CHENNAI: Australia spinners Adam Zampa (4-45) and Ashton Agar (2-41) picked up six wickets to beat India by 21 runs in the final ODI at the MA Chidambaram stadium here on Wednesday

India was all out for 248 in 49.1 overs, chasing Australia’s 269 on a pitch offering turn. Steve Smith’s captaincy needs a special mention for he never gave up the game at any moment and fought till the very end to guide the visitors a well deserved 2-1 win in the series.

This ODI series is an eye-opener for India for things to come, as they are the hosts of the upcoming World Cup to be played in October. Smith is a captain who knows how to exploit an opportunity when he senses it. When Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav (the third one-baller of the series) were removed off successive deliveries, Smith believed that Australia stood a chance to win.

This self-belief and tidy bowling by the Australian bowlers in the last ten overs enabled the visitors to taste victory. The attack is the best form of defence goes a famous adage. India used this ploy to counter the in-form Mitchell Starc and reaped rich dividends.

Virat Kohli played a mature and responsible inning (54) to keep India alive in the match as the top-order could not convert the starts into big scores. The master craftsman once again showed why he is considered the best of his generation.

Kohli had done his homework well and thus played a lot straighter, and attacked only when required. He cut, pulled and swept with relish. He was also at ease against the spinners off the back foot.  He once pulled Agar to the fence and then executed a well-planned inside-out shot to the boundary. Later, a well-set Kohli went for a half-hearted inside-out shot from a ball that came in from Agar and it sailed into Warner’s hands at long off.

The very next ball Yadav was castled by Agar. The fact that the team shielded Yadav and sent him at No 7 was to give the Mumbaikar some time. But alas Yadav once again did not grab the opportunity. Thus, from a comfortable position, India was reduced to 185 for 6.

Now it was left to Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja the last two recognised batters to do the rescue act. The pressure was so high that they could not even rotate the strike regularly. The boundaries were not coming due to the excellent field setting by Smith. Finally, Pandya (40) played against the spin of an Adam Zampa delivery but only managed to find Smith in the covers. Set a target of 270 for a win, India began the chase in earnest with skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill carefully negotiating Mitchel Starc and Marcus Stoinis.

Luckily for India, Starc chose to bowl the wrong lengths and pitched the ball in the wrong areas. This exploited the host’s top order. During one such moment, Gill carted a half-volley from Starc that was pitched on the middle and leg stump over deep mid-wicket.

Again to relieve the team of pressure Gill square cut Stoinis to the fence, picking the gaps intelligently, with the Australian fielders watching the ball travel like a bullet to the fence. Gill showed his sense of timing by executing a short-arm jab to the long-on fence, then he came well behind the line of the ball to execute a copybook off drive wide of mid-off.

The India team think tank ploy of unsettling Starc worked as the Australian speedster was visibly unhappy with the treatment he was getting. Rohit Sharma and Gill added 65 runs for the first wicket.

Rohit (30) was done in by change of pace and fell to Sean Abbott. A while later, Gill (37) was also trapped in front of Zampa. Kohli and KL Rahul seemingly settled in for a long night’s work but their vigil fell short. Apart from the spinners, Australia had a number of batters to thank for putting up 269.

Brief scores

Australia 269 in 49 ovs (Head 33, Marsh 47, Carey 38; Kuldeep 3/56, Pandya 3/44, Axar 2/57, Siraj 2/37) bt India 248 in 49.1 ovs (Gill 37, Kohli 54, Pandya 40; Zampa 4/45, Agar 2/41). 

NEW DELHI: The 2023 ODI World Cup in India is likely to start on October 5 with the final to be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19, according to a report.

The BCCI has shortlisted at least a dozen venues for the 10-team marquee event, which will see 48 matches, including three knockouts across the 46-day period, an ESPNcricinfo report said.

The 11 other shortlisted venues, according to the report, are Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Rajkot and Mumbai.

Except for the final match, which is set to be played at the world’s largest stadium in Ahmedabad, the BCCI has not specified the venues for any games as yet.

The list of 12 cities, however, does not include Mohali and Nagpur, which had hosted a Test match against visiting Australia recently.

