Bengaluru: Ravichandran Ashwin’s 25th five-wicket haul was the cornerstone of India’s remarkable turnaround as the hosts defeated Australia by 75 runs in the second cricket Test to level the four-match series 1-1 in Bengaluru.

Defending a competitive target of 188 with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on line, Ashwin was unplayable on a tricky on a fourth-day surface with magnificent figures of 6 for 41. Australia ended up decimated for 112 in only 35.4 overs.

Just like Indian wickets fell like nine pins in Pune, Australia too crumbled like a house of cards and lost the last six for a mere 11 runs between overs 26th and 36th. With their backs firmly against the wall, it was a battle of attrition for Kohli and his boys after their humiliating loss in Pune.

It turned out to be a collective effort in the end with KL Rahul (90 and 51), Cheteshwar Pujara (92) and Ajinkya Rahane (52) doing their bit with the bat. Not to forget an invaluable 20 runs from Wriddhiman Saha. After a bad run in Pune, spin twins Ashwin (8 wickets) and Ravindra Jadeja (7 wickets) accounted for 15 out of the 20 wickets.

The pitch, which deteriorated with each passing moment, made the target of 188 look as big as 350. Only skipper Steve Smith (28) and Peter Handscomb (24) were the only batsmen to cross 20-run mark for Australia.

Till the 10th over of the chase, things looked good for Australia as they were 42 for 1, losing only Matt Renshaw (5) who got an unplayable delivery from Ishant Sharma. David Warner (17) got a leg before decision off Ashwin’s bowling going against him. Warner reviewed it unsuccessfully.

Umesh Yadav (2/30 in 9 overs) then produced the double break with Shaun Marsh (9) getting one to come back after hitting one of those ever widening cracks. Smith got a shooter that didn’t even rise enough hitting him on the boot.

It was plumb and Smith, trying to get a clue from the dressing room beyond his 15-second time, got into a brief altercation with rival captain Kohli. Mitchell Marsh (13) and Peter Handscomb (24) added 27 runs and tried to stem the rot during their fifth wicket partnership.

This was the time when Ashwin, coming for his second spell, ran riot dismissing Marsh, Matthew Wade and Mitchell Starc in quick succession. Once it was 103 for 7, the game was all over for Australia. The third Test will be played in Ranchi from March 16.

(Reuters)

Sofia: Mohamed Hussamuddin went down fighting in the final of the men’s bantamweight (56kg) category as India finished with three medals at the 68th Strandja Memorial boxing tournament here.

Hussamuddin put up a spirited fight against 2013 European Championship silver medallist Mykola Butsenko of Ukraine before going down 2-3 to settle for the silver late on Sunday evening.

Among other Indians in the fray, Amit Phangal lost in the semi-finals of the men’s Light Flyweight (49kg) division and Meena Kumari Maisnam went down in the last four stage of the women’s 54kg class to settle for the bronze.

A total of 15 Indian boxers — 10 men and five women — took part in the event.

Meanwhile, China won two gold medals during Sunday’s finals.

Yin Junhua, silver medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, defeated European champion Denitsa Eliseeva of Bulgaria 5-0 in the final of the women’s 60kg class here on Sunday evening, reports Xinhua news agency.

Rio 2016 bronze medallist Li Qian won the women’s 75kg category by beating Rio silver medallist Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands 3-2.

China’s Hu Jianguan, bronze medallist at Rio, lost to European champion Daniel Asenov of Bulgaria in the final of the men’s 52kg division.

Two other Chinese boxers took bronze medals, including Wen Yinhang and Huang Jiabin in the men’s 75kg and 81kg categories, respectively.

The six-day competition, the oldest and one of the toughest international boxing tournaments in Europe, featured more than 280 male and female boxers from 35 countries and regions.

(IANS)

Pune: Australia ended India’s 19-match record unbeaten streak after thrashing the hosts by a mammoth 333 runs in the opening cricket Test at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Saturday.

Chasing a mammoth 441, India once again succumbed to the left-arm spin of Steve O’Keefe, who returned with figures of 6/35 in the second innings to bundle out the hosts for a paltry 107. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon also contributed with four wickets.

