Sport

India hammer England to book T20 World Cup final with South Africa

Published

9 months ago

June 28, 2024

(Last Updated On: )

Left-arm spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel took three wickets apiece as India thrashed defending champions England by 68 runs in Guyana on Thursday to set up a T20 World Cup final against South Africa.

England, set a challenging target of 172, slumped to 103 all out inside 17 overs, wrist spinner Kuldeep finishing with figures of 3-19 and the orthodox Patel 3-23.

India, bidding for their first major title since the 2013 Champions Trophy, will now play South Africa — also unbeaten at this tournament after a nine-wicket hammering of Afghanistan in their semi-final — in Saturday’s final in Barbados.

The Kensington Oval clash will also be India’s second appearance in successive global showpiece games after they lost on home soil to Australia in last year’s 50-over World Cup final.

“It’s very satisfying to win this game,” said India skipper Rohit Sharma after his team gained revenge for a humiliating 10-wicket loss to England in the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup.

“We worked really hard as a unit. To win like that was a great effort from everybody.”

Rohit laid the foundations by top-scoring with 57 in a total of 171-7 after his side were somewhat surprisingly sent into bat by England skipper Jos Buttler.

It was the opener’s third fifty of the tournament and second in as many games following his blistering 92 against Australia.

– ‘India outplayed us’ –

India were 40-2 in the powerplay after Virat Kohli (nine) and Rishabh Pant (four) both fell cheaply.

But a third-wicket stand of 73 between Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav (47), spanning a rain delay of over an hour, turned the tide.

Patel, the player of the match, said: “I knew that the wicket was stopping and had something for the bowlers…Our batters told us the pitch wasn’t easy to hit the ball. We felt it (171) was a good total.”

Defeat meant the only Test side that England had beaten at this event were co-hosts the West Indies, with the title-holders also losing to Australia and South Africa.

“India outplayed us, certainly,” said Buttler. “We let them maybe get 20-25 too many (runs) on a challenging surface that they played well on. They fully deserved to win.

“They’ve got some fantastic spinners. Our two (Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone) bowled well but in hindsight, probably should’ve bowled Moeen (Ali) in our innings with the way spin was playing.

“But with a good score and their brilliant bowling attack, it was always going to be a tough chase.

Buttler launched England’s reply with a brisk 23. When he attempted to reverse sweep Patel’s first ball, however, he clipped a gentle catch off the toe-end of the bat to wicketkeeper Pant.

Fellow opener Phil Salt was then clean bowled by Jasprit Bumrah’s well-disguised slower ball.

England then saw 34-2 become 35-3 when Patel bowled dangerman Jonny Bairstow for a duck.

Moeen was then stumped by Pant and when Sam Curran was lbw to Kuldeep, England were in dire straits at 49-5 in the ninth over.

Wickets continued to tumble and when Livingstone, the last of England’s specialist batsmen, was run out for 11 after a dreadful mix-up with Jofra Archer, England were all but beaten at 86-8.

Archer struck a couple of defiant sixes but Bumrah ended the match when he had the England paceman lbw for 21 with a low full toss.

(AFP)

Related Topics:#T20WorldCup ArianaNews england featured final India

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IPL 2025 celebrates 18 years of immense success

Published

1 day ago

March 18, 2025

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

With just four days to go until the opening match of this year’s IPL, cricket fever is already taking hold and for fans across Afghanistan, Ariana Radio and Television Network (ATN) will once again bring this thrilling event into the homes of Afghans in the country.

This year’s IPL is in fact the 18th season and has undoubtedly become a firm favorite on the world’s annual cricket schedule.

The popularity of the IPL is so immense that the cumulative brand value was estimated at $12 billion in 2024, a 13% increase from $10.7 billion in 2023, according to the 17th Brand Finance IPL 2024 valuation report.

According to Brand Finance, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) leads as the most valuable IPL franchise in 2024, with a brand valuation of $122 million.

This 52% growth is attributed largely to the enduring legacy of their former captain MS Dhoni.

CSK is followed by Mumbai Indians, which is valued at $119 million and
Royal Challengers Bengaluru is worth $117 million.

Defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders is at $109 million; Sunrisers Hyderabad is $85 million; Rajasthan Royals is $81 million and Delhi Capitals is $80 million.

Saturday’s opener will see KKR take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Kolkata.

IPL 2025 gets underway on Saturday, March 22, and runs for two months, ending on May 25.

IPL fans can tune in to Ariana Television from 6:15pm for a pre-match show on Saturday. The KKRvsRCB match will start at 6:30pm

For more news and updates follow us on social media and watch this space.

Sport

Cricket Ireland cancels Afghanistan series for ‘financial reasons’

However, in the same statement Cricket Ireland confirmed a line up of action-packed cricket this summer.

Published

1 week ago

March 12, 2025

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

Ireland’s cricket board announced this week they have cancelled a multi-format series against Afghanistan scheduled for later this year.

Cricket Ireland said in a statement issued on Tuesday that they were cancelling the series due to “financial reasons”.

“One planned series that won’t go ahead for financial reasons is against Afghanistan.

“This decision is part of our management of short-term budgetary constraints, as well as our requirement to comply with the Board’s mandate to deliver balanced investment across the organisation’s strategic objectives,” said Warren Deutrom, Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland.

However, in the same statement Cricket Ireland confirmed a line up of action-packed cricket this summer.

West Indies will play six limited-overs matches in Ireland in May and June before England arrive in September for a three-match Twenty20 series.

In addition, Zimbabwe Women and Pakistan Women will tour Ireland in July and August respectively; and Ireland Women will compete in two ICC World Cup qualifier tournaments.

In addition to this, Ireland Wolves will head to the UAE to play Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A as part of a multi-format tour.

Cricket Ireland added that “further fixtures and tours in 2025 will be announced in due course”.
Deutrom meanwhile said Cricket Ireland will also invest to upgrade infrastructure and facilities across the country.

The Irish government announced last August it would build a stadium at the national sports campus in Blanchardstown, which will also stage matches of the T20 World Cup in 2030, which Ireland will co-host with England and Scotland.

“All in all, on and off the pitch, in time this will be recognised as one of the more consequential years in Irish cricket history,” Deutrom added.

In response to this news, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has clarified that the matches have not been canceled and that efforts are underway to reschedule them at a more suitable time.

Sport

Asian Cup: Afghanistan’s beach soccer team arrives in Thailand

Published

1 week ago

March 11, 2025

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

Afghanistan’s national beach soccer team arrived in Thailand on Tuesday to participate in a training camp ahead of the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup Thailand 2025.

Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) said in a post on Facebook that a 10-day training camp has been organized for the national beach soccer team in order for the players to enhance their skills ahead of the tournament.

The Afghan national beach soccer team is placed in Group C of the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup 2025 alongside the beach soccer teams of Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia.

AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup Thailand 2025 will kick off on March 20 and run through to March 30. Thailand is the official host.