Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

You are here: Home / Archives for Sports

Cricket World Cup 2015: England knocked out by Bangladesh

by

rubel_hossain

by Stephan Shemilt, BBC Sport

England were knocked out of the World Cup in dismal fashion as Bangladesh claimed a stunning 15-run win.

Set 276 to win, England were bowled out for 260 despite Jos Buttler’s 52-ball 65, while Rubel Hossain claimed 4-53.

Bangladesh had earlier posted 275-7 in Adelaide thanks to 103 from Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim’s 89.

England go out in the first round for the third time in five World Cups, while Bangladesh advance past the first round for only the second occasion.

Bangladesh’s victory also secured Sri Lanka’s place in the last eight, alongside Pool A winners New Zealand and Australia.

England, meanwhile, face a dead rubber against Afghanistan in Sydney on Friday.

A fourth England defeat in five games is the latest episode in 23 years of World Cup failure and the continuation of a horrendous 18 months in all formats.

In losing to every Test-playing side in Pool A – their only win has come against Scotland – England have put in their worst showing since a first-round exit on home soil in 1999. Even then, they managed to beat defending champions Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka, along with Australia and New Zealand, are three sides to have dished out heavy defeats to England in this tournament, but all three are ahead of Eoin Morgan’s side in the world rankings.

Bangladesh lie above only Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan, yet have now beaten England in three of their past four meetings.

One of those was with home advantage in the last World Cup, but this time England wilted when chasing a manageable target on a blameless surface.

They seemed in control when Ian Bell and the recalled Alex Hales were compiling a second-wicket stand of 54, only for the Bangladesh pacemen to return and drag England to a standstill.

Hales flat-footedly wafted Mashrafe Mortaza behind and Bell, who had looked fluent, was stifled before edging a Hossain lifter on 63.

In the same over, Morgan pulled to long leg for a fifth duck in 11 ODI innings and, when James Taylor flashed Taskin Ahmed to slip, England had lost three wickets for 11 runs.

Joe Root looked calm before edging Mortaza behind to leave Buttler and the tail requiring 113 from 14 overs.

The wicketkeeper’s clean striking dragged England back in it, with 38 required from 28 balls.

However Taskin returned to find another edge and, when Chris Jordan was run out from the next ball, the game looked gone.

Woakes continued the chase in the company of Stuart Broad and, after Tamim Iqbal put down a simple chance to reprieve the Warwickshire man with only 18 required, England had another chance.

But in the next over Hossain bowled Broad and James Anderson in the space of three balls to start delirious celebrations of Bangladesh’s most famous win.

That they had pulled off such an upset was largely thanks to the brilliance of Mahmudullah, who made Bangladesh’s first World Cup hundred, and the impetus of Mushfiqur.

Despite 12 of the 15 previous games held in Australia being won by the side batting first, England opted to field and the decision looked a good one when Bangladesh were reduced to 8-2 and 99-4.

But Mahmudullah, happy to throw his hands through the ball, and Mushfiqur, excellent square of the wicket, steadied then took advantage of England’s occasional errors in length to build a stand of 141.

Fielding and death bowling improved on the rest of the tournament left England with a target that was within their grasp.

But the desperate attempt at a run chase was entirely in keeping with the rest of their World Cup campaign.

Saina Nehwal loses All England final to Carolina Marin

by

After suffering heartbreaks at the semifinals of the event twice before, it was yet another case of so near yet so far

Nehwal, who has been competing at the All England since 2007, had never lost to Marin before. Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP

Nehwal, who has been competing at the All England since 2007, had never lost to Marin before. Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP

Birmingham: Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal’s quest for becoming the first Indian woman to win the most prestigious All England badminton championship ended in agony after she suffered a heart-breaking loss to Spain’s Carolina Marin in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Nehwal let go of a huge opportunity to script history as she squandered an opening game lead to go down 21-16, 14-21, 7-21 to the reigning world champion in the women’s singles final that lasted for little over an hour.

