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The Oval, Sep 11 (IANS) Ollie Robinson's five-wicket haul (5/49) and Ollie Pope's fifty (67) helped England take slim advantage over South Africa at the end of day three of the third and final Test despite the fight back by visitors bowlers, here on Saturday.

After bowling out South Africa for 118 in their first innings, England were 154-7 at stumps on Day 3, leading by 36 runs with Ben Foakes (11) and Ollie Robinson (3) unbeaten at the crease.

With the first day being washed out and the second day getting suspended, the third and final Test finally kicked off on Day 3 and it was the England bowlers who stamped their authority.

Ollie Robinson drew the first blood by disturbing the stumps of South Africa skipper Dean Elgar in the second over of the game. In the very next over, Sarel Erwee was done by the late movement produced by James Anderson, edging the ball to the gloves of Ben Foakes for a four-ball duck.

Robinson continued to trouble the South African batters, with Keegan Petersen his next victim. Stuart Broad got in on the act in his very first over, luring Ryan Rickelton into a drive and into the safe hands of Foakes. The wicketkeeper was in action three balls later when Robinson found the outside edge of Kyle Verreynne.

Robinson and Foakes combined again to dismiss Wiaan Mulder with an enticing ball outside off. With just 36 runs on board, the Proteas had lost half their side.

The sixth-wicket pair of Khaya Zondo and Marco Jansen added as many runs as the first five wickets did, doubling South Africa's score with a 36-run stand. They took South Africa safely to lunch without losing any further wickets at 69/6.

But England came back strongly in the second session, breaking the partnership in the first over after lunch. Broad did Zondo with a surprise short ball to expose the tail.

The rest of the batting did not provide much resistance and folded for 118. Robinson scalped Jansen to complete his five-for while Broad picked up the wickets of Keshav Maharaj and Anrich Nortje to complete his four-wicket haul.

In reply, Alex Lees' 13-run cameo off 6 balls got England's innings off and running before he was trapped in front of the stumps by Marco Jansen. The South African pacers were awry in their lines and lengths and were punished by Ollie Pope, who found the boundaries with ease.

Jansen got yet another batter trapped leg before wicket, with Zak Crawley departing after his cautious stay at the crease. Pope and Joe Root put on a quick 41-run stand that came off just 47 balls. It took a stunning catch from Petersen to bring an end to Root's innings, with Jansen once again getting the wicket for the Proteas.

Thereafter, South Africa made the most of the short rain break and scalped the wickets of debutant Harry Brook and captain Ben Stokes. Between the two wickets, Pope got to his ninth Test fifty but fell soon after for 67.

Rabada claimed the wicket of Broad in what turned out to be the final over of the day after bad light forced early stumps on day three.

Brief scores: South Africa 118 (Marco Jansen 30; Ollie Robinson 5-49, Stuart Broad 4-41) trail England 154/7 (Ollie Pope 67; Marco Jansen 4-34, Kagiso Rabada 2-78) by 36 runs.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Sep 10 (IANS) BCCI president and former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has lavished praise on Virat Kohli, saying that the star batter is "more skilful" than him as a player.

Kohli, who went through a dry run of form, recently rediscovered his lost mojo during the Asia Cup 2022, where he hit his first international century after 1020 days. His ton (122 not out) versus Afghanistan was his first in the 20-over format as he touched the three-figure score in nearly three years - his last hundred coming in a Test match against Bangladesh in November 2019.

Notably, both Ganguly and Kohli played an aggressive brand of cricket as captains but the current BCCI president feels captaincy should not be compared.

"I don't think that (captaincy) should be the comparison… The comparison should be in terms of skill as a player. I think he is more skilful than I'm," Ganguly said of Kohli in the 'Ranveer Show' on YouTube.

"We played in different generations, and we played a lot of cricket. I played in my generation, and he will continue playing, probably playing more games than I did. Currently, I have played more than what he has but he'll get past that. He is tremendous," he added.

Asked whether he gave Kohli any advice when he was struggling for form, Ganguly said, "I don't get to see them. The poor guys travel a lot."

The 50-year-old also spoke about how every player goes through media scrutiny.

"Everybody has been under media scrutiny. Just the names keep changing over a period of time. I won't get to know half of it because I didn]t read so much. I would enter a hotel and the first thing I would say at the reception, 'Boss, don't put the newspaper under my door in the morning'," he said.

"But now, obviously, it's a lot more; social media is on your computer and phone. But I think cricketers find a way to shut that off," he added.

During his playing days, Ganguly too went through many ups and downs, especially after his face-off with then-India coach Greg Chappell. The former left-hand batter said that cricketers should take the setbacks positively.

