Sports

Kohli 186, Axar 79 give India a chance to push for a win

Published

4 years ago

2023/03/13

Virat Kohli’s Test century drought has been broken and the floodgates could open on Australia as they face a battle to save the game on the final day after India’s lengthy batting line-up piled up 571 for 9 on the fourth day in Ahmedabad.

Kohli made a magnificent 186 from 364 balls while Axar Patel blasted five fours and four sixes in a blazing 79 to hand India a first-innings lead of 91 after posting 50-plus partnerships for each of the first six wickets of the innings. It could have been more but Shreyas Iyer was unable to bat or take the field on day four due to lower back pain. He left the venue early in the day to have scans.

Australia suffered an injury of their own on a day where their bowlers’ figures were badly bruised as they failed to make inroads, or even create chances, on an unhelpful surface. Usman Khawaja hurt his left leg while attempting to take a catch on the rope just after drinks in the middle session. He landed awkwardly and limped from the field shortly after with Australia’s team physio. Details of his injury were not confirmed but he did not return and did not bat late in the day with Matt Kuhnemann opening as a nightwatcher. Khawaja has suffered a torn ACL and torn meniscus in his left knee in the past having had surgery to repair both tears.

Kuhnemann and Travis Head survived six overs for three runs as Australia remains 88 runs behind with three sessions of cricket remaining to either salvage a draw or somehow manufacture a result to level the series 2-2.Kohli, and it seems most of India, had been waiting the agonizing 1205 days for his 28th Test century. But he was willing to wait as long as was necessary to reach three figures against some disciplined Australian bowling in the first two hours of the day.

He was near faultless in reaching his 75th international century just after lunch. It was the second slowest of his Test career, off 241 deliveries, and featured just five boundaries in his first 100 runs and none in the first session of the morning.

The discipline and patience he showed was rewarded handsomely thereafter, as the burden of the three-year wait washed away and the dominant Kohli of old returned. He tore into Australia’s two fast men Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc during attempted hostile spells with the reversing ball. He also became ever more expansive and extravagant against the two offspinners Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy, who he treated with the utmost respect in the first session.

He got wonderful support all the way through the day. His 168-run partnership with Axar was the fruit of his morning labour. The pair scored with incredible freedom compared to the grind pre-lunch. Australia’s bowlers flagged in the afternoon sun. Kohli struck 10 classy boundaries in the afternoon unfurling some sublime drives on the up and some supreme pull shots off Lyon in particular, trusting the Ahmedabad bounce with cross-bat shots having fallen foul to them previously in the series on less trustful surfaces.

While Kohli got into line and prospered mostly through the leg side, Axar gave room to carve through the off. But he did mix in four brutal slog sweeps, three that landed in the stands and one that bounced into the fence at warp speed. Axar did have some luck against Lyon, edging him to slip where Smith couldn’t hang onto an incredibly difficult one-handed chance high to his right. There were some other nervous moments defending Lyon but otherwise, it was smooth sailing.

The pair looked nailed on for a double-century stand and twin milestones with Kohli’s 200 and Axar’s maiden Test century in sight. But Axar fell by the sword, chopping Mitchell Starc onto the stumps trying to flay him on the up through cover.

Kohli ran out of partners as R Ashwin holed out in the deep and Umesh Yadav was run out by a brilliant direct hit from the deep from Peter Handscomb for a diamond duck trying to keep Kohli on strike.Kohli was dropped himself by Handscomb in the deep off Lyon on 185, a difficult chance diving low at long-on. It only cost one run as he holed out swinging for the fence next over.

Earlier, Kohli also shared half-century stands with Ravindra Jadeja and KS Bharat in the morning but India only managed 73 runs in the first session. Lyon and Murphy bowled superbly to keep a lid on the scoring, with Kohli really battling to break free from very disciplined lines and lengths although he was never threatened in defence. Jadeja eventually did smacking Murphy down the ground, but he holed out meekly to mid-on not long after.

Bharat slog-swept his second ball for six over wide long-on but battled to 25 from 70 at lunch. However, he hit the accelerator after lunch when Cameron Green tried to pepper him with short balls under instruction from his captain Steven Smith with a heavy legside field. After ducking a full over of short balls, he unfurled two pulls for a six and a cut for four in the following over.

Lyon knocked him over shortly after with turn and bounce. It was one of only three wickets he took for the innings across a marathon 65 overs. It is the most he has ever bowled in a Test innings and he deserved better reward than he got. Murphy also took three wickets from 45.5. They were Australia’s best two bowlers by far as indicated by their workloads. Smith did not have as much faith in the other three with the two quicks lathered to all parts while Kuhnemann was nowhere near as effective on this surface as he had been in Indore. (cricinfo)

Scores:

Australia 480 all out and 3 for no loss

India 571 all out (Virat Kohli 186, Axar Patel 79, Shubman Gill 128; Nathan Lyon 3/151, Todd Murphy 3/113)

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Sports

Nissanka absence opens door for Sri Lanka’s young guns

Published

6 hours ago

2026/10/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

Former Royal College captain Sineth Jayawardene has replaced the injured Pathum Nissanka

Sri Lanka will begin their three match T20I series against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Friday with an opportunity for several youngsters to stake their claims, although the absence of Pathum Nissanka leaves a sizeable hole at the top of the order.

Nissanka, Sri Lanka’s highest-ranked batter in the ICC T20I rankings, has been one of the side’s most consistent performers in recent years and his absence deprives the tourists of a proven match-winner against a Pakistan attack that will still carry plenty of firepower despite resting several senior players.

