Page 284 - Sports
MI spinners shine as CSK fall in own trap at Chepauk
In the opening game of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) had routed the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. The hosts prepared a sluggish turner and the RCB batsmen were found wanting as they folded up for just 70. While skipper M.S. Dhoni spoke about the need to have sporting wickets, the nature of the tracks didnt change much in the next matches.
Jofra Archer can do a Pietersen for England: Flintoff
Former skipper Andrew Flintoff believes that England should include all-rounder Jofra Archer at any cost in the 15-member squad for the World Cup beginning at the end of this month.
Pujara to play in Saurashtra Premier League
India's middle-order Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara will be playing in the Saurashtra Premier League (SPL) starting from May 14 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.
English county Yorkshire signs Dom Bess
English county Yorkshire on Wednesday signed off-spinner Dom Bess from Somerset on an initial one-month loan basis to bolster their spin bowling department.The 21-year old Bess will be available for selection for the club's upcoming County championship fixtures against Kent, Hampshire, Essex, and Surrey."I haven't been getting the cricket that I would like. Once I got a general idea of where I was, I asked if I could go on loan. I've been on the loan list for a while and luckily Andrew Gale got in touch through my agent and spoke about an opportunity for a month or so, playing Championship cricket for Yorkshire," Bess said in an official statement released by the club."At the moment it's a chance to get some cricket under my belt. To have this opportunity and for Yorkshire to be able to give me this opportunity, I hope I can repay them. It will be a great experience for me to be put into this Yorkshire side and hopefully I can deliver some good performances," he added.The spinner ...
Finding purpose in training key when not in XI, feels Boult
After finishing with 18 wickets in the last season of the Indian Premier League, Delhi Capitals pacer Trent Boult had to wait till Kagiso Rabada's exit to find a regular place in the DC playing XI in the 12th edition. However, the Kiwi fast bowler isn't complaining as he gears up for the Eliminator clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Vizag.
Happy to move beyond gender-based questions: Mandhana
Smriti Mandhana, vice-captain of the Indian womens cricket team, feels that women in cricket have recently garnered the right kind of attention. Leading Trailblazers, one of the three teams in the Womens T20 League, the 22-year-old ace batswoman asserts that the only thing that defines her on the field is her performance and not her gender.
Nihal Sarin back to title contention, Harikrishna maintains joint lead
Young Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin came back to title contention with a crushing victory over world junior champion Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran in the fifth round of TePe Sigeman & Co. chess tournament here. With just two rounds left in the category-17 event, Nihal shares the third spot with Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu of Germany and Nils Grandelius of Sweden while Maghsoodloo and Hillarp-Persson, also of Sweden, are next in standings with two points each. Ivan Saric of Croatia is at the bottom of the table with just 1.5 point to his name. Nihal got off to an modest start but Maghsoodloo could not come up with dominant moves, putting the Indian in the driver's seat. Nihal then kept the pressure up till the Iranian cracked. The Kerala-based Grandmaster won a queen and finished the game with a flawless conversion. "I spent a lot of time agonizing over the loss against Hari in the previous round. I just wanted to get better and not lose, so today was a much better day," Nihal said. The ..
First in Indian Cricket: Women state captains to have voice at BCCI Conclave
In a first, the Indian cricket board will be inviting all the state skippers of the women's teams at its 'Annual Domestic Captains and Coaches Conclave', making the event more inclusive. The more than a decade old conclave is conducted at the end of every domestic season. Captains and Coaches of various Ranji Trophy teams give their feedback to the BCCI administration about the season that goes by. However, the women cricketers were not made a part of it in the previous editions. During the May 17 conclave in Mumbai, the captains and coaches of the women's state teams will be joining their male counterparts in giving assessment of the just-concluded domestic season. "Yes, this is the first time that domestic women's team captains and the chief coaches have been invited to the conclave. Their feedback is very important and we would like to know what they thought about the last season," BCCI GM (Cricket Operations) Saba Karim, who is also in charge of overall development of women's ...
CSK falling behind in powerplay: Stephen Fleming
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) coach Stephen Fleming rues the fact that his team has not been able to make full use of the powerplays and score at a brisk rate in the first six overs in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
It didn't really go our way: MS Dhoni on CSK's loss
After suffering a loss against Mumbai Indians in the first qualifier of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni said the match did not really go their way, especially the batting."It didn't really go our way. Especially the batting. Especially when you know home conditions. You have to assess very quickly how the wicket is playing. That's the bonus of playing at home, you've already played six games or seven games, so you know how the wicket has played, whether it is a bit tacky, whether it is coming on or not coming on," Dhoni said at the post-match ceremony."What is a good score that we should put on the board. Those are the things I felt we didn't do well in this game because of which we were not able to put something that would have been good to defend. I think the batting needs to get slightly better," he added.Chennai's top-order once again failed to give the team a good start as they lost opening three ...
Injured Jhye Richardson ruled out of World Cup
Australian fast bowler Jhye Richardson has been ruled out of the upcoming World Cup after he failed to fully recover from the shoulder dislocation he suffered in the UAE in March.
Rohit juggled his bowlers brilliantly: Jayant
It was yet another clinical performance from the Mumbai Indians as they defeated Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to make it to their fifth IPL final.
