Litchfield's 119 propels Australia to 338 in World Cup semifinal against sloppy India
Navi Mumbai (PTI): Phoebe Litchfield’s scintillating 119 and half-centuries from venerable Ellyse Perry (77) and Ashleigh Gardner (63) helped Australia set a 339-run target against a sloppy India in the second Women’s World Cup semifinal here on Thursday.
If not for a tidy third spell of 3-0-9-2 in which Shree Charani (2/49) dismissed Beth Mooney (24) and an in-form Annabel Sutherland (3), Australia might have finished with far more than they managed.
While the left-arm spinner displayed great control to help India pull things back in control, the other Indian bowlers struggled on a track which offered no assistance and several elementary errors in the fielding made matters worse for the hosts.
In fact, Charani’s spell came amid a slowdown for Australia, who had slipped from 220 for two to 265 for six at one stage but Gardner’s quickfire 63 off 45 balls, featuring four sixes and as many fours, powered them past 300.
Australia were bowled out for 338 with one ball left in their innings.
It all began with India captain Harmanpreet Kaur spilling a regulation catch in the third over to give Alyssa Healy a lifeline. But the Australian captain, coming back into the playing XI, fell cheaply in the sixth over.
Undeterred from an early blow, Litchfield’s third ODI ton which came off a mere 77 balls, set the platform for Australia to launch themselves to a huge total.
The 22-year-old came into this knockout game with only a fifty in her account so far in the competition, but batted as if she was always in a purple patch.
There wasn’t an area which Litchfield didn’t explore for runs and there was hardly a stroke she did not execute to perfection.
A fine exponent of the reverse-sweep, Litchfield thought she had played one straight to Amanjot Kaur off Charani on the final ball of the 16th over when she was on 62 and walked back, only to be recalled by the umpires for the ball had hit the turf before flying into the hands of the fielder at short third man.
Litchfield's high quality knock included 17 fours and three sixes. Her lofted hits over the infield in the cover region were as spectacular as the two sixes she hit down the ground, one of which was hit on the second ball of the 27th over off Deepti Sharma.
Litchfield put on 155 for the second wicket before missing a lap shot off Amanjot with Perry, who made a valuable 77 off 88 balls (6x4s, 2x6s).
India needed a tidy effort upfront in the field but they were simply shabby.
An early howler notwithstanding, Gaud removed Healy when the batter played one onto her middle stump in the sixth over right before a short rain intervention.
Despite Healy’s fall early on, India needed to be disciplined in the field as well as with the ball. But Gaud (158) was inconsistent with her lines, Renuka could not find the familiar in-swing while India’s highest wicket-taker Deepti (2/73) had to contend with two late wickets.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
