Page 165 - Sports
India opt to bat against Australia (Toss)
India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat against Australia in a group stage game of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at the Kennington Oval, here on Sunday.
South Africa face uphill task vs West Indies (Preview)
After three consecutive defeats, South Africa will eye their first win of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 when they face West Indies at the Hampshire Bowl, here on Monday. After a below par show so far, the Proteas desperately need a win to stay in contention for a spot in the semi-finals.
Kohli wins toss, elects to bat against Australia
India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat against Australia in an ICC World Cup match, here Sunday. India have fielded an unchanged side which beat South Africa in Southampton in their tournament-opener. Australia, who won both their previous games, are also unchanged. Teams: India: Virat Kohli (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah. Australia: Aaron Finch (C), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa.
Turkey stun France 2-0 in Euro 2020 qualifier
Turkey has maintained their 100 per cent record in the Euro 2020 qualification group H with an impressive 2-0 win at home over France.
Vaughan picks his six J's for Ashes series
Former England player Michael Vaughan is impressed with his team's performance in the ongoing World Cup and has taken no time to pick his six J's for the forthcoming Ashes series.Vaughan picked six players from the team whose names start from the alphabet 'J', namely: Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, James Vince, and Jason Roy to play in the upcoming Ashes series against Australia."J Root,J Bairstow,J Buttler,J Archer,J vince & J Roy should all play in the #Ashes me thinks .... Anymore Js I have missed !!!!," Vaughan tweeted.All the six players mentioned above are there in the England squad playing in the premier tournament and most of them have contributed substantially in the quadrennial tournament as England won two matches out of three.Jason Roy and Joe Root smashed their respective half-centuries in the opening match of the World Cup to help their side post a total of 311 runs. Whereas, Jofra Archer, in the same match, clinched three wickets and gave ...
Eye on semifinal spot, India take on Uzbekistan in final pool match
India will start overwhelming favourites against Uzbekistan when the hosts take on their lower-ranked rival to seal a semifinal spot in the FIH Series Finals hockey tournament, here Monday. After thrashing Russia 10-0 in their tournament-opener, world no. 5 India scrapped past 21st ranked Poland 3-1 in the second match. India are now sitting atop Pool A with maximum points from two games and are virtually assured of a direct berth in the semi-finals because of a better goal difference. But they cannot afford to be complacent against world no. 43 Uzbekistan in their final Pool A match as two places are up for grabs from this event for the FIH Olympic Qualifiers, to be held in October-November this year. "World rankings do not matter at all as the gap between teams are very small. Rankings are there only for the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to place teams in certain order," India coach Graham Reid had said. After a clinical performance against Russia, the patchy show against ...
PSG expect Neymar to recover in four weeks
Neymar is expected to be sidelined for four weeks by the ankle injury that has ruled him out of the Copa America with Brazil, his club Paris Saint-Germain said Saturday. Two club doctors diagnosed his injury as a "sprain of the lateral ligament" in his right ankle, adding he would not require surgery and would instead receive "conservative treatment". Neymar was ruled out of the Copa America after hurting himself during the 2-0 win over Qatar in a friendly on Wednesday, capping a nightmare year for the world's most expensive player who faces accusations of rape which he strongly denies. A distraught-looking Neymar covered his face with his hands as he sat on the bench after hobbling from the field in the 20th minute. His place in the Brazil squad will be taken by Chelsea's Willian. The four-week timeline for Neymar's recovery would see him return in time for the start of the new French season, which begins over the weekend of August 10-11.
Had to convince everyone in team to let me bat at three: Shakib
Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan says he is relishing his promotion to number three in the batting order, having scored half centuries in his last four ODIs. Shakib has now passed 50 in all three matches of the World Cup so far and the promotion from number five to number three in the batting order is clearly paying dividends. The all-rounder, who also opened the bowling against England here on Saturday, admits he had to convince everyone else in the squad he was worthy of the batting promotion. "Yeah, (I needed to convince) everyone. Because if I don't score runs in a single match, they would think he should be batting at number five he's better down there. It is different. You need to face some different challenges. "But I'm enjoying at this moment, but having said that, it's just the start, I need to contribute as much as I can with both bat and ball," said Shakib whose 121 against went in vain as Bangladesh lost by 106 runs. Shakib is in fine form with the bat but he ..
Barty routs Vondrousova to win French Open
Australia's Ashleigh Barty won the French Open, winning her maiden Grand Slam singles title, with a lopsided victory over Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.
Chronicling India's journey through the World Cups
Book: Cricket World Cup: The Indian Challenge; Author: Ashis Ray; Publisher: Bloomsbury; Price: Rs 499
Southgate effaces rumours regarding his England departure
England national football team manager Gareth Southgate has no hankering of leaving his duty for any club as he said he is committed to England."I'm committed to England, simple as that. I don't need to hedge my bets in keeping doors open or keeping things alive. There's no way that I would leave England at this point in time, to take any job," Goal.com quoted Southgate as saying.With this, Southgate swept away all the speculation regarding his move to Chelsea and said he is focusing on European Championship and making England a best possible team."The only thing on my mind is that we've got a European Championship next summer and we've got to keep improving to be the best possible team we can be for this country. My sole focus is producing the best team possible for England," he said.Apart from shedding light on his future, Southgate also opined over his assistant Steve Holland's future saying that he too will stay."I'm sure that at some point in the future [Holland] is going to want
Martino aims to do well in Gold Cup rather than in friendlies
Although Mexico manager Tata Martino, who took the charge at the beginning of 2019, won all the three matches he guided in, he aims to do well in the Gold Cup rather than in friendlies."I'm one of those who things the best lessons and way to see exactly where we're at - it's not that I want to lose - but I think defeats give you more than victories. Victories make you skip over some questions that have to do with the football, and things outside the football. And sometimes the defeats put us in the true situation of how we're doing in the process, if we're as solid as we think we are. With wins, it's easy to put in too much praise," Goal.com quoted Martino as saying.The Gold Cup is set to start on June 16 and ahead of the tournament, Mexico will face Ecuador in friendlies on Monday. Whereas, in the Gold Cup, Mexico will open their campaign against Cuba followed by matches against Canada and Martinique in the tournament.Martino feels that witnessing a defeat in the friendlies have ...