India had won the title when it last hosted the 50-over World Cup in 2011.

Navi Mumbai: A breathtaking boundary-hitting show after a clinical bowling attack helped Delhi Capitals thrash Mumbai Indians by nine wickets to jump to the top of the table in the Women’s Premier League here on Monday.

South African pacer Marizanne Kapp (2/13) struck twice in two balls early on to help Delhi restrict Mumbai, who were put in to bat, to a meagre 109 for 8. Shikha Pandey and Jess Jonassen also chipped in with two wickets for DC.

Chasing a small total, the top three Delhi batters of captain Meg Lanning (32 not out off 22 balls), Shafali Verma (33 off 15 balls) and Alice Capsey (38 not out of 18 balls) competed among themselves in hitting boundaries as their side chased down the target with 66 balls remaining.

Lanning struck four boundaries and one six during her unbeaten knock, while her opening partner Verma hit six fours and one six. One-down Capsey then hoisted five sixes and one four during her blitzkrieg to take Delhi to 110 for one in nine overs.

Already in the play-offs before Monday’s match, Delhi and Mumbai now have 10 points from seven matches each. But Delhi are ahead on net run rate — plus 1.978 as against plus 1.725 of Mumbai.

Delhi face UP Warriorz — who also have qualified for the play-offs — on Tuesday, while Mumbai take on Royal Challengers Bangalore — who are out of reckoning — on the same day.

Tuesday’s matches will decide which team tops the table and directly qualifies for the final. The second and third place teams will play the eliminator.

Defending a small total, Mumbai needed early wickets but Delhi openers Lanning and Shafali denied them any breakthrough till the fifth over when the latter was out for 33 off just 15 balls. Verma hit six fours — including three in the second over bowled by Issy Wong — and one six during her aggressive innings.

Lanning, who began with two fours in the first over, then took upon herself to chase down the target in a jiffy. She hoisted Wong for a six in the last ball of the powerplay.

Capsey then took over as she punished Hayley Matthews with three sixes in the seventh over before hitting Saika Ishaque to end the match.

Earlier, invited to bat in the top-of-the-table clash, Mumbai were reduced to 10 for 3 in 3.3 overs with Kapp (2/13) fetching wickets off consecutive deliveries in the third over, and they never recovered from there.

Pooja Vastrakar top-scored for Mumbai with a 26 while captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Issy Wong contributed 23 each.

The 37-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Kaur and Vastrakar was the highest for Mumbai.

Kapp first forced Yastika Bhatia (1) to edge an in-swinging delivery to wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia before knocking off Nat Sciver-Brunt’s stumps the next ball for a first ball duck.

Kapp could not complete a hat-trick as Kaur defended solidly. But, Mumbai suffered another jolt as Hayley Matthews (5) fell the next over with the lively Jemimah Rodrigues taking a stunning one-handed catch at mid-on off the bowling of Shikha Pandey.

Mumbai were in tatters at 10 for 3 in the fourth over and they crawled to their lowest powerplay total of 19 for 3, before another blow struck them.

Introduced in the seventh over, Arundhati Reddy struck in her fifth ball, dismissing Amelia Kerr, who offered a loose shot into the hands of Bhatia behind the stumps as Mumbai wickets continued to tumble.

Vastrakar then struck a six and a four out of the blue as Mumbai took 18 runs from the 10th over to reach 46 for 4 at the halfway mark.

With Kaur needing to play sheet-anchor, Vastrakar was given the task to take risks and she had another couple of boundaries in the next over. But her stay was cut short with Jonassen dismissing her in the 12th over for 26.

Runs were hard to come by and even an in-form Kaur could not force the pace of Mumbai innings. She had a soft dismissal, trying to find a boundary with Jemimah taking the catch at deep midwicket.

Mumbai were 74 for 6 when Kaur was out and they added 35 runs in the last five overs to go past the 100-run mark.

DHAKA: Mehidy Hasan Miraz shone with ball and bat as Bangladesh stunned England to win the second Twenty20 international by four wickets and seal the series 2-0.

