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Rajkot: South Africa beat India by 18 runs in the third of their five-match One-Day International (ODI) series at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Sunday.
Quinton de Kock (103) and Faf du Plessis (60) helped South Africa reach 270/7 in 50 overs. In reply, India managed 252/6 despite Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli scoring fluent fifties.
With this win, the visitors took a 2-1 lead.
(IANS)
Wasim Jaffer and Ganesh Satish hit well-paced half centuries to lead Vidarbha’s reply to Karnataka’s first innings score of 350. Vidarbha reached 172 for two in 72 overs.
Wasim Jaffer scored 68 for Vidarbha against Karnataka on Friday.
Bengaluru: Youngster Ganesh Satish and veteran Wasim Jaffer crafted well-paced half centuries to lead Vidarbha’s reply to Karnataka’s first innings score of 350 on the second day of their four-day Group A Ranji Trophy match at Chinnaswamy stadium here on Friday.
The former Mumbaikar, Jaffer, smashed a superb 68 runs while Satish remained unbeaten on 81 as Vidarbha reached 172 for two in 72 overs.
When the stumps were drawn, Satish and skipper Subramanium Badrinath were at the crease with Vidarbha still trailing Karnataka by 178 runs with eight wickets in hand.
Satish showed lot of patience and grit to build a 117-run partnership for the second wicket and brought the team back on the track after they had lost their first wicket on three in the very first over of Abhimanyu Mithun.
Satish, who migrated to Vidarbha because of difficulty in cementing a place in the defending champions’ side, and Jaffer, grinded the Karnataka bowlers and did not allow them to dominate them by grafting runs in a systematic manner.
The duo remained unseparated between lunch and tea, despite some loud appeals as the hosts went wicketless in the second session.
“There were some close calls, but things can go against us. Some things are not in our hands,” Shreyas Gopal said.
In the very second over after tea, Jaffer trying to change gears ended up giving a catch at mid-on to Karun Nair off left-arm spinner Jagadeesh Suchith. The flamboyant former Indian opener cracked ten boundaries in his 120-ball 68 runs.
“I don’t think Wasim Bhai threw away his wicket, it was just that he might have wanted to change the gear to get quick runs,” Satish told reporters after the day’s play.
After the fall of Jaffer, Vidarbha tightened their screws and made it difficult for the visitors to score runs. Satish and captain Subramanium Badrinath also did not want to lose further wickets as they dug their heels to end the day on a positive note.
“After the fall of Wasim Bhai’s wicket, it was really very difficult for us to score runs because of the close-in fielding. I and Badri decided to stay at the wicket and look for small partnerships to frustrate the home bowlers,” said Satish, who could muster 52 runs after tea with Badrinath.
Asked whether the team is planning to go for an outright victory and settle down for first innings points, Satish said, “We will think of it once we get past their total. Right now, we are focusing on batting.”
For Karnataka, Mithun and Suchith picked one wicket each and Vinay Kumar, S Aravind and Gopal — all went wicketless.
Resuming their overnight score of 298-6, Karnataka were bundled out for 350 runs in 102.4 overs, after wicket-keeper batsman Chidambaram Gautam scored 30 and Vinay 22.
Vidarbha pacer Ravi Thakur ended the innings, taking four wickets.
(PTI)
Abu Dhabi: England need 99 runs in a possible 19 overs to win the first Test after Pakistan collapsed to 173 all out in their second innings in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
The Test was heading for a draw after England declared their first innings at 598-9, but they bowled with fire and employed aggressive field settings on a weary fifth and final day pitch at Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch.
Spinners Adil Rashid (5-64) and Moeen Ali (2-28) did the damage while paceman James Anderson took 2-30.
(Agencies)
Abu Dhabi: Alastair Cook continued to bat solidly to help England approach Pakistan’s massive total on the fourth day of the first Test in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
The England captain was unbeaten on 237 as England reached 468 for five at tea, just 55 runs behind
Pakistan’s first innings total of 523 for eight declared as the prospects of a result on a flat Sheikh Zayed Stadium diminished.
Ben Stokes was the other unbeaten batsman with 16.
Cook came to the crease in the last hour of the second day and has since batted with authority and grit, smashing 17 boundaries during his resolute 471-ball knock.
He added 141 runs for the fourth wicket with Joe Root who made a brilliant 85 after England resumed at 290-3.
