Dubai, Oct 20 (Cricket news) India fine-tuned their T20 World Cup preparations with a convincing nine-wicket win over Australia in their final warm-up game here on Wednesday but the sixth bowler's slot remained a worry as even Virat Kohli rolled his arm over going into the tournament proper.

Captaining the side with Kohli only taking the field to bowl, Rohit Sharma (60 retired off 41) showed sublime touch alongside opening partner K L Rahul (39 off 31) as India chased down Australia's 152 for five in 17.5 overs.

Suryakumar Yadav (38 not out off 27) came at number three in Kohli's absence and got valuable time in the middle which should boost his confidence going ahead.

Hardik Pandya (14 not out off 8) came at four to finish the game and he did it with a clean hit over the bowler's head.

Another plus for India was seasoned pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar finding rhythm after a poor outing against England. India had also beaten England in their earlier practice game.

The batting department looks more or less settled and the five specialist bowlers also inspire confidence but the same can't be said about the extra bowling option with Hardik not bringing his all-round skills to the table at the moment.

"Hardik is coming along pretty well, but it'll be a while before he will start to bowl. He hasn't started bowling, but he should be ready by the start of the tournament," said Rohit at the toss for the warm-up match against Australia.

The team management is hoping he will be ready to bowl during India's World Cup campaign which begins with the marquee clash against Pakistan on Sunday.

Skipper Kohli kept things tight with two overs of medium pace but to expect him to do the job in high-pressure scenarios would be asking for too much from him.

India conceded 58 runs off the last five overs and that is something they would like to improve on.

After losing the toss, India put up a decent bowling effort.

Rohit mentioned at the toss that Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were rested from the game but the skipper took the field to bowl a couple of overs in which he conceded 12 runs.

India had Australia on the mat at 11 for three after Aaron Finch opted to bat first. David Warner's barren run continued after a failed attempt at a reverse sweep had him trapped in front off Ravichandran Ashwin.

With his very next ball, Ashwin got rid of birthday boy Mitchell Marsh who played for the turn which wasn't there only to edge it to the first slip.

Ravindra Jadeja had Finch trapped LBW with a slider off his very first ball, leaving Australia with a lot of work to do.

Steve Smith (57 off 48) and in-form Glenn Maxwell (37 off 28) tried to break the shackles with a 61-run partnership.

While Maxwell used his reverse sweep to good effect, Smith kept himself busy by rotating the strike.

After Maxwell fell to a conventional sweep, Smith and Marcus Stoinis (41 not out off 25 balls) got together and provided a much needed final flourish to the innings.

Smith smashed Shardul Thakur for three successive fours in the 17th over before Stoinis hit a straight six and a boundary off mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, who conceded 23 runs off his two overs.

After a bad day in office against England, Bhuvneshwar found his rhythm and was effective both at the start and in the death.

India, however, would be a tad disappointed to give away so many runs in the death overs and help Australia's recovery.

Also Read : The journey of David Wiese from playing for South Africa to Namibia

News Source : PTI

Abu Dhabi, Oct 20 (Cricket news) In a sensational display of power-hitting, David Wiese conjured up a 66-run knock to fashion Namibia's six-wicket win over the Netherlands in a crucial first round Group A game of the T20 World Cup here on Wednesday.

Wiese's maiden international half-century changed the pace of the game in matter of minutes as runs flew thick and fast after he took charge at the crease and in the process added 93 runs with skipper Gerhard Erasmus (32) for the fourth wicket.

Chasing 165 to stay alive in the competition, debutants Namibia were stuttering at 52 for three after nine overs but Wiese single-handedly sank the Dutch side.

His onslaught on the spinners, especially the monstrous straight sixes, was a treat to watch as the Dutch bowlers were guilty of putting the balls in the slot for Wiese to clobber.

And even if the pacers drew the length a bit back, the 36-year-old Wiese had enough power to muscle the ball around for big shots.

He raised his fifty in just 29 balls, with a six off rival skipper Pietar Seelar. His 40-ball unbeaten knock was adorned with five sixes and four shots to the fence.

Erasmus too timed the ball beautifully and got boundaries with ease in his 22-ball knock that had four fours and a six.

