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Melbourne, Oct 23 (IANS) Long before Virat Kohli dished out a chasing masterclass of 82 not out off 53 balls in India's incredible four-wicket win over Pakistan in their first Super 12 match of Men's T20 World Cup at a sell-out Melbourne Cricket Ground, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya played crucial roles with their respective three-fers in keeping Pakistan to 159/8.

Last month, Arshdeep was viciously trolled on social media for dropping Asif Ali's catch in a tense Super Four match between the two teams at Asia Cup in Dubai. On Sunday, with the desire to make his team win, Arshdeep swung the early momentum in India's favour.

After Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded just a wide in his opening over and found some swing, Arshdeep bowled a perfect first delivery in T20 World Cup debut by trapping Babar Azam lbw for a golden duck with a full, straight delivery coming in from over the wicket.

In his next over, Arshdeep had another scalp when his short and angling away ball cramped a sluggish Mohammad Rizwan for room. The right-hander attempted to hook at it, but was hurried for pace and extra bounce as the top-edge was snapped easily by fine leg.

Arshdeep also became the first bowler to dismiss Pakistan's prolific opening pair of Azam and Rizwan for single digit scores in the same innings. He then returned later in the innings and struck on the fourth ball of his second spell, bouncing out Asif Ali, who was awkwardly looking to fend away and gave the keeper a simple catch off the glove edge.

Pandya, on the other hand, was initially hit for some boundaries. But his return in the 14th over brought more cheer for India when he had Shadab Khan and Haider Ali holing out to the outfield within five balls.

Mohammad Nawaz thrived on width from Pandya, smashing a brace of fours through the off-side. But the all-rounder had the last laugh as Nawaz went for the cut, but was cramped for room and could only nick behind to keeper. Arshdeep and Hardik led the way for India's brilliant use of the short deliveries, majorly in the back of the length region, to keep Pakistan for a score under 160 where 76m and 81m were square boundary sizes along with front boundaries at 82m, 80m and straight boundary at 79m.

Overall, the back of the length and short ball regions fetched six wickets for India, illustrating a nagging accuracy on a pitch generating swing and extra bounce while bowling tons of deliveries on the good length which yielded the most dots and contributed in stemming the run-flow of Pakistan, an aspect which pleased captain Rohit Sharma.

"That back of length, slightly back of length, slightly full, was not easy to hit, and what happened in today's game will tell you that. A lot of the guys got wickets bowling that back of length because, like I said, at the toss, as well, there was a little bit of grass on the pitch and a bit of weather, quite nippy, as well."

"So we knew if you keep hitting that length, it's going to be challenging, and that is something that we kept constantly putting in bowlers' ears, that challenge them -- if they hit you a couple of successful there, it's fine."

"Actually we got rewarded bowling that length, as well. Hardik in particular bowling that kind of length and a couple of their batters trying to play cross-batted short got the top edge, and we got the wicket, and that is something that we spoke of at the start," said Rohit in the post-match press conference.

In between, Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep got to beat the batters too. "That felt really good. We spoke of certain things in our team meetings and stuff like that. We spoke of how we want to utilise our bigger boundary and try and challenge the batsmen a little bit. You've got to sometimes understand what the pitch is doing, as well."

"With the way Bhuvi and Arshdeep were swinging the ball, our initial plan was to just try and pitch it up and see if we can get the ball to swing. The first four or five overs was brilliant to watch, honestly. For a little while it felt like a Test match because of the way the ball was moving around and the carry in the pitch, as well. It was a good cricketing pitch," concluded Rohit.


--IANS
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Melbourne, Oct 23 (IANS) One of the best batters in the contemporary era, Virat Kohli hit an unbeaten 83 as India pulled off a miracle four-wicket nail-biting win over Pakistan in a final over at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Melbourne on Sunday.

After Virat Kohli's epic 82 not out in 53 balls, the official Twitter handle of the International Cricket Council (ICC) shared a graphic showing Kohli sitting on a throne.

"The King is back...Take a bow, Virat Kohli," the ICC wrote.

Kohli came to the crease in the second over after opener K.L Rahul (4) was undone by Naseem Shah and things looked tense for India when a fired-up Haris Rauf removed Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav. India were tottering 31/3 after the end of Power-play.

But Kohli kept his nerve and, just like he has done so many times previously, expertly guided India home in front of a crowd in excess of 90,000 at the MCG in Melbourne.

