Sports

Sydney, Nov 5 (IANS) Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka feels his side played good cricket in patches at the Men's T20 World Cup 2022 but primarily injuries to key players hampered their chances of winning the title in Australia.

The 2010 World T20 winner England held their nerves to beat Sri Lanka by four wickets in their final Super 12 game at the Sydney Cricket Ground and book their berth in the semifinals of the Men's T20 World Cup 2022 on Saturday.

Sri Lanka were already out of the semifinal race before the game and with the loss, they ended their campaign on a disappointing note. The Dasun Shanaka-led side won just two games out of their five super 12 matches.

"We played good cricket in patches but we started with a few injuries so it cost us the tournament. Our main fast bowlers who played in the Asia Cup got injured. If the injuries were not there, we could have done better," said Shanaka at the post-match presentation.

The skipper highlighted the areas where the team needs improvement going forward.

"When we go home, we have to certainly polish up the areas where we didn't do well. Hasaranga has been outstanding throughout and Theekshana, both are doing the job for us. The thing is the other bowlers. Today Lahiru Kumara and Kasun Rajitha bowled well in the latter part and Dhananjaya de Silva but still, there are other areas to improve," he said.

"Power-hitting is a key area that we make sure when we come to the next World Cup, we have to get that power from somewhere and look for new talents. Catching has been a problem in this tournament, but in the last year we have been outstanding so we have to polish that as well," he added.

The Sri Lankan captain thanked the spectators, who supported the team throughout the World Cup

"I must thank the colourful and wonderful spectators who have been supporting the team throughout this World Cup. Everywhere we go, they follow us. The supporters back home, I must thank them as well, so a big cheer for them," said Shanaka.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) Indian boxers Kapil Pokhariya and Sparsh Kumar bow out of ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships after losing their respective Round of 16 bouts in Amman, Jordan on Thursday.

According to information received here, Kapil (86 kg), who was making his international debut, was up against Iran's Pouria Amiri.

The boxer from Uttarakhand started the bout in an attacking fashion and dominated his opponent to comfortably win the first round.

His Iranian opponent showed his experience and came back strongly in the second round with a flurry of relentless punches. Kapil tried to counter-attack but conceded a lot of punches in the process. Pouria continued to control the bout against a tired Kapil and secured a comfortable 5-0 win.

Late on Wednesday night, Sparsh (51kg) went down fighting and lost the bout 1-4 against the Olympic bronze medallist and reigning World Champion Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan.

Later on Thursday night, Savita (50kg) will be in action against the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Tsukimi Namiki of Japan in the pre-quarterfinal bout.

Five Indian men boxers including 5-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg) will be in action on Friday. The other four boxers who will take the ring are Ananta Chopade (54kg), Etash Khan (60kg), Amit Kumar (67kg) and Sachin (71kg). All of them will be playing in the pre-quarterfinal bouts.

The competition is witnessing the participation of 267 boxers from 27 top boxing nations.

--IANS

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Sydney, Nov 3 (IANS) Shadab Khan produced a brilliant all-round show while Iftikhar Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi played their roles to perfection to keep Pakistans slim semifinal hopes alive in the Men's T20 World Cup with a 33-run victory over South Africa via DLS method in a rain-reduced Group 2 match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday.

The victory for Pakistan, who made 185/9 in 20 overs and restricted South Africa to 108/9 in 14 overs as per the adjustments by the DLS method, in Super 12s also meant that they maintained their perfect record over the Proteas in the history of Men's T20 World Cups with their fourth victory in as many meetings. Pakistan are now in third place in Group 2 points table, pushing Bangladesh to fourth place.

On a chilly evening, South Africa made early strikes to push Pakistan on the back foot. Captain Babar Azam (6), Mohammad Rizwan (4) and Shan Masood (2) fell to Lungi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell and Anrich Nortje respectively.

Young right-handed batter Mohammad Haris, who had earlier come into the squad as a replacement for Fakhar Zaman in the 15-man squad, entertained a near full-house crowd for some time with his 11-ball knock of 28, laced with two fours and three sixes at a strike-rate of 254.55 before being trapped lbw by Nortje.

Iftikhar stepped up to resurrect Pakistan's innings as he built a 52-run stand with Mohammad Nawaz (28 off 22 balls) and then established a crucial 82-run stand off just 35 balls for the sixth wicket with Shadab, who struck the second fastest fifty by a batter from the country in T20Is, to take Pakistan to 185/9, which looked absolutely impossible at one point.

While Iftikhar scored 51 from 35 deliveries, hitting three fours and two sixes at a strike rate of 145.71, Shadab's knock proved to be the game-changer for Pakistan as he smashed 52 from just 22 deliveries, including three fours and four sixes at a strike-rate of 236.36. The duo's efforts helped Pakistan get a very challenging total.

