Shikhar Dhawan

India need 153 runs to win first Test

August 14, 2015 by Nasheman

India’s Shikhar Dhawan watches the ball as he plays a shot during the third day of their first cricket test match against Sri Lanka, in Galle, Sri Lanka, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Galle: India reached 23/1 in pursuit of 176 runs after they bowled out Sri Lanka for 367 runs in their second innings despite Dinesh Chandimal’s unbeaten 162 on the third day of the first Test at the Galle International Stadium here on Friday.

After conceding a 192-run first innings lead, the Sri Lankan top order failed to rise to the occasion. But young Chandimal registered his fourth century in Test cricket to bail the team out of trouble. Chandimal hit 19 fours and four sixes from 169 deliveries.

The right-hander forged a 125-run stand with Lahiru Thirimanne (44) when the hosts were 92/5 and it helped them overcome the innings deficit. Chandimal was also involved with another healthy partnership of 82 runs with Jehan Mubarak (49) for the sixth wicket to ensure that the Sri Lankans get a 100-run lead.

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (4-114) completed a 10-wicket haul in the match and he was ably supported by leg-spinner Amit Mishra (3-61). Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma and Varun Aaron bagged a wicket each.

At the end of the day, India lost Lokesh Rahul (5) to Rangana Herath. Shikhar Dhawan (not out 13) and nightwatchman Ishant (5 not out) were at the crease as India look in command to get another 153 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Earlier, starting the day at five for two, Sri Lanka lost Dhammika Prasad (3) to the first ball of the day as the nightwatchman failed to fend off a well directed bouncer from pacer Aaron and edged to Ajinkya Rahane at gully.

Skipper Angelo Mathews (39) joined former captain Kumar Sangakkara (40), who is playing in his penultimate international match. The left-right combination showed some resilience even though the Indian bowlers kept troubling them.

They forged a 87-run stand for the fourth wicket to bring the deficit down to 100 runs. However, left-hander Sangakkara nudged an Ashwin delivery that took a sharp turn away from him only to see a diving Rahane pouch a brilliant catch at slip in the 25th over.

Sangakkara, considered one of the greatest batsmen, walked back to a standing ovation from the Galle crowd.

In the very next over, Mathews fell to a bouncing ball from leg-spinner Mishra. Mathews played the ball on to his pads and it went to Lokesh Rahul at silly point.

With the skipper’s wicket, Sri Lanka reeled at 95/5 when young batsmen Chandimal and Thirimanne joined hands.

Starting the second session at 108 for five and his team still trailing by 84 runs, unbeaten Chandimal felt that attack was the best mode of defence and showed his intentions early.

Ashwin picked his third wicket of the innings as left-hander Thirimanne edged one to Rahane at slip. It was Tamil Nadu’s Ashwin’s ninth wicket of the five-day match.

Chandimal was joined by Mubarak and they were going strong till Harbhajan induced an edge off the latter that was caught at slip by Rahane to reduce the hosts to 302/7.

Mishra removed Herath as the batsman edged it to slip fielder Rahane, who created a world record by taking eight catches in a single Test match.

Ishant accounted for Tharindu Kaushal (7) while Ashwin rattled the stumps of 11th man Nuwan Pradeep (3) as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 367, leaving India 176 runs to win the match.

Virat Kohli-captained India reached 23/1 with only the loss of Rahul, who was trapped in front of the stumps by left-arm spinner Herath.

(IANS)

Dhawan, Kohli centuries put India on top

August 13, 2015 by Nasheman

Galle: India skipper Virat Kohli struck an impressive century while opener Shikhar Dhawan scored 134 to help India extend their first innings lead to 121 runs at tea on Day 2 of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.

Kohli (103) and Dhawan both looked settled for even bigger knocks but both fell in the second session, thus ending their 227-run third-wicket partnership.

Wriddhiman Saha (23 not out) and Harbhajan Singh (0 not out) remained unbeaten as India reached 304/6 in 91 overs at tea after Sri Lanka were bowled out for 183 on Day One itself, thanks to an impressive six-wicket haul by off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Resuming the second day’s play at 128/2 on a sunny morning, Indian overnight batsman Kohli and Dhawan found it difficult to score freely as Lankan pacers and spinners bowled in tandem. The visitors hit their first boundary only in the 13th over of the day.

However, as the first hour of play progressed, the batsmen slowly settled down and took a vital 44-run first innings lead when the first session ended.

Coming on to the field after lunch, India played on an aggressive note as skipper Kohli brought up his 10th Test century in style. But he was dismissed soon after his ton, going back to the pavilion with the score at 255/3.

