THE HIMALAYAN MAIL JAMMU Q SUNDAY Q MARCH 07, 2021 11

India fix Lord’s date: Kohli and Co thrash Effortless nonchalance: Rishabh England, to meet New Zealand in WTC final Pant on reverse flicking pacers, AHMEDABAD, looked docile in the first ses- MARCH 6: Axar Patel and sion seemed like perform- making commentators look dull Ravichandran Ashwin once ing all kinds of tricks. playing the game. again made a mockery of an Sibley must have been af- Nonetheless, he did acknowledge that the eternally confused English fected by the two dismissals knock meant a lot to him as it helped the batting line-up as India can- and his was a freak one as team come out of a seemingly precarious tered into the inaugural he played a full-blooded position. World Test Championship sweep shot off Patel which That perhaps was an understatement, for final with a resounding in- ricocheted off forward short his hundred changed the face of the game nings and 25 run victory on leg fielder Shubman Gill’s completely and effectively shut the door on the third afternoon of the knee and lobbed up for Pant England. fourth and final Test here to complete the formalities. “This was a very important innings, es- on Saturday. One had expected two of pecially with the team under pressure. We All India needed was a England’s best players in were in a tough situation at 146-6, and draw to book a Lord’s date Joe Root (30) and Ben there’s nothing better than performing in June with Kane Stokes (2 off 9 balls) to put when the team needs you the most,” he Williamson’s New Zealand up a fight but the all- said. but Patel (24-6-48-5), in rounder failed to gauge the And what about that outrageous reverse company of Ashwin (22.5- extra bounce as he went for a AHMEDABAD, MARCH 6: He has flick off James Anderson that was adjudged 4-47-5), literally blew Eng- sweep shot off Patel. got everyone excited but Rishabh Pant was the moment of the match and about which, land away in a session and Kohli accepted the dolly nonchalance personified as he picked up the Englishmen haven’t stopped talking half for a paltry 135 in 54.5 at leg slip as England’s re- the man of the match honours for his bril- about after getting over their fixation with overs to complete a 3-1 rout, sistance was blown away at liant hundred in the fourth and final Test India’s dust bowl pitches? ensuring that the Anthony team,” the captain added. tory should go to the in- is fit and available, he will 30 for 4. against England here on Saturday. “If I get the chance to reverse-flick a fast De Mello Trophy will stay at Atrocious application and domitable Rishabh Pant, have to wait for his next Ollie Pope (15) hit Ashwin Pant’s 101 off 118 balls, during which he bowler again, I definitely would,” he said. the Cricket Centre in Mum- unbelievably poor mindset who played the enforcer on Test. The story of the third for a six, which was more smoothly shifted gears to unsettle the Eng- And lastly, he seems to be an entertainer bai. while playing spinners cost the second day with a mag- day was similar to the one desperation than finesse, lish bowlers, had everyone, from his own not just with the bat but also behind the It was another two-and- the Englishmen dearly dur- nificent hundred, and that has played out for most and it was only a matter of skipper Virat Kohli to rival captain Joe stumps with his often hilarious chirpiness. a-half days finish but even ing the last three Tests and Washington Sundar, who of the series. time before he yorked him- Root, praising him to sky. Harsha Bhogle quipped that his chatter was the most partisan England skipper Joe Root had little notched up a chiselled 96. With shoulders already self as Pant fumbled while The 23-year-old man of the moment, making seasoned commentators like him experts, such as their for- to offer in terms of explana- These two knocks literally drooping after the humila- gathering but managed to however, had very little to say after picking seem dull to the viewers. mer skipper Michael tion. made it impossible for Eng- tion inflicted by Pant and effect a stumping to make it up the award with his trademark cheeky “It’s a compliment for me but I am sorry, it Vaughan, have admitted “We haven’t matched In- land to make a comeback as Washington, England’s 65 for 5. grin firmly in place. has become a problem for you,” he couldn’t that the 22-yard strip had dia in the last three, and we a total of 365 seemed like openers Zak Crawley (5, 16 The England skipper “I think the drills have helped, and my hide his grin while responding to that. “I almost nothing to do with need to keep learning and 650. The coming of age of balls), Dom Sibley (3, 21 could only helplessly look confidence has helped, transferring it from have grown up believing that I will play the their side’s abject surren- keep getting better for this Pant as a real replacement balls) and Jonny Bairstow how his colleagues made a my batting to my keeping,” he responded to game to be happy and make everyone der. experience and this series, for the iconic Mahendra (0, 1 ball) seemed like mess of Test match batting an elaborate query on what has worked for happy,” he said summing up his philosophy A case in point could be and we need to keep evolv- Singh Dhoni and emer- “walking wickets” at the and Ashwin finally had his him and the secret of his apparent joy while as a player. India’s