They were also helped by a sloppy fielding performance from South Africa, who squandered a good start with the ball in power-play. They dropped five catches apart from several fumbles on a greasy outfield.

In reply, Shaheen dismissed Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw cheaply in the first three overs. But captain Temba Bavuma shrugged off his lean form with a 19-ball 36, hitting four fours and a six to lead the chase well until Shadab arrived in the eighth over.

In his first over of the night, Shadab found Bavuma's outside edge as the keeper completed the catch. One brought two for the leg-spinner when Aiden Markram was castled for 20. By the time play was interrupted due to rain after nine overs, South Africa were 69/4.

An hour's interruption caused by rain cut six overs from the chase and when play resumed South Africa needed 75 runs off the remaining five overs, with the target readjusted to 142 in 14 overs as per the DLS method.

Tristan Stubbs and Heinrich Klaasen, who came in as David Miller was ruled out to back spasms, hung around to hit some boundaries. But the pressure of a high asking rate was always going to be huge as Shaheen, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf picked up wickets in impressive fashion for Pakistan to stay alive in the race for the semifinals.

Pakistan now need to win their next match against Bangladesh at Adelaide on Sunday and then hope that either India or South Africa lose their final Group 2 matches to Zimbabwe and Netherlands respectively.

South Africa now need to defeat the Netherlands at Adelaide on Sunday, with their match happening before the Pakistan-Bangladesh clash on the same day to be in the reckoning for the last-four stage.

Brief scores: Pakistan 185/9 in 20 overs (Shadab Khan 52, Iftikhar Ahmed 51; Anrich Nortje 4/41, Wayne Parnell 1/31) beat South Africa 108/9 in 14 overs (Temba Bavuma 36, Aiden Markram 20; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3/14, Shadab Khan 2/16) by 33 runs (via DLS method)

--IANS

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Bengaluru, Nov 3 (IANS) The Haryana Steelers head coach Manpreet Singh termed his team's thrilling 29-27 victory over Bengaluru Bulls in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 9 as a result of working on their mistakes and expected it to be a confidence-builder for his team.

Speaking about their victory on Tuesday, Manpreet Singh said, "A team will always go through ups and downs in a league. We have lost a lot of close games in this competition, but we worked on our mistakes and now we are on the right side of the result and the win has come against a good team in the tournament."

The head coach also heaped praise on Bengaluru Bulls' head coach Randhir Singh, "I have a lot of respect for Randhir Singh. He is a really good person and a good coach. He helps people a lot. He has produced a lot of good players as well. So, for us to win against Randhir Singh's team will give us a lot of confidence."

The match between Patna Pirates and U Mumba will be a cracker of a contest as both sides are in stupendous form. While raider Sachin will lead the charge for the Pirates, U Mumba's defender Rinku will pose a strong challenge for the Patna side.

The Dabang Delhi K.C. and Jaipur Pink Panthers will be desperate to end their losing streaks when they face off against each other. Naveen Kumar will be the key player for Delhi, while Jaipur will bank on their star raider Arjun Deshwal.

The Puneri Paltan will be hoping to continue their form after registering a victory against Delhi in their last game. However, the Pune side will face stiff competition from U.P. Yoddhas' raiders Pardeep Narwal and Surender Gill.

--IANS

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Thiruvanthapuram, Nov 3 (IANS) Ahead of the FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar from November 20 to December 18, the Kerala government has announced a basic football training progamme for one lakh school students across the state.

State Sports Minister V. Abdurahman announced the scheme named 'One million goals' which is being implemented by the State Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs and Sports Council with help from educational institutions and local self governments.

"Students aged between 10 and 12 years will be given football training as part of the 'One Million Goal' programme which will run from November 11 to 20. A total of 100 children each will be trained in 1,000 centres for 10 days," said Abdurahman.

He added that those who excel in the training camps will continue to get professional training.

The campaign will be assisted by former footballers from the state who have been selected as 'One Million Goal' ambassadors in each of the 14 districts to lead the training programme.

The minister also pointed out that a special scheme called 'Goal' will be launched later wherein similar training will be provided to five lakh children.

--IANS
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Chennai, Oct 30 (IANS) Malayalam superstar Mohanlal has come up with a musical tribute to the FIFA Football World Cup, which is scheduled to begin later this year in Qatar.

Aashirvad Cinemas, the production house producing actor Mohanlal's first directorial venture 'Barroz', on Sunday made this announcement.

Taking to social media, the production house tweeted: "Releasing this October 30th 2022, from the people of God's own country, a musical tribute for the Fifa Football World Cup 2022. All for football. Football for all."

The song, which is to be released on Sunday, has been sung by Mohanlal himself. The musical video has been directed by T. K. Rajeev Kumar while music for the tribute has been scored by Hesham Abdul Wahab.

