Rohit was unbeaten on 57 off 82 balls and India vice-captain Rahane was on one. India are still 13 runs short of matching England’s total.

India, in reply to England’s first-innnings’ 112, ended thehe opening day’s play of the third Test at 99/3 at the Motera Stadium on Wednesday. Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane would resume India’s innings on the second day.

Rohit was unbeaten on 57 off 82 balls and India vice-captain Rahane was on one. India are still 13 runs short of matching England’s total. Captain Virat Kohli was out for 27 just minutes before the close.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel took six wickets and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bagged three as India blew away England for 112 runs in their first innings.

Patel ended the innings with 6/38 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, following his 5/60 in the second innings of the second Test in Chennai. Ashwin captured 3/26.

England started the second session of the day-night Test at 81/4 after Patel, Ashwin and fast bowler Ishant Sharma, playing his 100th Test, gave India the upper hand before tea.

Ollie Pope was bowled by Ashwin in the very first over the session, as he was deceived by a straight delivery that followed three consecutive balls that turned. Ben Stokes fell to Patel leg before the wicket in the next over, the dismissal being confirmed by the third umpire despite Stokes going for the review after the on-field umpire raised his finger.

Jofra Archer and Ben Foakes survived the next five overs before the former became Patel’s fourth wicket of the day. Ashwin struck again two overs later as Jack Leach edged the third delivery of his over to gully.

Patel then waited for just under 10 overs for his next wicket as Stuart Broad holed out at deep square leg. Ben Foakes was the last wicket to fall for England as he was bowled by Patel in the 49th over.

Brief scores: England: 112 all out in 48.4 overs (Zak Crawley 53, Joe Root 17; Axar Patel 6/38, R Ashwin 3/6) India: 99/3 wkts in 33 overs

The big margin of the victory was helpful for the second-placed Mumbai City in equalling top-ranked ATK Mohun Bagan’s goal difference.

Mumbai City showed their class as they thrashed Odisha FC 6-1 on Wednesday in the ongoing edition of the Indian Super League at the GMC Stadium.

The big margin of the victory was helpful for the second-placed Mumbai City in equalling top-ranked ATK Mohun Bagan’s goal difference, even though they remain three points behind them.

It means that in the season’s last league game against Bagan in their next match, which would be both side’s final game of the league season, would mean the league winners’ shield would go to Mumbai City.

After Odisha had taken a shock early lead on Wednesday through Diego Mauricio (9th minute), Mumbai hit back hard through goals from Bartholomew Ogbeche (14th mins, 43rd mins), Bipin Singh (38th mins, 47th mins, 86th mins) and Cy Goddard (44th mins). The match was the highest-scoring game of the season and Mumbai had the biggest-winning margin yet. The timely return to form ended a three-game winless run for Sergio Lobera’s side.

Yet, when the match started, it appeared as if Mumbai would continue their wretched form. Early on, Odisha were awarded a penalty when Ahmed Jahouh fouled Mauricio in the box. The latter stepped up and ensured that Odisha had an unlikely lead, despite Amrinder getting a hand to the ball.

But Mumbai weren’t behind for long. Just five minutes later, Jahouh made amends for his mistake by finding Ogbeche off a freekick. The Nigerian made no mistake, heading it in and restoring parity.

Odisha put up quite a fight over the next twenty minutes as Mumbai struggled to convert their dominance into clear-cut chances. But once the goal came, the floodgates opened. Mumbai’s second had an element of luck to it. After Ogbeche’s shot was blocked, the ball fell kindly for Bipin, who made no mistake from his shot. Then, just five minutes later, Mumbai struck again, putting the result of the match beyond doubt. Jahouh and Ogbeche once again combined with the latter finding the striker off yet another freekick. Once again, the big Nigerian made no mistake, heading it in.

If Odisha interim coach Steven Dias had a tough half-time talk on his hands, it was about to get a lot worse. With just seconds to go before the half-time whistle, Goddard found the net with a peach of a goal. After receiving the ball on the right, the youngster cut inside and fired in a shot that gave Odisha goalkeeper Arshdeep Singh no chance.

