Sports

Ahmedabad, May 7 (IANS) Dominating batting display from Wriddhiman Saha (81 off 43) and Shubman Gill (94* off 51 balls) and Mohit Sharma's four-fer guided Gujarat Titans (GT) to a huge 56-run win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match at Narendra Modi Stadium, here on Sunday.

Saha and Gill dominated the proceedings with the fearless hitting and the duo went on to build a 142-run partnership, which Avesh Khan broke in the 13th over. Then, skipper Hardik Pandya came in and played a quick cameo of 25 off 15 to keep the Titans on track to post the biggest score at the venue.

In reply, LSG was off to a strong start as the new opening pair of Kyle Mayers and Quinton de Kock came out guns blazing and racked up 72 runs in the Powerplay. After Mayers' dismissal, the scoring rate just took a nose dive and LSG kept losing at regular intervals.

De Kock put up a fight and got 70 runs but no other batter managed to stay long on the crease. Ayush Badoni did get away a few lusty blows but it was too late to resurrect the innings and Lucknow suffered a big defeat.

Chasing a mammoth target, LSG got off to a much-needed good start with Mayers and De Kock dealing in boundaries and the visitors raced to 50 for no loss in four overs. The GT skipper introduced spin in the next over, bringing in his premier bowler Rashid Khan, but Mayres was on his merry way, smashing the Afghan spinner for a maximum and a boundary.

He then went for two boundaries against Noor Ahmed, as LSG were 72 for no loss at the end of the Power-play.

A couple of overs later, Mohit Sharma provided a breakthrough as Mayers went for the hook and got a top edge towards deep square-leg and Rashid was quick to sprint across to his right as completed an outstanding diving catch.

De Kock then whipped it over deep square-leg for a maximum and LSG came crossed the 100-run mark halfway through the innings.

Mohit and Rashid bowled brilliantly to slow the LSG run rate in the chase with just 15 runs coming between 11 and 14 overs, without a boundary. Soon, De Kock brought up his fifty in 31 balls including seven boundaries and a maximum. Deepak Hooda's dismal run of form continued as he holed out after a sluggish start.

Hooda went deep in his crease and looked to smoke it away over the mid-wicket fence, he mistimed his shot and hit it straight down the throat of the incoming fielder at deep mid-wicket. Rahul Tewatia there took a simple catch and the pressure just kept building on LSG.

After going boundaryless for 26 balls, De Kock broke the shackles and thumped it straight back down the ground for a maximum. A delivery later Mohit outsmarted Marcus Stoinis and got another breakthrough for the Titans.

With the asking rate climbing and 89 runs in 26 balls, De Kock hammered Rashid a six over mid-wicket and the leg-spinner was quick to bounce back as he removed the set batter for 70.

Impact Player Ayush Badoni started with a six over fine-leg. The next over, Noor Ahmed removed Nicholas Pooran cheaply for 3, reducing LSG to 153/5.

With 73 needed in two overs, Mohit struck twice in the penultimate over to dismiss Badoni and skipper Krunal Pandya and completed his four-fer.

Badoni shuffled across and lofted it over the bowler's head for a six and followed that up with a boundary and fell on the next delivery while attempting a sweep but got the top edge and the ball skied towards square-leg, Noor ran across from short fine-leg and took a good catch.

The next ball he removed Krunal, who tried to slog it away over long-on but mistimed it in the air as David Miller settled under it and pouched it safely.

Ravi Bishnoi hit a boundary in the final over with just formality left in the run chase, as the Titans restricted LSG to 171/7 in 20 overs and wrapped up the huge 56-run win.

Brief scores:

Gujarat Titans 227/2 in 20 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 81 off 43, Shubman Gill 94 not out off 51; Avesh Khan 1-34, Mohsin Khan 1-42) beat Lucknow Super Giants 171/7 in 20 overs (Kyle Mayers 48, Quinton de Kock 70; Mohit Sharma 4-29) by 56 runs.

