Page 2170 - Sports
Baroda beat Mumbai by 13 runs in T20 zonal opener
Baroda defeated arch-rivals Mumbai by 13 runs in the West Zone Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 League opener at the SCA Stadium here today. Baroda, who had got the better of Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy group league earlier in the season, once again proved they were the better of the two sides in the shortened version of the game. Baroda rattled up an imposing score of 210 for 3, powered by half centuries by wicket-keeper and opener Urvil Patel (50 in 29 balls) and captain Deepak Hooda (66 in 39 balls), who struck eight fours and one six, besides a breezy knock of 44 not out in 26 balls, studded with three sixes and a four, by Krunal Pandya. Barring Dhawal Kulkarni, who returned figures of 1 for 29, the other Mumbai bowlers were expensive by 20-over standards with medium pacer Shardul Thakur leaking 47 runs in his four overs without a wicket against his name. In reply, Mumbai were stopped at 197 for 8 with Siddesh Lad's 82 off 51 balls with four sixes and six fours being its ...
SCG Test: England close to a 4-0 defeat, close day 4 on 93/4
England closed Day Four on 93 with six second-innings wickets intact, trailing Australia by 210 runs in the fifth and final Ashes Test, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), here on Sunday.The visitors lost both of their openers, Alastair Cook and Mark Stoneman, within the first six overs.Stoneman was lbw to Mitchell Starc for a nine-ball duck, while Cook was bowled by a Nathan Lyon offbreak for just 10 in hot weather.James Vince was dismissed by at Pat Cummins for 18.Dawid Malan was taken lbw by Lyon on 5.They are now held together by captain Joe Root's unbeaten 42 and Jonny Bairstow on 17 .Earlier, Australia declared on 649 for seven, taking a first innings lead of 303 over England's 346.Three players, Usman Khawaja (171) and the Marsh brothers Shaun (156) and Mitchell (101) scored centuries for the hosts.Skipper Steve Smith hit 83 while David Warner scored 56.Debutant spinner Mason Crane proved the most expensive figures ever by a bowler on debut as he slumped to 1/193.
Churchill Brothers look for first win
Enduring a difficult season, Churchill Brothers would hope for a change in fortune in the new year when they face table-toppers East Bengal in the Hero I-League match at Tilak Stadium here tomorrow. Two-time champions, Churchill Brothers have lost all their five matches and are languishing at the bottom of the table and they would hope for a new beginning in the New Year. Nothing has worked for Churchill Brothers, who sacked their coach Mykola Shevcheko after losing their first three matches. The decision, however, did not change their fortune as they kept on losing but assistant coach Alfred Fernandes is determined that his team will do well in the New year. "Last season too we were in similar position but things changed after Derrick Pereira took over the reign as we kept on winning to finish sixth," Alfred said. "Last time in the away match we played against East Bengal we put up a good performance and lost narrowly 2-3 but we want to erase that defeat tomorrow with a .
Bend it like the Alakhpura girls: Football empowers in a Haryana village (IANS Special Series)
On a cold and wet winter afternoon, some 30 km from the district headquarters of Bhiwani, tired boys buckled up to return home after seven hours of school. But for the girls, the ringing of the closing bell was a signal to don their kits and get ready to reach the sports ground for their daily football practice.
Winter football tournament in Srinagar attracts youth
Jammu and Kashmir Football Association (JKFA), along with other football clubs of Kashmir, has organised a winter football tournament for the young players of Srinagar.The tournament is being held at the AstroTurf ground in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.Earlier in this part of the year, sports activities used to come to standstill which affected the overall performance of the state players and the teams, so JKFA took the initiative to continue sport activities on artificial turf.The players of the valley are appreciating this step taken by the football association and believe that it will help in enhancing the skills of players during the winter season, which was otherwise wasted due to low sporting activities.Ishfaq Ahmad, a member of the organising committee, told ANI, "There is no season for football. And due to this AstroTurf ground, the football scenario in Jammu and Kashmir has got totally changed. Now tournaments are being held in the winter season also.""JKFA is ...
Costa sent off after scoring Atletico winner
Diego Costa was sent off after scoring the winner on his league return for Atletico Madrid in a 2-0 home win over Getafe, while Sevilla missed the chance to move above Real Madrid after losing 5-3 to local rivals Real Betis. Atletico's win moved them to within six points of leaders Barcelona, who host Levante on Sunday, and kept them two points clear of third-placed Valencia, who are on 37 points after coming back from an early deficit to beat Girona 2-1 thanks to a first-half Janos Ramalho own goal and Daniel Parejo's penalty three minutes after the break. Costa, playing his first La Liga game since rejoining Atletico from Chelsea following the end last week of the Spanish club's transfer ban, had already been booked for a foul in the 62nd minute with the hosts 1-0 up through Angel Correa when six minutes later he met a low cross to double his side's lead and spark wild celebrations. He leapt into the stands to embrace the fans and was immediately shown his second ...