The 32-year-old O’Keefe, who took six wickets in the first innings, took his overall match haul to 12 wickets.

With the win, the visitors have now taken a 1-0 lead in the four-match Test series.

(IANS)

R Ashwin revived India’s hopes as he dismissed both David Warner (10) and Shaun Marsh (0) to leave Australia at 46/2 at tea on Day 2 of the first Test here in Pune. The visitors lead by 201 runs.

Nine wickets tumbled in the second session on Day 2, including a sensational batting collapse that saw India lose their last seven wickets for just 11 runs to get bundled for a paltry 105.

Steve O’Keefe was the pick of the bowlers for Australia as the left-arm spinner used the turn on offer to take three wickets in a single over to return figures of 6/35. It was in the 33rd over that the 32-year-old first scalped KL Rahul (64) before sending back both Ajinkya Rahane (13) and Wriddhiman Saha (1) in the span of just four deliveries.

In the next over, Ravichandran Ashwin was caught off his boot by Peter Handscomb as Australia went on to wrap up the tail in quick succession.

Coming on to bat, Australia were off to a quick start as Warner struck two boundaries off Ashwin’s first over but was trapped in front on the last ball to head back. Marsh on the other end had been approaching his knock in an extremely cautious manner, trying to get used to the surface, but fell in a similar manner even without opening his account.

Steve Smith and Peter Handscomb then saw off the session with the former hitting four boundaries, including a few glorious drives through the cover region. As it seems so far, the intent from the Baggy Greens is to score quick runs and put up a huge target for India who will have a real tough time to bat on in the fourth innings.

(Agencies)

Pune: Pacer Mitchell Starc’s unbeaten half century lifted Australia to 256/9 at stumps on the opening day of the first Test at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Thursday.

At stumps, Starc was unbeaten on 57 runs from 58 balls with fellow paceman Josh Hazlewood giving him company on one off 31 deliveries.

Tottering at 205/9, Starc’s fiery strokeplay helped him raise a undefeated 51-run last wicket stand with Hazlewood to take the Australians past the 250-run mark.

Earlier, pacer Umesh Yadav scripted Australia’s downfall with figures of 4/32, while the spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin (2/59), Ravindra Jadeja (2/74) and Jayant Yadav (1/58) shared five wickets between themselves as the visitors lost five wickets for just 56 runs in the third session.

Brief Scores: Australia: 1st innings 356/9 (Matt Renshaw 68, Mitchell Starc 57 not out, David Warner 38, Steve Smith 27, Umesh Yadav 4/32, Ravichandran Ashwin 2/59, Ravindra Jadeja 2/74) vs India.

(IANS)

Christchurch: New Zealand defeated South Africa by six in the second One-Day International (ODI) at the Hagley Oval here on Wednesday.

New Zealand’s veteran batsman Ross Taylor got to a record 17th ODI century off the last ball of the New Zealand innings before the bowlers did the needful to stop the Proteas six runs short, according to the ICC’s official website.

Taylor scored an unbeaten 102 to help New Zealand post 289/4 after they opted to bat. South Africa came within sniffing distance, thanks to a late 26-ball half-century from Dwaine Pretorius, but eventually finished on 283/9.

Taylor had shared the New Zealand record of 16 ODI centuries with Nathan Astle, and had been in a rich vein of form since returning from eye surgery in early January.

On his way to his century, Taylor also became only the fourth New Zealander to score 6,000 ODI runs.

He received excellent support from the skipper Kane Williamson and Jimmy Neesham. Neesham scored an unbeaten 71, while Williamson notched up 69.

Chasing a competitive total, many South African batsmen — including Quinton de Kock (57) and AB de Villiers (45) — made good starts but were unable to go on and anchor the innings. As a result, South Africa looked out of the competition at 214/8, but Pretorius gave New Zealand some nervous moments, helped by mis-fields and poor bowling at the death.

The third ODI will be played in Wellington on Saturday.

