Nepal on Monday won the third and final one-day by defeating the UAE by four wickets. Nepal is now in the 15th position of the rankings with 152 points while UAE secures the 14th position with 263 points.South Africa holds the fourth, Pakistan fifth, Australia sixth, Bangladesh seventh, Sri Lanka eighth, West Indies ninth, Afghanistan 10th, Zimbabwe 11th, Ireland 12th and Scotland is the 13th position. Nepal had played its debut in the ODI with 1-1 draw with the Netherlands. It achieved the ODI status in last March for the next four years. (RSS)
India delivered a comfortable victory against New Zealand in the third ODI on Monday in Mount Maunganui as the visitors won by seven wickets to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. India sent out a loud and clear message ahead of the World Cup 2019 by dominating the Black Caps in the third ODI as Rohit Sharma (62) and skipper Virat Kohli (60) hit half-centuries after New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat at Bay Oval, adding 113 runs for the second wicket to set up the victory in only 43 overs.
After Shikhar Dhawan’s dismissal for 28, Rohit opened up and slammed his 39th half-century including three boundaries and two sixes before being stumped off Mitchell Santner’s bowling. Meanwhile, Kohli, who brought up his 49th ODI half-century, also hit six fours and a six before Henry Nicholls took a brilliant catch to dismiss him off Trent Boult’s bowling.
Dinesh Karthik (38, 38 balls) and Ambati Rayudu (40, 42 balls) also contributed in India’s chase of 244 runs with an unbroken 77-run stand for the fourth wicket to steer the team home. This was a perfect end to Kohli’s final match of his tour Down Under as the Indian captain has been given a break as part of BCCI’s workload management programme.
Hardik shines on return
Hardik Pandya, who made a return after being provisionally suspended for his sexist and racist comments on a TV show, justified his selection by delivering figures of 2/45 in 10 overs and helping the visitors restrict New Zealand for 243 in 49 overs.
Mohammed Shami (3/41 in 9 overs) provided the initial breakthrough as Colin Munro (7) edged one to Rohit Sharma in the slip cordon while Bhuvneshwar Kumar delievered figures of 2/46 in 9 overs as an injured MS Dhoni was replaced by Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps. Except for efforts by Ross Taylor (93 off 106 balls) and Tom Latham (51 off 64 balls), New Zealand failed to find the solution against the Indian attack, yet again.
Kingston: Sprint great Usain Bolt said on Monday the current generation of Jamaican athletes had it too easy and that they were not working hard enough to get to the highest level. The eight-time Olympic champion’s last competitive meet was the 2017 world championships in London, where Jamaica managed just one gold and three bronze medals, including Bolt’s third place in the 100 meters.
“I think a lot of these athletes, I think it’s much easier now for them,” Bolt told reporters on Monday. “When we were coming up it was a struggle.” Bolt, who still holds the 100m and 200m world records, said Jamaica had a deep talent pool but with athletes being handed lucrative contracts as soon as they left high school there was a doubt about motivation.
“They are happy with whatever, so for me, hopefully these athletes can motivate themselves because we are not lacking of talent, we have a lot of that and I’ve seen it a lot throughout the years,” he added. “But when they get to the senior level now, they are not motivated and they don’t work hard enough to get to the level of a Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake or Shelly Fraser-Pryce or these guys, so it is all about the work and they need to motivate themselves.”
Bolt also signalled that his hopes of playing soccer professionally were at an end. The 32-year-old was unable to agree a contract with Australian side Central Coast Mariners late last year after a trial. “I don’t want to say it wasn’t dealt with properly, but I think we went about it, not the way we should and you learn your lesson, you live and you learn,” he said.
“It was a good experience. I really enjoyed just being in a team and it was must different from track and field and it was fun while it lasted.” Bolt, who won Olympic sprint gold medals in Beijing, London and Rio, said his focus now was on his business endeavours.
