Page 1852 - Sports
Windies edge Zimbabwe to stay on World Cup course
West Indies edged closer to a place in the 2019 World Cup when they defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the latest qualifying match today. Chasing 290 to win, the two-time champions reached their target with six balls to spare after surviving a worrying mid-innings collapse. The West Indies lead the Super Sixes qualifying table with six points but will still need to avoid defeat against Scotland on Wednesday in their last pool match to be sure of a place in next year's finals. Zimbabwe, on five points, can still make the 2019 finals by beating the UAE on Thursday although the Scots, Ireland and Afghanistan all remain in contention for a spot in the showpiece in England and Wales. Brendan Taylor top scored for Zimbabwe with 138 which included 20 boundaries and two sixes. For the West Indies, Marlon Samuels smashed 86 off 80 balls with four sixes while Evin Lewis and Shai Hope also contributed half centuries. Brief scores: Zimbabwe 289 all out in 50 overs (B. Taylor 138; J. Holder ...
UEFA charge Lyon with 'racist behaviour' at CSKA game
UEFA today charged French club Lyon with racist behaviour and crowd disturbances at last week's Europa League match against CSKA Moscow. Up to 150 hooded Lyon fans clashed with riot police ahead of the game in the French city leaving eight officers injured. The club already has a European ban, suspended for two years from April 2017, hanging over it. Trouble started just before kick-off of the last-16 second leg tie at home to CSKA Moscow when between 100 and 150 fans squared up to police outside the stadium, which this year hosts the Europa League final. Problems continued inside the stadium and UEFA's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body have charged Lyon over the throwing of objects and the setting off of fireworks, crowd disturbances, racist behaviour and blocking stairways. L'Equipe, the French sports newspaper, reported that UEFA specified that the charges related to Nazi symbols displayed inside the stadium, Nazi salutes and an attack on a non-white spectator. The case will be
ISL: Chennaiyin coach Gregory signs 1-year contract extension
Two-time Indian Super League (ISL) champions Chennaiyin FC on Monday announced that head coach John Gregory has signed a one-year contract extension with the club.
IPL: KKR begin pre-season training
Sans skipper Dinesh Karthik, two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday began their first practice session ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season at the Jadavpur University second campus ground in Salt Lake here.
Bundesliga 'less creative', says Germany coach Loew
Germany chief coach Joachim Loew is demanding greater efforts from the country's first division football clubs to stimulate their attacking play.
Morocco to spend $15.8bn if wins 2026 World Cup bid
Rabat, March 19 (IANS/MAP) Morocco will spend a total of $15.8 billion on stadiums and infrastructure if it wins its bid to organise the 2026 World Cup.
S.Africa's Rabada to learn ban appeal result by Wednesday
Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will learn the result of his appeal against a ban for the remaining two Tests against Australia within 48 hours following a hearing today, Cricket South Africa said. The hearing, via teleconference with judicial commissioner Michael Heron of New Zealand, lasted for more than five hours. Cricket South Africa said the International Cricket Council would announce the outcome by Wednesday, the day before the start of the third Test against Australia. The series is currently 1-1. Rabada, who has been highly influential in the two Tests so far, was given the ban for making physical contact with Australian captain Steve Smith during the second Test in Port Elizabeth. Rabada's brush with Smith led to him being given three demerit points which took him to the eight-point threshold that triggers an automatic two-Test ban. South African captain Faf du Plessis attended the early part of the meeting before leaving to join the team but team manager Mohammed Moosajee and ...
Santosh Trophy: Bengal, Kerala register comfortable victories
Bengal blanked Manipur 3-0 to begin their title defense in style while Kerala hammered Chandigarh 5-1 on the opening day of the national football championship for the 72nd Santosh Trophy here.
Russia's football doctor says players cleanest in world
Russia's World Cup team doctor claimed today that his country's domestic football leagues were cleaner than any other sport on the planet. Doping allegations have dogged Russia as it prepares to host the World Cup for the first time in mid-June. Russian athletes was forced to take part in the Pyeongchang Winter Games under a neutral Olympic flag because of cheating at the 2014 event in Sochi. Former Russian Football Union (RFU) chief Vitaly Mutko oversaw national preparations for the 2014 Games. He became closely associated with the scandal and stepped away from World Cup preparations in December. Yet Russian team doctor Eduard Bezuglov said there were simply no grounds for suspicion against players because they have all been clean for years. He explained that the RFU and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) were holding "mandatory online courses" and publishing medical guidelines for teams in all football leagues. "There is no such thing anywhere else in the world," Bezuglov told .
