Virat Kohli scored an imperious century as India opened their Cricket World Cup defense in convincing fashion with a 76-run victory over Pakistan in a frenzied atmosphere at the Adelaide Oval yesterday.
The much-anticipated Pool B grudge match, the latest chapter in one of the great rivalries in sport, attracted a passionate crowd of 41,587 to the revamped ground with up to a billion more tuning in on the subcontinent and around the world.
It was the two-thirds of the crowd dressed in the blue of India who had most to cheer, though, as Kohli brushed aside concerns over his recent one-day international form with a knock of 107 to drive his side to an imposing tally of 300 for seven.
Photo: Reuters
Pakistan started their reply steadily before a three-wicket blitz in two overs at the halfway mark of the innings saw opener Ahmed Shehzad depart for 47 and reduced them to 103 for five.
Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (76) and Shahid Afridi flirted with a match-changing partnership, but once the latter departed for 22 and Wahab Riaz followed in the same over, Pakistan’s hopes of a first win over India in six World Cup attempts was gone.
Indian seamer Mohammed Shami took four for 35, but it was Mohit Sharma who drove the final nail into the coffin when Sohail Khan holed out for seven to end the Pakistan innings at 224 all out.
Kohli’s century was the first by an Indian in those six World Cup encounters and took his impressive tally to 22 in one-day internationals, joint fourth on the all-time list with former skipper Sourav Ganguly.
Dropped from a difficult chance by Yasir Shah off Afridi on seven and again by wicketkeeper Umar Akmal on 76, Kohli otherwise played well within himself and gave few chances in his 126 balls at the crease.
The 26-year-old put together a dominant partnership of 129 with Shikhar Dhawan (73) and, once the opener had been run out, another of 110 with Suresh Raina (74), whose innings was as aggressive as Dhawan’s had been considered.
Kohli reached his hundred with a single to long on, whipping off his helmet to celebrate his fourth century in five one-day and Test matches at the Adelaide Oval.
Sohail Khan took 5-55 in his first one-dayer since 2011, removing both Kohli and Raina as well as India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, as three Indian batsmen were sent back in the last couple of overs.
That gave Pakistan some momentum, but they lost it when Shehzad, Sohaib Maqsood (0) and Akmal (0) were dismissed in two overs.
Misbah played the captain’s role in his 84-ball 76, which included nine fours and a six, but the 40-year-old’s quest for a maiden one-day century will go on to his 157th match.
In yesterday’s other match, South Africa secured an easy victory over Zimbabwe.
A record-breaking partnership of 256 between David Miller and J.P. Duminy led South Africa to a 62-run win over Zimbabwe yesterday.
The Proteas scored 339-4, led by Miller’s fast-paced innings of 138 off 92 balls, which included 30 runs off one over and a World Cup record of nine sixes.
Duminy added an unbeaten 115.
Zimbabwe began their chase strongly in Hamilton, but eneded up being bowled out for 277.
Hamilton Masakadza scored 80 and combined with Chamu Chibhabha (64) in a 105-run stand to give Zimbabwe a chance, before South Africa spinner Imran Tahir (3-36) stifled the run chase.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS