Playing cricket witha cork ball not a criminal offence: HC

Playing cricket witha cork ball not a criminal offence: HC

A scheme for compensating such eventualities could be framed, says judge.

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI 05.11.2024 

The Madras High Court has quashed a case of culpable homicide, not amounting to murder, registered against the organisers of a local cricket match after a fielder died when a cork ball used in the game hit his chest due to an aggressive and attacking shot played by the batsman.

Justice G. Jayachandran said it was common in this part of the country for youngsters to play cricket with a cork ball and that there was no prohibition for the use of such balls in any match. Therefore, an unfortunate death of a player could not lead to a criminal case, he added.

However, considering the fact that the deceased D. Loganathan was a third-year law student and the only son to his parents, the judge directed the Tiruvallur District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) to find out if there was any scheme available to pay monetary compensation to his family.

If there was any such scheme, the DLSA was directed to forward its recommendation to the Collector within two months, and the latter was directed to take an appropriate decision within two months thereafter.

The father N. Dhamodhiran, a daily-wage worker, had appeared before the court in person since he had no means to engage a lawyer to argue on his behalf in the petitions filed by the match organisers R. Rasu and P. Iyappan to quash the First Information Report (FIR) registered by Pullarambakkam police in Tiruvallur district.

The petitioners’ counsel G. Saravanabhavan told the court that the complainant’s son had voluntarily participated in the cricket match between Punnapakkam Cricket Club and Puthuvallur Cricket Club at Othikadu lake on December 13, 2020, and died after the ball hit him on the field.

The counsel said one of his clients, Mr. Rasu, was not even present at the time of the incident as he was writing the Grade II police constable examination at Perumalpattu. He added that the other petitioner had nothing to do with the death but for having been the organiser of the match.

‘No intention’

After recording his submissions, the judge said Section 304 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) could be invoked only if there was an overtact on the part of the accused with the knowledge that their act was likely to cause death even if there was no intention to cause such death.

In the present case, “the deceased Loganathan has voluntarily participated in the match and got injured. Neither, the batsman nor the organisers had any intention to cause death or hurt,” the judge said.

Therefore, “the present criminal original petitions are allowed. The FIR on the file of the first respondent police is hereby quashed,” the judge concluded and told Government Advocate (criminal side) S. Udayakumar that the government could come up with a scheme for compensating such deaths.

Justice Jayachandran said the Department of Youth Welfare and Sports Development could frame a scheme for compensating eventualities that occur during sporting events.

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SPORTS

 

GAVASKAR TORING THE BELL

 

Krishna loses mother hours before ceremony

Krishna loses mother hours before ceremony

Neeraj, Others Receive Top Sports Awards

Sabi.Hussain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:14.11.2021

In a cruel turn of events, Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist badminton player Krishna Nagar lost his mother in an unfortunate incident, hours before he was to receive his Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award from President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here on Saturday. Krishna, who had won the gold in the men’s singles SH6 final in Tokyo, was in Delhi to receive the award along with 11 other Khel Ratna recipients when the tragic news reached him.

Initially, Krishna wasn’t told about his mother’s passing away over phone by his physiotherapist father Sunil Nagar. It was only when the 22-year-old reached his home in Jaipur that the devastating news was shared with him. She was 49. Narrating the sequence of events, Krishna told TOI from Jaipur: “It was November 10 (Wednesday) and I was about to leave for the awards ceremony. It was 12-12:30pm and I had told my mother to cook food for me. My father had also come home around that time from his work and three of us were having a fun time. I didn’t notice when she headed to the roof. I had taken a shower and was drying my towel when I heard a loud thump. Upon checking, I realised that my mother had fallen to the first floor of our house from the terrace.” “We immediately rushed her to the hospital and the doctors admitted her to the ICU ward. The doctors assured me that she was showing signs of improvement and I left for Delhi on Thursday. But she died in the hospital last night. She never regained consciousness after the fall,” Krishna said, in a choked voice.

Meanwhile, Olympic gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and Tokyo Paralympics stars were among an unprecedented 12 sportspersons who were presented with the country’s highest sporting honour, Khel Ratna, in a glittering national sports awards ceremony here. The President also bestowed 35 sportspersons with the Arjuna as the country celebrated its best-ever show at the Olympics and Paralympics.

