Nasheman News : A disciplined performance with the ball and on field pressure helped New Zealand outsmart India by 23 runs in the opening Twenty20 International match here on Wednesday.

Although Smriti Mandhana struck the fastest Twenty20 International half-century, getting to the mark in 24 deliveries, a disciplined performance helped New Zealand fight back to claim victory, according to an ICC statement.

When Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues added 58 runs in the Powerplay, India seemed well on course to chase down the target of 160. 

But Kiwi pacer Lea Tahuhu (3/20), and spinners Leigh Kasperek (2/25) and Amelia Kerr (2/28) fought back, and with the fielders holding on to the chances they were offered, the hosts pulled off a stunning victory.

Hannah Rowe’s catch off Mandhana proved to be the game-changer, as India collapsed from 102/1 to 136 all out after that. The middle order offered no resistance, and when captain Harmanpreet Kaur was stumped trying to charge down the ground, India’s hopes disappeared. 

Earlier, New Zealand’s total had been set up by Sophie Devine. After the hosts were put in to bat, Devine led the charge in partnerships of 36 with debutant Caitlin Gurrey (15) and 69 with Amy Satterthwaite (33 off 27 balls). 

For India, Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav and Poonam Yadav scalped one wicket each.

With this victory, the hosts have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Brief scores: New Zealand: 159/4 (Sophie Devine 62; Deepti Sharma 1/19) against India: 136/10 (Smriti Mandhana 58; Lea Tahuhu 3/20)

Nasheman News : Stand-in India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl against New Zealand in the first of the three-match Twenty20 international rubber here on Wednesday.

All-rounder Daryl Mitchell makes his T20I debut for the Kiwis while Rishabh Pant, who missed a place in the ODI squad, finds a spot in the Indian playing eleven.

Playing XI:

New Zealand: Colin Munro, Tim Seifert (Wicket-keeper), Kane Williamson (Captain), Ross Taylor, Daryl Mitchell, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson

India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik, M.S. Dhoni (Wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, K. Khaleel Ahmed.

Nasheman News :  After clinching the five match One-Day International (ODI) series, a confident India will aim to carry the momentum to the three match Twenty20 International (T20I) series when they face New Zealand in the opening match at the Westpac Stadium here on Wednesday.

In the ODIs, India comprehensively outplayed the hosts to clinch the series 4-1. India looked out of sorts only in Hamilton but they bounced back in style in the last match and will aim to carry the momentum to the shortest format with some more promising players joining the squad.

“We would be looking to win the series and carry the momentum back home for the Australia series,” Shikhar Dhawan told reporters on Tuesday. 

This T20I series will also be a good opportunity for youngsters like Krunal Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Shubman Gill to rise to the occasion and stake a claim for a World Cup spot.

Veteran India wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni also returned to the T20I squad after a long hiatus. The Ranchi stumper last featured in a T20 match in July.

In the absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli who has been rested, Rohit Sharma will lead the squad and will be aiming to repeat the result of the ODI series. 

Apart from that, India’s batting seemed settled with the likes of opener Shikhar Dhawan, swashbuckling batsman Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav and Dhoni in the squad.

In the bowling department, India will miss the services of pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who has also been rested.

Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead the pace attack which comprises of Mohammad Siraj, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed and all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

The spin department will consist of chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Part-time spinners Kedar Jadhav and Krunal Pandya might come into the picture as well.

New Zealand, on the other hand, will miss the services of opener Martin Guptill. Failing to recover from a back injury, the experienced batsman was ruled out of the series.

Guptill had sustained the injury while throwing a ball during fielding practice on the eve of the fifth ODI after which he was forced to miss that contest.

The Kiwi opener underwent a fitness test on Monday morning where he continued to feel pain in his lower back. Later, New Zealand coach Gary Stead confirmed that Guptill will miss the series.

Bowling all-rounder James Neesham, who was earlier left out of the T20I squad, has now been included as Guptill’s replacement.

A lot will depend on the top-four batsmen — Kane Williamson, Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme and Lockie Ferguson. They need to click for New Zealand to have the upper hand.

The middle-order consists of youngsters Scott Kuggeleijn and Daryl Mitchell. The duo will be supported by veteran batsman Ross Taylor.

In the bowling department, it will be interesting to see the performances of debutant all-rounder Daryl Mitchell and pacer Blair Tickner in the absence of star pacer Trent Boult, who has been rested. 

Spinners Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner have also been included in the squad.

Squads:

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Scott Kuggeleijn, Colin Munro, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner, James Neesham.

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, M.S. Dhoni, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Shubman Gill, Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya, Mohammad Siraj. 

Nasheman News : Online streaming website Netflix has announced its first Indian sports documentary “Cricket Fever: Mumbai Indians”, which will premiere on March 1.

The docu-series, produced by Conde Nast Entertainment, will follow the Mumbai Indians on the road through the course of the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL) season as they sought to defend their 2017 IPL crown, read a statement. 

The series documents the unseen action, both on and off the field, starting with the 2018 IPL auction, when the entire team was re-organised, and closes with the end of their IPL campaign. It charts the emotional arc of the team, including the intense pressure the team faces. 