Barcelona sign 160-million-euro Coutinho in 3rd richest deal
Philippe Coutinho finally got his wish when Barcelona agreed to sign the Brazilian star from Liverpool for 160 million euros ($192 million) in the third richest deal of all time. "Barcelona and Liverpool have reached an agreement for the transfer of Philippe Coutinho. The player will sign a contract for the rest of the season and five more years with a release clause of 400 million euros," said a Barcelona statement. The deal for the 25-year-old attacking midfielder will be the third biggest in football after the 222 million euros Paris Saint-Germain paid Barcelona for Brazilian star Neymar last year and the 120 million euros that Kylian Mbappe will cost PSG from Monaco once the French player's loan period with the Ligue 1 champions is completed. "It is with great reluctance that we -- as a team and club -- prepare to say farewell to a good friend, a wonderful person and a fantastic player in Philippe Coutinho," Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp told the club's official ...
Goerges stuns Wozniacki in Auckland final
Powerful-serving Julia Goerges stunned top seed Caroline Wozniacki with a straight sets win in the WTA Auckland Classic final today. The 29-year-old German, with a first serve topping 180 kilometres per hour (112 miles per hour), sent down 11 aces on her way to winning the Auckland title for the first time in her ninth attempt 6-4, 7-6 (7/4). It also stretched the world number 14's winning streak to 14 matches including winning successive WTA tournaments in Moscow and Zhuhai late last year. Goerges made an immediate statement at the start of each set with service breaks. Games went with service from there in the first set, which Goerges sealed with her seventh ace. Wozniacki double faulted at 15-40 at the start of the second set before she began to fight back. Goerges needed her booming serve to save break points at 2-1 and 3-2 before Wozniacki finally broke through to level at 4-4, sending the set into a tie break which went to the German.
Marsh brothers plunder centuries as England wilt in the heat
Shaun and Mitchell Marsh became the third set of brothers to score centuries in the same innings for Australia as the purgatory continued for England in the final Sydney Ashes Test today. Shaun raised his second century of the series in the fourth day's opening over and an hour later younger brother Mitchell repeated the dose with his second hundred of the series. The Marsh boys joined Greg and Ian Chappell and Steve and Mark Waugh to score brotherly centuries for Australia, while it is the eighth time overall it has happened in Test cricket. But Mitchell Marsh almost threw away his century in all the excitement as he embraced his brother mid-pitch before he had completed the second run and needed to scramble back to his crease to avoid being run out. Mitchell Marsh was bowled next ball by Tom Curran for 101 off 141 balls with 15 fours and two sixes. The century came after his 181 in the third Test in Perth. He was the third centurion of the massive Australian first ...
Pujara lauds Pandya's efforts against South Africa
Renowned Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara on Sunday lauded all-rounder Hardik Pandya for helping India do well in the first Test against South Africa.South Africa ended the second day's play 142 runs ahead, with eight second-innings wickets in hand.While addressing a press conference, Pujara said, "He batted really well, showed a lot of character.""I think if someone who is very promising, he is batting well, bowling well, it makes a lot of difference to the team because when you have a very good all-rounder, it balances your team combination. I hope he continues with this," he added."I think everyone did believe that he can play such innings, and once he played that the environment in the dressing room was quite positive because those runs were very important for the team, kept us in the game. If he hadn't scored those runs, we would have been under trouble. So I think he kept us in the game and got us two wickets also at the end of day's play. So his performance was outstanding," ...
Liverpool Coutinho to Barcelona for $192.5 million
Liverpool confirmed on Saturday that it had agreed a $192.5 million deal to sell Brazilian international Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona.
PBL: Verma, Sindhu win big for Chennai Smashers
Shuttler Sourabh Verma of Ahmedabad Smash Masters came back from a game down to beat Chennai Smashers' trump player Brice Leverdez, 12-15, 15-14, 15-12 to push Chennai towards the wall in the Vodafone Premier Badminton League (PBL) here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.The win sends Ahmedabad 2-1 up (2-0 up on points) in the five-match duel.Brice was initially pushed on the back and went down 6-8 early in the match on Saturday. But, Sourabh could not maintain his dominance and Brice exerted his dominance to win the first game.In the second game, the 31-year old Frenchman was cruising his way to victory, but his error-prone play saw Sourabh save three match points to force the match into the third game.In the third match, Brice got off to a great start, but the Indian shuttler was in no mood to let go of the momentum and despite being down for a major period of the game, he finally won to deal a huge blow to the Chennai Smashers.Earlier, World No. 3 P.V Sindhu registered a ...
