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THE HINDU DELHI WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020 SPORT 19 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Saini and Shardul prove too hot for Sri Lanka Regular match­practice The two pacers restrict the visitors to 142; Rahul, Dhawan, Shreyas and Kohli take India past the finish line in style helped, says Shardul SL IN INDIA laugh, however, removing Perera off the very next de­ Ashwin Achal livery. The batsman could Indore not get to the pitch of the India made short work of ball, yet went through with the insipid Sri Lankans, the stroke. Shikhar Dhawan cruising to a seven­wicket tip­toed inside the long­off victory in the second T20I at fence to pull off a good the Holkar Stadium here on catch. Tuesday. From here, Sri Lanka Chasing a sub­par 143­run crumbled in quick time. Jas­ target, India rode on handy prit Bumrah took his first, contributions from K.L. Ra­ and only, wicket with a clev­ hul (45, 32b, 6x4), Shikhar er slower ball, while Shardul Dhawan (32, 29b, 2x4), Thakur picked up three in Well begun: With K.L. Rahul giving India a bright start, one over. Shreyas Iyer (34, 26b, 3x4, Sri Lanka’s total proved inadequate. * VIVEK BENDRE 1x6) and skipper Virat Kohli Bumrah struggles (30 not out, 17b, 1x4, 2x6) to Ashwin Achal 170­180 run pitch. It was not Bumrah, playing his first get the job done with 15 balls Indore difficult to score runs at any match in four months, was to spare. Fast bowler Shardul Thakur stage,” Shradul said. not quite at his best. He Rahul was especially good stated that regular match­ Sri Lankan coach Mickey started proceedings with a with the drive, dispatching practice has helped him Arthur blamed the batting wide down leg, and conti­ Lahiru Kumara and Lasith sharpen his white­ball skills. for the defeat. “We played nued to struggle with his di­ Malinga with a straight bat. Shardul picked up three too many shots, without ro­ rection. A wild slog off spinner Wa­ wickets — all in one over — in tating the strike. There were The Gujarat fast bowler nindu Hasaranga, however, India’s comfortable victory too many dot balls. If you get was most disappointing in ended his stay. over Sri Lanka in the second regular singles and twos, it the 20th over, bowling over­ T20I here on Tuesday. puts the bowlers off their pitched deliveries to No. 8 Sedate Dhawan “Playing two continuous rhythm,” Arthur said. batsman Hasaranga. years of domestic cricket and His partner Dhawan, who is While Bumrah eased his IPL has helped me with the Udana unlikely fighting to keep his place in way back into international white­ball. The more you Arthur stated that injured the side, was more sedate in cricket, Saini hit his straps. his approach. He was not play, the more you learn. left­arm fast bowler Isuru Dance of delight: Navdeep Saini is cock­a­hoop after castling Danushka Gunathilaka. * VIVEK BENDRE He bowled at great pace, And recently, our bowling Udana is unlikely to feature quite fluent, but stuck consistently touching the coach Bharat Arun has been in the third T20I. “It was un­ around long enough to Blue. Sri Lanka was ham­ unsettled during his 21­ball early on when Shreyas shot of great ingenuity. A re­ 145­kmph mark. make a mark. The Delhi very helpful too,” Shradul fortunate that Udana could pered by an injury to left­ stay, before Saini disar­ picked the wrong end to at­ verse­sweep to a length ball Saini finished with two southpaw moved to 32, be­ said. not bowl today. Udana was in arm speedster Isuru Udana, ranged his stumps with a tempt a run­out. outside off from Kuldeep for 18 in four overs, effec­ fore Hasaranga trapped him The Mumbai cricketer ad­ great pain in the dressing who landed awkwardly on