Injured Faf du Plessis ruled out of ODI/T20I series
Centurion
South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis was today ruled out of the ongoing ODI series and the upcoming T20 Internationals against India owing to a finger injury, a massive blow to the home side which lost the first ODI in Durban by six wickets."I just got a blow (to my finger), so hopefully it will be fine for the next game," du Plessis had said in the post-match conference on Thursday. However, further assessment revealed that he had sustained a fracture that will require 3-6 weeks to heal, thus ruling him out of the remaining five ODIs and three T20Is.
Mohali
Harbhajan to lead Punjab
Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh will lead Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy One-day tournament to be played at Alur in Karnataka from February 7 to 16. Yuvraj Singh will be the vice-captain of the team. Squad: Harbahajn Singh (capt), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Manan Vohra, Mandeep Singh, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Abhishek Gupta, Gitansh Khera, Siddharth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma, Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Manpreet Singh Grewal, Barinder Singh Sran, Mayank Markande, Sharad Lumba
Vasco
Churchill beat Minerva 2-1
Churchill Brothers snapped Minerva Punjab's unbeaten five-match run as they beat the I-League table-toppers 2-1 in a closely-contested match here today. Churchill scored through Mechac Koffi (16th) and Wayne Vaz (45th), while Kassim Aidara scored the lone goal for Minerva in the 57th minute. Minerva created a lot of chances in the second half with Chencho Gyeltshen troubling the hosts with his menacing run down the flank. However, the Bhutanese winger wasted a penalty in the 61st minute, which proved costly for the visitors. — Agencies
Pune
Vineeth hands Kerala victory over Pune
CK Vineeth scored a last-gasp winner in the Indian Super League draw as Kerala Blasters got the better of FC Pune City 2-1 here today. While Jackichand Singh's goal in the 58th minute had class written all over it and gave Kerala the lead, it was Vineeth who grabbed the limelight with a goal in added time after Emiliano Alfaro had drawn level for the hosts in the 78th minute. With the score locked at 1-1, and the clock ticking down towards the final whistle, Courage Pekuson's long ball was chested down by Vineeth outside the box and hit on the swivel with immense power to beat Vishal Kaith.
Karachi
Raza voices concern over Ajman All Stars League
Former Test batsman Hasan Raza has voiced his concern over the suspicious activities during the T20 festival cricket event in Ajman last month, which is now under investigation. "We got invitations to play in the league for a respectable fee... In the second match it was clear something was not right over the manner in which some dismissals took place," he said. — Agencies