India received a double blow when incoming batsman Ajinkya Rahane was out for a duck on his fifth delivery with India at 257/4.

Set batsman Dhawan and Ashwin (7) also fell soon after to give Sri Lanka something to cheer about before tea was called.

(Agencies)

Cricket World Cup 2015: India crush South Africa in Melbourne

February 22, 2015 by Nasheman

Shikhar Dhawan hit a superb century as defending champions India maintained their unbeaten start to the World Cup with a 130-run win over South Africa.

by Justin Goulding, BBC Sport

India’s 307-7 was built around Dhawan’s 137, while Ajinkya Rahane made 79 off 60 balls and Virat Kohli 46.

South Africa were bowled out for 177 with 9.4 overs unused as Faf du Plessis’s departure for 55 sparked a collapse of seven wickets for 44 runs.

The defeat was South Africa’s heaviest in World Cup history.

India, who remain top of Pool B with two wins from two games, face the United Arab Emirates in Perth on Sunday, when victory will all but secure their place in the quarter-finals.

Fifth-placed South Africa play West Indies in Sydney on Friday, but the manner in which they subsided on a blameless surface cast doubts on their tag as one of the pre-tournament favourites.

Dhawan’s composed innings was typical of a measured rather than explosive batting display, and two run-outs in a crucial phase of the innings were reward for the pressure India created with an accomplished performance in the field.

“South Africa are such a good side, so I think that makes it an even more satisfying win,” said India captain MS Dhoni, whose side beat Pakistan in their opening game.

“It was a back-to-back good performance from both the bowling and batting unit. A couple of run-outs made things even more impressive.”

Dropped on 53 by Hashim Amla and fortunate not to be run out for 55, left-hander Dhawan combined fluent drives with meaty pulls in a 146-ball innings which featured 16 fours and two sixes.

Having lost Rohit Sharma cheaply after India won the toss, he added 127 with Kohli for the second wicket and 125 in 16 thrilling overs with Rahane for the third.

Dhawan eventually fell to a top-edged pull off Wayne Parnell, whose treatment late in the innings left him nursing figures of 1-85 off nine overs.

The Proteas’ options were limited by the absence of seamer Vernon Philander, who bowled only four overs because of a hamstring injury and will have a scan on Monday.

No South Africa batsman came close to playing with the composure shown by Dhawan as India’s fielders maintained the pressure created by Mohammed Shami’s early removal of Quinton de Kock.

Mohit Sharma had Hashim Amla taken at long leg and Du Plessis drilled the first ball of his second spell to mid-off, either side of Mohit’s most important contribution, running out South Africa captain AB de Villiers for 30 with a magnificent flat throw from deep point.

Smart work from Umesh Yadav and Dhoni accounted for the dangerous David Miller, and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hastened South Africa’s collapse to finish with 3-41.

South Africa’s previous heaviest World Cup defeat was by 83 runs to Australia in Basseterre in 2007.

“The run-outs cost us dearly, coming just when we got started with the bat in hand. That’s where we lost the game,” said De Villiers.

“It was not a good enough performance as a batting unit and now we have to regroup.”

India 71/1 after Australia post 505 at stumps on day three

December 19, 2014 by Nasheman

Brisbane: Steven Smith and Mitchell Johnson’s whirlwind partnership propelled Australia to a first innings score 505 runs, a lead of 97, but India made a solid start to their second innings, reaching 71 for one to trail by only 26 at stumps on day three of the second Test at the Gabba here Friday.

At stumps, India’s opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan and No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara were at the crease, on 26 and 15 respectively. First innings centurion Murali Vijay (27) was the Indian batsman to be dismissed.

Australia, though, will be happier of the two teams having fought back brilliantly from a precarious position to help themselves to a handy first innings lead.

Indian bowler’s ineptness at dismissing the tailenders once again cost them dear as Australia reached 505 from an uncomfortable position of 247 for six.

India have the worst average in Test cricket of giving away runs to tailenders. The visitors have given away 84 runs on an average to take the eighth, ninth and 10th wickets. Aned Friday’s performance gives credence to the fact.

Captain Steven Smith (133) and Mitchell Johnson (88) put together 148 runs for the seventh wicket as Australia smashed 282 runs in the first two sessions of play. To add to India’s woes No.8 batsman Mitchell Starc struck 52.

Starc combined first with Nathan Lyon (23) to add 56 runs for the ninth wicket and then with debutant Josh Hazlewood (not out 32) for a 51-run stand for the final wicket.

