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Melbourne: Ace Indian tennis player Sania Mirza and her Croatian partner Ivan Dodig defeated local favourites Samantha Stosur and Sam Groth to enter the Australian Open mixed doubles final here on Friday.
The second seeded Indo-Croatian pair outplayed the Australian duo 6-4, 2-6, 10-5.
They will now take on the winner of the second semi-final featuring Elina Svitolina-Chris Guccione and Abigail Spears-Juan Sebastian Cabal.
(Agencies)
Kolkata: England registered their first victory of their Indian cricket tour, edging past the hosts by five runs in the inconsequential third and final One-Day International (ODI) at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.
Chasing 322 to win, India almost rode on Kedar Jadhav’s brilliant 90 off just 75 balls along with Hardik Pandya’s career-best score of 56 off 43 balls, which saw a match-winning 104-run sixth wicket stand off just 83 balls.
But, with 16 runs needing in the last over, Jadhav hit a six and a four off the first two balls to give the 66,000-odd crowd some hope, but fell to Chris Woakes eventually.
(IANS)
Dubai: India’s Virat Kohli, currently second in the International Cricket Council (ICC) One-day International (ODI) rankings, will have his eyes on the top spot, currently held by South African AB de Villiers, when he starts the three-match rubber against England, starting January 15.
The Delhi batsman, who will start his first series as full-time India skipper succeeding Mahendra Singh Dhoni, trails de Villiers by 13 points.
Kohli, on the other hand, will be chased by swashbuckling Australian opener David Warner, who sits at No.3 and narrowly trails the India star by just two points.
In the team rankings, third-placed India will have an opportunity to narrow the gap with second-ranked South Africa, when the men-in-blue takes on fifth-ranked England. Australia lead the team rankings.
With 111 points in their kitty, India can rise up to 114 points and trail the Proteas by just two points in case they manage to whitewash Eoin Morgan’s side.
However, if England manage a clean sweep of India, they can move up to the fourth and push Kohli’s boys to the fifth spot.
Pakistan, meanwhile, will need to win at least one game in their five-match rubber against Australia, starting on Friday, to keep themselves in the hunt for an automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup in England.
The green brigade are currently in the eighth position on 89 points, three behind Bangladesh and three ahead of the West Indies.
Hosts England and the seven highest-ranked sides on the ICC ODI Team Rankings as on September 30, 2017, will qualify directly for the 2019 World Cup, to be held from May 30 to July 15.
The four bottom-ranked sides will be joined by six teams from the ICC World Cricket League in the 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 and the top two sides will complete the 10-team World Cup line-up.
(IANS)
Mumbai: Ambati Rayudu struck an unbeaten century, Mahendra Singh Dhoni blasted 40-ball-68 and Yuvraj Singh (56, off 48 balls) also scored half-century as India A scored 304 for 4 in the first warm-up game against England, here today.
Another comeback man Shikhar Dhawan hit 63 off 84 balls while left-arm seamer David Willey took 2 for 55.
Brief Scores: India A 304/4 (Ambati Rayudu 100 retd out, MS Dhoni 68 no, Yuvraj Singh 56, David Willey 2/55) vs England.
(Agencies)
AFP
Mumbai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni has resigned as India’s cricket captain. He was leading the Indian team in ODIs and T20 ever since he retired from Tests on December 30, 2016.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni informed the BCCI that he wished to step down as the captain of the Indian cricket team from the limited overs formats of the game, said a statement from the Board.
Dhoni will be available for selection for the One Day and T20I series against England . The senior national selectors will pick the squad on Friday.
Rahul Johri, Chief Executive Officer of the BCCI said, “On the behalf of every Indian cricket fan and the BCCI, I would like to thank Maherdra Singh Dhoni for his outstanding contribution as the captain of the Indian team across all formats.
“Under his leadership, Indian team has touched new heights and his achievements will remain etched forever in the annals of Indian cricket.”
(Agencies)
New Delhi: Mithali Raj will lead a 14-member Indian squad to the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers to be held in Colombo from February 3-21.
The Indian team last played in the Asia Cup T20 in Bangkok where it defended its title with an unbeaten run.
Their two main players, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana, are currently playing the Big Bash in Australia.
India’s next big event will be the World Cup qualifier.
They are in Group A alongside Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Thailand while South Africa lead Group B comprising Pakistan, Bangladesh, Scotland and PNG.
India will play a warm-up match against South Africa before their opening Qualifier against Sri Lanka on February 7.
Each side will play four matches in the first round, following which the top three sides from each group will progress to the Super Six stage, while also carrying forward points they earn against sides which have progressed to the Super Six stage from their group.
The top four sides from the Super Six stage, in which each side will play three matches against teams from the other group, will complete the eight-team line-up for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, while the top two sides will battle it out for the title in the February 21 final.
The World Cup will be staged in the UK from June 26 to July 23.
Team: Mithali Raj (captain), Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Thirush Kamini, Veda Krishnamurthy, Devika Vaidya, Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Sukanya Parida, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Deepti Sharma.