Sources say that Mohanlal will be in Qatar for the launch of the music video.

--IANS
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Pune, Oct 30 (IANS) The Pune Half Marathon is set to make a grand comeback with its third edition announced for November 27, 2022 and registrations for which have begun in full swing.

This year, the event has also declared prize money of approximately Rs 28 lakh, up from Rs 21 lakh in the second edition, to be won across its race categories.

After a pandemic-induced break of two years, the marquee event of Pune's long-distance running is making a comeback and the race organisers have announced Rs 10 lakh prize for national records in the half-marathon category, for both men and women.

The Pune Half Marathon primarily features four categories, which include the half marathon (21.1km), a 10km run, a 5km run and a 3km (family and fun) run.

Vikas Singh, CEO APG Running and Fitpage said, "It gives us immense pleasure to announce the return of the half marathon. We promise our participants, volunteers and spectators that their wait of two years will be made worthwhile with a best-in-class experience this year. Also for the first time, we are introducing the fitpage app, a technology-driven endurance-first platform, for the participants. This will ensure that participants understand their current fitness levels better and start training using methods that are best suited for each individual. We are confident that the third edition is destined for a grand success."

The first edition of the half marathon saw over 15,000 registrations and the second, held in 2019, saw more than 20,000 running enthusiasts participate. Kenyan Janet Cherobon-Bawcom, the 2011 Boston Half Marathon champion, was the brand ambassador in the second edition.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) After a five-hour gruelling battle, 11th seed Woman Grandmaster Priyanka Nuttaki shocked top seed and former Asian women's champion Tania Sachdev, while Saina Salonika downed fourth seed and 2016 edition winner Bhakti Kulkarni in the fourth round of the Asian Continental Women's Chess Championship, currently underway at Leela Ambience Convention Hotel here.

In the Open section, top seed R. Praggnanandhaa defeated IM Pranav Anand to join overnight sole leader Leon Luke Mendonca and four others on the leaderboard. Pragganandhaa and Mendonca now have the company of compatriot Karthikeyan Murali, Harsha Bharathakoti, Turkmenistan GM Maksat Atabayev and IM Koustav Chatterjee, who are sharing the lead with three-and-a-half points.

Mendonca showed great defensive skill to hold second seed Narayanan SL, while Karthikeyan Murali outwitted Aditya Mittal in a fine crafted play with a pair of bishops. Harsha Bharthakoti joined the leaders after capitalising on crucial errors made by his Indian GM rival Sandipan Chanda, while Koustav Chatterjee had a lucky escape against Kazakh No. 1 GM Rinat Jumabayev to secure full point from the outing.

The lone non-Indian among the leaders, Atabayev got the better of Grandmaster Aryan Chopra in a long battle that ended after 90 moves.

In other important encounters in the women's section, Nandhidhaa PV beat Vantika Agrawal, while Vietnamese WGM Vo Thi Kim Phung defeated Liya Kurmangaliyeva to be joint leaders along with Priyanka, Nandhidhaa and Soumya Swaminathan, who beat Thi Mai Hung Nguyen of Vietnam in the fourth-round encounter.


Important Results Round-4 (Indians otherwise stated): Leon Luke Mendonca (3.5) drew with Narayanan SL (3); Pranav Anand (2.5) lost to R. Praggnanandhaa (3.5); Aditya Mittal (2.5) lost to Karthikeyan Murali (3.5); Koustav Chatterjee (3.5) beat Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan (2.5); Raja Rithvik (3) drew with Adhiban B (3); Sandipan Chanda (2.5) lost to Harsha Bharathakoti (3.5); Shyam Sundar M (3) drew with Saparmyrat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (3); Aryan Chopra (2) lost to Maksat Atabayev of Turkmenistan (3.5); Pranesh M (2) lost to GM Sethuraman SP (3); Srihari LR (2) lost to Aravindh Chithambaram (3); Abhimanyu Puranik (2.5) drew with Aditya Samant (2.5); Vokhidov Shamsiddin of Uzbekistan (3) beat Amartuvshin Ganzorig of Mongolia (2); Alisher Suleymenov of Kazakhstan (2) lost to Sanket Chakravarty (3); Samed Jaykumar Shete (3) beat Batchuluun Tsegmed of Mongolia (2); Karthik Venkataraman (2.5) drew with Nitish Belurkar (2.5).