Pacers Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav took three wickets each while Varun Aaron and Ravichandran Ashwin shared four wickets among them.

Smith and Johnson, who counter-attacked with great fervour, though, laid the foundation of the fightback.

They carried on from where they left off at lunch and continued to be aggressive.

It finally took an Ishant over to get rid of the two. The Indian pacer first got Johnson with a wide and full delivery and then castled Smith with an sharp in-swinger.

Earlier, a blistering unbeaten 104-run partnership between captain Smith and Johnson took Australia to 351 for six at lunch.

The hosts seemed to be in a spot of bother when overnight batsman Mitchell Marsh (11) and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin (6) were dismissed early in the session, where they scored 130 runs.

India began the session brightly. The visitors began with discipline, attacking the channel outside off, and were rewarded with two early wickets.

Ishant clean bowled Mitchell Marsh and then Varun removed vice-captain Haddin with a perfectly executed bouncer.

However, India switched their plan and bowled short deliveries indiscriminately and Johnson feasted on them to run away to a 37-ball half-century. The error in judgement proved costly as Johnson got much-needed confidence to put together a vital 148-run partnership with Smith that nullified India’s eraly supremacy and put the home team in a strong position.

Smith moved to his second century of the four-match series as well, as India’s 187-run lead at the start of the day shrunk to 57. From them on Australia didn’t falter.

(IANS)

India cruise to easy series win against Sri Lanka

November 10, 2014 by Nasheman

Hyderabad: A superb all-round performance helped India cruise to a six-wicket win in the third One-Day International (ODI) against Sri Lanka and clinch the five-match series 3-0 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here Sunday.

Set a target of 243 runs, India coasted to victory in 44.1 overs, winning with 35 balls to spare. Opener Shikhar Dhawan played a stellar knock (91) and forged useful partnerships with Ajinkya Rahane (31) and Ambati Rayadu (35) to lead India to victory.

Skipper Virat Kohli also contributed with a solid 53, in the process becoming the quickest batsman to reach 6,000 ODI runs, taking only 136 innings to reach the feat. Pacer Umesh Yadav (4/53) wrecked Sri Lanka’s top order earlier in the day to help set up the triumph.

India approached their run chase in the right spirit, giving nothing away despite chasing a small target against a mediocre attack.

Dhawan was in hot form, hitting the ball superbly and dictating the proceedings. He was ably supported by Rahane and Rayudu. Kohli carried on the momentum after their departure to smoothen the road to victory.

Dhawan called upon his wide range of shots to give the opponents no ray of hope, becoming the fastest Indian and fifth fastest to reach 2,000 ODI runs, in just 48 innings.

But just when victory was in sight, first Dhawan and then Kohli fell. But that could do nothing to change the outcome of the match.

In the afternoon session, Sri Lanka rode on the back of a brilliant century from veteran Mahela Jayawardene to put up a total of 242.

Jayawardene, who struck his 17th century, was well supported by Tillakaratne Dilshan (53) at the start but, after the latter got out, no other batsman gave much support to Jayawardene. In the end, the visitors, who elected to bat, were bowled out for 242 in 48.2 overs.

Sri Lanka got off to a poor start after opener Kusal Perera (4) was caught behind on the sixth ball of the innings. Another veteran Kumar Sangakkara perished for a duck two runs later, leaving his team tottering at 7/2.

However, the 37-year-old Jayawardene showed his hunger for runs to score a well-planned 118 to bring up his 12,000 runs in ODI cricket. He caressed 12 boundaries and hit one six in his 125-ball innings.

Though opening batsman Dilshan was slow, he gave good support to Jayawardene to take his team out of trouble and strike a solid 105-run third wicket partnership which was eventually broken when Dilshan was caught off Ambati Rayudu.

Thereon, the tables turned for the visitors who could not forge big partnerships as Jayawardene kept running out of partners. The right hander, in order to accelerate the scoring, was stumped by India wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha with the team total at 225.

Seekkuge Prasanna contributed 29 runs lower down the order to take the visitors’ total to 242 before Sri Lanka were bowled out.

Pacer Umesh Yadav and left arm spinner Axar Patel were the pick of the Indian bowlers picking up four and three wickets, respectively.

(IANS)

Rahane and Dhawan score centuries, lead India to win over Sri Lanka

November 3, 2014 by Nasheman

Batting first, Indian Openers Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan scored tons to take India to 363/5 in 50 overs. The home team then defeated Sri Lanka by 169 runs in the first ODI. Photo: PTI

Cuttack: India defeated Sri Lanka by 169 runs in the first of the five match ODI bilateral series which kick-started at Cuttack yesterday.

