Sports
Sajeewa wins bronze at the World Military Boxing Championships
Sri Lanka’s leading light fly weight (49kg) pugilist Sajeewa Nuwan Kumara of the Army lived up to his promise to deliver on the international stage by winning a bronze medal at the 58th World Military Boxing Championships in Russia. Armed with sound technique, the 29-year-old Lance Corporal has been almost unbeatable at home but has been found wanting against international opposition even failing to win a medal at the 2019 South Asian Games in Kathmandu. However, the two-time national champion who has carried away the Best Boxer awards in all three major local meets – Layton Cup, Clifford Cup and the Nationals – in the recent past, dispelled any doubts that he lacked the temperament to perform on the big stage when he fought the fight of his life to beat Mozambique’s Yassine Nordine Issufo in the quarter-final.
Sajeewa Nuwan dominated the opening round out-boxing and outscoring the southpaw and displaying quicksilver footwork to slip away when his opponent attacked. However, he changed tactics in the next two rounds fighting toe-to-toe and aggressively with tenacity against his tough adversary. It turned out to be a scrappy affair with the referee having to break them from clinching often. Nonetheless, the Sri Lankan soldier landed enough scoring blows especially solid rights to earn a split decision. Sajeewa lost to Leanderso Conceicao Siqueira of Brazil in the semifinals.
Army’s Ishan Bandara who has displayed indifferent form since winning a bronze medal at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, showed that he is not a spent force when he advanced to the quarter-finals in the fly weight (52kg) category defeating Pakistan’s Muhammad Dawood with the bout being stopped in the third round because of an injury. Up against a southpaw Damir Abdikadir from Kazakhstan who stopped Aliaksandr Butrym of Belarus, Bandara gave another good account of himself though the volume of punches he threw was less. The Kazak fighter craftily maintained his distance to outbox Bandara who attempted to stun his opponent with solid rights. Bandara did finish strongly being on target in the final round but it was too little too late, missing out on a podium finish.
Sri Lanka were also assured of another bronze medal when Gayani Nisansala competed in the semifinals of the middle weight (75kg) category against Viktoriya Kebikava of Belarus.
The rest of the 15-member strong Sri Lanka team were eliminated in the preliminaries with leading woman pugilist Sajeewani Cooray failing to go the distance against France’s LoryeRuyer in the light weight (57kg) contest.
Fly weight boxer Sanduni Priyadarshani was outpointed by world champion Ekateria Paltseva of Russia while Barbara dos Santos from Brazil had a fast victory over Kashmi Thiwanka in the first round of 69kg contest. The other Sri Lankan boxers lost unanimous decisions to fighters from Jordan, Kazakshtan and Iran.
Boxing Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) president Dian Gomes was buoyed by the medal winning effort of Sajeewa Nuwan.”We have three bronze medals from the recent past. Nadeeka Ranasinghe at the Asian Championships in Dubai and Sajeewa Nuwan Kumara and Saduni Kaluarachchi at the World Military Championship, proving yet again that boxing has the potential to win medals in the international arena,” said Gomes.
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has reiterated that Pakistan would not be travelling to India for the women’s ODI World Cup later this year.
Pakistan will play their matches at a neutral venue, following the hybrid model that was adopted by the two boards earlier this year. Naqvi said that the BCCI and the ICC would decide what the neutral venue will be.
“Just like India didn’t play in Pakistan in the Champions Trophy and were allowed to play at a neutral venue [Dubai], whatever venue is decided, we will play [there],” Naqvi said. “When there is an agreement, it has to be adhered to.”
According to the hybrid model, India and Pakistan are going to play their matches at neutral venues if one of the two countries were to host an ICC event – this is valid till 2027. India will host the women’s World Cup from September 29 to October 26, with Australia the defending champions.
Pakistan hosted and won all their five matches in the recent women’s ODI World Cup Qualifiers. They beat Ireland, Scotland, West Indies, Thailand and Bangladesh and will join the ODI World Cup for which hosts India, England, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka had directly qualified based on their standings in the ICC Women’s Championship. Naqvi expressed satisfaction at the team’s progress and said that the PCB would announce a special reward for the women’s team for their performance.
“The team showed how to take home advantage and play like a collective unit,” he said. “I am happy that women’s cricket is doing well now.”
[Cricinfo]
It got tight for Gujarat Titans (GT) in the end , but Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 97 ensured their first successful chase of a 200-plus total in Ahmedabad. It was also the first time Delhi Capitals (DC) ended up being unsuccessful in defending a 200-plus total.
Buttler stitched partnerships of 60 withB Sai Sudarshan and 119 with Sherfane Rutherford after keeping wicket for 20 overs on a hot afternoon.
