Page 539 - Sports
AB de Villiers signs to play T20 cricket for Middlesex
AB de Villiers has signed to play for English county side Middlesex in the Twenty20 Blast, the club announced on Monday. The South African batsman is a second significant marquee signing for head coach Stuart Law, following the announcement that Afghan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman will join his squad for the T20 campaign. De Villiers, 35, is available to play in the first seven rounds and, if necessary, will return for the latter stages of the tournament. The batsman has played in every Indian Premier League since its inception in 2008, scoring almost 4,000 runs at an average of just under 40. "I have always wanted to play county cricket, and I am very much looking forward to joining Middlesex," he said. "Playing at Lord's is always a wonderful privilege." Law said: "It's exciting for all here at Middlesex to announce the arrival of AB de Villiers for the T20 Blast this season. "It's a great opportunity for some of our younger players to pick the brain of one of the best players to have ..
Shikha Pandey credits coach Raman for her resurgence
Indian medium pacer Shikha Pandey Monday said minor technical changes made by coach W V Raman has helped her to register career-best figures in the series-clinching win over England in the second ODI of the ICC Women's Championship here. Snubbed from last year's World T20 squad, Pandey returned to the side with a bang and registered career-best figures of 4 for 18 to help India beat world champions England comprehensively by seven wickets and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. "There were a few technical issues, which were brought into my notice by Raman Sir. I was very surprised that I did not realise those (issues). He has been that assuring face in the dressing room," Pandey said. "He is someone who you can speak about bowling and he is always there with an opinion about it. I would say, he caught the flaw during the Challengers (he had come down to see the Challengers). Those minute things actually helped a lot," she added. Pandey and senior pacer Jhulan ...
Crestfallen Knight blames batting unit for loss in 2nd ODI
England women's team skipper Heather Knight Monday blamed her batting unit for the seven-wicket loss to hosts India in the second ODI here. England conceded a 0-2 lead to hosts India after suffering their second consecutive loss. The visitors had lost the opening game by 66 runs. These games are part of the ICC Women's championships and India have earned four points. "In both games batting wise we have not given true account of ourselves. We have not lived up to the way, we know, we can play. Being three down in any game is very difficult to win and drag it back. India bowled very bowl today," Knight told reporters. "They made it very difficult for us and didn't give us many scoring opportunities and created opportunities throughout the innings. As a batting unit we are very disappointed." Shikha Pandey (4-18) and Jhulan Goswami (5-30) broke the back of the England top and middle-order and Knight lavished praise on the two Indian pacers. "She (Shikha) swung the ball consistently. She .
Karnataka cruise to fourth win; Assam stun Bengal
Karnataka thrashed minnows Mizoram by 137 runs to cruise to their fourth win on the trot and consolidate the position atop Group D in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament here Monday. Opting to bat, Karnataka toyed with the Mizoram attack to post a huge 242/4 in the stipulated 20 overs. In reply, Mizoram were restricted to 105/6 with leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal claiming 4 for 8 from his four overs to hand his team a simple win at the Barabati Stadium. Karnataka have 16 points from four matches, four points clear of Assam, who jumped to second spot following their stunning 26-run win over former champions Bengal at the Barabati Stadium. At the DRIEMS Ground in Tangi on the outskirts of Cuttack, it was mayhem by the Karnataka batsmen. First, Rohan Kadam (78 from 51 balls; 6x4, 3x6) and Mayank Agarwal (20 from 14 balls; 3x4) put on a 52-run opening stand in just 4.2 overs. After Agarwal departed, Karun Nair joined the party and plundered 71 off just 33 balls, smashing five sixes and an
Rana shines in Delhi's win, J&K pips Andhra
: Nitish Rana's unbeaten half-century guided Delhi to a seven-wicket win over Kerala in a Group 'A' match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 cricket tournament here Monday. In other matches, Manipur trounced Nagaland by 10 wickets in a battle of newcomers while Jammu and Kashmir defeated Andhra Pradesh by five wickets. In the Delhi-Kerala match, the latter won the toss and chose to bat but couldn't make the most of it, posting a modest 139 for 7 in 20 overs. Skipper Ishant Sharma struck the first blow for Delhi, having K B Arun Karthick caught and bowled for a duck and Kerala never really got going as the impressive Navdeep Saini got Rohan Prem (8), to a return catch. A fifth-wicket partnership of 60 runs between captain Sachin Baby (37) and Vinoop Sheela Manoharan (38) sparked a brief revival but Kerala lost its way towards the end of the innings, losing wickets and ended up at 139. All the Delhi bowlers got a wicket each with Saini (1 for 17 with 11 dot balls) being ...
