Shikhar Dhawan struck a maiden one-day international century to help India beat injury-hit South Africa by 26 runs and leave the Champions Trophy favorites on the back foot after the opening game on Thursday.
India, hurt by spot-fixing allegations in their home Twenty20 tournament, forgot their worries to seize the initiative in Group B after smacking 331-7 off their 50 overs and watching South Africa fail to get close.
South Africa’s gamble to open with Colin Ingram backfired when he was caught in the slips for 6 and despite Ryan McLaren hammering 71 not out, the Proteas were bowled out for 305.
India opener Dhawan, in his sixth ODI, scored 114 off 94 balls as he stylishly dominated the inconsistent South Africa bowling, which was already without stricken paceman Dale Steyn and lost Morne Morkel to a groin strain when bowling mid-over.
The International Cricket Council’s second 50-over tournament, set to be the final Champions Trophy, with a world Test championship slated for 2017, opened with a video by Britain’s Prince Charles — the Prince of Wales — welcoming teams and fans to Cardiff.
Early temperatures were still lower than average for Britain this month, but India openers Dhawan and Rohit Sharma soon warmed up the Indian-dominated crowd at a less than full Sophia Gardens.
With the South Africa field up for the first 10-over powerplay, the pair took advantage with a series of graceful shots as the bowlers struggled to extract any real movement.
South Africa captain A.B. de Villiers said talisman Steyn should be fit for the second game against Pakistan on Monday and on this evidence, his attack desperately needs him back, especially if Morkel is a doubt.
India reached 53-0 after 10 overs and never looked back, despite Sharma falling for 65 when he was caught by Robin Peterson off the bowling of McLaren, who ended up as the only South Africa bowler with any credit, with three for 70.
Dharwan had a life on 70 when Morkel failed to pick up a hook at deep-backward square and the ball sailed over his head for four after another bad ball by the struggling Rory Kleinveldt.
Virat Kohli (31) came and went before Dhawan was finally caught playing a lofted sweep off J.P. Duminy.
The South Africa bowlers limited the damage slightly late on, with big-hitting Dhoni out for 27, but India still scored the highest ODI total at the little-used Cardiff ground as Ravindra Jadeja finished on 47 not out.
Peterson shone in South Africa’s reply with a confident 68, before he was run out by Jadeja at midwicket after a mix-up with De Villiers (70).
They were ahead of the required run rate early on, but wickets began to tumble, with the captain going shortly after escaping a run-out when he top-edged a pull to Jadeja after clever bowling by Umesh Yadav.
David Miller was run out without facing a ball as Faf du Plessis slipped, leaving the Proteas with too much to do and McLaren’s late flurry always looked in vain.
In other news, Australia captain Michael Clarke has been ruled out of his side’s opening Champions Trophy match with England today due to a back problem, Cricket Australia announced yesterday.
Clarke, 32, has already missed Australia’s warm-up games with the West Indies and India, raising concerns about his participation in the Ashes series against England later this year.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB