T20 World Cup: England thumps India by 10 wickets, storms into finals

Originally published at Pen 18

pandya: T20 WC: Half-centuries from Pandya, Virat power India to 168/6 against England in semifinal

Hardik Pandya scored a scintillating half-century while taking India to 168/6 against England at the Adelaide Oval in the ongoing T20 World Cup on Thursday.

Virat continued his love affair with the Adelaide ground and scored a half-century and put the innings together for the team. Pandya’s 63 (33) meanwhile made the final, and his late flourish put India on the level after a slow start.

Having chosen to field, England did not ask for a better start as they dismissed KL Rahul in the second over after the batsman dropped a boundary over point off the first ball of the innings. The right-hander could not repeat the heroism of his previous match and could only score 5(5).

The tournament’s leading run-scorer, Virat Kohli came out to bat and stamped his authority by hitting Chris Woakes for a beautiful six off the first ball of the third over.

Captain Rohit Sharma also joined the action and hit Sam Curran for two consecutive fours, which eased the batsman’s pressure. He dismissed Adil Rashid for a boundary in the sixth over and took India to 38/1 at the end of the powerplay.

India’s star batsman Virat continued his aggressive intent and hit Liam Livingstone for a boundary in the seventh over, meanwhile Rohit struggled to bat.

Pacer Chris Jordan was struck brilliantly for a boundary over cover by the opener but the bowler had the last laugh as he dismissed him in the same over. Rohit looks to launch the ball into the sky but loses his shape in the process and skids it towards mid-on, where Sam Curran takes a brilliant running catch to dismiss him for 27 (28). Took diving.

Talismanic batsman Suryakumar Yadav grabbed the crease and took India to 62/1 with the game hanging in the balance.

All-rounder Ben Stokes came to bowl his second over and hit only one six and one four in the 11th over.

Leg-spinner Adil Rashid proved to be Suryakumar’s undoing as the batsman hit him over the boundary but was able to drive the ball towards sweeper-cover, where Philip Salt held his nerves to complete the catch and gave England their own. Handed the biggest wicket. night.

The responsibility then fell on Virat and Hardik Pandya to stabilize the Indian innings and provide it with some stability while making sure not to see a drop in the scoring rate.

India were bundled out for 10 from the 14th over and things went ahead with Virat hitting a boundary in the over.

On the last ball of the 15th over, King Kohli hit a four and completed India’s century. He escaped with a leg before review after a brilliant yorker from Jordan was rapped over the boots.

The batsman sprinkled salt on the bowler’s wounds and hit a boundary in the extra cover area off the very next ball.

India got off to a great start in the 17th over and Pandya hit Kuren for a six over cover. Virat and Pandya also worked hard and were shining brightly between the wickets to keep the scoreboard in place.

Pandya was completely free in the 18th over and was pushing the accelerator with successive sixes off Jordan. Run machine Kohli completed his fourth half-century of the tournament but was caught at short third man in the same over.

Pacer Sam Curran was at Pandya’s end in the 19th over as he was torn apart by the batsman for two fours and a six, in the process reaching his half-century off just 29 balls.

Courtesy of Pandya got 12 runs in India’s final over as India ended the innings at 168/6.

Chris Jordan took three wickets for 43 runs.

Brief Scores: India 168/6 (Hardik Pandya 63, Virat Kohli 50; Chris Jordan 3-43) vs England.

Originally published at Pen 18

india: England opt to bowl against India in second semifinal

England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bowl against India in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup here on Thursday. England made two changes, with Phil Salt and Chris Jordan in place of David Malan and Mark Wood.

India are unchanged and have picked Rishabh Pant ahead of Dinesh Karthik.

teams,

IndiaKL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (Captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh.

England: Jos Buttler (captain), Alex Hales, Phillip Salt, Ben Stokes, Harry Brooke, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid.

Originally published at Pen 18

IPL auction to be held on December 23 in Kochi

A BCCI official said on Wednesday that the players’ auction for next year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held in Kochi on December 23.

The Turkish cities of Istanbul, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad were also in contention to host the auction, but the BCCI eventually chose the coastal Kerala city.

A BCCI official said, “Logically and looking at the dates, Kochi turned out to be the most suitable option.

Unlike the previous auctions, this year’s auction will be smaller. 10 IPL franchises have already been asked to submit the list of retained players by November 15.

Also, the salary cap for the 2023 season is likely to be increased from Rs 90 to Rs 95 crore.