Just in case, Odisha had any hopes of a comeback, Mumbai were quick to snuff them out. Just two minutes after the restart, Bipin found the net again, Ogbeche turning provider this time. The goal prompted Lobera to give his main stars a break, with the likes of Adam Le Fondre and Mourtada Fall being subbed off. Ogbeche too joined them on the bench later. That took the edge off the game, but there was still time for Bipin to find his hattrick – the first of the season – with just minutes left for the final whistle.

With IANS inputs

Hyderabad: In the now concluded auction of players for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, the Hyderabad-based franchise SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) bought and included three players into the team–Kedar Jadhav, Mujeeb Ur Rehman and Jagadeesha Suchith. 

Though the team now looks balanced with a reliable middle order and bowling attack, the team’s fans are visibly unhappy with the non-inclusion of local players. They are of the opinion that SRH is the only team that shows no interest in giving chances to local players, while franchises of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) provides them ample opportunities.

Earlier, veteran cricketer and president of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) Mohammed Azharuddin wrote in a tweet that he was disappointed not to see a single player from Hyderabad in the team. 

While some criticized the HCA itself for its internal politics and non-development of infrastructure here, some agreed that it is the responsibility of the city franchise to push local players.

A Telugu player himself, right-handed batsman Hanuma Vihari shared a cryptic message about him remaining unsold at this auction too.

Last week, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) legislator Danam Nagendar warned the team management that they will not allow cricket matches in Hyderabad, if local players aren’t selected. He sought the team should accommodate local players or “remove the name of our city from SunRisers Hyderabad.”

Guntur-based Prithvi Yarra, the only Telugu player in the squad, was also left off from the team before the auction. Until 2018, the fast bowler from Hyderabad, Mohammed Siraj was a part of SRH. He was later bought by the RCB in the 2018 auction.

Before the start of the tournament, the veteran West Indies batsman had stated that he would “love” to see T10 format of cricket in the Olympics.

Swashbuckling West Indies opener Chris Gayle scored a 12-ball half century to make his presence felt in the ongoing edition of the Abu Dhabi T10 league.

The 41-year-old played a brilliant knock of 22-ball 84, which was studded with six 4s and nine 6s, to steer Team Abu Dhabi to a nine-wicket win against Maratha Arabians on Wednesday night at the Abu Dhabi Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Chasing Arabians’ moderate total of 97/4, Gayle helped his team reach the target in 5.3 overs and win the match with 27 balls to spare.

Gayle, known as the Universe Boss, dominated the attack. He was in his elements from the first over, ravaging any error in line and length from the bowlers. Incidentally, 78 runs out of his 84 came through boundaries.

He reached his half century in 12 balls and equalled the fastest half century in T10 history held by Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad for Rajputs in the 2018 edition.

Speaking after the match, the left-handed batsman lauded legendary Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara — mentor of Team Abu Dhabi — for giving him a pep talk.

“We never stop learning. Sanga, you’re the man, you’re a legend,” Gayle lauded Sangakkara in his special message.

Before the start of the tournament, the veteran West Indies batsman had stated that he would “love” to see T10 format of cricket in the Olympics.

“I would absolutely love to see T10 within the Olympics. It would be something huge for the sport from a general point of view. I also think T10 can be (held) within the United States also since it’s a big platform,” said Gayle while speaking from his home in Jamaica.

“I think most people don’t recognise the States for cricket, but T10 is very much suitable to be held within USA, and I believe it can help generate bigger revenues as well,” he added.

The postponement of the series means New Zealand became the first team to seal a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final slated to be played in June this year at Lord’s, London.

A day after postponing the proposed three-match Test series against South Africa in March, Cricket Australia’s interim CEO Nick Hockley has confirmed that an offer was made to host the Proteas for the Test series but Cricket South Africa declined, citing other commitments.

On Tuesday, CSA expressed disappointment after Cricket Australia postponed their next month’s tour of that country despite the hosts making exclusive arrangements for the series.

“We’ve been doing an enormous amount of work with CSA and we have last night’s decision, so we’ll work through over the coming weeks and months when we may be able to reschedule the series. We did offer to host the series here, but CSA made that very clear that they have also got lots of other commitments and with quarantine periods and the like, that wasn’t feasible,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Hockley as saying.

