Sports
T20 World Cup: Rohit & Co. smash the jinx, crown finds its new prince (Ld)
Bridgetown (Barbados), June 30 (IANS) South Africa needed 30 runs off 30 balls to win the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup. But Hardik Pandya’s 3-20 and Jasprit Bumrah’s 2-18 helped an unbeaten India to come back and clinch their second title in the shortest format with a seven-run win at the Kensington Oval on Saturday.
Talismanic batter Virat Kohli stepped up to end his lean run with a 59-ball 76 to help India post a competitive 176/7, the highest total in a Men’s T20 World Cup final. His 72-run stand for the fourth wicket with Axar Patel, who made 47 off 31 balls, and a 57-run partnership with Shivam Dube, who hit a 16-ball 27, helped India go past 175-run mark, as they got 42 runs off the last three overs.
In reply, South Africa were very much in sight to chase down the total. But Hardik taking out Heinrich Klaasen propelled India to come back into the match and emerge victorious to end a long 11-year global trophy drought as they restricted South Africa to 169/8.
India now join West Indies and England as two-time winners of the Men’s T20 World Cup, and give a winning farewell to head coach Rahul Dravid. With the ultimate glory achieved, it made way for emotional scenes – hugs, handshakes and tears welling up in the Indian camp, with ‘chak de india’ and ‘lehra do’ blaring from the loudspeakers.
It also meant Virat Kohli signed off from playing T20Is for India on a high with the World Cup trophy and the Player of the Match award in the final. When it mattered the most for India, Kohli stood up to be the hero of India’s innings with his crucial knock laced with six fours and two sixes.
Kohli got India going with three boundaries – drive through point, whip through square leg, and straight drive – on overpitched deliveries from Marco Jansen, as 15 runs came off the opening over. Rohit Sharma got going with a cut and reverse-sweep fetching him consecutive deliveries off Keshav Maharaj.
But Maharaj bounced back as he had Rohit sweeping aerially to square leg to fall for nine, followed by dismissing Rishabh Pant for a two-ball duck when the top-edge on his sweep off a full and wide ball ballooned off the toe-end to keeper Quinton de Kock.
Kagiso Rabada struck in the fifth over when Suryakumar Yadav moved across to whip a back-of-a-length ball, but fine leg advanced to his left and took a spectacular catch to fall for just three, as India were reduced to 34/3 in 4.3 overs.
With Kohli taking up the busy strike rotation role in rebuilding India’s innings, pinch-hitter Axar took up attacking mantle by clipping Rabada for four, clearing deep mid-wicket to get a six off Markram, slog-sweeping Maharaj for a maximum over the same region and hitting a flat six down on one knee to just clear long-on for a six off Tabraiz Shamsi.
Axar brought up India’s hundred in 13.1 overs by hammering Rabada for a six down the ground. But a ball and wide later, South Africa produced a moment of magic when Kohli missed a delivery and the ball went behind to de Kock, who ran-out Axar, who turned back and ran slowly, with a direct hit and send him back for 47.
With Kohli still finding fielders and not getting timing to hit boundaries, Dube got in to loft Jansen for six and then slog-sweep Shamsi for four more. After Kohli got his first fifty of the tournament in 48 balls with a single off Nortje, Dube ended the 17th over with a slice past backward point for four.
Kohli got his first six of the competition by slogging Rabada over long-on for six and then pulled the pacer for four more, as 16 runs came off 18th over. Kohli clipped and slogged Jansen for four and six respectively, before the pacer dragged his length back and had the batter holing out to long-on.
Hardik Pandya came in and top-edged a pull off Jansen over keeper’s head for four, as 17 runs came off the 19th over. Dube struck Nortje down the ground past a diving mid-on for four, before the pacer bounced back by taking out him and Ravindra Jadeja on the last three balls of the innings to take India to a competitive total.
Player of the Tournament Bumrah gave India the perfect start to their defence of 177 by castling Reeza Hendricks with an outswinger in the second over. Arshdeep Singh struck in the next over as Aiden Markram chased a wide wobble-seam delivery and Pant dived to his right to complete the catch.
