Page 40 - The Indian EYE 102822

SPORTS OCTOBER 28, 2022 | The Indian Eye 40

Indian fans enjoy during an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 match Zimbabwe’s Brad Evans in action during the Group 2 match between Zimbabwe and Pakistan
at Sydney Cricket Ground (ANI) at Perth Stadium Thursday (ANI)

the way we backed it up in the field and the way A surprise entry in the list of top scorers is
we kept believing, really lost for words,” said the Sikandar Raza from Zimbabwe who has had a
all-rounder. superb 2022 with the bat. The right-hander has
“When we were coming to Australia, I said 652 runs from 19 innings with the highest score
to my captain (Ervine), if you become Man of the of 87, averaging 38.35.
Match, pick any watch from the catalogue and Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka has
I’ll buy you that. But if I win Man of the Match scored 636 runs from 21 T20I innings in 2022. The
(award), you’re going to buy me one. I was remind- aggressive right-hander sits fourth on the top scor-
ing him that he owes me three watches now,” said er list and averages 31.80 with his highest score
a happy Raza, reminding his captain of the watch- being 75runs.
es that he owed him according to a bet they had.
Raza thanked Australian veteran Ricky BCCI introduces equal match-fee for men
Ponting after the match as he had seen a video of and women
the Aussie captain, which motivated him to come
up with a match-winning performance. ndian women cricketers took to social media to
laud the Board of Control for Cricket in India
“I was excited today, and I watched this I(BCCI) for introducing equal match fee for
both men’s and women’s cricketers in a huge step
clip by Ricky Ponting earlier in the morn- to introduce pay equity in the sport.
In a historic move by the Board of Control for
ing, and that motivated me to come up Cricket in India (BCCI), India’s cricket governing
with this performance. I would like to body on Thursday announced an equal match fee

thank Ricky Ponting for that,” thanked the for both men’s and women’s cricketers of India.
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur took to social
Zimbabwe player. media to express happiness at the move, calling it a
“red letter day for women’s cricket in India.
Pakistan’s team’s over-dependence on their “Truly a red-letter day for Women’s Cricket in
opening stand came back to haunt them as Zimba- India with pay parity announced for women and
bwe defeated them in a low-scoring thriller by one Suryakumar Yadav plays a shot during a Group 2 match men. Thank you @BCCI and @JayShah,” tweeted
run to clinch their first Super-12 win of the ongoing between India and Netherlands (ANI) Harmanpreet Kaur.
T20 World Cup on Thursday at the Perth Stadium. Legendary Indian batter and former batter
Pakistan made a mess of a paltry chase as they Mithali Raj also lauded BCCI for the move, say-
suffered a batting collapse and left their bowlers balls to help India post 179/2 in 20 overs. ing that with this move and the Women’s IPL next
to chase and win the match for them. All-rounder In the process, Suryakumar took over Mo- year, the country is stepping into a new era of
Sikandar Raza took three wickets in a short span hammad Rizwan of Pakistan who was at the women’s cricket.
to dismantle the chase. top of the scoring charts with 825 runs from “This is a historic decision for women’s crick-
19 innings this year with a superb average of et in India! The pay equity policy along with the
SKY scores most T20I 51.56. Suryakumar has amassed 867 runs in 25 WIPL next year, we are ushering into a new era for

runs this year innings averaging an impressive 41.28 includ- women’s cricket in India. Thank you @JayShah Sir
ing a century. & the @BCCI for making this happen. Really hap-
ndian star batter Suryakumar Yadav became The batter was also within striking distance to py today,” tweeted Mithali.
the leading T20I run-scorer in 2022 after his occupy the top position in the ICC rankings for BCCI secretary Shah also highlighted the new
Isuperb half-century knock against the Nether- T20I batters but finished a close second earlier. fees for the contracted players and stressed that
lands on Thursday at the ongoing T20 World Cup. He is currently ranked third after Devon Conway the Indian Women’s cricket team would earn the
The explosive batter scored 51* of just 25 took the second spot in the latest ICC rankings. same match fees as their male counterparts.

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