Mukesh Kumar’s wide yorker dismissed Rutherford and left GT needing ten off the final over. The tension was short-lived as Starc missed the wide yorker and Rahul Tewatia slog swept the first ball of the last over over midwicket for six. He then squeezed the next ball past the keeper for four to complete the chase with four balls to spare.
Buttler was hit on the groin early in his innings by a length ball from Starc, but he overcame that blow and cleared the boundaries.
When Axar brought Starc back in the 15th over, hoping for reverse swing from around the wicket, there wasn’t any. The lengths were good, and the line was outside off, but Buttler scythed the ball with ease, finding gaps in front of and behind point.
A change of angle made no difference. Starc went full and was driven through mid-off. A bouncer drew a top-edged pull, but it did not carry to Vipraj Nigam running in from deep backward square leg. That 20-run over brought the required rate down to nine from 11.
GT are top heavy. Their plan is for one of the top three to bat deep into the innings, and it was Buttler’s turn today on a batting-friendly pitch.
He came in early in GT’s chase of 204 after Shubman Gill had gifted his wicket looking to pinch a quick single to Karun Nair at midwicket. Buttler then set up exhibition of fours through the off side alongside Sai Sudharsan.
Axar and Vipraj came on to bowl in the powerplay but did not find turn and were taken for three sixes and a four. Sai Sudharsan got boundaries off front and back foot against Mukesh Kumar as GT scored 67 in the powerplay.
Kuldeep Yadav had Sai Sudharsan pulling to deep midwicket with his third ball. Rutherford then started slowly as the required rate rose. The mounting pressure was released when Rutherford sliced a drive against Kuldeep that sailed over long-off. Mohit Sharma was introduced in the 13th over to replicate the role he performed for GT in previous years. He started with two slower bouncers but they sat up and Rutherford pulled them for sixes.
Buttler drilled a full ball from Mohit through mid-off to bring up his 32-ball fifty.
Gill won the toss in the afternoon and put DC in to bat. With Faf du Plessis not having recovered and DC leaving out Jake Fraser-McGurk, DC paired up Abhishek Porel with Karun Nair at the top.
Porel’s boundaries in the first over – drive on the up over mid-off and help-along flick behind square – showed that the bounce on the pitch was even. Porel, though, couldn’t capitalise on the start as he fell to a full toss from Arshad Khan.
KL Rahul’s shift in approach then kept DC ticking. Rahul cut Siraj for four and pumped him down the ground for six. His innings, though, was cut short on 28 off 14 balls by an outswinging yorker from Prasidh Krishna. Nair fell for 31 off 18 balls when he glided Prasidh to deep third.
A pristine cover drive from Tristan Stubbs off Prasidh brought up DC’s hundred in the ninth over. But he and Axar were relatively sedate after that during their 53-run stand off 36 balls. They were happy to take Rashid Khan and Ishant Sharma for ones and twos.
Rashid bowled quicker and at the stumps in his first two overs. When he slowed the pace down in his third, Stubbs took him for six down the ground but then miscued a swipe across the line. Rashid ran back but couldn’t hold onto the catch near mid-on. GT reached 150 in 15 overs.
Ishant was struggling in the heat and went off the pitch after two overs. Siraj returned and removed Stubbs, who reverse-swept a yorker and the ball lobbed to short third.
GT’s death bowlers attempted a lot of yorkers with short balls peppered in between. It nearly worked at the start of the 17th over, but Rashid dropped Axar.
The DC captain could not hit a boundary in his last nine balls and was out caught behind for 39 off 32 balls. He charged at Prasidh and tried to slap a length ball over cover and got an edge. Prasidh then got rid of Nigam next ball, thanks to a brilliant diving catch from Buttler.
Ashutosh Sharma gave DC the finishing kick they were looking for. He scored a six and a four off Arshad early in his innings and hit two sixes off Prasidh later. R Sai Kishore – whose only over was the final one of the innings – went for just nine, but it was enough for GT to cross 200.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 204 for 3 in 19.2 overs (Sai Sudarshan 36, Jos Buttler 97*, Sherfaine Rutherford 43, Rahul Tewita 11*; Mukesh Kumar 1-40, Kuldeep Yadav 1-30) beat Delhi Capitals 203 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Porel 18, Karun Nair 31, KL Rahul 28, Axar Patel 39, Ashutosh Sharma 37: Mohammed Siraj 1-47, Arshad Kahan 1-46, Prasidh Krishna 4-41, Ishant Sharma 1-19, Sai Kishore 1-09) by seven wickets
[Cricinfo]
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IPL 2025: Ice-man Avesh holds his nerves as Lucknow Super Giants edge past Rajasthan Royals in last-over classic
For the second game in a row, Rajasthan Royals (RR) stumbled in a seemingly straightforward chase, unable to score nine off the final over. In Jaipur on Saturday night, Avesh Khan’s ice-cold death bowling turned a cruise into chaos, as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) snatched victory from under RR’s nose.