yorker. The visitors depend­ Perera got going with a sailed into the stands, earn­ tively applying the brakes on leg­before on a review. ded that the Holkar Stadium room. We hope to get him his knee while fielding. Uda­ ed heavily on Kusal Perera, mighty slog­sweep off Wash­ ing appreciation from even the Sri Lankan scoring rate pitch favoured batsmen, ready for our next tour, but When the television um­ na, the leader of the pace who came to the crease at 54 ington that went for a six. the partisan home crowd. and walking away with the which made Sri Lanka’s total even that looks a bit of a pire declared Dhawan out, pack, was forced to walk off for two. Perera was lucky Not long after, he executed a Kuldeep had the last Man­of­the­Match honours. the crowd cheered, as Virat the field and did not bowl in of 142 inadequate. “It was a stretch,” Arthur said. Kohli, the main attraction, the chase. SCOREBOARD walked in. After winning the toss, In­ The captain had an easy dia did well to restrict Sri SRI LANKA (1b), Lahiru Kumara (not out) 0 ton 4­0­29­1, Kuldeep 17.1). task ahead of him, with In­ Lanka to 142. The Sri Lankan Danushka Gunathilaka b Saini (0b); Extras (b­1, lb­1, w­4): 6; 4­0­38­2. SRI LANKA BOWLING dia needing 57 from 52 balls. batsmen fired in spurts, but 20 ( 21b, 3x4), Avishka Total (for nine wkts. in 20 INDIA Malinga 4­0­41­0, Kumara 3.3­ Kohli patiently went about failed to get a big one. Open­ Fernando c Saini b Washington overs): 142. K.L. Rahul b Hasaranga 45 0­30­1, Dhananjaya 2­0­15­0, his business, picking up sin­ er Avishka Fernando started 22 ( 16b, 5x4), Kusal Perera c FALL OF WICKETS (32b, 6x4), Shikhar Dhawan lbw Shanaka 4­0­26­0, Hasaranga gles and twos initially. impressively, striking a cou­ Dhawan b Kuldeep 34 ( 28b, 1­38 (Avishka, 4.5 overs), 2­54 b Hasaranga 32 (29b, 2x4), 4­0­30­2. ple of perfect cover drives. 3x6), Oshada Fernando st. Pant (Gunathilaka, 7.4), 3­82 Shreyas Iyer c Shanaka b Ku­ Toss: India. b Kuldeep 10 ( 9b, 1x4), Bha­ (Oshada, 11.3), 4­97 (Perera, mara 34 (26b, 3x4, 1x6), Virat Fireworks Man-of-the-Match: Navdeep nuka Rajapaksa c Pant b Saini 9 13.2), 5­104 (Rajapaksa, 14.5), Kohli (not out) 30 (17b, 1x4, Shreyas provided the fire­ Lovely yorker Saini. (12b, 1x4), Dasun Shanaka b 6­117 (Shanaka, 16.6), 7­128 2x6), Rishabh Pant (not out) 1 works, smashing Hasaranga Avishka fell in spinner Wash­ Bumrah 7 (8b), Dhananjaya de (Dhananjaya, 18.2), 8­130 (1b); Extras (b­1, lb­1): 2; Total India won by seven wickets for two fours and a six in the ington Sundar’s first over — Silva c Dube b Shardul 17 (13b, (Udana, 18.5), 9­130 (Malinga, (for three wkts. in 17.3 overs): with 15 balls to spare and take a 16th over. The 51­run third­ a mishit falling in the safe 2x4), Wanindu Hasaranga (not 18.6). 144. 1-0 lead in the three-match wicket stand between hands of Navdeep Saini at out) 16 (10b, 3x4), Isuru Udana INDIA BOWLING FALL OF WICKETS series. Shreyas and Kohli sealed the mid­off. His partner Da­ c Saini b Shardul 1 (2b), Lasith Bumrah 4­0­32­1, Shardul 4­0­ 1­71 (Rahul, 9.1), 2­86 Third and final T20I: January issue in favour of the Men in nushka Gunathilaka looked Malinga c Kuldeep b Shardul 0 23­3, Saini 4­0­18­2, Washing­ (Dhawan, 11.2), 3­137 (Shreyas, 10, Pune, 7 p.m. Stokes mops up South African tail, inspires England to series­levelling win Setback for Shaw