first innings score of ing and move forward,” ad- gence of Washington as a start of the post-lunch ses- number trapping him leg 365 and a lead of 160 on the mitted Root. potent batting all-rounder sion. before on the back-foot with same track where England This was one Test match only augurs well for the Crawley, who in this Test another straight ball. could cumulatively manage where Indians, even before a team. So formidable is In- match has made an ordi- The remaining wickets in Had chances to get on top only 340 runs across two in- ball being bowled, created dia’s bench strength right nary strip look extraordi- the post tea session were a nings. an illusion of a turning now that Hanuma Vihari, narily difficult with his ap- mere formality which the “The comeback in Chen- track. It was a ploy of playing who saved an epic Test in proach, was snuffed out by spinners completed in due nai pleased me the most. with the minds of a team Sydney only a couple of Ashwin with two deliveries. course of time. but we did not manage: Root The first game was an aber- that was already in a nega- months back, may not get to The first was a sharp off- The morning session be- ration and England out- tive zone. play a Test in near future. break that made him look longed to Washington, AHMEDABAD, played us,” said India skip- There wasn’t much turn World’s best wicket- vulnerable and then came whose 96 off 174 balls was MARCH 6: England cap- per Virat Kohli at the but enough to ensure that keeper Wriddhiman Saha the straighter ball which he as important as Pant’s sec- tain Joe Root on Saturday post-match presentation. the visitors wilted under will also find it difficult to managed to jab to Ajinkya ond day hundred in the fi- mourned the opportunities “Every team in interna- pressure as Patel’s series add to his 38 Tests unless Rahane at slips. nal context of the match. his team squandered in the tional cricket is a quality tally stood at highest for a the ‘Rourkee Rockstar’ gets Bairstow didn’t trouble Washington and Axar Pa- lost fourth Test, saying they side and we need to work newcomer (27) while man injured. the scorers as he closed his tel (43 off 97 balls) added an let slip the advantageous hard to beat them, even at of the series Ashwin was Patel, in his debut Test se- bat face to give Rohit invaluable 106 runs for the positions from where they home. Keeping that inten- peerless as ever with 32 ries, was a powerhouse per- Sharma an easy catch at leg eighth wicket, which ended could have been on top of sity going is most important scalps in his kitty. former but he also knows slip. even a miniscule chance for the game. and is the hallmark of our A lot of credit for this vic- that once Ravindra Jadeja Suddenly the track that England to stage a recovery. India trounced England by an innings and 25 runs when at one stage the hosts India’s Sumit Nagal out of Argentina were struggling at 121 for Sri Lanka beat West Indies five but ended up taking a Open, but not without fight match--winning 160-run lead. by 43 runs to level T20 series Rishabh Pant, Washing- ton Sundar and Axar Patel "So, it has been disap- he is arguably the best pick, accounted for Sim- took the game away from pointing, it has been frus- keeper in the world, he is a mons and Allen, who fell England with their fearless trating to finish the series fine player," the skipper lbw. approach. "There have been on a note that we have but said. “The wicket was slow and times e had a chance to we are going to keep looking "What I am impressed is I was trying to bowl without wrestle the game in our forward as a team," said with how Jack has per- giving too many boundaries favour, to get on top, just Root. formed on this trip, he has and keeping a good line and didn't manage to do it," But not all was doom and been brilliant, he has cer- length,” Hasaranga said. Root said at the post-match gloom for Root, who found tainly got better and better “Akila (Dananjaya) bowls press conference. solace in the fact that his as the tour progressed and with the new ball and I al- "India played those im- wicketkeeper Ben Foakes he has been a very attacking ways bowl after the power portant, key moments bet- and left-arm spinner Jack option," added Root. play so I have to concen- ter than us in these last Leach performed their roles For India, Ashwin COOLIDGE (AN- missed the first match of trate on line and length. I BUENOS AIRES, MARCH 6: Playing fearless brand of three games and credit to the best of their abilities. grabbed 32 wickets in the TIGUA), MARCH 6: Sri the series, took 3-14 from prefer to play that role.” tennis, India’s Sumit Nagal ran world number 46 Albert them for being able to do "Ben's keeping this series series, while Axar snared 27 Lanka’s spinners bowled 3.4 overs, including the vi- Sri Lanka captain Angelo Ramos-Vinolas close before exiting the ATP Argentina that better than we do. has been excellent, I think, to floor England. the tourists to a 43-run win tal wicket of West Indies Mathews made a good deci- Open after suffering a three-set defeat in the men’s singles over the West Indies in the captain Kieron Pollard for sion when he elected to bat quarter-final here. second Twenty20 cricket 13. on winning the toss. Open- His relentless hitting kept Nagal in the match despite international on Friday, lev- It was Pollard who won a ers Danushka