Quinton de Kock guided Bumrah in the gap between slip and short third man for four, before he and Tristan Stubbs took a boundary each off Axar Patel in the fifth over. De Kock ended the power-play with a four cut off Kuldeep Yadav as South Africa made 42/2 in the six-over phase.
Stubbs nailed his slog-sweep off Axar for four, before smashing an off-drive off Kuldeep for picking another boundary. De Kock brought up the half-century of his partnership with a booming slog-sweep off Kuldeep sailing over the solar-panelled stadium roof for six.
Stubbs stayed low to sweep a short ball from Axar for four, before moving across to sweep again off the spinner. But he missed the delivery and was bowled around his legs to be out for 31 as India broke the 58-run third-wicket stand in the ninth over.
Heinrich Klaasen began by slapping a short and wide ball from Hardik Pandya for six, before going on backfoot to club Ravindra Jadeja down the ground for another maximum. The shot of the innings came from Klaasen when he stood still and deep in the crease to loft Kuldeep over extra cover for six.
De Kock welcomed Arshdeep with a flicked four, but an attempt to pull resulted in the batter giving a catch to fine leg in the 13th over. Miller got into the act by cutting Kuldeep through four and rocking back at the crease to pull over mid-wicket for six.
Klaasen again stayed deep in the crease to whack Axar down the ground for four and followed it up with muscling consecutive leg-side sixes, before bringing out lofted drive over extra cover for another boundary as 24 runs came off the 15th over.
Klaasen got his fifty in 23 balls, but the turning point of the match came when he nicked behind to Pant while chasing a wide delivery from Pandya to fall for 52 off 27 deliveries. With pressure building in, Bumrah came to castle Jansen through the gate to end his day with 2-18.
After Arshdeep gave away four runs in the 19th over, the equation came down to 16 needed off the last over. Miller went for a loft off Hardik, but it came off the toe-end and Suryakumar, at long-off, ran to lob the ball in the air and came back on the field to take the catch and have him out for 17-ball 21. Hardik had Rabada holing out in the deep as India held their nerve to win the title and spark jubilant plus emotional scenes in Barbados and at home.
Brief Scores: India 176/7 (Virat Kohli 76, Axar Patel 47; Keshav Maharaj 2-23, Anrich Nortje 2-26) beat South Africa 169/8 (Heinrich Klaasen 52, Quinton de Kock 39; Hardik Pandya 3-20, Jasprit Bumrah 2-18) by seven runs
–IANS
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Pallekele (Sri Lanka), July 31 (IANS) Rinku Singh and Suryakumar Yadav’s late bowling efforts combined with Washington Sunder’s Super Over show helped India beat Sri Lanka in the third T20I at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium here to sweep the series 3-0 on Tuesday.
Chasing a below-par 138, the hosts had a brilliant start with openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis raising a 58-run partnership for the first wicket. Spinner Ravi Bishnoi broke the opening stand in the ninth over. Kusal Perera joined Mendis in the middle and stitched another big partnership of 52 runs to lay the foundation for a comfortable win. However, Bishnoi once again gave the hosts a jolt by removing Mendis (43) in the 16th over.
At that time, Sri Lanka needed 28 runs off 28 balls. But things took a left turn for the hosts as their batting faltered agonisingly and were reduced to 132/6 in 19 overs. Rinku Singh bagged two wickets including the scalp of Perera (46) in the penultimate over of the innings which was his first of the match.
In the final over, surprisingly Suryakumar came on to defend six runs off six balls. Astonishingly, he did wonders and restricted Sri Lanka to 137/8, the exact total that India posted to tie the match.
The match went into the Super Over in which Washington Sundar dismissed both Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka to restrict Sri Lanka to 2/2 in 0.3 overs.
In reply, Suryakumar hit a boundary of the first ball off Maheesh Theekshana’s Super Over to stay unbeaten in the series.
Earlier, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal started things for the visiting side with the former returning to the side after missing the second game. India had a miserable start to the innings with Theekshana drawing first blood for his side with the scalp of Jaiswal (10) in the second over.