--IANS

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New Delhi, May 7 (IANS) Hockey Punjab, Hockey Andhra Pradesh, Hockey Chandigarh, and Hockey Bihar registering wins in their respective games at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela, Odisha won their respective matches on Day 4 of the 13th Hockey India Sub-junior Women's National Championship 2023 here on Sunday.

In the first match of the day, Hockey Punjab defeated Hockey Gujarat 8-0. Sharanjit Kaur (9', 15'), and Harjot Kaur (33', 52') scored a brace, while Tanu Rani (28'), Harpreet Kaur (33'), Khushboo (59'), and Sanna (56') netted a goal each.

The second match of the day witnessed Manipur Hockey getting outscored by Hockey Andhra Pradesh as the match ended 4-6 in the favour of the latter. Kuppa Tulasi (1', 7', 18', 48') scored four goals for Hockey Andhra Pradesh while Ragula Nagamani (6', 38') found the back of the net twice. For Manipur Hockey, Leishangthem Natali Chanu (40', 58') and captain Mutum Priya Devi (50', 52') were the goal scorers.

Meanwhile, Hockey Chandigarh beat Telangana Hockey 13-0 in the third game of the day. Supriya (13', 14', 19', 48', 60') scored five goals while Tamanna (1', 32', 41') and Pooja (38', 45', 57') netted a hat-trick each. Also, Skipper Anjali (15', 44') scored a brace to contribute to Hockey Chandigarh's win.

In the fourth match of the day, Hockey Bihar registered a comprehensive 14-1 win against Goans Hockey. Hockey Bihar's captain Shanti Kumari led the team from the front as she scored seven goals (2', 4', 6', 20', 21', 52', 60'), while Rishu Kumari scored four goals (14', 24', 54', 59'). Also, Sharda Kumari (18'), Akansha Yadav (39'), and Najiya Khatun (45') were on the scoresheet. For Goans Hockey, Saloni Shrikant Gawas (47') scored a consolation goal.

Also, on Saturday, Hockey Mizoram defeated Kerala Hockey 4-2 and the Hockey Association of Odisha registered a comprehensive 9-0 win against Hockey Rajasthan in the last two games of the Day 3 of the tournament.

For Hockey Mizoram, Laldinpuii (29', 42', 44', 56') scored all four goals against Kerala Hockey. Meanwhile, Shanusha P M (25') and Gowrinandana V S (60') scored one goal each for Kerala Hockey.

Meanwhile, for the Hockey Association of Odisha, Binati Minz (27', 28', 48') netted a hat-trick, while Karuna Minz (3'), Captain Tanuja Toppo (5'), Doli Bhoi (6'), Janhabi Bada (13'), Amisha Ekka (38'), and Jyoti Xaxa (42') also scored a goal each against Hockey Rajasthan.

--IANS

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New Delhi, May 7 (IANS) India's Deepak Bhoria stunned Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist and 2021 World Champion Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan 5-2 (after bout review) in the Round of 32 bout in the 51kg weight category in the IBA Men's World Boxing Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Sunday.

Compatriot Hussamuddin (57kg) also registered a victory to advance to the quarterfinals.

Deepak came up with a stunning display against the top-seeded Bibossinov, the favourite for a medal in this weight category. It was a tough fight and Deepak matched the Kazakhstan boxer. At the end of three rounds, a countback review was conducted in which the Indian boxer emerged on the top and advanced.

Deepak started the bout slowly and took some time to get into the rhythm but Bibossinov used it to his advantage and landed some punches. The Indian boxer ended the first round strongly and hit his opponent with a flurry of punches but lost by 2-3.

After the second round, Deepak was trailing before mounting a great comeback in the final round. He picked up the pace and moved around swiftly throughout the bout while hitting his opponent with some hard blows. Deepak evaded the Kazakh boxer's punches consistently and impressed the judges to win by 5-2 after the decision went to bout review.

Deepak will face Zhang Jiamao of China in his next bout and will look to register another big win in the tournament.