Mehidy bowled a career-best 4-12 to help the hosts bowl out England for 117 before he hit 20 off 16 balls as Bangladesh raced to 120-6 in 18.5 overs.

Najmul Hossain top-scored at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka with 46 not out for Bangladesh, who have now won at least one series in one format against all Test-playing countries.

The hosts won the first match of the series by six wickets in Chittagong.

Sent into bat first, England were rarely in the contest after losing their way in the middle of the innings as their batsmen struggled to cope with a low and slow wicket in Mirpur.

Shakib Al Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud and Mustafizur Rahman each complemented Mehidy with a wicket apiece.

Ben Duckett top-scored with 28 while Phil Salt made 25 off 19 balls.

Taskin dismissed opener Dawid Malan for five but Salt and Moeen Ali showed positive intent to put on 34 runs for the second wicket.

The visitors then lost Salt, skipper Jos Buttler (four) and Ali (15) in consecutive overs to ruin their prospect of putting in a big total.

Mehidy then struck twice in one over to dismiss Sam Curran (12) and Chris Woakes (0) to deny England a late recovery.

Bangladesh in their reply lost both their openers Liton Das (nine) and Rony Talukdar (nine) cheaply but young Towhid Hridoy made 17 to steady the innings.

Najmul and Mehidy put Bangladesh in charge with a 41-run stand. England sniffed a chance with a few late wickets as Jofra Archer wracked havoc to finish with 3-13.

However, Najmul thwarted the visiting side with his unbeaten 47-ball innings featuring three boundaries.

Taskin completed the win with consecutive fours off Chris Jordan in the nineteenth over.

The third and final match of the series will be held at the same ground on Tuesday.

England won the preceding three-match one-day international series 2-1.

The matches are important practice for England on South Asian pitches ahead of the ODI World Cup to be held in India later this year.

India will take on Australia in the final of the World Test Championship 2021-23 in June at the Oval, London. India qualified to the summit clash after New Zealand won a last-ball thriller vs Sri Lanka in Christchurch on Sunday.

India qualified for the World Test Championship final

In Short

• India reached the WTC final for the second successive time
• India will take on Australia in the final at the Oval in London from June 7
• India lost to New Zealand in the final of the inaugural WTC in 2021

The week-long suspense came to an end on Monday, March 13. India qualified for the World Test Championship final for the second successive time even before their final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia came to an end in Ahmedabad. India went through to the final after Sri Lanka, who were also in contention for the summit clash, lost the first of their 2-Test series in New Zealand in a thrilling finish on Monday.

India will take on Australia in the final of the WTC at the Oval in London from June 7 to 11. Australia qualified for the final after winning the 3rd Test against India in Indore earlier in the month. India needed to avoid losing more than 1 Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and hope New Zealand don’t suffer a 2-0 whitewash in their Test series at home.

As it turned out, even before India were in action on Day 5 of their Ahmedabad Test, their berth in the London final was confirmed as Sri Lanka lost the opening Test to New Zealand in a thrilling final day battle.

India, under Virat Kohli, qualified for the WTC final in 2021 and they lost to New Zealand in the summit clash. Notably, this will be second major ICC event for India in 2023 as the ODI World Cup is scheduled to be held at home in October-November.

After Australia made it to the final, only India and Sri Lanka were in the race for the WTC final in the second week of March but the islanders’ valiant fight in the Christchurch Test was not enough to keep their hopes alive.

There was genuine interest from Indian fans in the Sri Lanka-New Zealand first Test as the islanders came up with a valiant fight in the series opener at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

Sri Lanka came up with a solid batting effort in their first innings to post 355 on the board but a stunning hundred from Daryl Mitchell helped New Zealand seal an 18-run first-innings lead. Sri Lanka were in a spot of bother when they lost 4 early wickets but senior batter Angelo Matthews helped Sri Lanka set a stiff target of 285.

The first Test in Christchurch was set up for a thrilling finale even as the Ahmedabad Test, which was played on a flat surface, headed towards a draw despite India posting 571 in response to Australia’s total of 480 in the first innings.