WC fever: Big screens set up for India-NZ match today

WC fever: Big screens set up for India-NZ match today

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bhopal:31.10.2021

The do-or-die match of the World Cup between India and New Zealand on Sunday evening will be screened on big screens at various places in Bhopal. A special selfie point with cricket accessories has been developed by MPT at the Drive-in-Cinema of a hotel.

Several hotels and other places have made arrangements for the live telecast. Manager of Drive-in-Cinema, Vipin Katare said that last week’s match between India-Pakistan was well received by the people. “Since then, cricket lovers have been inquiring about booking the match tomorrow. As such, we have decided to screen the match from 7pm,” said Katare.

To add to the excitement, drums and music will be played on every fours and sixes hit during the match, he said. “You will also be able to order your favourite food which will be served in their car,” said Katare.

Checking fitness levels gets easier as app launched on Sports Day

Checking fitness levels gets easier as app launched on Sports Day

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:30.08.2021

Union minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday launched the Fit India Mobile Application at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on National Sports Day.

Accompanied by junior minister Nisith Pramanik, the two ministers also interacted virtually with the captain of the Indian hockey team, Manpreet Singh.

“The Fit India Mobile App brings ease of checking one's fitness levels right into the palm of every Indian. It has some unique features like ‘fitness score’, animated videos, activity trackers and ‘my plan’ catering to (an) individual's specific needs,” Thakur said, even as he demonstrated his own fitness with the help of a skipping rope before the audience that had gathered.

Thakur said PM Modi had launched age-appropriate fitness protocols last year, certified by WHO, and given a fitness mantra of ‘Fitness Ki Dose, Aadha Ghanta Roz’ to the people of the country.

Manpreet Singh lauded the app’s easy-to-use features and its utility in monitoring health parameters.

The apps allow individuals to check their fitness score based on a set of agespecific fitness tests and get specific recommendations on how to improve their fitness levels through physical activities including yoga protocols.

The app also has animated videos to take individuals through the fitness tests.

Thakur also congratulated para-athlete Vinod Kumar for winning a bronze medal in the discus throw event at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics.

“This is turning out to be an epic National Sports Day ! #IND has won it's 3rd Medal at #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics. #VinodKumar delivered a winning throw !Well done & heartiest congratulations!!! Third place medal in Discus Throw F-52 Final event. New Asian Record at 19.91m,” he said on Twitter.

Youth affairs and sports minister Anurag Thakur at the launch of the FIT India app in Delhi on Sunday

Universities should be our oasis in producing Olympians: Thakur

Universities should be our oasis in producing Olympians: Thakur

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

16.08.2021

Sports minister Anurag Thakur has said that Indian universities should give us Olympians if the country has to improve upon its Tokyo Games performance in future Olympic Games. “We need to involve the varsities.

“University should be our oasis of Olympians. If you look globally, look at Stanford, they won 26 medals this time… In the last Olympics in Rio, they won about 27 medals. So we need to learn from them. And that is why Prime Minister Modi started university sports games that are under the Khelo India programme,” Thakur told Times Now’s Rahul Shivshankar.

“One state-one sport, one corporate-one sport. Why not one district-one sport also? We really need to work in that fashion. You look at the small countries and even universities.

They’re working on specific sports and they put their energies, money and infrastructure to win medals in those respective areas. So India also needs to understand which are the games they can do well in,” Thakur added.

Thakur said corporate houses should come forward and adopt Olympic sports. “We need to involve more corporates into this. We need to hold sports federations more accountable and make sport federations more professional in their working and in their approach as well.

“So, the moment we ask the corporate sector to get involved, each corporation should adopt one Olympic discipline and support it with the best of their capabilities at district, state, whatever level they can… We need corporations and business leaders to think sport, if we want our nation to take sports and sportspersons a lot more seriously."

Giving the example of the cricket board (BCCI) Thakur said: “We created a lot of infrastructure in cricket, where we now have a lot of academies, stadiums. Not a single rupee has been spent by any government, it has been created by the BCCI. We can do the same by involving more corporates into this, they can create infrastructure. Globally, you have seen that stadiums are built by many corporations.

“They build them, they own them and give it to the various federations to run them. That can be done here. City corporations can also do it, like the BMC can step forward for instance.”

Thakur said India should look to be among the top 25 countries in the 2028 Olympics.

“When we are celebrating the 75th year of Independence, let us also target for the next 25 years where we want to reach.

