Page 438 - Sports
We can't be great fielding side but can cover it: Dhoni
His side's core team is the oldest in the IPL and Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni knows fully well that they cannot be a great fielding outfit but can make it up in batting and bowling. "We are well covered in other areas. We will never be a great fielding side, but we can be a safe fielding side. We might bleed a few runs here and there, but as long as we use our experience, we'll make it up with our batting and bowling," Dhoni said after CSK beat Delhi Capitals by six wickets here Tuesday. "You don't want the XI to push too hard and get injured. We haven't done well at the death, so plenty of areas to work on. But still it is a good victory," he added. Dhoni himself is 37-year-old, Shane Watson is 35 while Dwayne Bravo is 34. The other core members include 39-year-old Imran Tahir, 38-year-old Harbhajan Singh, 34-year-old Faf du Plessis, 33-year-olds Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav, and soon-to-be 32 Suresh Raina. Dhoni praised his bowlers for restricting Delhi ...
IPL: All-round Chennai beat Delhi by six wickets
Mahendra Singh Dhoni might have lost the toss, but Chennai Super Kings used the conditions at the Ferozeshah Kotla beautifully as they beat Delhi Capitals by six wickets on Tuesday.
Chennai Super Kings make Capital gains
Shane Watson and Suresh Raina made batting look easy on a lifeless track as Chennai Super Kings coasted to a six-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals in an Indian Premier League encounter here on Tuesday. Shikhar Dhawan's painstaking half-century was the only silver lining in Delhi Capitals' sub-par total of 147 for six which the defending champions overtook with two balls to spare. The scoreline might suggest that it was a close game but CSK were always in control of the chase despite a lot of balls being wasted by Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the back end of the innings. When Delhi batted first, run-scoring looked an arduous job with a middle-order collapse dashing hopes of a big total. When CSK started their chase, it was expected that the slowness will be a factor but it seemed Watson (44 off 26 balls) and Suresh Raina (30 off 16 balls) were batting on a different track. They showed positive intent which was singularly lacking in Dhawan and Co. They hit eight fours and four sixes between
India beat Malaysia 4-2 in Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup
Indian men's hockey team came up with a determined performance to beat Malaysia 4-2 in an exciting encounter at the 28th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2019 on Tuesday.This was India's second win after defeating Japan 2-0 in the first match, while they drew the second match against Korea 1-1. India will next take on Canada on March 27.The two teams began the first quarter with powerful counterattacks that kept the spectators on the edge of their seats. First, it was India to foray into the striking circle with some skilful tackle by forward Simranjeet Singh but the hosts were alert to ward off initial danger.Five minutes into the game, Malaysia won their first penalty corner but Krishan B Pathak guarding India's post did brilliantly to save. The following minutes saw accelerating play by both teams, playing on-par with each other and ended the quarter in a stalemate.India adapted to full-press, putting their best defence on display. Vice-captain Surender Kumar continued to remain the main-man .
Michael Phelps gets a taste of IPL
One of the greatest Olympians of all time, Michael Phelps got a taste of cricket Tuesday as he watched the Indian Premier League match between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings here. The winner of an astounding 23 gold medals in Olympics was in town for promotional activity and dropped in for some time at the Kotla in the evening. "Phelps has never watched cricket and it was a perfect occasion for him to get a taste of India's most popular sport. He came as a guest of Delhi Capitals, who invited him through his sponsors," a senior BCCI official told PTI on condition of anonymity. The 33-year-old from Baltimore in USA is on his maiden visit to India. He came in after the match started and was around for an hour before leaving. It was not known whether Phelps found the game as interesting as baseball or felt like yawning like it happened with tennis great Pete Sampras who tried to endure a day at the Lord's during an Ashes Test match.
Kevin O'Brien to run cricket training camp in Munster
Having returned from Afghanistan series in India, Irish all-rounder Kevin O'Brien will head to Munster to run a training camp with Lismore Cricket Club, beginning April 15.Now with more than 330 caps for Ireland, and fresh from scoring a half-century in the second innings of the recent Test match, O'Brien is looking ahead to the domestic season."It is great to return home after a challenging six weeks in Oman and India. There was some tough cricket on the field, but definitely one of the exciting outcomes of the tour was the emergence of some of the new players into the senior set-up - the likes of James Cameron-Dow and James McCollum - taking their chances and earning their places in the side. What this reinforced for me was the need to support the development of the game at home and help with bringing through that next generation of talent," Cricket Ireland quoted O'Brien, as saying."I am delighted to be heading to Munster this Easter and work with Lismore Cricket Club through my ...
Azlan Shah Cup: Dominant India breeze past Malaysia 4-2
India zoomed to the top of the table of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup with a commanding 4-2 victory overs hosts Malaysia at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium here on Tuesday.
