Page 554 - Sports
Ranatunga fails in bid to take control of crisis-hit Sri Lankan cricket
World Cup-winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga suffered a comprehensive defeat in his bid to take control of Sri Lanka's crisis-ridden national cricket board on Thursday. Ranatunga, 55, contested one of two vice-president posts but only came third in voting. His brother, Nishantha, who was nominated as secretary, was also defeated. Ranatunga ally Jayantha Dharmadasa also failed in his bid to become Sri Lanka Cricket president, losing out to Shammi Silva -- a loyalist of former SLC chief Thilanga Sumathipala, Ranatunga's arch-rival. Ranatunga, who led Sri Lanka to victory at the 1996 World Cup, had vowed to clean up the board, which the International Cricket Council recently described as the sport's most corrupt national body. The former skipper, who is also a minister in the Sri Lankan government, had hoped to wrest control of the SLC ahead of the World Cup that begins in England on May 30. The national team has lost a host of recent series at home and abroad and has been beset by ...
Bolivia asks to join South American bid to host 2030 FIFA World Cup
Bolivia has formally expressed interest in joining a South American bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which will mark the centenary of football's showpiece tournament.
Man City come from behind to beat Schalke 3-2
Ten-man Manchester City scored twice in the last five minutes of regulation time to defeat Schalke 3-2 in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie.
Munar, Dellien, Bedene, Auger-Aliassime advance to quarters of Rio Open
Spain's Jaume Munar, Bolivia's Hugo Dellien, Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene and Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Rio Open tennis meet.
IPL: Delhi Capitals announce Dhiraj Malhotra as new CEO
Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals on Thursday announced their new leadership team with Dhiraj Malhotra being appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Srinath T.B. as Head of Operations.
Mineiro beat Defensor in Copa Libertadores stage 3 qualifier
Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro beat Uruguay's Defensor Sporting 2-0 in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores third stage qualifying tie at the Luis Franzini Stadium here.
IND v ENG ODIs: Harmanpreet's absence may dent Mithali's dream to avoid ICC qualifiers
Delhi [India], Feb 21 (ANI): As captain Mithali Raj aims to avoid the qualifiers ahead of the 2021 World Cup, the unexpected absence of vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur has dwindled the Indian women's team, which will take on England in the one-day international series, starting on Friday.Kaur, who is going through a lean patch, was ruled out of the entire series after sustaining an ankle injury during the training session. The all-rounder comes with ample experience under her belt, which the team will miss when India meet England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, as part of the ICC Women's Championship.India are currently third on the table with 12 points from as many games. With the Blue Brigade unlikely to play Pakistan because of political issues, this series will be crucial to winning to avoid qualifiers ahead of the World Cup.Having seen Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues among the runs at the backyard of New Zealand in the recent series, Raj-led side will have to make sure - ..
Adaptability will be the key in T20I series against India: Usman Khawaja
Australian top-order batsman Usman Khawaja believes that adaptability is going to be the key against India in their upcoming two-match T20I series, beginning February 24.The 32-year-old, an experienced hand in playing on the Indian wickets as he has been previously part of the Indian Premier League (IPL), said that pitches in India are "pretty good" for batting.He further asserted that many Australian players have got the experience of playing on the Indian tracks which will prove to be beneficial for them."I found there was probably one wicket that spun a fair bit in Dharamsala, the other ones (in Mohali (twice) and Bangalore) were pretty good batting surfaces. You just have to adapt to whatever you get here," Cricket.com.au quoted Khawaja, as saying."As the Australian Cricket Team, a lot of guys have had some really good performances in India in the past, so I think we can draw from that," he added.The left-hand batsman, who is one of the front-runners to get the opener's slot in ...
Confident Indian women aim high against England in ODI series
The aggressive Harmanpreet Kaur's injury-forced absence is likely to be felt but a confident Indian women's cricket team will look to make the home advantage count when it squares off against England in a three-match ODI series starting here Friday. Fresh from a decent outing in New Zealand, where the team won the ODIs but were blanked 0-3 in T20 Internationals, the Indian team continues its ICC Championships engagements. The team has to hold on to its position in the top-four of the world rankings till 2020 to get direct qualification for the 2021 World Cup. All the three matches will be played at the Wankhede Stadium and India would be firm favourites. The Mithali Raj-led outfit had beaten England 2-1 the last time the visitors were here, in 2018. Raj, whose position in the T20 squad has created quite a bit of controversy in the past few months, is still at the top of her game in the 50-over format. The 36-year-old became the first woman cricketer to play 200 ODIs for India during ..
