Page 151 - Sports
Mexico beat Uzbekistan to finish 7th in FIH Series Finals
Mexico eked out a hard-fought 4-3 win over Uzbekistan to avoid the wooden-spoon and finish seventh in the FIH Series Finals hockey tournament here Wednesday. In the match between two lowest ranked sides of the tournament, world no. 39 Mexico scored through Maximiliano Mendez (29th minute), Alexander Palma (30th), Yamil Mendez (54th) and Roberto Garcia (59th). Gaybullo Khaytboev (41st), Okhunjon Mirzakarimov (42nd) and Ruslan Satlikov were the goal scorers for 43rd-ranked Uzbekistan. The Uzbeks, thus, finished eighth and last after failing to register a single point in the tournament.
Mission New Zealand: Dhawan injury, weather pose challenge for India
The Indian team's alternative strategy in the absence of an injured Shikhar Dhawan will be put through a stern test by a feisty New Zealand attack ready to ask a few probing questions if weather does not play spoilsport in their World Cup encounter here Thursday. The contest, which could be a curtailed one due to inclement weather, will have a quality Black Caps seam attack ready to make life difficult for a new opening pair that is likely to feature KL Rahul at the top alongside Rohit Sharma. Dhawan has been ruled out of at least the next three games owing to a hairline fracture in his left thumb. New Zealand have had a good record against India at global events. Kane Williamson's men would be more than determined to win four-on-trot and maintain their pole position. Dhawan has unintentionally forced Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri to go for a tactical rejig despite convincing performances in the first two games against South Africa and Australia. If being forced to tinker with a ...
Aussie reject Hazlewood finds World Cup too painful to watch
Australian pace spearhead Josh Hazlewood admits he is barely watching the World Cup as his disappointment at not being selected continues to cause him pain. The 27-year-old was overlooked after being out of action since January with a back injury, as selectors preferred him to focus on getting ready for the Ashes Test series in England, which begins in August. Hazlewood is currently in camp at Brisbane with the Australia A squads -- along with the likes of Peter Handscomb, Travis Head and Marcus Harris -- ahead of their departure for England on Friday for a seven-week tour. Now fully fit, he said he had was trying to avoid the World Cup and direct his energies elsewhere. "I'm trying to focus on what I'm doing up here," he told cricket.com.au Wednesday. "I'll sit down at night and watch a couple of overs but I'm trying to steer clear of it a little bit. "The more you watch something, the more you probably miss it. So I'm just trying to pretend it's not on, to a degree." Instead his ...
5th edition of WBBL to standalone
The fifth edition of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) will be a standalone tournament for the first time in its history.WBBL, which will be followed by the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 Australia, will commence under lights at North Sydney Oval on October 18 and end with the Grand Final on December 8.India batters Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur have competed in the tournament. Last year Mandhana donned Hobart Hurricanes' kit while Harmanpreet sported Sydney Thunders' jersey.Each team will play 14 matches with the finals festival weekend hosted by the top-ranked team, featuring the top four playing off in semi-finals before the finals. 23 of the 59 matches will be broadcast, with the remaining available on cricket.com.au."This is monumental for the women's game. The players showed that last year with more totals of over 150 than the first previous three seasons of the rebel WBBL combined, all culminating into an incredible standalone finals festival weekend," Cricket Australia
Kohli lone cricketer in Forbes list of highest-paid athletes
India skipper Virat Kohli is the only cricketer in the Forbes 2019 list of 100 world's highest-paid athletes.
