Page 373 - Sports

IPL 2019: Buttler steers Rajasthan to beat Mumbai by four wickets

Jos Buttler's 89 steered Rajasthan Royals to defeat Mumbai Indians by four wickets here at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.Chasing 188, Rajasthan openers Ajinkya Rahane and Buttler got off to a good start, adding 59 in the Powerplay.Krunal Pandya ended the domination, for a while, as he got Rahane (37) caught at deep midwicket. Buttler with Sanju Samson in the middle recovered well in time to inch closer towards the victory.Midway through the innings, Buttler hammered Rajasthan, including looting 28 runs off Alzarri Joseph, before Rahul Chahar changed the game. Buttler went for his seventh successive boundary but sliced it to Suryakumar Yadav for 89.The dismissal of Buttler led to a flurry of wickets - Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Liam Livingstone and Steve Smith before the drama unfolded. With six required off last over, Shreyas Gopal sealed the match and took Rajasthan over the line with three balls to spare.Earlier, a returning Rohit laid the foundation, scoring 47 in a 96-run stand ...

No Kane? No problem as Lucas treble fires Spurs into third

Tottenham proved they can cope without Harry Kane and retook third place in the Premier League as Lucas Moura's hat-trick inspired a 4-0 demolition of Huddersfield in the Premier League on Saturday. Despite the absence of injured stars Kane and Dele Alli, Mauricio Pochettino's much-changed side made it three victories from their first three games at the impressive Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Pochettino's understudies filled in nicely as Kenya midfielder Victor Wanyama rolled in the opener before Brazilian forward Lucas took centre-stage with an eye-catching treble. Tottenham have settled well in their new ?1 billion north London home and already relegated Huddersfield provided the ideal warm-up for Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final second leg at Manchester City. Bidding to qualify for next season's Champions League via a top-four finish, Tottenham are one point clear of fourth-placed Chelsea, who face leaders Liverpool on Sunday. Bottom of the table Huddersfield have lost 19 ..

Dhoni was let off easily, should have been banned for 2-3 games: Sehwag

Former India opener Virender Sehwag feels Mahendra Singh Dhoni was let off easily for his angry outburst on umpire Ulhas Gandhe and he should have been "banned for two to three games" to set a proper example. Dhoni was docked only 50 percent of his match fees for entering the field of play to confront Gandhe for backtracking on a waist high no-ball. He has been criticised by one and all but Sehwag is the first A list former India cricketer to demand suspension for his one-time teammate. "I feel Dhoni was let off easy and should have been banned for at least 2-3 games. Because if he did this, tomorrow another captain can do the same. Then what is the value of an umpire," Sehwag, known for his straight talk, was quoted as saying by the 'Cricbuzz' website. Sehwag didn't mince words when he said that a fitting punishment would have set a precedent. "I feel he should have been banned for a few games by IPL to set an example. He should have stayed outside and instead have talked to the ...

Minerva owner Bajaj under lens for social outburst

The All India Football Federation's (AIFF) League Committee has decided to drag Minerva Punjab FC owner Ranjit Bajaj to the Ethics Committee for his regular outbursts against the parent body, but did not pronounce any judgement on the I-League clubs for boycotting the Super Cup.

Toss: Bangalore opt to bowl against Punjab

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to field against Kings XI Punjab in their Indian Premier League (IPL) tie at the Punjab Cricket Association I.S. Bindra Stadium, here on Saturday.

Buttler, Gopal guide Rajasthan Royals to 4-wkt victory

Englishman Jos Buttler laid the platform with a rampaging 89 while Shreyas Gopal held his nerve at the death to power Rajasthan Royals to a four-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League encounter here Saturday. This was Royals' second victory of the season in seven games after losing a last ball thriller to CSK less than 48 hours back. Put into bat, Mumbai Indians rode on a aggressive 81 by South African Quinton De Kock to post an imposing 187/5, but Buttler's 43-ball knock studded with eight fours and seven sixes set the tone before Royals survived a scare to finish the game in 19.3 overs. The match was a forgettable one for young West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph (0/53 in 3 overs), who was hammered for eight fours and three sixes and then was injured trying to save a boundary. The 13th over changed the game's complexion as Buttler smashed two sixes and four fours off Joseph to bring down the equation to a manageable run-a-ball. Buttler first conjured a 60-run ...

Dhoni should have been banned for 2-3 games: Sehwag

Former India swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag feels Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was fined 50 per cent of his match fees for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct, had been let off easy and the Chennai Super Kings' skipper should have been banned for at least two or three games.

Rajasthan Royals beat Mumbai Indians by 4 wickets

Rajasthan Royals defeated Mumbai Indians by 4 wickets in their Indian Premier League match here Saturday. Sent into bat, Mumbai Indians scored 187 for five and then Rajasthan Royals, riding on Jos Buttlers 89, chased down the target in 19.3 overs at the Wankhede Stadium. Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians: 187 for 5 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 81; Jofra Archer 3/39). Rajastha Royals : 188 for 6 in 19.3 overs (Jos Buttler 89; Krunal Pandya 3/34).

