Asia cup (cricket) and India
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
2018
Afghanistan’s 91-run win over Sri Lanka
September 19, 2018: The Times of India
Sri Lankan newspapers and fans lambasted the national cricket team Tuesday after the former champions were dumped out of the Asia Cup by up-and-coming Afghanistan.
“The flop of Asia,” ran the private Daily Mirror’sheadline,while the state-run Daily News said oneday cricket had hit a “nadir”. The Island daily lamented the “sad night for Sri Lankan cricket”.
Afghanistan demonstrated their rise in international cricket with their 91-run win over Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Sri Lanka needed to win the Group B match to stay in the tournament but were outwitted by Afghanistan who put up a fighting total of 249 all out at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Sri Lanka, who now have lost 30 of their 40 matches since January 2017, had lost to Bangladesh by 137 runs in Dubai on Saturday at the opening match of the tournament. The Mirror saidthe performance did not augur well for the World Cup in England and Wales next year.
“Sri Lanka now require a great deal of soul-searching to be a competitive outfit in white-ball cricket before the 1996 World Champions become a laughing stock in the world — if they aren’t that already,” the Mirror said.
Disappointed Sri Lankan fans took to social media to went their anger, with many memes ridiculing the national team. “We could have stayed in the Asia Cup at least till India played its first match,” said one social media user.
India’s first game, against Hong Kong, was scheduled for later on Tuesday. Another social media user ridiculed batsman Kusal Mendis who was out for a duck, saying there would have been more cheer if a different “Mendis” was included — referring to a popular alcoholic drink known as “Mendis Special”.
Another fan speculated tonguein-cheek that the poor performance was all part of a strategy to dupe other teams into thinking Sri Lanka were weak before next year’s World Cup. AFP
Brief Scores: Afghanistan 249 (Rahmat Shah 72, Ihsanullah Janat 45; Thisara Perera 5/55) bt Sri Lanka 158 in 41.2 ovs (Tharanga 36, Thisara Perera 28; Rashid Khan 2/26, Gulbadin Naib 2/29) by 91 runs
India beats Hong Kong: narrowly
Arani Basu, Listless India survive Hong Kong scare in opener, September 19, 2018: The Times of India
That Indian cricket board agreed to play back-to-back games at the Asia Cup had much to do with the fact that one of their opponents would be a weak associate nation team.
But Hong Kong were more than just that. Thay not only gave big favourites India a run for their money in their opening game of the tournament here on Tuesday night, they also threatened to actually eke out a famous win when their openers -- Nizakat Khan and Anshuman Rath -- were going great guns. In the end, their valiant effort fell short by 26 runs as India heaved a sigh of relief.
Nizakat Khan (92 off 115 balls) and Rath (73 off 97) batted like assured pros during their 174-run stand, making batting look easy and showing that scoring runs at a steady rate wasn’t as complicated on this track as the Indian batting made it out to be. In fact, Shikhar Dhawan’s 120-ball 127 was put in the shade by Nizakat and Rath.
A match that was meant to give the Indians some nice practice before the big clash against Pakistan on Wednesday, and also an idea about the conditions, became a rude lesson for the Men in Blue.
That India managed to come out a winner was largely due to the inexperience of Hong Kong batsmen after the exploits of the openers. A tired Rath drove a Kuldeep Yadav-half-volley to Rohit Sharma at extra-cover in the 35th over as the opening stand was finally brought to an end. When debutant Khaleel Ahmed trapped Nizakat in front of the stumps in the next over, it opened the floodgates as Hong Kong finished at 259/8. Yuvendra Chahal came into his own, finishing with figures of 3/46. The 20-year-old Khaleel returned figures of 3/48.
Put in to bat by Hong Kong, their batsmen soon realized that they were not getting a regular belter to bat on. Rohit Sharma’s ill-timed lofted shot off off-spinner Ehsan Khan landed in the hands of mid-off. Ambati Rayudu, on a comeback trail, scored a 70-ball 60 at No. 3. Then what followed was a familiar story in India’s ODI cricket. A frail middle-order caved in as Hong Kong put up a disciplined bowling performance.
India could muster just 48 runs, losing five wickets in the last 10 overs of the innings. The middle-order failed the team one more time as India finished at 285/7.
Dinesh Karthik (33) stayed true to his reputation of getting confident starts and then throwing it away and MS Dhoni edged an innocuous Ehsan Khan delivery to the wicketkeeper to fall for duck after facing just three deliveries.
With India taking on arch-rivals Pakistan on Wednesday, it was hardly the workout they wanted. It was a draining experience and it will be a test of character for them against Pakistan. Can they lift themselves up for the marquee clash?