Shoaib Malik to rejoin Pakistan squad after 10-day break
Senior batsman Shoaib Malik will rejoin the national team in England on Thursday after a 10-day break owing to personal reasons, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Tuesday. "Shoaib Malik will rejoin the Pakistan cricket team in Southampton on Thursday and will be available for selection for the second One-Day International against England to be played on Saturday, 11 May," the PCB said in a statement. Malik was granted a 10-day leave on April 29, but the Board did not give any reason for doing this. "The Pakistan cricket team management has given leave to Shoaib Malik so that he can return home to deal with a domestic issue. He is expected to rejoin the team in 10 days' time," the Board had said. The 37-year-old is the senior most player in Pakistan's 15-member World Cup squad with the experience of 282 ODIs and 111 T20 internationals to his name. He has already announced his retirement from ODIs after the World Cup. Pakistan play their first ODI of the five-match series against
Federer defeats Gasquet in Madrid Open
In his first clay court match in three years, Roger Federer breezed past France's Richard Gasquet in the second round of Madrid Open on Tuesday (local time).The Swiss player dismantled Gasquet 6-2, 6-3 in a match lasting just 52 minutes and marking his triumphant return to the clay court.The twenty time Grand Slam winner who was marking his return on clay since 2016 and who was playing for the first time since claiming his 101st ATP singles title at the Miami Open in March, displayed no sign of rustiness."I'm very happy to be back on clay. Super happy to be back here in Madrid. The crowds and the ovation I got before and after the game were great. It really makes you feel like that was the right choice to come to Madrid, so that felt good. The first game went well. I didn't think Richard was at his best, far off. But from my side, it was a good match," Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) quoted Federer as saying.The 37-year-old tennis star easily won the first set and finished .
We feel like we can beat anyone: Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk
Liverpool stunned Barcelona with a 4-0 defeat in the Champions League semi-final second leg on Tuesday (local time) to enter their second consecutive finals with centre back footballer Virgil van Dijk has said that the team feels like they can beat anyone in the world."We feel like we can beat anyone every time when we go out on the pitch. We are not going out on the pitch to think that we are not going to beat them," goal.com quoted Dijk as saying."It's going to be a tough game for both of them on Wednesday (Ajax FC and Tottenham Hotspurs) and we'll just see who is going to come to Madrid and we prepare," he added.Van Dijk was instrumental in Liverpool's win over Barcelona as he helped the team in keeping a clean sheet in the 4-0 win.The Reds had lost the first-leg 3-0 against Barcelona and had a mountain to climb in the second leg. But the team put up a huge effort to win the second leg 4-0, winning the semi-final on aggregate 4-3.Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum scored braces ..
Dhoni lashes out at CSK batsmen post Mumbai loss
After facing a crushing six-wicket defeat against Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper M.S. Dhoni criticised his batsmen, saying they should have batted sensibly in Qualifier 1 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) edition.
Sarri buys time with unexpected top-four finish
After a turbulent first season at Chelsea, Maurizio Sarri goes into Thursday's Europa League semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt savouring some much-needed breathing space. Sarri has spent most of the campaign engaged in a struggle to win over his sceptical players and fans. At one stage, it appeared the Chelsea manager was fighting a losing battle as a miserable run of results sparked reports he was on the verge of the sack. Amid reports that Chelsea's stars were sick of Sarri's inflexible game-plan, monotonous training sessions and habit of criticising them through the media, the nadir came in February when Blues goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga refused to be substituted during the League Cup final defeat against Manchester City. Sarri has side-stepped one crisis after another just deftly enough that he has emerged from a bleak winter with his prospects of avoiding the axe looking brighter after Chelsea secured a top four finish in the Premier League last weekend. With a place in ...
Pochettino drops hint about future as Spurs prepare for Ajax showdown
Mauricio Pochettino dropped a tantalising hint that his work at Tottenham Hotspur might be done if they can come through their Champions League semi-final against Ajax on Wednesday and go on to win the trophy for the first time in their history. Spurs must overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit when they take on the Dutch club in the return of their last-four tie in Amsterdam, with a final against Liverpool on June 1 the prize for the winners. "It would be a fantastic way to close a five-year chapter and go home," said Pochettino, appointed coach of the north London club in 2014, at a press conference at the Johan Cruyff Arena on Tuesday. When asked to clarify if the Argentine meant he would be willing to walk away if he were to deliver Champions League glory, Pochettino said his comments were "not a joke". "To win the Champions League with Tottenham in these circumstances, this season, maybe I need to think a little bit about doing something different in the future, for sure, because to ...
Arsenal lean on Lacazette, Aubameyang to save their season
Arsenal's collapse at the business end of the Premier League season means the success or failure of Unai Emery's first campaign now solely depends on lifting the Europa League and as a result sealing Champions League football. The Gunners travel to Emery's old club Valencia on Thursday defending a 3-1 semi-final, first leg lead given to them by star strikers Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the Emirates last week. Arsenal's awful record on the road this season will give the Spanish side plenty of encouragement that they can overturn a two-goal deficit. Emery's men conceded three times in losing at Wolves and Leicester in their last two away league games and were also defeated at BATE Borisov and Rennes before turning Europa League ties around at the Emirates. Attack may therefore be the visitors' best form of defence in the cauldron of the Mestalla and Arsenal are at least getting what they paid for from Lacazette and Aubameyang. "We played against two strikers ...
Liverpool legends salute fightback for the ages
Liverpool legends Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen hailed their former club's stunning Champions League semi-final fightback against Barcelona as Anfield's greatest ever European night. Jurgen Klopp's side recovered from a 3-0 first leg deficit to reach the final with a pulsating 4-0 victory over the Spanish champions on Tuesday. The historic escape act was one of the finest in Champions League history and Fowler believes it should be ranked as the best of Liverpool's European triumphs at their famous old stadium. The striker placed Liverpool's dismantling of Lionel Messi and company above their dramatic 1977 European Cup quarter-final win over St Etienne, widely regarded as the previous pinnacle in the competition at Anfield. "You know when you talk about the great nights, this is the best ever. It's absolutely incredible," Liverpool-born Fowler told BT Sport. "Before the game, we were talking about all the superlatives we can about Messi. We can run out of superlatives for ...