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Saharan, Dhas lead India into ninth final with epic partnership
India’s title defence at the Under-19 World Cup met its sternest challenge from hosts South Africa in a pulsating semifinal clash in Benoni. Then Uday Saharan, the captain, and Sachi Dhas put on a game-changing 171-run stand that set the tone for a come-from-behind victory. India are now into their fifth straight final, where they await the winner of Thursday’s semi-final between Pakistan and Australia.
For the first time in the tournament, India decided to chase. And at 32 for 4 in their chase of 245, they were on the rack. South Africa’s pace attack brought fire, hostility and plenty of thrills to an engaging opening burst where every ball was an event of its own. It needed Dhas’s ice-cool temperament and Saharan’s steel to bail India out with a recordfifth wicket stand at men’s Under-19 World Cups.
Yet, despite the record partnership, India had late jitters when Dhas, Aravelly Avanish and Murugan Abhishek fell in quick succession. India needed 18 off 16 with three wickets in hand.Raj Limbani the swing bowler who had landed the early punches with three massive strikes, then flicked his first ball for six over deep mid-wicket to take India within touching distance.
Saharan nearly saw India home but was run out with India needing one run. It took him an eternity to walk off, distraught at not being able to finish the job, but he wasn’t to be denied as Limbani belted a boundary off Nquobani Mokoena to trigger joyous scenes in the Indian camp. South Africa were crestfallen, wondering how they let India escape after Kwena Maphaka and Tristan Luus had cut through their top order in near-unplayable opening spells.
Maphaka removed Adarsh Singh off the first ball of India’s chase with a lifter that he gloved to the wicketkeeper. At the other end, Luus peppered Musheer Khan with a series of inswingers before having him fend a short ball into the slips. Musheer’s wicket was massive considering he had been the glue holding India’s batting together all tournament.
Arshin Kulkarni,known for his big hitting and pulsating starts, shelved all that aggression in an effort to dig in, until he threw his hands at an away-going delivery to be caught in the slips, while Priyanshu Moliya’s loose drive was pouched by keeper Lhuan-der Pretorius. By now, the bands were playing and the home fans roared.
Dhas and Saharan ducked and weaved their way away from the short balls to begin with, seemingly unperturbed by being made to look ugly by South Africa’s pace attack. And then as they slowly ate into the daunting target, they found their feet and timing. Saharan was industrious and Dhas a little more enterprising as he kept picking boundaries off every loose offering.
Dhas had cut his teeth as a finisher during the run-up to the World Cup. Until Tuesday, he’d only once faced over 20 deliveries in an innings in the tournament. But this was his opportunity to deliver, and he embraced the challenge. Last week against Nepal, Dhas and Saharan had bailed India out of a similar position after they’d lost three early wickets. Here the stakes were higher, and the quality of bowling several notches higher, perhaps even the tournament’s best, which is why their fightback was all the more commendable.
Before India’s batters led the way, their plethora of spin options strangled South Africa after Limbani had made the ball talk with his big inswing. From 46 for 2, Pretorius and Richard Seletswane went about repairing the innings with a 72-run third-wicket stand, but consumed 22.1 overs in the process to put immense pressure on the lower middle order for momentum.
Pretorius fell searching for big runs i a effort to make up for Seletswane’s slowdown – he was on 25 not out off 75 balls at one point. This pressure slowly crept up on South Africa’s lower order, helping the spin duo of Musheer and Saumy Pandey dictate terms. In all, spin accounted for figures of 31-2-120-3.
Juan James, the captain, and Luus struck some big blows towards the end to help South Africa nudge towards 250, the last five overs producing 49 rus. This gave South Africa more than a fighting chance, which their fast bowlers built on significantly, before they ran into Saharan and Dhas.
Brief scores:
India Under-19s 248 for 8 in 48.5 overs (Sachin Dhas 96, Uday Saharan 81; Kwena Maphaka 3-32, Tristan Luus 3-37) beat South Africa Under-19s 244 for 7 in 50 overs (Luhan-dre Pretorius 76, Richard Seletswane 64, Oliver Whitehead 22, Juan James 24, Tristan Luus 23*; Raj Limbani 3-60, Musheer Khan 2-43) by two wickets
Mumbai Indians (MI) sealed their fifth consecutive win in comfortable fashion this season to climb to 12 points in ten games. It was a near-perfect day for the hosts in front of 19,000 kids as they defeated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the first time in a league-stage fixture.
Half-centuries from Ryan Rickelton and Suryakumar Yadav – who also became the third-fastest to 4000 IPL runs – helped them set 215 before Jasprit Bumrah‘s four-for and Trent Boult‘s three-for sealed a 54-run win.
Mayank Yadav was back in LSG colours for the first time this season. His pace had dropped but his slower ones were effective and took 2 for 40 in his four overs. Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran got starts but LSG’s middle order, including an out-of-sorts Rishabh Pant, crumbled again. The chase fizzled out with the their last six wickets falling for 26 runs.