Angelo Matthews won the toss and considering the dew factor, opted to bowl first. His decision looked good until the 20th over as the openers added only 90 runs , though both were given a life by Sangakkara.

It was in the 21st over bowled by Randiv, back into the side after 3 years, that things started to turn around. First it was Rahane who reached his 50 off 61 deliveries and then it was Dhawan’s show. He paddle swept the 3rd delivery to the boundary and in the next, reverse swept the bowler to bring 100 of the partnership. Not wanting to tail behind Rahane, he hit the bowler for a six to bring up his 50 in 65 deliveries.

With both the batsmen in full flow, the Indian team took the batting power play in the 24th over. The flood gates opened and each and every bowler on sight were dealt without mercy as boundaries were scored at will. The 2nd over of the power play bowled by Gamage yielded 15 runs while Matthews was taken apart for 18 runs in the 28th over. The Indian batsmen scored 62 runs in the power play overs and 105 between the 20th and 30th over.

Rahane was the first to reach his century in 99 deliveries while Dhawan reached it in the next over with a majestic six off 96 deliveries, his last 64 runs coming in just 35 deliveries. This was the first time after 2003, that both the Indian openers scored a century . The pair was separated only at the end of the 35th over with the score at 231 which consisted of 27 boundaries and 5 sixes.

Raina, playing his 200th ODI, scored a quick fire 52 off just 34 deliveries to keep up the scoring rate and in the process completed 5000 ODI runs. Quick wickets slowed down the rate, but it could not stop the Indians post 363 runs in 50 overs.

Chasing a mammoth score of 364 at a scoring rate of 7.3 RPO from the offset, Sri Lanka had a huge task ahead of them . India had a set back early on as Varon Aaron, bowling at speeds in excess of 150 had to leave the field after bowling just 4 overs. Thankfully it did not create a huge impact as by then the dangerous Dishan was back in the hut and Sri Lanka had just scored 39 in the first 10 overs. They lost wickets at regular intervals and with Sangakkara falling cheaply for 13, it was left to Jayawardane and Matthews to rescue the team.

Jayawardane was dismissed for a well made 43 off just 36 deliveries but his dismissal with the score at 130/5 with a required rate of 9.36 was a bit too much for the tail enders to achieve. The team folded in the 40th over with the score on 194 giving the Indians a huge 169 run victory. Ishanth Sharma was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped 4 batsmen giving away only 34 runs in his 8 overs while AR Patel bowled well to pick 2 wickets.

Scorecard
India: A. Rahane c Jayawardene b Randiv 111, S. Dhawan b Priyanjan 113, S. Raina lbw b Randiv 52, V. Kohli c Perera b Randiv 22, A. Rayudu c Perera b Gamage 27, W. Saha (not out) 10, A. Patel (not out) 14. Extras (lb 5, w 7, nb 2) 14. Total (for five wickets in 50 overs) 363.

FoW: 1-231, 2-247, 3-299, 4-314, 5-344.
Bowling: Prasad 9-0-60-0, Gamage 9-1-59-1, Mathews 4-0-33-0, Perera 7-0-51-0, Randiv 10-0-78-3, Prasanna 6-0-47-0, Dilshan 3-0-19-0, Priyanjan 2-0-11-1.

Sri Lanka: U. Tharanga c Dhawan b Ashwin 28, T. Dilshan c Saha b Yadav 18, K. Sangakkara c Saha b Sharma 13, M. Jayawardene c Kohli b Patel 43, S. Prasanna c Rahane b Patel 5, A. Mathews c Patel b Raina 23, S. Priyanjan c Saha b Sharma 12, T. Perera c Sharma b Yadav 29, S. Randiv b Sharma 5, G. Prasad c Saha b Sharma 0, L. Gamage (not out) 0. Extras (lb 4, w 13, nb 1) 18. Total (in 39.2 overs) 194.

FoW: 1-31, 2-61, 3-84, 4-109, 5-130, 6-144, 7-167, 8-175, 9-175.
Bowling: Yadav 6.2-2-24-2, Aaron 4.1-0-26-0, Sharma 8-1-34-4, Kohli 0.5-0-6-0, Ashwin 9-0-52-1, Patel 6-0-24-2, Raina 5-0-24-1.

Teams:
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli(c), Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Akshar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma.

Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara(w), Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews(c), Ashan Priyanjan, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Suraj Randiv, Dhammika Prasad, Lahiru Gamage.

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