The victory has kept Namibia in hunt for the Super-12 stage and now need to beat Ireland in their final game in the first round. They had lost to Sri Lanka in their opening match.

The Netherlands now have lost both their games and their chances to make it to the next stage are quite low.

Earlier, opener Max O'Dowd (70) struck his second consecutive half-century and shared a 82-run stand with Colin Ackermann (35) to help the Netherland post a competitive 164 for four.

O'Dowd, who had hit 51 against Ireland in the previous match, expressed himself freely, going after the bowlers. At times he played uppish shots, not exactly in control but still kept finding the gaps to keep the scoreboard going.

His 57-ball knock had six fours and a six.

Stroke making was not easy on the wicket and his opening partner Stephan Myburgh (17) was happy playing the ball according to merit.

Myburgh got out when he tried to slap one hard from Frylinck but ended up giving a simple catch to Baard at point.
The Dutch side had high hopes from experienced Roelof van der Merwe (6) but he also fell cheaply off pacer David Wiese.

Next-man in Ackermann though timed the ball nicely and even used his feet effectively.

O'Dowd completed his fifty with an inside-out boundary off the bowling of spinner Bernard Scholtz in the cover region. That shot also brought up hundred of the side in the 14th over.

Pacer JJ Smit was impressive with his accurate widish deliveries in slog overs, not letting the Dutch batters score freely. Wiese too kept it tight.

Also Read : The journey of David Wiese from playing for South Africa to Namibia

News Source : PTI

Mumbai, Oct 20 (Sports news) Ace cueist Pankaj Advani maintained his excellent winning streak as he eased past Laxman Rawat 4-2 for his fifth successive win in the round-robin league matches of the "GSC World Snooker Qualifiers".

The Qualifiers are the BSFI National Selection Tournament, organized by 'The Sportal' and played at the Goregaon Sports Club.

Pankaj dished out a steady composed performance to dash the challenge from Laxman and cruised to victory with the frame scores reading 61-67, 67-19, 84-23, 65-48, 43-75 and 68-31 in his favour, a release said.

This was Pankaj's fifth straight win in the selection tournament and he has a match in hand against National champion Aditya Mehta.

Earlier, Aditya recorded his fourth win defeating Laxman 4-3 in his fifth round match.

The lanky Aditya, who had suffered a 2-4 defeat at the hands of Dhvaj Haria in the third round, came up with the goods when it mattered most to carve out a 131 (65)-00, 35-69, 20-76, 72-20 00-93(75), 60-47 and 65-31 victory.

In women's Y-camp action, Tamil Nadu cueists Varsha Sanjeev and Anupama Ramchandran, both enjoyed smooth sailing winning their respective fifth round matches in three straight frames on Wednesday morning. 

Also Read : Pankaj Advani shines with 121 points break

News Source : PTI

(Cricket news) David Wiese started off on his cricketing journey in South Africa playing in the domestic circuit. Born to a Namibian father, Weise qualifies to represent both nations as he has represented South Africa in 2016 and now will again play in the World Cup but this time for Namibia. He has represented South Africa in 6 ODI’s and 20 T20’s scoring 194 runs and picking up 33 wickets in the process.

A man who has played franchise cricket all over the world brings a tremendous amount of experience in the Namibian set up. His last international was in March 2016 before he signed a Kolpak deal with Sussex in 2017 which subsequently meant that he wouldn’t be able to play international cricket anymore. Weise was brought into the Namibian squad by the strong South African contingent in the back room staff coached by Albie Morkel and Pierre de Bruyn. 
David Wiese when asked about his representation for Namibia said, “ It was always something that was in the back of my mind, but then I started playing for the Titans and got picked for the Proteas and it kind of fell away. And after playing for South Africa I would have had to wait four years to play for Namibia. So while the thought has always been there I'd be lying if I said I expected to be here. I never thought I would actually end up using my Namibian passport. We are underdogs of note, and I think everybody has written us off. But what I've gathered from the Namibian side is that's almost the way they like it." 