(IANS)

Bangalore: Following is the list of players who were sold in the IPL auction here today.

Players sold in first round:

Eoin Morgan (Base price Rs 2 crores) – Sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 2 crores

Pawan Negi (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 1 crore

Angelo Mathews (Base price Rs 2 crores) – Sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 2 crores

Ben Stokes (Base price Rs 2 crores) – Sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs 14.5 crores

Corey Anderson (Base price Rs 1 crore) – Sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 1 crore

Nicholas Pooran (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 30 lakhs

Kagiso Rabada (Base price Rs 1 crore) – Sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 5 crores

Trent Boult (Base price Rs 1.5 crores) – Sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 5 crores

Tymal Mills (Base price Rs 50 lakhs) – Sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 12 crores

Pat Cummins (Base price Rs 2 crores) – Sold to Delhi Daredevils for INR 4.5 crores

Mitchell Johnson (Base price Rs 2 crores) – Sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 2 crores

Ankit Bawne (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Delhi Daredevils for INR 10 lakhs

Tanmay Agarwal (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 10 lakhs

Mohammad Nabi (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for 30 lakhs

K Gowtham (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 2 crores

Rahul Tewatia (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Kings XI Punjab for 25 lakhs

Aditya Tare (Base price Rs 20 lakhs) – Sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 25 lakhs

Eklavya Dwivedi (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 75 lakhs

Aniket Choudhary (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 2 crores

T Natarajan (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 3 crores

Nathu Singh (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Gujarat Lions for 50 lakhs

Basil Thampi (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 85 lakhs

M Ashwin (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 1 crore

Tejas Baroka (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Gujarat Lions for 10 lakhs

Rashid Khan (Base price Rs 50 lakhs) – Sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for 4 crores

Pravin Tambe (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 10 lakhs

Chris Woakes (Base price Rs 2 crores) – Sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 4.2 crores

Karn Sharma (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 3.2 crores

Rishi Dhawan (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 55 lakhs

Matt Henry (Base price Rs 50 lakhs) – Sold to Kings XI Punjab for 50 lakhs

Jaydev Unadkat (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for INR 30 lakhs

Varun Aaron (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 2.8 crores

Manpreet Gony (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Gujarat Lions for 60 lakhs

Martin Guptill (Base price Rs 50 lakhs) – Sold to Kings XI Punjab for INR 50 lakhs (second round)

Jason Roy (Base price Rs 1 crore) – Sold to Gujarat Lions for 1 crore (second round)

Saurabh Tiwary (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 30 lakhs (second round)

Chris Jordan (Base price Rs 50 lakhs) – Sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 50 lakhs (second round)

Nathan Coulter-Nile (Base price Rs 100 lakhs) – Sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 3.5 crores (second round)

Praveen Dubey (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 10 lakhs (second round)

Navdeep Saini (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 10 lakhs (second round)

Ben Laughlin (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 30 lakhs (second round)

Billy Stanlake (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 30 lakhs (second round)

Mohammed Siraj (Base price Rs 20 lakhs) – Sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 2.6 crores

Rahul Chahar (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs 10 lakhs

Saurabh Kumar (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs 10 lakhs

Asela Gunaratne (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 30 lakhs

Daniel Christian (Base price Rs 1 crore) – Sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs 1 crore

Rovman Powell (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 30 lakhs

Darren Sammy (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Kings XI Punjab for Rs 30 lakhs

Munaf Patel (Base price Rs 30 lakhs) – Sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 30 lakhs

Rinku Singh (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Kings XI Punjab for 10 lakhs

Shashank Singh (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Delhi Daredevils for Rs 10 lakhs

Milind Tandon (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs 10 lakhs

Kulwant Khejroliya (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 10 lakhs

Chirag Suri (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 10 lakhs

R Sanjay Yadav (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 10 lakhs

Shelley Shaurya (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 10 lakhs

Shubham Agarwal (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Gujarat Lions for Rs 10 lakhs

Ishank Jaggi (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 10 lakhs

Rahul Tripathi (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for Rs 10 lakhs

