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Hello Jammu News at 9:43:00 PM 0


London, Jun 25  :   Aaron Finch rose to the occasion with his second century of the tournament before England rallied to stop arch-rivals Australia at 285 for seven in their blockbuster World Cup showdown here Tuesday.

Comfortably placed at 185 for three in the 36th over, Australia were headed for a 300-plus total, but lost the plot due to England's fine comeback and lack of discretion on part of most of the batsmen that followed Finch and David Warner.

Sent into bat after Eoin Morgan called it right at the toss, Australia were given another fine start by their in-from openers, who took them to 123 in the 23rd over, when the tournament leading scorer David Warner fell for a well-made 53 off 62 balls.

Dropped on 15, Finch (100) went on to make his 15th ODI century, off 115 balls, but got out in the very next ball to leave the responsibility of finishing the innings in style on Steve Smith's shoulders.

Smith (38) batted positively until he was sent back by Chris Woakes, while Alex Carey smashed 38 off 27 balls, but the defending champions seemed to have lost the plot with the wickets of Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis.

Maxwell hit Jofra Archer for a four before sending his thunderbolt over long on and into the crowd for a six. But Maxwell did not last long, and Australia were 228 for five, when Stoinis was run out in the 42nd over due to the combined efforts of Jonny Bairstow, Adi Rashid and Jos Buttler.

Earlier, Warner and Finch shared another 100-plus stand for the first-wicket. It was the pair's fifth successive partnership of 50 or more at the tournament, a World Cup record.

Finch found the fence 11 times during his 116-ball knock and cleared it twice, with Moeen Ali being at the receiving end on both occasions.

Mixing caution with aggression, Finch and Warner pulled, cut and drove with confidence to give Australia upper hand.

However, England tightened things up and also bagged a few wickets at regular intervals to peg Australia back in the latter half of their innings.                    [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 10:49:00 PM 0



London, Jun 24  :   Describing the loss against Pakistan as "borderline embarrassing", a furious South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis said his team's performance in the World Cup has been "mediocre"

South Africa were knocked out of the World Cup with a 49-run loss to Pakistan here on Sunday.

"The results we are dishing out at the moment, it's tough. The way we played today is borderline embarrassing," Du Plessis said after the match.

Du Plessis was left red-faced as South Africa struggled to 259 for 9, chasing 309 against Pakistan. He blasted both his bowlers and the batsmen for their disappointing campaign at the 50-over showpiece.

"It started with our bowling. There were a lot of bad balls on a wicket where if you just bowled line and length it was going to be hard for them.

"It was a five out of 10 performance with the ball, then the same batting. We started nicely, got a partnership going, then wickets fall," he said.

"We are a mediocre team at the moment because we are making the same mistakes. One step forward and two steps back is not a good team," an angry Du Plessis added.

He termed Proteas humiliating exit from the ongoing World Cup as the "lowest point" of his career.

"I'm a very proud player and captain. Playing for South Africa means a lot to me. There are people rightly and fairly criticising the team because we are not playing the cricket we should.

"It's important myself, the coach and the senior players front up to this challenge," Du Plessis, who top-scored with 63 but did not get any support from the other end, said. 

Five defeats from seven matches so far, having beaten only minnows Afghanistan in the tournament, Du Plessis demanded his players take more responsibility.

"As much as I can say, or the coach can say, the responsibility lies with the player to sort it out yourself if you are low on confidence. Everyone has played the game long enough to understand you go through highs and lows." 

The captain felt his teammates were extremely low on confidence.

"The guys are playing with low confidence and making the same mistakes. It just rolls on, it's such a snowball effect. The real, honest answer is it chips away at you. You try really hard, then come back the next game and make the same mistakes. It chips away at your confidence and your ego as a player," he explained.

With two more games to go, South Africa have failed to make the knockout stages for only the second time in the World Cup and Du Plessis felt it might be a case of burnout as they have been playing a lot of cricket. 

"It's important we find space to rest our three-format players. They are playing a lot of cricket. That's the one area I would have changed but it's not in my hands," he said. 

Du Plessis insisted that he would not leave the captaincy.

"I've always said the most enjoyment I get from the game is captaining the side. The fact we are playing way below our potential is not something that sits well with me.

"I'm trying as hard as I can, but unfortunately not everything is down to me. My character is I will try to fix as many problems as I can," he said.                                      [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 10:37:00 PM 0


London, Jun 24  :   The UK is falling behind in the global race to engage with India as it has failed to adjust its strategy to fit India's enhanced influence and power on the world stage, a new British parliamentary inquiry report concluded on Monday.

