Page 133 - Sports

Kerala Blasters ink 5-year deal with Jain University

Indian Super League (ISL) outfit Kerala Blasters FC (KBFC) has announced a five-year partnership with the deemed-to-be-university run by the Jain Group, which has emerged as of the top educational institutions in this category.

CWC'19: Pakistan win toss against India, opt to bowl first

Pakistan won the toss and asked India to bat first in the highly-anticipated World Cup clash here at Old Trafford on Sunday.India made one change in their playing XI, Shikar Dhawan was ruled out after being struck on his finger during the match against Australia on June 9, Vijay Shankar replaced him.Out of three, the Virat Kohli-led team has won two matches in the World Cup so far. They defeated South Africa and Australia, while their match against New Zealand was abandoned due to rain.On the other hand, Pakistan has just won one match in the tournament. They defeated hosts England but suffered defeat at the hands of West Indies and Australia. Their match against Sri Lanka was a no result due to showers.Following are the India's and Pakistan's playing XI:India- Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar.Pakistan- Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk), Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar

Woodland hangs on for one-shot lead over Rose going into US Open 4th rd

Gary Woodland delivered a gritty back nine display Saturday, coming up with key par saves in a two-under 69 to stay one stroke in front of Justin Rose heading into the fourth round of the US Open at Pebble Beach. Woodland, a three-time US PGA Tour winner in search of his first major title, finished 54 holes with on 11-under 202 to stay in front of former US Open champion Rose, who capped his three-under 68 with a birdie at 18 for a 10-under total of 203. It was another three strokes back to a group headed by two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka, who stayed within striking distance of a fifth major title with a 68 for seven-under 206. Woodland, who stretched his two-shot overnight lead to as many as four on the front nine, led Rose by three after a birdie at 11. He was facing a dropped shot at 12 after finding the rough on the lip of a bunker, but chipped in to save par, preserving a two-shot lead as Rose drained a nine-foot birdie putt. After rolling in a four-foot par-saving ...

WI have the firepower to go all the way in WC: Lloyd

They may have won just one match so far but legendary Clive Lloyd feels the West Indies have got the firepower in both their batting and bowling to go all the way in the ongoing World Cup. West Indies have won one match out of five till now, having lost two while the other two were wash-outs. "Eleven points will probably be enough to get a Team into the top four, and considering they still have the likes of New Zealand and India to play, it is now or never," Lloyd wrote in a column for the ICC website. Lloyd, who captained West Indies to World Cup victories in 1975 and 1979, however admitted that it is high time that the Caribbeans come out fighting and show what they are made of. "Defeats and bad days are always going to happen in a tournament like this, and now we just have to hope that the West Indies have got all of theirs out of the way. "They need to win nearly every group game from here on if they are to have a chance of making the semi-finals," wrote Lloyd. The 74-year-old ...

Twitterati eager for India vs Pakistan clash, pray for clear skies

With ICC Cricket World Cup 2019's highly anticipated clash between India and Pakistan set to take place in Manchester on Sunday, social media is buzzing with enthusiasts hoping for their teams to win.Being one of the most fiercely contested rivalries in the sport; it would be fair to say that cricket fans of both the nations as well as throughout the world will be glued to their TV sets.Twitterati can't hold their excitement as they eagerly await the high octane clash between the two cricketing heavyweights with #IndiaVsPakistan emerging as the top worldwide trend on Twitter:"Excited for the #indiaVsPakistan match on Sunday. looking forward to seeing deserted roads #BleedBlue @WorldCup_Score", wrote a user."Today is the BIGGEST game in sport!" wrote, Kevin Pietersen, former England Batsman.Cricketing legend Brian Lara has also joined the widely anticipated clash:Indian sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik gave a tribute to the rivalry in his own unique style:Shiv Sena's Priyanka Chaturvedi .

Fans in Manchester confident of India's win over Pak, pray for rain to stay away

Indian fans who arrived to witness the India-Pakistan clash are confident that Men in Blue will defeat the neighbours for the seventh consecutive time in the ICC Cricket World Cup history here on Sunday.Fans outside Old Trafford stadium are highly charged for the encounter and are hoping for rain to stay away from Manchester."We are hoping that it will not rain and we only want a win from team India nothing less than that," Abhinav, a fan, said."We are hoping that India will win and we want the full match to take place, we don't want rain to dampen the fun," another supporter, Vivek, said."I want the match to happen and I'm confident that India will definitely win it. I want India to lift the World Cup and I'm very excited for the clash. It is not the final of the tournament but also not any other match," Ankur, another enthusiast said.Although the weather of Manchester will play a big role in the match as rain is predicted during the match."Thankfully the weather is pretty good and ..