Also read: Pace attack seeming to be the weapon for South Africa in the ICC T20 World Cup

Wiese on the Kolpak contract said, “The Kolpak era ended on January 1, and several previously vilified figures have since returned to the South African domestic fold. For CSA it's probably a good thing because they won't be losing so many players. From a UK point of view, the Kolpak rule strengthened the county circuit. They can't say we just went there and didn't do anything. We made their players better by playing against them. Now what? Could we get back into the system at CSA? Have too many bridges already been burnt? I'd like to think there is still a place for us in the South African set-up. Whether there's too much animosity towards us for deserting and going away, or whatever, we'll have to wait and see. I'd like to think there's a bigger picture. Last year Andrew Breetzke [the chief executive of the South African Cricketers' Association] got in touch with us and said they want to sit down with the Kolpak guys and mend fences so we could play domestically again to add experience and almost help out. I'd love to play another season in South Africa. The Titans will always be close to my heart and I'll always consider them my home team”.

Hisar, Oct 20 (Boxing news) Olympians Simranjit Kaur (60kg) and Pooja Rani (81kg) headline a strong field for the National Women's Boxing Championship, which will double up as a selection trial for the world championships, starting here on Thursday.

The tournament, which is being conducted in association with Haryana Boxing Sangh, will see participation of more than 320 boxers from 36 States/UTs/Boards from across the country.

Apart from Simranjit (60kg) and Pooja (81kg), who is the reigning Asian champion, 2019 World Championships bronze-medallist Jamuna Boro (54kg), defending champion Pwilao Basumatary (60kg) and Asian Championships bronze medallist Jaismine (60kg) will be seen presenting strong challenges.

The federation has announced that gold winners from the event will be selected for the world championships, except for Olympic bronze-medallist Lovlina Borgohain, who has been given direct place in the squad based on her Tokyo performance.

Veteran M C Mary Kom has decided not to compete.

Reigning youth world champions -- Manipur's Babyrojisana Naorem (54kg), Sanamacha Thokchom (75kg) and Rajasthan's Arundhati Choudhary (70kg) -- will also be seen in action in the tournament, which will be played till October 27.

The opening ceremony will take place on Thursday which will be attended by Deputy Commissioner, Hisar Dr Priyanka Soni as chief guest alongside BFI General Secretary Hemanta Kumar Kalita and Treasurer Digvijay Singh.

The championships will be played as per the AIBA's 12 weight divisions -- 48kg, 50kg, 52kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, 63kg, 66kg, 70kg, 75kg, 81kg and +81kg.

The gold and silver medallists of the championships will also earn themselves places in the national coaching camp.

The remaining two names for the camp in each category will be selected on the basis of performances in selection trials, which will take place right after the nationals.

In the last edition of the championships held in Kannur, Kerala in 2019, Railways had clinched the team championship title with six gold medals while Haryana finished the runners-up.

Also Read : Mary Kom to skip Nationals

News Source : PTI

Panchkula, Oct 20 (Golf news) Young golfer Pranavi Urs grabbed the first round lead in the 11th leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour after carding a three-under 69 in the opening round here on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old, who has tasted success twice as an amateur and then two more times as a professional on the Tour, took a one-shot lead over Amandeep Drall.

Pranavi, who won once earlier this year, had four birdies against one bogey, while Amandeep, winner last week, had a bogey each in the first and 10th holes against four birdies, three of which came on the back nine.

Seher Atwal had two birdies in the last three holes in her card of one-under 71. She had one bogey on par-5 15th and then birdies on 16th and 17th.

Lakhmehar Pardesi (73) was fourth, while amateur Kriti Chowhan and Jahanvi Bakshi shot 74 each.

Vani Kapoor (75) was sixth. Amateur Avani Prashanth and Rhea Jha carded 76 each, while five players shot 77 each in tied 10th place and they were Hitaashee Bakshi, amateur Puneet K Bajwa, Rhea Saravanan, Gauri Karhade and Ishvari Prasanna.

Pranavi, who also went to Europe for a couple of starts to test her game, seemed to have found her rhythm early.

She birdied the second and fifth holes but dropped a shot on seventh. Birdies on 11th and 15th added to her performance as she closed with 69, the only sub-70 round of the day.

Also Read : In-form Amandeep eye good outing at 11th leg of Hero WPGT

News Source : PTI