“We didn’t explore neutral venues in too much detail, the question if you think about a neutral venue is where, and there are challenges in lots of different jurisdictions, so certainly we made the formal offer to host and CSA, which we respect entirely, made their position very clear and we’ve continued to work as hard as we can to try to make it happen. But we came to a point where people were starting to commit costs, people were starting to have to do pre-departure protocols and enter into bio-secure environments in South Africa in preparation,” he added.

He said that Cricket Australia tried everything but the “residual risk” didn’t allow them to make any other decision.

“I think we gave ourselves every shot, we couldn’t have left it any later, but in the end that residual risk, the implications if we did get a positive, the chances of getting a positive, meant we really didn’t have any other decision,” said Hockley.

In a statement on Tuesday, former South Africa captain Graeme Smith and current CSA Director of Cricket said that Cricket Australia’s decision was frustrating.

“We are extremely disappointed by the decision of CA. CSA has been working tirelessly in recent weeks to ensure that we meet every single expectation of CA,” he said.

“This was set to be the longest tour in a BSE comprising a three-match Test series that was scheduled to begin with Australia’s arrival later in the month. So to be informed about the CA decision at the eleventh hour is frustrating,” he added.

The postponement of the series means New Zealand became the first team to seal a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final slated to be played in June this year at Lord’s, London. For Australia to qualify, they will now depend on the result of the four-match Test series between India and England which gets underway from Friday in Chennai.

According to lawyer Martin Apolo, image and naming rights form one of the “most important assets” in Maradona’s inheritance.

Argentine football’s Professional League Cup will cease to be called the Diego Maradona Cup because of possible legal action from heirs to the deceased legend’s estate.

The tournament adopted Maradona’s name just days after the 1986 World Cup winner’s death from a heart attack in November, reports Xinhua news agency.

However, Argentine football officials decided to revert to the tournament’s original name for fear of future lawsuits for the use of Maradona’s name and image.

According to lawyer Martin Apolo, image and naming rights form one of the “most important assets” in Maradona’s inheritance.

Argentine media reports have estimated Maradona’s estate to be worth between $75 million and $100 million.

The decision to drop Maradona’s name comes less than a month after Banfield won the inaugural edition of the Maradona Cup by beating Boca Juniors in the final.

The 2021 Professional League Cup is scheduled to begin on February 14.

A penalty from Batholomew Ogbeche (30′) and a header from Rowllin Borges (45′) gave Mumbai City FC their third win in four game.

Mumbai City FC continued their impressive start to the Indian Super League (ISL) with a 2-0 victory over Odisha FC at the GMC Stadium on Sunday.

A penalty from Batholomew Ogbeche (30′) and a header from Rowllin Borges (45′) gave Sergio Lobera’s men their third win in four games and their first-win ever over Odisha in the league. The win sent them top of the table, level on points with ATK Mohun Bagan, albeit with a better goal difference. For their opponents, this was their third loss in four games and only point-less SC East Bengal lie below Stuart Baxter’s side.

Apart from not being able to hold on to the ball for long durations, Odisha also suffered from players taking shots too early instead of looking for creating easier chances. While Odisha had just one shot lesser than Mumbai overall, only one of the six shots they had were on target. Out of the rest of the five, three were taken from outside the box.

Mumbai predictably started the game spraying around passes and enjoying most of the ball. But it was Odisha who enjoyed the first real chance of the match, in the fourth minute, when Diego Mauricio’s freekick clipped the top of the crossbar. But that was about as good as it got for Odisha in the first half.

Mumbai’s first clear-cut opportunity came in the 18th minute when Ahmed Jahouh found Cy Goddard down the right. Goddard only had keeper Kamaljit Singh to beat but his shot went over the bar.

Twelve minutes later though, Mumbai had their goal. Vignesh Dakshina Murthy’s attempted cross from the edge of the box struck Shubham Sarangi’s hand and the referee promptly pointed to the spot. Ogbeche stepped up and fired a low shot to the left, which a diving Kamaljit could not get his fingers to. It was the third penalty Odisha had conceded this season and the second mistake that Sarangi had committed, which had led to a goal.