Olympic bronze medallist Nehwal, thus, failed to emulate her long-time coach Pullella Gopichand (2001) and legendary Prakash Padukone (1980), who had won the prestigious title in the past.

Nehwal, who has been competing at the All England since 2007, had never lost to Marin and looked on course for an encore before the World No. 6 Spaniard scripted a remarkable comeback in the second game to put paid to the Indian’s hopes at the Barclaycard Arena.

After dominating the opening game completely, Nehwal was leading 11-9 in the second but lost steam after the break, as Marin fought back brilliantly and bagged eight out of the last nine points.

In the decider, Marin stamped her authority with her sharp smashes and better movement to completely make it a one-sided contest as Saina could only watch her hopes went up in smoke.

After suffering heartbreaks at the semifinals of the event in 2010 and 2013, it was yet another case of so near yet so far for the girl from Hyderabad, who has at least 16 international titles in her kitty.

Nehwal had in fact defeated the very same opponent in the finals of the Syed Modi International championship at Lucknow in January early this year and started as the hot favourite in Sunday’s final.

Cricket World Cup 2015: New Zealand beat Afghanistan

by

daniel_vettori

by Mark Mitchener, BBC Sport

New Zealand made it five wins from five at the World Cup as a six-wicket win in Napier eliminated Afghanistan from quarter-final contention.

Veteran spinner Daniel Vettori (4-18) reduced Afghanistan to 59-6 before Samiullah Shenwari (54) and Najibullah Zadran (56) helped them to 186 all out.

Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum then hit a rapid 42 from 19 balls.

Martin Guptill made 57 as the Kiwis, already in the quarter-finals, cruised home with 13.5 overs to spare.

McCullum powered two boundaries in the first over of New Zealand’s reply and by the time his entertaining cameo was ended when he edged Mohammad Nabi onto his stumps via his pads, they were 53-1 in the sixth over and on course for victory.

Australia’s 64-run win over Sri Lanka in Sydney later on Sunday confirmed New Zealand as Pool A winners.

It looked as though the co-hosts would face a much smaller target thanks to Vettori, who was introduced as early as the third over to allow the opening bowlers to change ends and knocked over teenager Usman Ghani’s off stump with his first ball.

After seamer Trent Boult accounted for Javed Ahmadi and Asghar Stanikzai, Vettori returned for a second spell to bowl Nawroz Mangal (27) for the 36-year-old’s 300th one-day international wicket.

Vettori then struck twice in successive deliveries to have captain Nabi caught at slip and trap Afsar Zazai lbw first ball, at which point he had four wickets for five runs.

“The guys bowled really well and obviously Dan was the stand-out performer,” said McCullum.

“He is a special cricketer for what he has achieved in all three formats of the game over two decades. To see him achieve another milestone is fantastic.”

With the co-hosts firmly on top, almost their entire team were crouched around the bat for the hat-trick ball, which was safely negotiated by Najibullah.

While Shenwari dropped anchor, Najibullah took the attack to the seamers at a sweltering McLean Park before eventually slicing Adam Milne to Vettori at third man.

Shenwari, who needed treatment after being struck on the helmet by a Corey Anderson bouncer, shepherded the tail to reach his second half-century of the World Cup, while some lusty blows from Hamid Hassan helped add 20 for the last wicket.

While the Shenwari-Najibullah stand of 86 restored respectability to Afghanistan – who could point to having exceeded both England’s and Australia’s scores against New Zealand – the result never looked in doubt.

It appeared as though Guptill would see the Kiwis to victory before a mid-pitch hesitation saw him run out with 44 still needed.

McCullum added: “Credit to Afghanistan for the way they fought back and posted a score which was a bit tricky for us. But it is another World Cup win and we’re pretty happy at the moment.”

Cricket World Cup 2015: Australia overcome Sri Lanka in Sydney

by

Australia-Sri-Lanka

by Nick Royle, BBC Sport

Glenn Maxwell hit the second-fastest century in World Cup history as Australia beat Sri Lanka by 64 runs to advance to the quarter-finals.