Cape Town Test: Pandya keeps India alive on day 2
All-rounder Hardik Pandya shone with the bat and the ball to help India stay afloat in the first Test against South Africa.Pandya's 93 and 2/17 gave India a much-needed impetus despite the Proteas leading by 142 run at the end of Day Two.Pandya struck a spirited innings before India were bundled out for 209 to close their first-innings gap to 77 runs.Resuming at yesterday's score of 28-3 in reply to South Africa's 286 , none of the Indian batsmen managed to make a good start as the wickets kept falling at regular intervals.Having lost Murali Vijay (1), Shikhar Dhawan (16) and skipper Virat Kohli (5) cheaply on Day One, India relied heavily on their swashbuckling batsmen Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara after they took the team past 50-run mark.But, Rohit and Pujara failed to convert their good start into big innings and were dismissed lowly for 11 and 26 respectively.However, Pandya came from behind and served as the lone survivour for India by notching up a blistering 93-run knock .
We are still ahead in the game, says Rabada
South African pacer Kagiso Rabada has ascertained that his side are slightly ahead in the first Test as they now enjoy an overall lead of 142 runs with eight wickets in hand, going into the third day of the opening cricket Test. "We are slightly ahead and we are not going to give in. We need more hard work but we will take it at the end of the day. After the sort of momentum India got in the second session, we would take that lead," said Rabada at the end of the day's play. "Obviously, we were hoping for a bigger lead but India are not going to roll over and we expected that. That is what they showed out there," Rabada added. "It is tough to say what fourth innings' score we are looking for right now. We are looking at batting time, looking to bat normally and see what happens from there. We want to make it hard for them to score," he added. Steyn has been ruled of the remainder of the series with a bruised heel. This was his comeback Test but he lasted only 18.3 overs .
ISL: Coach-less NorthEast United defeat FC Goa
NorthEast United notched only their second win of the Hero Indian Super League's fourth season after goals from Marcinho and Seminlen Doungel helped them down FC Goa 2-1 at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium here on Saturday.
Steyn may not bowl again in Test series against India
South African veteran pacer Dale Steyn may not take further part in the ongoing first Test against India due to a left heel injury which might force him to miss the next two matches of the series.
Halep claims Shenzhen title
World No. 1 Simona Halep won her first title of the new tennis season after defeating Katerina Siniakova in the final of Shenzhen Open here on Saturday.
Sindhu stars as Chennai bounce back to beat Ahmedabad
India's ace shuttler P V Sindhu did the star turn, winning two matches as Chennai Smashers emerged victorious in the 'Smashers derby', beating Ahmedabad Smash Masters 2-1 in the Premier Badminton League (PBL), here tonight. After having stunned the world No.1 Tai Tzi Ying in three games in the second match of the tie, Sindhu joined forces with B Sumeeth Reddy to pull off a 15-14, 15-13 win against Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Lee Reginald to send the home fans into raptures. Sindhu, who played the mixed doubles tie as doubles specialist Gabrielle Adcock was unavailable owing to injury, combined well with Reddy to help Chennai Smashers win and keep their hopes of qualifying for the knockouts alive. Earlier in the fourth match, Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk pulled off a stunning 15-10, 12-15, 15-14 win over HS Prannoy to level the tie at 1-1 for Chennai. The Thai southpaw snapped Prannoy's 10-match winning streak in PBL to bring the Chennai team back in contention by winning the ...
Outstanding Pandya has kept us in the game: Pujara
Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara credited all-rounder Hardik Pandya for helping India stay afloat in the first Test against South Africa. Pandya's 93 and 2/17 has given India some toehold despite a 142-run lead currently enjoyed by the home team. "Everyone believed he (Pandya) can play such an innings and he played his shots and the environment in the dressing room became quite positive. Those runs were very important for the team and they kept us in the game," said Pujara after the day's play. "If he hadn't scored those runs, we would have been in trouble. So I think he kept us in the game and got us two wickets also at the end of day's play. So his performance was outstanding," Pujara added. What Pujara liked about Pandya's innings was the character shown by him. "He batted really well and showed a lot of character. He hasn't played many Test matches away from home but this is the kind of innings (he played) we expected it from him if he played in the playing XI. "I ...
Chennai beat Ahmedabad 2-1 in PBL
Chennai Smashers rode P.V. Sindhu's brilliance to pip Ahmedabad Smash Masters 2-1 in a Premier Badminton League (PBL) clash at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Saturday.