Just four minutes later, Mumbai thought they had scored again when Mourtada Fall headed in Jahouh’s freekick at the far-post. However, the referee disallowed the goal, adjudging that there had been a foul on keeper Kamaljit. The latter, who fell awkwardly, was substituted after a suspected concussion and Odisha’s reserve keeper Ravi Kumar came on in his stead.

Hugo Boumous missed a great chance to score in the 43rd minute, firing wide from Bipin Singh’s pass. But Mumbai had their second a couple of minutes later. Bipin, again, fired in a great cross into the box which Borges headed past Kumar.

Mumbai had ended the first period with 62 per cent of the possession and the second half saw more of the same. Odisha managed to create precious little save a couple of freekicks and a few corners.

Pandya starred with the bat on Sunday, scoring a 22-ball 42 and hitting two sixes in the last over to help India win the second T20 International and seal the series.

Hardik Pandya may have proven himself to be a batsman in form in the ODI series by scoring a couple of 90s while batting deep and helping build India’s innings, but India skipper Virat Kohli feels that the all-rounder’s calling remains in finisher’s role, helping India win matches from any situation.

Pandya starred with the bat on Sunday, scoring a 22-ball 42 and hitting two sixes in the last over to help India win the second T20 International and seal the series.

India have been looking for a finisher in recent times after former skipper MS Dhoni retired and Suresh Raina not there in the scheme of things anymore. With Ravindra Jadeja, Pandya forms a power-packed duo at the back-end of India’s innings in limited-overs cricket.

“The reason for him coming to the team in 2016 was his pure ability. He was natural, raw talent… now he is quite experienced by playing a lot of T20 cricket in the IPL and for India. He now realises that this is his time, in the next 4-5 years, to really become that bankable middle-order player that can win you games from anywhere. You need that finisher, and he is becoming that for us. And he is hungry, he is going to keep getting better,” said Kohli after the end of the match.

Pandya, who has not been able to bowl during this limited overs series, had earlier on the tour said he is trying to play as a pure batsman, trying to take the game deep.

He acquitted himself well in the role of a batsman, scoring a couple of 90’s in the three-match ODI series.

Asked if he sees himself as a pure batsman or as a finisher, Pandya said that he doesn’t mind playing either role. He added that he prefers to play according to situations.

“To be honest it does not matter to me. It is the situation that I have always played to. If I have to stay there and dig deep I will, if I have to finish the job then I will do that. Whatever the teams requires, I always try to that and things are coming pretty well,” he said at the post-match media interaction.

Kohli added that Pandya’s biggest advantage is that he plays with passion.

“His plans are on the right path and he plays with all his heart. You can’t win games like these by just calculating through your mind, I think you need to bring that passion out while playing for your country and he certainly has got that, competing and executing at the highest level. I hope he does that and keeps going strong,” said Kohli.

Bumrah captured 4/14 and Boult 2/9, after half-centuries by Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, to ensure that Mumbai Indians entered their sixth final.

Speedsters Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult on Thursday bowled four-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) into their second successive Indian Premier League (IPL) final after crushing Delhi Capitals (DC) by 57 runs in Qualifier 1. DC, however, have a lifeline left.

Bumrah captured four for 14 and New Zealander Boult two for nine, after half-centuries by Ishan Kishan (55 not out off 30 balls) and Suryakumar Yadav (51 off 38), to ensure that reigning champions MI entered their sixth final in 13 attempts. Bumrah was adjudged the Man of the Match for his brilliant spell.

DC will now play the winners of the Eliminator in Qualifier 2 on Sunday. In the Eliminator, SunRisers Hyderabad will play Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday. The winners of Qualifier will play MI in the final November 10.

As it had happened throughout the round-robin league, MI got solid contributions from their batters to first put a challenging total (200/5 wickets) before their bowlers came out all guns blazing to restrict DC at 143/8 wickets in 20 overs at the Dubai International Cricket stadium.

Lethal Bumrah was once again on song, emerging with impressive figures of 4-1-14-4. These are his best figures in all T20 matches and best by a MI bowler in an IPL playoff match. He is the only bowler to take two four-wicket hauls in IPL 2020. Thursday’s burst took his tally to 27 — most wickets by an Indian bowler in a single IPL.

