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Dubai
India opener Smriti Mandhana has jumped three places to reach a career-best third position in the latest ICC Women’s T20I Player rankings released today. Mandhana, the top-ranked ODI batter, led the T20I side in the absence of Harmanpreet Kaur against England. She scored 72 runs in the three matches. Harmanpreet, who had missed the England series due to an ankle injury, slipped two places to the ninth spot. Among the bowlers, Radha Yadav gained five slots to reach the fifth position.
New Delhi
Indian challenge ends in junior badminton event
The Indian challenge ended at the German Junior Open after the women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Varshini Viswanath Sri suffered a straight-game loss in the semifinals in Berlin today. Treesa and Varshini had stunned second seeds Christine Bush and Amalie Schulz of Denmark 21-14 21-18 to enter the semifinals. But the Indian pair lost 21-16 21-14 to the third-seeded Chinese combination of Guo Lizhi and Li Yijing in the last-4. Earlier, Meiraba Luwang, Gayatri Gopichand and Vaishnavi Jakka Reddy exited the singles competition at different stages. While Meiraba went down to the top seed in the quarterfinals, Gayatri and Vaishnavi lost in the pre-quarterfinals.
Wellington
Bangladesh make inroads before rain returns in NZ
Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor battled New Zealand to 38/2 in reply to Bangladesh’s 211 all out before rain returned to bring a premature end to the third day of the already heavily disrupted second Test on Sunday. Bangladesh were dismissed just before tea on the first day of the match where play was possible, with opener Tamim Iqbal again his team’s top scorer with 74. Brief scores: Bangladesh: 211 (Tamim 74; Wagner 4/28, Boult 3/38); New Zealand: 38/2 (Taylor 19*; Jayed 2/18)
Durban
De Kock smashes ton as SA clinch ODI series
Quinton de Kock’s swashbuckling century inspired South Africa to beat Sri Lanka by 71 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis system to secure a winning 3-0 lead in their five-match ODI series. De Kock smashed 121 off 108 balls at the top of the innings — his 14th ODI hundred — as they went on to make 331/5 off their 50 overs. Sri Lanka, set a revised target of 193 after a rain delay, fell a long way short, managing to score only 121/5 off 24 overs in reply. Brief scores: South Africa: 331/5 (de Kock 121, van der Dussen 50; Udana 2/50); (Revised target: 193) Sri Lanka: 121/5 in 24 overs (K Mendis 41; Tahir 2/19)
Dehradun
Ireland beat Afghanistan to level ODI series
Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie blasted scintillating fifties to guide Ireland to a comprehensive five-wicket win over Afghanistan in the fifth ODI and level the five-match series 2-2 here today. Stirling hit an 88-ball 70, laced with seven fours and two sixes, while Balbirnie anchored the Ireland innings, making a 91-ball 68 as the duo added 81 runs to lay the foundation for the chase after Afghanistan posted 216/6. Ireland were beaten 3-0 by Afghanistan in the T20I series. The two teams will play a one-off Test starting March 15.
Brief scores: Afghanistan: 216/6 (Afghan 82; Dockrell 2/46); Ireland: 219/5 in 47.2 overs (Stirling 70, Balbirnie 68; Zahir 2/55) — Agencies
Paris
I haven’t been able to sleep: Mbappe rues CL exit
Kylian Mbappe said he was left “stunned” by Paris Saint-Germain’s gut-wrenching exit from the Champions League in midweek as Manchester United pulled off an improbable comeback in the last 16. Marcus Rashford’s 94th-minute penalty at the Parc des Princes gave United a 3-1 win in France to send the English club through on away goals after becoming the first team in the competition’s history to overturn a 2-0 home defeat. “I’m stunned. I haven’t been able to sleep,” Mbappe told TF1 in an interview. “It’s difficult, we’d worked so hard to get to this point and we’re disappointed. We’re going to try and pick ourselves back up.”
Berlin
Much pressure on Mick Schumacher: Ross Brawn
Mick Schumacher will be under “tremendous pressure” when he makes his Formula 2 debut later this month, said former F1 title-winning mastermind Ross Brawn. Brawn worked with Mick’s stricken father Michael at Ferrari when the older Schumacher dominated Formula One more than a decade ago. Michael Schumacher, who turned 50 in early January, drove for Ferrari from 1996 to 2006, winning five of his seven world titles with the team. The German has not been seen in public since suffering a severe head injury while skiing with his son in December 2013 and his condition remains a closely guarded family secret. “There are so many times when I see Mick and I see Michael in him, so it would be wonderful,” Brawn said. “But there is tremendous pressure on the lad, so I hope people can keep that in perspective and not hook unrealistic expectations on him.”
Milan
Piatek comes to AC Milan’s rescue with winner
Krzysztof Piatek struck again to rescue a 2-1 win for AC Milan at bottom club Chievo on Saturday, keeping their Champions League push firmly on track, but the Polish striker was accused of scoring with a ‘kung fu’ kick. Piatek joined Milan from Genoa in January and has now scored eight goals in nine matches, as the club notched up a fifth straight league win to remain unbeaten since before Christmas. Returning from injury, Lucas Biglia opened with a curling free kick after 31 minutes in Verona. It was just his second goal for Milan and first since February last year. Finnish midfielder Perparim Hetemaj got his head to the end of Leris cross to pull the hosts level four minutes before the break. But once again Piatek proved crucial, scoring the winner after 57 minutes. — Agencies