Indian women empowered, but a lot more needed: Sania

Ace tennis player Sania Mirza feels India has made significant improvement in empowering women but there is sill more to be accomplished.

We have moved on from Dhoni controversy: Hussey

Chennai Super Kings team has "moved on" from the controversy created due to an uncharacteristic outburst from Mahendra Singh Dhoni and will have no bearing during Sunday's IPL encounter against KKR, batting coach Mike Hussey said Saturday. During an IPL encounter against Rajasthan Royals, Dhoni lost his cool as he rushed into the field of play to confront umpire Ulhas Gandhe for backtracking on a no-ball signal. The former India captain was docked 50 percent of his match fees. "It's (incident) like having a loss. And again, you move on to the next match as quickly as you possibly can. So to be honest, we haven't spoken about it. It's been dealt with and we've moved on," Hussey said on the eve of their return leg match in Kolkata. "Yeah, it's all happened and it's been dealt with pretty much right after the game. And the game is finished and and that's the thing about the IPL. You get to move on to the next match very quickly. There's no point us dwelling on it. Worrying about and ...

'I was trying to be nice' says furious Verstappen

Raging Max Verstappen launched a foul-mouthed tirade against his rivals after a testy qualifying session on Saturday for the Chinese Grand Prix. The 21-year-old Dutchman will start Formula One's 1,000 race fifth in his Red Bull, but made clear he felt he could have challenged for third on the grid. At the conclusion of qualifying in Shanghai, Verstappen voiced his anger after at least three cars overtook him, meaning he failed to get one last, flying lap in. He swore several times over the team radio and was still seething afterwards, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel one of those to pass him. Vettel qualified third, behind Valtteri Bottas in pole and Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in second. "On the final run in Q3 (last part of qualifying) I followed the Ferrari in front of me as we were all in a queue," said Verstappen, explaining why he was so irate. "I was actually trying to be nice and not overtake, as that's not what you do in qualifying when you're all trying to prepare for ..

European football wrestles with racism

The interruption of the Dijon-Amiens Ligue 1 match on Friday after visiting captain Prince Gouano was the target of monkey chants adds to a string of recent racist incidents across Europe. It comes after rising Italy star Moise Kean was targeted by racist abuse in Cagliari in Serie A earlier in the month. Monkey chants were aimed at England players during a Euro 2020 qualifier in Montenegro and there have been a series of episodes involving London clubs. "Racism exists in the stadiums in France, but we cannot put the situation on the same level as in Eastern European countries or Italy," football sociologist Nicolas Hourcade, a professor at the Central School of Lyon, told AFP. The goalless draw in Dijon was halted in the 78th minute as players from both sides stopped playing and headed towards the touchline after Gouano said he heard insults. "It's over," Gouano said. "We're not playing on. I'm taking off my team-mates." Players, including Gouano went to remonstrate with ...

Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania plot to host Euros, World Cup

Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania on Saturday announced a joint effort to host the 2028 Euros and the 2030 World Cup. "We are starting a common course, with optimism, with a smile, seriousness, awareness of reality and basically for better days for this area which usually worries the world with negative news," said Greek deputy sports minister Giorgos Vasiliadis. He hosted the signing of a memorandum after meetings in Thessaloniki. Vasiliadis was joined in signing the agreement with his counterparts from Serbia Vanja Udovicic, Bulgaria Krasen Kralev and Romania Bogdan Matei. Also present were representatives of the football federations of the four countries. "We want to show that we are pioneering, we can do things together and that the Balkans are open to change. It is a very big day for us and we are moving forward to making our dream come true," Vasiliadis said.

Man City left to question priorities for Crystal Palace visit

Manchester City's quest for an unprecedented quadruple leaves Pep Guardiola with a perilous balancing act for Sunday's trip to a Crystal Palace side that know how to shock the Premier League champions. Last season, Palace ended City's record 18-game winning run last season but Guardiola's team still amassed 100 points as they cruised to the title. In a much tighter title race this season, with City just behind Liverpool, the Eagles' 3-2 win at the Etihad in December could yet be the game that costs Guardiola's men. A visit to Selhurst Park would therefore be a tricky fixture for City at the best of times, but the timing, between the two legs of a Champions League quarter-final against Tottenham, adds an extra layer of difficulty. Moreover, City's 1-0 defeat in the first leg in north London, means they are in danger of again missing out on the trophy that the club's Abu Dhabi owners most desire after billions of pounds worth of investment. "That's true (it is a dangerous game)," said ..