Jayaram, Subhankar to lead Indian charge at German Open badminton
Indian shuttlers Ajay Jayaram and Subhankar Dey would look to return to form when they spearhead the country's challenge at the USD 150,000 German Open, starting with the qualifiers here Tuesday. Jayaram, a former world no 13, is going through a rough patch ever since he sustained a hamstring injury in 2017. The Mumbai shuttler, who had reached the finals of Vietnam Open Super 100 last year, will begin his campaign against Japan's seventh seed Kanta Tsuneyama. A four-time finalist at the Dutch Open, Jayaram's best performance has been a final finish at the 2015 Korea Super Series. The 31-year-old Indian will hope for a better outing in the tournament after bowing out in the second round last week following a straight-game loss to Denmark's Viktor Axelsen. Subhankar, who had a breakthrough season last year when he won the SaarLorLux Open, will also compete in the BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament and open his campaign against Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen. Playing his fifth ...
GM Gupta wins Cannes International Open
Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta won the Cannes International Open after taking an easy draw with Pier Luigi Basso of Italy in the ninth and final round that concluded here on Monday. Having been tied for the top spot in the previous edition, Abhijeet did one better winning the tournament with 7.5 points, a clear point lead over nearest rivals Nikita Maiorov of Belarus, Nasuta Grzegorz of Poland and Yuri Solodovnichecko of Ukraine. Abhijeet started well in the tournament winning the first four rounds and then did not look back as two more wins and three draws happened on the way to his first solo International tournament victory. Earlier this year, Abhijeet had also tied for the first place at the Delhi International open in January. The BPCL-officer will also gain some important rating points that will see him back in the 2600 rating club. Speaking on his performance, Abhijeet said that he did not get much time to prepare. "I was busy with the wedding that happened about nine days before ..
Saurav enters pre-quarters, Joshna exits from World Sqaush Championship
India's Sourav Ghosal entered the men's pre-quarterfinals even as compatriot Joshna Chinappa crashed out of the women's event of the ongoing PSA World Squash Championship in Chicago. According to information received here, Sourav now remains the lone Indian in the fray. Sourav, seeded 11th, defeated France's Lucas Serme 13-11 11-6 11-8 in his second round match that lasted 48 minutes on Sunday. Sourav will play unseeded Joel Makin of Wales in the ne xt round. However, 14th seede Joshna suffered a shock defeat against the Hong Kong 18th seed Joey Chan 10-12 7-11 7-11 in the second round of the women's singles event.
Mandhana, pacers hand India Women ODI series
Smriti Mandhana's crucial innings and dominating spells by the pacers dashed England's hope of creating history on the Indian soil, defeating the visitors by seven wickets on Monday at the Wankhede Stadium with a game to spare.Chasing a below-par score of 161 runs, opener Mandhana kept the visitors at bay with a magnificent knock of 63. In spite of losing her opening partner Jemimah Rodrigues for a duck, the Southpaw steadied the ship with a 73-run stand with Punam Raut.England got a glimmer of hope when pacer Georgia Elwiss dismissed Raut for 32. Captain Mithali Raj joined Mandhana in the middle, ensuring the Indian team does not lose momentum in the run chase.The hosts faced a minor hiccup as they lost Mandhana still needing 22 runs to win the match. Mithali (47*) and Deepti Sharma (6*) took the team over the line and sealed a comfortable seven-wicket win.Earlier, top scorer Natalie Sciver (85) anchored the innings for England after the visitors opted to bat. The all-rounder ...