India never looked like winning it, but with Kohli and Hardik Pandya at the crease, there was always an outside chance they could pull a rabbit out of the hat. Kohli and Pandya (40) shared a match-winning stand of 113 off 77 deliveries, lifting India from 31/4 to 160/6 on the last ball of the match to get their campaign off to a winning start.

There were 31 needed from the last two overs and Kohli hit Rauf for two massive sixes on the final two deliveries of the penultimate over to make the equation 16 from the final six balls.

--IANS

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Melbourne, Oct 23 (IANS) Virat Kohli re-iterated on Sunday why he is considered one of the best chasers in cricket, slamming an unbeaten 82 off just 52 balls to power India to an incredible four-wicket victory over archrivals Pakistan in a thrilling Super 12 match of Men's T20 World Cup in front of 90,293 fans at a sell-out Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.

After the right-left fast-bowling duo of Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh picked three wickets each to restrict Pakistan to 159/8 in their 20 overs, Kohli and Hardik Pandya (40) shared a match-winning stand of 113 off 77 deliveries, lifting India from 31/4 to 160/6 on the last ball of the match to get their campaign off to a winning start.

In their chase, India were struck a huge blow when K.L Rahul chopped onto his stumps while trying to defend against Naseem Shah in the second over. Two overs later, Haris Rauf had Rohit Sharma poking tentatively at a 145kph length ball and the thick edge flew to the first slip, who dived low to pouch a blinder of a catch.

Suryakumar Yadav sweetly punched a drive off Rauf and then pulled off the front foot over mid-wicket to collect a brace of fours. But the right-arm pacer had the last laugh as his back-of-the-length ball on stumps cramped Suryakumar for room, who looked to cut the ball away.

All he could do was to nick behind to the keeper, leaving India at 26/3 in 5.3 overs. Things went from bad to worse for India as a mix-up in the middle for a non-existent single resulted in run-out of Axar Patel.

Kohli and Pandya took some time before opening up against Pakistan's spin twins, leg-spinner Shadab Khan and left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz. Pandya began by drilling a drive straight down the ground off Shadab before he smacked sixes over long-on and deep mid-wicket off Nawaz, sandwiched between Kohli launching a glorious six over long-on to make it 20 runs off the 12th over.

Apart from collecting plenty of twos with Pandya, Kohli brought out his deft touch with a fine glance off Shaheen, playing the cut off his wrists past deep cover off Shadab and flicked past a diving short fine-leg off Naseem to collect three quick fours.

On the back of India scoring 55 runs in 11-15 overs, Pakistan brought back Rauf and Shah and the duo gave away just six runs each in the 16th and 17th overs respectively. With 48 needed off the last three overs, Kohli brought up his fifty by fetching a short ball from outside the off-stump to pull Afridi through mid-wicket for four and ended the over with another four, swivel-pulled over short fine leg.

Kohli then smacked back-to-back sixes off Rauf -- a straight loft down the ground was followed by using the pace of the ball to flick off wrists over fine leg -- to make it 16 runs needed off the final over.

Nawaz dealt a huge blow on the first ball of the final over when he had Pandya miscuing the slog and the thick edge went to cover-point. On the fourth ball, Kohli smacked a waist-high full toss high over deep square leg fence which was called a no-ball.

After Nawaz conceded a wide, Kohli and Dinesh Karthik ran three byes on the free-hit delivery before the latter was stumped on the fifth ball. Nawaz conceded a wide yet again and Ashwin finished off the chase with a loft over mid-off to win a thriller for India.

Brief scores: Pakistan 159/8 in 20 overs (Shan Masood 52 not out, Iftikhar Ahmed 51; Hardik Pandya 3/30, Arshdeep Singh 3/32) lost to India 160/6 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 82 not out, Hardik Pandya 40; Haris Rauf 2/36, Mohammad Nawaz 2/42) by four wickets

--IANS

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Hobart, Oct 21 (IANS) Playing in his seventh Men's T20 World Cup, veteran Ireland opener Paul Stirling stood up when it mattered the most, slamming a sensational 66 not out to take Ireland to the Super 12 stage of the ongoing tournament with a nine-wicket drubbing of West Indies in their final Group B match in the first round at Bellerive Oval on Friday.

After leg-spinner Gareth Delany picked career-best figures of 3/16 and kept things tight to keep the West Indies to 146/5 in 20 overs, Stirling came out all guns blazing in his unbeaten 48-ball knock, hitting six fours and two sixes to make a mockery of the chase, hunting down the total with 15 balls remaining.

He stitched a blazing 73-opening stand with captain Andrew Balbirnie and then put on 77 runs for the unbroken second wicket stand with Lorcan Tucker (45 not out) for Ireland to enter the Super 12 stage after failing to get past the first round in their last five T20 World Cup appearances and knock out the clueless two-time champions out of the competition.

After getting off the mark with a top-edge flying over slip off Obed McCoy in the opening over, Stirling fiercely swept Akeal Hosein for four while captain Andrew Balbirnie swept the left-arm spinner for six to take 16 runs off the second over.

While Stirling powerfully clobbered Alzarri Joseph for six over deep mid-wicket, Balbirnie upped the tempo by hitting two fours and a six on the first three balls of Odean Smith. He then brought up the fifty of the opening partnership with an inside-out loft over cover-point for six.

Stirling continued to feast on Joseph in the final over of power-play -- a top-edge flew over vacant slip cordon and on the very next ball, sliced through backward point to make it back-to-back fours.

After Balbirnie fell while cutting hard to a diving backward point off Hosein, Stirling ensured Ireland didn't lose their way by dispatching Joseph for a six over deep square leg and got his 21st T20I fifty by placing a late dab past third man for four.

He found an able ally in Lorcan Tucker, who survived a caught-behind appeal off Smith on a no-ball. After getting off the mark with a sweep off Hosein, Tucker went one step further by slog-sweeping him for six and brought up fifty of his second wicket stand with Stirling with an authoritative six over long-on for six off McCoy.

Stirling gave a glimpse of his innovative stroke-play, moving across and scooping Joseph over short fine leg for four. Tucker finished off the chase in style, dancing down the pitch and converting a half-volley from McCoy into a loft over cover for four to give Ireland the ticket to Super 12.

Brief scores: West Indies 146/5 in 20 overs (Brandon King 62 not out, Johnson Charles 24; Gareth Delany 3/16, Simi Singh 1/11) lost to Ireland 150/1 in 17.3 overs (Paul Stirling 66 not out, Lorcan Tucker 45 not out; Akeal Hosein 1/38) by nine wickets.

--IANS

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Hobart, Oct 21 (IANS) Brandon King marked his return to the playing eleven with an unbeaten 62 to take the West Indies to an under-par 146/5 in 20 overs of their do-or-die Group B clash against Ireland in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup at Bellerive Oval on Friday.

For Ireland, leg-spinner Gareth Delany picked career-best figures of 3/16 and kept things tight, while off-spinner Simi Singh and pacer Barry McCarthy took a wicket apiece to give their side a good chance of qualifying for the Super 12 stage.

Pushed into bowling first, Ireland drew first blood as Barry McCarthy foxed Kyle Mayers with his length ball, the left-hander completely mistiming the ball to mid-off. Johnson Charles feasted on Curtis Campher's short balls, taking two fours and a six on three consecutive deliveries in the fourth over.

But as soon as he was starting to take off, off-spinner Simi Singh took him out in his first over, as Charles sliced a short ball straight to backward point. King, coming into the playing eleven in place of Shamrah Brooks, was off the mark on the very first ball with a drive past mid-off off Singh.

He then got going with three fours slammed on the bowling of McCarthy and an off-colour Campher. But he didn't find much support from the other end as Evin Lewis was rusty in his 18-ball stay and departed when he miscued a Delany googly to deep mid-off.

King continued to anchor the innings with back-to-back fours off McCarthy and get his sixth T20I fifty even as captain Nicholas Pooran fell while trying to clear the infield and Rovman Powell holed out to deep mid-wicket.

With King unable to get the desired acceleration, Odean Smith swung hard to hit a four and two sixes in his 19 not out off 12 balls, but was unable to push West Indies past 150-mark.

Brief scores: West Indies 146/5 in 20 overs (Brandon King 62 not out, Johnson Charles 24; Gareth Delany 3/16, Simi Singh 1/11) vs Ireland.


--IANS

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Seoul, Oct 21 (IANS) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is in talks with 10 potential candidates to host the Summer Olympic Games, a top IOC official said here on Thursday.

"We are currently working with 10 interested NOCs and regions across four continents," IOC director general Christophe de Kepper said at the Association of National Olympic Committees meeting in Seoul, Xinhua reports.

De Kepper did not identify who those potential bidders are but said the 10 bid projects "are at very different stages and are developing their ambitions according to their own regional or national timelines."

The next three Olympic Games will be held in Paris in 2024, in Los Angeles in 2028 and in Brisbane in 2032.

Countries that have expressed interest in hosting the 2036 Olympics include Egypt, India, Indonesia, Britain and South Korea.

--IANS

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Auckland, Oct 21 (IANS) Tall New Zealand pace bowler Kyle Jamieson is confident his side will come out "tactically smart" in the ICC T20 World Cup Super-12 games against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.

Jamieson, sidelined with a back injury, said while the Black Caps recently lost an ODI series against the trans-Tasman rivals in Cairns, T20 cricket is a different ball-game altogether and anything can happen.

"(I'm) certainly backing the boys tomorrow (Saturday), obviously played them in the last month or so in some one-day cricket but T20's a different format again. I'm sure they'll (New Zealand) come out very tactically smart and play with that freedom and look to take them (Australia) on, on that big stage," Jamieson told SENZ Breakfast.

Australia, led by Aaron Finch, head into the opening Super 12 match as favourites due to their home advantage and history on their side. For New Zealand, it is an extremely crucial game as they also have England -- one of the toughest T20 sides -- in the group, which could make their task of reaching the semifinal very difficult if they lose to Jos Buttler's side.

"We've already seen through the qualifying games everyone can beat everyone on their day. I think that's the beauty of T20 cricket, it sort of evens everything up," opined Jamieson.

Jamieson, when asked about the back injury he sustained during the tour of England in June, said, "(It's) Just ticking away. Obviously as a fast bowler, your back's quite important so it's been a bit of a gradual process.

"It's been quite a good approach with Steady (head coach Gary Stead) and all the staff around just making sure we come back in a sustainable way, not trying to rush things just making sure we get it right."

Jamieson tentatively plans to make an appearance in local cricket in the near future before heading back into the national side.

--IANS

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Geelong (Victoria), Oct 21 (IANS) Reaching the Super 12 stage in the ICC T20 World Cup here after a brush with elimination has hardened the Sri Lankan team for bigger challenges, feels their wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis who smashed a breezy 79 as the Islanders defeated the Netherlands by 16 runs in a Group A First Round game here to secure a place among the elite sides on Thursday.

Sri Lanka, the reigning Asia Cup champions, had suffered a 55-run thrashing at the hands of Namibia in their opening Group A match, leaving them in a must-win situation in the two remaining matches. They defeated UAE by 79 runs to bring their net run rate (NRR) back on track and then overcame the gritty Dutch on Thursday to secure a Super 12 berth.

Asked whether the tough matches in the group stage had steeled the side for bigger challenges to come in Super 12, Mendis, who scored at a strike rate of nearly 180 on Thursday, agreed it was a good thing to face some tough challenges early in the tournament.

"Yeah, last month (too) I played very well at the Asia Cup (after the humiliating loss to Afghanistan). (Here too), I knew I (needed to) have a similar plan in the next match (after the loss to Namibia). I think we do it better (come back strongly after losses)," said Mendis.

Mendis said the first match against Namibia had taught the players it wasn't important to play the big shots to maximise the scoring rate.

"Yeah, the first game a little bit we knew the wicket was a little bit slow. After that match, I knew how to play (on) this wicket. Then the second and third match, I played really well," said Mendis.

Mendis conceded that in the Group A opening match, he was completely at sea on a slow pitch but altered his strategy in the subsequent games.

"First game, I didn't know how to play on the pitch because it was really slow. Then after the first match, I knew how to play here. I took time (to settle down). In the first six overs, I played the normal game. Then after the six overs, I managed my routine," he added.

--IANS

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Hobart, Oct 19 (IANS) Sikandar Raza starred with a brilliant spell of 3/19, triggering a West Indies collapse as the two-time champions set a 154-run target for Zimbabwe in a must-win Group B match in the first round of ICC Men's T20 World Cup at Bellerive Oval on Wednesday.

Electing to bat first, West Indies started well despite losing Kyle Mayers in the fourth over, top-edging a pull to keeper off Blessing Muzarabani. Johnson Charles (45) and Evin Lewis (15) shared a vital 49-run stand off 38 balls to get the innings back on track.

But Zimbabwe's introduction of Raza from the seventh over triggered a West Indies meltdown in the middle-order. The off-spin all-rounder had his first scalp in the tenth over when Lewis holed out to long-on. Captain Nicholas Pooran was next to depart, falling to Sean Williams, chipping back a simple catch to the bowler.