“I’m just doing many different things … the sports life is over, so I’m now moving into different businesses, I have a lot of things in the pipeline, so as I say, I’m just dabbling in everything and trying to be a business man now.” Agencies
Gareth Bale needed just two minutes to mark his return from injury with a goal as 10-man Real Madrid held on for a 4-2 victory over Espanyol on Sunday. Bale had been out since January 3 with a calf strain but made an instant impact off the bench at the RCDE Stadium, where Karim Benzema continued his own rich vein of form by scoring twice. Sergio Ramos was also on target with a brilliant header before Leo Baptistao kept Espanyol in sight.
Bale and Benzema seemed to have wrapped things up but Raphael Varane was sent off with 18 minutes left and substitute Roberto Rosales drove in to set up a nervy finish. Madrid, however, survived for their fifth win in sixth matches, even if it was only enough to restore the 10-point difference behind Barcelona, who had earlier seen off Girona 2-0, with Lionel Messi scoring a sublime chip.
They may not be closing the gap on the league leaders but Madrid is gaining momentum, with the resumption of the Champions League just around the corner. Benzema now has 15 goals this season and his first was a simple finish in the third minute, as he pounced on a rebound from Luka Modric’s shot. Ramos is their second top scorer with 10, his excellent header looping into the far corner before Baptistao gave Espanyol a lifeline with an emphatic shot from the edge of the area.
But Benzema added a third on the stroke of half-time and when Bale, after replacing Vinicius Junior, made it four, it looked like the game was up. Instead, Varane was sent off for bringing down Pablo Piatti as the last man and Rosales set Madrid’s nerves jangling by chesting and volleying past Thibaut Courtois with nine minutes left.
Madrid held on and while Benzema’s surge, and Bale’s fitness could yet prove key to their second half of the season, particularly in the Champions League, in La Liga it is Messi and Barca who lead the way. Messi’s brilliant chip, his ninth goal in as many games, came after Nelson Semedo had given them an early lead before Bernardo Espinosa’s red card consigned Girona to 39 minutes with 10 men.
The home fans were left incensed by that decision, as well as Messi’s reaction they believed caused it, but the Argentinian’s goal offered the perfect riposte. “We struggled in the first half a bit but after the red card we had to dominate the game,” Barca coach Ernesto Valverde said.
“It was a tough match, they pushed us a lot.” Outside the stadium before kick-off, propped up on a railing, was a sign with an ironic message scrawled: “Miami, here we come”. La Liga had hoped to drag this game across the Atlantic to promote Spanish football and the two clubs had supported the idea, with various perks dangled in front of fans, including free flights and tickets, not to mention the chance to be part of something “historic”.
The setting probably would have made little difference to the result – just the integrity of the competition – given Girona, now 14th, are without a win in 10 matches while Barca has managed eight league victories in a row. Girona hustled and harried their opponents in the opening minutes but Semedo’s goal was soft as they failed to clear three times before he swept the ball home with his left foot.
Barca could have made it two, only for Philippe Coutinho to hit the goalkeeper. It was one of a handful of underwhelming moments from Coutinho, whose tepid display will have done little to assuage his doubters. Girona grew into the game but any momentum was checked shortly after half-time as Espinosa caught Suarez from behind and, after protests from Messi, was shown a second yellow card.
Messi was jeered and for a while, the fury spurred Girona on. But he had the final say as Luis Suarez threaded through Jordi Alba, who squared to him. Out rushed Yassine Bounou but Messi’s scoop was so good, even the diving Porro was powerless to keep it out. Some of Girona’s fans, previously enraged, now stood up to applaud.
Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed has been suspended for four matches after he admitted to making a racist comment at South Africa’s Andile Phehlukwayo during the Durban ODI. Sarfraz will be forced to miss the final two ODIs against South Africa, and then two of the three T20s that follow. The PCB said he will not play the third T20 either, but return home “immediately”. Shoaib Malik will captain in his absence.
The ICC release said that Sarfraz will also have to attend “an education programme to promote the understanding and awareness of issues directly relevant to the offence that he has committed”. Remarkably that ICC release was made public half an hour after the world realised that Sarfraz wasn’t playing in the fourth ODI at the Wanderers because Malik turned up for the toss in his place.