“We should have shortterm, mid-term, and longterm goals. As far as the 2028 Olympics is concerned, India should look to be among the top 25 countries and for the next few years we should target being among the top 10 countries in the world.”

Varsity’s cash awards for students with Oly glory

Varsity’s cash awards for students with Oly glory

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Jalandhar: 28.7.2021

As 11 students of Lovely Professional University (LPU), Phagwara, are part of the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Olympics, the varsity has announced cash awards for its students who would win a medal at the mega quadrennial inter-continental sports event.

The university will give Rs 50 lakh to the gold medal winner, Rs 25 lakh to silver medallist and Rs10 lakh each to the bronze medal winners.

LPU chancellor Ashok Mittal said their students were participating in wrestling, hockey, athletics and paralympics and they made 10% of the Indian contingent. “Sports is a huge focus for us and we support and motivate our athletes in all ways possible. We established our high class sports complex at LPU and have created a team of highly qualified national and international trainers and coaches. It is heartening that those efforts are already producing results,’’ he added.

The difference between tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow

The difference between tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow

11.07.2021 

The difference between golfer’s and tennis elbow is mainly to do with which part of the elbow becomes inflamed. In tennis elbow, the inflammation is on the outside of the elbow, while with a golfer’s elbow, the inflammation is on the inner side. Golfer’s elbow can also cause numbness or tingling in your ring and little fingers.

Tennis elbow affects the extensor tendons of the arm which connect to the muscles that stretch your wrist backward and spread your fingers. Golfer’s elbow affects the flexor tendons attached to the muscles that flex your wrist and screw up your fingers, like when you grip something.

— DAILY MIRROR

CRICKET

 

Salem cricketer Natarajan makes family proud on his India debut

Salem cricketer Natarajan makes family proud on his India debut

Senthil.Kumaran@timesgroup.com

Salem: 03.12.2020

When left-arm pacer T Natarajan made his ODI debut for India in Canberra on Wednesday, there was a flurry of accolades coming his way, recognising his journey from obscurity to stardom. The icing on the cake was Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweet: “So moved by the remarkable ascent of #TNatarajan from a life of hardscrabble rural poverty to his India debut in Australia today. May India always offer hope for all its people & may genuine talent always be recognized & given the chance to rise, in all fields. Thanks to #IPL!”

Family members of Natarajan soaked in all the adulation as Natarajan finished with a creditable 2-70 and played a significant role in India’s victory. Talking to TOI, his mother T Shantha saidher son madeChinnappampatty, a small village famous. “Everyone is calling to congratulate my son’s achievement,” she said.

Twenty-eight-year-old Natarajan, belonging to a middle-classweaver family,cametothelimelight when Kings Eleven Punjab auctioned him for ₹3 crore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2017. He played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2020. Natarajan’s father Thangaraj, 59, is a weaver while his mother Shantha, 58 runs a roadside chicken stall. Eldest among five siblings, Natarajan was passionate about cricket since childhood. Despite the family’s financial constraints his parents encouraged him to pursue sports and he started playing state-level cricket in 2014.. Two years later he was in Tamil Nadu Premier League , where his outstanding performance got him an IPL entry.

“Everyone delighted when my brother took the first wicket in the international match,” said Megala, one of his sisters.

MOMENT OF GLORY: T Natarajan’s family members watch the one-day match

வாசிம் அக்ரம் பந்து வீச்சை சச்சினைப் போல் உறுதியாக ஆடிய வீரரைப் பார்த்ததில்லை: சென்னை டெஸ்ட் நினைவலையில் சக்லைன் முஷ்டாக்

கிரிக்கெட் அரங்கில் பிற்பாடு சச்சின் டெண்டுல்கர்-கிளென் மெக்ரா, சச்சின் டெண்டுல்கர் -ஷேன் வார்ன் என்று கிரிக்கெட் மோதலை பெரிதாகப் பேசினாலும் சக்லைன் முஷ்டாக்- சச்சின் டெண்டுல்கர் மோதல் பெரிய சுவாரசியமானது.

அதுவும் 1999-ம் ஆண்டு சென்னையில் அந்த புகழ்பெற்ற டெஸ்ட் போட்டியில் சச்சின் டெண்டுல்கரின் 136 ரன்கள் என்ற நம்பமுடியாத சதத்தை யாரும் அதன் தோல்வித் துயரத்துடன் மறக்கத்தான் முடியுமா?

