Sports
New Zealand strike twice after Williamson double ton
Kane Williamson got his fifth double ton in Test cricket, and shared a 159-run stand with Ish Sodhi that ground out Pakistan on the fourth day. It earned them a 174-run lead before New Zealand’s spinners struck twice later in the day, to drive home the advantage. For the first half of the fourth day, it was the Williamson-Sodhi show as they batted for more than a session and a half to frustrate Pakistan. The duo added only 79 runs in the first session but set the tone that allowed New Zealand to get ahead steadily and take a healthy lead.
Both Sodhi and Williamson were largely comfortable on a pitch offering only slow turn, with the rough patches still wide off the stumps. As Nauman Ali wheeled away trying to hit those patches to create some doubt, it did little to deter the duo, who were able to work the runs away comfortably.
Ali came close to picking a wicket when he struck Williamson, on 116, on the pad and got his way with the on-field umpire. But a review revealed that the ball had pitched outside the leg stump. Pakistan’s luck with the review remained bad, for this came soon after they wasted one against Sodhi. Mohammad Wasim Jr aimed to shape the old ball in and hit Sodhi with a full ball, but replays confirmed that it wasn’t worth a review for there had been a big inside edge.
With the old ball not offering enough bite, Pakistan also availed the third new ball when it became available. But while it came on quicker to the bat, New Zealand’s batters were not troubled too much. It offered more chances though. Twice Sodhi edged through the vacant slip cordon, and once against Mir Hamza, just minutes before the lunch break, he got a feather on it but none of the players on the field picked it up. An appeal never came and it allowed Sodhi to march on and bring up a fifty in the second session.
Williamson punctuated his steady knock with lofts down the ground every now and then to keep the spinners guessing. He brought about more shots in the second session with the reverse sweep also turning out to be productive even though it was being played off the rough.
But New Zealand suffered a blip at the other end. Sodhi got a leading edge trying to loft a legbreak from Abrar and was caught at mid off, Tim Southee fell for a duck in similar fashion against Nauman Ali while Neil Wagner gloved a sweep to give Abrar his fifth. Three wickets in as many overs for just two runs threatened to leave Williamson stranded without a double ton.
But as Ajaz Patel kept out eight balls, Williamson managed a lofted six and a four over cover to bring up the milestone, taking him past Brendon McCullum in the all-time list for New Zealand. It was also his second double ton against Pakistan, and that proved to be enough for Southee to declare at the stroke of Tea.
Armed with a first innings lead, New Zealand were on the attack right through, and it was met with positivity from Pakistan’s openers. Abdullah Shafique and Imam ul Haq added 47 before the former chipped an attempted loft of Michael Bracwell to mid on. While Imam continued to be positive, unafraid to drive the spinners off the rough, there was a stutter at the other end. Shan Masood remained comfortable in his short 26-ball stay before he was caught LBW on the backfoot against Sodhi late in the day. It capped off a fine day out for New Zealand, led by their former skipper, and left Pakistan in a precarious position heading into the final day.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 438 (Babar Azam 161, Agha Salman 103; Tim Southee 3-69) & 77/2 (Imam ul Haq 45*) trail New Zealand 612/9 d (Kane Williamson 200*, Tom Latham 113, Devon Conway 92, Ish Sodhi 65; Abrar Ahmed 5-205) by 97 runs.
(Cricbuzz)
North Korea has held the Pyongyang International Marathon for the first time in six years, welcoming some 200 foreign runners to the streets of the reclusive country’s capital.
The marathon, which was launched in 1981, took place annually in April to celebrate the birth of its founding leader Kim Il Sung.
Before Sunday’s marathon, the race was last held in 2019, wherein 950 foreigners participated. North Korea sealed itself off the following year, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
North Korea has been slow to reopen since, allowing only Russian tourists into its capital since last year.
Runners have had to enter the country as part of an organised tour group, as was the case before the pandemic.
Koryo Tours, a Beijing-based travel agency listed as an “exclusive partner” on the event website, offers six-day marathon tours at 2,195 euros ($2,406) including flights to and from Beijing.
“The Pyongyang Marathon is an extremely unique experience as it provides an opportunity to interact with locals,” the agency wrote on its website.
Sunday’s marathon route took participants past landmarks across the city, including the Kim Il Sung stadium, the Arch of Triumph built to commemorate Kim Il Sung’s role in resisting Japanese rule, and the Mirae Future Scientists’ Street said to be a residential district for scientists and engineers.
Pictures online show the stadium – where runners start and finish their race – filled with spectators, many of them cheering and waving gold-coloured paper flags.
Pak Kum Dong, a North Korean runner, told Reuters news agency: “The eyes of our people on me helped me to bear the difficulties whenever I feel tired.”
