THE HIMALAYAN MAIL JAMMU Q SATURDAY Q OCTOBER 03, 2020 11

Somali women's basketball IPL: Get ready for another team defy prejudice, hostility six-hitting contest in Sharjah NEW DELHI, OCT 02: lies nearby - such check- NEW DELHI, OCT Whistles screech on the sea points are often a target for 2:Andre Russell and Eoin breeze as three female So- al Qaeda-linked al Morgan's power-hitting will mali coaches inspect a line Shabaab, which was dri- be the focus of all eyes when of women in black and blue ven out of Mogadishu in the in-form Kolkata Knight headscarves dribbling bas- 2011, but still mounts fre- Riders taken on Delhi Capi- ketballs. quent attacks. tals with an aim to light up It's not just the heat that On the court's gate is a the Sharjah skyline in what makes it hard: the women painting of a woman play- promises to be another six- are also braving the scorn of ing basketball and slogans hitting IPL contest in Shar- their families and the threat promoting good sports- jah on Saturday. of attack by gunmen who manship. Russell gave a glimpse of think women should not Another of the coaches, what is in store with three play sport publicly. Faduma Ali Abdirahman, sixes on a big Dubai ground "We cannot openly say we courage her from playing, civil war broke out in So- 39, now a mother of six, against , are going to play. We put but now they accept it, she malia in 1991. She once played on Somalia's while the likes of Marcus our playing clothes and said. restarted in 2009, when national team, travelling Stoinis and Rishabh Pant shoes in school bags and The women only play in the Islamist al Shabaab in- to Djibouti and Uganda for will be itching to do the carry them that way to the compounds behind high surgency still controlled matches. same for Delhi. field and we pretend we are concrete walls, which shield large swathes of the city. The women receive no Infact, Pant needs it more going to school or univer- them from the gaze of the Now, Sobran and her funding. When they play than Russell as three of his sity," said Fardawsa Omar curious or those who two friends train some 30 matches, the trainers pool peers, KL Rahul, Ishan Kis- young pace attack of Kam- not at their best in their last the top four batters from ei- Ahmed, 20, a university might attack them. other women on a court money to buy a cheap cup as han and Sanju Samson have lesh Nagarkoti and Shivam match against SunRisers Hy- ther side. graduate who also plays vol- One of the coaches, enclosed in Mogadishu's a prize. But they love what all got runs under their belt, Mavi will have their task cut deravad, but there is panic in Squads: leyball and football. Suham Hassan Sobran, Hamar Jajab district of- they do, and dream of start- something that the beefy out on a batting paradise the camp. : Shreyas Her family used to dis- 40, played as a child before fice. A police checkpoint ing teams all over Somalia. man from Roorkee so des- where their temperament "Coming off an unlucky Iyer (captain), Ravichandran perately needs. will be put to test. loss, we just weren't at our Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, This will be the first week- In Sharjah, a bowler is best for that game against the Prithvi Shaw, Shimron Het- end of double headers in the destined to go for runs and Sunrisers Hyderabad. But, myer, Kagiso Rabada, IPL: Will Kohli get back among IPL and there couldn't have how the two manage that there's no panicking by any Ajinkya Rahane, Amit been a better ground for and try subtle variations means," he said. Mishra, Rishabh Pant (w/k), that than Sharjah with will be key to KKR's success. Giving an update on , Axar Patel, the runs in Battle of Royals? ridiculously short bound- KKR is unlikely to tinker Ravichandran Ashwin's in- Sandeep Lamichhane, aries promising another with their winning combi- jury, Harris said: "He's doing Keemo Paul, Daniel Sams, NEW DELHI, OCT 400 runs were scored. run-fest. nation even though Sunil excellent. He had a really Mohit Sharma, Anrich 02: The dew factor will go Ab de Villiers has shown If there is Shubman Gill, Narine as an opener hasn't good session last night with Nortje, Alex Carey (wk), out of the window but the ominous touch and it must Andre Russell and Eoin worked well for them in the the ball, bat and in the field. Avesh Khan, Tushar Desh- searing heat will be an issue be heartening for the team Morgan in one side, there is three games with only 24 So he might be available for pande, Harshal Patel, Mar- when Royal Challengers management to see Shivam Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, runs scored by the Trinidad selection for tomorrow, but cus Stoinis, Lalit Yadav. Bangalore take on a better Dube providing the big hits Marcus Stoinis and Shreyas all-rounder. we are still waiting for our : Di- prepared Rajasthan Royals towards the end against Iyer on the other end, all