இந்நிலையில் சச்சின் டெண்டுல்கரின் பிறந்த தினமான இன்று சக்லைன் அந்த டெஸ்ட்டை நினைவுகூர்ந்தார், “1999-ல் அந்த சென்னை டெஸ்ட்டில் நானும் சச்சினும் பேசிக்கொள்ளவே இல்லை, ஏனெனில் இருவரும் ஆட்டத்தில் உன்னிப்பாகக் கவனம் செலுத்தி வந்தோம்.

இருவருமே நாட்டுக்காக போட்டியில் வெல்வதில் கவனமாக இருந்தோம். எங்களது இருதயத்தையும் ஆன்மாவையும் களத்தில் இறக்கியிருந்தோம்.

சச்சின் கிரிக்கெட் கரியரில் இந்த டெஸ்ட் தொடர்பாக என் பெயரும் இணைத்துப் பேசப்படுவது எனக்குப் பெருமையாக உள்ளது. அன்று கடவுள் என் பக்கம் இருந்தார்.

மற்றபடி சச்சின் டெண்டுல்கரின் ஆட்டம் அன்று நம்ப முடியாத ஆட்டம். பந்து ரிவர்ஸ் ஸ்விங் ஆனது, வாசிம் அக்ரம் ரிவர்ஸ் ஸ்விங் வீசி அதனை சச்சின் போல் அவ்வளவு உறுதியுடனும் நம்பிக்கையுடனும் ஆடிய வீரரை நான் பார்த்ததில்லை.

எனக்கும் சச்சினுக்குமான மோதலில் வெற்றி 50:50 என்று தான் கூறுவேன், நானும் அவரை வீழ்த்தியுள்ளேன் அவரும் என்னை பிய்த்து உதறியுள்ளார். சென்னையில் 4ம் நாளில் கூட கடினமான பிட்சில் அவர் சதம் எடுத்தாரே.

என்னுடைய தூஸ்ராவை சரியாகக் கணிப்பவர் சச்சின், கையை நன்றாகப் பார்ப்பார், அவரது கண்கள் அவருக்கு ஒரு வரப்பிரசாதம்.

நான் பந்து வீச சில அடிகள் எட்டிவைக்கும் போதே சச்சின் நான் என்ன வீசப்போகிறேன் என்பதைக் கணித்து விடுவார். அவரது கால் நிலை துல்லியம், திராவிட், அசார் ஆகியோரும் என்னை அருமையாக ஆடியுள்ளனர்.

களத்துக்கு வெளியேயும் சச்சினுடன் நிறைய பழகியிருக்கிறேன், பிரிட்டனில் முஷ்டாக் அகமெட் வீட்டுக்கு அடிக்கடி சென்றுள்ளோம். மிகவும் நயநாகரிகமான,எளிய மனிதர் சச்சின். யார் காலையும் வாரி விடமாட்டார் சச்சின். அவருடன் நேரம் செலவழித்தால் நிறையக் கற்றுக் கொள்ள முடியும்” இவ்வாறு கூறினார் சக்லைன் முஷ்டாக்..

Vibrance 2020: VIT Vellore is new sports champ

The sports events, as part of Vibrance 2020, which began last week, included hockey, volleyball, throwball, tennis, cricket, football, tennis and cyclathon.

Published: 07th February 2020 05:21 AM |

The overall sports championship trophy is handed over to VIT Vellore by Indian cricketer Piyush Chawla at ‘Vibrance 2020’ in VIT Chennai | Ashwin prasath

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Indian cricketer Piyush Chawla handed over the overall sports championship to Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore, at the inaugural function of Vibrance 2020. It is the annual sports and cultural festival of VIT Chennai. The three day event began on Thursday.

The sports events, as part of Vibrance 2020, which began last week, included hockey, volleyball, throwball, tennis, cricket, football, tennis and cyclathon. Over 160 programmes including 21 sports events forms the festival. Over 10,000 participants from various institutions are expected to participate from all over India during the course of the event, said a VIT statement.

Piyush Chawla also signed a cricket bat and ball and handed it over to the sports team of VIT Chennai on the occasion. Students thronged to watch a performance by music composer Devi Sri Prasad. On Thursday, over 300 students competed in the marathon from Kelambakkam to the premises of VIT Chennai. The theme of the marathon was “Save Water Bodies.”

Over Rs 6 lakh worth prize money is up for grabs for students participating in the various competitions at Vibrance 2020. The statement added that the budget of the festival was around Rs 57 lakh. Sekar Viswanathan, Vice President, VIT, Sandhya Pentareddy, Executive Director, VIT and Anand A Samuel, Vice-Chancellor were also present on the occasion.

‘Bigil’ moment: HC lets students play in football tourney
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:29.10.2019

Vijay-starrer ‘Bigil’ is about an all-woman football team making it to top tournaments and winning medals braving all odds.

Two students of Annamalai University earned their own ‘Bigil’ moment by approaching the Madras high court and winning a favourable order, which would help them take part in the south zone and All India University Women’s Football tournament 2019-2020. The tournament is to be held in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

Justice G Jayachandran set aside the university’s decision denying permission to P Juki and M Nandhini to participate in the tournament, and directed the authorities to grant permission to the duo if they are otherwise eligible to participate. The judge passed the order while disposing a plea moved by the two, pursuing M P Ed course in the department of physical education, challenging a communication issued by the university on October 21.

When they sought permission to participate in the competition, the university refused permission stating that the eligibility criteria of Association of Indian Universities restricted candidates who have not crossed 25 years of age, or not exceeding eight years from the date of qualifying in the first admission to the university or college affiliated to the university, from participation.

“Further, the candidates should not have crossed three years after passing the graduate course or equivalent while pursuing postgraduate course,” the communication said. Justifying the denial of permission, the university contended that since it has been more than three years the petitioners graduated, they were not eligible to participate in the tournament.

Opposing the same, the students argued that they have not crossed 25 years of age and hence were eligible to join graduation only in the year 2013, so the eight years embargo will not apply to them. They also relied on a judgment of the Kerala high court dated October 1, 2018, on the same issue, permitting students to participate in the competition.

Concurring with the submissions, Justice Jayachandran cited the Kerala high court judgment and allowed the girls to participate in the tournament.

The court set aside a decision by Annamalai University denying permission to two women for participating in a national football tournament

TN law univ students win sports meet

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:07.09.2019

Students from Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University (TNDALU), Chennai, won the overall championship at the recently concluded SPIRITUS 2019-2020 all India inter-law schools sports meet.

Around 25 law schools and universities from various states participated in the meet held at National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, from August 31 to September

2. TNDALU students won gold medals in table tennis (women), throw ball (women), volleyball, chess, tennis and football (men) and bagged the overall championship and athletics championship awards. They also emerged runners up in swimming events (men & women).

Sindhu’s victory puts India on top of world

First Indian To Win World Championship

Manne.Ratnakar@timesgroup.com 26.08.2019

Even as it was sinking in, PV Sindhu was waking up to a dream. “Finally, I have become a national champion!” she exclaimed. Then suddenly, she and with her, the rest of India was wide wake. “Sorry, sorry, world champion!” she laughed, as she repeated the words, slowly and deliberately, lest it slip away. “World champion...”

All of India should repeat it too. Slowly and deliberately. It won’t slip away. It’s here to stay. Try it. “World champion…” Then do it again, this time with feeling. “Sindhu! World champion!”

In Basel, home of Roger Federer, the master of all the unhurriedness possible in sport, Sindhu was in a tearing hurry on Sunday. Discarding all the nonchalance of Federer’s game, the ethos of a whole town even, Sindhu went for the jugular from the start — her devastating smashes leaving Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara all but broken in a blitzkrieg that lasted no longer than 37 minutes.

Many of us back home hadn’t even settled into our couches, and even before the “Where were you at that moment?” online threads could take shape, a Hyderabad girl – with all her majestic impatience — was giving India our first world champion in badminton. Thirty-seven minutes and just 36 points later, she had rampaged to a 21-7, 21-7 victory – a form of complete dominance and control seldom seen in Indian sport. It was a new Sindhu the world was witnessing. “I kept waiting for this. I lost last year (to Carolina Marin) and the year before last. Finally, I made it,” Sindhu said, flicking away the beads of sweat that had barely begun to form.

Aggressive, precise and attacking the lines, she was the enforcer, an aspect that was hitherto missing from her game. Factor this: Sunday was Sindhu’s third consecutive world final. In 2017, when she let the moment slip against the same opponent, they had engaged in a famous 73-shot rally. This time, eschewing all the tentativeness of her past finals, perhaps the longest exchange she entertained was a 22-shot affair, for the opening point of the opening game. That was it.