West Indies mull over Kemar Roach's availability for World Cup
The West Indies cricket team are hopeful that they will have Kemar Roach at full fitness for the Cricket World Cup, which will be played in May-June this year.Roach, who has been leading the fast bowling attack for the Windies in their recent Test series win over England, complained of back pain in the last few days due to which he was ruled out from the ODI series against England.The player went on for a scan in which it was discovered that the bowler has had a stress reaction on his back. However, Cricket West Indies are quite adamant that the player does not have a stress fracture, ESPNcricinfo reported.The Carribean team would be hoping that the bowler is able to make it to the World Cup team and provide the much needed fast bowling fire-power to the team.West Indies are slated to play a tri-series against Ireland and Bangladesh ahead of the World Cup. Roach would be expected to play in that series to prove his fitness and go into the World Cup.
Indo-Pak World Cup issue: CoA to meet tomorrow to take a call
Amid growing demands that India should boycott the World Cup clash with Pakistan in view of the Pulwama attack, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) will meet tomorrow to take a call, even as there are suggestions from within the divided cricket body that nothing should be done that may embarrass the country.The CoA, which governs cricket in India, will meet tomorrow to discuss the issue, sources said.They said the panel is likely to seek advice from the ministries of Sports, External Affairs, Home Affairs and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to take "collective and responsible" decision with regards to the scheduled World Cup encounter.According to BCCI sources, the two-member Committee of Administra(CoA) is divided on whether India should play the World Cup match against Pakistan.Former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai is the chief of Supreme Court-appointed CoA and ex-cricketer Diana Edulji is its member.Ahead of the meeting, a BCCI official said the ...
Mitchell Marsh sidelined after groin surgery
Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has been sidelined from the Sheffield Shield, country's domestic first-class competition, after undergoing a minor surgery due to an injury on the groin. The 27-year-old, who sustained the injury during a practice session in Perth, will miss Western Australia's match against New South Wales in Bankstown before being examined again."Mitch was hit in the groin region while batting and was not able to complete training yesterday. As a result of the impact, Mitch has undergone a minor surgical procedure and he won't be available for this upcoming Shield fixture," Cricket.com.au quoted WA sports science sports medicine manager Nick Jones, as saying."Mitch's recovery will be monitored closely over the coming week, before a decision can be made around his availability for the Round 8 Shield match," he added.Marsh was dropped from Australia's Test side following his average poor performance in the Boxing Day Test match against India in December, last ...
Atletico beat Juventus in Champions League clash
Atletico Madrid bounced back from its inconsistent recent performances to beat Serie A powerhouse Juventus 2-0 in round-of-16 action in the Champions League here.
India eves look to dominate England after success in NZ
Indian women will plunge into the three-game ODI rubber against England eves here on Friday with their confidence bolstered by their recent 2-1 series victory against New Zealand in the latter's backyard. With it being a short series, the outfit that wins the opening game, will be at a big advantage going into the next two clashes with all of them to be played at the Wankhede Stadium as part of the ICC Championship. The hosts cannot afford to take England lightly, as the visiting team boasts of some big names in women's cricket. Opener Smriti Mandhana, who amassed 196 runs including a hundred and a 90 in New Zealand, will be a key player with the bat for the Indian women's team. There are others too such as the experienced captain Mithali Raj, the first woman cricketer to appear in 200 ODIs. However, the hosts will miss the aggressive Harmanpreet Kaur, who was ruled out of the entire series with an ankle injury and has been replaced byHarleen Deol. Then there is also the ..
Alyssa Healy sets new world record in Melbourne
Australian wicket-keeper batswoman Alyssa Healy has set a new Guinness World Record for taking the 'highest catch of a cricket ball' at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).The 28-year-old achieved that feat while promoting women's World T20 which will be held next year.Healy caught a ball, which was dropped from a drone, 80 metres above the MCG surface to break the previous record of 62 meters set by an Englishman Kristan Baumgartner in 2016.The right-hand batswoman made several unsuccessful attempts before getting it right but once she gets the record catch, Healy was purely elated."After I didn't get a hand on the first practice and then the next one went straight through my gloves there was cause for concern. You don't get the cue from the ball going up in the air off the bat and it was swinging a lot on the way down because it just gets dropped," Cricket.com.au quoted Healy, as saying after her early attempts at a 64m catch were unsuccessful."As you can tell in the video, it was ...