IPL: Bravo picks three as CSK restrict DC to 147/6
Mahendra Singh Dhoni might have lost the toss, but Chennai Super Kings used the conditions beautifully at Delhi Capitals' home ground to restrict them to just 147/6 in their 20 overs at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium on Tuesday. Dwayne Bravo was the star of the show for Chennai as he finished with figures of 3/33 from his four overs.
Tennis ball cricket helped me add speed to my bowling: Navdeep Saini
Fast developing into a tearing pacer, Navdeep Saini says playing demanding tennis ball cricket has played a huge role in him gaining a lot of speed. Saini, who is India A regular and also earned a maiden Test call-up for the one-off Test against Afghanistan last June, can consistently bowl in 140s. "All the help I have got in my bowling is all because of tennis ball cricket. If you want to bowl full with tennis ball, it is crucial you are fast. Since I bowled a lot with the tennis ball, it helped me build strength. Because of that, my arm speed increased as well," he said. "Virat keeps telling me, 'show the same intensity of a match at the nets also. In the nets if you're conditioned to give 110 per cent, you will be at 95 per cent level in the match, because there's added pressure.' Bowling to top batsmen like Kohli and De Villiers gives me a lot of confidence," Saini said. Saini also expressed his gratitude for former Test cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who played a key role in his ...
Southgate condemns racism as UEFA charges Montenegro
Gareth Southgate has called for education to stamp out racism in football as European governing body UEFA opened disciplinary proceedings against Montenegro following abuse aimed at black England players during his side's 5-1 Euro 2020 qualifier win in Podgorica. Raheem Sterling celebrated the fifth goal on Monday by cupping his ears towards the home fans as a sign of defiance, while Callum Hudson-Odoi said he and Danny Rose heard monkey noises aimed at them. "Sanctions are worthless if there is nothing alongside that to help educate people," said England coach Southgate. "My kids don't think for one minute about where people are born, what language they speak, what colour they are. "There's an innocence about young people that is only influenced by older people. So we have to make sure that the education is right for everybody. "In our country, (it's) the same. I've said this before, I'm not sitting here just criticising what's happened tonight because in our country we have the same
'Ronaldo Alarm' for Juventus ahead of Champions League quarter-finals
Cristiano Ronaldo's thigh injury picked up during Portugal's 1-1 Euro 2020 qualifier draw with Serbia has sparked alarm in Italy ahead of Juventus's Champions League quarter-final tie against Ajax in two weeks' time. The 34-year-old Juve attacker hobbled off 30 minutes into Monday's stalemate after pulling up chasing a ball on the left wing, and Turin-based daily Tuttosport launched a "Ronaldo Alarm" on Tuesday, while Gazzetta Dello Sport headlined with "CR7 Worry". Juventus travel to Amsterdam for the first leg of their quarter-final clash with the Dutch side on April 10 with the return leg on April 16, and the absence of Ronaldo would be a huge blow for the Turin giants after he dragged them past Atletico Madrid in the last 16 with a return-leg hat-trick earlier this month. Recovery time for a thigh injury varies from up to 10 days for a slight problem to three months, but Ronaldo quickly moved to reassure everyone that he would soon shake off the knock. "I'm not worried. I know my .
RUSADA fires doping testers from former agency
Russia's anti-doping agency has sacked all the doping control officers from its former structure as part of a cleanup in response to the scandal over alleged state-sponsored doping, its chief said Tuesday. "The agency underwent a serious, deep and full transformation with the replacement of 90 percent of its staff and the sacking of all of its doping control officers," said Yury Ganus, the head of the RUSADA agency who appointed last year and tasked with restoring its credibility. "International experts who were recommended by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) made a significant contribution to the organisation of the new RUSADA's work," he added. WADA conditionally lifted its ban on RUSADA in September last year with one of the conditions being the granting of access to thousands of samples at the tainted Moscow lab by the end of 2018. But when a WADA team arrived in December, Russian authorities raised issues with the certification of their equipment under Russian law. WADA officials .
Federer to play Madrid Masters on clay return
Roger Federer will play on clay before this year's French Open after being confirmed on the entry list for the Madrid Masters, which starts on May 3, on Tuesday. The 37-year-old last played the tournament, where he is a three-time champion, in 2015, when he also made his most recent appearance at Roland Garros. Federer has skipped the clay-court season for the last two years to focus on being ready for the grass courts of Wimbledon, but announced after the Australian Open that he would return to the red dirt in 2019. The 20-time Grand Slam champion, a three-time winner in Madrid, will line up alongside world number one Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and title-holder Alexander Zverev after tournament organisers announced the field on Tuesday. Federer won his 19th major crown at Wimbledon in 2017, before adding the Australian Open last year, but has not reached a Slam semi-final since. He faces Russian youngster Daniil Medvedev in the Miami Masters last 16 later on Tuesday. The French ...