"My target was to play with patience since the start of the bout and gather as many points as I can. The first two rounds were tough but I was focused on not losing my patience and waiting for the right moment to attack," Deepak was quoted as saying by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) in a release on Sunday.

Coaches had told me to lure my opponent with the right punch before using my left hook to good effect. It worked as I connect a lot of left hooks to get points. Every bout is important for me and I play every match like it's a final match for me. I am focused on winning my next bout now," Deepak said after the victory.

On the other hand, Hussamuddin faced Russia's Savvin Eduard in the pre-quarters. The Indian pugilist dominated the bout from the start and never gave any chance of a comeback to his opponent.

Hussamuddin was quicker than his Russian opponent in the second round as well. In the third round, he kept on counter-punching smartly to register a 5-0 win. He will go up against second seed Umid Rustamov (Azerbaijan) in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Boxers Sumit (75kg) and Narender (92+kg) will be in action later on Sunday night. Sumit will start his campaign in the round of 32 bout against Russia's Pavel Sosulin while Narender will square off against Arzola Lopez of Cuba in the last-16 stage.

The ongoing tournament is witnessing the participation of 538 boxers, including several Olympic medallists, from 107 countries.

--IANS

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Tashkent (Uzbekistan), May 7 (IANS) India's Deepak Bhoria stunned Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist and 2021 World Champion Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan 5-2 (after bout review) in the Round of 32 bout in the 51kg weight category in the IBA Men's World Boxing Championships on Sunday.

He was joined in the pre-quarterfinals by compatriot and two-time Commonwealth Games medallist Mohammed Hussamuddin, who defeated Russia's Eduard Savvin 5-0 by unanimous decision in the 57kg.

Deepak came up with a stunning display against the top-seeded Bibossinov, the favourite for a medal in this weight category. It was a tough fight and Deepak matched the Kazakhstan boxer. At the end of three rounds, a countback review was conducted in which the Indian boxer emerged on the top and advanced.

On Sunday, two other Indians - Sumit (75kg) and Narender (92+kg) -- will be in action.

Sumit will start his campaign in the Round of 32 bout against Russia's Pavel Sosulin while Narender will square off against Arzola Lopez of Cuba in the last-16 stage.

The ongoing tournament is witnessing the participation of 538 boxers, including several Olympic medallists, from 107 countries.

--IANS

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New Delhi, May 7 (IANS) Royal Challengers Bangalore all-rounder Mahipal Lomror had a good time with the bat through his audacious 29-ball 54 against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday.

Lomror joined the franchise in 2022 and on Saturday finally got the opportunity to come good with the bat albeit in a losing cause. His knock was laced with three maximums and nine boundaries. Head Coach Sanjay Bangar said Lomror was certainly the highlight of the match which ended in a seven-wicket defeat for them.

"There were a lot of positives to take from our last match in Delhi, especially in the batting department. Mahipal Lomror coming good with the bat was probably the highlight of the match. We showed great consistency in the batting department," Bangar was quoted as saying by the franchise in a release.

Lomror stated that his job in the Bangalore batting line-up coming after talismanic batters Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell is to disrupt the opposition's bowling plans. "My job was to try to score a boundary in every over. To put opposition bowlers under pressure I took some risks and it paid off. I love playing on slow wickets because I get to play on the backfoot where I am quite strong."

"As per my role, it's rare to score 50 or big runs. My role is to go down and disrupt the opposition's bowling. It's a high-risk game so am not expected to play long innings. My job is to play impactful innings and cameos."

Asked about what was his role when Kohli was batting from the other end, Lomror remarked, "When I was batting with Virat, the game plan was simple. His role was to bat deep, and my job was to score a couple of boundaries in every over. When Kuldeep Yadav was bowling, it was turning a bit.

"It was important to put some pressure on him, so I took some risks, and it paid off. When we were batting, we were aiming for 170 because the wicket was spinning, and it was slow as well. We felt it was a good score. If our bowling was a bit tighter, this would have been a very good score."

Bangalore's next match in IPL 2023 will be against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.