KKR begin camp sans Karthik, Kallis
Man of the moment Dinesh Karthik was yet to join as skipper of his franchise as Kolkata Knight Riders sweated it out in their first practice session ahead of the 11th season of Indian Premier League, here today. The newly-appointed KKR skipper's sensational 28 not out from eight balls in their last-ball win over Bangladesh in the T20 Tri-Series final last night has given a big boost to the Kolkata franchise who have overhauled the squad for the 11th season. Karthik is expected to join the squad later this month along with coach Jacques Kallis, as KKR opted to begin their pre-season training with light warm-up sessions. There was no net session as a total of 11 KKR players, including vice-captain Robin Uthappa, trained on the first day of the camp at the Jadavpur University second campus ground in Salt Lake. The players included U-19 World Cup winning duo of Shubman Gill and Kamlesh Nagarkoti, veteran pacer R Vinay Kumar, Ishank Jaggi and West Indies recruit Javon Searless along with ..
Association of Indian Universities beat CRPF in hockey nationals
Association of Indian Universities got the better of Central Reserve Police Force 5-2 to grab the top spot in their group while Petroleum Sports Promotion Board defeated Services Sports Control Board 4-3 in the Senior National Hockey Championship here today. Also winning their matches were Hockey Gangpur-Odisha against Hockey Jharkhand (6-1) and Hockey Bhopal against Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy (5-2). The opening match of the day saw Association of Indian Universities beat Central Reserve Police Force 5-2 in Pool D to occupy the first spot with seven points from four games. Association of Indian Universities started the match with two quick goals in the first 25 minutes, while Central Reserve Police Force tried to make a comeback as they scored through Md. Wasiullah Khan in the 33rd minute. But Association of Indian Universities scored in 44th and 49th minutes to take a 4-1 lead. Central Reserve Police Force struck in the 59th minute through Sudhir Horo but it wasn't enough as their
Chiellini withdraws from Italy squad due to thigh injury
Veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini on Monday left the Italian national camp after reporting a niggling right thigh injury which he suffered playing for Juventus against Spal in a Serie A match on Saturday.
Triumph Knights drub Super Sonics in Q1 to enter final
Triumph Knights Mumbai North East stormed into the final of the inaugural T20 Mumbai League by whipping Sobo Super Sonics by 40 runs in Qualifier 1 today. Triumph Knights rode on a whirlwind 63 in 35 balls from captain Suryakumar Yadav to post a challenging total of 162 for six and then defended it successfully against some poor batting by their rivals who were arrested at 122 in 19.1 overs to emerge triumphant. The Triumph Knights thus straightaway entered the final, set for March 21, to fight for the top prize of Rs one crore, while Super Sonics will get another chance in Qualifier 2 which is set for tomorrow at the Wankhede Stadium. Openers Shikhar Thakur (22) and Shashank Singh (34) provided a sound start to Triumph Knights innings after they were put in to bat by Super Sonics skipper Abhishek Nayar. The duo put on 40 runs just past the power play period before losing three wickets in 16 balls to slump to 48 for three. Nayar picked up two of those by dismissing Thakur
RCF to roll out coaches of Tejas express by Apr 20: GM
The passengers of the Delhi-Chandigarh section will soon enjoy a comfortable high speed ride as the Rail Coach Factory (RCF) here is all set to roll out the second rake of 19 coaches of the Tejas Express by April 20, a senior official said today. The first rake of Tejas coaches capable of running at 200 kmph was rolled out in June last year and was successfully running on the Mumbai-Goa section. RCF General Manager Satya Prakash Trivedi, who recently took charge of the factory, confirmed the roll-out of the coaches by April 20. These coaches would be handed over to the Northern Railways and the Railway Board would decide the date and time of its running, he said. The roll-out date of the coaches was scheduled in March but got delayed due to problems faced by vendors in importing fire retardant fabric material and infotainment systems, Trivedi said. He said two more rakes of Tejas coaches would be rolled out by June. The coaches would have features like remote-controlled venetian ...
