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IPL 2022: Williamson’s measured fifty seals 8-wicket win for Hyderabad over Gujarat

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A measured half-century by captain Kane Williamson, after their bowlers applied brakes in the last five overs, sealed Sunrisers Hyderabads eight-wicket win over Gujarat Titans at the D.Y Patil Stadium to record their second successive win of the tournament.

After the bowlers conceded 44 runs and took three wickets in the last five overs to restrict Gujarat to 162/7, Williamson led the chase with patience and precision while making 57 off 46 balls, laced with two fours and four sixes. He found support from Abhishek Sharma (42) and Nicholas Pooran doing the finishing job with an unbeaten 34.

The chase began with Williamson beaten on the inside edge off Mohammed Shami and was struck on pads. Hardik Pandya consulted keeper Matthew Wade, but eventually didn’t go for review. But replays later showed Williamson would have been out.

Hyderabad’s slow start of 11 runs in the first four overs changed dramatically with Williamson pulling Shami for a four and six off the first two balls of the fifth over. Sharma took on Lockie Ferguson, smashing four glorious boundaries through off-side as Hyderabad took 31 runs off the last two overs of power-play.

Sharma slammed Rashid Khan for boundaries through extra cover and backward point. But the leg-spinner bounced back by breaking the 64-run opening stand as Sharma holed out to deep mid-wicket.

Williamson, who was on 27 off 31 balls till the 12th over, slammed Pandya for pulled back-to-back sixes to take 16 runs off the over. After hitting a six off Rahul Tewatia, Rahul Tripathi had to retire hurt due to muscle cramps in his leg.

But it didn’t deter Hyderabad as Williamson reached his fifty in 42 balls by moving across and using the pace of the ball off Ferguson to scoop over short fine leg. He followed it up with a crisp drive through the gap between cover and mid-off before he skied an off-cutter from Pandya to mid-on.

Ferguson’s horror night went worse as he dropped a tough chance of Nicholas Pooran off his own bowling. He was then punished by the left-handed batter for straying twice in his line, flicked through fine leg for four followed by a picked-up six over fine leg.

Pooran then went for a pull off Shami but the top-edge ‘ailed over Wade’s head for four before Aiden Markram levelled the scores with a crisp drive down the ground. Pooran finished off the chase with a majestic pull off Nalkande over backward square leg fence to end Gujarat’s clean slate in the tournament.

Earlier, Pandya’s unbeaten fifty and a quickfire 35 by Abhinav Manohar took Gujarat to a respectable total. Pandya and Manohar joined forces to stitch a stand of 50 off 32 balls for the fifth wicket while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan took two wickets each.

Kumar had an uncharacteristic opening over, leaking 17 runs, including five wides twice. But he returned in his next over to take out Shubman Gill, who mistimed an uppish drive and was snapped by Tripathi diving to his left at cover and stuck his hand out to complete a one-handed stunning catch.

Wade and Sai Sudharsan hit two boundaries each but Natarajan took out the latter, forcing him to drive off a slower delivery, easily caught by mid-off. Pandya closed the powerplay with a drive past long-off for four as power-play yielded 51/2.

Struck on the helmet by a sharp bouncer from Umran Malik, Pandya shook off the blow by slamming Malik for back-to-back fours. Malik ended the over by trapping Wade plumb lbw from around the wicket, going past the attempted flick. Soon after, David Miller fell, finding mid-wicket off Jansen.

Pandya continued to find boundaries, clobbering Markram over deep mid-wicket followed by timing his flick well past mid-on off Malik. He got support from Manohar, who fetched three boundaries off the outside edge while slamming a six over cow corner and collecting two fours through off-side.

Manohar had luck on his side, being dropped at 21, 32, 33 before running out of luck when he holed out to long-off off Kumar. Natarajan provided an excellent finish by taking out Tewatia and Khan in quick succession. In between the two dismissals, Pandya brought up his fifty to take Gujarat to a respectable total, which wasn’t enough to avoid their first loss in IPL 2022.

Brief scores: Gujarat Titans 162/7 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 50 not out, Abhinav Manohar 35; T Natarajan 2/34, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/37) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad (Kane Williamson 57, Abhishek Sharma 42; Hardik Pandya 1/27, Rashid Khan 1/28)

International

Champions Trophy: Pakistan’s dismal show likely to be discussed in cabinet and parliament

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Islamabad, Feb 27: The Pakistan cricket team’s depressing, dismal, and cheerless performance in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, resulting in its early exit from the tournament, has not only broken the hearts of home fans but also knocked on the doors of the country’s Prime Minister.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has personally taken notice of the team’s early departure and the below-par performance and is likely to take up the issues related to the cricket team in the cabinet and the parliament. Pakistan’s final Group A fixture against Bangladesh was washed out in Rawalpindi due to rain on Thursday, which meant that they ended their campaign without a win. With only one point, thanks to a washout, Pakistan will finish at the bottom of the group.

Prime Minister’s aide on Political and Public Affairs, Rana Sanaullah, has said that PM Shehbaz will also take up the matter at the parliament. “The Prime Minister will personally take notice, and we will also ask him to raise these cricket-related issues in the cabinet as well as in the parliament,” said Rana Sanaullah.