The three T20Is will be played in Rawalpindi on October 9, 11 and 13 before attention switches to the seven match ODI tri-series involving hosts Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England.

While Sri Lanka will miss Nissanka, his absence opens the door for highly rated Sineth Jayawardene, who has been earmarked as one for the future. The former Sri Lanka Under-19 captain now has an opportunity to show that he can make the considerable jump from domestic and age group cricket to the international stage. Sineth skippered Royal College, Colombo with distinction.

There will also be considerable interest in leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, another player Sri Lanka have invested in with an eye on the future. With Wanindu Hasaranga out of the equation, Viyaskanth has an opportunity to make a strong case for a regular berth rather than remain on the fringes.

Sri Lanka will be encouraged by the fact that Pakistan too have opted to look beyond some of their established names for the T20I leg of the tour.

Sahibzada Farhan will captain Pakistan after leading them at the recently concluded Asian Games in Japan, taking over from Salman Ali Agha, who has been left out of the T20I squad. Salman remains part of Pakistan’s ODI plans.

Pakistan have also rested Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi for the T20Is, although both return for the ODI tri-series, where Shaheen will continue as captain.

The hosts have named uncapped all-rounders Razaullah and Mohammad Imran Randhawa in their 15-member T20I squad, while Maaz Sadaqat and Hasan Nawaz have been rewarded for impressive performances at the Asian Games.

Hasan finished the tournament as Pakistan’s leading run scorer with 123 runs, including a blistering 96 off 51 balls against India in the final, although Pakistan had to settle for silver.

Fast bowler Naseem Shah returns to Pakistan’s T20I squad having last played the format against Sri Lanka in February, while Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub and Abrar Ahmed provide experience.

For Sri Lanka, while Nissanka’s runs will be sorely missed his absence means someone else has the chance to put his hand up. Sri Lanka will hope one or two of their young guns grab that opportunity with both hands.

The ODI tri-series will follow the T20Is, with the first three matches being played in Rawalpindi before the tournament moves to Lahore for the remaining league games and the final.

Pakistan have retained a more experienced core for the 50-over competition, with Babar, Salman, Haris Rauf and Faheem Ashraf among those included.

Former Pakistan Under-19 captain Saad Baig has earned his maiden ODI call-up after scoring more than 1,000 runs in the 2025-26 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, while left-arm wrist-spinner Sufiyan Moqim is another notable inclusion.

Pakistan have also strengthened their backroom staff, bringing back former Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait as bowling consultant. Tait previously served as Pakistan’s bowling coach in 2022-23 and replaces Ashley Noffke, who left after the Asian Games to take over as Netherlands head coach.

Sports

Girls secure all four semi-final spots for hosts

Published

6 hours ago

2026/10/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

ATF Under-16 Colombo Week 1 Tennis

Sri Lanka’s junior players delivered a series of impressive performances on Wednesday, with the girls claiming all four semi-final places at the ATF Under-16 Colombo 2026 Week 1 tournament, held at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association courts.

‎

Damsath Peiris

Methuli Naotunne led the charge with a notable quarter-final win over India’s Yashmitha Santhosh, recovering from a set loss to prevail 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. Kiara Jayamanne also came from behind to beat India’s Ahnavi Shaw 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Risindi
Hewawasam

‎In an all-Sri Lankan quarter-final, Risindi Hewawasam overcame Desandi Peiris 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, while Disini Samaraweera defeated Sayli Basnayake 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.

‎The Sri Lankan boys also impressed. Damsath Peiris beat Buvindu Jayawardhana 8-2, 7-6, and Yonal Dankumbura battled to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Jayan Sebastian.

‎The visiting players, however, proved tough to beat. The Philippines’ Anthony Castigador defeated Sri Lanka’s Dehan Wickramasinghe 6-2, 6-4, and India’s Gurshaan Chahal fought back to overcome Udeera Gunasinghe 2-6, 7-5, 7-5.

(RF)

Sports

Travel Trends Leisure crowned champions at Mosvold Sixes

Published

6 hours ago

2026/10/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

Travel Trends Leisure were crowned champions at the annual Mosvold Sixes worked off at Malay Cricket Club on Sunday.

Mosvold Sixes 2026 concluded on Sunday at the Colombo Malay Cricket Club with Travel Trends Leisure crowned champions after a closely fought final against last year’s winners, Connaissance De Ceylan Sri Lanka, who finished as runners-up. Transco Travels were second runners-up.

Twenty three destination management companies took part in the six-a-side softball cricket tournament, organised by Mosvold Sri Lanka.

The Mosvold Martinus Challenge Trophy 2026 was presented to the champions by Nilanka Martinus, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Mosvold Boutique Hotels. Chief Guest Farveez Maharoof, the former Sri Lanka all-rounder, presented the runners-up award to Connaissance De Ceylan Sri Lanka.

This year’s twenty three competing DMCs were Tangerine Tours, Sri Lanka Tailormade, Olanka Travels, Antiquity Sri Lanka, Travel Trends Leisure, House of Travels & Tourism, NKAR Travels & Tours, Jetwing Travels, Walkers Tours, Connaissance De Ceylan Sri Lanka, Delux Holidays, Ceylon Roots, Spiceland Holidays, Infinity Vacations, Tropiculture, Serene Travels, Authenticities, Red Apple Travel & Holidays Lanka, DTH Travel Lanka, Hayleys Travels, We stay Ceylon, Transco Travels and Ceylon Tours.