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Bowlers extend Australia’s dominance in WTC final

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India were 151-5 at stumps on day two in the World Test Championship final on Thursday (pic Agencies)

Australia extended their dominance in the World Test Championship 2021-23 final on Thursday (June 8), with their bowlers taking the centre stage after a massive partnership between Travis Head and Steve Smith.

India did limit the damage from the Australian batters as they picked up the last seven wickets for 108 runs. But Australia, who finished with 469, ensured they did not let any substantial partnership develop in India’s innings as the Rohit Sharma-led side ended Day 2 at 151/5, trailing by 318

The day began with Smith bringing up his 31st Test hundred with two successive fours off Mohammed Siraj in the opening over. A short while later, Head registered his fourth 150-plus score as they extended their partnership to 285. India, though, came back strongly as they picked up three for 26 which started with the dismissal of Head. While there were a few boundaries scored, India persisted with short-ball tactics and the move paid off when Siraj had Head caught down the leg-side to dismiss him for 163. Cameron Green edged a Mohammed Shami delivery to second slip and Smith chopped Shardul Thakur onto the stumps to depart for 121. Australia lost their fourth wicket in the first session as Mitchell Starc was run out.

Alex Carey, who had seen off the opening session along with Pat Cummins, began with a flurry of boundaries at the start of the second, including three in an over off Shami. He also struck a six off Ravindra Jadeja to power Australia past the 450 mark and raise the half-century stand with Cummins. But he missed a reverse-sweep off the left-arm spinner and was out leg-before, with India using the review to reverse the onfield call of not out. Siraj bagged the last two wickets, accounting for Nathan Lyon and Cummins, as he bagged a four wicket haul and reached the 50-wicket milestone in the process.

India made a confident start with the bat, with Rohit and Shubman Gill dealing in regular boundaries. But it didn’t take Australia long to get on top again as the openers departed in quick succession. Cummins trapped Rohit leg-before while Gill was bowled by Scott Boland shouldering arms. Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara faced a couple of probing overs but got through the testing period unscathed before the Tea break.

Pujara began confidently in the final session, clipping a Boland delivery wide of mid-on and then playing a square drive off the backfoot off Green. But much like Gill, a poor judgement ended Pujara’s outing as he was bowled shouldering arms to a Green delivery. A rising delivery off a length from Mitchell Starc clipped Kohli’s thumb en route to the ‘keeper, leaving India in further trouble as they slipped to 71/4. Ajinkya Rahane, meanwhile, had a lucky break as he was trapped in front by Cummins but upon review it was clear that the bowler had overstepped.

Rahane, meanwhile, needed the physio’s attention a couple of times as he was struck on his fingers by a Cummins delivery while he was struck on the helmet after missing a hook off Green. Ravindra Jadeja, on the other hand, batted positively as he dealt in regular boundaries and also flicked a Boland delivery over the fence. Rahane, however, did capitalise on anything in his zone as he executed a cover drive off Boland en route to a half-century partnership. The fifth wicket pair extended their stand to 71 before Jadeja edged a Nathan Lyon delivery to slip to fall two short of a fifty. Rahane and KS Bharat were unbeaten at Stumps, having their work cut out for Day 3.

Brief scores:

Australia 469 (Travis Head 163, Steve Smith 121, Alex Carey 48; Mohammed Siraj 4-108, Shardul Thakur 2-83) lead India 151/5 (Ravindra Jadeja 48, Ajinkya Rahane 29*; Nathan Lyon 1-4, Scott Boland 1-29) by 318 runs



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Nepal smash records with fastest century and fifty in men’s T20Is

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[File photo] Kushal Malla remained unbeaten on 137 off just 50 balls (Cricinfo)

Nepal’s batters smashed a number of records in the opening match of the Men’s Asian Games against Mongolia in Hangzhou, in a record 273-run win. Here is a quick look at some of the major records broken by them.

0 – Number of times a team had scored 300 in a men’s T20 innings before this. Nepal’s 314 for 3 against Mongolia in the Asian Games is the first such instance.  Afghanistan’s 278 for 3 against Ireland in Dehradun in 2019 was the highest T20 total before this. These are also the biggest totals in men’s T20 internationals.

34 – Balls taken by Nepal’s Kushal Malla to reach his hundred, which is the fastest in T20Is. The previous record of 35 balls was jointly held by David Miller, Rohit Sharma and Czech Republic’s Sudesh Wickramasekara.9 – Balls taken by Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee to hit a fifty. Airee’s innings featured eight sixes and no fours. This is the fastest fifty in all T20s, beating the previous record of 12 balls, which was jointly held by Yuvraj Singh, Chris Gayle and Hazratullah Zazai. While Yuvraj’s fifty came in a T20I, the other two were scored in T20s.

273 – Nepal’s margin of win against Mongolia. This is the highest margin in terms of runs in all T20s. The previous biggest margin was Czech Republic’s 208-run win against Panama in 2021.

520 – Airee’s strike rate in his unbeaten knock of 52 off 10 balls. This is the first instance in T20s when a batter has scored at a 500-plus strike rate in an innings of 10 or more balls. The previous best was Malcolm Waller’s strike rate of 430 in a ten-ball innings agsinst Matabeleland Tuskers in 2016 Zimbabwe’s domestic T20 competition.

26 – Sixes hit by Nepal batters in this match – the most in a T20 international by a team. The previous highest were 22, by Afghanistan against Ireland in Dehradun in 2019 and by West Indies against South Africa in Centurion earlier this year. These are also the most in any T20 match, beating the 23 sixes hit by Balkh Legend batters against Kabul Zwanan in the Afghanistan Premier League in 2018.

19y 206d – Malla’s age on Wednesday, making him the second youngest batter to score a century in men’s T20Is. The youngest is Gustav Mckeon of France, who scored two centuries before turning 19 in July 2022.

56 – Percentage of Mongolia’s total to have come through extras – 23 of the 41 all out were extras. It is the highest proportion of team runs to have come via extras in a men’s T20I innings (min: five overs bowled). The previous highest was 34.6% for China, who had nine extras during their 26 all out against Thailand earlier this year.

(Cricinfo)

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Train services on coastal line delayed

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The Railway Department has announced that train services on the coastal line will be delayed due a derailment between Kollupitiya and Colombo Fort this morning (27).

It also said that trains bound to Colombo will be given priority and requested South bound passengers to make use of alternate modes of transportation until the situation is rectified.

 

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Trump liable for fraud, judge finds in New York civil case

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Donald Trump “repeatedly” misrepresented his wealth by hundreds of millions of dollars to banks and insurers, a New York judge has ruled.

The decision resolves the key claim made by New York’s attorney general in her civil lawsuit against the former president.

“The documents here clearly contain fraudulent valuations that defendants used in business,” the judge wrote.

It is a major blow for the former President before the case goes to trial next Monday.

An attorney for Donald Trump called the judge’s decision “a miscarriage of justice” in a statement on Tuesday evening.

Attorney General Letitia James sued Donald Trump last September, accusing him, his two adult sons and the Trump Organization of lying about his net worth and asset values between 2011 and 2021.

Ms James claimed the defendants issued false business records and financial statements in order to get better terms on bank loans and insurance deals, and to pay less tax.

In a trial that will now resolve six remaining claims in her suit, she will seek $250m in penalties and a ban on Mr Trump doing business in his home state.

The non-jury trial is scheduled to begin 2 October and last until at least December.

(BBC)

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