Rashid should be fully fit for South Africa clash: Naib
Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib is expecting his main strike bowler Rashid Khan to be fit for the side's next World Cup game against South Africa on June 15, following a blow to his head while batting against New Zealand. Star spinner Rashid did not come out to bowl after being hit on the head by a sharp Ferguson bouncer in the first innings. Afghanistan eventually suffered their third loss in a row here on Saturday. Rashid underwent a concussion test and thereafter it was decided that he would not take the field for the remainder of the game. However, Naib is not too worried over Rashid's fitness as Afghanistan's next game is a week away, giving him plenty of time to recover. "He's feeling now better. The doctor said don't go to the field but now he's feeling well. So he needed rest. So obviously we have a couple of days. He's fine now," Naib said after the seven-wicket loss to New Zealand. "I asked the physio if he needed rest, some headache. We have a rest of one week for the ...
Fit-again Manoj rejoins national camp
Three-time Commonwealth Games medallist Manoj Kumar, who was laid low by a groin injury after the Asian Games, has rejoined the national camp in Patiala after regaining fitness. The 31-year-old, who is also an Asian Championships bronze-winner, underwent a surgery for his injury at a Mumbai hospital earlier this year. As a result, he was ruled out of contention for the Asian Championships in April-May. "By the grace of god and the support of my coaches, the Boxing Federation of India and the Sports Authority of India (SAI), I have managed to recover fully and have got the clearance to rejoin the national camp," Manoj, who picked up the injury during last year's Asian Games, said. "The Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai took very good care of me and I am grateful to them," he added. The Arjuna award-winning Haryana-boxer was locked in a bitter war of words with the SAI over the expenses of his treatment and even accused the body of being indifferent. He eventually found the requisite support
Great to start with three wins in a row: Williamson
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said that the Kiwis have got an ideal start to the tournament. Their victory against Afghanistan was their third consecutive win of the tournament and they are one of the three teams to have remained unbeaten thus far.
Temperament one of Roy's biggest strengths at the moment: Morgan
England captain Eoin Morgan feels a significant improvement in temperament has led opener Jason Roy to stellar success in the last two years. Roy smashed his sixth ODI century in the last 18 months to get England back to winning ways in the World Cup here on Saturday. After a player of the series effort in the warm-up ODI series against Pakistan, Roy is in a rich vein of form that contrasts markedly with his efforts two years ago in the Champions Trophy. Out of form and, by the semi-final, out of the side, Roy has had to earn his way back in at the top of the order alongside Jonny Bairstow. And after hitting 153 to set a total out of Bangladesh's reach, his skipper paid tribute to Roy's development on the big stage. "Probably one of his biggest strengths at the moment is his temperament. It might surprise a lot of people, me saying that, but if you look at the guy as he's matured from a county cricketer into the full-blown international cricketer he is now," said Morgan. "The ...
Bouncy conditions suited me: James Neesham
New Zealand's James Neesham said that the bouncy conditions on offer in Taunton suited him in the match against Afghanistan. Neesham was man of the match for his bowling figures of 5/31 as he and Lockie Ferguson (4/37) combined force to dismiss Afghanistan for 172. New Zealand eventually won the match by seven wickets.
Women's French Open winner Barty opens up about her cricketing days
Ashleigh Barty, who just won her first Grand Slam tennis title in French Open, said she witnessed an amazing period of her life when she was a cricketer.Barty took a break from her tennis career in 2014 and a year later she played in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) for Brisbane Heat. However, she made her return to the world of tennis in 2016. But it appears that she still could not get her cricketing days out of her mind as she termed it as "amazing period of my life"."It truly was an amazing period of my life. I met an amazing group of people who couldn't care less whether I could hit a tennis ball or not," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Barty as saying.Barty stated that she still has those relationships to this very day and she received many messages from the girls during the tournament."They accepted me, and they got to know Ash Barty. They got to know me. I still have those relationships to this very day. I got an amazing amount of messages over the last couple of days from those ...
Neesham, Williamson set up another commanding win for New Zealand
James Neesham grabbed his maiden five-wicket haul before Kane Williamson played a captain's knock to guide New Zealand to a seven-wicket victory over Afghanistan here, their third straight victory in the World Cup. Batting all-rounder Neesham (5/31), who produced a career-best effort, and fellow pacer Lockie Ferguson (4/37) ripped through the Afghanistan batting line-up to bowl them out for a below-par 172 here on Saturday. Williamson then fired New Zealand to a resounding victory in 32.1 overs with an unbeaten 79 off 99 balls and was well supported by Ross Taylor, who made 48 off 52. It was smooth sailing for New Zealand in the run chase after the early loss of openers Martin Guptill (0) and Colin Munro (22). The Black Caps' task got easier as Afghanistan's premier spinner Rashid Khan did not come out to bowl after being hit on the head by a sharp Ferguson bouncer while batting. However, Rashid is expected to to fit for his team's next game. Afghanistan, who have lost all their three
Morgan hails batsmen after outstanding win over Bangladesh
England captain Eoin Morgan was all praise for his batsmen after their comprehensive 108-run win against Bangladesh in their third match of the 2019 World Cup. "The two boys at the top (openers) laid a solid platform as Jason (Roy) managed to get a significant score. It's great to see," he said.