Maxwell’s first one-day international ton, reached off 51 balls, inspired Australia’s total of 376-9 in Sydney.

Sri Lanka fell short in a spirited run chase despite a third consecutive World Cup century from Kumar Sangakkara and a quickfire 52 from Dinesh Chandimal.

Australia are likely to meet either Ireland or Pakistan in the last eight.

Michael Clarke’s side, who face Scotland in their final Pool A match in Hobart on 14 March, should finish second behind New Zealand in their group, and would therefore meet the team that finishes third in Pool B.

Sri Lanka, who lie in third place in the group with six points from their five matches, also face Scotland in their final Pool A match in Hobart on 11 March.

Maxwell hit 10 fours and four sixes in an innings of 102 that combined deft placement with power hitting, as the 26-year-old finally reached three figures in his 45th ODI.

He was denied a share of the fastest World Cup century arguably only by his own honesty, after he answered in the negative when asked by umpire Ian Gould whether he had got a touch on a legside glance off Lasith Malinga in the 45th over.

Maxwell bought up his hundred in the next over, off 51 deliveries, one more than it took Ireland batsman Kevin O’Brien to decimate the England attack in Bangalore in 2011. However, it is the fastest ODI century by an Australian, beating James Faulkner’s 57-ball century against India in 2013.

The Victorian received a bear-hug from batting partner Shane Watson, who hit 67 runs in 41 balls on his return to the side after being dropped for the previous match against Afghanistan.

“I didn’t know about the record World Cup century, but I knew about the Australian record because James Faulkner doesn’t shut up about it!” Maxwell said.

Steve Smith (68) and captain Michael Clarke (72) had earlier laid the platform for a huge Australia total with a 134-run stand for the second wicket in 23.1 overs.

Tillakaratne Dilshan set the tone for the Sri Lanka reply by hitting Mitchell Johnson for six consecutive fours off the fifth over, much to the Australia fast bowler’s incredulity, as he and Sangakkara, a batting duo with a combined age of 75, put on 130 for the second wicket.

Sri Lanka were always struggling to keep on top of the rate, particularly after Australia captain Clarke broke a dangerous third-wicket partnership with a direct hit from mid-off to account for Mahela Jayawardene (19) in the 31st over.

Sangakkara completed a third consecutive century in this tournament, a World Cup first, and his sixth hundred in his last 11 ODIs, but his dismissal to James Faulkner in the 34th over left Sri Lanka still needing 176 from 97 balls.

Chandimal hit a lusty 24-ball 52 after Sangakkara’s dismissal to keep Sri Lanka’s slim hopes alive, but his exit retired hurt in the 42nd over effectively spelled the end of the unlikely run chase.

Clarke was pleased that his bowlers did not panic when Dilshan, Sangakkara and then Chandimal began to score freely in the Sri Lanka response.

“If we can hold our nerve like that we give ourselves a chance. Watching players around the world scoring so quickly and freely, teams can chase any score now,” he said.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews believes his side would have been well in the game if his bowlers had been able to check the scoring in the final overs of the Australia innings.

“We conceded 200 runs in the last 16 overs and it was way too much – 340 would have been a real good chase,” he admitted.

Cricket World Cup 2015: Ed Joyce delight after Ireland beat Zimbabwe

by

Ireland

by BBC Sport

Ed Joyce praised Ireland’s bowlers after his century helped secure a thrilling five-run World Cup Pool B victory over Zimbabwe in Hobart.

Joyce hit 112 while Alex Cusack took two wickets in the final over as Ireland moved into a qualifying spot.

“To get them four down early on was a great effort – I think that won the game for us,” said the Sussex batsman.

“It’s fantastic for the tournament to have these close games and we seem to be playing in a lot of them.”

Joyce’s third one-day international century, along with a fine 97 from Andrew Balbirnie, helped Ireland post 331-8, their highest ever score at a World Cup, but Zimbabwe looked like chasing down the record chase.

