Connect with us

Latest News

Samson special leads India into the semi-finals

Published

on

Sanju Samson celebrates taking India over the line [Cricinfo]

Sanju Samson was not India’s first-choice opener in the lead-up to the tournament. India changed that opening combination at the last moment, but Samson still wasn’t their first-choice opener for the first five matches of this World Cup. Brought in as an unlikely Plan B as India faced four must-win matches, Samson powered India’s highest successful chase at the T20 World Cups in the second of those.

It was good defensive bowling from India that restricted West Indies to 195 in this virtual quarter-final, a neat callback to the 2016 semi-final between these two sides when West Indies restricted India to 193. Like India were that night, West Indies were left ruing their opener’s slow innings, a 33-ball 32 from their captain Shai Hope. Outside that, the six-hitting pack scored 163 in 14.3 overs, more than the par for the conditions than their powerplay of 45 for 0.

Lacking extreme pace or mystery in their bowling, West Indies desperately needed asking-rate pressure or errors from batters who haven’t been in too many ICC must-win games. Those mistakes did come from Abhishek Dharma and Ishan Kishan, but Samson batted regally for his 97 not out off 50, taking few low-percentage options, reaching his first fifty in 13 innings in just 26 balls. This was the first time in the IPL and T20Is that Samson opened and stayed unbeaten in a successful chase, at the end of which he collapsed to his knees, looked at the heavens and crossed his heart.

West Indies brought in a new opener themselves, giving Roston Chase the job for the first time in international cricket so that they could have an offspinner for India’s left-hand batters. Chase surprisingly seemed much more at home, punishing errors in length from Arshdeep Singh, scooping Jasprit Bumrah, and sweeping Axar Patel, who completely handcuffed Hope.

Smartly, India kept bowling Axar, backloading Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy for bigger hitters. Hope scored only 15 runs off 13 balls from Axar. He made only ten boundary attempts in his 33-ball stay. By the time Varun bowled him to make it 20 matches with at least one wicket, West Indies had dawdled to 68 for 1 in 8.5 overs, and were looking at six overs from Bumrah and Varun in the last 11.

Curiously, at this point, India didn’t go straight to Bumrah, but took the defensive option of bowling another Hardik Pandya over. Hetmyer wasted little time in regaining the record for most sixes in a single World Cup, hitting two in the first six balls to go past Sahibzada Farhan’s 19.

Having overplayed their hand, India brought Bumrah back for the 12th over, and he dismissed both the set batters for 27 off 16 and 40 off 25. When two of your three batters have such returns, you should really be doing much better than West Indies’ 103 for 3 in 12 overs.

It is a testament to the six-hitting prowess in that West Indies middle order that they still ended up with a competitive score. It started with the last ball of the 15th over when Jason Holder walked at Pandya and hit him for a straight six. Arshdeep had his figures rearranged when Powell bludgeoned him for a 98-metre six and then flicked him for one that just cleared the rope in the 16th over. Varun’s last over was taken down by Holder; his 1 for 40 meant that seven out of his ten costliest analyses in T20Is have come in the last two and a half months.

Arshdeep came back to finish off well with no boundaries in the 19th over, but Holder and Powell managed to take 26 from overs 18 and 20, bowled by Bumrah.

Abhishek practically played the entirety of the first two overs of the chase, taking India to 12 for 0. There was a bit of unease around with West Indies expecting a desperate shot. Samson didn’t need any of those. He backed away to create his first four off Akeal Hosein, and then swept and pulled him for sixes.

While Samson was caressing boundaries, Abhishek and Kishan offered catches to Hetmyer at deep square leg. Hetmyer took both of them to make it 41 for 2 in 4.3 overs.

For some reason, India, so big on right-left combinations in the lead-up to the World Cup, have been inflexible about Suryalumar Yadav batting at No. 4. He hit a trademark six over backward of square leg, but two right-hand batters in the middle allowed West Indies to bowl their left-arm spinners. Suryakumar’s contribution to the 58-run third-wicket stand was 18 off 16.

Samson stayed imperious at the other end, finding boundaries whenever the asking rate reached threatening proportions.

Against Tilak Varma, Chase created pressure, bowling three dots in his first over, the 12th of the innings. Shamar Joseph, who had taken Suryakumar’s wicket, started the 13th over with India in the most trouble they ever were in the chase, needing 92 off the last eight and a match-up against offspin in front of them.

Samson hit the first four, followed by a hat-trick of fours from Tilak to remove any alarm from the chase. As a final piece of the cherry on top, Tilak ended Chase’s second over with a straight six. He fell to a sharp catch from Hetmyer at mid-off, but Tilak did a big job with his 27 off 15.

Fittingly, Samson ended the chase with two languid hits for a six and a four to cap off “one of the greatest days of my life”.

Brief scores:
India 199 for 5 in 19.2 overs  (Abhishek Sharma 10, Sanju Samson 97*, Ishan Kishan 10, Suryakumar Yadav 18, Tilak Varma  27, Hardik Pandya 17; Akeal Hosein 1-22, Jason Holder 2-38, Shamar Joseph 2-42) beat West Indies 195 for 4 in 20 overs (Shai Hope 32, Roston Chase 40, Shimron Hetmyer 27, Sherfane Rutherford 14, Rovman Powell 34*, Jason Holder 37*; Hardik Pandya 1-40, Jasprit  Bumrah 2-36, Varun Chakravarthy 1-40) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]



Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest News

Munoz sends Colombia into World Cup knockouts with 1-0 win over DR Congo

Published

on

By

Daniel Munoz celebrates scoring the winning goal for Colombia during the 2026 World Cup Group K match against the Democratic Republic of the Congo at Guadalajara Stadium in Zapopan [Aljazeera]

Daniel Munoz has fired ‌Colombia into the World Cup round of 32 with a ⁠1-0 win over the Democratic Republic of the ⁠Congo in Group K after goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi had threatened to turn the match into a night of frustration.