Bengal blank Manipur; Kerala wallop Chandigarh
Bengal began their title defence with a 3-0 blanking of Manipur, while Kerala hammered Chandigarh 5-1 on the opening day of the national football championship for the 72nd Santosh Trophy here today. Bengal, the record 32 times champions, constantly pressed on the attack as Sumit Das struck a double (sixth and 15th minutes) to give them a 2-0 lead at the break in a display of sheer dominance at the Howrah Stadium. Das scored off a corner from the rebound to open his account, while he added a second in nine minutes, heading home a Bidyasagar Singh's cross. Bidyasagar sealed the issue for Bengal with a 82nd minute goal in what was a poor clearance from Manipur defence. The Bengal midfielder capitalised on a brilliant work by Sujay Dutta as his shot found the back of the net. Bengal goalkeeper Ranojit Majumdar should also be given credit for his stellar show under the bar as he thwarted Manipur's counter attacks to ensure a clean slate for his side. In the other group A fixture of the ...
Singh is director in-charge of SAI's Central Regional Centre
Rajendra Singh today assumed charge as the director in-charge of Sports Authority of India's (SAI) Central Regional Centre situated here. Prior to this appointment, Singh was the joint chief executive officer and member technical committee for conducting school games under the 'Khelo India' campaign at New Delhi. He had also served as SAI director (teams) at the headquarters in New Delhi. Singh urged Madhya Pradesh sports and youth welfare department and various sports associations of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to extend support for development of sports in the region.
No point crying over defeat to India, says Shakib
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan today said there is no point "crying" over the heartbreaking defeat to India in the final of Nidahas T20 Tri-Series here and will rather focus on rectifying the mistakes for future. Shakib was asked how difficult was it to hide his emotions after the loss. "I actually don't know. There is no point crying about it. Yes, there can be emotions attached to such occasions but there isn't anything to do here," Sakib said. Wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik (29 of 8 balls) smashed a last-ball six as India pulled off a four-wicket win last night. "It's not possible to rewind time, so we have to do better when there is a similar situation again. We have lost many close games and finals. "This was the fifth one (final) and all of them were close matches. The closest I think was the Asia Cup and then today's one (Sunday) I think this was even closer (than the Asia Cup). I think we are moving forward." Shakib said he will not hesitate to again hand over the ...
BCCI calls on Team India to continue winning momentum against England
A day after India lifted Nidahas Trophy with a thumping win over Bangladesh in the finals in Colombo, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) acting president CK Khanna on Monday called on the Men in Blue to continue the momentum in the upcoming three-match T20I series against England.India ended the Nidahas Trophy T20I Tri-series, which also featured Sri Lanka, with a four-wicket victory over Bangladesh at the R Premadasa Stadium.Dinesh Karthik, who remained unbeaten at 29, clinched the match on the final delivery, sending a flat six over the covers. His eight-ball knock included two fours and three sixes and he was adjudged Man of the Match.Heaping praise over the the Rohit Sharma-led side, Khanna congratulated head coach Ravi Shastri and the entire team for their 'great achievement', while giving special mention to Karthik's performance."What an amazing victory. What a great contribution by all the players. We congratulate Ravi Shastri and the entire team for this great ...
Rohit hails Karthik's last ball brilliance
Skipper Rohit Sharma is relieved that his gamble of holding back Dinesh Karthik behind rookie all-rounder Vijay Shankar paid off after the stumper's last ball six helped India to a four-wicket win over Bangladesh and to lift the Nidahas T20 tri-series trophy.
Chahal, Sundar move up in ICC T20 bowlers' chart
Yuzvendra Chahal jumped 12 spots to number two while Washington Sundar moved up a phenomenal 151 places to 31st in the ICC T20I Player Rankings for bowlers on the back of their impressive show in the just-concluded Nidahas Trophy Tri-Series in Sri Lanka. Leg-spinner Chahal now has a career-high 706 rating points while off-spinner Sundar, who was named Man of the Series, has 496 points. Both the spinners were part of the five games India played, and picked up eight wickets apiece. Sundar, who bowled mainly in the Powerplay, had an incredible economy rate of 5.70, while Chahal finished with 6.45. Also making significant gains in the bowling charts were some of the other performers from the Nidahas Trophy: Akila Dananjaya of Sri Lanka, Rubel Hossain of Bangladesh and India's Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur. All of them achieved their career-best rating points at the end of the tournament. Unadkat (joint 52nd) and Thakur (joint 76th), India's premier pacemen in the tournament, went up ..