“We wanted him [Sarfraz], but the incident… we all know what has happened,” Malik said. “I don’t want to comment about it. But they’ve given me this opportunity, and I want to do my best.” Malik later said he only found out he would be captaining the team on the morning of the match. “When we got to the ground, that’s when I came to know I’m captaining the side. It’s a great honour to represent your country as a captain or a player, and whenever the opportunity comes to you should give your best shot. And that’s what I did.”
It was actually South Africa captain Faf du Plessis who first indicated that Sarfraz had been handed a four-match ban. “We’ve heard that he’s out for four games,” he said during his toss interview. In Durban, during the second ODI, during Phehlukwayo’s innings, as he got South Africa’s wobbling chase back on track, Sarfraz was heard on the broadcast stump mics saying in Urdu: “Abey kaale, teri ammi aaj kahaan baitheen hain? Kya parwa ke aaye hai aaj?”
Translated literally that is: “Hey black guy, where’s your mother sitting today? What [prayer] have you got her to say for you today?” Since then, Sarfraz has apologised twice, the first an apology in the general direction of nobody, but then backed up by a personal one to Phehlukwayo. The day after the match, Sarfraz tweeted that his comments were “not directed towards anyone in particular”. Then, two days ago, Sarfraz tweeted a picture of himself shaking hands with Phehlukwayo, with this caption: “This morning I apologised to Andile Phehlukwayo and he was gracious enough to accept my apology and I hope the people of South Africa also accept my apology.”
The punishment came five days after the incident, allowing Sarfraz to play the third ODI in Cape Town. Ahead of that game, du Plessis said his team had forgiven Sarfraz for the comments. ICC CEO David Richardson said Sarfraz’s apology was taken into account when deciding on his penalty. “The ICC has a zero-tolerance policy towards conduct of this nature,” he said. “Sarfraz has promptly admitted the offence, was regretful of his actions and has issued a public apology, so these factors were taken into account when determining an appropriate sanction.”
Pakistan do not have a back-up wicketkeeper in their T20 squad, so Mohammad Rizwan, who took the gloves in Johannesburg, will stay on for the T20s. Agencies
Led by a brilliant display of fast bowling from Pat Cummins, the Australians dominated a Sri Lankan outfit that never came to terms with the pace and bounce of the Gabba wicket.
They made 144 in the first innings and just 139 in the second in reply to Australia’s first innings total of 323.
Cummins took a career-best 6-23 in the second innings and 10 for the match to lead the Australians to a win inside three days.
He was well-supported by debutant Jhye Richardson, who took 2-19 to go with the 3-26 he claimed in the first innings.
After starting their second innings 179 runs behind, the Sri Lankans never looked like making Australia bat a second time when they slumped to 19 for three and 35 for four.
Cummins exploited the conditions to the full in a superb seven over spell to start the day’s play. The 25-year-old, who dismissed Dimuth Karunaratne on the last ball of the day on Friday, took the first three Sri Lankan wickets to fall in Saturday’s opening session.
– Captivating Cummins –
Cummins was in irresistible form, bowling with great venom and immaculate control.
He snared Dinesh Chandimal for a duck with the second ball of his first over, the Sri Lankan captain edging a ball that leapt off a good length to Kurtis Patterson in the gully.
Kusal Mendis (1) replaced his skipper at the crease but lasted just seven deliveries before he launched an ambitious drive off Cummins, only to edge the ball to Joe Burns at second slip.
The Sri Lankans were in huge trouble at 18 for three but Roshan Silva dug in with opener Lahiru Thirimanne.
The pair took the score to 35 before Silva lost concentration and fell in identical fashion to Mendis, driving at Cummins and edging the ball to Burns, who took a good low catch.
Thirimanne and new batsman Dhananjaya de Silva were far more comfortable against the other Australian bowlers and once Cummins was replaced by a wayward Mitchell Starc, the pressure eased.