--IANS

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Chennai, May 7 (IANS) Nehal Wadhera, who brought up his maiden IPL fifty to take Mumbai Indians (MI) to a respectable total after a wobbly start against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in an IPL 2023 match, has said that the next time he goes head-to-head with Matheesha Pathirana, he would have better plans to score runs against the Sri Lankan pacer.

Pathirana was on fire in his spell, giving away just 15 runs in his four overs, not conceding a single boundary while picking three wickets and denied Mumbai the finishing kick they needed after losing their top three batters in power-play.

After a dismal start, Wadhera along with Suryakumar Yadav steadied the Mumbai innings, stitching a 55-run partnership. The former, however, fell in the 11th over, leaving the mantle fair and square on Wadhera.

The 22-year-old then established a 50-run stand with Tristan Stubbs to take the total to 139/8, which CSK chased down comfortably in 17.4 overs to climb to the second place in the points table.

Pathirana dismissed Wadhera for 64 in the 18th over with a fiery 145kph yorker which kept low to go past the attempted flick and hit the base of the middle stump with great accuracy.

On facing that slinging action from Pathirana, Wadhera said that it was the first time he was facing him and he would have a better plan the next time the two go head-to-head.

"This was the first time I was facing him. He is not the type of bowler we face every day. But next time, whenever he comes, I would have better plans for him so that I can score more runs against him," Wadhera said in the post-match press conference.

"It was my first game here in Chennai and also my first fifty in the IPL. I love batting under pressure. It was fun batting in Chennai but it was not an easy wicket to bat on," he added.

Speaking about the game, the young batter said MI were 15-20 runs short as they lost wickets early.

"We lost three early wickets early but it happens in cricket. Overall, we batted well today but I think we were about 15-20 runs short. I think if we had those runs the game might have been very different," the left-handed batter said.

"Today, it was difficult to hit the pacers because the ball was not coming onto the bat properly. Even with the new ball, Deepak Chahar and Tushar Deshpande used slower ones well," he added.

--IANS

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New Delhi, May 7 (IANS) Former Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody said that cricket has moved on from Royal Challengers Bangalore star batter Virat Kohlis template of batting and players are scoring with 150+ strike rate because of batting depth in their sides.

Opening the batting for RCB, Virat scored 55 off 46. He and Mahipal Lamror (54 of just 29 balls) built a 56-run partnership for the third wicket and RCB posted 181 runs on the board  against the Delhi Capitals on Saturday night at the Arun Jaitley stadium, here.

In reply, Phillip Salt's mega 87-run knock (45b, 8x4, 6x6) helped Delhi Capitals chase the target and keep themselves alive in the IPL 2023.

"Will always have this debate because it is the Virat Kohli template. It's the way he bats. His career strike rate is around 130. His ability to continue to churn out runs is quite extraordinary," Moody said on ESPNCricinfo.

"But maybe he also felt that whilst the other end was flying along, his role was to feed that other end. But in my view, particularly with the impact player, the game has really moved on from that style of cricket. That's why we are seeing so many totals go to 200+. There is no such role.

We all need to be going here at 150+ without a doubt because we have the comfort of depth. But did they get as many as they could have? If he took his foot a little off the brake and went with Lomror, and tried to target a boundary an over himself, we will never know," he added.

After their loss against Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore remain fifth in the points table with five wins from ten matches so far.

--IANS

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New Delhi, May 7 (IANS) Delhi Capitals put on a show to register a clinical seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in an IPL 2023 match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here and former India pacer RP Singh feels that the reason behind the home team's win was their great intent.

RCB won the toss and decided to bat first, scoring a total of 181 runs boosted by Virat Kohli's 55 runs (46b, 5x4) and Mahipal Lomror's quickfire 54 runs (29b, 6x4, 3x6). Unfortunately, that total was not enough as the Capitals chased it with ease on Saturday night.

Phillip Salt's mega 87-run knock (45b, 8x4, 6x6) helped them not only chase the target down but do it with 20 balls to spare.