Gunathilaka trailing 2-5 in the decider. Eventually errors at key mo- Sindhu enters Swiss Open final eling the three-match series place in history two days and Pathum Nassinka gave ments spelled his ouster, losing 6-4 2-6 5-7 in the quarter-fi- at 1-1. ago by becoming only the the tourists a strong start, nal contest that lasted two hours and 26 minutes. BASEL, MARCH 6: Defending a moderate to- third cricketer to hit six putting on 95 for the first It is Nagal’s best performance on the ATP tour after enter- Olympic silver medallist PV tal of 160-6, Wanindudu sixes in an over in an inter- wicket in the best partner- ing the event as a Qualifier. Sindhu dished out a su- Hasaranga, Akila Danan- national match, striking 38 ship of the match. The gutsy show earned Nagal 45 main draw ranking perlative performance to jaya and Danushka Gu- from 11 balls. Nissanka was run out for points that will push him to 132 from the current 150th slot. outclass Mia Blichfeldt of nathilaka took eight wick- He held himself back on 37 in the 11th over and Gu- Yet again Nagal’s trademark inside-out forehand was at Denmark in straight games ets, bowling out the West Friday, coming in at No. 7 nathilaka went on to his half work as he put the Spaniard under the pump. and enter the women's sin- Indies for 117 in 18.4 overs. but also found the pitch dif- century from 35 balls before Had it not been for some marginal errors from Nagal and gles final of the Swiss Open Sri Lanka stacked its line- ficult to come to grips with, falling in the same over with luck that favoured Ramos-Vinolas, it would have been a Super 300 tournament here up with four spinners for managing only 13 from 15 on Saturday. the total 96-2. different result for the Indian, who had shocked world num- the must-win match at balls with one six. Sindhu, the reigning The remainder of the Sri ber 22 Christian Garin in the previous round. Nagal said Coolidge and the tactic paid Sandakan removed him world champion, beat Lanka batsmen struggled the performance has strengthened his belief that he can off on a slow pitch which with a wider delivery which Wangcharoen of Thailand. night. compete at this level. “I always felt that. I have had lot of fourth seeded Blichfeldt 22- made big hitting difficult. Pollard looked to hoist over with the best subsequent ef- World no. 10 Satwiksairaj Former world No. 1 close matches with top-60 players recently. So I am there and 20 21-10 in 43 minutes to The West Indies were un- cover but which took a thick forts coming from Ashen Rankireddy and Chirag Srikanth, who had last I am glad I am playing at a higher level,” Nagal said. avenge her first-round loss able to maintain any scor- edge and flew to the cover Bandara who made 21 from Shetty also entered the made it to semis at the Asked about the powerful shots that he kept producing to the Danish world No. 12 ing momentum as wickets sweeper. 19 balls and Hasaranga semifinals of the Super 300 Hong Kong Super 500 in in the marathon match, Nagal said, “I thought that was the at the Yonex Thailand Open tumbled regularly. Hasaranga was named whose 19 came from 11 de- event, continuing their good November, 2019, will now right thing to do.” “I still need to improve a lot and be able in January. Dananjaya, who made man of the match for his 3- liveries. run following a last four fin- clash with top seed and to keep hitting those with less errors. I am building it (fitness) This is Sindhu's first final history twice in the first 17 from four overs and his Dananjaya kept the West ish at Toyota Thailand world No. 2 Viktor Axelsen back as it is different to practice. Mental stress also affects appearance since the World match of a series — taking a unbeaten 19 in Sri Lanka’s Indies batsmen tied down Open in January. of Denmark. your body a lot,” he said. championships here in hat-trick and conceding six innings. early: the home team strug- Fourth seed Srikanth beat It will be the first clash be- Nagal admitted that on clay courts, he expresses himself 2019. sixes in one over — set the He bamboozled the West gled to 25-1 after five overs. Wangcharoen 21-19 21-15 tween the two since their better but he won’t put himself under pressure to get into On Friday night, former tone of the West Indies in- Indies batsman with the va- Hasaranga then removed in 44 minutes, while second meeting at the 2019 India top-100 in this clay court season. “Definitely, it suits my champion Kidambi nings when he bowled his riety of his wrist spin, his Simmons and Gayle in the seeds Satwik and Chirag Open in March. game.I enjoy it more on clay but at the same time I am getting Srikanth advanced to the four overs in succession in line and flight, dismissing same over — the seventh — saw off fifth seeds Ong Yew Satwik and Chirag will better on hard courts day by day. It was unfortunate I was so men's singles semifinals af- the power play, taking 1-13. Lendl Simmons (21), Chris accounting for two of the Sin and Teo Ee Yi 12-21 21- face sixth seeded Danish rusty during the Australian trip but those were the circum- ter a straight game win over Left-arm wrist spinner Gayle (16) and Fabian Allen West Indies most danger- 19 21-12 in the men's dou- pair of Kim Astrup and An- stances,” he said. sixth seed Kantaphon Lakshan Sandakan, who (12). His googly, difficult to ous players. bles competition on Friday ders Skaarup Rasmussen.