Formidable Atletico stun Ronaldo and Juventus
Cristiano Ronaldo's Champions League mission with Juventus stalled on Wednesday as Atletico Madrid secured a deserved 2-0 victory from a thrilling first leg at the Wanda Metropolitano. Ronaldo returned to the Spanish capital, where he enjoyed unprecedented success in this tournament with Real, but it was their rivals celebrating at the final whistle as goals from Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin put Atletico within sight of the quarter-finals. "We are not through yet," Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. "There is another match to play and we know we will have to suffer." "Fortunately we didn't concede a third," said Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri. "Because 2-0 is a result that can be turned around. We're not dead yet." But this was a victory that Simeone's side fully deserved. Antoine Griezmann had hit the crossbar while VAR twice intervened, correctly, in Juve's favour, cancelling a penalty for a foul on Diego Costa and then ruling out an Alvaro Morata header just before Gimenez ...
England post record chase to beat Windies in series opener
Contrasting centuries by Jason Roy and Joe Root paced England to a comfortable six-wicket victory over the West Indies with their record one-day international run chase in a high-scoring opening game of a five-match series in Barbados on Wednesday. Set what looked a daunting target after Chris Gayle's 24th ODI hundred anchored the home side to 360-8, Roy blazed 123 off 85 balls at the top of the order while Root cruised to a comparatively sedate 102 off 97 deliveries to take help the tourists reach their target with eight balls to spare. In achieving the highest-ever ODI run chase in the Caribbean and the third-highest overall, England underlined their status as the top-ranked team in this format of the game and will be brimful of batting confidence heading into the second match at the same venue on Friday. Fresh from a hundred in the lone warm-up match at the weekend, Roy was at his most ruthless against the hosts who missed key fast bowler Kemar Roach. The 'man of the series' with ..
Mitch Marsh goes under knife for groin injury
Mitch Marsh's miserable summer has got worse with the allrounder needing surgery following a blow to the groin in training, officials said. The 27-year-old, who has been dropped from the Australian Test, one-day and Twenty20 teams, was struck during a net session in Perth ahead of Western Australia's Sheffield Shield clash with New South Wales. "As a result of the impact, Mitch has undergone a minor surgical procedure and he won't be available for this upcoming Shield fixture," WA official Nick Jones told the Cricket Australia website late Wednesday. "Mitch's recovery will be monitored closely over the coming week, before a decision can be made around his availability for the Round 8 Shield match." It capped a horror few months for the WA skipper, who was hoping to use the Sheffield Shield to regain form, with an eye on the Ashes tour of England later this year. Marsh hasn't batted at first-class level since the Boxing Day Test against India in December. He was dropped after that for .
Sterling winner caps late Man City comeback at Schalke
Raheem Sterling sealed a dramatic 3-2 Champions League win for 10-man Manchester City at Schalke on Wednesday as the English champions scored twice in the last five minutes. Sterling tucked away the winner at the Veltins Arena in the 90th minute just after substitute Leroy Sane fired home a stunning free-kick for the Premier League leaders against his former club in the last 16, first leg. "I waited for my chance and wanted to shoot from there as I had previously scored from that position and it restored our confidence," a delighted Sane told broadcaster DAZN after his equaliser. Schalke led 2-1 at half-time as the video assistant referee (VAR) twice intervened to award penalties, both converted by Nabil Bentaleb, cancelling out Sergio Aguero's opener in Gelsenkirchen. City were in real trouble with 22 minutes left when Nicolas Otamendi, who gave away the controversial first penalty, was sent off for a second yellow card before Sane's moment of brilliance and Sterling's winner. "We ...
Games against Pak should be banned: Sardar Singh
In protest against the Pulwama CRPF convoy attack, Hockey stalwart midfielder Sardar Singh on Wednesday said that games against Pakistan should be banned."Based on my experience, especially in 2014, and normally what we see after the matches, their behviour is uncalled for. Continuously we have defeated them. As we stay in the same hotel, we celebrate nicely keeping in mind that they do not feel bad as winning or losing it is a part of the game. But when they win, even if one match, their behaviour is unwelcoming," Singh told ANI.The 32-year-old further said that India play sports keeping in mind strong relations with the neighbours. "However, when you see Pakistan, you realise that they do not care as they have no feelings," he said.When asked whether Team India should lock horns with Pakistan at the upcoming ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, Singh said: "It is something that the BCCI and leaders of the country should decide".Singh, who retired from the international hockey last year ...