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Dhawan sparkles, Lanka stumble
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India defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the first One-Day International to take 1-0 lead in the three-match series on Sunday.
India was captained by Shikhar Dhawan and it was a day to savour for him.
Not only did he top score with a stellar unbeaten 86, he also became India’s 25th men’s ODI captain, 11 years after his ODI debut.
Sri Lanka post decent total
Batting first, Sri Lanka made a decent start, getting to 49 for no loss after nine overs, before Avishka Fernando fell to Chahal.
Interestingly, this was the first time since the 2019 World Cup that Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav bowled together in an ODI for India.
Yadav bagged the next two wickets – Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Minod Bhanuka, both falling in their twenties.
Inability to convert good starts was a recurring problem.
As many as six batters got past 20 but not one managed to reach a half-century.
Krunal Pandya was miserly giving away just 26 in his 10 overs. More importantly, he bagged the all-important wicket of Dhananjaya de Silva who was caught at long-off
The frequent loss of wickets hurt Lanka and when captain Dasun Shanaka fell for 39 off 50 balls, the score stood at 205 for 7 at the end of 44 overs.
There was a late flourish as Chameera and Chamika Karunaratne exploded against Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, scouring 32 off 12 balls.
As a result, Lanka reach a competitive 262 for 9.
For India, the big disappointment was the bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar who went wicketless for 63 runs in 9 overs.
Worryingly for Sri Lanka, they played out 159 dot balls.
Shaw in electric form
The Indian innings started explosively, thanks to the mercurial Prithvi Shaw.
Since his debacle in Australia, Prithvi has looked like a man on a mission.
Yet again, Shaw gave proof of his abilities with a blistering knock that looked like a T20 innings.
Oozing aggression from the word go, Shaw smashed 43 off just 23 balls, with nine boundaries.
He punched Dushmantha Chameera through the offside twice in the first over.
He followed this with majestic boundaries off Isuru Udana.
In the fourth over, Shaw hit three successive fours in the arc between point and cover with strokes that would have warmed the hearts of any cricket connoisseur.
For his big-hitting cameo, Shaw was adjudged player of the match.
Ishan Kishan shows his class
Birthday boy Ishan Kishan slammed a brilliant half century on his ODI debut.
Shaw’s aggression seemed to rub off on Kishan as he hit a six off the very first delivery he faced off Dhananjaya de Silva.
Next, he followed it up with a square-driven boundary.
Kishan created history by scoring the second-fastest ODI fifty on debut, off just 33 balls.
After Kishan’s departure, Manish Pandey and Shikhar Dhawan played steadily, taking the total to 215.
Dhawan held the innings together with a well-compiled 86 off 95 balls.
After Pandey got out, Suryakumar Yadav made a quick-fire 31 off 20 balls with five boundaries to help India seal the match.
India reached the target losing just 3 wickets and 80 balls to spare.
The loss to a second-string Indian side raises serious questions about the competitiveness of the Lankan side.
We hope they recover quickly and put up a better fight in the 2nd ODI.
India 263 for 3 (Dhawan 86*, Kishan 59, Shaw 43) beat Sri Lanka 262 for 9 (Karunaratne 43*, Shanaka 39, Kuldeep 2-48, Chahal 2-52) by seven wickets
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Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry star in RCB women’s comeback win against UP Warriorz in WPL 2024
RCB women overcame UP Warriorz by 23 runs to clinch their third win of the season. The home side outperformed Warriorz in all the facets of the game and emerged victorious. A collective team effort, particularly with the bat, helped RCB women to beat Warriorz for the second time in the season. They now have three wins in their five matches in the WPL 2024.
Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to field first. Given how things have panned out in the league so far, it needed a great batting performance from RCB to challenge the chasing side. The home side did exactly that. They were full of intent which was lacking in the last few games. Right from the start, S Meghana and Smriti Mandhana smashed the bowlers.
It was the night of the RCB skipper. The Southpaw scored 80(50) in her stay. S Meghana perished after a valuable 28(21). Ellyse Perry batted well and registered her first fifty of the WPL 2024. She was aided well towards the end by Richa Ghosh whose 21(10) propelled RCB to a score of 198 on the board. It was the highest team total in the WPL 2024.