New Zealand were in a spot of bother when they lost opener Devon Conway early on Day 4 and Sri Lana also struck early on Monday with the wicket of Tom Latham. However, a 142-run stand between Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell.

Ahmedabad: India reached 36 for no loss in their first innings after dismissing Australia for 480 on the second day of the series-deciding fourth Test here on Friday.

Rohit Sharma (17 batting) and Shubman Gill (18 batting) were at the crease at the draw of stumps with India still 444 runs behind.

Ravichandran Ashwin (6/91) was the most successful bowler for India as he picked up five wickets on the second day, while Axar Patel managed to remove Usman Khawaja (180).

Mohammed Shami (2/134) had taken two wickets on day one.

Earlier, resuming the day at 255 for 4, Khawaja and Cameron Green (114) kept batting with ease as they added another 123 runs to consolidate Australia’s position.

After a barren morning session, Ashwin dismissed Green and Carey (0) in a space of four balls, before getting rid of Mitchell Starc (6).

Patel then trapped Khawaja, but Todd Murphy (41) and Nathan Lyon (34) added 70 runs to frustrate India.

Ashwin returned to pick up the remaining two wickets.

Brief Scores:

Australia first innings: 480 all out in 167.2 overs (Usman Khawaja 180, Cameron Green 114; R Ashwin 6/91).

India first innings: 36 for no loss in 10 overs (Rohit Sharma 17 batting, Shubman Gill 18 batting).

Mumbai: UP Warriorz spinners Sophie Ecclestone and Deepti Sharma gave away very little while striking at regular intervals to bowl out Royal Challengers Bangalore for 138 in the Women’s Premier League here on Friday.

This was after Ellyse Perry top-scored for RCB with a blazing 39-ball 52.

Seasoned English left-arm spinner Ecclestone finished with incredible figures of 4/13 in her full quota of four overs, while Deepti ended with 3/26.

Sophie Devine started the RCB innings by hitting Grace Harris for a four and a six off the match’s second and third deliveries, collecting 13 runs in the opening over at the Brabourne Stadium.

The maximum was a super shot as Devine, seeing the ball in the slot, positioned herself perfectly and smoked it over the deep mid wicket boundary.

Sharing the new ball with Grace, left-arm seamer Anjali Sarvani ran into an in-form Devine as the versatile New Zealander scored two fours off the India bowler.

With RCB going very well at 29 for no loss after three overs, UP Warriorz skipper Alyssa Healy effected a bowling change and brought on Rajeshwari Gayakwad into the attack, and it paid dividends straightaway as the bowler sent back RCB captain Smriti Mandhana (4) with her first ball.

It was a length delivery outside off stump, and Mandhana failed to time it and ended up giving an easy catch to Sarvani at extra cover, continuing her below-par outing in the inaugural WPL.

Given the situation, it was an excellent first over from Rajeshwari as she conceded just one run while taking the big wicket of Mandhana.

Australian star Ellyse Perry wasted little time in finding her groove, scoring two boundaries off Sarvani to maintain RCB’s fine run rate. Then there was a four — which came off a mishit — and a six straight down the ground against Rajeshwari’s bowling after beautifully getting to the pitch of the ball.

Despite losing Mandhana, RCB racked up 54 runs in the six powerplay overs.

Ecclestone bowled an economical seventh over before Perry struck two successive fours off experienced off-spinning all-rounder Deepti Sharma.

Ecclestone was rewarded for her fine bowling as she bowled Devine, who struck five fours and a six in her 24-ball 36.

Perry continued with her attacking ways before Deepti took her out, much to the UP team’s relief. RCB lost the plot after that, as the duo of Deepti and Ecclestone kept taking wickets regularly.

AHMEDABAD: Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Shami squared things for India in the second hour as Australia lost the initiative after an impressive start to go into lunch at 75 for two on the opening day of the fourth Test here on Thursday.

The dogged Usman Khawaja (27 batting, 94 balls) was being given company by skipper Steve Smith (2 batting, 17 balls) after Travis Head (32) and Marnus Labuschagne (3) were dismissed in quick succession by Ashwin (1/18 in 10 overs) and Shami (1/14 in 8 overs) respectively.