Originally published at Pen 18

pant: Suspense remains if it will be Pant or Karthik for semifinal against England

Rishabh Pant finally got a game in the T20 World Cup when he played against Zimbabwe but the suspense remains whether he will keep the wicket against England in the semi-final or will Dinesh Karthik be back in the squad.

During the 2019 ODI World Cup, India did not have the number four batsman and in the ongoing T20 World Cup, the never-ending debate is about whether Pant should come ahead of Karthik in the playing XI.

While Karthik hasn’t fired in the role of a designated finisher, Pant has fallen short in whatever T20I chances he has got so far.

Rohit Sharma said playing Pant against Zimbabwe was a tactical move keeping the semi-finals in mind, but the captain asked who would keep the wickets on Thursday.

“Given that we didn’t know which team we would play in the semi-finals before the Zimbabwe game, we wanted to give a left-handed batsman a chance to take on some of the spinners bowling in the middle for New Zealand and England. It was,” said Rohit. Explained the reason behind the inclusion of Pant.

He added, “And we thought Rishabh was the guy to go for us and give him some time. But then, what’s going to happen tomorrow, I can’t tell you right now.”

Rohit defends Axar Patel

It has been a memorable World Cup for Axar Patel as he scored a lot of runs at an economy rate of around 10 per over, but the captain was firmly behind the left-arm spinner.

“To be honest, I’m not worried, because he (Akshar) has got to bowl hard in this tournament. Except in that game against Netherlands, he hasn’t bowled the full overs of his quota, only because of the conditions that require him to bowl. have to present.

“We have four fast bowlers in particular who have bowled all their quota, which means spinners won’t bowl their overs. If you look at the conditions, except in Sydney, the grounds we’ve played have a lot to offer. Fast bowler, which means we never got a chance to bowl to Axar in the powerplays, which is his specialty.”

Rohit also made it clear that he would not leave Akshar for a bad tournament.

“Guys can have a bad tournament. It doesn’t mean he is out of form or not bowling well or not being able to execute plans. I thought he was the kind of place for me.” important, and when I’ve talked to him, when I hear his thoughts, I love that he’s in a good place.

“And that’s exactly what we want when you’re gonna play a game like this.”

While he defended Axar, there were enough indications in Wednesday’s training session that Deepak Hooda cannot be ruled out completely considering that he is a far more skilled batsman who can bowl an odd over if required. .

Kohli injured during training

Virat Kohli suffered a nasty blow in the groin area during Wednesday’s net session when Harshal Patel bowled but the team heaved a sigh of relief as the master batsman was back in the nets within minutes.

Captain Rohit Sharma, who suffered a right hand injury on Tuesday, confirmed that he is fully fit.

Rohit said, “I was hit yesterday, but now it looks fine. There was a slight injury, but now it is fine.”

Originally published at Pen 18

Sri Lanka cricketer accused of choking woman during alleged assault

Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Australia multiple times and strangling her so hard that she needed a brain scan to test for the injury, local media reported on Wednesday unsealed. cited court documents.

The 31-year-old, who was arrested on Sunday just hours after his country lost to England in the Twenty20 World Cup, was charged with four counts of sexual assault and denied bail.

Magistrate Robert Williams had agreed to suppress the details of the charges and other elements of the case, issuing a sweeping hiatus order.

But the suppression order was successfully challenged by Australian media, which have now reported graphic details of the alleged assault against the unnamed woman.

Court documents cited by public broadcaster ABC said the pair were engaged on a dating app before meeting on November 2 at a popular bar near Sydney’s Opera House.

They then went to the alleged victim’s house by boat and after drinking several times, Gunathilaka allegedly forced herself several times with her.

It is alleged that during one of the assaults the woman saw a condom on the floor despite Gunathilaka being asked to wear one.

Sri Lanka Cricket has suspended the batsman “from all forms of the game with immediate effect”.

Originally published at Pen 18

pakistan: New Zealand win toss, bat against Pakistan in T20 World Cup semi-final

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bat against Pakistan in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup being played in Sydney on Wednesday.

The Black Caps, who top Group 1, are aiming for a place in the final for the second time in a row as they aim for a T20 title first.

Like New Zealand, Group 2 runners-up Pakistan are in the semi-finals for the second year in a row as they look to add to their 2009 World Cup victory.

The winner will face either England or India – who meet in Adelaide on Thursday – in Sunday’s final.

Both teams named unchanged sides.

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi

Umpires: Marais Erasmus (RSA), Richard Illingworth (Eng)

TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (England)

Match referee: Chris Broad (England)

Originally published at Pen 18