So what had changed for the lanky Indian? Perhaps, it was her much-improved fitness. Perhaps, it was her strength-giving come-from-behind victory against Tai Tzu Ying in the quarters that worked wonders to her confidence and enabled Sindhu to switch from a more sedate rallying pattern to a gofor-the-kill approach that worked so well.



Win over Tai was a confidence boost

Never once did Sindhu trail in the blink-and-miss contest as the pain of losing the last two finals almost burst forth in the energy she expressed in her jump smashes and hard pushes, leaving a higher-ranked Okuhara puzzled, looking lost and literally floored on several occasions.

The opening game rally was the only moment which gave some hope to Okuhara. Thereafter, Sindhu stamped her class and authority all the way. An eight-point burst saw her move into an 8-1 lead.

A stunned Okhura could only earn her second point then, the 8-point surge changed the complexion of the game and set the tone for the final.

Sindhu stuck to a strategy of pushing the shuttle to the back of the court and smashing hard whenever she got an opportunity.

Okuhara tried to drag her to the net but Sindhu was up to it as she retrieved quite well at the net. At 16-4, Sindhu produced a delightful crosscourt drop which kissed and moved down the net.

Okuhara tried to get as many points as possible to reduce the gap. But that did not work as Sindhu was bent upon closing the contest as fast as possible. The first game ended with a power-packed smash that almost hit Okuhara. The second game played along the same lines. Though Okuhara tried hard to stay in the contest, Sindhu had raised her game to another level as she took her opponent by the scruff of the neck. A scream of ecstasy and the customary handshake with the shell-shocked Okuhara followed to tell us it was all over.

MOMOTA SHOWS HIS CLASS

Japan’s Kento Momota retained the men’s title by outclassing 22-year-old Dane Anders Antonsen, who had stunned Olympic champion Chen Long in the quarter-finals, 21-9 21-3 in another one-sided match.

The world no.1 needed only 37 minutes to dispatch his opponent as he became the fourth man to win successive world titles.

TIMES AT THE WORLD CUP

LORD, WHAT A FINAL!

Heart-Stopping End As England Win On Boundaries After Both Match, Super Over Are Tied

Shashank.Shekhar@timesgroup.com

London:15.07.2019

It was the mother of all thrillers, a heartstopping drama so intense that you could feel the hallowed pavilions at the Lord’s tremor in agitation. England won the World Cup by the faintest possible margin — the number of boundaries hit by the two teams. England had 26 against 17 by New Zealand. The drama which unfolded here on Sunday has no parallels in cricket, and surely very few in any other sport too.

The match ended on a tie after both teams had batted their 50 overs – New Zealand getting 241/8 and England responding with 241. The Super Over, in operation for the first time in a World Cup final, also finished on a tie, both teams scoring 15 each, which led to the count of boundaries.

New Zealand needed two off the last ball of the Super Over being bowled by Jofra Archer. Martin Guptill pushed the ball towards midwicket and took off for two. But the throw from Jason Roy was good and Jos Buttler broke the stumps with Guptill well short to ignite unprecedented frenzy at the Lord’s.

It was a stroke of luck which helped England tie the score. Needing 15 in the final over, Stokes smote a six off the third ball to make it nine off three. On the next ball, Stokes sent it deep into the midwicket region where Guptill fielded and threw it towards the wicketkeeper’s end. The throw hit the toe of Stokes’ outstretched bat and scooted towards the boundary for four overthrows.

For most of the last hour or so, Lord’s was on the edge of the seat. It was such unbelievable stuff. England’s hero was Stokes whose knock of 84 and his 110-run fifth-wicket stand with Jos Buttler (59 off 60 balls) brought England back into the game. The two crisis men have pulled the team out of a morass on numerous occasion and did it again on the big stage on Sunday.

England captain Eoin Morgan had on Saturday predicted that the final at Lord’s was going to be a scrappy battle. It turned out to be much more than that. After New Zealand had fought their way to a challenging total on a tricky pitch, the underdogs had England in big trouble before Stokes and Buttler did the rescue act.

The Kiwis did not give anything away and were a worthy rivals. It was heartbreaking for them to lose a match like that but they made many more fans with their gritty display.

New Zealand, very competent at making the best of their resources, had to fight tooth and nail to put up some kind of a total on the board. What they managed was thanks to small, perky contributions from several of their batsmen who had to weather an accomplished bowling and fielding performance from the hosts.