There is nothing in the track and Australia, if they apply themselves well, could post their best total of the series.

Head, in fact, must be feeling horrible as he undid all his good work in the first hour by playing an indiscreet shot.

He tried to chip Ashwin over mid-on without reaching to the pitch of the delivery.

Ashwin had just altered the length slightly and deceived Head, who offered the easiest of catches to one of the world’s best fielders, Ravindra Jadeja.

Head got a reprieve while batting on seven when wicketkeeper KS Bharath dropped a regulation catch off Umesh Yadav’s bowling.

Umesh, who has always been blamed for his inconsistency, was once again erratic as he gave a lot of boundary balls.

Out of the seven boundaries that Head got, half a dozen came from Umesh’s overs.

Bharath would like to forget the session in a hurry as he was troubled by inconsistent bounce on both sides of the wicket.

He found it difficult to gather a lot of balls which kept low from one end, and conceded eight byes, apart from dropping a dolly.

The end from which Shami bowled, a lot of deliveries kept low and one such ball brought about the downfall of Labuschagne.

It was an off-cutter and Labuschagne wanted to play the square cut but dragged it back onto the stumps, much to his dismay.

Teams: India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Srikar Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav.

Australia: Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith (captain), Peter Handscomb, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Todd Murphy, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nathan Lyon.

HYDERABAD:  There was quite a sprinkling of stars. Some of her closest buddies from the circuit were on the court and celebrities and ministers were off it. All converged into the Lala Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad to watch their most loved and famous woman’s player appearing in her last match. The same venue where she won her first Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) singles title close to two decades ago. The eclectic crowd made some noise when Sania Mirza, who wanted to bid adieu to the sport that gave her so much at home, entered the arena. 

The ensemble too was on familiar lines. Sania had some of her former doubles mates in attendance and they came together to play a few hits and rallies for one last time. There were her former mixed doubles mates Croatian Ivan Dodig and Rohan Bopanna, one of her closest friends Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Cara Black and Marion Bartoli. They played matches for the audience too. 

In the stands were some former international players, celebrities and ministers (Union and state) too. It was Yuvraj Singh who received a huge roar. He paired up with Bethanie against Sania and Ivan for an exhibition tie.

‘Happy tears’ flowed once again as Sania talked about her career and thanked her fans. “I’m grateful for all that I’ve been able to achieve in my career, I couldn’t be more grateful being here with my family, my best friends and my fans who have supported me all along.” 

Several celebrities, bureaucrats and political leaders such as CV Anand, Dulquer Salmaan, Kiren Rijiju, and Jayesh Ranjan were present. Her son Ishan and her parents too were present. It was an understandably emotional moment for Sania as she began her speech by saying,  “It’s been one amazing ride, representing my country is an achievement in itself and I’ll always be thankful for the support I’ve received throughout my 20-plus years career. I’m only retiring as a player, but will always be a part of Indian sports and tennis.”

INDORE:  ON Tuesday, Rohit Sharma had raised the possibility of requesting a green seamer for the fourth Test if the hosts made it 3-0 at Indore. The batters would have made that call by now on the evidence of what transpired on Wednesday.

India are not the side they once were when facing opposition spin. They have, in the last two years or so, been troubled by the likes of Jack Leach, Taijul Islam, Moeen Ali, Todd Murphy and Ajaz Patel. None of those spinners are in any hurry to enter the ‘Spinners’ Hall of Fame’ any time soon.

On Wednesday, another name was added to the above list; Matthew Kuhnemann. When the series began, he was their fourth-choice spinner. A little over two hours into the day’s play at the Holkar Stadium, he was showing off the red ball with which he had taken his first fifer.

The left-arm spinner, though, was relegated to a subplot. Sure, he was accurate enough and did what was asked of him. The main talking point was the deck that was doled out for the Test. One can only speculate if there was not enough time to prepare a Test match-worthy wicket — the third match, after all, was originally slated to be held in Dharamsala before it was rearranged — but it certainly looked a touch on the undercooked side. Raging. Gripping. Turning. Jumping. Spitting. These are all words you normally use to describe a two-three day old pitch. When it starts to play tricks five overs old into a Test, you have got a problem.