Munoz struck the winner from the right ⁠side of the penalty area in the 76th minute on Tuesday, finally beating Mpasi, who had repeatedly denied Colombia with an inspired performance.

Colombia, who opened their World Cup campaign with a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan, commanded possession and created numerous chances.

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup 2026 - Group K - Colombia v DR Congo - Estadio Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico - June 23, 2026 Colombia's Daniel Munoz celebrates scoring their first goal with Luis Diaz and Juan Quintero REUTERS/Raquel Cunha
Colombia’s Daniel Munoz celebrates with Luis Diaz and Juan Quintero after scoring a goal [Aljazeera]

James Rodriguez, making his 10th World Cup appearance to equal the Colombian record jointly held by Freddy Rincon and Carlos Valderrama, forced Mpasi into action with a powerful strike in the 11th minute.

The goalkeeper stood firm, repelling efforts ‌from Jhon Arias and winger Luis Diaz, who came close to breaking the deadlock in the 18th minute, controlling a chipped pass inside the penalty area, turning smartly, and firing a shot goal-wards, only for Mpasi to save it with his foot.

The African side, buoyed by their opening 1-1 deaw with Portugal, threatened sporadically through Edo Kayembe, Cedric Bakambu and Yoane Wissa, but lacked a clinical finish.

By half-time, Colombia had registered 15 ⁠shots, including six on target, with nine of their 10 ⁠outfield players attempting efforts.

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup 2026 - Group K - Colombia v DR Congo - Estadio Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico - June 23, 2026 Colombia's Luis Diaz has his shot saved by DR Congo's Lionel Mpasi REUTERS/Raquel Cunha
Colombia’s Luis Diaz has his shot saved by DR Congo’s Lionel Mpasi [Aljazeera]

In the stands, DR Congo had support from Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, the team’s famous “living statue” fan, who made his World Cup debut after missing the opener against Portugal because of Ebola quarantine requirements.

Colombia resumed ⁠on the front foot after the break, with Diaz forcing another fine save from Mpasi in the 51st minute before Arias dragged ⁠the rebound wide.

Wissa almost snatched the lead for DR Congo ⁠in the 73rd minute, when his shot from Simon Banza’s assist was blocked, but Colombia struck shortly after through Munoz.

Diaz later thought he had doubled the advantage with a finish into the top corner, only for the ‌effort to be ruled out for offside.

Colombia moved to six points from two matches and guaranteed their progress to the knockout stage ahead of their final group game against Portugal, ‌who beat Uzbekistan 5-0 earlier on Tuesday.

DR Congo remained on one point and will need a result against Uzbekistan to keep their qualification hopes alive.

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup 2026 - Group K - Colombia v DR Congo - Estadio Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico - June 23, 2026 DR Congo fan Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, also known as Lumumba Vea in the stands during the match REUTERS/Daniel Becerril TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
DR Congo fan Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, also known as Lumumba Vea, in the stands during the match [Aljazeera]

[Aljazeera]

Continue Reading

Latest News

July 6th declared as Sri Lanka National Legal Aid Day

Published

on

By

The Legal Aid Commission of Sri Lanka was established under the Legal Aid Act No. 27 of 1978 with the objective of facilitating access to justice for all citizens, including vulnerable groups and marginalized persons.

The commission makes a significant contribution to the protection of fundamental rights through the provision of legal aid services promotion of legal awareness, strengthening the rule of law and promoting access to justice.

It has been identified the appropriateness of declaring a National Legal Aid Day to enhance the public awareness of legal rights and remedies, facilitate a national dialogue on law enforcement and enhance the public understanding of the importance of legal services.

Accordingly, having ratified the legal Aid Act No.27 of  1978, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Justice and National Integration to declare July 06th as the National Legal Aid Day.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Appointment of a special Committee for protection of lands in Eastern Province

Published

on

By

A series of political, economic, and administrative problems in the Eastern Province have arisen due to the misuse of government power and political patronage, as well as illegal land grabbing, unauthorized land grabbing, and unauthorized constructions along the coastline.

As a result, the natural ecosystem of the region has been severely endangered, and these informal and illegal human activities have also become a major factor in the rapid creation of severe soil erosion along the entire eastern coastal area.

Furthermore, despite 16 years having passed since the end of the civil war, the lack of a formal program to permanently resettle the displaced people and the deviation from common criteria in the formation of the administrative structure have had a direct impact on the development activities of the province, as well as national security.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the  President to implement the following proposals and find prompt and permanent solutions to the aforementioned problems, take legal action and  strengthen institutional coordination.

• Appointing a committee by the name of “Protecting Eastern Province Lands’ with the chairmanship of the former Land Commissioner of the Southern Province and current Local Government Commissioner of the Southern Province, Senaka Palliyaguruge, and comprising of representatives of relevant institutions.

• Establishing of a special unit headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police and granting of full powers to the security forces to stop unauthorized land acquisitions and land reclamations carried out using political power.

• Taking over the government lands that were provided by the Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority 05 years ago, to the government where no project has been implemented so far.

• Handing over the acquired lands to the Divisional Secretaries to use for the development activities of the people under a formal program.

• Preparing of a formal plan to promote the tourism industry by utilizing the high potential of the eastern coastline while protecting the coastal system.

• Formulating a mechanism to ensure that the government officials implement the law impartially and transparently when operating hotels along the eastern coastal area.

Continue Reading

Trending