Boult, on the other hand, scalped a couple of wickets conceding merely nine runs. Krunal Pandya (1/22) and Keiron Pollard (1/36) settled with one wicket apiece.

Chasing a challenging 201-run target, DC endured their worst start of the season after losing openers out-of-form Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, and Ajinkya Rahane, all departing without troubling the scorers. While Boult accounted for the DC opener’s wicket, Boult trapped Rahane.

MI inflicted more woes on their opponents, whose half of the men were back in the dressing room with just 41 runs on board. Axar Patel (42) and Marcus Stoinis (65) showed some resistance in the middle as they tried to rebuild after the early damages, and stitched 71 runs for the sixth wicket.

Bumrah castled Stoinis in the 16th over before the lanky pacer struck again in the same over to send back Daniel Sams (0), and that left DC tottering at 112/7. Kagiso Rabada remained unbeaten on 15 as DC fell short of the target by 57 runs.

Earlier, half-centuries by Yadav and Kishan, along with Hardik Pandya’s blitzkrieg (37 not out off 14 balls) powered Mumbai to a healthy 200/5 wkts in the allotted 20 overs.

Hardik and Ishan were also involved in a crucial unbeaten 60-run partnership off just 23 balls. The duo’s fireworks saw MI adding 55 runs off the last three overs.

Put into bat, MI started off cautiously before ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (3/29) trapped Rohit Sharma (0) early in the innings.

Quinton de Kock (40) kept one end safe, forging a 62-run partnership with Yadav before the former was sent back by Ashwin in the eighth over. Yadav, too, followed the MI opener, falling to Anrich Nortje (1/50) in the 12th over with MI’s scorecard reading 100/3.

Ashwin struck again in the next over, packing back a dangerous Keiron Pollard for a duck. Krunal Pandya (13) and Ishan then added 39 runs off 23 balls before Stoinis got rid of the former.

Ishan and Hardik then swiftly shifted gears, taking the DC bowlers to cleaners towards the ‘death’ overs as MI comfortably completed at 200/5.

Ishan’s unbeaten knock was laced with four boundaries and three sixes while Hardik smacked five maximums.

Brief scores: MI: 200/5 wkts in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 55 not out, Suryakumar Yadav 51; Ravichandran Ashwin 3/29) beat DC: 143/8 wkts in 20 overs (Marcus Stoinis 65, Axar Patel 42; Jasprit Bumrah 4/14) by 57 runs

CSK have thus climbed to seventh, while KXIP are fifth, although final positions of both sides on the table will be dependent upon the remaining matches.

Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad on Sunday scored a third consecutive half century to help Chennai Super Kings (CSK) finish their 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) season on a high and end Kings XI Punjab’s (KXIP) hopes of making it to the playoffs.

Gaikwad ended the innings unbeaten on 62 off 49 balls, following up on scores of 65 not out and 72 in the last two matches, and helped CSK chase down a target of 154 with nine wickets and nearly two overs to spare at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Gaikwad, 23, thus ends the season on 204 runs in just six matches with an average of 51 and strike rate of 120.71.

Gaikwad first put up an 82-run opening stand with Faf du Plessis, who fell on 48 to Chris Jordan. Ambati Rayudu then stuck with Gaikwad and the pair put up 72 for the second wicket to take them to the victory.

Earlier Deepak Hooda cracked an unbeaten 62 off 30 balls to take KXIP to a competitive 153/6 in an IPL match against Chennai Super Kings CSK.

Hooda, 25, walked in after Chris Gayle’s dismissal left KXIP tottering at 72/4 in the 12th over. He went on the attack straightaway, scoring most of the runs in a 36-run stand with Mandeep Singh for the fifth wicket. Chris Jordan later stuck with him and the pair put up 40 runs for the seventh wicket, 34 off which was scored by Hooda off just 12 balls. He hit three fours and four sixes in his innings.

CSK have thus climbed to seventh, while KXIP are fifth, although final positions of both sides on the table will be dependent upon the remaining league stage matches.

Brief scores: KXIP 153/6 in 20 overs (Deepak Hooda 62 not out, KL Rahul 29; Lungi Ngidi 3/39) vs CSK 154/1 in 18.1 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 62 not out, Faf du Plessis 48; Chris Jordan 1/31)