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Don’t want to lose momentum after winning five successive games: Beth Mooney

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3 years ago

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Australian cricketer Beth Mooney wants her team to maintain the same momentum in the league game against South Africa when the two unbeaten teams so far clash in the ICC Women’s World Cup at Basin Reserve here on Tuesday.

While Australia, led my Meg Lanning, have won all five games so far to become the first team to enter the World Cup semifinal knock-outs, South Africa have won all four of their games and are on eight points. A win on Tuesday will also help them secure a last-four berth.

Up against the only other unbeaten team in the tournament so far, Australian all-rounder Mooney said her squad had the “depth” to push the Proteas all the way.

“I think towards this back end of this competition, you want to gather as much momentum as you can, leading into the semis and potentially a final. So we’ve shown that we’ve got the depth within the squad to make sure we’re pushing the letter a bit and competing as world class team,” Mooney said on the eve of the match.

“So tomorrow (Tuesday), will be no different for us, I’m sure we’ll put our best team out in the park, even though we have locked in that semifinal game. Obviously, we still want to make a huge statement leading into that semifinal as well. So I’m sure you’ll see the best to the Australian team across the next two games.”

On whether she felt the Proteas were the most likely challengers to Australia for the World Cup title, Mooney opined that every team competing in the tournament has been “an absolute challenge”, adding that South Africa had been “really impressive” and “really consistent”.

“Everyone at this World Cup has been an absolute challenge. You can’t just look at one team and think that they’re going to run away with the competition. South Africa have shown that they can win those close games, which, obviously it’s been really impressive. And they look like they’ve been playing a really consistent brand of cricket as well. So yeah, essentially, tomorrow’s a huge game for us just like every other game in this World Cup,” opined Mooney.

Mooney, whose team has not played South Africa in the 50-over format for a very long time now, felt that the experience of competing with and against their players in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) will give her side a big advantage in the key clash.

“It’s a huge point (not playing South Africa in ODIs) that got raised, in our meeting just before training. Obviously, South Africa have been on a bit of a run and played a lot of consistent cricket across those five years against you know, some world-class opponents as well. Unfortunately, we haven’t had too much of an opportunity to come up against them — they’ve shown they’ve got a world-class bowling attack as well as batters that can win the game for them.

“But we’re pretty, pretty confident with the intel we have both playing with them in WBBL, and playing against some of the girls in that team that have been around for a long period of time. So, certainly will be sharing that information amongst ourselves between the batting and the bowling unit and understanding that whilst we know what we’re coming up against it’s always going to be a challenge against a team that’s playing well and with confidence,” added Mooney.

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International

CT 2025: India to take on Pakistan on Feb 23, likely to play in Colombo or Dubai: Sources

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6 days ago

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December 19, 2024

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New Delhi, Dec 19: The much-awaited clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025 will be played on February 23 with Colombo and Dubai front-runners to play host for India’s matches in the tournament being played in hybrid format. The development comes after the ICC Board said that “India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue.”

“India will take on Pakistan at a neutral venue on February 23, 2025. ICC looking at Colombo and Dubai to host their matches.”

The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be played in February and March 2025. Meanwhile, ICC said the schedule for the marquee tournament will be confirmed in the coming days.

Pakistan are the defending champions of the tournament, having defeated India by 180 runs in the final at The Oval in 2017. Both teams last played against each other in the T20 World Cup in New York earlier this year which India won by six runs and went on to claim their second silverware in the format.

Due to the strained political relations between the two neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan only play each other in international events including World Cups and Asia Cup. The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was held in 2012-13 when the latter toured India for the five-match white-ball series.

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International

It’s OFFICIAL! All India vs Pakistan Matches At ICC Events To Be Played At Neutral Venue Till 2027

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6 days ago

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December 19, 2024

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India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue, the ICC Board confirmed on Thursday, 19 December. The schedule for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is set to be confirmed soon, with Pakistan aiming to defend the title they won in 2017.

The eight-team event will feature Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, and South Africa, alongside hosts Pakistan.

This will apply to the upcoming ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (hosted by Pakistan), set to be played in February and March 2025, as well as the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (hosted by India) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (hosted by India and Sri Lanka).

It was also announced that the PCB has been awarded hosting rights of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028, where neutral venue arrangements will also apply. Cricket Australia is set to host one of the senior ICC women’s events during the period 2029 to 2031.

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International

‘Our dream is getting fulfilled’: Coach Sumit Bhatia elated to see Kho Kho going global

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1 week ago

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December 16, 2024

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New Delhi, Dec 16: Coach Sumit Bhatia is all pumped up for the first edition of the Kho Kho World Cup scheduled to take place from January 13-19, 2025. Bhatia, who holds a distinct record of being the only head coach to have won the Asian Championship twice, believes that this historical step is an indication of the realisation of the dream to take the sport to the international level and help it gain global recognition.

Having been honoured with the best coach award by the Delhi government, Bhatia has been a part of various Indian teams’ success, including the 2016 and 2023 Asian Kho Kho Championship victories, and has trained players like Nasreen Shaikh and Sarika Sudhakar Kale. Both of them have been Arjuna Awardees.

Nasreen, who is also a part of the World Cup camp, is the only player who has played in two Asian Championships and won the gold. The coach-student duo is now gearing up for the global event.

Sharing how the journey of Kho Kho World Cup’s inception, the coach said, “We organised an international camp here before COVID happened, in 2020. Coaches and players from 16 countries came here and we gave them training. Now they will be coming here for the World Cup but this campaign started in that camp”.

He further said, “Around 30-35 countries were willing to play the tournament but we picked the best 20 teams for both men and women. Some countries have single teams while some have double teams but a total of 24 countries will be participating in the tournament. It was our dream to take Kho Kho to the international level and now we can see that our dream is getting fulfilled.”

He also lauded the launch of the Ultimate Kho Kho League and shared how the franchise-based model has helped the players and coaches gain recognition, while also bringing forward grassroot talent.

“When the Ultimate Kho Kho league started, I also joined Telegu Yodhas as their head coach and we also played the final. Players have gotten exposure through the league and it’s not just financial. Earlier we used to hesitate while admitting being a Kho Kho coach but today our players introduce us as their coach,” said Bhatia.

He added, “The league got so much coverage that wherever we go, the players are approached for autographs. So the platform of the league started a new world for both coaches and players and now not just India but the entire world knows us. Earlier we used to tell people about our game but now they know what is Kho Kho and Ultimate Kho Kho league and are also waiting for the third season.”

Bhatia also discussed the impact of sports science on Kho Kho and lauded the newly introduced technology and said, “We have benefitted a lot from it. Sometimes we don’t understand why a player is not performing well. But with the introduction of sports science, we now know about the details of the problem.

“For example, a player might be facing issues with his left leg while sitting and so, it gives us an opportunity to work on that weakness… Sports science has helped us in identifying the accuracy and weakness of a player. So it’s very beneficial for us.”

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