Sanju Samson, who replaced Rishabh Pant in the match, came to bat at No. 3 but his stay did not last long in the middle as he was sent back to the pavilion for a four-ball duck by Chamindu Wickramasinghe in the next over.
Rinku Singh (1) and captain Suryakumar Yadav’s (8) early dismissals inside the Power-play added further misery to India’s batting line-up. India were reeling at 30/4 in 5.4 overs. Mendis removed Shivam Dube (13) in the ninth over to further dent India’s hopes of rebuilding the innings.
However, the 54-run partnership between Gill and Riyan Parag proved vital for the visitors as the duo steered the side to the 100-run mark and gave them respite in the middle overs. Wanindu Hasaranga broke the stand in the 16th over by snatching the wickets of both set batters — Gill (39) and Parag (26) — in his final over of the spell. He finished with the figures of 2-29 in his allotted quota of overs.
In the end, Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi added some crucial runs to the scoreboard before the former lost his wicket in the last over of the innings. He played a knock of 25 runs off 18 balls including two fours and a six while Bishnoi stayed unbeaten for eight runs.
For Sri Lanka, Theekshana bagged three scalps in his four overs to finish with best figures for the home side.
India have rested four players — Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh and Pant — for the match with an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Both teams will now lock horns in the three-match ODI series, starting on August 2 in Colombo.
Brief scores: India 137/9 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 39, Riyan Parag 26; Wanindu Hasaranga 2-29, Maheesh Theekshana 3-28) against Sri Lanka 137/8 in 20 overs (Kusal Mendis 43, Kusal Perera 46; Rinku Singh 2-3, Suryakumar Yadav 2-5).
Super Over
Sri Lanka: 2/2 in 0.3 over
India: 4/0 in 0.1 over
–IANS
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Paris, July 31 (IANS) India continued to have mixed results in Olympic Games archery fields as top male archer Dhiraj Bommadevara made it to the Round of 32 with a 7-1 win against Czechia’s Adam Li here on Tuesday. After Bhajan Kaur won her match to reach pre-quarters and Ankita Bhakat lost in the Women’s Individual Competition, Bommadevara’s victory kept alive India’s hopes of a medal following the disappointing performance in the Team Competition.
The 22-year-old Bommadevara, who finished fourth in the ranking round, showed good form at the Les Invalides on Tuesday as he won his opening match. Bouncing back from Monday’s disappointing defeat in the men’s team event, Bommadevara hit 10s on seven of his 12 shots against Olympic debutant Adam Li.
Bommadevara will be next up against Canada’s Eric Peters, a former Youth Olympics bronze medallist, in the men’s Individual Round of 32 match.
Earlier, Bhajan Kaur dominated Poland’s Wioleta Myszor in straight sets in the Round of 16 Elimination Round to register a 6-0 victory and reach the pre-quarterfinals. World Ranked 45, Bhajan Kaur scored 28, 29, 28 in the three sets to confirm her qualification to the next round. Myszor was not able to find her footing in the match as she struggled with scores of 23, 26, and 22 with only one shot in the inner-10 circle.
However, Ankita Bhakat’s defeat on Tuesday spread some disappointment in the camp as she was eliminated just moments before Kaur’s match.
Despite being just one set away from victory whilst possessing a 4-2 lead, Ankita lost the final two sets and missed out on qualifying for the next stage with a 4-6 loss against Poland’s Wioleta Myszor.
–IANS
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New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) Indian Super League (ISL) teams Punjab FC and NorthEast United started their respective campaigns in Durand Cup 2024 on a positive note, registering solid wins. Punjab defeated CISF Protectors 3-0 in Kolkata while NorthEast United handed Bodoland FC a 2-0 defeat in an all-Assam derby at the SAI Stadium in Kokrajhar.
A couple of strikes from Punjab FC’s star Slovenian striker Luka Majcen, and a late penalty from Vinit Rai, were enough for the Shers to put it across the CISF Protectors, in Group C’s opening game of the ongoing Durand Cup at the Kishore Bharati Krirangan.
Punjab were dominant throughout and never looked like conceding, however, they were also wasteful, which their new Greek coach Panagiotis Dilmperis, will look to improve upon as the tournament progresses.