Up until 17 overs of their chase, RR seemed set to break their three-match losing streak. But with 25 needed off 18, Avesh nailed his execution in a double-wicket over that went for just five.
He first dismissed a well-set Yashasvi Jaiswal for 74 when he backed away to scythe a yorker-length delivery behind point. Then, four balls later, Riyan Parag’s attempt to play a cheeky scoop to a full ball that reversed in to strike his toe caught him plumb in front.
RR went into panic mode, and stumbled at the finish line as LSG celebrated a jailbreak that didn’t seem possible.
Four nights ago in Delhi, RR failed to knock off the two runs they needed off the final ball. Here, they needed four. Shubham Dubey had just been dropped off the previous delivery by David Miller at long-on. This was his shot at redemption, but Avesh stuck his left arm out on his follow-through to stop a straight hit.
But there was more to the final over than just those last two deliveries.
With RR needing eight off five, Shimron Hetmyer swung wildly to get a thick outside edge to third man where Shardul Thakur fumbled to concede a second that wasn’t on. Shardul was immediately jettisoned to square leg because of the misfield. And guess what happened next?
Hetmyer played a powerful flick to an attempted leg-stump yorker to a waiting Shardul at backward square leg. Avesh then nailed a pin-point yorker off the fourth ball before the Miller drama and his own nifty effort off the final ball to seal an improbable win.
The spark came early, and it came young when Vaibhav Suravanshi, all of 14 years and 23 days, strode out for his debut as the youngest player in IPL history when he was brought in as an Impact Player for their 181 chase. And the moment didn’t faze him one bit.
Early impressions are that Suryavanshi is fearless. How else can you show that kind of audacity, where you make room and pummel your first ball in the IPL for six on the rise over cover? Shardul found it scarcely believable.
Surely that was a one-off. Maybe he was trying to calm himself. Nope. His second attempt, off just his third ball, was even more audacious. He cleared his front leg, exposing all three stumps, and bludgeoned a six down the ground off Avesh.
Fifth ball, there was even more drama. Avesh had steam coming off, and thought he’d done enough by banging in a short ball that Suryavanshi top edged. Prince Yadav, running back from midwicket, ended up dropping it and Ravi Bishnoi parried the ball to the boundary.
Rishabh Pant quickly brought on his trump card, hoping the youngster would swing at one blindly. Suryavanshi showed smarts in playing him out. But before long, he climbed into Rathi, muscling him for a six over deep midwicket, and then hitting Bishnoi straight down the ground.
But on 34, Suryavanshi was deceived in flight by Aiden Markram, who was only perhaps operating because the accomplished bowlers had been taken to the cleaners by Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who put on 85 off just 8.3 overs. He got one to turn sharply to beat a lunging Suryavanshi. His back foot was in the air, and Pant has him stumped.
The Suryavanshi show was over, but not before he had had millions excited for more.
Jaiswal soon raised a half-century off just 31 balls – his fourth half-century in five innings – and seemed set to see the chase. His picking of lengths against spin was impeccable, until one grave mistake gave LSG an opening they burst through.
Bowlers may have heroically helped seal victory, but Abdul Samad’s contribution – an unbeaten 10-ball 30 – was as important.
He was held back on the face of a batting collapse – LSG were 54 for 3 when Pant fell cheaply – for him to be able to maximise damage in the end overs along with David Miller. This meant LSG summoned Ayush Badoni as their Impact Player to stabilise the innings, replacing Mitchell Marsh.
The consequence of this move was that they couldn’t now bring in Mayank Yadav, listed as one of the Impact Subs, even if they had him in their plans.
Badoni repaid the faith, scoring 50 in 34, to repair the innings with Markram, who top-scored with 66. But it was truly Samad’s pyrotechnics in the end that lifted a floundering innings.
Holding his shape and picking deliveries off Sandeep Sharma’s hand, Samad picked his arc between deep squares and deep midwicket to pummel four sixes in a 27-run final over that gave LSG momentum.
In terms of overall contribution, this was worth its weight in gold, one that combined with Avesh’s to strengthen LSG’s position in the top four – all of whom now have 10 points.
Brief scores:
Lucknow Super Giants 180 for 5 in 20 overs (Aiden Markram 66, Nicholas Pooran 11, Ayush Badoni 50, Abdul Samad 30*; Jofra Archer 1-32, Sandeep Sharma 1-55, Thushar Deshpande 1-26, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-31) beat Rajasthan Royals 178 for 5 in 20 overs (Yashaswi Jaiswal 74, Vaibhav Suryanathi 34, Riyan Parag 39, Shimron Hetmyer 12; Shardul Thakur 1-34, Avesh Khan 3-37,Aiden Markram 1-18) by two runs
[Cricinfo]
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