India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Tuesday congratulated the women’s cricket team for pulling off a last-ball thriller against South Africa in the final of the World Cup qualifier at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo.

Chasing a decent 245, all-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur struck a run-a-ball 41 to steer the team over the line by one wicket on the final ball of the match after opener Mona Meshram (59) and Deepti Sharma (71) set the tone with a 124-run second wicket stand.

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Hailing the side for their brilliant performance, Ashwin, who is in Pune for the four-Test series against Australia, starting from Thursday said: “Amazing win by the @BCCIWomen team, they have had a good 12 months now. Special mention to the very talented @ImHarmanpreet.”

The Virat Kohli-led side will aim to extend their 19-match unbeaten streak when they take on the Australians in the four-match Test rubber.

IANS

India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday was named the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Cricketer of the Year, while Test skipper Virat Kohli was chosen to lead the ODI Team of the Year.

Ashwin was the only Indian in ICC’s Test Team of the Year and was also named the Test Cricketer of the Year. Batsman Rohit Sharma and all-runder Ravindra Jadeja were named in the ODI team.

Pakistan captain Misbah-Ul-Haq won the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award, becoming the first player of his country to win the award. South Africa’s Quinton de Kock was selected the ODI Cricketer of the Year.

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Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad was named the ICC Associate/Affiliate Cricketer of the Year while the West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite won the T20 International Performance of the Year.

Bangladesh pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman was given the Emerging Cricketer of the Year.

Legends Rahul Dravid, Gary Kirsten and Kumar Sangakkara selected the ICC Test and ODI sides based on players’ performances in the period from September 14 2015 to September 20 2016.

England’s Alastair Cook was named the captain of the Test Team of the Year, which included four Englishmen, three Australians, and a player each from New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

it was the third time Cook has been appointed captain, while it the eighth time in nine years that Dale Steyn was selected. Joe Root, David Warner and Kane Williamson have been chosen for the third successive year.

The Test team: David Warner (Australia), Alastair Cook (England, captain), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Joe Root (England), Adam Voges (Australia), Jonny Bairstow (England, wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes (England), R. Ashwin (India), Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka), Mitchell Starc (Australia), Dale Steyn (South Africa), Steve Smith (Australia)

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The ODI Team of the Year, included three Australians, Indians, South Africans each, and one each from England and the West Indies. AB De Villiers has been selected for the sixth time since 2010, while Starc has been picked up for the third time in four years.

Starc and his team-mate Warner are the only two players to have been selected in both the Test and ODI sides in 2016.

The ODI team: David Warner (Australia), Quinton de Kock (South Africa, wicketkeeper), Rohit Sharma (India), Virat Kohli, (India, captain), AB de Villiers (South Africa), Jos Buttler (England), Mitchell Marsh (Australia), Ravindra Jadeja (India), Mitchell Starc (Australia), Kagiso Rabada (South Africa), Sunil Narine (West Indies), Imran Tahir (South Africa)

IANS

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja spun India to an unassailable 2-0 lead and the No.1 ranking in Tests, pinning New Zealand down in a riveting see-saw four-day affair, to win the second cricket Test by 178 runs here on Monday. Local boy Wriddhiman Saha was adjudged Man of the Match for his unconquered 54 and 58 in the two Indian innings at the Eden Gardens.

Besides Saha, contributions with the bat by captain Virat Kohli (45) and Rohit Sharma (82) in the second innings helped India post 263 after a top-order collapse threatened to take the match away from them.

Local boy Saha declared Man of the Match

But despite the visitors’ grit early on in their 376-run chase, they fell to the guile of Indian tweakers once again — similar to the first Test at Kanpur that they lost by 197 runs — managing a meagre 197 in their seconds outing.

The tourists started their run chase well, riding on opener Tom Latham’s (74 not out; 144 balls, 8×4) ninth half-century and contributions from Martin Guptill (24) and Henry Nicolls (24) at the top order.

But post-lunch, the in-form Indian spinners ran through the Kiwi batting. Both Ashwin (3/82) and Jadeja (3/41) made mischief in tandem, joining in the party was the raw pace and swing of Mohammed Shami (3/46), who shaved off the lower order. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/28) claimed the remaining wicket.

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Latham departed soon after tea, starting the slide. Ashwin’s mastery over his craft was on show as he floated an inviting delivery which forced the opener to drive away from his body giving a nick to wicketkeeper Saha. Mitchell Santner (9) and B.J. Watling (1) followed suit in quick succession, Shami accounting for both the scalps.

Luke Ronchi (32; 60 balls, 4×4) fought briefly before Jadeja accounted for him, castling the 35-year old. Jeetan Patel (2) failed to replicate his first innings form, when he scored a gutsy 47, failing to comprehend the reverse swing generated from a good length ball by Buvneshwar. Matt Henry (18) and Trent Boult (4) were cleaned up by Jadeja and Shami, respectively.