Delhi keeps their dreams of making the playoffs alive with this win, sitting with 8 points in 9th place. They have a chance at making it into the playoffs, so JioCinema IPL expert RP Singh praised their intent and effort for this must-win game,

"The intent with which Delhi approached was very important. They had to win tonight's match to keep themselves in the race, had they lost today, all the ifs and buts would have ended. Delhi won tonight because their intent was great. The top-order fired at the right time," said Singh.

On the other hand, former India pacer Zaheer Khan praised Salt's tremendous contribution for Delhi Capitals.

"Whenever someone takes his (Salt) name, it's to talk about him as a prolific batsman. The question was whether he will get an opportunity, Prithvi Shaw's form was low, Delhi had other issues, and the batting also had issues. They had to do something about it. The change has come. They could've gone with Mitchell Marsh as their opener, but they picked Phil Salt. He played his first matches in the middle order but came up tonight," said Zaheer.

"I think they are definitely settled, something they'll have to do. When Anrich Nortje comes back, we'll have to see which player is benched. We'll have to see what Delhi does going forward. With the way they've looked in recent matches, things are trending up for Delhi," he added.

Bangalore lost yet another game after posting a competitive target and Brett Lee reacted to side dropping another winnable game while praising Salt's exploits on the night,

"A little bit of an issue with RCB. A couple of bad losses, they should've probably won again tonight. They had enough runs on the board but just couldn't get it done with the bowling," said Lee.

"His (Phillip Salt) name always comes up as a player you have to have on your side, and he proved again exactly the reason why. 87 off 45 deliveries, took on the quicks too. I liked how he took on Mohammed Siraj, he wasn't backing down to him. The great thing with Phil Salt is that he is aggressive but gets himself into a position where he can allow himself to be aggressive, which is the best place to bat," he added.

--IANS

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Lucknow, May 7 (IANS) Lucknow University officials have ordered a probe into the incident in which a girl hosteler suffered a ligament injury, about 10 months ago, during a kabaddi match.

The probe was ordered after students took to social media to allege apathy towards the injured girl on Saturday.

The kabaddi match was held last year when a team from the NAAC was visiting LU for the assessment.

The injured girl is yet to recover fully, claimed students.

LU spokesperson Durgesh Srivastava said, "We are inquiring into it and the best decision will be taken in her interest."

Several girl students said, "When the NAAC team was visiting last year, girls of Tilak hostel were asked to participate in a kabaddi match. One of the hostellers, Ruchi, a B.A final student got injured in the match and when she sought help from the teacher in charge, she gave her a meagre sum for treatment after taking a receiving note from her about the same. Due to negligence and delay in the treatment, Ruchi is still unable to walk properly."

Prof Poonam Tandon, dean student welfare, meanwhile said, "No such incident was ever reported to me."

She said the LU administration never asked for the kabaddi matches before or during NAAC evaluation.

--IANS
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New Delhi, May 6 (IANS) England batter Philip Salt smashed an exceptional half-century (87 off 45) to outshine the fifties from Virat Kohli and Mahipal Lomror and power Delhi Capitals to a dominating seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in Match No. 50 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, here on Saturday.

With this win, Delhi Capitals moved up to the ninth position in the points table with four wins in 10 matches and kept their qualification hopes alive. On the other hand, RCB are in the fifth spot with five wins in 10 games.

Fine fifties by Kohli (55 off 46) and Lomror (54 off 29) propelled RCB to 181/4 in 20 overs. Apart from Kohli and Lomror, skipper Faf du Plessis also played a vital knock to contribute to RCB's decent total. On the other hand, Mitchell Marsh was the most successful bowler for Delhi Capitals with his superb 2-21.

Chasing a challenging total, openers David Warner and Philip Salt gave Delhi Capitals a flying start. From the very first over, Warner cleared his intent by smashing Siraj for two boundaries while Philip also joined the party and picked crucial boundaries and sixes off Maxwell and Philip to take Delhi to 29/0 after the first three overs.

With both Capitals' openers batting freely, RCB skipper Du Plessis was forced to bring Wanindu Hasaranga in the 4th over itself but it didn't yield great results as Warner clubbed the spinner for a six and boundary.

His batting partner Salt then took Siraj to the cleaners by hitting for consecutive 6, 6, 4 which rattled the pacer. Siraj and Salt had a heated discussion at the pitch and umpires and Warner had to intervene to diffuse the situation.

It was Hazlewood, who finally gave RCB the much-needed breakthrough by removing Warner on a slower ball outside off. However, Mitchell Marsh came out swinging hard, picking up a four and a six and taking his to 70/1 -- Delhi Capitals' best Power-play in IPL 2023.

Even after the Power-play, Salt showed no signs of slowing down and made a mockery of the pitch and RCB bowling to get fifty off just 28 balls. On the other hand, Marsh was giving him enough support with his timely boundaries as Delhi Capitals were 115-1 after 10 overs.

All-rounder Harshal Patel, who came in as Impact Player replacing Kedhar Yadav, finally gave RCB a breakthrough by dismissing Mitchell Marsh. Rilee Rossouw was the new batter, joining Salt as Delhi Capitals needed 59 runs in 54 balls.

Meanwhile, Salt was just unstoppable and along with Rossouw, he didn't let the run rate drop. The England batter was fed some slot balls and he let them go free to carry the momentum. He was dismissed for 87, bowled by Karn Sharma in the 16th over but victory was a mere formality by then.

From there on, Rilee Rossouw (35 off 22) played an impressive knock and along with Axar Patel (8 off 3) took Delhi Capitals over the victory line in 16.4 overs.

Earlier, RCB won the toss and opted to bat first. Openers Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli gave them a strong start, scoring 51/0 in the Power-play. Both Faf and Kohli were a bit cautious in their approach in the first four overs and RCB were 23/0. However, after accessing the conditions, they decided to free their arms and took Mukesh Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed to the cleaners, scoring 13 and 15 runs respectively in the 5th and 6th over.

Kohli and Faf looked in decent touch and continued to steady the RCB innings. The run-rate didn't spike up too much on a pitch that is stopping a touch but RCB looked to build a solid base to capitalise on later as Faf and Kohli took them to 79/0 at the end of 10 overs.

Delhi Capitals were desperately searching for a wicket and it was Mitchell Marsh, who ended the 82-run opening wicket stand by removing Du Plessis. In the very next ball, Marsh, who removed Glenn Maxwell for a duck and brought Delhi back in the game.

RCB were 82/2 after 10.4 overs and needed another partnership to keep them ahead in the game. The new batter Mahipal Lomror joined an already set Kohli at the crease and Delhi bowlers were able to keep things under their control for the next few overs.

Just when RCB were showing signs of dipping, Lomror propped them with a few lusty hits, especially against Kuldeep Yadav. On the other hand, Kohli anchored the innings with yet another half-century off 42 balls.

With 126/2 after 15 overs, RCB had the platform to finish strong and Lomror hit Mukesh Kumar for a four to make a move towards that. But Kohli flicked the ball straight to Khaleel, who got both hands to it, then juggled and kept tossing the ball close to his chest before finally clinging on to it at short fine leg.

The designated RCB finisher Dinesh Karthik then joined hands with Lomror, who hit Ishant for two fours and took 11 runs from that over. Khaleel Ahmed gave away 15 in his over as Karthik and Lomror smashed the left-arm pacer for a six and boundary.

Though Mukesh Kumar bowled a fantastic 19th over to concede just 6 runs, he couldn't prevent Lomror from getting his maiden IPL fifty off 26 balls. Khaleel started the last over of the innings by removing Karthik in his first ball and used his slower ones to perfection and gave just 9 runs to keep RCB to 181/4 in 20 overs.

Brief scores:

Royal Challengers Bangalore 181/4 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 55, Mahipal Lomror 54; Mitchell Marsh 2-21) lost to Delhi Capitals 187/3 in 16.4 Overs (Philip Salt 87, Rilee Rossouw 35; Josh Hazlewood 1-29) by 7 wickets.

--IANS

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