The report 'Building Bridges: Reawakening UK-India ties', released to coincide with the first-ever India Day in the Houses of Parliament to mark the launch of UK-India Week 2019, called for a reset of ties through better visa and immigration policies for Indian tourists, students and professionals as it accuses the UK government of missing opportunities in the bilateral relationship.

"The UK is falling behind in the global race to engage with a rising India...The story of the UK's recent relationship with India is primarily one of missed opportunities, the report said.

There are certain practical steps the government must take to reset its relationship with India, in particular making it easier for Indians to visit the UK and to work or study here, it noted.

On the issue of visas, it expressed concern that India seems to face tougher norms than a non-democratic country like China.

"There is no excuse for the migration policies that have led the UK to lose ground in attracting Indian students and tourists who not only contribute to our economy but build lasting bilateral ties.

"The FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) should ensure that the goal of improving the overall relationship with India is woven into the broader government migration policy. Something has gone wrong, if it is more difficult for citizens of a strategically important democracy that shares our values, language and history to visit or study in the UK than those of an autocracy such as China." 

While the inquiry acknowledged that in all fundamental respects the UK is well placed to capitalise on a mutually beneficial relationship with India, it warned that the relationship between the two democracies is not fulfilling its potential because the right message is not going out to New Delhi.

"As the UK prepares to leave the EU, it is time to reset this relationship. We cannot afford to be complacent or rely on historical connections to deliver a modern partnership, it said.

The report follows the year-long "Global Britain and India" inquiry, launched by the House of Commons' cross-party Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) in July last year to explore the India-UK relationship in the context of Britain's impending exit from the European Union (EU). 

Through a series of oral and written submissions from a diverse range of organisations and individuals working within the UK-India corridor, the influential parliamentary committee concluded that the UK must prioritise talks with India and do more to lay the groundwork for an eventual free trade agreement. 

The Indian Ocean is identified as a vital arena for closer defence and security cooperation between the two countries.

"The FCO should take care to ensure that stronger economic ties with China are not at the expense of a deeper partnership with India, it warned.

Tom Tugendhat, Conservative Party MP and Chair of the FAC, raised the issue of the UK government's failure to formally apologise for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre during the British Raj in time for its 100th anniversary in April this year as an important symbolic opportunity which was missed.

He said: As new powers challenge the structure of global trade and dispute resolution, we cannot miss the opportunity to partner with India. Trade, security, a shared commitment to the rules-based international system these are all factors in our growing and evolving partnership.

The government needs to make sure the UK is making its support for India clear, reawakening the ties between us and building bridges that are made to last. 

The report's findings are expected to feature heavily during the course of UK-India Week, organised by UK-based media house India Inc, which includes a high-profile Leaders' Summit in Buckinghamshire, south-east England.                            [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 9:25:00 PM 0


London, Jun 23 :   Haris Sohail marked his return with a scintillating 59-ball 89 and powered Pakistan to a competitive 308 for seven against South Africa in the ICC World Cup here Sunday.

Playing in his first match of the tournament since the outing against West Indies in their opener, Sohail smashed nine fours and three sixes to help the cause of Pakistan, who are struggling to stay alive in the semifinal race.

The 30-year-old Sohail added 81 runs for the fourth wicket with Babar Azam (69 off 80 balls), but it was his brisk 71-run partnership with Imad Wasim (23 off 15 balls) that gave Pakistan innings the impetus it needed in this must-win game.

The last 10 overs yielded 91 runs, with Sohail doing most of the damage.

Batting first, Pakistan were off to their most convincing start in the tournament, with the opening duo of Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq adding 81 runs in just under 15 overs.

Both the openers struck half-a-dozen boundaries each during their stay in the middle but fell for an identical 44. 

Fakhar and Imam drove and pulled pacers Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi (3/64)with authority.

Having seen off the South African pace duo without much difficulty, Imam welcomed first-change bowler Chris Morris with a drive through mid-off for a four. Before that, Fakhar slogged-swept Ngidi for a six over deep midwicket.

South Africa had their first breakthrough when Imran Tahir (2/41) had Fakhar scooping one to the safe hands of Hashim Amla at first slip.

Tahir went past Allan Donald as the highest wicket-taker for the Proteas at World Cups with 38 wickets when he produced an excellent one-handed catch to dismiss Imam.

Mohammad Hafeez hit a six during his 20 but could not translate his start into a substantial knock thanks to Aiden Marakram, who had the batsman trapped in front of the wicket.