West Indies were then dealt with a severe blow when Charles departed for 45 after a mix-up with Rovman Powell, resulting in a run-out. Raza added more misery when he trapped Shamrah Brooks lbw and took a superb catch off a Jason Holder chip on his own bowling to end with 3/19 in his four overs.

Struggling at 101/6, a late flourish from Powell (28 off 21 balls, including two sixes in the final over) and Akeal Hosein (23 not out off 18 balls) allowed the West Indies to cross the 150-mark, after losing their way in the middle post a strong start.

Brief Scores: West Indies 153/7 in 20 overs (Johnson Charles 45, Rovman Powell 28; Sikandar Raza 3/19, Blessing Muzarabani 2/38) against Zimbabwe

--IANS
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Hobart, Oct 19 (IANS) Curtis Campher and George Dockrell shared an unbeaten 119-run stand for the fifth wicket in Ireland's successful chase of 177 to seal a come-from-behind six-wicket win over Scotland in their Group B match of the first round in ICC Men's T20 World Cup at Bellerive Oval on Wednesday.

After opener Michael Jones hit a magnificent 86 off 55 balls to carry Scotland to a massive 176/5, the bowlers came into act by reducing Ireland to 61/4 in 9.3 overs and victory looked improbable with every minute.

That's when Campher (72 not out off 37 balls) and Dockrell (39 not out off 27 balls) joined forces to shock Scotland and get a win out of nowhere for Ireland with a brilliant partnership in just 9.3 overs and keep them in the reckoning for a Super 12 spot.

The duo ran excellently hard between the wickets, converted their ones into twos, twos into threes and kept the boundaries coming consistently from the 11th over onwards and yielded runs in double figures till Campher finished off the chase with a hat-trick of fours, last of which was a crisp square drive past point and roared in delight over getting a thrilling win for Ireland.

In the chase, Paul Stirling and captain Andy Balbirnie impressed with boundaries in the first three overs. But the duo could not build on, falling to fast bowlers Safyaan Sharif and Brad Wheal in power-play.

Spinners Mark Watt and Chris Greaves then took over, removing Lorcan Tucker (20) and Harry Tector (14) just as they were on the verge of converting their promising knocks into something substantial.

When the drinks break was taken, Ireland had new batters in Campher and Dockrell with 116 runs still needed in 63 deliveries. After Dockrell took a boundary each off Wheal and Greaves, Campher joined the party by slog-sweeping Watt for six in an 18-run 13th over which also had four wides.

Campher frequently targeted the short square dimensions of the stadium, as seven of his nine boundaries came from square of the wicket regions on both sides, with Dockrell supporting him well.

Campher also used the crease well, heaving, scooping, cutting and slicing for boundaries for his first T20I fifty coming at a strike-rate of 225 and led Ireland to their highest ever successful run-chase in T20 World Cups with an over to spare.

Earlier, Scotland had a dominant innings with the bat, hardly keeping any foot wrong right from the time of winning the toss and electing to bat first. Jones was unarguably the star of Scotland's innings, hitting six fours and four sixes in his 55-ball 86, at a high strike-rate of 156.36.

After losing his opening partner George Munsey in the second over of the innings, Jones had to be cautious as well as adjust to the conditions. After passing through the initial phase, he then came out swinging with his array of shots, and looking delightful in hitting a majority of his boundaries through the leg-side, including one six landing on the roof of the stadium.

Jones was involved in two useful stands for Scotland -- 59 runs for the second wicket with Matthew Cross (28) and 77 runs for the third wicket with captain Richie Berrington (37). Though Jones fell in the 19th over of the innings, Scotland still managed to get 54 runs off the last five overs to finish with a strong total.

Ireland, on the other hand, were a bit sloppy in the field with Gareth Delany dropping Jones at deep backward square leg in the 15th over. Moreover, Curtis Campher, who was Ireland's best bowler by a mile, got only two overs to bowl, while Delany (0/28 in three overs) and Barry McCarthy (0/59 in four overs) leaked 87 runs from their combined seven overs, which didn't cause much issue in their quest for a crucial win.

Brief scores: Scotland 176/5 in 20 overs (Michael Jones 86, Richie Berrington 37; Curtis Campher 2/9, Mark Adair 1/23) lost to Ireland 180/4 in 19 overs (Curtis Campher 72 not out, George Dockrell 39 not out; Michael Leask 1/16, Brad Wheal 1/25) by six wickets.


--IANS

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