Cricket news round-up – January 12: Milestone for Pujara, World Cup League 2 meets abrupt end

Cheteshwar Pujara scored his 50th First-Class hundred; the inaugural ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 had to be called off midway after the King of Oman passed away; the Playoffs lineups for the 2019 BPL have been decided; and four people were arrested in Bengaluru under allegations of cricket betting.

A fifty for Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara scored 162 not out in a Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka at Rajkot. This was the 50th First-Class hundred of his career. Pujara became the ninth Indian to reach the milestone. Pujara’s is also the best for cricketers active at international level.

Of Pujara’s 50 hundreds, 21 have come for Saurashtra, 18 for India (in Tests), 4 for India A, 2 for India Blue, and 1 for each of Rest of India, West Zone, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Yorkshire.

ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 called off

The ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 came to a premature end following the death of the monarch for 50 years, Sultan Qaboos Bin Said and subsequent national mournings. ICC assured that they would arrange for a replacement schedule at a later time.

As things stand now, USA lead the points table with 12 points, followed by Scotland (9), Namibia (8), Oman (8), UAE (7), and Papua New Guinea (0), in that order. The first four teams will move directly to 2022 Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

Oman were scheduled to play both remaining matches, against the UAE and Namibia.

BPL Playoffs lineups finalised

Khulna Tigers will play Rajshahi Royals for Qualifier 1 of the 2019 BPL, while Chattogram Challengers will play Dhaka Platoon will play in the Eliminator.

The Royals needed to beat the Challengers in the penultimate match of the league phase to make it to Qualifier 1. Shoaib Malik (3-0-11-1) and Mohammad Irfan (4-0-24-1) first helped restrict the Challengers to 155/5 before Liton Das (75* in 48 balls) and Malik (43 in 25) ensured an 8-wicket win.

The result put pressure on the Tigers, who now needed to chase down 206 against the Platoon to reach Qualifier 1. It turned out to be easy thanks to Najmul Hasan Shanto’s 57-ball 115 not out. The Tigers secured the top spot, while the Platoon had to remain content with 14.

Four caught for cricket betting

Four men were arrested in Bengaluru for betting on the BBL 2019-20 match between Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades, according to a report in The Hindu. The four were taken into custody by a team of Central Crime Branch officials. The police recovered ₹1.05 lakh, a laptop, and nine cell phones.

The arrested – Girish, Shivaraj, Dilip Kumar, and Shyam Sundar, are all from Bengaluru.