After an auspicious start by the hosts — Sharma was out twice in the first over but the visitors didn’t opt to take reviews so early — Kuhnemann sent Sharma packing thanks to a ball that gripped, jumped and beat his outside edge. The captain, who had already been beaten once in that over while going for an expansive stroke, had danced down the track to hoist him over long-on. Alex Carey completed the rest. The oddball spitting on Day 1 is nothing new; perhaps, therein lies the challenge. But this pitch was already having more problems than an advanced mathematics textbook.

And it truly went rogue to dismiss Cheteshwar Pujara. On one off four, he went back to a seemingly innocuous Lyon off-spinner that landed on a seventh stump line on length. After landing though, it curved back in sharply to breach through Pujara’s defences before taking the middle stump. On air, Matthew Hayden was expressing his sympathy for the batters. “You have got to give them a chance (to survive),” he said on commentary. He had a point. According to a graphic put out by the host broadcaster, the degree of turn on that ball was 6.8*. In fact, the average degree of turn in the first session was 4.9*, a full degree greater than the average of the entire match at New Delhi.

The misdemeanours off the surface continued after Pujara left. Ravindra Jadeja felt that across back-to-back deliveries, the second of which removed him for four. He had only successfully reviewed a leg-before decision to a ball that didn’t spin as much. Off the next ball, a touch shorter and wide off the off stump, he went to cut it. But it stopped on him and the catch was accepted at cover when he tried to place it behind square. Shreyas Iyer came and went in a blink and it was 44/5 after the first hour. To be fair, everyone needed a drink after that first hour.

Post that stoppage, the hosts enjoyed a good passage of play as Srikar Bharat and Virat Kohli equipped themselves well, given the situation. Normalcy was restored pretty soon as Kohli was trapped in front, the delivery straightening after pitching. That’s the other challenge when you play on pitches like these; you never feel settled.    

At lunch with the hosts at 84/7, it was curious to see coach Rahul Dravid come down from the pavilion to have a close look at the surface. He was looking at it like how a principal would look at an errant student. He had reason to wear that expression. There were next to no footmarks. The rough was 30-over old. As advertised, it was dry. Yet, it was a bunsen before the sizable weekday crowd had broken for lunch on the opening day. In the end, they stumbled to 109 off 33.2 overs. By legal deliveries, it’s their fifth shortest innings of all time before being bowled out at home.

Sharma, in the pre-match press conference, had also alluded to winning this game and confirming their berth in the World Test Championship final. They now face a right old fight to win this match.

Day 1 Scorecard

India (1st Innings): Rohit st Carey b Kuhnemann 12, Gill c Smith b Kuhnemann 21, Pujara b Lyon 1, Kohli lbw Murphy 22,  Jadeja c Kuhnemann b Lyon 4, Iyer b Kuhnemann 0, Bharat lbw Lyon 17, Patel n.o 12, Ashwin c Carey b Kuhnemann 3, Umesh lbw Kuhnemann 17, Md Siraj run out 0; Extras: 0; Total: 109 (in 33.2 ovs) ; FoW: 1-27, 2-34, 3-36, 4-44, 5-45, 6-70, 7-82, 8-88, 9-108; Bowling: Starc 5-0-21-0, Green 2-0-14-0, Kuhneman 9-2-16 -5, Lyon 11.2-2-35-3, Murphy 6-1-23-1.

Australia (1st Innings): Head lbw R Jadeja 9, Khawaja c Gill b Jadeja 60, Labuschagne b Jadeja 31, Smith c S Bharat b Jadeja 26, Handscomb batting 7; Green batting 6; Extras: 17; Total: 156/4 (in 54 ovs) ; FoW: 12-1, 108-2, 125-3, 146-4. Bowling: Ashwin 16-2-40-0, Jadeja 24-6-63-4, Axar 9-0-29-0, Umesh 2-0-4-0, Siraj 3-0-7-0.