International
IPL 2022: Mohsin, Krunal, Chameera lead Lucknow’s 20-run win over Punjab
Mohsin Khan (3/24), Dushmantha Chameera (2/17) and Krunal Pandya (2/11) led a fantastic bowling performance by Lucknow Super Giants to register a 20-run win over Punjab Kings at MCA Stadium in Pune on Friday. The result means that Lucknow are now placed third in points table.
After Kagiso Rabada’s 4/38 restricted Lucknow to 153/8 on a sticky pitch, Punjab lost their way after captain Mayank Agarwal fell in power-play and Liam Livingstone was dismissed in middle overs, with the side eventually making 133/8 in their 20 overs. Lucknow never lifted the constant pressure over Punj’b’s batters and got timely breakthroughs when needed the most.
Agarwal had a fast start, slamming two sixes and two fours to score 25 off 18 balls. Both of his sixes came by backing away and creating room to carve the maximums over off-side. Agarwal attempted to do the same off Chameera but KL Rahul at mid-off timed his jump well to take a brilliant catch in the fifth over.
Jonny Bairstow slammed two fours off Avesh Khan in the final over of power-play as Punjab signed off with 46/1. Post power-play, the chase began to fall away as Shikhar Dhawan was castled by Bishnoi in an attempt to slog-sweep while Bhanuka Rajapaksa tried to play for the turn but got a leading edge to point running from left off Pandya.
Livingstone danced down the pitch twice to hit Bishnoi for successive sixes in an over which yielded 18 runs. Just when it felt like Punjab would run away with the match, Mohsin took out Livingstone, who shuffled across to scoop and could only glove behind to de Kock. In the next over, Pandya trapped Jitesh Sharma lbw after Lucknow took the review.
Bairstow waged a lone battle with the bat, taking two fours off Bishnoi. But Chameera delivered the knockout blow, forcing Bairstow to play at a full, wide delivery and edge to third man. Mohsin came back in his final over to take out Kagiso Rabada and Rahul Chahar. Though Rishi Dhawan slammed boundaries off Avesh Khan in the final ove’, it wasn’t sufficient to deny Lucknow a well-deserved victory.
Earlier, at 98/1, things looked set for Lucknow to accelerate. But a middle-order wobble saw them lose five wickets for just 13 runs between overs 13-16, which eventually became six for 28 between overs 13-18. Rabada got the first breakthrough when his length delivery around off-stump nipped away to take the outer edge of KL Rahul’s defence to Jitesh.
Quinton de Kock opened up in the fifth over, slamming back-to-back sixes off Rabada — hitting one down the ground followed by smacking over deep mid-wicket. In a bid to go big, de Kock played a cross-bat shot off Rishi in last over of power-play. The thick edge flew over backward point and Rabada, running backwards, spilled a tough chance, giving de Kock a reprieve at 19.
Deepak Hooda, promoted to three with no Manish Pandey in the eleven, struggled to time the ball despite lofting Rishi over long-off for a huge six. De Kock went quite after power-play ended though he drove Livingstone through cover and cracked a sweep past short fine leg off Chahar.
The partnership of 85 off 59 balls for the second wicket ended when de Kock got a faint edge on a cut off Sandeep Sharma in the 13th over and though on-field umpire gave not out as his decision, the left-handed opener walked off. De Kock’s fall began a slide for Lucknow’s middle order as some lazy running from Hooda saw him run-out by a direct hit from Bairstow at deep square leg.
Pandya holed out to long-on off Rabada and four balls later, Ayush Badoni flicked, only for the top-edge to be pouched by Livingstone running in from long-on. Marcus Stoinis chipped a catch straight back to Chahar off his own bowling. Chahar had another scalp when Jason Holder lofted straight to deep cover.
Chameera carted Rabada for successive sixes in his last over to infuse some life into Lucknow’s innings. But Chameera’s stay at the crease ended when he lofted off the bottom of the bat and was caught by deep cover who ran in and timed his slide well. It took a drive through extra cover by Mohsin on the last ball off Arshdeep to take Lucknow past 150.
Brief scores: Lucknow Super Giants 153/8 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 46, Deepak Hooda 34; Kagiso Rabada 4/38, Rahul Chahar 2/30) beat Punjab Kings 133/8 in 20 overs (Jonny Bairstow 32, Mayank Agarwal 25; Mohsin Khan 3/24, Krunal Pandya 2/11) by 20 runs
International
CT 2025: India to take on Pakistan on Feb 23, likely to play in Colombo or Dubai: Sources
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.
International
It’s OFFICIAL! All India vs Pakistan Matches At ICC Events To Be Played At Neutral Venue Till 2027
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.
International
‘Our dream is getting fulfilled’: Coach Sumit Bhatia elated to see Kho Kho going global
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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