Pratham Singh (Base price Rs 10 lakhs) – Sold to Gujarat Lions for INR 10 lakhs

Unsold players

Martin Guptill (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

Jason Roy (Base price Rs 100 lakhs)

Faiz Fazal (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Alex Hales (Base price Rs 100 lakhs)

Ross Taylor (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

Saurabh Tiwary (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Irfan Pathan (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

Sean Abbott (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Chris Jordan (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

Ben Dunk (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Jonny Bairstow (Base price Rs 1.5 crores)

Andre Fletcher (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Johnson Charles (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Dinesh Chandimal (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

Nathan Coulter-Nile (Base price Rs 100 lakhs)

Kyle Abbott (Base price Rs 1.5 crores)

Ishant Sharma (Base price Rs 2 crores)

Lakshan Sandakan (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Ish Sodhi (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Brad Hogg (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

Pragyan Ojha (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Imran Tahir (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

Umang Sharma (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Prithvi Shaw (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Unmukt Chand (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Asghar Stanikzai (Base price Rs 20 lakhs)

Akshdeep Nath (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Mahipal Lomror (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Praveen Dubey (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Shivam Dubey (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Manan Sharma (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Rush Kalaria (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Priyank Kirit Panchal (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Vishnu Vinod (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Shreevats Goswami (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Mohammad Shahzad (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

Mohit Ahlawat (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Manvinder Bisla (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Abu Nechim (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Umar Nazir Mir (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Navdeep Saini (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Pawan Suyal (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Mayank Dagar (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Sarabjit Ladda (Base price INR 10 lakhs)

Mitchell Swepson (Base price INR 30 lakhs)

Akshay Wakhare (Base price INR 10 lakhs)

Manoj Tiwary (Base price INR 50 lakhs)

Cheteshwar Pujara (Base price INR 50 lakhs)

Abhinav Mukund (Base price INR 30 lakhs)

Michael Klinger (Base price INR 50 lakhs)

S Badrinath (Base price INR 30 lakhs)

Marlon Samuels (Base price INR 100 lakhs)

Evin Lewis (Base price INR 50 lakhs)

Darren Bravo (Base price INR 50 lakhs)

Nic Maddinson (Base price INR 50 lakhs)

Parvez Rasool (Base price INR 30 lakhs)

Jason Holder (Base price INR 1.5 crores)

David Wiese (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Thisara Perera (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

Farhaan Behardien (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Anamul Haque (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Shane Dowrich (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Kusal Perera (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

Niroshan Dickwella (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Brad Haddin (Base price Rs 1.5 crores)

Glenn Phillips (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

RP Singh (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Billy Stanlake (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Pankaj Singh (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Ben Laughlin (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Fawad Ahmed (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Michael Beer (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Akila Dananjaya (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Nathan Lyon (Base price Rs 1.5 crores)

Rahul Sharma (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Himanshu Rana (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Apoorv Wankhade (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Akash Bhandari (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Akhil Herwadkar (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Pankaj Jaiswal (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Dishant Yagnik (Base price Rs 20 lakhs)

Rishi Arothe (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Ronsford Beaton (Base price Rs 20 lakhs)

Sayan Ghosh (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Kanishk Seth (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Joe Burns (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Colin Munro (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

James Neesham (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

Wayne Parnell (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

Mitchell Santner (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

Lockie Ferguson (Base price Rs 50 lakhs)

Harpreet Singh (Base price Rs 20 lakhs)

Colin de Grandhomme (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Andile Phehlukwayo (Base price Rs 100 lakhs)

Dwaine Pretorius (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Ben Wheeler (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Kesrick Williams (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Tejendra Singh (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Virat Singh (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Manjeet Singh (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Mehedi Hasan Miraz (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Mahmudullah (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

Sabbir Rahman (Base price Rs 30 lakhs)

B Indrajith (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Amit Verma (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Himmat Singh (Base price Rs 10 lakhs)

Ashton Turner (Base price Rs 20 lakhs).

Colombo: Cricket World Cup qualifiers : Mithali, Mona score fifties in nine-wicket win over Bangla

India women produced an all-round effort to trounce Bangladesh women by nine wickets in a Super Six match to qualify for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, here on Friday.