ENGLAND IN SA Stokes took the last three SCOREBOARD Special Correspondent Prithvi Shaw suffered from wickets in the space of 14 Mumbai rotator cuff and labrum inju­ Agence France-Presse balls to clinch the victory. He Prithvi Shaw has been all but England — 1st innings: 269. Stokes 0, K. Rabada (not out) 3; ry to his left shoulder while Cape Town finished with three for 35. ruled out of the limited­over South Africa — 1st innings: 223. Extras (b­4, lb­2, nb­5, w­2): 13; fielding on day one ( January Ben Stokes produced an ex­ South Africa defied the Total (in 137.4 overs): 248. leg of India­A’s tour of New 3, 2020) of the Paytm Ranji plosive spell of bowling as England bowlers for most of England — 2nd innings: 391/8 Zealand after hurting his decl. Fall of wickets: 1­71, 2­123, 3­ Trophy match between England beat South Africa by the day. Only three wickets 129, 4­164, 5­171, 6­237, 7­237, shoulder in the field during Mumbai and Karnataka,” 189 runs inside the last hour fell before tea as South Africa South Africa — 2nd innings: P. 8­241, 9­241. Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy loss stated Jay Shah, the BCCI Malan c Stokes b Curran 84, D. of the fifth day of the second defended grimly after start­ England bowling: Anderson 18­ against Karnataka last week. Elgar c Buttler b Denly 34, Z. secretary. Test at Newlands on Tues­ ing the day on 126 for two af­ 9­23­2, Broad 23­8­37­1, Bess A BCCI statement on Hamza c Buttler b Anderson 18, The BCCI medical panel is day. The win levelled the ter being set an improbable 33­14­57­1, Curran 16­4­37­1, Tuesday ruled Shaw out of K. Maharaj lbw b Anderson 2, F. 438 to win. Denly 18­4­42­2, Root 6­0­ the two warm­up games, hoping for Shaw to recover four­match World Test du Plessis c Denly b Bess 19, H. 11­0, Stokes 23.4­8­35­3. just in time for the two four­ Championship series. Opening batsman Pieter van der Dussen c Anderson b scheduled for January 15 and South Africa was bowled Malan, making his debut, Man-of-the-Match: Stokes. 17 before the three unofficial day games against New Zea­ Broad 17, Q. de Kock c Crawley b land A, starting January 29. out for 248, with the last made 84 before he fell to Denly 50, V. Philander c Pope b England won by 189 runs to ODI series that starts on Ja­ wicket falling when only 8.2 Sam Curran with the second The juggler! Zak Crawley pouches Anrich Nortje on the Stokes 8, D. Pretorius c Root b make it 1-1 in the four-match nuary 21. His replacement is yet to overs were left in the match. new ball. second attempt, off Ben Stokes’ bowling. * REUTERS Stokes 0, A. Nortje c Crawley b series. “Team India batsman be announced. IN BRIEF Kyrgios outlasts Tsitsipas Riders find the going tough Langer to take a break SYDNEY In Brisbane: Group F: Canada Australia coach Justin Langer ATP CUP bt Germany 2-1 [Felix Auger­ Sebastian Buhler has a consistent run is taking a break and will not Aliassime lost to Jan­Lennard Reuters travel to India, where his Struff 6­1, 6­4; Denis Shapova­ DAKAR RALLY SYDNEY senior assistant Andrew lov bt Alexander Zverev 6­2, McDonald will lead the side A well­behaved Nick Kyrgios 6­2; Shapovalov & Auger­ K. Keerthivasan NEOM in the three­match series ODI earned a hard­fought 7­6(7), Aliassime bt Kevin Krawietz & series, starting January 14. PTI 6­7(3), 7­6(5) win over World Andreas Mies 6­3, 7­6(4)]. Dakar Rally continues to be a No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas in Australia bt Greece 3-0 [John tough puzzle to crack for India-B and India-C the ATP Cup on Tuesday. Millman bt Michail Pervolara­ most of the riders for the register wins Australia took the tie, with kis 4­6, 6­1, 7­6(1); Nick Kyr­ third successive day here on gios bt Stefano Tsitsipas 7­6 CUTTACK John Millman winning the Tuesday. (7), 6­7(3), 7­6(5); Chris Guc­ India­B registered a 35­run other singles against Greec­ Not just the dust and cione & John Peers bt Markos rocky terrains, the naviga­ win over India­A in their e’s Michail Pervolarakis 4­6, Kalovelonis & Petros Tsitsipas Women’s Challenger Trophy 6­1, 7­6(1). 