Reserve day not an option, says ICC as rain wreaks havoc
The International Cricket Council's outgoing Chief Executive David Richardson has said that keeping a reserve day for every rain-affected World Cup match is practically impossible considering the length of the tournament. Two Sri Lanka games --- against Pakistan and Bangladesh in Bristol have been abandoned without a ball being bowled. The other game between South Africa and West Indies in Southampton was called off after 7.3 overs, leading to calls for a reserve day. The game between Pakistan and Australia game at Taunton on Wednesday could also be affected by rain and likewise for Thursday's match between India and New Zealand at Trent Bridge. The mega event, which began on May 30, concludes on July 14. "Factoring in a reserve day for every match at the World Cup would significantly increase the length of the tournament and practically would be extremely complex to deliver," Richardson said in a statement. As per Met department's report, UK is experiencing twice the average rainfall
India aim to avenge warm-up loss against Kiwis (Preview)
India and New Zealand, the only two unbeaten sides in the ongoing World Cup so far, will look to dominate each other and prove a point when they meet on Thursday at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
Natalie Sciver continues to lead Surrey Stars
England all-rounder Natalie Sciver will continue to lead the defending champions Surrey Stars in the fourth and final edition of the Kia Super League (KSL).Sciver will be joined by her fellow national teammates Sarah Taylor, Laura Marsh and Bryony Smith. However, Sophia Dunkley, who has played for Surrey in all three previous editions, has been moved to Lancashire Thunder by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).Mady Villiers and Amy Gordon, who are both part of the England Women's Academy, will return to play for head coach Richard Bedbrook's side as well as Surrey Women wicket-keeper Rhianna Southby, who is part of England's training squad. The current county players in the squad are Surrey Women captain Hannah Jones, Aylish Cranstone, Eva Gray and Grace Gibbs.Following are the 11 of the 15 players named by Surrey, with three overseas players and one county player to be announced in due course: Natalie Sciver (c), Aylish Cranstone, Grace Gibbs, Amy Gordon, Eva Gray, Hannah ...
USA thrash 13 past Thailand ahead of France return to action
The United States began their trophy defence in scintillating style with 13-0 Women's World Cup thrashing of Thailand in a ruthless demonstration of strength to potential quarter-final opponents and hosts France, who return to action on Wednesday against Norway. Three-time champions USA scored 10 goals in the second half in Reims on Tuesday as they eclipsed Germany's 11-0 win over Argentina in 2007 and shattered their own previous tournament best of 7-0. Alex Morgan starred with five goals, Rose Lavelle and Samantha Mewis netted twice each and Lindsey Horan, Megan Rapinoe, Mallory Pugh and Carli Lloyd also got on the scoresheet in an embarrassingly one-sided Group F encounter watched by more than 18,000. The Americans hit back after at suggestions they could have eased up and saved 34th-ranked Thailand from complete humiliation. "This is a world championship so every team that is here has been fantastic to get to this point. To be respectful to opponents is to play hard against ...
Bigger bash: Australia's women's BBL gets own timeslot
Women's cricket in Australia received a boost Wednesday when the Twenty20 Women's Big Bash League moved to its own window away from the men. Until now, the tournament has been played in tandem with the men from December to February, but this year's fifth instalment will have its own timeslot from October 18 to December 8. Cricket Australia's head of fan engagement Anthony Everard called it "monumental for the women's game", as it allows the focus to rest entirely on female cricketers. "It's something we've been building towards and last year's final series has proved that the WBBL is ready to stand on its own two feet," he said. Televised content nearly doubled last season with 23 matches broadcast on free-to-air and pay-TV. To build on this, this year seven consecutive family-friendly "festival weekends" will be broadcast live, with all remaining matches streamed on cricket.com.au. Each of the eight city-based franchises will play 14 matches with the final hosted by the top-ranked ...
Woods, Koepka ready for classic US Open test
The 119th US Open at Pebble Beach has the makings of a classic as Tiger Woods returns to the scene of a signature triumph to take on a new generation of stars led by two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka. Koepka, 29, has a chance to do what only one golfer has done before him -- win a third straight US Open title. It's been more than 100 years since Willie Anderson accomplished the feat, and Koepka says there's no better place to chase history than Pebble Beach, where five prior editions have produced enduring major championship memories. "It's just such a special place," Koepka said of the scenic course hugging the Pacific coast. "Just the history behind it. You look at the guys that have won here at Pebble, some of the greatest players that have ever played the game." Jack Nicklaus won the first US Open staged at Pebble Beach in 1972. Ten years later it was Tom Watson and in 1992 Tom Kite. Woods triumphed in 2000 by a crushing 15 strokes -- still a major championship record -- ..