PM Imran Khan's advise to Pakistan ahead of clash with India

Ahead of the highly-anticipated World Cup match with India, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday advised team skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed to opt for batting first if they win the toss.In a series of tweets on Sunday, Khan, who led Pakistan to a Cricket world cup victory in 1992, suggested Sarfaraz to pick only specialist bowlers and batsman, in consideration to the intensity of the match"Sarfaraz must go in with specialist batsmen and bowlers because "Raillu Kattas" rarely perform under pressure - especially the intense kind that will be generated today. 2. Unless pitch is damp, Sarfaraz must win the toss & bat," Khan wroteThe cricket legend recalled how the game has transformed over the years, especially considering the mental pressure that the players face today."When I started my cricketing career I assumed success was 70% talent & 30% mind. By the time I finished playing cricket, I felt it was 50-50 ratio. But now I tend to agree with my friend Gavaskar it's 60% ...

Virat and Rohit's coaches confident of India's win against Pakistan

In the much-awaited World Cup game between rivals India and Pakistan, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's coaches are confident of victory for the Men in Blue.Rajkumar Sharma, skipper Kohli's coach, termed the clash highly anticipated and adviced team India to not panic."It is a highly-anticipated match as it is happening after a long time so people around the world are eagerly waiting for the clash," Rajkumar told ANI.India should play their natural game and should take the pressure on them as they are the better team than Pakistan, he said."India should play on their potential and should not panic and should hold their nerve as they have performed well in the last couple of years. People are highly excited as in both the country cricket is treated as a religion. Both the teams will try to win the game," he explained.Rohit's coach Dinesh Lad suggested fans to treat the clash as a game, not war."Everybody sees India-Pakistan match as a war but it is just a cricket game. Winning and losing .

UK peers clash over 'cricket test' for diaspora ahead of India vs Pak World Cup game

Peers in the House of Lords have clashed over the relevance of the so-called "cricket test" of loyalty, aimed at immigrants to Britain, ahead of the big India versus Pakistan World Cup clash in Manchester on Sunday. Lord Norman Tebbit, former Conservative Party chairman and the architect of the concept in the 1990s, has claimed that the test of immigrant loyalty to the England team over teams from their countries of origin is far from outdated, as claimed by Indian-origin peer Lord Jitesh Gadhia recently. The test isn't outdated. It still asks of those crowds: who is your priority? The country you have come to, or the country from which you came, Tebbit told The Financial Times'. It still gives me a bit of concern to the degree at which descendants of people who came here are not yet quite certain that their roots go down deeper here, he said. Gadhia challenged this characterisation, which he says unfairly questions the loyalties of British Asians, the largest group of cricket fans ...

It's Toyota v Toyota as dawn breaks in Le Mans

The pole-sitting Toyota of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez led the Le Mans 24 Hour Race early Sunday as the Japanese manufacturer stayed on course for a predictable back-to-back win. After some 15 hours, they had a lead of just one minute, four seconds over the other Toyota hybrid of Fernando Alonso, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima who triumphed 12 months ago. Three laps off the pace was the Rebellion of Thomas Laurent, Nathanael Berthon and Gustavo Menezes. "The gap is relatively small at the moment and many things can happen," said Japan's Nakajima. "There's a long way to go still but I'm happy with how it's gone so far." Only five of the eight cars in top LMP1 category remained as dawn broke on Sunday. The SMP Racing car of Stephane Sarrazin, Egor Orudzhev and Sergey Sirotkin was forced to abandon the race at around 2:00 am as it was in third place. With Orudzhev at the wheel, it went off the track and was too damaged to continue. In total, nine out of the 61 .

Rain threat looms large as fans gear up for high-voltage Ind-Pak clash

Predictions of rain during the course of the much-awaited India-Pakistan match on Sunday is keeping everyone on the edge. Prayers have started and fingers are crossed as this is not just any other match.