There is no publicly available information on race results.
North Korea had only statred to scale back Covid-19 restrictions in the middle of 2023.
In Feburary, it allowed some Western tourists into the remote, eastern city Rason, but suspended those tours just weeks after.
[BBC]
Noor Ahmad, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) left-arm wristspinner, continues to head the Purple Cap table with ten wickets from four games. His spell of 4 for 18 in CSK’s first game against MI, remains his best so far.
DC’s Mitchell Starc who picked up his maiden five-for in T20s, against SRH remains second on the list with nine wickets in three games.
GT’s Mohammed Siraj equalled Starc’s tally on Sunday night with his own IPL best, albeit he has played four games to Starc’s three. Siraj picked up 4 for 17 against SRH to hand them their four successive loss, and was named the Player of the Match.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) suffered another batting malfunction, this time on a slow, black-soil surface at home, crashing to their fourth successive defeat in IPL 2025. Having lost Travishek in the powerplay, SRH waited until the 13th over to see the first six of the innings, and managed only one more after that Mohammad Siraj caused irreparable damage right from the start, ending with his career-best IPL figures of 4 for 17.
Pat Cummins’ cameo (22* off nine balls) and then his dismissal of Jos Buttler for a duck in Gujarat Titans’ (GT) chase of 153 gave SRH some hope, but that faded away once Washington Sundar clattered 23 off nine balls in the powerplay. Earlier in the day, GT didn’t need Washington with the ball, but his attacking enterprise at No. 4 settled their chase on a slow pitch. Washington fell agonisingly short of a maiden IPL half-century, but his captain Shubman Gill ushered GT home, with an unbeaten 61 off 43 balls, along with Sherfane Rutherford.
Siraj had sparked the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to life when he gave Travis Head a send-off in Adelaide last December. Four months on, Siraj was bowling to Head for the first time in T20s, and the battle lasted just five balls. After Head scored two fours off Siraj, the fast bowler struck with his trademark wobble-seam delivery, having him chip a catch to midwicket for 8.
Abhishek Sharma hit four fours before Siraj had him miscuing a catch to mid-on in his third over of the powerplay. It was Siraj’s 100th wicket in the IPL and sixth in the powerplay, the most by a bowler in that phase so far this season, with an economy rate of 6.27.
Siraj then returned in the death to york both Aniket Verma, the last recognised batter for SRH, and Simarjeet Singh, their Impact Player.
With both Head and Abhishek gone early,Rashid Khan, who was coming into this game on the back of figures of 4-0-54-0, could afford to ease himself in. He started fairly well by giving away just 10 runs in his first two overs, but when he erred in length, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klassen dispatched him to the fence. Rashid finished with 4-0-31-0, going wicketless for a third successive game, and with tournament figures of 1 for 143 in 14 overs at an economy rate of 10.21
Left-arm fingerspinner Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, on the other hand, showed remarkable control over his length and variations. He claimed the big wicket of Klaasen by knocking him over with a quick dart, which skidded off the pitch, for 27 off 19 balls. Sai Kishore also had Reddy holing out for 31 off 34 balls and finished with 4-0-24-2.
That SRH passed 150 was down to Cummins’ late blows. He was the only SRH batter in the top eight to have a strike rate of over 160.
It appeared like GT had handed a franchise debut to Washington to primarily match his offspin up with SRH’s left-hander heavy top order. But with Siraj dominating the powerplay and Sai Kishore taking care of the middle overs, GT ended up not using his offspin.
Washington then walked out to bat at No. 4 after his childhood friend B Sai Sudarshan and Buttler fell cheaply in successive overs. Washington took advantage of the last over of the powerplay, smoking Simarjeet for two sixes and two fours. It provided a throwback to Washington of 2016, when he opened the batting, alongside Abhinav Mukund, in the TNPL and showed the intent to hit over the top. Just like that, Washington dumped SRH’s Impact Player out of the attack.
Washington continued to attack even after that. When the ambidextrous Kamindu Mendis darted one on the stumps with his right hand, Washington manufactured swinging room and laced him over extra-cover for four. Washington seemed set for a fifty until he holed out one shy of the landmark in the 14th over.
Gill, who had already crossed 50 by that point, finished the job along with Rutherford, who hit an unbeaten 35 off 16 balls.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 153 for 3 in 16.4 overs (Shubman Gill 61*, Washington Sundar 49, Sherfaine Rutherford 35*; Mohammed Shami 2-28, Pat Cumminss 1-26) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 152 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 18, Ishan Krishan 17, Nitish Kumar Reddy 31, Heinrich Klassen 27, Aniket Verma 18,Pat Cummins 22*; Mohammed Siraj 4-17, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 2-24, Prasidh Krishna 2-25)by seven wickets
[Cricinfo]
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