The day began with Mayank being announced as Shardul Thakur’s replacement. He took the new ball and bowled in the mid 130-kph to early 140-kph range. The bumper he tried in the first over got spongy bounce and went above Rickelton’s head. But an overpitched ball next up was thumped down the ground.
In his next over, Mayank tested the middle of the pitch. Rohit Sharma hit two sixes with the pull, one in front of square and one behind. The response was a change in line, length and pace. It worked as Rohit reached out and sliced a slower length ball to short third.
Rickelton could’ve been run-out in the second over but Aiden Markram missed a direct hit from point. Rickelton showed his trust in the pitch as he slogged and pulled balls off a length. He drove a full toss down to take 15 off Prince Yadav’s first over. There were no other chances created in the 66-run powerplay.
Digvesh Rathi came in having not conceded a single six in the powerplay, but Rickelton slog swept him twice for two sixes over midwicket before reaching a 25-ball fifty. Rathi changed ends and bowled quicker and straighter on return. Rickelton’s tried to capitalise on the googly when it was tossed up outside off, but ended up slicing straight to point in the ninth over. He made 58.
Mayank was brought back with Suryakumar new at the crease. That didn’t work as Suryakumar launched him over his head. Jacks then got a couple of boundaries behind square both sides of the wicket. The slower balls, though, did keep the batters down and MI moved to 105 for 2 in 10 overs.
Prince’s reverse-swinging yorker then knocked Jacks over for 29. Suryakumar kept MI’s tempo going by hitting Bishnoi for a four and two sixes in the 13th over, but the 16-run over also saw the dismissal of Tilak Varma.
Suryakumar brought up his 4000th run in the IPL with a ramp off Avesh Khan and got another six off Prince over fine leg again. At 157 for 5 in 15 overs, MI were ready to launch but Mayank set them back when he dislodged Hardik’s leg stump and gave away just five runs in the 16th over. Suryakumar was then dismissed for 54 off 28 balls, but MI kept finding the boundaries.
Rathi’s off-day continued at the death as LSG continued with just five bowlers. The over started with an edged reverse sweep that went for four. It finished with 19 runs as Naman Dhir and Corbin Bosch got under the ball and launched sixes over the leg side. MI soared past 200 with an over to go. Four full tosses from Avesh in the 20th over helped MI post 215.
Aiden Markram was able to slash Boult, who started from around the wicket, through the off side for a couple of fours. Marsh then launched a flick over square leg off Deepak Chahar that nearly went out of the ground.
Bumrah was slightly lucky to get Markram as hi middled flick went straight into the hands of deep-backward square. Pooran got hold of Chahar in his third powerplay over, scything two wide yorkers for six before pulling a short ball for one more as LSG posted to 60 for 1 in six.
With Mitchell Santner out due to a finger niggle and a left-hander on the tear, Jacks was brought on ahead of Karn Sharma and he struck twice. The first ball was lobbed up in the slot but Pooran mistimed a lofted drive to long-off, where Suryakumar took a good catch.
Pant was back at No. 4 but endured another short stay at the crease. He edged a cut for four through third before miscuing a premeditated reverse sweep to Karn at short third. The wicket led to the two overs following the powerplay going for just 13 runs.
Ayush Badoni got off to a watchful start. He was on seven off seven balls before making room and and slashing Karn for two fours and a six. Marsh hit two fours off Hardik Pandya’s sole over but slowed down from 31 off 17 to 34 off 24. Hardik rang in the changes as five different bowlers were used between the eighth and 13th overs.
The asking rate rose close to 12 when Boult, on return, got Marsh with a slower ball and reduce LSG to 110 for 4. Badoni and David Miller continued the trend of the earlier partnership with Miller, the new batter, getting off to a quick start (21 off 13) while the set batter slowed down.
Badoni got away with an undetected edge in the 14th over but fell to a slower ball from Boult to end with 35 off 22 after being 30 off 15.
Bishnoi was able to launch a couple of sixes, the second of which was off Bumrah and brought out smiles and fist-pumps, but Bosch and Boult cleaned up the tail and completed MI’s 150th IPL win comprehensively.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 215 for 7 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 58, Rohit Sharma 12, Will Jacks 29, Suryakumar Yadav 54, Naman Dhir 25*, Corbin Bosch 20*; Mayank Yadav 2-40, Prince Yadav 1-44, Digvesh Rathi 1-48, Ravi Bishnoi 1-41, Avesh Khan 2-42) beat Lucknow Super Giants 161 in 20 overs (Ayush Badoni 35, Mitchell Marsh 34, Nicholas Pooran 27,David Miller 24, Ravi Bishnoi 13*; Jasprit Bumrah 4-22, Trent Boult 3-20, Will Jacks 2-18, Corbin Bosch 1-26) by 54 runs
[Cricinfo]
A tight Sneh Rana spell put in motion a collapse Sri Lanka did not recover from, losing their last nine wickets for 93 runs.