ca- However, he has bowled medical staff's confirmation nesh Karthik (Captain, w/k), in the first of the 10 IPL Indians. pable big-hitters and ever- his full quota of overs in three this evening." Andre Russell, Kamlesh Na- double-headers, in Abu Squads: ready to add to the whop- games with two . In their batting depart- garkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Dhabi, on Saturday. Royal Challengers Banga- ping 62 sixes that has been Keeping the dimensions of ment, Shimron Hetmyer is Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Having played their first lore: Virat Kohli (captain), hit on this ground in the two the Sharjah ground in mind, yet to fire but he would be Rana, Prasidh Krishna, two games at Sharjah, the AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel, games held there so far. KKR will continue with Nar- keen to take on KKR spin- Rinku Singh, Sandeep War- smallest of the three Aaron Finch, Josh Philippe, KKR have been slowly ine as the opener as they at- ners, Narine, Kuldeep Yadav rier, Shivam Mavi, Shub- venues, Royals got their young opener Yashasvi vs SunRisers Hyderabad, 1 Chris Morris, Moeen Ali, getting into the groove with tempt to attack the weak link and Varun Chakravarthy. man Gill, Siddhesh Lad, strategy wrong in the game Jaiswal after Jos Buttler's vs Kings XI Punjab and 3 vs Mohammed Siraj, Shahbaz some comprehensive per- in the DC attack which obvi- Hetmyer has had some de- Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, against Kolkata Knight Rid- arrival but calls have been Mumbai Indians. Ahmed, Devdutt Padikkal, formances while Capitals, ously will be an Indian pacer - gree of success against Eoin Morgan, Varun ers in Dubai. growing for his inclusion. RCB have made a promis- after two fine victories, hit a - be it Mohit Sharma, Ishant Kuldeep in the international Chakravarthy, Tom Banton Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep The Sheikh Zayed Cricket With the top three picking ing start but need to im- roadblock against Sunrisers Sharma or Avesh Khan. games and it could be an en- (Wicketkeeper), Rahul Tri- Saini, Dale Steyn, Pawan Stadium in Abu Dhabi is on themselves, the stylish prove their fielding and Hyderabad in their last out- Speaking ahead of the gaging contest provided he pathi, Chris Green, M Sid- Negi, Isuru Udana, Shivam the bigger side and Royals' southpaw can only play in death bowling. Navdeep ing. game, Capitals coach Ryan gets a chance to bat on a track dharth, Nikhil Naik, Ali Dube, , Gur- experience of playing in the middle order. Saini bowled a tidy Super For the Knights, their Harris believes his team was where history always favours Khan. Dubai will help them plan The in-form Steve Smith Over against Mumbai Indi- keerat Singh Mann, Wash- better for the match. and Sanju Samson perished ans to get his team over the ington Sundar, Pavan Desh- Meanwhile, RCB will also cheaply against KKR, but line after RCB leaked as pande, Adam Zampa. Rajasthan Royals: Steven Kings XI learning from mistakes, be playing their first game they could be keen to pro- many as 79 runs in the last at the venue. duce another cracking in- four overs with the game Smith (captain), Jos Buttler, With the batsmen unable nings against RCB, while Jos ending in a tie. Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson, to hit through the line as Buttler is quite dangerous at The Bangalore franchise Andrew Tye, Kartik Tyagi, will bounce back: Cottrella consistently as they could the top of the order. made three changes in the Ankit Rajpoot, Shreyas NEW DELHI, OCT 2: do in Sharjah, Royals failed Both Royals and RCB go previous clash and are likely Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Jay- Kings XI Punjab pacer to chase 175 against KKR on into Saturday's afternoon to give those players - Isuru dev Unadkat, Mayank Sheldon Cottrell is unfazed Wednesday. match with two wins from Udana, Adam Zampa and Markande, Mahipal Lom- by the mounting losses of Since they have a settled three games. Gurkeerat Mann - another ror, Oshane Thomas, Riyan his team in the IPL and as- overseas players' combina- RCB skipper Kohli is yet to go. Parag, , serts that the side will tion, one possible change in set the tournament on fire The move to open the Anuj Rawat, Akash Singh, bounce back just as he did the eleven could be replac- and Saturday could be his bowling with Washington David Miller, Manan after being pummelled by ing pacer Ankit Rajpoot day. Kohli could be due for a Sundar paid off as the off- Vohra, Shashank Singh, Rahul Tewatia not so long with Varun Aaron, who is huge score, after having spinner returned with fig- Varun Aaron, Tom Curran, ago. yet to get a game. managed 18 runs in three ures of 12-1 in four overs in Robin Uthappa, Aniruddha Cottrell came up with The team has benched matches played so far -- 14 a game where more than