It is pertinent to note that Pakistan is hosting the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Special arrangements have been made to glorify the event, with Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi cricket stadiums renovated to increase audience capacity and further enhance the facilities. However, the team’s fans were left dejected after Pakistan lost both its matches and was knocked out of the tournament when their final league match with Bangladesh was rained off.

While anger persists among cricket fans, questions are being raised over the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), its chief Mohsin Naqvi, and the selection committee, which selected the squad. Aqib Javed, head coach of Pakistan, has tried to justify the team selection, stating that all players were selected on the basis of their recent performances.

On the other hand, internal issues within the PCB are also being linked with the team’s bad performance as many believe that the cricket board’s decision-making regarding playing eleven, the team, and the players has prompted foreign coaches like Jason Gillespie to part ways.

Rana Sanaullah said that he will also call on PM Sharif to address the ongoing issues within the PCB, emphasising that the cricket sport as a whole is in bad shape. “The sport at college and district levels is in a bad position, and the amount that has been spent on a professional level should be revealed before the public”, said Rana Sanaullah.

Rana Sanaullah also raised concerns over amounts being paid to mentors, who he highlighted admitted that they were unaware of their responsibilities and were being remunerated for doing nothing. “You will be surprised after hearing about the perks and privileges of other officer-bearers. You will be confused whether they are officials of a Pakistani institution or those belonging to a developed nation”, he said.

It would not be wrong to say that Pakistan’s performance on home grounds has certainly left fans heartbroken. In major ICC events, Pakistan’s performance in the past years has also not been mentionable.

In 2023, Pakistan only won four out of nine matches during the ODI World Cup in India and ended in fifth position on the points table. Pakistan also made an early exit from last year’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA after losing to India and the USA in the preliminary stage.

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Champions Trophy 2025: Pakistan’s Cricket Stadiums Far From Ready, Tournament Could Be Moved To Dubai, Claims Report

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Problems seem to be mounting for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as they face a race against time to handover a proper stadium to the International Cricket Council (ICC) before the Champions Trophy gets underway. According to The Times Of India report, the construction and upgradation work is still underway at the National Stadium in Karachi, Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore and the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium

A source following the developments said,”It is a very disappointing picture. All three stadiums are far from ready and it’s not renovation or refurbishment, but proper construction which is underway. There is so much work left with seats, floodlights, facilities and even the outfield and playing surfaces,”

The report further states there is not much time left for the venues to be handed over and it’s not a surprise that there are discussions about moving the entire tournament to the UAE. 

The PCB has to hand over the tournament venues to ICC by February 12, however, the stadium work which was scheduled to be finished by December 31, is yet to be completed.

A team of from the ICC will leave for Pakistan towards the end of the week to do a status check and informal contingency discussions are underway in Dubai corridors.

What is the Current stadium of Champions Trophy venues?

Lahore and Karachi are the two centres where heavy construction work is underway and their multi-storied enclosures, which will have dressing rooms and hospitality boxes, are yet to enter the finishing stages. In addition to the new enclosures, there is fencing work, placement of floodlights and seats which is far from the finish line.

The source added, “The weather is not ideal for construction and finishing work to happen at a rapid pace. At Gadaffi, even the plaster work isn’t completed yet. And most of the time is taken by finishing work because we are talking about dressing rooms etc. They just can’t be random rooms/enclosures for an ICC event. ICC has a checklist which needs to be met. National Stadium has decided to not completely finish the new enclosure because there is no time,”

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AFC Asian Cup 2027 to take place in Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar from Jan 7 to Feb 5

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Kuala Lumpur, Jan 7: The AFC Asian Cup 2027 will take place from January 7 to February 5 across three cities – Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar – in Saudi Arabia, the AFC announced on Tuesday.

A total of five stadiums in Riyadh will host the tournament’s matches; the King Fahd Sports City Stadium, the King Saud University Stadium, Imam Mohammed Ibn Saud University Stadium, Kingdom Arena and the Al Shabab Stadium.

Two stadiums have been confirmed for Jeddah – King Abdullah Sports City and Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium – with a new state-of-the-art venue to be built in Al Khobar, completing the world-class infrastructure set to provide the backdrop for Asia’s top 24 national teams.

Saudi Arabia was announced as the host nation for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in 2023. This will be the first time Suadi Arabia will host the tournament.

“Confirming the dates and selecting the stadiums for the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ is a strategic milestone in our journey to host the tournament. This announcement goes beyond simply identifying locations and schedules; it reflects the ongoing high-level collaboration between us and the AFC as we work towards delivering an exceptional tournament that fulfills the aspirations of the entire Asian continent,” Saudi Arabian Football Federation chief Yasser Al Misehal.

Eighteen teams have already sealed their places at the AFC Asian Cup 2027. The remaining berths will be decided via the Qualifiers Final Round, which is scheduled to commence from March 2025 and features six groups of four teams – confirmed at last month’s draw – with the winners of each group making up the final cast.

India, aiming for its fifth appearance at the AFC Asian Cup, has been placed in Group C alongside Singapore, Hong Kong, and Bangladesh. The team will look to replicate or surpass its 2019 performance, where it showcased significant progress on the continental stage.

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