Henry Nicholls hails NZ on attaining No. 2 Test ranking
New Zealand cricketer Henry Nicholls has hailed the team for attaining the number two position in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings.The 27-year-old said that upgradation in the rankings is a result of the work the team has put in over the past few years."It is pretty cool, it is a testament to the cricket we have been playing for the last 12 months if not longer," ICC quoted Nicholls as saying.New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson's team has 107 points on the table behind India's 116 points while South Africa are ranked third on the Test rankings with 105 points.The Kiwis have four batsmen featuring in the Top 20 with Williamson occupying the number two position, Nicholls at number five, Tom Latham and Ross Taylor at number 12 and number 19, respectively."It's not something that I go out and try to achieve or focus on, but to be around some really great batters in the world, it is pretty humbling. Like I say, it's a by-product of the cricket we've been playing as a ..
CEC Meet: ICC to apprise Indian board of security arrangements during World Cup
The International Cricket Council (ICC) will clear India's "doubts" about security at the upcoming World Cup but the world body is unlikely to even discuss a possible boycott of Pakistan when its Chief Executives Committee (CEC) meets here on Wednesday. More than 40 CRPF personnel were killed in the Pulwama terror attack which led to demands that India should boycott the Pakistan game in the World Cup in Manchester on June 16. Responding to the outrage, the Committee of Administrators running Indian cricket wrote a letter to the ICC urging it boycott countries from where "terrorism emanates" but did not specifically name Pakistan. The quarterly meeting of the ICC will start in Dubai on Wednesday with the Chief Executives (CEC) meeting meeting where BCCI CEO Rahul Johri's letter will be tabled and the matter will be discussed. The BCCI had expressed its concern about the safety of the players and officials during the World Cup which starts May 30 in England. "The ICC will provide all ..
Proud to play Dubai Open final: Belinda Bencic
Ending a four-year drought to clinch her first-tour level title, Swiss tennis star Belinda Bencic defeated Czech Petra Kvitova 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in the Dubai Tennis Open finals. With the win, Bencic has moved up from number 45 to 23 in the rankings."I have been playing great the whole week so I am really proud of that. I am proud of how I managed to play the final. I did not get too nervous at the end, which was great," Women's Tennis Association (WTA) quoted Bencic, as saying.The 21-year-old said that she takes inspiration from Kvitova, Naomi Osaka, and Karolina Pliskova, who are all ranked above her in the rankings."We all inspire each other. And I hope we rise up with each other. Actually, Elise Mertens inspired me last week. I was very surprised and happy about how she won there. You know, of course, Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open, Petra Kvitova as well in the Australian Open. We all tried to learn from each other, take the best from each other, and just rise up like this," she ...
Spot in Aussie World Cup squad cloudy for Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell has always been a hit and miss type of player for the Australian cricket team.Maxwell has played consistently for the Australian one-day team for the past year. But his spot is still not cemented as a permanent member of the team and the player is wary of the fact."I have no idea if I am going to be in that World Cup squad and what number I'm going to bat", cricket.com.au quoted Maxwell as saying.For the past two years, the 30-year-old Maxwell has been coming at number seven to bat and has been given the role of a finisher.Maxwell, who was sent at number four in the opening T20I against India, was dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal after scoring a knock of 56 runs, but his dismissal once again raised questions about the responsibility that has been entrusted to the player."If I can turn those sort of innings into not out 75-ish and be consistent that way, I think I can probably go a long way to pencilling my name in for the World Cup squad and hopefully continue to do that ...