Women's Round-4: Priyanka Nutakki (3.5) beat IM Tania Sachdev (2.5); Vantika Agrawal (2.5) lost to Nandhidhaa P V (3.5); Rakshitta Ravi (3) drew with Nilufar Yakubbaeva of Uzbekistan (3); Vo Thi Kim Phung of Vietnam (3.5) beat Liya Kurmangaliyeva of Kazakhstan (2.5); Thi Mai Hung Nguyen of Vietnam (2.5) lost to Soumya Swaminathan (3.5); Saina Salonika (3) beat Bhakti Kulkarni (2); Divya Deshmukh (2.5) drew with Cholleti Sahajasri (2.5); Kiran Manisha Mohanty (2.5) drew with Mary Ann Gomes (2.5); Padmini Rout (2.5) beat Mrudul Dehankar (1.5); Nisha Mohota (2) drew with Eesha Karavade (2).

--IANS

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Sydney, Oct 30 (IANS) New Zealand cricketer Glenn Phillips has quashed speculation that pace bowler Trent Boult could be used as a pinch-hitter during the team's ongoing campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup here, saying the Rajasthan Royals experiment is unlikely to be repeated in the national side.

New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by 65 runs in a Super 12 Group 1 match at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Saturday with Boult returning superb bowling figures of 4-0-13-4, while Glenn Phillips smashed a century as the Black Caps earned two points and currently lead the table with five points from three games.

Boult has recently been seen in practice sessions improving his pinch-hitting skills, prompting questions in the post-match press conference whether the pace bowler could be pushed in that role for the country.

However, Phillips said there was no such plan. "I know he did it for Rajasthan (Royals in IPL) a little bit, but I don't think he would actually enjoy that as much as you think he does. He very much enjoys the nets. My goodness, he's great fun to watch. And even when he comes out in the game, it's absolutely brilliant. But I don't think with the line-up we've got, we'll see him pinch hitting any time soon," said Phillips.

On his four-wicket haul in the match which left Sri Lanka in a shambles, Phillips said, Boult said he brings a lot of skill and energy to the team.

"He brings a phenomenal amount of energy, I'd tell you that. His bowling skills have come so far. The experience and the years that he's played, whether it's at the IPL or for international levels and anywhere around the world. He brings so much skill, so much temperament. He seems to know what the bat is going to do before he's even bowled it. He's got so many deliveries under his belt that, when they all come together and things go right, things like 4 for 13 happen. It's great to see.

"And he leads our seam attack, both him and (Tim) Southee lead it with -- it's pretty hard to find two guys that work well together like they do. Obviously we've got Lockie (Ferguson) as a bit of fire power there as well," added Phillips.


--IANS

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Perth, Oct 30 (IANS) Virat Kohli would be eyeing ICC Hall of Famer Mahela Jayawardena's record as the most prolific run-scorer across T20 World Cups when India take on South Africa in one of their most crucial Super 12 outings here later on Sunday, with the charismatic batter just 28 runs away from the landmark.

While the legendary Sri Lankan cricketer has 1,016 runs from 31 matches in T20 World Cups, Kohli is on 989 runs from just 23 games. India skipper Rohit Sharma is currently fourth in the list with 904 runs from 35 T20 World Cup games.

Following a lean phase earlier in the year, the 33-year-old Kohli found his groove in the Asia Cup in the UAE and in the bilateral series leading up to the event against Australia and South Africa, and blossomed in the game against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23.

Kohli has attributed his success to fitness and meticulous preparation, and in the build-up to the tournament he had said those are the two most important things for him.

"Fitness for me is probably more important than having cricket practice. I honestly feel that having a fit body makes you think better as well," Kohli had said in the build-up to the event. "So, it could help people in their work, sport, anything. When you're fit, you just want to start your day well, look forward to doing a lot more, on an everyday basis rather than just dragging yourself through the day."

Kohli is also dubbed 'Master of the Chase' and his T20 World Cup scores while chasing fortify the point.

In chases across the five T20 World Cup campaigns, Kohli has made 541 runs at a strike rate of 135.92. Dismissed only twice in his 10 knocks, Kohli's latest match-winning chase against Pakistan means his average has soared to a staggering 270.50. Outside of an unbeaten two runs against Scotland coming in at the end of their winning chase in 2021, Kohli's lowest score is 23 (27) in Nagpur back in 2016.

Former New Zealand cricketer Ian Smith recently spoke highly about Kohli's unbeaten 82 after his chase against Pakistan.

"He's a genius, the way he plays, and he's a genius in the way he's worked the game out. And he's a genius in that he knows exactly what to do, when to do it, and when to push the go button," said Smith to ICC.

"When he finished, we had shots of him kneeling down and punching the pitch surface, punching it to relieve the pressure on himself."

As for Kohli's record chase, a failure against South Africa may just be delaying the record. When asked on Kohli's form, and the record beckoning, Proteas pace bowler Anrich Nortje re-iterated South Africa's primary focus -- to continue on their winning ways after the big win over Bangladesh.

"(We're) focused on what we have to do. That's all," said Nortje.

--IANS

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