Paceman Rahat Ali provided Pakistan the breakthrough after they went without wicket in the extended two-and-a-half hour session due to Friday prayers.
After lunch Root played a rash shot off a wide delivery and was caught by wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed. He hit seven boundaries during his 143-ball stay.
But it was Cook’s third double century that enlivened an otherwise dull day.
Cook flicked paceman Wahab Riaz to backward square-leg for two to complete his double century off 395 deliveries, the second of the match behind Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik’s 245.
Cook has so far hit 16 boundaries in a 407-ball stay.
Root also batted with authority, reaching his 14th Test half-century with a reverse sweep boundary off Malik.
Pakistan were once again sloppy in the field as they missed another chance to dismiss Cook when wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed failed to take an inside edge off Riaz when the England captain was on 173.
Fawad Alam had let off Cook on 147 off spinner Zulfiqar Babar on Thursday.
Root also survived a confident leg-before shout when fast bowler Imran Khan trapped him but Pakistan’s review once again went unsuccessful.
Riaz was the pick of the bowlers with 3-116.
Pakistan’s frontline spinner Babar also struggled to take a wicket, conceding 132 runs in his 58 overs.
Pakistan has played seven Test matches at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, winning four, including the last two by massive margins against Australia (356 runs) and New Zealand (248 runs) and drawing the other three. It won the only Test match here against England by 72 runs in 2012.
Abu Dhabi: England captain Alastair Cook knocked a solid hundred to lead England’s fightback on the third day of the first Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Cook continued to bat without much problem as he reached 116 to take his team to 197 for one at tea with Ian Bell on 31 as the pair thwart Pakistan’s pace-cum-spin attack on a Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch.
England still trail Pakistan’s mammoth first innings total of 523 for eight by 326 runs.
Cook drove left-arm fast bowler Wahab Riaz for an exquisite cover drive for his tenth boundary to complete his 28th century in Tests, raising his bat in celebration.
When on 93 the England skipper also completed 1,000 runs in 11th Test this year, only the second batsman to reach 1,000 runs in 2015 behind team-mate Joe Root.
He has so far hit 11 boundaries during his 222-ball stay at the wicket.
Pakistan thought they had England skipper leg-before when he failed to connect a sweep off left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar but Australian umpire Paul Reiffel’s decision of not out was upheld on review.
Earlier, Cook and Moeen Ali resumed the day at 56-0, bringing up the century stand in the first hour of play as Pakistan attacked through pace at one end and spin from the other.
England’s last century stand came against New Zealand at Leeds earlier this year with Cook and now discarded Adam Lyth posting 177.
But at 116, left-hander Ali edged an outgoing delivery from paceman Imran Khan to wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed who took a low catch to his left.
Bell survived some anxious moments at the crease with left-armer Zulfiqar Babar started to turn the ball on a pitch which did not assist England spinners on the first two days.
Babar was unlucky not to have Bell four overs before the interval when close-in fielder Shan Masood failed to hold on to an edge at silly point.
Bell, who survived some anxious moments before lunch, looked settled with three boundaries in his 104-ball knock.
(AFP)
KL Rahul has returned to Karnataka side after recovering from injury.
Bengaluru: KL Rahul and Karun Nair would look to put up impressive show before the national selectors meet to pick the Indian Test squad for the South Africa series, as Karnataka take on Vidarbha in a Group A Ranji Trophy.
Rahul, who is making a comeback after recovering from the quadriceps strain that he had sustained during India’s tour of Sri Lanka in August, will be desperate to make to mark.
He has played a stellar role in Karnataka’s success story in last two seasons. Last year, he notched up 838 runs from five matches and became the first Karnataka batsman to score a triple century in the domestic circuit.
The 23-year-old will look to continue the success story this season too, besides returning to the Indian team. Karun, who was recently called up as a reserve for the India Test team against Sri Lanka, would want to carry forward his form that he showed against Bengal in the last match.
He made a mincemeat of Bengal bowling with a crushing century, which put Karnataka in the driver’s seat. Shishir Bhavane (119) and bowling-allrounder Shreyas Gopal (139) will also be high on confidence after their fine tons that helped Karnataka amass 537 runs for nine declared.