Opting to bowl after winning the toss in the Super Six game of the ongoing ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier, Indian eves first restricted Bangladesh women to a paltry 155 for eight in 50 overs and then chased down the target, reaching 158 for one in 33.3 overs to book a berth in the main event to be held in England in June.

The chase turned out to be a cakewalk for Indian eves with opener Mona Meshram (78 not out off 91 balls) and skipper Mithali Raj (73 not out off 87 balls) hitting fluent fifties to get over the target with consummate ease.

However, India didn’t have the best of starts to their chase losing Deepti Sharma early on. She was caught and bowled by right-arm off-spinner Khadija Tul Kubra.

But then came in Mithali, world’s second-highest run-getter in women’s cricket, and she and Mona hit 22 fours between them to leave Bangladesh in dissaray.

Bangladesh now have no option but to beat Sri Lanka women and surpass their net run-rate, in its last game to keep their World Cup aspirations alive.

Besides India, South Africa is the other team to have secured its place in the CC Women’s World Cup 2017.

Unbeaten so far in the tournament, India will next play Pakistan in their final Super Six game on February 19 at the P Sara Oval.

Earlier, Fargana Hoque (50 off 107 balls) scored a half-century for Bangladesh women while opener Sharmin Akhter made 35 to help get past 150-run mark after being invited to bat.

For Indian women, pacer Mansi Joshi (3/25) picked up three wickets while leg-spinner Devika Vaidya (2/17) accounted for two.

Brief scores: Bangladesh women: 155/8 in 50 overs (Fargana Hoque 50, Sharmin Akhter 35; Mansi Joshi 3/25) lt to India women: 158/1 in 33.3 overs (Mona Meshram 78 n.o., Mithali Raj 73 n.o.; Khadija Tul Kubra 1-37 ).

(Agencies)

Colombo: India closed in on a berth in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 after a 49-run win over South Africa while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also registered notable wins in the first round of Super Six matches in the qualifiers today.

India captain Mithali Raj starred in what was seen as a high-profile match since India and South Africa had topped their respective groups and carried a maximum of four points from the preliminary league to the second stage in which they play teams from the other preliminary group.

The top four from the Super Six qualify not only for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 but also for the ICC Women’s Championship.

India have one foot in the door with three wins but with Sri Lanka defeating Pakistan by five wickets and Bangladesh beating Ireland by seven wickets in other matches today, there is a mathematical chance of five teams finishing at par at the end of the league.

Asked to bat first, India got off to a slow start, scoring only 14 off the first 10 overs but the complexion of the game changed once Raj came to the crease. She and opener Mona Meshram lifted the team with a fine 96-run second-wicket stand to help put up a competitive 205 for eight. Raj scored 64 off 85 balls with 10 fours and Meshram got 55 off 85 balls with five fours and two sixes.

South Africa’s reply suffered some early setbacks and they were reduced to 41 for three in the 19th over as openers Lizelle Lee (one) and Laura Wolvaardt (zero) as well as former captain Mignon du Preez (15) could not do much. Pace bowler Shikha Pandey and left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht, who shared the new ball, finished with four and three wickets, respectively, as South Africa folded for 156 in 46.4 overs.

Mithali said: “The win today definitely eases the pressure on us, especially for the last match of the Super League against Pakistan. It also gives us time to assess what all we are not doing right so that we can improve on those aspects in the coming matches.”

Host Sri Lanka had a memorable outing as they restricted Pakistan to 212 for seven and got to the target with 16 deliveries to spare.

For Pakistan, opener Nahida Khan (64) and Javeria Khan (63) were associated in a steady 119-run stand for the second wicket. Both batters fell to pace bowler Chamari Polgampola, who along with captain and left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera, grabbed two wickets.

For Sri Lanka, Eshani Lokusiriyage (65 not out) and Prasadani Weerakkody (45) helped the team reach the target after openers Nipuni Hansika (37) and Chamari Athapaththu (35) set the platform with a 75-run partnership.

(Agencies)