This match had been shortened to 39-overs-a-side due to morning rains, but even so, a target of 148 was never really going to test a strong India batting order. Their top three hunted efficiently, Pratika Rawal holding the chase together with 50 not out off 62 balls after Smriti Mandhana had provided a brisk start. India cruised home with nine wickets and 9.2 overs to spare.
Sri Lanka had at one point been 54 for 1, before Rana’s spell and some poor running sent the innings into a nosedive. Hasini Perera, opening the batting in place of Vishmi Gunaratne – who was not playing this game – top-scored with 30 runs. But with wickets falling frequently to the India spinners – who took seven in total – Sri Lanka never appeared to be headed to a competitive score.
Rana took 3 for 32 from her eight overs, with Deepti Sharma taking two wickets as well. Left-arm spinner N Sree Charani also struck twice in her first international match. There were four debutants in this match – two from each side – and Charani fared the best of them, the other three failing to take wickets.
It was the lbw of Hasini that kickstarted the collapse. Rana slid one into her pads, the ball likely going on to hit middle. Soon after that, a running mix-up cost Harshitha Samarawickrama her wicket, and Sri Lanka’s extremely shaky middle order was exposed.
Rana kept striking, taking two excellent return catches. The simpler of these was against Hansima Karunaratne who had come down the track only to hit the ball back to Rana who took a sharp chance at thigh height. Four overs later, she also took a low, dying chance to dismiss Nilakshika de Silva. Charani’s wickets both came from catches in the infield. Her maiden wicket, that of Kavisha Dilhari, came from a top-edged sweep.
India were dominant from the outset, with the bat. Mandhana was timing the ball particularly well, especially against Sri Lanka’s seamers. She favoured the legside in this innings, judging length quickly on a slow Khettarama deck, to pounce on the short ones. So dominant was she early on that although the score was 54 when she gave Inoka Ranaweera a return catch, she had scored 43 herself, off 46 balls.
Rawal was slower through the opening partnership, but confident nonetheless, as several of her drives suggested. Her fourth ODI half-century featured six fours, the prettiest of which was a cover drive off Dilhari in the ninth over.
Harleen Deol added another excellent score to her body of work at No. 3, where she has been batting of late. She was not out on 48 off 71 when India cruised home.
Brief scores:
India Women 149 for 1 in 29.4 overs (Pratika Rawal 50*, Harleen Deol 48*, Smriti Mandhana 43) beat Sri Lanka Women 147 in 38.1 overs (Hasini Perera 30, Kavisha Dilhari 25, Anushka Sanjeewani 22; Sneh Rana 3-31, Deepti Sharma 2-22, Shree Charani 2-26) by nine wickets
[Cricinfo]
At a rally in London, Ontario, on Friday, the crowd booed as Mark Carney delivered his core campaign line about the existential threat Canada faces from its neighbour.
“President Trump is trying to break us so that America could own us,” the Liberal leader warned.
“Never,” supporters shouted back. Many waved Canadian flags taped to ice hockey sticks.
Similar levels of passion were also on display at the union hall where Pierre Poilievre greeted enthusiastic supporters in the Toronto area earlier in the week.
The Conservative leader has drawn large crowds to rallies across the country, where “Bring it Home” is a call to arms: both to vote for a change of government and a nod to the wave of Canadian patriotism in the face of US tariff threats.
In the final hours of a 36-day campaign, Donald Trump’s shadow looms over everything. The winner of Monday’s election is likely to be the party able to convince voters they have a plan for how to deal with the US president.
National polls suggest the Liberals have maintained a narrow lead entering last stretch.
Still, Trump is not the only factor at play – he was only mentioned once in Poilievre’s stump speech.
The Conservative leader has focused more on voters disaffected by what he calls a “Lost Liberal decade”, promising change from a government he blames for the housing shortage and a sluggish economy, and for mishandling social issues like crime and the fentanyl crisis.
His pitch resonates with voters like Eric and Carri Gionet, from Barrie, Ontario. They have two daughters in their mid-20s and said they were attending their first ever political rally.
“We’re pretty financially secure – but I worry about them,” said Eric Gionet. While he and his wife could buy their first home while young, he said, “there’s no prospect” their children will be able to do the same.
“I’m excited to be here,” said Carri Gionet. “I’m hopeful.”
Tapping into voter frustration has helped opposition parties sweep governments from power in democracies around the world. Canada seemed almost certain to follow suit.
Last year, the Conservatives held a 20-point lead in national polls over the governing Liberals for months. Poilievre’s future as the country’s next prime minister seemed baked in.
Then a series of shockwaves came in quick succession at the start of 2025, upending the political landscape: Justin Trudeau’s resignation, Carney’s subsequent rise to Liberal leader and prime minister; and the return of Trump to the White House with the threats and tariffs that followed.
By the time the election was called in mid-March, Carney’s Liberals were polling neck-and-neck with the Conservatives, and by early April they had pulled slightly ahead, national surveys suggest.
It has been a stunning reversal of fortunes. Seemingly dead and buried, the Liberals now believe they could win a fourth successive election, and even a majority in Parliament.
[BBC]
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