Poonacha, Humeira win titles

Telengana's Shaikh Humeira overcame a strong challenge from local favourite Yubrani Banerjee to clinch the women's singles title with a 6-1 4-6 7-5 win at the National Ranking Tennis Tournament 2019 here Saturday. In the men's singles final, it was more of a one-sided affair as India No. 8 and the top seed of the draw, Niki Poonacha of Andhra Pradesh grabbed the title with a 6-3 6-4 win over Dakshineshwar Suresh. Third seeded Yubrani seemed clueless in the opening set and displayed a series of errors as she handed over the set to Humeira 1-6. The local challenger managed to get her rhythm back and kept a ball extra to frustrate the hard-hitting Humeira as the former won the set 6-4. In the decider, both the players held serves till 5-5, where crowd-favourite Yubrani dropped serve, allowing Humeira to clinch the title and walk away with 40 valuable national ranking points.

Sohail slams selectors for picking sloggers instead of consistent finishers

Former Pakistan opener Aamir Sohail came down heavily on the Inzamam-ul-Haq led selection committee for picking sloggers instead of consistent finishers in the national team ahead of the World Cup. "The main concern for me is that our players are not playing as per demands of contemporary cricket where teams are reaching close to 350 without taking too many risks and playing percentage strokes," said Sohail, a member of Pakistan's 1992 World Cup winning team. "Our problem is that this selection committee which has been around for a while now still can't figure out how Pakistan can score 300 plus and for that what do we have to do. "The unfortunate part is that in Pakistan we look for sloggers. We think sloggers will finish the game. That is not right we need to select and than develop players who can play percentage cricket and finish the job at least seven out of 10 innings." Sohail, who has lead Pakistan in six Tests and 22 ODIs, said unfortunately the coordination which is required

Squash: Shahani ousts second seed Ranjit to enter final

Junior Tushar Shahani shocked second seeded Ranjit Singh in four games to enter the men's final of the Otters Club Vedanta Squash Open here on Saturday. Shahani, who lost in the semi finals of the under 19 event held concurrently a few hours earlier, won 11-5, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8 in the semi-final contest. He will meet 3/4 seeded Abhishek Agarwal in the summit clash following the latter's 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 verdict over Sandeep Jhangra, seeded in the 9/16 slot, in the other semi final tie. In the women's semi-finals, Aishwarya Khubchandani's dream run came to an end when 3/4 seed Sanya Vats overpowered her 11-7, 12-10, 11-7. Top seed Urwashi Joshi took her appointed place in the final as she breezed past 5/8 seed Radhika Rathore 11-8, 11-3, 11-6 in the other semi final. Results (all semi finals): Women: Urwashi Joshi [1] bt Radhika Rathore [5/8] 11-8, 11-3, 11-6; Sanya Vats [3/4] bt Aishwarya Khubchandani 11-7, 12-10, 11-7. Men: Abhishek Agarwal [3/4] bt Sandeep Jangra [9/16]

I-League: Real Kashmir, Minerva Punjab awarded one point each

Real Kashmir FC and Minerva Punjab FC have been awarded one point each in the I-League 2018-19, approved by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) League Committee during a meeting here on Saturday.A league match between Kashmir and Minerva scheduled on February 18 was to be rescheduled later as per the decision taken by the Emergency Committee. Following the decision made at the meeting, Kashmir finished their campaign at the third place with 37 points from 20 matches whereas Minerva wrapped up at the ninth position with 18 points from as many matches, AIFF said.Meanwhile, the committee deliberated withdrawal of the I-League clubs from Super Cup 2019 relying upon the relevant clauses of I-League participation agreement and Super Cup regulations. The committee unanimously decided to refer the matter to the Disciplinary Committee.It was decided that TW3 method of bone-age determination will be implemented for the Sub-Junior National Championship next season onward. The committee ...

MI ride De Kock's 81 to post 187/5 against RR

It was a good toss to lose for Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday as they piled up 187/5 against Rajasthan Royals (RR) after being put into bat in their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash on Saturday.

BK Nayak appointed FIH Health and Safety Committee Chair

Bibhu Kalyan Nayak became the first Indian to be appointed Chair of International Hockey Federation (FIH) Health and Safety Committee by the world governing body. A native of Bhubaneswar, Nayak has extensively trained in Sports Traumatology and Sports and Exercise Physiology from National Institute of Sports Medicine at Havana, Cuba & National Sports Centre at Madrid, Spain. He will serve a two-year term lasting till the first executive board meeting after Congress 2020, a media release said. Nayak also served as a medical officer for the 2018 Men's World Cup. He was commissioned in the Army Medical Corps of the Indian Army in 1995 and has worked in the Army Sports Institute, Pune for six years. His first international stint as the team doctor was in 2007 when he took up the role with Indian youth boxing team for a span of two years. Nayak then began working with the Indian hockey team in 2009, accompanying it to several events including Sultan Azlan Shah, Commonwealth Games. "I ..