Also one of last season’s top scorers Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey will be eager to showcase their skills. The Vinay Kumar-led bowling attack has been consistent with its ability to take wickets in regular intervals.
Kumar and HS Sharath shared seven wickets between them in Bengal’s first innings, forcing them to follow on in the last game. On the other hand, Vidarbha will look to put behind their dismal performance against Delhi, which had mauled them after Ishant Sharma ran through their innings.
After failing miserably in the last match, stalwarts Wasim Jaffer and Subramanium Badrinath would like to showcase their talents, which they had been doing for their erstwhile Mumbai and Tamil Nadu, respectively.
A Shanware, who scored a brilliant 119 against Odisha in their opening match, and Ganesh Sathish, who notched up a half century so far, will also like to contribute with their bats.
A consistent run-maker for the past four seasons, Shalabh Shrivastava would also want to bury the disappointing performances of the last two matches.
Umesh Yadav is away on national duty and it is a big loss for Vidarbha. His new ball partner Shreekant Wagh, meanwhile, has been growing in stature in the last three seasons.
The team will expect the pace duo of Ravi Thakur and Swapnil Bandiwar to shine. They did a good job last year. Off-spinner Akshay Wakhare, who broke the 50-year-old record of best bowling figures in a match for Vidarbha, enjoys role of lead spinner and would like to make his presence felt.
Squads
Karnataka: R Vinay Kumar (captain), CM Gautam (vice-captain and wicketkeeper), R Samarth, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, Shishir Bhavane, Shreyas Gopal, J Suchith, A Mithun, HS Sharath, Udit B Patel, S Aarvind, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul.
Vidarbha: Subramanium Badrinath (captain), Ganesh Satish, Wasim Jaffer, Shalabh Shrivastava, Swapnil Bandiwar, Ravi Thakur, Amol Ubarhande, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Ravi Jangid, Aditya Sarwate, Aditya Shanware, Shreekant Wagh, Akshay Wakhare, Dharmendra Ahlawat, Amol Jungade.
(PTI)
India’s captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni plays a shot during the second ODI against South Africa in Indore on Wednesday. AFP
Indore: A fighting unbeaten 92 by captain M.S. Dhoni helped India post a respectable 247/9 in 50 overs against South Africa in the second ODI here on Wednesday.
The under-fire Dhoni smashed seven boundaries and four sixes during his 86-ball knock. Dhoni, who walked into bat with India, struggling at 82/3, added 41 runs for the seventh wicket with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (14). He continued the good work in the company of Harbhajan Singh (22) and took India past the 200-run mark.
Earlier, the hosts were off to a poor start with in-from opener Rohit Sharma being castled by Kagiso Rabada for three. Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane put the Indian innings back on track with a 56-run stand for the second wicket. Dhawan was dismissed by Morne Morkel for 23.
Virat Kohli was involved in a mix-up with Rahane and was run out for 12, with the total reading 82. Rahane, who made a fine 51 was bowled round the legs by leg-spinner Imran Tahir as the home side slipped to 102/4 in the 23rd over. Suresh Raina failed to open his account as he was caught behind off Morkel.
Dale Steyn claimed 3/49 for the South Africans.
(IANS)
India trounced Pakistan 5-1 in their title defence of the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup junior hockey tournament.
Johor Bahru: India trounced traditional rivals Pakistan 5-1 to make an emphatic start to their title defence of the 5th Sultan of Johor Cup junior hockey tournament here on Sunday.
Ajay Yadav (fifth minute), Sumit Kumar (23rd), Armaan Qureshi (27th), Parvinder Singh (34th) and Santa Singh (45th) scored for the defending champions, who put up a completely dominating show.
The onset of the game saw the Indians going immediately on the attack, not wanting to waste any time and in the fifth minute, India scored their first goal Ajay made the most of a clean pass inside the circle, giving no chance to the Pakistani goalkeeper to react.
With the initial goal, India intensified their attack further, keeping the Pakistan defence busy all through. Mid way into the first half, India were awarded their first penalty corner but the opportunity was missed as the Pakistan goalkeeper cleared the danger.
Pakistan counter attacked and were given a penalty corner, but they were unable to capitalise as the Indian goalkeeper was alert and in control.
In the counter-attack, vice-captain Dipsan Tirkey passed the ball from the left flank to Sumit who was right in front of the goal box and made no mistake in finding the nets in the 23rd minute.
Four minutes later, Harmanpreet Singh hit the ball into the opponents D and Parvinder Singh received it before passing it to Qureshi, who completed the job cleanly, giving India a 3-0 lead.
While Pakistan were trying to get some rhythm back, India had another game plan as they ventured to add another goal right before going into the break. It was in the 34th minute when Parvinder through a brilliant field goal took the scorecard to 4-0.
The second half saw a similar game plan by the young Indian side as they continued putting pressure on the opponents. But Pakistan finally opened their account in the 45th minute as Muhammad Dilber scored a field goal.
Half way into the session, Pakistan had another chance on the goal through a penalty corner but was yet again denied by the Indian defence.
In the very next minute, India were again on the attack when Harmanpreet from the left flank saw an opportunity with Santa standing right in front of the goal post. Harmanpreet passed it to Santa and the later was quick to pounce on the opportunity and make it 5-1.
With five goals in their kitty, India yet again upped the ante as they were seen regularly attacking Pakistan thereafter.
In the 68th minute, Pakistan got another penalty corner to their name but was hit off target, giving India the 5-1 triumph.
The Harendra Singh-coached India face Britain on Monday.
(PTI)
AP
Beijing: The Indo-Swiss tennis combine of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis were tested but eventually made their way through to enter the women’s doubles semifinals of the $5.7 million China Open here on Thursday.
The top seeds took an hour and 20 minutes to beat the German-Czech pairing of Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova 7-6(5), 6-4 at the Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Center, which was built for the 2008 Olympic Games.
The first set was an extremely close contest as both pairs earned five breakpoint chances and converted twice. This led to the tie-breaker where Sania and Martina proved a tad better to clinch it 7-5.
Julia and Karolina fought well again in the second set to break the top seeds but Sania and Martina came back strong to break the European combine twice and take home the set and match.
Overall, the reigning Wimbledon and US Open champions won 73 of the 131 points played in the match.
Sania has reached the final of this event in the last three editions, winning the 2013 title with Zimbabwean Cara Black.
(IANS)
India went in to attack right from the start which helped them build the initial pressure over the hosts. (Photo Credit: Twitter/HockeyIndia)
After losing their opener, the Indian hockey team came back strongly to beat New Zealand 3-1 in the second game to level the four-match bilateral Test series 1-1 here on Wednesday.
Unlike the previous match where the visitors lost 0-2, India lifted their tempo and displayed attacking hockey which helped them score three goals, one each coming from the sticks of Ramandeep Singh, Lalit Upadhyay and Nikkin Thimmaiah.
India went in to attack right from the start which helped them build the initial pressure over the hosts. The opening minutes saw Chinglensana Singh attack from the right flank as he entered the D of the opponents, but the alert New Zealand defence thwarted the attempt.
Keeping constant pressure, World No.8 India earned a penalty corner in the 10th minute but the ball was hit wide of the post.
But only three minutes later, Birendra Lakra gave a crucial cross to Ramandeep who opened the account for India on a rebound, giving his team the lead.
India continued their attacks in the second quarter. A brilliant move by Dharamvir Singh caught the New Zealand defence on the back foot but his shot was blocked by an observant Black Sticks goalkeeper.
The Kiwis in turn capitalised on a counter attack, but could not break the Indian defence.
In the 23rd minute, the hosts were awarded with a penalty corner but Indian custodian P.R. Sreejesh came out with a brilliant save to make sure India went into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
At the restart, an unmarked Gurjinder Singh had a great chance to double the lead in the 33th minute but he deflected the ball wide of the post. New Zealand immediately counter attacked and won a penalty corner two minutes later Sreejesh stood tall and cleared the danger yet again.
New Zealand kept on pressing hard for their equaliser throughout the third quarter and they were successful when Kane Russell, in the 45th minute, converter a penalty corner chance for the much needed equaliser to go into the last 15 minutes 1-1.
Both sides tried out different strategies to score the goal in the last quarter but it was India who were rewarded for being consistent with their attacks when Manpreet Singh’s accurate pass to Upadhyay helped India take the 2-1 advantage in the 52nd minute.
Then in the last minute of the match Thimmaiah put it completely beyond New Zealand’s reach when he scored his side’s third goal to level the series for the India.
The third match between the two sides will be played on October 9 at Christchurch.
(IANS)