Naib urges Afghanistan batsmen to keep calm, play full 50 overs

Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib has urged his his batsmen to remain calm in the middle and play full 50 overs after yet another collapse saw them go down to South Africa by nine wickets in a World Cup match. Put into bat under cloudy skies, Afghanistan negotiated the new ball brilliantly, surviving Kagiso Rabada's natural seam and probing length but after a second rain delay, they lost five wickets for eight runs to eventually get all out for 125. A sudden collapse is becoming a worrying trend for Afghanistan, who fell from 66 for no loss to 70 for 4 against New Zealand last week, and Naib asked his batsmen to control their nerves. "Every time I'm saying to the batsman, control your nerves. We need calm cricket in the middle. Everyone is trying to put a score on the board so we have an opportunity to defend it," said Naib. "We did not play a 50-over game because we did not last. We have played a lot of cricket in the last few years but there is pressure on the team. We lost the toss

CWC'19: Fans across the country pray for India's win against Pakistan

Ahead of the highly-anticipated World Cup clash between India and Pakistan on Sunday, cricket lovers across the country are praying for Men in Blue's victory.From performing havans to special puja rituals, cricket fervour has gripped the country with hype building up for the much-awaited match. Holding tricolors, bats and posters of their favourite players, excited fans are going all out to wish team India for the big day."On the occasion of India-Pakistan match, cricket lovers of Kashi (Varanasi) joined together at Panchganga Ghat (where five rivers meet) to offer prayers to mother Ganga and Baba Vishwanath for India's victory," Acharya Pandit Rajendra Trivedi told ANI.Cricket lovers in Prayagraj offered prayers to 'Indra Devta' (Rain God) as weather forecast suggests it might rain in Manchester, the venue of the match.In Moradabad and Kanpur fans performed hawans for India's victory against Pakistan holding posters of Virat Kohli's and MS Dhoni.Young cricketers in Bhopal are ...

If fit I would like to play all WC matches: Starc

In pole position at top of the table to make the World Cup semi-finals, Australia must be tempted to give their key pacer Mitchell Starc a break this week, but the fast bowler said he has no intention of resting. Starc, who is now joint number two on the all-time list of Australian World Cup wicket takers alongside Brett Lee, said he would not like to take a break considering that he is currently leading the chart with 13 wickets. "If I'm fit I'd like to play all the games. It's not up to me but it's the World Cup. I definitely won't be putting my hand up to rest," Starc was quoted as saying by ICC website. Australia have won four out of their five matches at the World Cup, losing just one so far. Strac, who starred with figures of 4/55 during Australia's 87-run win over Sri Lanka here on Saturday, said: "I'm just glad we won." Asked about how he has managed to rise to the occasion throughout the tournament with similar breakthrough spells against West Indies and Pakistan, and now Sri

All-rounder Morris credits Gibson for bowling success

South Africa all-rounder Chris Morris has credited head coach Ottis Gibson for making him a better bowler. The Proteas finally banked their first victory of the Cricket World Cup with a nine wicket win over Afghanistan here on Saturday. And Morris played his role, with 3/13 his best figures of the tournament. The 32-year old all-rounder was a late addition to Faf du Plessis' team, replacing Anrich Nortje, who was ruled out with a hand injury. And Gibson, a former pacer himself, has worked hard to establish his place in a squad that have been hit with injuries to their frontline bowling attack, Dale Steyn flying home with a shoulder injury and Lungi Ngidi still on the sidelines with a hamstring problem. "There are a lot less worms in my head on the cricket field these days. The job I was given by Ottis was quite a clear-cut one. If I stick to that, it's a job I think I can do," said Morris. "I have worked quite nicely with Ottis in the last two weeks. We have found something in the ...

How Finch fought back from a dreadful Australian summer

Aaron Finch says it was a slight change in mindset and technique that helped him overcome a dismal Australian summer that even raised questions over his place in the ODI side, both as player and captain. The Australian skipper is now back to his best and bludgeoned 153 from only 132 balls at the Oval on Saturday to lead the defending champions to an 87-run win over Sri Lanka. He is now the top run scorer in the World Cup, has equalled Jason Roy for the highest individual score of the tournament so far and also overtaken Ricky Ponting for highest individual score by an Australian captain at a World Cup. All of that comes after a miserable summer back in Australia that saw him dropped from the Test side and fear for his ODI captaincy. But a change in mindset has yielded rewards when it counts most. "My technique has tightened up slightly, there are a few technical things I have worked one. Sometimes you change some things but you don't get rewarded straight away for the work you put in .

Venezuela, Peru play scoreless draw in Copa America

Venezuela and Peru played to a 0-0 draw in their opening match at the Copa America, a Group A contest.

Messi regrets Argentina's 0-2 loss to Colombia

Lionel Messi has regretted Argentina's loss in their Copa America opener against Colombia and said that the team must take in the positive aspects of the match and guaranteed that there would be many chances to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Copa America: Colombia beats Messi's Argentina 2-0

Even the presence of star footballer Lionel Messi couldn't stop Argentina from going down 2-0 to Colombia on the first day of Group B matches in the Copa America here.

Sangakkara unhappy with playing condition in England

Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara is disappointed with the variations in wickets at different venues in England, where the 2019 edition of the ICC World Cup is underway and matches are also being affected due to rain.