Babar Azam oozed class as he worked the ball around for singles and twos in between seven boundaries, but the innings that propped up Pakistan was the one played by Sohail.       [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 2:20:00 PM 0


Manchester, Feb 26 :  Manchester City bagged the first silverware of the season by winning the League Cup final against Chelsea but manager Pep Guardiola will be cautious about the midweek league encounter with his predecessor Manuel Pellegrini.

Mid-table West Ham are the visitors to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday as City return to league action following their penalty shootout win at Wembley.

But celebrations after a highly satisfactory Sunday afternoon for Guardiola, with title rivals Liverpool only managing to pick up a point in a draw at Manchester United, were muted by the post-match news from the City dressing room.

Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho (groin) and central defender Aymeric Laporte (hamstring) both collected injuries at Wembley that Guardiola said would sideline them for several weeks.

Even allowing for the depth of a City squad assembled for vast sums, it would be hard to pick two less replaceable performers for the manager to lose at such a pivotal stage of the campaign, with his side chasing an unprecedented quadruple.

Fernandinho, in particular, has become one of Guardiola's most dependable lieutenants at the Etihad, one of the few players whose name is guaranteed to be in City's starting XI every week.

Since his arrival in 2013, City have won more than 70 percent of the games in which he has played, a percentage that drops below 60 in his absence.

Most recently, when City suffered shock consecutive defeats against Crystal Palace and Leicester, Fernandinho, 33, was absent.

Ilkay Gundogan and Fabian Delph are logical potential replacements in the defensive midfield role but, despite their status as international players, they cannot match Fernandinho's poise and tackling ability .

Danilo played in that role with Real Madrid and is another potential replacement while Guardiola has even spoken about playmaker Kevin De Bruyne playing in a deeper position.

 Fernandinho factor - 

Fernandinho's all-round excellence even saw him selected at centre-half by Guardiola for the recent home win over Arsenal and the loss of Laporte adds to the manager's concerns in that department.

Veteran Vincent Kompany has struggled for fitness and form for much of the season although John Stones is close to returning from his own injury lay-off.

The fixture list before the international break in mid-March looks benign, with City facing Bournemouth, Watford and German side Schalke after Wednesday's visit of West Ham.

Yet, with City still active in so many high-stakes games at this stage of the season, Guardiola can scarcely afford any more injury concerns.

De Bruyne described the relentless demands on the players.

"I feel all right, you know. It's tough but it's tough for everybody with the amount of games coming up," said the Belgian.

"It's unbelievable. They say the winter period is tough but from the moment we started in September in Europe it hasn't stopped for us.

"The schedule this week doesn't help us in a way but we'll take it as it goes. In the end we don't decide when we're playing, we just go and play and do the best possible.           [Agencies]
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Hello Jammu News at 1:37:00 PM 0

Southampton, Sept 3: India skipper Virat Kohli said his team cannot be satisfied with just competing overseas and it has to learn the art of crossing the line in pressure situation.

India suffered a 60-run loss in the fourth Test on Sunday after being dismissed for 184 while chasing a victory target of 245 set by England.

It cost India the series 3-1 and Kohli said that they need to understand situation whilst at the crease and not after the game.

"We can look at the scoreboard and say we were only 30 or 50 runs away, but we have to recognise that when we are in the midst of the situation, and not later. We know that we have played good cricket but we cannot say again and again to ourselves that we have competed," Kohli said.

"When you come so close, there is an art of crossing the line as well, which we will have to learn. We have the ability, which is why we are getting close to a result. But when a pressure situation comes, how we react to it, is something we have to work on a bit."

Like in South Africa, India started off the series lagging 0-2 but fought hard to reduce the deficit by clinching the third Test.

Kohli said his team needs to be more relentless and fearless to make better start to the overseas tours.

"Look we've spoken about the fact that even during the match when we're in a driving position, we should be able to capitalise on it and not let the opposition come in, and fight back again and again. We can take a leaf out of that," he said.

"Nottingham we did that, for three days we were relentless and we're on top. So we need to think about how to start a series like that as well. As a group we need to be more relentless when we start a series and be a bit more expressive and fearless at the beginning of a series.

"Especially in a long series because, as I've said at the start of the series, you have time to comeback, but you want to come back when you've played fearless cricket and you don't want to be catching up too much."

When asked about the batsmen's failure in this game, and the series, as a whole, the skipper said, "It's very difficult to recognize key moments in the first innings of a Test match. But after I got out, I myself felt that had I batted for longer that day the lead could have been bigger.

"But even after that we thought we could get a couple of more partnerships and extend the lead if possible. Eventually Pujara had to play a blinder to get us to a lead of 30 odd. So that's the only thing that I feel could have extended our lead a bit more in this first innings.

"Apart from that as I said as captain I don't see many areas we need to think of as negatives because we tried our best."