Italy edge Bosnia as Germany and France stroll
Italy needed a late winner from Marco Verratti to defeat a determined Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-1 in Euro 2020 qualifying Tuesday, while Germany and France piled up the goals in lopsided victories. Edin Dzeko fired Bosnia in front in Turin, but Lorenzo Insigne equalised shortly after half-time and Verratti curled home on 86 minutes to earn a fourth win in as many attempts for Roberto Mancini's side in Group J. "I expected the difficulties, but we showed the strength and the conviction to overturn it," said Mancini. "The important thing is that we are first in the group." World champions France rebounded from last weekend's defeat in Turkey with a trouble-free 4-0 win away to minnows Andorra. "We reacted well after not playing to our usual level on Saturday against a good Turkey team. It looked easy today and the intensity wasn't the same but we played really well," said France coach Didier Deschamps. He retained just four of those who began Saturday's 2-0 loss in Konya, handing first ...
Euro 2020: Belgium, Germany win big; France rebound
Belgium, Germany, Italy and Northern Ireland all won their respective matches to stay perfect in the Euro 2020 qualifiers, while World Cup champions France regained their form after an unexpected loss to Turkey.
'Should England be banned from hosting cricket tournaments?'
Just like every other cricket fan, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is also disappointed by rain playing a spoilsport in the ongoing World Cup in England and Wales.
Jemimah Rodrigues becomes third Indian to play KSL
Jemimah Rodrigues has become the third Indian batter to play Kia Super League (KSL) after Yorkshire Diamonds signed her for the upcoming fourth and final edition of the league.Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur are the other two Indian cricketers who have competed in the history of this T20 league hosted in England.Diamonds announced its 15-member squad which also features big names including Australia wicket-keeper batter Alyssa Healy and England fast bowler Katherine Brunt.The 18-year-old, who made her international debut in February 2018, has a strike rate of 123.57 in just 25 T20Is. Recently, the batting all-rounder had an impressive stint in a three-match ODI series in the backyard of New Zealand, scoring a career-best unbeaten 81 which helped India secure a 2-1 series victory.Mumbai-born Rodrigues played for Harmanpreet-led Supernovas in the Women's T20 Challenge in Jaipur and was named Player of the Tournament after amassing 123 runs in three ...
Unlike Indians, Pakistani fans won't boo Smith: Sarfaraz
Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed believes Australia's Steve Smith will not be booed by the Pakistani fans when the two teams face each other in their World Cup tie at the Cooper Associates County Ground, here on Wednesday.
Filipe Luis to decide future after Copa America
Brazil's Atletico Madrid defender Filipe Luis has said that he will decide his future after the Copa America amid interest from teams in Europe and Brazil.
Factoring in reserve days would be extremely complex to deliver: ICC
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday said that factoring in reserve days would increase the length of the ongoing World Cup and would pose logistical issues, despite rain playing spoilsport for the second consecutive day in the tournament."Factoring in a reserve day for every match at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup would significantly increase the length of the tournament and practically would be extremely complex to deliver," outgoing ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said in a statement.Several teams have criticised the ICC for not keeping reserve days for every match in the league after three games were washed out, the most ever recorded in a single World Cup tournament.On June 7, the match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was called off due to inclement weather.On Monday, the South Africa-West Indies tie was also abandoned without a single ball being bowled. The tie between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh too saw no result on Tuesday due to the relentless rains.Defending .
Social media flooded with Pant memes after WC call up
With Rishabh Pant set to join the Indian team in the UK for the World Cup as cover for an injured Shikhar Dhawan, funny posts filled social media, with fans posting tongue-in-cheek pictorial messages as to how the youngster was waiting for his chance with bated breath.
Rishabh Pant to fly in as cover for Shikhar Dhawan
Young Rishabh Pant is set to go to England as cover for the injured Shikhar Dhawan even though the latter will continue to stay with the team and undergo treatment for his injury.