Smriti Mandhana smashes joint fastest T20 fifty

Smriti Mandhana smashes joint fastest T20 fifty

Left handed Indian batter Smriti Mandhana hits joint fastest T20 fifty in the women's cricket. She achieved this feat in KIA Super league when she was batting for Western Storm in a rain shortened match of 6 overs. Mandhana took just 18 balls to equal the record of New Zealand's Sophie Devine.

Mandhana hitting the ball. 

Image source- www.cricketcountry.com

The match between Western Storm(West) and Loughborough Lightning (Lough) was scheduled on 29th July. Lough won the toss and decided to bowl. The match got shortened to 6 overs per side due to rain. Smriti took on the bowlers early and remained not out at 52 of 19 balls. West's score was 85-2 after the innings.

Sophie Devine was present in the opposition team and made 46 runs in her innings but couldn't take her team to the victory. Lough's finals score was 67-0.  As the result, West won the match by 18 runs.

Mandhana is the first Indian women to play in Women's English Premier League. This player is a gem in the Indian women's team. She is an emerging talent who has bagged 3 ODI centuries in One Day Cricket. 

France recreates history!

France recreates history at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

France defeats Croatia by 4-2 in the World Cup final and wins the World cup for the second time, after 1998. The underdogs- Croatia played extremely well but would have to settle as runner-ups.

France lifting their 2nd crown.
Image source- www.telegraph.co.uk

About the game:

France took an early lead through an own goal from Mario Mandzukic (Croatian forward) in the 18th minute. Ivan Perisic equalised well for Croatia in the 28th minute but, Antoine Griezmann reestablished the French lead. It was France 2 and Croatia 1 at the end of 1st half.

Croatians were on the attack but Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé enlarged the lead for France in the second half. French men started realising that their time is coming! Though Mario Mandzukic scored a goal in the 69th minute, Croatia trailed by 2 goals at the end of the match. 

The Final score was 4-2.

A hard fought journey of the Croatians came to an end. They trailed in every knockout match in this world cup and won every of that except the final, where it mattered the most. It would have been a shocking night if Croatia would have won it but rather I would have loved that night.

Next was the presentation ceremony in which the World Cup was awarded to France and few awards were presented to players. The list is as follows:-

1. Young Player of the tournament-  Kylian Mbappé.

2. Golden Ball Winner- Luka Modric.

3. Golden Boot Winner- Harry Kane.

4. Golden Glove Winner- Thibaut Courtois.