Women's IPL exhibition games likely during playoffs: BCCI official
The women's T20 exhibition matches, which will be staged during the IPL, is once again likely to be slotted during the playoffs as the BCCI that remains the only window available for these games. As stated earlier by the Board officials, the matches are expected to have a 7pm start to grab maximum eyeballs. "Like last year, the sole window we have is during the play-offs. But a lot depends on the election dates," a BCCI official told PTI on Monday. The one-off T20 between Supernovas and Trailblazers last year had a 2pm start which attracted only a handful of fans at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The game, featuring women's cricket stars like Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Meg Lanning, Elysse Perry and Suzie Bates, went down to the wire but could not create the buzz that the BCCI had hoped for despite being played ahead of the men's IPL playoff game later in the evening. "We are waiting for the Election Commission of India to announce the full schedule of the general elections ...
De Bruyne says quadruple would make Man City 'best team ever'
Kevin De Bruyne has played down Manchester City's quadruple prospects after they beat Chelsea in the League Cup final but admitted such an achievement would make them the "best team ever". With Liverpool also missing the chance to move three points clear at the top of the Premier League after being held to a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday, the odds on City completing an unprecedented clean sweep have shortened. But asked if Pep Guardiola's men could win all four trophies on offer, midfielder De Bruyne said it would be "almost impossible". "If you do that you must be considered the best team ever because nobody has done it," he said. "However, we are not looking at that. We want to win as much as possible. We are not thinking about the quadruple. "If we win three and then we play the Champions League final maybe we can talk about it but before that -- no way." Alex Ferguson's Manchester United won the treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup in 1999 -- a unique feat in
Indian women's team beat England by 7 wickets in 2nd ODI
Indian women's team defeated England by seven wickets in the second ODI to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series here Monday. The Indian women's side had defeated England in the first ODI by 66 runs on February 22. Brief Score: England: 161 all out in 43.3 overs (NR Sciver 85; J Goswami 4/30, S Pandey 4/18). India: 162-3 in 41.1 overs (S Mandhana 63; A Shrubsole 2/23).
World Cup Shooting: Indians fail to make final of 10m air rifle
Indian shooters failed to make the final of the men's 10m air rifle event of the ISSF World Cup here Monday. The three Indians in the fray, Divyansh Singh Panwar, Ravi Kumar and Deepak Kumar finished 12th, 14th and 34th respectively at the DR Karni Singh Shooting Range. The failure comes after two successful days in the season-opening International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in which Apurvi Chandela, in women's 10m air rifle, and Saurabh Chaudhary, in men's 10m air pistol, claimed gold with world records. World Cup medallist Ravi shot 627 in the qualification, Deepak managed 624.3, while Divyansh had 627.2. They will have to wait until the next World Cup to earn their quota places for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Even the Hungarian duo of the seasoned Peter Sidi and Istvan Peni, who won gold in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions on Sunday, could not clear the qualification hurdle. Russia's Sergey Kamensky won gold in the event with 249.4, Chinese Yukun Liu bagged the ...
Shanghai SIPG's Oscar 'dreaming' of Brazil recall
Shanghai SIPG midfielder Oscar said he retains hopes of returning to Brazil's national team as he prepares for his third season with the Chinese Super League club.
Defending champs Australia in bid to find old charm
Defending champions Australia, who are currently going through a bad phase, have started giving the final touch to their 2019 World Cup preparations and trying hard to stand up to the reputations that the team has made over the years.
Radu Albot becomes first Moldovan to lift ATP tour title
Radu Albot created history at the Delray Beach Open, becoming the first Moldovan to win an ATP tour title.Albot, who had never reached a tour-level final before this tournament, defeated Daniel Evans 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(7) late on Sunday night.The 29-year-old saved three championship points to win the final against Daniel Evans of the UK."It feels unbelievable. You work so much. You work your whole life, your whole career, and at the end, you win a tournament. This is just a great feeling. I think it is difficult to put into words," Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) quoted Albot, as saying.The Moldovan star had to wait for 56 minutes as the match was halted by rain and slowed down Albot's momentum.With his win, Albot has gained 250 ATP ranking points. The last player who won the first ATP tour trophy for his country was Stefanos Tsitsipas."It was not in the plan, I have to say, losing the first set and then coming back. But it worked out pretty good this week. When you lose a set, ..