But in the second last over before the tea break, Richardson got a fine inswinger to crash through de Silva’s defences and take out the off stump.
Cummins struck again soon after the resumption when Thirimanne (32) got the faintest of edges to wicketkeeper Tim Paine.
The Sri Lankan opener reviewed the decision, believing the ball had hit his back arm, however, despite Hot Spot not showing anything on the bat and Snicko indicating a faint spike after the ball had passed the bat, third umpire Michael Gough upheld Marais Erasmus’s decision.
Niroshan Dickwella scored an entertaining 24 before he was caught spectacularly at backward square leg by Marcus Harris, before Patterson took an equally good diving catch to snare Dilruwan Perera at gully.
With the injured Lahiru Kumara unable to bat due to a hamstring injury, when Paine stumped Suranga Lakmal for a breezy 24, Australia had claimed an emphatic victory.
KATHMANDU, Jan 27: Prime Minister KP Oli today congratulated cricketer Rohit Kumar Paudel on his making history as the youngest male player to hit the half international century.
Paudel, aged 16 years and 146 days, when he made the record- smashed 55 off 58 balls in the second One-Day International against the United Arab Emirates, ensuring Nepal’s win.
PM Oli took to twitter and congratulated him. He made an ODI debut at 15. Paudel’s success has made the State proud and happy, the PM tweeted.
So far in the international cricket, the record was held by Sachin Tendulkar (who was 16 years and 213 days when he hit 59 in a Test against Pakistan) and Shahid Afridi, who smashed a century off 37 balls against Sri Lanka at 16 years and 217 days. (RSS)
Kathmandu: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli today congratulated cricketer Rohit Kumar Paudel on his making history as the youngest male player to hit the half international century. Paudel, aged 16 years and 146 days when he made the record- smashed 55 off 58 balls in the second One-Day International against the United Arab Emirates, ensuring Nepal’s win. PM Oli took to twitter and congratulated him. He made an ODI debut at 15.
Paudel’s success has made the State proud and happy, the PM tweeted.
So far in the international cricket, the record was held by Sachin Tendulkar (who was 16 years and 213 days when he hit 59 in a Test against Pakistan) and Shahid Afridi, who smashed a century off 37 balls against Sri Lanka at 16 years and 217 days.
KATHMANDU: United Arab Emirates has won the toss and elected to field. Nepal is playing 1st One Day International with United Arab Emirates today.
Playing XI
Nepal
Paras Khadka and Sandeep Lamichhane are key to this young Nepal side who are without a few regular players. Dipendra Airee is one to watch out for during the whole series along with KC Karan.
Possible XI: Malla, Bhandari(WK), Khadka, Airee, Sheikh, Kami, Regmi, KC Karan, Paudel, Lamichhane and Rajbanshi.
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
With Rohan Mustafa not available for the series, Mohammed Naveed has been given captaincy which should see the pacer include Mohammed Usman and Mohammed Boota for the first ODI. Shaiman Anwar’s performance would be key to the UAE’s fortunes in Dubai.
Possible XI: Ashfaq, Suri, Usman, Boota, Shaiman, Ghulam(WK), Naveed(C), Haider, Raza, Haiyat and Zahoor.
With the World Cup 2019 just around the corner and murmurs of disappointment over the new format of the tournament, Nepal and UAE are set to play each other in the first of three ODI set to take place in Dubai. With more and more players gaining exposure due to the T10 League and Global T20 League, this match is sure to have a say in the future of international cricket.
Kathmandu: A three-member team has been formed to carry out an investigation into alleged financial irregularities at the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA). The probe committee formed today by the Ministry of Youth and Sports comprises Ana Prasad Neupane (joint secretary) and Samanta Mani Acharya (under secretary) and Dem Bahadur Basnet, chief of the organization department of the Ministry.
The probe committee will submit its report to the Ministry. The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had written a letter to the Ministry to carry out investigation into the alleged irregularities after several complaints were filed at the commission to that effect.