Majcen finally broke through in the 30th minute, latching on to a ball from Nikhil Prabhu, who also had a brilliant game, and driving through a wide gap in the centre of the CISF defence to power a left-footer past Mahato into the left-bottom corner. That would remain the only goal of the first half.
Majcen’s second goal of the game came just ahead of the hour mark and Nikhil Prabhu was involved again as his chip found Filip Mrzljak’s run on the right wing. The Croatian midfielder delivered a low cross and Majcen’s first-time strike did make Mahato get a hand on it, but he was unable to keep it out.
Then in the 75th minute, Punjab substitute Ranjeet Pandre was brought down inside the box by Mahato and Vinit Rai wrong-footed the keeper confidently to make it 3-0 and three points safely in the bag for Punjab.
Earlier in the day, two second-half goals by Jithin M.S and Ankith Padmanabhan ensured NorthEast United secured all three points against Bodoland FC in the opening match of Group E at the SAI Stadium in Kokrajhar.
The first half was evenly poised with both teams showing some intent while attacking, but it was NorthEast who had the better chances.
The Highlanders did score twice but the goals were chalked off for a handball inside the box and the second one for offside. NorthEast United came off the blocks firing on all cylinders and scored within four minutes in the second half.
Jithin M.S. received the ball on the left wing and sidestepped his marker to finish expertly past the on-rushing keeper. NorthEast controlled the match thereafter as Bodoland’s attack fizzled out giving the ISL side complete control.
NorthEast put the match in the bag in injury time through a flowing counterattack. Phalguni Singh received a through ball in the left wing and the forward found Ankith Padmanabhan inside the box, who chipped the onrushing keeper smartly to give all three points to the Highlanders and the bragging rights in the all-Assam derby
On Wednesday, Chennaiyin FC will start their campaign against the Indian Army Football Team in a Group D encounter at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur. In the second match of the day, former champions Bengaluru FC will face Indian Navy Football in a Group B encounter at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata.
–IANS
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Paris, July 30 (IANS) Japan bagged gold medals in Judo, Skateboarding, and Fencing to add to the one in Artistic Gymnastics as it maintained its position atop the medal tally at the Olympics here on Tuesday. Japan has so far won three gold medals in Judo taking their told medal count to seven and a total medal haul of 13.
China was following close behind with six gold medals maintaining their upper hand in shooting and diving. They have also six silver and two bronze medals for a total count of 14 medals.
Hosts France continued to surprise, placed in third position after picking gold medals in Canoe Slalom and Cycling (Mountain Bike).
Despite winning their second medal — a bronze that came via Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh, India slipped to 31st position in the table.
MEDAL TALLY
Top 5 and India:
Nation G S B T
1) Japan 7 2 4 13
2) China 6 6 2 14
3) France 5 8 4 17
4) Australia 5 4 0 9
5) S. Korea 5 3 3 11
31) India 0 0 2 2
–IANS
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Paris, July 30 (IANS) India’s Jaismine Lamboria was eliminated after losing 0-5 against Philippine boxer Nesthy Petecio who won on points in the opening round of the 57kg women’s category ending her campaign. The five judges called the bout as 27-30, 27-30, 27-30, 28-29 and 28-29 in favour of the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Petecio.
Despite Jaismine possessing the height advantage on her opponent, she looked a bit static throughout the fight with Nesthy using her speed and agility to her advantage. Jasmine tried her best to go in for the knockout in the final moments of the bout but was not able to connect against the experienced fighter.
Earlier in the day, Asian Games bronze medalist Amit Panghal was knocked out of the Paris Olympics after losing to Africa Games champion Zambia’s Patrick Chinyemba 1-4 in the 51kg.
Preeti Pawar will face Colombia’s Yeni Marcela Arias in the Women’s 54kg Round of 16 match later on Tuesday night. She will be hoping to make a deep run in the tournament and aim to achieve India’s fourth-ever medal in boxing after Vijender Singh (bronze in 2008 Beijing), Mary Kom (bronze in 2012 London) and Lovlina Borgohain (bronze in 2020 Tokyo)
–IANS
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