OmkarM

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Kane Williamson closes the gap on Virat Kohli in…

New Zealand Captain Kane Williamson breached the 900-points barrier for the first time in the updated ICC Test rankings. The dashing batsman had played a match-winning knock in the final Test against Pakistan in UAE which helped New Zealand clinch their first away series win against the nation in 49 years. This is also the first instance of any batsman from New Zealand going past 900 rankings points. Only the great Richard Hadlee had managed to break that barrier but it was his bowling that had earned him these many points. Williamson is currently placed second, he jumped in front of Australia’s Steve Smith (901 points) who is serving a year ban. Current table-topper Virat Kohli scored only 37 runs across two innings in the Adelaide Test. He lost 15 points due to the failure on

Rishabh Pant wins hearts with gloves and words in…

India surged to a historic win in the opening Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. This was also the first instance of the Indian team winning the opening Test in Australia. There were many heroes in the triumph for the Indian team but only one managed to equal a world record. Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant held onto 11 catches in the duration of the first Test. The Delhi glovesman equaled the achievement of AB De Villiers (South Africa) and Jack Russell (England). The 20-year old completed the feat with a catch of Mitchell Starc. With six catches in the first innings and five catches in the second innings, Pant reached the tally of 11 catches behind the wicket.  While Pant shared the record with international legends, he flies solo among the Indians. Wriddhimaan Saha held the previous record with 10 catches in a Test match. Pant had a chance to grab the record with the 12th catch but he was unable to hold onto it.  Despite the enormous achievement, pant actually stood out

India overcomes Australian tail to seal a memorable win…

India pulled off a stunning 31-run victory in the first Test match at Adelaide. The Australian team displayed great courage in delaying the inevitable, but it was all over just before the end of the second session on day five. This is the first time India has won an opening Test in Australia. Australia, chasing 323 runs to win, was precariously placed at 104/4 with Shaun Marsh and Travis Head unbeaten at the end of day four. Ishant Sharma drew the first blood

New Zealand clinch historic series win against Pakistan

New Zealand ended the wait of 49 years as they completed an away series win versus Pakistan at UAE. Defending 280 runs in 79 overs, New Zealand side ran through the Pakistani batting lineup in just 56.1 overs. By virtue of winning the third Test match, the Blackcaps secured their first away series win against Pakistan since 1969. Pakistan had gained the lead of 74 runs in the first inning but was defied by the scintillating knocks from Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls. Williamson was out on the first ball of the fifth day as he was back for his overnight score of 139. Nicholls and Colin De Grandhomme then accelerated the run rate and brought 62 runs from the next 39 balls. The visitors eventually declared for 353/7, setting a target of 280 to be chased in the remaining 79 overs. Pakistan

Yasir Shah breaks 82-year old Test record with his…

Pakistan’s leg-spinner Yasir Shah smashed the 82-year old Test record by registering his 200th wicket in just 33 Test matches. He enjoys the privilege of being the fastest to achieve the milestone. The much-awaited moment arrived in the ongoing third Test between Pakistan and New Zealand being played at Abu Dhabi, UAE. New Zealand commenced day four of the Test in a delicate position at 26/2. Will Somerville, the debutant left-arm spinner, sent as the night-watchman was one of the survivors from the third day. He was trapped in front of the stumps early by Yasir Shah and the wicket earned the bowler an important record in Test cricket. Clarie Grimmett, the Australian leg-spinner, had reached the milestone of 200 wickets in 36 Tests and was the

Chris Gayle receives $220K as award in the alleged…

West Indian batsman and T20 cricket legend Chris Gayle received an award of 220,770 Dollars from the Australian court over an alleged incident. During the 2015 Cricket World Cup, an Australian media company ‘Fairfax’ had alleged Chris Gayle of exposing himself to the masseuse. The court relieved Gayle from the allegation and awarded him the compensation for his defamation. The issue first arose when The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times published articles in January 2016 which pointed towards Gayle’s

Australia and India announce their teams before the first…

All the hype built so far around the Test series between Australia and India will materialize at the Adelaide Oval as the Border-Gavaskar Series commences. Let alone India, no Asian team has yet won a Test series on the Australian soil. Virat Kohli and his men have a fantastic chance to alter the history and it all begins tomorrow. The Australian media has been abuzz about one person in all their leadups, and that man is Virat Kohli. Australia has been a happy hunting ground for him and especially the Adelaide Oval. It was here that he struck his maiden Test century and later scored twin hundreds in a Test. He will be itching to pocket this Test series and claim a captaincy milestone for

T10 League Round-up: Bairstow steals the show on final…

We now move into the playoffs of the T10 League. Yesterday was the last round of group matches and the exhilarating action continued. Here is a review of the three matches played yesterday at Sharjah. Bairstow notches the highest score in T10 Cricket Sunil Narine roared for the Bengal Tigers as the Caribbean star smashed 52 from 25 balls. He was extremely well supported by Sherfane Rutherford who scored 39 runs from just 17 balls. The Tigers posted 123/5 in their 10 overs. The Knights lost their big guns like Gayle, Stirling, and Morgan early but the Englishman stood resolute. Jonny Bairstow struck a bludgeoning 84 from 24 balls and clinched the seven-wicket win with eight balls remaining. Northern Warriors roll over Rajputs with ease Northern Warriors bundled up Rajputs for just 64/8 in their

T10 League: Nicholas Pooran shines on batsmen’s day

We witnessed three exciting encounters in the T10 League yesterday as the bat extended its domination over the ball. There were quite a few spectacular performances and here is a review of all the action. Pooran charges Northern Warriors to a win over Kerala Knights The Universe Boss, Chris Gayle, fell for 14 from 18 balls but it was his partner Paul Stirling who lighted up the proceedings. The Irish batsman struck a fine 60 from 28 balls to help the Kerala Knights reach the total of 101/2 in 10 overs. In the Windies dominated batting lineup, Pooran shone the brightest with his spectacular 43 not out from 18 balls. Andre Russell, batting at four, smacked four sixes in his brief stay of 10 balls and fetched the win for the side. Bengal Tigers chase down 135 runs against Sindhis Anton Devich’s blazing 64 from 23 balls, and Samiullah Shenwari’s 44 from 26 helped the

T10 League Round-up: 29th November 2018

We are just six matches away from the Playoffs of T10 League and contest for reaching that stage is heating up. Here is a review of the action in the last three days. Punjabi Legends defend 107 runs against Kerala Knights Batting first, the Legends were languishing at 80/5 in 8.3 overs. Chris Jordan came to the rescue and smashed a quickfire 24 from seven balls to propel the team total to 107/5 in 10 overs. Chris Gayle with his 35 from 19 balls threatened to take the game away but Jordan dismissed him. Hassan Khan subsequently ran through the Kerala batting lineup to end up with 4/21. The Legends claimed a 36-run win. Maratha Arabians decimate Rajputs in a one-sided war The star-studded batting unit of the Rajputs failed to

Andre Fletcher leads Pakhtoon’s charge to down Bengal Tigers

The second round of the T10 league opened with a pulsating encounter between Pakhtoons and Bengal Tigers at the Sharjah Stadium. Andre Fletcher extended his belligerent form in the 10-over format. The West Indian batsman struck 47 from 18 balls and helped Pakhtoons chase the target of 94 runs. After the completion of the first group round, the teams now faced opponents which they had not met before. Pakhtoons won the toss and inserted Bengal Tigers to bat first. Jason Roy and Sunil

Mithali Raj contemplating retirement from T20Is : Reports

The Indian women’s team crashed out of the T20I World Cup being played in the West Indies with their loss against England in the semi-final. Batting first, India was all out for only 112 runs and the opposition coasted to the total with two overs remaining. Amongst the numerous factors held accountable for the loss, the most prominent was dropping Mithali Raj. The batswoman is back in the news with a shocking revelation. The reports suggest that the 35-year old is contemplating retirement from the shortest format of the game. Mithali Raj holds the experience of playing in 85 T20I matches for India. Her tally of 2283 runs is the highest for India in T20Is, and it surpasses both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The batswoman from Rajasthan has scored 17 fifties while accumulating these runs.  It is evident that the recent team management

Smith and Warner called up to help Australian bowlers…

The first Test between Australia and India commences on 6th December at the Adelaide Oval. The home team this time around is considerably weaker with their ace batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner not available. While the duo will not be pulverizing the Indian bowlers on the Test pitch, they will be utilized to prepare the Australian bowlers. In the aftermath of the ball-tampering scandal, both Warner and Smith were handed a year-long ban by Cricket Australia. The sanction ruled them out of

T10 League round-up – Hattricks, Sixes and more Sixes!

If you are traveling anywhere near the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, beware! A spherical white object could be coming at you with an incredible pace. The second edition of the T10 League began on 21st November, and it has set the cricket world buzzing. In the eight matches played so far, we have already witnessed some unimaginable feats. Here is a round-up of all the action. Shahzad’s Slaughter Afghanistan’s portly batting giant, Mohammad Shahzad, struck an unbelievable 74 not out from just 16 balls as Rajputs chased 95 runs in just four overs. Shazad reached his fifty in just 12 balls, and he was truly unstoppable on the opening night of T10 League. Nepal’s magic boy  The national diversities were at display in the T10 League

AB De Villiers all set to gain riches from…

The former South African champion batsman AB De Villiers may not be seen again in the national uniform but the demand for his presence is ever-increasing. The Proteas star at the time of his retirement promised to turn up in franchise cricket and he will be seen at the upcoming Pakistan Super League. AB De Villiers will be playing for Lahore Qalanders in the PSL 2019. After the completion of the IPL 2018, AB De Villiers shocked the cricket world by announcing his retirement from International cricket. The news sent tremors through the cricketing fraternity as everyone had expected the ending to be a sweeter one. AB De Villiers, however, declined to continue till the 2019 World Cup and abruptly ended his international journey. Nevertheless, ABD declared his intention of pursuing domestic and franchise cricket. He was retained by the Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the IPL 2019 auction and will continue to remain the part of the red-and-black unit that

T10 League 2018 – Team Preview: Kerala Kings

Adding another format to the glorious game of cricket, T10 League kicks off today in the UAE. The 10-over tournament begins on 21st November and will be completed on 2nd December with the final taking place at the Sharjah Stadium. Eight teams will play out a total of 29 matches and eventually one will emerge as the champion. The champion of the previous year’s T10 League was Kerala Kings. The franchise has retained its winning captain, and Eoin Morgan will once again be eyeing the trophy. The Kings will be coached by New Zealand legend Daniel Vettori. Here is the team preview of defending champions: Batting unit The Kerala Kings possess the greatest T20 batsman in their ranks. Although his powers are waning, Chris Gayle is still a force in the domestic cricket leagues. The bowlers will inevitably be under pressure

Women’s World T20 boils down to the Final Four

We are just three matches away from finding out the Women’s World T20 Champion. Four teams - West Indies, England, India, and Australia, stand in the contention of the glittering trophy. All four teams have been impressive in their performances so far. Here is a look back on their journey to the semi-finals so far. West Indies The hosts were burdened by the added pressure of being the defending champions. However, they have sailed through the group round without any trouble. West Indies

T10 League 2018 – Team Preview: Sindhis

The thrill of 10-over cricket begins from 21st November in Sharjah Stadium, UAE. This will be the second of the tournament and this year also it features many of the cricketing legends. The competition includes eight teams playing 29 matches with the final staged on 2nd December. One of the fresh teams added to the tournament this year is Sindhis. The team was initially named Karachians but it had to be changed due to a dispute. They will be lead by Shane Watson

ICC dismisses PCB’s compensation claim of $70 Million against…

The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) dispute panel ruled in India’s favor and rejected Pakistan Cricket Board’s compensation claim of $70 million against BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India). The PCB was seeking a compensation for BCCI not engaging in any bilateral cricket with Pakistan. Pakistan Cricket Board submitted a case of dispute due to the lack of bilateral cricket between the neighboring nations. The Board claimed that these cancellations incurred huge losses and sought the payment from World’s richest cricket board,

Cricket Australia declines to lift the imposed bans on…

Cricket Australia (CA) shut doors on the early return of the banned trio as they dismissed the plea presented by Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) for altering the duration of the imposed bans. The verdict ends the chances of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft returning early to cricket and will have to serve the full punishment. https://twitter.com/cricketcomau/status/1064696538503380993 The unfortunate ball-tampering incident which occurred in March 2017 in the New Lands Test, Cape Town resulted in severe bans on the trio involved. Australian