Earlier, India wrested back the second session from New Zealand as Ashwin and Jadeja took three wickets to deny the tourists any hope of a fightback at tea.

Latham staged a lone battle as top-order batsmen fell around him. 

The hosts took 16 overs in the innings to get the first breakthrough. Ashwin pitched the ball fuller and it turned in from outside the off stump to catch Martin Guptill (24; 49 b, 3×4) off guard.

It was an important wicket just when the opening stand had started to look steady, engineering a partnership of 55 runs. The second-wicket stand between Latham and Henry Nicolls (24) was of 49 runs, helping the Kiwis reach 104 when Nicolls fell.

With the wicket offering a lot of turn, Jadeja made the most of it. Changing his angle to outfox Nicolls, who failed to come fully forward to cover the turn, the left-arm tweaker got the outside edge of Nicolls’ bat with Rahane taking the catch at first slip.

Ross Taylor, who is standing in for indisposed captain Kane Williamson, lasted only 26 minutes in which the right-hander scored just eight runs before falling to Ashwin’s guile, dismissed leg before wicket. Taylor played the wrong line leaving umpire Richard Kettleborough with an easy decision to make as the ball hit Taylor’s front pad.

Earlier, resuming at 227 for eight, India were all out for 263 in their second innings. 

Wriddhiman Saha, who had run out of partners in the first innings after scoring 54, once again anchored the lower order, remaining not out at 58 (120 balls, 6×4) — his fourth Test half century.

The two overnight batsmen, Saha and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (23; 51 balls, 2×4, 1×6) were involved in a 56-run partnership that helped India cross the 250-mark and set New Zealand a target which no team has ever achieved in the fourth innings at the famed ground.

The stand was broken in the 10th over of the morning session when Bhuvneshwar misjudged the bounce of Neil Wagner’s delivery and offered an easy catch to short leg. It was Wagner’s 99th wicket in 25 Tests.

IANS

Ravichandran Ashwin emerged India’s hero, taking 10 wickets, as the hosts bowled out New Zealand for 236 in their second innings to win the first cricket Test by 197 runs on the fifth day at the Green Park here on Monday.

Chasing a daunting 434, the Kiwis were 93 for four at stumps on day four and on Monday lost the remaining six wickets for just 143 runs. Luke Ronchi (80) and Mitchell Santner (71) put up a strong resistance in the first hour of the day but their patience didn’t last long.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (6/132) claimed his 19th five-wicket haul and nailed the final three wickets of the day, while medium pacer Mohammad Shami scalped two wickets on the final day of India’s 500th Test.

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Earlier in the day, New Zealand started the day brightly with Santner and Ronchi dominating the Indian bowlers with aggressive batting in the first hour. They stitched a 102-run partnership for the fifth wicket as they relied on positivity to fend off the Indian bowlers.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Ronchi registered his second fifty in Test cricket as he completed a stroke-filled knock. However, with his score at 80 and his team’s total at 158/4, he lost his wicket, top-edging a Ravindra Jadeja delivery to Ravichandran Ashwin at point. The right-handed batsman hit nine fours and a six.

Later, seamer Mohammad Shami removed B.J. Watling (18) and Mark Craig (1) to demolish the Kiwi lower middle-order. While right-hander Watling struggled to fend off a pacy in-cutter that hit his pads, Craig misread a line as the ball dismantled his stumps as the New Zealanders went to the lunch with 205/7 on scoreboard.

After lunch, it was just a matter of time before India took the remaining three wickets — and they did it easily. Once again, Ashwin delivered the blows to the visitors. 

Santner found a delivery from Ashwin — that turned sharply and bounced more than expected — unplayable and the ball hit the top of the bat before ending in the hands of Rohit Sharma at silly point.

Next to go was right-hander Ish Sodhi (17) who moved across and exposed the stumps to a delivery from Ashwin.

Ashwin then struck Neil Wagner (0) on the pads and got a leg before wicket (LBW) dismissal to seal not only his 10th wicket of the match but also India’s big win.

with inputs from IANS

There’s no stopping Virat Kohli.

The Indian captain scored his first-ever double hundred as India put up a commanding 566 for 8 (declared) in their first innings against West Indies. It is Virat’s first double century at any format, at any level.

Promoted to no. 6, all rounder Ravichandran Ashwin (113) scored his third Test hundred. All his 100s have been scored against the West Indies. Sachin Tendulkar too has scored three tons against West Indies during his Test career.

Virat and Ashwin shared a record fifth wicket stand of 168-run. Leg spinner Amit Mishra also added the hosts misery by cracking a half century (53) to put up a mammoth total for India. In reply, the West Indies managed to score 33 for 1 at stumps on day two of the first Test match at Antigua. Mohd Shami took the wicket for India.