"I didn't go through any trauma. I just had good days and bad days. I had less pressure, a bit more pressure and too much pressure… I don't consider it as trauma," said Ganguly.

"Young people should also look at it that way. I can say it now because I'm a bit more experienced. But the young ones should look at it as an opportunity and move on," he added.

The veteran explained how the game has changed over time.

"The game is different. It has gotten faster, shorter, more sixes, more boundaries, and not many deliveries left outside the off stump. The game has changed," Ganguly said.

--IANS

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Dubai, Sep 10 (IANS) Pakistan leg-spin all-rounder Shadab Khan insists that winning against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final and claiming the trophy is the real deal for his team. The final of Asia Cup 2022, to be held at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, will see Pakistan and Sri Lanka face each other for the fourth time in the final of the multi-nation event.

While Pakistan have won three and lost two matches in the tournament so far, Sri Lanka have been on the winning side four times while losing just once. In the overall head-to-head equation in Asia Cup, Sri Lanka have won 11 matches while Pakistan have prevailed over them just five times. A win on Sunday will take Sri Lanka's Asia Cup titles from five to six, while for Pakistan, it will increase from two to three.

"We are a great team, but in order to become a champion side, we need to win this tournament and other high-profile series. I have said before that champion teams handle pressure well and prevail in clutch moments, and this is what we will aim for on the Sunday Finale. Winning against Sri Lanka and claiming the Asia Cup title is the real deal for us!" said Shadab on the official website of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The momentum is firmly with Sri Lanka as they have emerged victorious in four of their last five contested T20Is against Pakistan. Shadab feels that Pakistan have done well to reach the final despite losing their opening match of the tournament to India by five wickets and complemented his team-mates for playing crucial roles in getting crucial wins in the tournament despite losing players like Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr and Shahnawaz Dahani before and during the tournament.

"When we lost the first match of the tournament against India, we were confident we will rise. And rise we did. Rizwan played exceptionally well against Hong Kong, followed by a comprehensive bowling display that helped us earn a confidence-boosting win. Nawaz demonstrated great all-round skills against India in the Super Four match, and although, I was the player of the match against Afghanistan, those two sixes by Naseem Shah will be eternally remembered!"

"Amidst Shaheen's absence and some of o'r batters' problems in searching for form, there was a general perception that Pakistan might get knocked out of the tournament at any stage. But the essence of cricket is based on teamwork and not individualism."

"We have also observed that after the Men"s T20 World Cup 2021, various players from our team have stepped up and shown the determination to unleash their talents, making it a well-known fact that all the 11 players who take the field are match-winners."

Shadab went on to appreciate the leadership of prolific batter Babar Azam though he himself has been short of runs in the tournament. "Babar Azam has taught us a lot, and besides the excellent team culture he has developed, I think the best facet of his leadership is the fact that he has inculcated the never give up attitude among us. Even if we find ourselves in hopeless situations, we are fully charged to fight till the last ball."

Shadab signed off by saying that they would like to bring smiles to the faces of people badly affected by devastating floods in Pakistan by winning the Asia Cup on Sunday. "Due to the unprecedented weather conditions, one-third of Pakistan is currently underwater."

"Since we're away from our beloved homeland, watching the devastating calamity from afar makes it even more painful for us. We would like to win this tournament to bring lively smiles back on the faces of the people affected by the flood."

--IANS

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Dubai, Sep 10 (IANS) Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has lauded South Africa skipper Dean Elgar for being on the cusp of reaching the 5,000-run mark in Test cricket, saying that it is a great effort for an opening batter to score that many runs in the longest format of the game.

Elgar needs 66 runs in the final Test against England at The Oval to get 5,000 runs in Test cricket. Currently in 78 Tests, Elgar has 4,934 runs at an average of 39.15, including 13 centuries and 22 fifties since his debut in the format in 2012.

"It's a brilliant effort. For an opening batsman to score five thousand runs, it's a great effort. There's no question about that. He's a tough, gritty batsman, knows his game inside-out, knows how to be really effective, and 5,000 runs -- there's not a lot of people in the history of Test cricket who have not been able to do that," said Watson on The ICC Review show.

With Elgar predominantly being a Test specialist for South Africa (he has just eight ODI appearances), Watson feels the free schedule allows the 35-year-old to preserve his body and continue piling up the runs in the longest format of the game, possibly for next four-five years as well.

"Only playing Test cricket, there's enough downtime to be able to stay fresh and keep that freshness for the next four-five years. I'm sure he'll be making the most of that. He certainly can play for another four, five years I think, with his performances still being very high, and he's a great leader around the group as you can see with his captaincy as well."

"He's still got a fair way to go, I believe. It's a big series (against England away from home), and as captain of South Africa, he's doing a brilliant job. It's an incredible achievement, that's for sure."

