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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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New Delhi, Oct 23 (IANS) Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has questioned the umpires for their decisions during Sunday's India-Pakistan T20 World Cup 2022 encounter after a no-ball was given in the final over of the game.

The delivery proved decisive as India went on to win the game on the final ball of the match.

With 13 needed off the last 3 deliveries, left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz bowled a high full toss, which Kohli dispatched over the deep square leg fence.

The stylish batter protested after hitting the ball, asking the umpires to review it for a no-ball. The umpires eventually called it a no-ball.

Akhtar seemed unhappy with the decision and posted a cryptic tweet.

"Umpire bhaiyo, food for thought aaj raat ke liye," he tweeted.

Earlier, Kohli reiterated why he is one of the best chasers in cricket, slamming an unbeaten 82 off just 52 balls to power India to an incredible victory over Pakistan in front of 90,293 fans.

After the right-left fast-bowling duo of Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh picked three wickets each to help 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 to get their campaign off to a winning start.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 23 (IANS) India won silver and a bronze in the Women's 25m Pistol Team and the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P) events respectively on competition day 11 of the ISSF World Championship Rifle/Pistol at the Egypt International Olympic City (EIOC) Shooting Range in Cairo on Sunday.

With this win, India ended their Paris 2024 Olympics quota quest at two from the championship. Their tally now stands at 12 gold, nine silver and 13 bronze medals.

The Women's 25m Pistol team comprising Rhythm Sangwan, Manu Bhaker and Abhidnya Ashok Patil first qualified for the top eight stage with a sixth-place finish in stage one of qualification where they totalled 873. Ukraine topped the stage with 880. They then came second with a combined effort of 443 in stage two with China topping with 444, setting up a gold medal clash with the Indians.

The Chinese however, were too good for the Indians and did not offer them a whiff of a chance in the decider winning it 16-0.

In Men's 3P, Aishwary Tomar, Swapnil Kusale and Niraj Kumar topped stage one of qualification with a combined score of 1324. In stage two though, they finished fourth with a total of 873 and were drawn against the USA in a bronze medal shoot-out. They edged that 17-15 in their favour. Norway won gold and France silver.

In the Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol, which had four Paris quotas up for grabs, India's Vijayveer Sidhu shot 289 in the rapid-fire round for a total of 583 to finish 11th.

Peter Florian of Germany took the eighth and final qualifying spot with a score of 584. Former Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar shot 581 in his comeback championship to finish in the 13th spot. Anish, the third Indian in the field was further back in 28th with a score of 575.

Also in the 3P Mixed Team event, the pair of Anjum Moudgil and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar finished 17th with a score of 873 and Sift Kaur Samra and Swapnil Kusale shot 866 to end in the 31st spot.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 23 (IANS) Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar jumped in delight at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after Virat Kohli led India to a nail-biting 4-wicket win over Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup on Sunday.

The 73-year-old, who is part of the ICC commentary team, was standing near the boundary alongside the likes of Irfan Pathan and Kris Srikanth, and as R Ashwin hit the winning runs, Gavaskar jumped and clapped continuously in jubilation.

Irfan shared the video on Twitter and captioned it: "What scenes here at the MCG. Even the great sunny ji couldn't stop dancing. Virat you are the real king indiaaaaa. indiaaaaaaaaaa."

Virat Kohli reiterated why he is one of the best chasers in cricket, slamming an unbeaten 82 off just 53 balls to power India to an incredible victory over Pakistan in front of 90,293 fans.

After the right-left fast-bowling duo of Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh picked three wickets to help 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 chasing 160 on the last ball to get their campaign off to a winning start.


--IANS
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Melbourne, Oct 23 (IANS) In front of 90,293 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), India were in deep trouble at 31/4 in 6.1 overs. A mix-up in the middle for a non-existent single resulted in a run-out of Axar Patel, with Hardik Pandya walking in to join Virat Kohli at the crease.

Kohli and Pandya took some time before the latter drilled a straight drive off Shadab Khan and smacked two sixes over long-on and deep mid-wicket off Mohammad 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 Shah Afridi, cutting off his wrists past deep-cover off Shadab and flicked past diving short fine leg off Naseem Shah to collect three quick fours, thus paving the path for him to be smiling with his arms aloft and dishing out a chasing masterclass in front of a packed MCG with equations going from 48 off the last three overs to 16 off the final over.

Captain Rohit Sharma, who was seeing all the action from the dugout after being dismissed in the Power-play, revealed that he was confident in the abilities of Pandya and Kohli and knew they can script an improbable win for India with their match-winning stand of 113 off 77 deliveries.

"When you have guys like those battle in the middle, you always believe that you're going to get the scores because Hardik has especially batted in that type of situation a lot, and Virat with his experience, with the kind of batsman he is, we always believed that these guys can pull us off from that situation."

"Of course, it was not an easy situation. We required 62 I think in five overs, which is not an easy task, and with their bowling attack, you will back those guys to get the job done," said Rohit in the post-match press conference.

With Pandya being kept in check by the Pakistan pacers, Kohli had to turn the situation around all by himself and he did by smacking back-to-back sixes off Haris Rauf in the 19th over -- 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.

"But it was probably one of the best I've witnessed the partnership, and then obviously Virat was brilliant. Those two's success off Haris Rauf, I think that was the turning point. Not the turning point I would say; this is where the game actually came towards us a little bit because we always knew there was one over of spin bowling."

"So inside in the dressing room we were thinking if we can keep about 15 to 18 runs in the last over, the guy is going to be under pressure to bowl that last over. He bowled that last over against us in Asia Cup and Hardik played some shots against him."

Left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz dealt a huge blow on the first ball of the final over when Pandya miscued the slog and thick edge went to cover point. On the fourth ball, Kohli smacked a waist-high full toss high over a deep square leg fence for six, which was on 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 when Ravichandran Ashwin sidestepped for a down leg ball to pass and would finish off the chase with a loft over mid-off to win a thriller for India.

"Obviously it's not easy when you have to bowl the last over being a spinner and only 15 or 18 runs to defend. It's not easy. It sometimes plays both ways. The pressure is always on the bowler, I believe, in that type of situation. We held our own pretty well in the last three overs. That was good to watch," added Rohit.

Rohit also showered praise on Kohli for his astonishing knock which left people at the stadium and around the world enthralled. "From the situation, we were in, and to come out with a victory, I think it has to be one of India's best knocks, not just his best knock, because until the 13th over we were so behind the game, and the required rate was just climbing up and up."

"But to come out and chase that score was an extremely brilliant effort from Virat, and then obviously Hardik played a role there, as well. I thought both of them because these guys have played under pressure so many games for us, so they knew exactly how to handle that kind of situation, and they did pretty well in that situation."

Asked about the difference he saw between Kohli on Sunday and his struggling with his lean patch in the last two-three years, Rohit brushed aside the theory that he was struggling with form or anything else.

"He was batting as good as he was, but with him, the expectations is always so high that even if he gets a good 30 or 40, people tend to talk about it. From the team management perspective, I thought he was in good space right from the Asia Cup where he got a month off and then he came back to Asia Cup."

"He was fresh, got a brilliant hundred there, got a couple of fifties if I'm not wrong, and then leading up to the World Cup, we know the quality that he has, and he's done so well in these types of conditions in all three forms."

"He used his experience today more than anything else, staying calm under pressure, and we know how good he is when the score is in front of him. He's one of the best chasers in the world. I thought that partnership between both of these guys, the hundred-run partnership, was a game-changing moment."

--IANS

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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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