Coronavirus fear: England won't shake hands in Lanka

London, March 3

England’s cricketers will not be shaking hands on their tour of Sri Lanka and will use fist-bumps instead to greet each other due to fears of the coronavirus, skipper Joe Root said. Root’s team were laid low by flu and gastroenteritis on their recent tour of South Africa and are cautious following the coronavirus outbreak.

“After the illnesses that swept through the squad in South Africa, we are well aware of the importance of keeping contact to a minimum,” Root said before leaving for Sri Lanka for a two-Test series. “We’ve been given some really sound and sensible advice from our medical team to help prevent spreading germs and bacteria. We are not shaking hands with each other — using instead the well-established fist bump — and we are washing hands regularly and wiping down surfaces using the antibacterial wipes and gels we’ve been given in our immunity packs,” he added.

England will play the first of their two practice matches from Saturday before the first Test in Galle from March 19. Colombo hosts the second Test from March 27. Sri Lanka confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the country in January but Root expected the tour to go on as planned. “There is no suggestion that the tour will be affected. But, of course, it is an evolving situation so we are in regular contact with the authorities and will proceed as advised,” added the Yorkshire player. — Reuters

SA top Group B, India to take on England in semis

Sydney, March 3

South Africa have finished on top of Group B ahead of the 2009 champions England, who will play India in Thursday’s first semifinal of the Women’s T20 World Cup. The Group B match between South Africa and West Indies was washed out by rain here, and the one point that South Africa got took them to seven points, one ahead of England. India, the top team of Group A, will thus take on England, the No. 2 team of Group B. The final will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.

Blow for Oz as Perry ruled out

Defending champions Australia suffered a major blow ahead of the knockout stage of the tournament when all-rounder Ellyse Perry was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament.

The twice ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year hobbled off the field in tears after suffering a right hamstring injury during their four-run victory over New Zealand that sealed their place in the second semifinals against South Africa. “Ellyse sustained a high-grade right hamstring injury that is expected to keep her out of the game for a significant period of time,” team doctor Pip Inge said. The team said Perry would not be replaced in the squad.

Rain dance

Thailand signed off from their maiden T20 World Cup in style, claiming a point after their final Group B match against Pakistan was abandoned because of rain. Electing to bat, Thailand posted a strong 150/3 after openers Nattakan Chantam (56) and Nattaya Boochatham (44) gave them a flying start. But steady rain poured cold water on their hopes of an upset and the match was abandoned after the innings break during which the Thais entertained the crowd with an impromptu dance-off. — Reuters

Gaurav, Ashish in pre-quarters of Asian Olympics Qualifiers

Amman, March 3

Gaurav Solanki (57kg) and Ashish Kumar (75kg) advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Asian Olympics Qualifiers for boxing with dominating wins in their respective opening bouts. Solanki defeated two-time Kyrgyz national champion Akylbek Esenbek Uulu, while Ashish got the better of Taiwan’s Kan Chia-Wei. Both the Indians won 5-0 with strong performances.

Ashish will next square off against Kyrgyzstan’s Omurbek Bekzhigit Uulu, who has been seeded fourth. The Indian had beaten Uulu in the quarterfinals of the Asian Championships last year.

“I have played Chia-Wei before but I lost to him. Today I made no mistake. It was a clean performance from my side,” said Ashish. “It has boosted my confidence especially after the good training we’ve had. I next face the fourth seed whom I have beaten before and I am confident of putting up a good show,” he added.

Solanki dominated from the word go, helped by Uulu’s poor defence. The Indian was relentless and accurate in his attacks, scoring mostly through clean straight punches. He will be next up against top-seeded Uzbek Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov, who got a bye into the second round.

Ashish also produced a confident performance against his sprightly rival. The Indian kept his guard low and relied on counter-attacks to get the judges’ nod. The Indian’s superior reach and power wore down the Taiwan boxer, who took a tumble more than once in the second and third rounds after a split verdict in the opening three minutes.

Advancing to the semifinals in this event would assure boxers of a spot in the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled later this year. Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Pooja Rani (75kg) and Satish Kumar ( 91kg) are one win away from qualifying for the Olympics due to the small size of their respective draws. PTI

Bengal beat Karnataka by 174 runs, in Ranji final after 13 years

Kolkata, March 2

Mukesh Kumar ran through Karnataka’s second innings with a career-best six-wicket haul as Bengal hammered their star-studded opponents by 174 runs to enter their first Ranji Trophy final in 13 years. The low-profile pacer, who had dismissed KL Rahul in Karnataka’s first innings, became the hero in the second essay with his 6/61 as Bengal took less than two hours to dismiss Karnataka on Day 4.

Resuming their chase of 352 at 98/3, Karnataka lost their remaining seven wickets for 79 runs in 16.3 overs. The penultimate day’s proceedings lasted just 115 minutes.

Mukesh Kumar, who had previous best figures of 6/62, was at his ominous best in taking five wickets in just 60 balls in an imperious spell that read 9-4-28-5. He opened his account in the third over of the day when Manish Pandey (12) edging one to Shreevats Goswami behind the stumps. In his next over, Mukesh dismissed KV Siddharth (0) and S Sharath (0) off successive deliveries to snuff out Karnataka’s hopes of a revival. Devdutt Padikkal was the lone crusader as Karnataka battled to avoid a third semifinal defeat in a row. Padikkal hit seven boundaries but Mukesh dismissed the batsman en route his fourth five-wicket haul in 21 First-Class matches.

Krishnappa Gowtham (22) and Abhimanyu Mithun raised a 24-run stand for the eighth wicket but it only delayed the inevitable.

Bengal, who last won the Ranji Trophy during Sourav Ganguly’s debut season way back in 1989-90, had lost to Mumbai by 132 runs in their last final appearance in 2007. Bengal will face the winners of the Gujarat-Saurashtra clash in the final, to be played from March 9. It would be an away match for Bengal.

Vasavada’s ton puts Saurashtra in command

Rajkot: Arpit Vasavada’s gritty 139 propelled Saurashtra to set a challenging 327-run target for Gujarat on the fourth day of their semifinal. Chintan Gaja’s fiery spell had brought Gujarat back in contention on the third day, but Vasavada’s seventh First-Class hundred, and the third this season, swung the momentum in favour of the hosts. Courtesy his ton and handy contributions from Chetan Sakariya (45), Chirag Jani (51) and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (21), Saurashtra recovered from a dismal 15/5 to post 274 in their second innings.

At stumps, Gujarat were 7/1 with opener Priyank Panchal dismissed without scoring.

Brief Scores:

Bengal: 312 and 161; Karnataka: 122 and 177 (Devdutt Padikkal 62; Mukesh Kumar 6/61)

Saurashtra: 304 and 274 (Arpit Vasavada 139, Chirag Jani 51; Chintan Gaja 7/71); Gujarat 252 and 7/1