6­3, 6­4] tion proved to be tricky for contest here on Tuesday. The results: In Perth: Group D: Russia bt everyone as a particular The scores: On Tuesday: In Sydney: Group C: Britain bt Norway 3-0 [Karen Khachanov waypoint created a lot of India­B 139/4 in 20 overs (V. Moldova 3-0 [Cameron Norrie bt Viktor Durasovic 6­2, 6­1; confusion for the riders, and Vanitha 30, Smriti Mandhana bt Alexander Cozbinov 6­2, Daniil Medvedev bt Casper Ru­ many riders lost time look­ 34, Sneh Rana 2/26) bt 6­2; Dan Evans bt Radu Albot ud 6­3, 7­6(6); Teymuraz Ga­ ing for the way. India­A 104/7 in 20 overs 6­2, 6­2; Jamie Murray & Joe bashvili & Konstantin Kravchuk The Hero MotoSports (Priya Punia 34, Deepti Salisbury bt Radu Albot & bt Rudd & Durasovic7­6(4), Team Rally riders, too, Sharma 33, Anuja Patil 2/19, Alexander Cozbinov 6­2, 6­3]. 6­4] Sushree Dibyadarshini 2/18). found the going quite diffi­ Belgium bt Bulgaria 2-1 [David Italy bt USA 3-0 [Stefano Tra­ On Monday: India­C 123/7 in cult, but they seem to be get­ Making the most of it: The best rider for Hero MotoSports Goffin bt Grigor Dimitrov 4­6, vaglia bt Taylor Fritz 7­6(3), 7­ 20 overs (Shafali Verma 38, ting the hang of it. Team, Sebastian Buhler is 22nd overall as per the provisional 6­2, 6­2; Steve Darcis lost to 6(1); Fabio Fognini bt John Isn­ Deepti Sharma 2/20) bt rankings. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Dinitar Kuzmanov 6­0, 6­3; er 6­4, 7­6(5); Fognini & Si­ The best rider for Hero India­A 113/6 in 20 overs Sander Gille & Joran Vliegen bt mone Bolelli bt Austin Krajicek turned out to be Sebastian (Priya Punia 25, Deepti drigues whose results won’t There were mini­canyons Dimitrov & Alexandar Lazarov & Rajeev Ram 6­4, 6­7 (5), Buhler. He had a really con­ Sharma 34 n.o.). 3­6, 6­4, (10­7)] 10­3]. sistent run to finish on 26th have any bearing on the ov­ that were really dusty but af­ position in the stage and erall results, rode without ter that the track really India colts enter final any pressure to finish 17th. opened up and I got into a DURBAN 22nd overall as per the pro­ Buhler was quite happy good rhythm. Just before the India under­19 qualified for visional rankings. refueling point, I lost my the final with a 120­run win The best rider for Hero with his finish. “I enjoyed to­ point a bit and lost some over New Zealand in the the other day, Paulo Gon­ day’s race a lot. It has a very Quadrangular Trophy on calves had a technical issue. fast nice tracks and the bike time in getting back on Tuesday. India will meet He stopped at the 30th km was also running perfectly. track. I made a few mistakes South Africa in the final on as the bike didn’t start that At around 400km, there was today but happy to make it Thursday. forced him to spend around a waypoint that was very dif­ to the finish.” The scores: India under­19 five hours to sort out the is­ ficult to find. The Stage four on Wed­ 252/7 in 50 overs (Siddhesh sue. At the time of filing re­ “A lot of riders got con­ nesday is not going to easy Veer 71, Tilak Verma 59, port, it is learnt that he fused and lost time. I think I as riders have to negotiate Shashwat Rawat 39, hasn’t finished the race. am riding good and hope to 453 km offering equal parts Shubhang Hegde 26 n.o.) bt continue in the same way.” of sandy stretches and gra­ New Zealand under­19 132 in vel. 35.5 overs (Jesse Tashkoff 29, Braving a wrist injury Santosh said he was hope­ B. Wheeler­Greenall 50, C.S. Santosh braved a wrist ful of finding a good rhythm (The writer is in Saudi Sushant Mishra 3/35, A. Pulling through: Nick Kyrgios prevailed over injury and tough conditions in the coming days. “Today Arabia on the invitation of

Ankolekar 3/16). Stefanos Tsitsipas in three hard­fought sets. * AFP to finish 51st. Joaquim Ro­ was a long stage full of dust. Hero MotoCorp). CM YK