It documents highly personal journeys of the young and talented team, led by captain Rohit Sharma, owners Nita and Akash Ambani as well as the brilliance of their coach – Sri Lankan legend Mahela Jayawardene.

Nasheman News : Indian Arrows will look to leapfrog defending champions Minerva Punjab FC when the two sides meet in an I-League encounter here on Tuesday.

Miverva had overcome the Arrows by a solitary goal in the first leg fixture more than two months back, but the youngsters under the able stewardship of coach Floyd Pinto, have found a semblance of consistency in performance since then.

The Arrows lie ninth on the table with 13 points from 15 games and if they can pull off a win on Tuesday, they would move clear of seventh-placed Minerva and eighth-placed Aizawl, both of whom have 14 points from the same number of games.

Minerva’s problems have been compounded by the fact that they have not won in eight games in two months, and have scored just once in that period. They go into Tuesday’s game after shock losses to Aizawl and bottom-placed Shillong at home.

Their Irish coach Paul Munster said in the pre-match press conference: “The mood has been very good and training has been very positive. We are over here with a positive attitude and ready for the game tomorrow.”

“It’s a very important match for us and we know we have a chance of winning the away game. After this game, we are again travelling for AFC. So this game is a moral and confidence booster for us to get three points for the players.

“We know that Indian Arrows are all young players, full of energy and they are very committed. We have a lot of young players, and they too are just as energetic and perhaps a bit more experienced in the mix. Hoping that to be the turning point for tomorrow,” he added.

The Arrows, on the other hand, have fought every game of the league and have an eager eye for goal and easily last 90 minutes.

Floyd Pinto’s young guns trounced Shillong 3-0 before giving tough fights in losses against the likes of Quess East Bengal, Churchill Brothers and Neroca FC, all firm title contenders at this stage. They also scored six times in that four-game period.

Arrows’ coach Pinto was upbeat before match day, saying “Every match for us is a challenge. We take every match with the aim of winning. The last few matches, we have been on the wrong side of a one goal game. We are reasonably happy with our effort.”

“It is high time we score some points. It is a tough game tomorrow — a 90-min battle. Last match in Chandigarh, we were not able to convert our chances. We have always been a team very difficult to beat. Our conversion rate has improved. It’s now the time to take the right decisions at this point in the league,” said Pinto.

Minerva have eased in the likes of Juan Quero and Mahmoud Al Amna in their previous game and will be banking heavily on their class and experience to put it across the Arrows.

Nasheman News : Former Indian Test spinner Harbhajan Singh on Monday offered to voluntarily promote the Punjab government’s ‘Tandarust Punjab Mission’, a state minister said here.

Punjab Sports Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi lauded the cricketer for offering to contribute towards promoting health and fitness in the state under the government’s flagship mission. Popularly known as ‘Bhajji’, Singh met the minister here and expressed his willingness to participate in the campaign.

Sodhi asked Singh to leverage his appeal with youngsters in supporting the state government drive to eradicate drug menace from Punjab.

“It is Punjab’s good luck that a sportsman like Rana Sodhi is at the helm of affairs. Being an athlete, Sodhi knows the needs of a sportsperson, which is the best thing for the sporting ecosystem to evolve,” Singh said.

 After bowling out Vidarbha for 313, Saurashtra got off to a good start with the bat. Harvik Desai was dismissed early on, but Snell Patel and Vishwarajsinh Jadeja added 61 runs together for the 2nd wicket to settle down things. But a late burst from Aditya Sarwate has now tilted the tide in Vidarbha’s favour.

Sarwate dismissed both Jadeja and the danger man Cheteshwar Pujara right at the stroke of Tea. With Pujara gone, Saurashtra will have to depend on someone else to take them to a solid lead. Catch Live score and updates of Vidarbha vs Saurashtra.

Nasheman News : Vidarbha were 200/7 at stumps against Saurashtra on the first day of the Ranji Trophy final at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) stadium here on Sunday.

Tailenders Akshay Karnewar (31 batting) and Akshay Wakhare, who was yet to open his account, were unbeaten when stumps were drawn.

Opting to bat, hosts Vidarbha suffered jolts at regular intervals thanks to some disciplined bowling by the Saurashtra bowlers. Stumper Akshay Wadkar was the top contributor for Vidarbha with 45 runs while Mohit Kale chipped in with 35 runs before falling.

For Saurashtra, pacer Jaydev Unadkat bagged a couple of wickets conceding just 26 runs while Chetan Sakariya, Prerak Mankad, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Kamlesh Makvana took one wicket each.

Brief score:

Vidarbha 200/7 (Akshay Wadkar 45, Mohit Kale 35; Jaydev Unadkat 2/26) vs Saurashtra 

[Nasheman news] Wellington Ambati Rayudu, Vijay Shankar and all-rounder Hardik Pandya rose to the occasion to hand India a 35-run victory against New Zealand in the fifth and final One Day International match and clinch the limited overs series 4-1 here on Sunday.