Joshi, Jofra Archer. tidy figures of 1/20 though for a lost cause against Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, show- Messi, Ronaldo to renew ing resolve after being struck for five sixes in an over by Tewatia in the de- feat against Rajasthan Roy- rivalry as Barca face Juve als. "My comeback was excel- NEW DELHI, OCT 02: lent. But I wished that my Lionel Messi and Cristiano whatever decision he takes, cricket. Best team on the bowlers. bowling effort could have Ronaldo will face each other he does it best for the team. day will come out victori- "When you get wickets helped my team to cross for the first time in more It did not work today un- ous," he added. at the start, the bowlers the line. I'm pleased with than two years after their fortunately but on another Mumbai Indians leg- who come later don't have my performance," Cottrell teams, Barcelona and Ju- day, I'm sure it will work. spinner Rahul Chahar was much pressure. They can said after Kings XI Punjab's ventus, were drawn to- "We have a great bunch all praise for the big-hitting go for -taking deliv- 48-run loss to Mumbai In- gether on Thursday in the of guys. The coaching staff, duo of Kieron Pollard and eries or go for variation, it dians. Champions League group Anil (Kumble) has been ex- Hardik Pandya. Pollard (47 makes things easier. "I have been working stage. cellent. As our captain said ) and Hardik (30 "There is no pressure hard on my death bowling The two sides, which met in an earlier interview that not out) added 67 runs in that I have to stop runs. It including my bowling part- in the 2015 final, were we could have easily won 23 balls to take MI to 191 was easier for me, so I ners. We are getting there, paired in Group G along three or four matches. for four from 83 for three in could attack," said Chahar learning from our mis- with Dynamo Kiev and "But unfortunately we the 14th over. who took two wickets, in- takes...I'm sure we will pull Hungarian side Ferenc- have won only one. We In reply, Kings XI fin- cluding the prized scalp of it off very soon. I will not varos, who are back in the firmly believe that we will ished on a disappointing KXIP skipper KL Rahul. say it is worrying. It is just group stage after a 25-year 2011 when Barcelona beat Paris St Germain and Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter bounce back. I have no 143 for eight. "There was help for the a matter of time for us." absence. Real 3-1 on aggregate in the Manchester United will Milan, Borussia doubt about that." "We have a lot of faith in spinners in the pitch, there Against MI, Cottrell was Ronaldo and Messi, the semi-finals. clash in Group H, English Moenchengladbach Asked what he thought big-hitting skills of Pol- was a bit of turn and I was not used at the death. He two highest scorers in Defending champions champions Liverpool face Group C: Porto, Man- about teams mostly choos- lard and Hardik. Pollard gaining confidence from bowled a three-over spell Champions League history Bayern Munich must face Ajax Amsterdam in Group chester City, Olympiakos, ing to chase after winning almost took us to the vic- it." early before ending his with 130 and 115 goals re- Diego Simeone's Atletico D, which also features high- Olympique de Marseille the toss, he said, "Cricket is tory in the last game Asked why Pollard was quota of four in the 13th spectively, have not clashed Madrid after they were scoring Italians Atalanta, Group D: Liverpool, Ajax a game of great uncertain- against RCB. They are in sent ahead of Hardik, Cha- over. since the Portuguese left drawn together in Group A and Real Madrid play Inter Amsterdam, Atalanta, FC ties. When the coin is good form and they can har reasoned: "I think our Kings XI have now won Real Madrid to join Juven- alongside Salzburg and Milan in Group B. Midtjylland tossed, it is 50-50 that you finish games in any situa- score at the start was a lit- just one out of four matches tus at the end of the 2017-18 Lokomotiv Moscow. The Groups Group E: Sevilla, Chelsea, will win or lose it. tion," the 21-year-old said. tle less and Pollard played but Cottrell said his side season. The draw, held at a televi- Group A: Bayern Munich, Krasnodar, Rennes "Batting or bowling first He said Jasprit Bumrah a really good innings inthe will bounce back strongly. The pair have only met sion studio in Geneva, pro- Atletico Madrid, Salzburg, Group F: Zenit St Peters- does not matter. It is just and Krunal Pandya get- last match. There was confi- "I back my skipper (KL five times in the Champions duced several other high- Lokomotiv Moscow burg, Borussia Dortmund, for the team to go there and ting early wickets eased dence that Pollard will do it Rahul) 110 per cent and League, most recently in profile clashes. Group B: Real Madrid, Lazio, Club Brugge do its best and play good the pressure on other again if he was there."