Kohli loses top spot to Smith in Test rankings
DUBAI: India skipper Virat Kohli lost the top spot in the ICC Test Player Rankings after managing only 21 runs in the first Test which his side lost to New Zealand by 10 wickets in Wellington.
Kohli, who has 906 points, slipped to the second position in the list which also features Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Mayank Agarwal at the eighth, ninth and 10th place respectively.
Kohli’s slump meant Australia’s Steve Smith was back on top of the list for the eighth time after first occupying the top position in June 2015. The last batsman apart from Smith and Kohli to be No 1 is New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, for an eight-day period in December 2015.
BCCI PAYS STATE UNITS THEIR DUES
MUMBAI: A majority of the BCCI state associations who submitted their statement of accounts received the first instalment of their share of BCCI profits that had been withheld for the past three years.
An ad hoc advance, amounting to ₹ 10,80,00,000 has been paid to most of the state units while some have received less on a case-to-case basis.
Following a Supreme Court order, the state bodies had stopped getting the annual share from BCCI profits, since October 2016, for non-compliance. When the BCCI was run by Committee of administrators (COA), only the organizational cost of hosting matches were provided to the state units.
Each state unit receives about ₹30 crores as their share, and are expecting a credit of anything in the region of ₹90-100 crores for the past three years. But following the North Eastern state units added in the BCCI fold, the final figure of division of profits, remains to be ascertained.
DU PLESSIS RESTED FOR AUS ODI SERIES
JOHANNESBURG:FAF du Plessis will not play for South Africa in a three-match ODI series against Australia but remains part of the country’s future plans, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Wednesday. Du Plessis, who stepped down from the captaincy in all forms of the game earlier this month, is being rested along with recent regular players in Rassie van der Dussen and Dwaine Pretorius, according to a CSA statement.
Squad: Quinton de Kock (captain, wicketkeeper), Temba Bavuma, Beuran Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen (wkt), Keshav Maharaj, Janneman Malan, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lutho Sipamla, Jon-jon Smuts, Kyle Verreynne (wicketkeeper)
LANKA BEAT WINDIES TO CLINCH SERIES
HAMBANTOTA, SRI LANKA: Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis hit centuries as Sri Lanka thrashed West Indies by 161 runs in the second one-day international to clinch the series on Wednesday.
Fernando, who blasted 127, and Mendis, who made 119, put on 239 runs in Sri Lanka’s highest third-wicket stand as the hosts amassed 345 for eight after being put into bat in Hambantota. Wrist spinners Wanindu Hasaranga and Lakshan Sandakan took three wickets each as Sri Lanka bowled out the visitors for 184 in 39.1 overs and take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the threematch series after edging the first game by one wicket.