After losing four quick wickets for just 18 runs, Rayudu (90), Shankar (45) and Kedar Jadhav (34) stabilised the Indian innings and then Pandya made a quickfire 45 in 22 balls towards the end to post a decent score before the Indian bowlers came into the picture and dismissed New Zealand for 217.

Chasing 253, New Zealand openers Colin Munro (24) and Henry Nicholls (8) started the proceedings on a positive note but pacer Mohammad Shami dismissed Nicholls in the fourth over when the scoreboard was reading 18 runs.

Unperturbed by the fall of Nicholls’ wicket, Munro and skipper Kane Williamson (39) played sensibly and punished the bad balls. But while trying to increase the scoring rate, Munro was clean bowled by Shami in the 10th over.

Veteran batsman Ross Taylor (1) was also dismissed cheaply in the next over by Pandya. He was adjudged leg before wicket.

New batsman Tom Latham (37) then joined his skipper in the middle and forged a crucial 67-run partnership and helped New Zealand to cross the 100-run mark. But soon, Williamson was sent packing by Kedar Jadhav in the 26th over when the scoreboard was reading 105.

Latham, who seemed good in the middle, was the next batsman to depart. He was adjudged leg before wicket off leggie Yuzvendra Chahal after three overs. Chahal then picked up Colin de Grandhomme (11) after two overs to make the scoreboard read 135/6.

With the lower-order despatched early, James Neesham (44) had to play till the end to give New Zealand some chance in the match but a sloppy run-out saw Neesham heading back to the pavilion.

Lower-order players Mitchell Santner (22), Todd Astle (10), Matt Henry (17 not out) and Trent Boult (1) tried to bring the game within New Zealand’s reach but failed.

For India, Yuzvendra Chahal scalped three wickets while Mohammad Shami and Pandya took two wickets each.

Earlier, a disciplined batting effort from Rayudu (90) supported by Vijay Shankar (45) and late order heroics by all-rounder Pandya helped India post 252/10.

Opting to bat, India got off to a poor start as opener Rohit Sharma (2) was the first one to be dismissed with just eight runs on the board. Pacer Matt Henry clean bowled the Mumbai batsman in 4.1 overs.

In the very next over, opener Shikhar Dhawan (6) was sent packing by Boult. Dhawan played 13 balls and hit one boundary.

Shubman Gill (7), who made is debut in the last match, failed to impress this time as Henry dismissed the promising batsman in the seventh over.

With three wickets in back to back overs, it was now on wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rayudu.

Despite the regular fall of wickets, Rayudu was playing sensibly at the other end but lack of support hampered India’s scoring rate.

Dhoni (1), who missed the last ODI due to a hamstring injury, faced only six balls and was dismissed by Boult to have the scoreboard read 18/4 in nine overs.

The fall of Dhoni’s wicket brought in Shankar, who with Rayudu played sensibly and forged a crucial 98-run stand for the fifth wicket to stabilise the innings.

They played some beautifully crafted shots all around the park but just when things seemed good in the middle, Shankar got run out. He played 64 balls and slammed four boundaries before getting out in the 32nd over.

New batsman Kedar Jadhav (34) then joined Rayudu in the middle and the pair stitched together a 74-run stand helping India to reach close to the 200-run mark.

But at 190, in-form Rayudu was sent back to the pavilion by Henry. He was caught by Munro at sweeper cover. Rayudu played 113 balls and hit eight boundaries and four sixes.

After adding 13 runs to the total, Jadhav was also dismissed by Henry. New batsman Pandya then came in the middle and hammered the New Zealand bowlers all around the park. 

The Baroda all-rounder slammed two boundaries and five sixes during his stay, which was cut short by James Neesham.

Tail-ender batsmen Bhuvneshwar Kumar (6), Mohammad Shami (1) then tried to make some quick runs but were dismissed cheaply. Yuzvendra Chahal remained unbeaten.

Brief scores: India: 252/10 (Ambati Rayudu 90; Hardik Pandya 45; Matt Henry 4/35) against New Zealand: 217/10 (James Neesham 44, Kane Williamson 39; Yuzvendra Chahal 3/41)

Nasheman News : Italian Andreas Seppi made short work of India’s second highest ranked Ramkumar Ramanathan by winning 6-4, 6-2 in their first Davis Cup World Group rubber at the Calcutta South Club here on Friday.

Ramanathan, ranked 133rd in the world, got off to a decent start but failed to captitalize on two break points in the first set which was closely fought till 4-4 before the 37th ranked Seppi used his reservoir of experience to down his much younger opponent.

It was an Italian gamble to name Seppi their first player ahead of World No. 19 Marco Cecchinato, who had ousted World No. 1 Novak Djokovic from the French Open quarters last year.

The 34-year-old, who is not used to playing on grass, took time to get used to the surface but once he did the tie became a lopsided affair.

At 5-4, Seppi won four points in a row to seal the first set in style. 

In the second set, the Italian toyed with Ramkumar hitting clinical forehands (17 winners) even as the lanky Chennai player tried to forge a comeback in the third game.

The big-serving Ramanathan hit eight aces but paid the price for his inconsistency with six double faults as opposed to Seppi’s two.