Brendan Taylor’s superb 121 gave Zimbabwe hope and there was controversy when John Mooney took a catch close to the boundary board to dismiss Sean Williams, who scored 96, with 19 balls left.

The third umpire was called to judge the catch, although Williams did not remain on the field of play after he instead opted to take the word of Mooney that he had taken the catch inside the board.

Alex Cusack held his nerve as he claimed the final two wickets in the last over, first getting Regis Chakabva to drag on before Tawanda Mupariwa skied a catch captain William Porterfield gratefully accepted.

“I had a little luck, being dropped a couple of times, but I was really happy with how I hit the ball after a got to 50,” added Joyce, who was named man of the match.

“I played well but I think Andrew Balbirnie probably had a better innings.

“William Porterfield was the right man to be under that final catch and Alex Cusack was the right man to be bowling.”

Ireland face holders India, who have already qualified for the quarter-finals, on Tuesday in Hamilton before taking on Pakistan in their final pool game on 15 March in Adelaide.

The last match is likely to be a must-win game for the Irish after Pakistan moved above them on run-rate thanks to a surprise victory over South Africa on Saturday.

“It looks like we will have to win one of our final two games and I think it will probably all come down to the Pakistan match,” said Joyce.

“But that’s the way it should be to get through – you should have to win a lot of games.

“Pakistan are one of those teams, especially if they get a score on the board, who are very difficult to chase down as they have a lot of skilful bowlers.

“It will be exciting for both teams and exciting for the tournament.”

Saina Nehwal beats Yihan, storms into All England semis

by

saina

Birmingham: Leading Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal got the better of former Chinese World Champion Yihan Wang 21-19, 21-6 to march into the semifinals of the $500,000 All England Open Badminton Championships at the Barclaycard Arena here.

The Olympic bronze medallist was in her element from the start on Friday and never allowed Yihan to dictate the pace of play in the 39-minute contest. With the win, the World No.3 improved her career record against the Olympic silver medallist to 2-8.

The performance also helped the 24-year-old to equal her best showing at the prestigious Super Series Premier event. Saina, who was in the last four here previously in 2010 and 2013, earned a statement-making victory against Yihan, whom she has struggled to beat in the past.

Now, for a place in the final, Saina will meet World No.18 Sun Yu of China on Saturday against whom the Indian has won one and lost one.

At the start, Yihan threatened to run away as she took a 6-2 lead. However, the Indian clawed back to equalise at 8-all. It was a neck-and-neck affair till 13-all. Saina then came up with her vintage game to grab a five-point lead (18-13). She moved sharply and more importantly her defence was up to the task.

Even though World No.5 Yihan fought back with three straight points, Saina managed to hold her nerves and sealed the first game 21-19.

In the second game, Saina upped the ante and took an 8-0 lead in no time, aided by some regal cross-court smashes. Producing a volley of winners, Saina made it a cakewalk in the end with a 21-6 win.

“I’m happy with how I played. My strokes were good. We have had great fights in the past and I have a poor record against her so it’s unbelievable I was able to beat her with less than 10 points in the second game,” Saina said.

On her prospects against Sun Yu, Saina added, “I wasn’t expecting to play tomorrow. It’s a big match and it won’t be easy. I will get some rest and think about that later.”

In the other semi-final, reigning World Champion Carolina Marin will face seventh seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.

(IANS)

Cricket World Cup 2015: Pakistan beat South Africa in thriller

by

pakistan-world-cup

by Stephan Shemilt, BBC Sport

Pakistan’s pace bowlers stunned South Africa to earn a thrilling 29-run win in Pool B of the World Cup.

Chasing 232 in Auckland, South Africa looked well placed on 67-1, before Pakistan’s left-arm trio got to work.

Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali and Mohammad Irfan dismissed the Proteas for 202, despite captain AB de Villiers’ 77.

Pakistan had earlier scraped to 222, with South Africa’s total adjusted after rain reduced the match to 47 overs per side.