Kohli said his team never gave up and made England earn the victory.

"Not many teams come close to us when we play at home. But to make the home sides earn victory against us, that's a huge boost for us. As a group we feel that we have pushed the home side to earn victories and we haven't thrown in the towel," he said.

England's Moeen Ali took nine wickets for 134 runs as India succumbed twice to his off-spin.

While Kohli praised the off-spinner, he also defended R Ashwin, who couldn't work similar magic in this game.

"Ashwin tried his best. He pitched the ball in the right areas. He didn't get the results he would have intended. We all try to do well. Some innings it doesn't come off," he said.

"On flat wickets batsmen can get out. So this was one occasion where Ashwin could himself feel he could have got more purchase out of the wicket. The batsmen played well. There could be a lot of factors when you look at that situation.

"But Moeen bowled really well. If you have to single out his performance, I think he was relentless with the areas that he bowled in and the speeds that he bowled at, so deserved to get the wickets he got eventually," he added. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 12:21:00 PM 0

Nottingham, Aug 22: England batsman Jos Buttler has said that they didn't want to make any thing easy for India and by taking the third Test into day five, they have made the visitors work hard for the victory.

Buttler scored 103 and put on 169 runs with Ben Stokes but Jasprit Bumrah took 5-85 to reduce England to 311-9 in pursuit of the 521-run target.

"It was very important for us to turn up today and show a lot of character and fight and not give it to India easily make them work hard. We did that really well throughout the day - even the two guys there at the end, making sure we do come back tomorrow.

"It showed that, no matter what it is, we're not going to roll over," Buttler said.

England were reduced to 62 for four at one stage but not only did Buttler and Stokes held the crease until lunch, they batted out the next session without losing any wickets.

While continuing to frustrate India, Buttler said they felt they could have batted until stumps as he scored his maiden Test hundred.

"Having batted for a long time and feeling pretty good in the middle. We knew the (second) new ball would be a big phase in the game conditions for batting were really good before that. It's disappointing I couldn't make it last a bit longer.

"It has been a long time coming, and a few months ago it was a million miles away. It's a huge moment for me. I don't think I can under-estimate that feeling. Personally I'm delighted, a little bit lost for words. Definitely to prove you can do it, I think that's a huge part of the feeling of it," he said.

The batsman added, "I was never sure if I'd ever play Test cricket again. All those thoughts go through your head while you're out there as well when you start to get close. I never thought this would happen, so I had to try and make sure it did. Definitely there were times when I thought that race was run."

When asked if this was more fulfilling than any of his limited-overs' exploits, Buttler replied, "It's a lot more fulfilment, probably. It's just been a longer time coming, I think. A hundred in any red-ball game I think it's the first one I've scored for five years probably. It's a big moment for me, and it means a lot.

"It proves to me I can do it, and I'm hungry to go and do it again. I've definitely remembered how hard Test cricket is, having come back into it. It's really tough - it tests you in all sorts of ways. This is definitely the proudest moment in an England shirt."

Then, Bumrah used the second new ball really well, and broke through the English lower order to put India onto the cusp of making a comeback in the series.

"He's obviously a very talented bowler. In the white-ball formats and the IPL, he's obviously a fantastic performer and now he's showing that in Test matches too.

"He's obviously got quite a unique action, generates good pace with it, and crates a different angle to what you'd usually face. So he's definitely a guy who poses some different questions to the norm," said Buttler.

"There is a lot of variety in the India attack as a whole, and he's another big part of that. It was an error of judgment, but trying to work out the balls to play and leave against him is quite tricky with his angle.

"He draws you into playing a lot of balls, with his angle and where he delivers it from, and that was just one that came back and I got it wrong."  (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 1:05:00 PM 0

Leeds, Jul 18: England captain Eoin Morgan says his team was simply "clinical" in the series-clinching win over India in the third and final ODI here, a feat that was achieved after quickly learning from the "mistakes" committed in the first two games.

India lost by eight wickets as England rode on Joe Root's 13th ODI century to chase down a target of 257 in 44.3 overs last night. The series ended 2-1 in the home team's favour.

"We started poorly. As the series has gone on we have improved. It is a benefit of playing a bilateral series," Morgan said in the post-match press conference.

"That constant improvement has been brilliant since Trent Bridge. Today I thought it was clinical, right from the get go. Mark Wood got the ball swinging with David Willey for three or four overs and India never seemed to get away from us from there," he added.

Root and Morgan were involved in an unbeaten 186-run partnership. It was the second consecutive hundred for Root after his effort at the Lord's, and it puts him in good stead for the five-Test series beginning on August 1.