South Africa are continuing their push for a spot in the World Test Championship final, and a possible win over England at The Oval will move them level with Australia on top with 70 per cent points. Though South Africa haven't won a Test series in England in their last three attempts, Watson feels there is a belief in the Proteas under Elgar's leadership to change the trend.

"He's always talking pushing the limit to how good they can be, and not just being happy and settled with what's going on right now. We've seen that in the England series so far, especially with the first Test match. They've got a seriously good team."



--IANS

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Melbourne, Sep 10 (IANS) Australia white-ball skipper Aaron Finch, who will retire from One-day International (ODI) cricket following the third and final match against New Zealand at Cairns on September 11, believes there is no reason why batting stalwart Steve Smith cannot replace him in captaincy duties in the 50-ver side.

Smith was the Australia skipper till the Test series against South Africa in 2018 where he was stripped of his role following the ball-tampering scandal involving him, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.

Smith and Warner were banned for a year following the scandal, also called 'Sandpaper-gate'. Smith has since returned to the leadership role, being appointed deputy to Test captain Pat Cummins ahead of the Ashes series at home late last year.

The retirement of Finch, whose indifferent form in ODIs is one of the reasons behind the 35-year-old bidding adieu from the 50-over format, has brought into focus the ODI leadership issue as Australia prepare for the ODI World Cup in India next year.

With Test skipper Cummins making it clear he is not interested in white-ball captaincy, Smith has emerged as the likely choice.

"I don't think (appointing Smith as captain would be an issue)," Finch was quoted as saying by The West Australian on Saturday.

"He captained a (Ashes) Test match in Adelaide after Pat (Cummins) was out with COVID. So I think that's all been put to bed," added Finch.

Finch believes Cummins could also manage the workload of captaining the side in all three formats but playing so many matches would be tough on the pace bowler.

Cummins has been rested from 28 of 65 matches in the past four years, according to the report.

"It's pretty hard but I think if anyone can manage it it'd be Pat (Cummins)," Finch said. "He is an unbelievably resilient person. He has shown brilliant leadership of the Test group and I've loved working with him. He takes everything in his stride. He's got all the tools to do that."

--IANS

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Monza (Italy), Sep 9 (IANS) Ferrari's Charles Leclerc topped the first practice session ahead of Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz in the Italian Grand Prix as championship leader Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished fifth here on Friday.

George Russell finished the session in third place while his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton was fourth with a lap of 1:22.831 that left him 0.421 off Leclerc.

It was also revealed that the Red Bull driver Verstappen will take an engine-related grid penalty on Sunday in Monza.

At the start of the opening practice session, Verstappen quickly moved to the top of the order with a lap of 1: 25.830 set on hard tyres. His Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez then took the top spot with a hard-tyre time of 1:25.026s before Alpine's Fernando Alonso stole P1 by 0.091s.

Verstappen improved over his hard tyres run, however, and after reclaiming the top spot with a lap of 1:23.449, he eventually worked his way down to 1:22.853 before drivers began to switch to soft tyres.

Leclerc, on the red-walled rubber, immediately took the top spot from Verstappen with a 1:22.410. Verstappen looked on course to beat that time, but the Dutchman encountered traffic in the final sector and he would end up fifth overall.

Verstappen finished fifth and 0.430 off the pace and it was revealed that the World Championship leader will incur a five-place grid drop for taking a new internal combustion engine.

Sixth place went to Alpine's Esteban Ocon with teammate Alonso seventh ahead of AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda, and Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas. The tenth spot went to 2021 Monza winner Daniel Ricciardo, with teammate Lando Norris down in 16th in the second McLaren.

There were two FP1 cameos in the session with former Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi finishing 18th in an outing with Haas and Nyck de Vries 19th for Aston Martin.

--IANS

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Dubai, Sep 9 (IANS) Star India batsman Virat Kohli on Thursday not only broke multiple records but also gave the side a much-needed relief after scoring his maiden T20I hundred.

Kohli's international ton came after an extended period of nearly three years as he had made his 70th century in November 2019.

Kohli unleashed an array of shots against Afghanistan on Thursday as he zoomed past the 100-figure mark in 53 balls with a stylish six taking India towards a daunting total of 212/2 in the allotted 20 overs.

The star cricketer thanked his fans and followers for all the love and support in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022.

"Thank you for all the love and support throughout the Asia Cup campaign. We will get better and come back stronger. Untill next time," Kohli said on Koo app.

Kohli's century didn't stop cricketers and former players from showering praises on the him. Former India opener Robin Uthappa lauded Kohli for ending a century drought and entertaining his fans with beautiful strokeplay

"I'd say the gorilla is off the back. What a knock and what an apt celebration after he broke the 100 drought!! Well done @virat.kohli Amazing stuff," Uthappa said on the Koo app.

With this century, Kohli equalled the record of scoring the second most international tons with former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting. Legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar has scored the most centuries (100) in international cricket.

Kohli also completed 3500 runs in men's T20I and became the second player to achieve the feat after India skipper Rohit Sharma.

Kohli smashed 122 not out which is the highest score by an Indian player in T20I cricket. This is also recorded as the highest score in T20Is in UAE.

India defeated Afghanistan by 101 runs to end their campaign on a high.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka have qualified for the finals of the Asia Cup and will face off against each other on Sunday in the summit clash.

The two teams will also play on Friday, a dead rubber, in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup.

--IANS

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Mumbai, Sep 9 (IANS) Proud wife Anushka Sharma has promised her star cricketer husband Virat Kohli, who completed his 71st century in international cricket on Thursday in the Asia Cup 2022, that she is "forever" with him "through any and everything."

Anushka took to Instagram, where she posted a slew of pictures of Virat from the match.

She wrote: "Forever with you through any and everything (heart and infinity emojis)."

Replying to the post, Virat dropped red-heart emojis.

Virat Kohli ended his drought of not scoring a century in international cricket for 1020 days with a sensational career-best 122 off just 61 balls to power India to 212/2 against Afghanistan in a dead-rubber of Super Four stage in Asia Cup 2022 at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.

Anushka on the acting front, will next appear in 'Chakda Xpress', directed by Prosit Roy.

--IANS
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By Mukesh Sharma
Doha, Sep 9 (IANS) Ticket holders to FIFA World Cup Qatar matches will be able to bring in three family members or friends who do not own tickets, on the basis of the Hayya card, a mandatory document to enter stadiums, organisers said in Doha on Thursday.


The Director General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, Yasir Al Jamal, told a press conference: "We are only weeks away from the biggest sporting event ever to be held in our country and region. We are delighted with ticket sales so far and look forward to welcoming fans from across the globe for a celebration of the beautiful game. Fans will experience Qatar's warm hospitality while they enjoy exciting action on the pitch and numerous entertainment options off it. This will truly be a World Cup to remember - and a game-changer for Qatar, the Middle East and Arab world."

More than 2.45 million tickets have already been sold for the tournament and the next phase of sale begins later this month with over-the-counter sales set to begin later. More than 500,000 tickets were snapped up during the most recent sales phase in July and August.

It will be the first edition of the tournament to be held in the Middle East and Arab world - and excitement across the region is palpable. Qatar is set to host the most compact edition of the tournament in modern history. Fans, players and officials will always be in the thick of the action - with the longest distance between stadiums just 75 km.

Organisers said that during the tournament, ticketed fans will be able to invite up to three non-ticketed fans to Qatar, with a minimal entry charge for non-ticketed persons aged 12 and over. This feature will be launched together with the Last-Minute Ticket Sales period.

Nasser Al Khater, CEO, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC, said: "Thanks to the compact nature of this tournament, fans will never be far from a stadium or activation. They will also - uniquely in the modern history of the tournament - have the chance to attend more than one match per day during the early stages of the event. Fans and players will love our state-of-the-art stadiums, including the FIFA Fan Festival, which will cater to thousands of fans at the beautiful Al Bidda Park."

*Key information for fans attending the World Cup in Qatar-

Hayya

Fans travelling to Qatar for the tournament, which will take place from 20 November to 18 December, must apply for the mandatory Hayya Card. All ticket holders (both residents and visitors) must obtain Hayya in order to attend matches. Hayyawill also act as an entry permit to Qatar for international fans.

Accommodation

Organisers have reminded fans to book their accommodation as soon as possible. The widest range of options, including cruise ship cabins, apartments, villas, hotels and fan villages, are available to book via the Qatar Accommodation Agency (QAA). Prices start from $ 80 per night, based on two-person occupancy.

From next week, the QAA will contain a third-party booking feature, which will allow fans to successfully apply for Hayyaafter booking accommodation from a source other than the QAA or staying with family/friends.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 8 (IANS) The Road Safety World Series announced recently will feature legends from India, New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa, Bangladesh, and England.

Among the legends who will play for India is Sachin Tendulkar, who is the captain of the Indian team. Others include Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, and Yusuf Pathan. The league announced the addition of Harbhajan Singh.

In his first appearance in a tournament after playing in the IPL, Harbhajan Singh stated, "Road safety is the cause I am playing for and I am fully devoted to creating awareness for saving lives. I'm looking forward to playing with Sachin, Yuvraj and Irfan Pathan, and others in the team."

The RSWS is supported by the Government of India's Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Information and Technology, and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.


--IANS
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