The victory, a third in succession, means Pakistan will definitely reach the quarter-finals if they beat Ireland in their final group game on 15 March.

Even if they lose in Adelaide, Misbah-ul-Haq’s side will have a chance of progressing on net run-rate depending on other results involving the Irish and West Indies.

For South Africa, a first opportunity to reach the last eight was missed, but their qualification will be assured with a win against the UAE on Thursday.

They arrived at Eden Park on the back of consecutive scores in excess of 400 but, like their earlier defeat by India, wilted when faced with the pressure of a run-chase.

De Villiers attempted a single-handed pursuit as the rest of his team failed to deal with the pace and hostility of the Pakistan attack.

The Proteas had earlier been cruising during a stand of 67 between Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis, but, when Du Plessis feathered Rahat behind, it began a collapse of four wickets for 10 runs.

Amla was brilliantly caught behind by Sarfraz Ahmed off Riaz, Rilee Rossouw hooked the same bowler to fine leg and David Miller was trapped in front by Rahat.

When Irfan returned to have JP Duminy caught hooking, De Villiers was left to play a virtually lone hand, pulling Riaz for two sixes in the same over.

He dished out similar treatment to Afridi and flayed the attack in the batting powerplay to make an unlikely victory appear possible.

But, he edged an attempted hook off Sohail Khan behind with 32 still required and, soon after, Riaz found the edge of last man Imran Tahir to give Sarfraz a record-equalling sixth catch..

The Proteas had succumbed to sort of pace and bounce that their own bowlers had earlier produced to restrict Pakistan to what seemed like a substandard total.

Sarfraz, at the top of the order in place of Nasir Jamshed, took the fight to South Africa by heaving three leg-side sixes from one Duminy over.

However, when he was needlessly run out by Miller’s good work in the outfield, South Africa chipped through the Pakistan batting.

Indeed, the Proteas may have restricted Pakistan further had De Villiers not had to bowl six overs of his medium pace to cover for the expensive Duminy, who was on his return from injury.

Still, when Pakistan lost their final five wickets for 10 runs after a second rain delay, that seemed academic.

Captain Misbah was the eighth man out, his defiant 56 a fourth half-century in five innings. His team seemed beaten, yet, in fact, they already had enough.

Tendulkar, Dhoni in contention for the title of greatest ODI cricketer

by

Dhoni-Sachin-Tendulkar

The iconic Sachin Tendulkar and Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni are among five leading contenders vying for the crown of the greatest ODI cricketer of all time.

Australia’s former swashbuckling opener Adam Gilchrist, Pakistan pace legend Wasim Akram and West Indies great Viv Richards are the other three nominees, as per an exercise conducted by ESPNcricinfo’s magazine ‘Cricket Monthly’.

The winner – determined by a jury of 50 players, commentators and cricket writers from around the world – will be announced next week.

The jury’s choice of the five greatest comprise two game­changing wicketkeeper-batsmen, a magician fast bowler, and two batting greats.

In terms of longevity and batting stats Tendulkar has no equal. Arguably the greatest batsman in contemporary cricket, Tendulkar rewrote many records during a glorious career spanning 23 years.

He amassed a mammoth 18,426 runs in 463 one-dayers at an average of 44.83. The diminutive right-hander has an astonishing 49 hundreds in the format, including a double hundred — the first in this form of the game. Tendulkar also has a mammoth tally of 96 ODI 50s to his credit.

Dhoni – the only current player in the top five – has emerged as one of the greatest finishers in One-day Internationals.

His power-packed, inventive strokes powered India to triumph from the jaws of defeat, not once but many a times. He played a key role in his team’s triumph in the title clash of the 2011 World Cup.

Gilchrist’s ODI career spanned over 12 years – 1996 to 2008 – during which he set the stage ablaze with his explosive strokeplay that won Australia countless matches, including the 2007 World Cup final against Sri Lanka.