"I think it is extremely encouraging (for the Test series). The composure he's shown, particularly in the last two games, is the Joe Root we know and trust.

"He's been outstanding even when he's been low on runs, around the group he's been the same guy, hungry for runs and hopefully that continues for the rest of the summer," Morgan said.

With yesterday's knock, Root went top of the list among English batsmen to score ODI hundreds.

When asked if he was the best in that list, Morgan replied, "I think it's difficult to say because we've guys that were halfway through their careers that have huge potential that can be as good as Joe, or even be better, or have more contributions.

"If it's not the next World Cup, it will be the next. Guys in their late 20s and mid-to-late 20s can still contribute as much as Joe has done. (But) He's an absolutely unbelievable cricketer."

Root was instrumental in the manner England contended with Kuldeep Yadav since the Lord's game. Ever since regaining his composure against wrist spin, Root drove England to victory in the latter games of this series.

"It's hard for me to compare red ball and white ball because it's different picking the seam on the ball. I'm very proud of the way we've improved throughout. But Kuldeep hasn't played that many games, I'm sure they'll come back with something different.

"Adil Rashid has been at the top of his game for the last few years but he's made unbelievable changes, fractional changes, variations and he reads the game well," Morgan opined.

In this battle for bragging rights as the best ODI side currently, England have come out on top and are now ranked favourites for the 2019 World Cup.

Morgan said the challenge will be to maintain consistency until the 2019 World Cup after beating India 2-1 in the three-match series.

"...be better at dealing with them (the challenges) from the start as opposed to making big mistakes and then improving on them as we go along. The World Cup is 10 games. I presume by the time the last group stage game is played it will be the best four teams topping the group.

"One of the disadvantages is you play a different team every time and that's hard to replicate. The challenge will be trying to show the consistency that we've had and continue that hunger to improve. We have a lot of white-ball cricket leading into the World Cup," he signed off. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 12:39:00 PM 0
Kaliningrad (Russia), Jun 29: A brilliant strike by Adnan Januzaj lit up an otherwise insipid clash as Belgium beat England 1-0 to secure top spot in World Cup Group G in Kaliningrad today.

Januzaj's superb second-half goal sent Belgium into a last 16 clash with Japan while England will now advance to a second round meeting with Colombia on Tuesday.

By finishing second in the group, England have though avoided a loaded top half of the draw containing past winners Brazil, France, Argentina and Uruguay as well as European champions Portugal.

The fact second place in the group was no disaster seemed to be a big factor in both coaches' team selection with their places in the last 16 already secured.

Southgate made eight changes with Belgian boss Roberto Martinez going one better as only Thibaut Courtois and Dedryck Boyata retained their places from the 5-2 thrashing of Tunisia.

Star Belgian duo Eden Hazard and Kevin de Bruyne joined England captain Harry Kane in watching from the sidelines and their ability to thrill was badly missed as locals in the crowd turned on both sides with jeers and chants of "Russia".

Youri Tielemans did test Jordan Pickford with a fiercely struck effort just six minutes in that forced the Everton stopper into his best save of the World Cup so far.

Moments later Pickford let a Michy Batshuayi effort squeeze past him and was rescued by Gary Cahill's goal-line clearance.

After an early burst, though, Belgium seemed more adept at picking up yellow cards that would have seen them finish behind England if the game ended in a draw due to a poorer disciplinary record.

Tielemans and Leander Dendoncker both went into the book early to cheers from the Belgian fans.

Six of England's eight goals against Tunisia and Panama to reach the knockout stages came from set-pieces and they again proved the Three Lions greatest threat in the first-half as Cahill and Ruben Loftus-Cheek headed just wide.

Marcus Rashford had the opportunity to put serious pressure on Raheem Sterling for his place in the side for the last 16 after two disappointing performances from the Manchester City winger.

But unlike his substitute appearance against Tunisia, Rashford failed to further his case for a start and fired well off target when presented with a shooting chance from the edge of the box just after half-time.

Januzaj suddenly sparked the game into life moments later when he twisted and turned inside the England box before curling a wonderful strike into the top corner.

Rashford had by a distance England's best chance 25 minutes from time, but again slotted wide with just Courtois to beat.

Belgium were given a major boost ahead of the knockout stages when captain Vincent Kompany made his return from injury for the final 15 minutes.

Southgate didn't even turn to Kane in search for an equaliser, instead introducing Danny Welbeck to ensure every outfield player in his squad featured across the three group games.

And Welbeck nearly earned a point eight minutes from time when his goalbound effort was deflected just wide by Fellaini.  (AFP)
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