reduce the Aussies to 14/3 in slightly overcast conditions.

Bringing in all the experience of the 117 ODIs he had played before this game, Smith put his head down and kept waiting for the bad balls to make hay till an effort to run a quick single saw him being run out in the 48th over.

Australia also lost Mitchell Starc (29) off the very next ball to again lose the plot towards the end. Chris Woakes was the wrecker-in-chief as he finished with figures of 3/20 from 8 overs.

Australia got off to a disastrous start as they lost skipper Aaron Finch (0) in the second over of the innings. Having managed to evade his issues with the incoming delivery so far in the tournament, Finch was done in by a beauty from Jofra Archer. The Aussies did take a review, but it was a waste.

Woakes then handed Australia a twin blow as he first sent back the in-form David Warner for 9, caught by Jonny Bairstow behind the wicket, and then dismissed Peter Handscomb (4) with an incoming delivery as the gap between his bat and pad saw the stumps get rattled.

With the score reading a dismal 14/3, Alex Carey joined Smith in the middle and the wicketkeeper-batsman was immediately welcomed by a ferocious bouncer by Archer that hit him on the chin. A bloodied chin notwithstanding, Carey was ready to battle it out for his team.

The two put their heads down and started stitching a partnership as the Australians slowly crawled back into the game. But just when it looked like the duo will run away with the game, Adil Rashid struck, getting Carey (49) to sweep one straight down James Vince's throat. The 103-run partnership was broken against the run of play.

Rashid then dismissed Marcus Stoinis for a duck as he failed to read another googly and was trapped leg before. Glenn Maxwell (22) was the next man in and looked in good flow before an Archer delivery saw him loop one back to Eoin Morgan at cover. Rashid then returned to send back Pat Cummins, caught beautifully at first slip by Root for 6, with another googly.

With the score on 175/7 after 40 overs, it was all about aggression with an eye on the wickets column for the Australian duo of Smith and Mitchell Starc. In the end, Australia picked up 47 runs in the last nine overs before being dismissed in the 49th over.

Brief Scores: Australia: 223 in 50 overs (Steve Smith 85; Chris Woakes 3/20, Adil Rashid 3/54); England: 226/2 in 32.1 overs (Jason Roy 85, Joe Root 49*, Eoin Morgan 45*)

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Agencies
August 9,2020

Manchester, Aug 9: Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler played knocks of 84 and 75 respectively as England gained an improbable three-wicket win over Pakistan in the first Test of the three-match series here at the Emirates Old Trafford.

England chased down a total of 277 on the fourth day of the first Test.

Chasing 277, England openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley put on 22 runs for the first wicket, but Mohammad Abbas finally provided the breakthrough to Pakistan as he had Burns (10) adjudged leg-before wicket in the 12th over.

Skipper Joe Root came to the crease next, and he along with Sibley ensured that the side does not lose any more wickets before the lunch break, and England went into the lunch break at 55/1.

Sibley and Root eventually put up a 64-run stand, but their partnership was finally brought to an end by Yasir Shah as he dismissed Sibley (36) in the 36th over. Soon after, skipper Root (42) was also sent back to the pavilion by Naseem Shah, reducing England to 96/3 in the 39th over.

All eyes were on all-rounder Ben Stokes (9), but Pakistan's Yasir Shah sent him back to the pavilion in the 42nd over, and England was left in a spot of bother. Shaheen Shah Afridi, then also got among the wicket-taking charts as he scalped the wicket of Ollie Pope (7), reducing England to 117/5 in the 45th over.

Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler then got together at the crease, and the duo played in an aggressive manner to retrieve the innings for England. The hosts went into the tea break at 167/5, still, 110 runs away from the target with five wickets in hand.

Buttler and Woakes continued their march to frustrate the Pakistan bowling attack and the duo brought the target within the grasp of England. Both batsmen put up a stand of 139 runs, however, with just 21 runs away from the target, England lost the key wicket of Buttler (75) as Yasir Shah had him trapped in front of the wicket.

With England just needing four more runs for the win, Yasir Shah dismissed Stuart Broad (4), but in the end, Woakes and Dom Bess ensured England's win by three wickets.

For Pakistan, Yasir Shah was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped four wickets.

Earlier, resuming day four at 137/8, Yasir Shah (33) along with Mohammad Abbas (3*) and Naseem Shah (4) added 32 more runs to the overnight score to give England a target of 277 to win the first Test.

Stuart Broad was the pick of England bowlers as he scalped three wickets.

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News Network
May 1,2020

Melbourne, May 1: Reclaiming the top spot in Test cricket has brought smiles back on their faces but Australia coach Justin Langer says beating India in their own den remains the ultimate test and their numero uno status will be put to test when they clash with the Virat Kohli-led team.

After a tumultuous transition phase post the ball-tampering scandal, Australia on Friday displaced India as number one side in Test format but Langer is aware that it does not take long for the situation to change.

"We recognise how fluid these rankings are, but at this time it was certainly nice to put a smile on our faces," Langer told Cricket Australia website. "We've got lots of work to do to get to be the team that we want to be, but hopefully over the last couple of years not only have we performed well on the field, but also off the field," Langer added.

The former left-handed opener underlined what he felt will be the ultimate test of character.

"Certainly a goal for us has been the World Test Championship ... but ultimately, we have to beat India in India and we've got to beat them when they come back (to Australia).

"You can only judge yourself as being the best if you beat the best and we've got some really tough opposition to come," Langer put his priorities in place. The team he insists needs to get better as now others will come gunning for them.

"Getting to No.1 is a great thing, but when you're No.1, you're always the hunted," Langer said. "We've been the hunters for a while, now we're the hunted and we need to get better and better."

Langer also hoped that white ball team under Aaron Finch will win the World Cup. "I know how hard it is to win World Cups ... everything has to go right. One day, I'd love to see Aaron Finch with all his mates lift that T20 World Cup above his head."

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News Network
January 30,2020

Jan 30: Three days after Los Angeles basketball great Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter and seven others perished in a helicopter crash, his wife, Vanessa, broke her silence with an Instagram message saying she was “completely devastated” by their loss.

The social media text was posted alongside a recent family photo of Kobe and Vanessa Bryant with all four of their daughters - Gianna, who died with her father, along with the couple’s eldest, Natalia, 17, 3-year-old Bianka, and the youngest, Capri, born in June 2019.

Kobe Bryant and the couple’s second daughter, knicknamed Gigi, died on Sunday when the helicopter they were flying in en route to the Mamba Sports Academy for a girl’s basketball tournament crashed in foggy weather on a hillside northwest of Los Angeles.

Gianna Bryant was a member of the Mamba team due to compete that day. Her father, who retired from the National Basketball Association in 2016 after 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers, was the coach of his daughter’s team. ]

The pilot and six more passengers were also killed - two other 13-year-old girls involved in the tournament, three of their parents and another coach. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The death of Bryant, 41, an 18-time NBA all-star, five-time Lakers champion and one of the world’s most admired sports figures, unleashed an outpouring of grief and tributes from fans, fellow athletes and politicians around the globe.

“My girls and I want to thank the millions of people who’ve shown support and love during this horrific time,” Vanessa Bryant, 37, a former model, wrote on her Instagram account.

“We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe — the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna — a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri,” she added.

The message goes on to say: “We are also devastated for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately. There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now.

“I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon.”

She directed anyone wishing to “further Kobe and Gianna’s legacy in youth sports” to visit the site MambaSports Foundation.org.

There has been no word yet on funeral arrangements.

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