Scoreboard of the IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings here on ...
Scoreboard of the IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings here on Tuesday. Delhi Capitals Innings: Prithvi Shaw c Watson b Chahar 24 Shikhar Dhawan c Thakur b Bravo 51 Shreyas Iyer lbw b Tahir 18 Rishabh Pant c Thakur b Bravo 25 Colin Ingram c Raina b Bravo 2 Keemo Paul b Jadeja 0 Axar Patel not out 9 Rahul Tewatia not out 11 Extras: (LB-2 W-5) 7 Total: (For 6 wkts in 20 overs) 147 Fall of Wickets: 1/36 2/79 3/120 4/122 5/123 6/127 Bowling: Deepak Chahar 4-0-20-1, Shardul Thakur 2-0-19-0, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-30-0, Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-23-1, Imran Tahir 2-0-20-1, Dwayne Bravo 4-0-33-3.
Capitals suffer collapse as CSK restrict them to 147/6
Shikhar Dhawan scored a painstaking half-century in Delhi Capitals' sub-par 147 for 6 against Chennai Super Kings on a lifeless Kotla track in an IPL encounter here Tuesday. The senior opener once again played the role of sheet anchor in his 51 off 47 balls that had seven boundaries but unfortunately failed to accelerate during the final overs. This left the home team at least 30 runs short of a fighting score. From a comfortable 120 for 2 with the dangerous Rishabh Pant at the crease, CSK seized the momentum, effecting a middle-order collapse. Capitals lost four wickets for seven runs in just 1.5 overs. From 118 for 2 after 15 overs, the last five overs yielded only 29 runs. With the ball stopping and coming, Capitals batsmen found Dwayne Bravo's (3/33 in 4 overs) variations difficult to handle. Ravindra Jadeja (1/23 in 4 overs) also made life difficult for the Capitals in the middle overs and Harbhajan Singh (0/30 in 4 overs) also bowled as many as 10 dot balls. Dhawan, however, ...
Momota, Lin to feature in Asia Badminton C'ships
The first batch of competitors, featuring shuttlers from China, Japan, Indonesia and other top badminton nations, for the 2019 Asia Badminton Championships was announced, here on Tuesday.
Shah Rukh pays courtesy visit to Mamata Banerjee
Bollywood superstar and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Shah Rukh Khan paid a courtesy visit to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the State Secretariat Nabanna, here on Tuesday.
Azlan Shah Cup: India jump to second spot after beating Malaysia 4-2
India struck four times after a goal-less first quarter to tame hosts Malaysia 4-2, climbing to the second spot in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament, here Tuesday. Sumit Kumar (17th min), Sumit Kumar junior (27th min), drag flicker Varun Kumar and Mandeep Singh (58th min) found the net for India. Razie Rahim (27th min) and Firhan Ashari (57th min) scored for the hosts. With two wins and a draw, India moved up to the second position in the table with seven points behind Korea (7). India had beaten Japan 2-0 in the first match before playing a 1-1 draw against Korea. Five minutes into the game, Malaysia won their first penalty corner but Krishan B Pathak, guarding India's post brilliantly saved it. Surender Kumar continued to remain the main-man for India in the backline, thoroughly supported by the experienced Birendra Lakra, making important connections that helped the forward-line surge into the striking circle. Varun Kumar's pass into the top of the circle saw Hardik Singh
Africa's future stars shine at U-19 Cricket World Cup qualifier
Over the course of the week, the ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup Africa qualifying tournament was a roaring success. There was terrific skill on display in the five days of action and mention must be made of Cricket Namibia for quality surfaces and seamless logistics throughout.There were some standout performances, like the incredible 102 not out from Zephania Arinaitwe of Uganda. He needed just 40 balls to score his century on the final day against Tanzania.Other notable tons included Namibia's Matthew de Gouveia, who notched 102 not out against Sierra Leone, which was full of excellent strokes. Ramon Wilmot, also of Namibia, made a brilliant 132 against Tanzania, and the hosts Namibia, in general, scored heavily throughout the week.Elijah Olaleye made a crucial ton for Nigeria, as his 110 not out against Tanzania, laid the foundation for a fourth win on the trot.There were some fine spells of bowling, such as Samuel Conteh's five for 4. Jan Izak de Villiers from Namibia and Uganda's
IPL will help finetune skills ahead of WC: Ferguson
Not thinking about workload management too much, New Zealand quick Lockie Ferguson on Tuesday said he wanted to use the Indian Premier League (IPL) experience to fine-tune his skills, ahead of the World Cup in England.