Henry Nicholls (55), Kane Williamson (30) and Tom Latham (47) put their hands up for the team. But the Kiwis kept losing wickets every now and then. The biggest partnership of the innings was worth 74, between Nicholls and Williamson for the second wicket. Beyond that, there were several promising stands but nothing more. The combination of a tricky wicket and quality bowling meant the batsmen never felt settled.

Kane Williamson’s astonishing luck with the toss continued as he won his eighth in 10 games in this Cup. He promptly chose to bat.

LAST THROW: Jos Buttler whips off the bails as Martin Guptill falls short of the crease off the final ball of the super over

MOTHER OF ALL DRAMATIC FINISHES!

50TH OVER: England need 15 to win49.1 BOULT TO STOKES: no run, digs out an yorker to extra cover
49.2 Boult to Stokes, no run, digs out yet another yorker to covers
49.3 Boult to Stokes, 6 runs, slogs over midwicket
49.4 Boult to Stokes, 6 runs, slaps a full toss to midwicket, runs two but deflects Guptill throw off his bat for a boundary
49.5 Boult to Stokes, 1 run, run out, hits a yorker to longoff but Santner’s throw takes out his partner Adil Rashid
49.6 Boult to Stokes, 1 run, run out, hits a yorker to longon but Neesham’s throw runs out Mark Wood.
MATCH TIED
SUPER OVER
England innings: 15 runs
0.1 Boult to Stokes, 3 runs, smashes a slower one to backward point, runs three
0.2 Boult to Buttler, 1 run, hits one to deep square leg
0.3 Boult to Stokes, 4 runs, sweeps one for a boundary
0.4 Boult to Stokes, 1 run, slices towards point
0.5 Boult to Buttler, 2 runs, digs one out of blockhole towards cover
0.6 Boult to Buttler, 4 runs, slams a low full-toss to deep square leg
NEW ZEALAND INNINGS: 15 runs
1 wide
0.1 Archer to Neesham, 2 runs, digs it out of the blockhole towards long-off
0.2 Archer to Neesham, 6 runs, slogs one to deep midwicket for six
0.3 Archer to Neesham, 2 runs, hits one to deep midwicket
0.4 Archer to Neesham, 2 runs, to deep midwicket
0.5 Archer to Neesham, 1 run, fails to properly connect a short delivery
0.6 Archer to Guptill, 1 run, plays to deep midwicket but fails to complete the second as Buttler dives to knocks the bails off
SUPER OVER TIED.
RESULT: ENGLAND WIN BECAUSE THEY HIT MORE BOUNDARIES IN THE MATCH

2 Ross Taylor (1002 at 37.11 in 33 matches) has become the second NZ batsman after Stephen Fleming (1075 at 35.83 in

33) to complete 1,000 or more World Cup runs.

—Rajesh Kumar

CAPTAIN’S TAKE

Kiwis used skill and nous to stump India

GRAEME SMITH  11.07.2019

Social media has already cast its opinion on whether Kane Williamson was right to bat first in the semifinal. I would have done the same if I were in that position, if that seemed the best chance of getting an advantage in the game. On the face of it, New Zealand’s choice to bat first before subsequently taking a cautious approach may seem hard to understand. They had to re-assess targets quickly after seeing how the pitch was playing, something that’s difficult to do mid-innings.

The surface took a lot of spin and managed to fox everyone with how slowly it played. The Indian bowlers responded well in those conditions just as we expected them to. Williamson will have thought that anything around 250-270 in a pressure game would always be competitive.

They banked on getting the key wickets they needed to then put the cat among the pigeons. As we saw, it wasn’t an easy pitch to score fluently on with India falling shy of New Zealand. I thought NZ were short in their first innings, but as I’ve been saying all through the competition — they are street smart. They used their skill and nous to outfox that gun Indian line-up and deserve their place in Sunday’s final.

Looking ahead to England’s semi-final, they’ll be happy to be playing Australia at Edgbaston. The hosts certainly had their struggles against the left-arm pace of Mitchell Starc and Jason Behrendorff in the round robin stage, something I’m sure they’ll have worked on, but they’ve regained their momentum.

Australia, who slipped up against South Africa in their last game, will know that big runs up front will help their cause. Chasing under pressure has a week area for England at times in this tournament. TCM