National
Women’s World Cup: Australia maintain unbeaten streak with five-wicket win over Bangladesh
Six-time champions Australia maintained their unbeaten streak in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup with a five-wicket win over Bangladesh in a rain-affected 43-over affair at the Basin Reserve.
The win was achieved mainly on the back of Beth Mooney making a fighting, unbeaten 66 and sharing an unbroken stand of 65 with Annabel Sutherland (26 not out) to chase down 136 in 32.1 overs.
The efforts of Mooney and Sutherland came after spinner Salma Khatun, with her three for 23, gave a huge scare to Australia by taking out Alyssa Healy, Rachael Haynes and captain Meg Lanning in quick succession.
Things went worse when Tahlia McGrath and Ashleigh Gardner fell too. But it wasn’t enough as Mooney fought through wind, freezing cold and Bangladesh, with some support from Sutherland, to help Australia maintain their clean slate in the league stage of the mega event.
Earlier, after a delayed start due to rain, Lata Mondal top-scored for Bangladesh with an excellent 33 as Gardner and left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen took four wickets between themselves to restrict them to 135/6.
Murshida Khatun (12) and Sharmin Akhter (24) were able to safely negotiate an Australia seam attack missing star all-rounder Ellyse Perry because of injury. The pair took the score along to 33 without too much trouble. But the introduction of Gardner (2/23) changed things for Australia as Khatun fell.
Fargana Hoque (8) was dismissed by Annabel Sutherland (1/22), before Akhter and skipper Nigar Sultana (7) fell to Jess Jonassen (2/13) in quick succession to leave Bangladesh in tatters at 62/4. Rumana Ahmed (15) combined with Mondal for a 33-run stand.
But their total was never going to be enough as Mooney scripted yet another rescue act to ensure Australia entered the knockout stages of the tournament with seven wins in as many matches.
Brief Scores: Australia 136/5 in 32.1 overs (Beth Mooney 66 not out, Annabel Sutherland 26 not out; Salma Khatun 3/23, Nahida Akter 1/33) beat Bangladesh 135/6 in 43 overs (Lata Mondal 33, Sharmin Akhter 24; Jess Jonassen 2/13, Ashleigh Gardner 2/20) by five wickets
National
PV Sindhu Exits In Pre-Quarters Of Japan Masters, India’s Campaign Ends
India’s campaign came to a premature end as double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu crashed out in the pre-quarterfinals of the Kumamoto Masters Japan Super 500 badminton tournament here on Thursday.
World no. 20 Sindhu was the lone Indian in contention after the exits of Lakshya Sen and women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand.
Sindhu squandered a game lead to lose 21-17 16-21 17-21 against Canada’s Michelle Li, ranked 23rd in the world, in a women’s singles match that lasted one hour and 15 minutes.
It was neck and neck between the two shuttlers in the first game before Sindhu took a marginal 11-8 lead and from there on kept her nose just ahead to take early advantage.
Trailing, Li came out attacking in the second game and raced to a 8-3 lead before Sindhu clawed back as the scoreline read 16-16 at one time.
But Li then upped her game and pocketed five straight points to draw parity in the contest.
The decider witnessed a close battle between the two shuttlers till 17 points when Li forced the pace, pocketing four straight points to wrap up the match. The Canadian was also helped by Sindhu’s unforced errors.
Li will play Siouth Korea’s Yu Jin Sim in the quarterfinals.
National
Suryakumar Yadav Watches India Beat Afghanistan In 3rd T20I From Hospital Bed After Groin Surgery In Germany
India batter Suryakumar Yadav may not be a part of the recent T20I series winning squad against Afghanistan but he made sure to catch up on all the matches even from his hospital bed in Germany.
Surya underwent a successful groin surgery on Wednesday after which he watched India win the 3rd T20I in Bengaluru.
The No.1-ranked T20I batter went under the knife for a sports hernia, a condition for which KL Rahul was also operated upon, co-incidentally in Germany last year.”Surgery done. I want to thank everyone for their concerns and well wishes for my health, and I am happy to tell you all that I will be back very soon,” Surya said in a post on his social media accounts after the surgery.The 33-year-old batsman has been inactive since suffering a left ankle injury while fielding in the third T20I against South Africa at Johannesburg last month, shortly after achieving a century in 56 balls.
Subsequently, he was seen walking with a moonboot, indicating the severity of the injury. Numerous reports have also suggested that Suryakumar underwent surgery on the injured ankle.
Following this, he underwent rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru before traveling to Germany for a groin operation.
It remains uncertain whether Suryakumar will recover in time for the start of IPL 2024, scheduled to commence possibly from the third week of March.In the IPL, Suryakumar has been a key player for the five-time champions Mumbai Indians. His availability will be crucial for the Indian team as they prepare for the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, scheduled from June 1 to 29 in the USA and the West Indies.
National
IPL 2024 Auction: Mitchell Starc Becomes Most Expensive Player In History, Bought By KKR For ₹24.75 Crore
Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc broke the all-time record for the most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League after he was bought for a whopping ₹24.75 Crore by Kolkata Knight Riders at the auction in Dubai.
Starc broke the record for the highest bid in IPL auction history just minutes after his Australia captain Pat Cummins was sold for ₹20.50 crore to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The left-arm pacer drew the maximum eyeballs when his name came up in the auction. The 33-year-old has not played in the IPL since 2015 after making his debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014.
KKR justify Starc’s price tag
“The entire salary cap for franchises when IPL started in 2008 was ₹20 crore. Things have changed.
“But our view is, when the auction is over all the 10 teams are going to walk out of the auction having spent ₹100 crores. And each team decides to slice it differently.”So what you have paid to somebody, up or down, is a matter of perspective. Ultimately we are all spending the same amount of money,” KKR CEO Venky Mysore justified the amount paid for Starc.
Notable Acquisitions in the IPL 2024 Auction
In addition to the significant acquisition of Pat Cummins, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) secured the services of Travis Head, the hero of the World Cup final, for a substantial sum of Rs 6.80 crore.
Harshal Patel, previously with Royal Challengers Bangalore, emerged as a sought-after player, fetching a lucrative deal from Punjab Kings, who invested Rs 11.75 crore in the out-of-favor Indian pacer.
Daryl Mitchell, following his impressive performance in the ODI World Cup, enjoyed a substantial payday as Chennai Super Kings splurged Rs 14 crore to secure the services of the New Zealand batter.
-
Maharashtra2 months ago
Mumbai Local Train Update: Central Railway’s New Timetable Comes Into Effect; Check Full List Of Revised Timings & Stations
-
Crime2 years ago
Class 10 student jumps to death in Jaipur
-
Maharashtra2 months ago
False photo of Imtiaz Jaleel’s rally, exposing the fooling conspiracy
-
National News1 month ago
Ministry of Railways rolls out Special Drive 4.0 with focus on digitisation, cleanliness, inclusiveness and grievance redressal
-
Maharashtra1 month ago
Mumbai To Go Toll-Free Tonight! Maharashtra Govt Announces Complete Toll Waiver For Light Motor Vehicles At All 5 Entry Points Of City
-
Crime1 month ago
Baba Siddique Murder: Mumbai Police Unable To Get Lawrence Bishnoi Custody Due To Home Ministry Order, Says Report
-
National News2 months ago
J&K: 4 Jawans Killed, 28 Injured After Bus Carrying BSF Personnel For Poll Duty Falls Into Gorge In Budgam; Terrifying Visuals Surface
-
Bollywood2 months ago
Aditya Roy Kapur, Anil Kapoor’s The Night Manager Gets Nominated In Emmys 2024