(Agencies)
Sydney: Cricket Australia (CA) on Tuesday named India Test skipper Virat Kohli as captain of the board’s One-Day International (ODI) Team of the Year, which also includes promising medium pacer Jasprit Bumrah as the other Indian.
Besides the Indian duo, the team comprises of five Australians in David Warner, Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, John Hasting and Mitchell Starc, South Africans Quinton de Kock and Imran Tahir, England’s Jos Buttler and Pakistan’s Babar Azam.
Kohli, who recently guided the Test team to three consecutive series wins against the West Indies, New Zealand and England respectively, has amassed 739 runs from just 10 ODIs played this year.
The Delhi right-hander has smashed three centuries, with 154 being his highest score besides scoring four half centuries in the calendar year.
Bumrah, on the other hand, has impressed one and all with his brilliant performances in his maiden year in international cricket. He has taken 17 wickets from just eight ODIs in 2016.
Cricket Australia’s ODI Team of the Year: Virat Kohli (Captain), Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, John Hasting, Mitchell Starc, Quinton de Kock (wk), Jos Buttler, Imran Tahir, Jasprit Bumrah, Babar Azam.
(IANS)
Melbourne: Pakistan lost two quick wickets to struggle at 142/4 when incessant rain forced an early close of play after the tea session on the opening day of the Boxing Day second cricket Test against Australia here on Monday.
Electing to bat after winning the toss at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here, Pakistan lost opener Sami Aslam (9) cheaply, who fell to off-spinner Nathan Lyon in his very first over of the day.
Aslam’s opening partner Azhar Ali (66 not out) and one down batsman Babar Azam (23) then added 42 runs before Azam was sent back by pacer Josh Hazlewood off the last ball of the morning session as Pakistan went into lunch at 60/2.
Already 0-1 down in the three-match Test rubber, veteran Younis Khan (21) then joined Azhar after the break.
The Australian pace duo of Mitchell Starc and Hazlewood extracted good bounce and carry as they zoomed past the Pakistani batsmen with sheer pace.
Hazlewood nearly had Younis early, when umpire Ian Gould raised his finger to an appeal for leg before wicket.
The veteran Pakistan right-hander, however, decided to review and got the call overturned as the ball, that struck a shuffling Younis on the knee roll, seemed to have missed the leg stump.
Azhar, meanwhile brought up a gritty fifty and also breached the 1000-run mark in Tests for 2016.
Just when he and Younis looked set to blunt Australia’s impact of the first session, pacer Jackson Bird managed to break through the defence of Younis to end the 51-run third wicket stand.
Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (11) then joined Azhar and the 42-year-old got off the mark with a six off Lyon. But the joy was short-lived as Bird saw the back of the Pakistan captain shortly.
Reeling at 125/4, Asad Shafiq (4 not out) survived a few anxious moments before a slight drizzle forced an early tea break with Pakistan on 142/4.
Only 50.5 overs could be bowled on the first day, as the rain got heavier and forced the umpires to call off play for the rest of the day.
Brief Score: Pakistan 142/4 (Azhar Ali 66 not out, Babar Azam 23, Jackson Bird 2/53) v Australia.
(IANS)
Dubai: After being adjudged the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Cricketer of the Year, India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday termed the award as a recognition of his performance both with the bat and ball in the last couple of years.
Ashwin+ , who was also named the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year, said he was delighted to see the team on the right track in the longest format even after Mahendra Singh Dhoni retired from it.
“It’s an absolute pleasure to be awarded with this great honour. It feels great to follow the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in being named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year. To also win the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year makes it even better,” said the Chennai tweaker, who helped India thrash New Zealand 3-0 and England 4-0 at home recently.
“There are a lot of people to thank for this wonderful achievement I have made. It has been a great couple of years but this year has been even more special. What is very noticeable is the way I have bowled and batted and the way I have gone about doing my business. What is more important, as far as I am concerned, is the number of people who have gone behind my success.”
“I’d like to dedicate this award to my family. I’d like to thank ICC and most importantly my team-mates. I’d also like to thank the support staff for our success. We’ve had a great transition ever since Mahendra Singh Dhoni hung up his boots. A young captain has taken over, we fell on the right track, and we now have a new bunch of boys,” he added.
ICC Chief Executive David Richardson congratulated Ashwin, saying: “It has been a memorable period for Ashwin, whose consistent all round and match winning performances have been reflected in the MRF player rankings. He is justifiably now being counted among the best spinners of his generation.
“To win both the ICC Cricketer of the Year and ICC Test Cricketer of the Year awards is a major accomplishment. Ashwin’s performances speak for themselves and he is a deserving recipient of the honours. I congratulate him on behalf of the ICC,” he added.
(IANS)
Chennai: India on Tuesday clinched the five-match cricket Test rubber 4-0 after thrashing England by an innings and 75 runs in the fifth and final match at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here.
Left-arm-spinner Ravindra Jadeja led the Indian bowling with figures of 7/48 as the visitors were bundled out for 207 in the second innings.
Earlier, India scored a mammoth 759/7 declared in their first innings in reply to England’s 477.
(Agencies)