Alyssa Healy’s efforts go in vain
Chasing the daunting total, UP Warriorz were off to a flier. The opening duo of Healy and Kiran Navgire gave a fiery start to the visiting side. When the two were batting in the PP overs, it seemed like the Warriorz could pull off an insane chase. However, Sophie Devine brought RCB back into the game with crucial wickets. At Bengaluru, the home crowd was literally behind the RCB women.
It helped the home side to stay calm and do their job with ease. Sophie Molineux and Asha Sobhana were the pick of the bowlers, who claimed 2/29 each in their spell of four overs. While Healy scored a fifty and Deepti tried her best in the death overs, ten daunting targets could not be chased down. Despite the early hiccups, RCB managed to restrict UP Warriorz to a score of 175 and won by 23 runs.
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WATCH: Ellyse Perry in disbelief as her six breaks car’s window
Ellyse Perry smashed a six in the match against UP Warriorz in the WPL 2024. It was an interesting six as the ball travelled towards the boundary ropes and fell exactly on the window of the car. As a result, the glass of the window was broken. The car is set to be provided as a reward for the player of the tournament.
It was the over of Deepti Sharma towards the last few moments of RCB’s innings. Before Perry struck, the home side was in a great position in the match, thanks to a great start provided by Smriti Mandhana. The star batter scored 80 (50) and shined in front of the home crowd. Her form helped RCB to have a good momentum towards the death overs.
Watch the viral video here –
ELLYSE PERRY HAS BROKE THE GLASS OF THE CAR…!!! 🤯
– The reaction of Perry was priceless!! pic.twitter.com/zaxiQLLN1r
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 4, 2024
Perry, who was struggling till that point, opened up and smashed the bowlers for fun. She went hard against the spinners like Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma who were asked to bowl at the death. The right-handed batter smashed back-to-back sixes in the over of Sharma. One of those travelled towards the mid-wicket region where the car was stationed. The video of her shot has gone viral on X.
RCB teammates laugh, Ellyse Perry in disbelief
As the ball fell on the car and damaged the window, the fans erupted. There was no end to the joy of the fans who started chanting “Perry.. Perry..” and lit the atmosphere of the stadium. However, Perry was in disbelief. As she saw the impact of the ball damaging the car’s window, the Australian batter could not believe her eyes and thought about what she had just done.
On the other hand, the RCB teammates of Perry were in awe of the shot. They looked at the replays and appreciated the shot of Perry. At the same time, players like Sophie Molineux and Sophie Devine had a laugh about the car’s window getting damaged. Ellyse scored a fifty and helped her team score 198 runs with her batting in front of the home crowd.
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Praveen Kumar addresses Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s negligence of taking part in Ranji Trophy
Praveen Kumar has given his opinion on the preferences of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer in recent times. The duo did not take part in the Ranji Trophy matches for their respective teams despite being fit. It did not go well with the Indian Cricket Board which landed the duo without a ventral contract which was announced a few days back.
Praveen Kumar has reacted to the issue recently. The former India pacer claimed that he has been of an opinion on the issue for a long time. Praveen felt that one should definitely earn money but not at the cost of neglecting to play for domestic and national teams. The right-arm pacer felt that players today are having a certain mentality which is not good.
The former pacer claimed that the players have a mindset that they can rest for a month before taking part in the IPL, thereby bypassing playing for their national team or the domestic teams. Praveen felt that the players could not resist letting go of money which they could earn by taking part in the IPL and other T20 leagues (For foreign players).
‘Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun’ – Praveen Kumar
“This thing is now firmly in the mind of players. Mai ek mahine pehle rest kar lunga, fir IPL khel lunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun,” said Praveen in the interview. He claimed that youngsters these days are spoilt and are behind money. The former RCB pacer felt that it is not fair on the part of the young players to neglect the country over the IPL.
Kumar felt that a player needs to maintain a balance between playing for the IPL team and for the country. He felt that money is an important factor, but not at the cost of playing for the national team. “But this is not fair at all. A player needs to balance things. Money is important, but this (giving franchise cricket the priority) is wrong,” said the former Indian bowler in the interview.
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