Through the late ’70s and ’80s, Richards dominated the one-day arena like no other cricketer, and helped his side to two World Cup victories in 1975 and 1979.

During a career that spanned nearly two decades, Akram, often called the ‘Sultan of Swing’, could do anything with the ball. He belonged to the rarest of rare category, somebody who could bowl six different deliveries in an over. He finished with 502 wickets – still comfortably the most for a fast bowler in ODI. He was Man of the Match in Pakistan’s title triumph in 1992 final.

The jury includes legendary cricketers Ian Chappell, Clive Lloyd, Martin Crowe, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith; veteran commentators Tony Cozier, Mark Nicholas, Mike Haysman and Sanjay Manjrekar; and respected writers Gideon Haigh, Mike Coward, Suresh Menon and Mike Selvey.

(PTI)

Cricket World Cup 2015: India advance with narrow win over West Indies

by

dhoni

by James Gheerbrant, BBC Sport

India sealed their progress to the Cricket World Cup quarter-finals as they recorded a nervy four-wicket win over West Indies.

The defending champions looked set for a comfortable victory in Pool B when they reduced West Indies to 85-7.

But captain Jason Holder made a brilliant 57 at number nine to stretch the total to 182, before India faltered to 107-5 in reply.

It was left to skipper MS Dhoni to see India home with a composed unbeaten 45.

Despite the modest target, India were in trouble with Jerome Taylor (2-33) and Kemar Roach (1-44) dismantling the top order.

But just as he did in the 2011 World Cup final, and in countless other one-day internationals, captain Dhoni guided India to victory under substantial pressure.

As well as guaranteeing their qualification for the knockout stages, India are now in pole position to finish top of Pool B, having won all their matches and with only fixtures against Ireland and Zimbabwe remaining.

West Indies meanwhile are far from certain to advance from the group, having won just two of their five matches.

Their fate will depend on the results of the remaining matches involving Ireland and Pakistan, and may come down to net run rate.

But despite the two sides’ contrasting fortunes, India’s victory was far from straightforward as they allowed West Indies to turn a one-sided contest into a scrap.

West Indies won the toss and chose to bat, having scored more than 300 in every previous match in this tournament in which they had batted first.

But that total was never on the cards after a shambolic performance from the top order.

With the new ball swinging prodigiously, Dwayne Smith, Chris Gayle and Denesh Ramdin perished to reckless shots – and in between Marlon Samuels was run out – as they collapsed to 35-4.

Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals, but Holder batted superbly with some support from Darren Sammy (27) to reach a respectable total.

The target seemed unlikely to test India, but after they lost Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan early to the impressive Taylor, they wobbled.

Andre Russell removed Virat Kohli (33) and Ravindra Jadeja (13), and Ajinkya Rahane (14) nicked behind, but West Indies could not prise the nerveless Dhoni from the crease.

World Cup 2015: Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq completes 5000 ODI runs without a century

by

Misbah-ul-Haq needed just seven more runs at the start of Pakistan’s World Cup match against South Africa. The veteran player now is the only batsman to score 5000 runs but not have a single century in his career.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq in action during the match against South Africa. ©Getty Images

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq in action during the match against South Africa. ©Getty Images

by Agence France-Presse

Auckland: Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq became the first batsman to score 5,000 one-day international runs without any individual century when he reached the landmark against South Africa in a World Cup match in Auckland on Saturday.

The 40-year-old Misbah was only seven runs shy of 5,000 before the start of the Pool B clash at Eden Park.

A single steered through midwicket off Pakistan-born leg-spinner Imran Tahir saw Misbah, batting at number four, go to 5,000 ODI runs in his 147th innings in 160 matches at this level.

Misbah, often criticised for slow scoring, came into this match averaging over 43 in ODIs with a highest score of 96 not out against the West Indies at The Oval during the 2013 Champions Trophy in England.

However, he belied his reputation by equalling West Indies’ great Vivian Richards’s all-time record for the fastest Test century with a 56-ball ton against Australia in Abu Dhabi in November last year.

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives