Page 611 - Sports

Last game was an aberration, have faith in middle-order: Bangar

Assistant coach Sanjay Bangar believes India's batting collapse in the fourth ODI was an "aberration" and reposed faith on the middle-order, saying it has mostly delivered whenever put in a tough situation. India's batting came a cropper in the Hamilton game as they were dismissed for their seventh lowest total of 92. However, Bangar said it was an one-odd failure. "The middle order has rose to the occasion many times and delivered. Yes some situation has been trying but it is not that the middle order hasn't performed," Bangar told reporters ahead of the fifth ODI against New Zealand here Sunday. "When required, more often than not whenever it has been put in a situation, it has delivered, may be the last game was an aberration," he added. Bangar explained his point by giving example of games -- Cuttack (India vs England, Jan 2017), Indore (India vs SA, Oct 2015) and MCG final (India vs Australia, Jan 2019) -- where the middle order contributed to win matches. "...if they (top order .

Dhoni boost for India seeking an improved batting show

Pushed out of their comfort zone by some incisive swing bowling in challenging conditions, a jolted India will gain confidence from Mahendra Singh Dhoni's return as they aim to finish the five-match series against New Zealand on a high. India's most experienced ODI player was out with hamstring injury during last two matches and his return couldn't have been timed better after their inexplicable collapse for 92 in Hamilton. A 4-1 margin will look much better than 3-2 but it will be easier said than done at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. The windy condition here could just be the shot that Trent Boult would need as he again marks his run-up. And that's where Dhoni's presence will be a factor in that middle order which still isn't rock solid if skipper Virat Kohli isn't around. Assistant coach Sanjay Bangar confirmed that Dhoni is fit and available for the game. Dhoni's calmness in anchoring the innings will be priceless and young Shubman Gill might make the way in the playing XI as ..

Solskjaer wrestles with Man Utd defensive challenge

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may yet end up wishing he had been able to strengthen Manchester United's defence should their challenge for the Premier League's top four fall short. Sunday's trip to Leicester will see United face Harry Maguire, a centre-back Jose Mourinho wanted to sign before the start of this season. The club's refusal to sanction a move for the England international deepened divisions between Mourinho and the board, the fallout that ended with the manager's sacking in December as the team struggled. Caretaker manager Solskjaer, publicly at least, appears less concerned than Mourinho about the lack of defensive signings this season but a shortage of quality in that area remains an issue. Solskjaer made a record-breaking start after taking charge at Old Trafford in December, becoming the first manager in United's history to win his opening eight matches, with six of those in the Premier League and two in the FA Cup. But that sequence was ended on Tuesday in a 2-2 home league ..

Patterson hits ton as Australia turn screws on Sri Lanka

Kurtis Patterson smashed his maiden Test hundred Saturday before Australia declared in a commanding position after heaping more misery on a wilting Sri Lankan attack in the second Test at Canberra. In overcast conditions, the home team resumed on 384 for four and extended their lead to a massive 534 for five when skipper Tim Paine decided to call the batsmen off. It gave his bowlers, led by an under-pressure Mitchell Starc, an hour before tea to try and make inroads into the Sri Lankan top order. But on a flat Manuka Oval track conducive to batting Dimuth Karunaratne (not out 29) and Lahiru Thirimanne (not out 17) held firm with the tourists weathering some lightning quick deliveries to go to the break at 47 without loss. The impressive Patterson was not out 114 and Paine on 45 at the declaration with Vishwa Fernando the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers with 3-126. After being dropped on his first ball, Patterson, who earned a debut in the first Test at Brisbane after hitting 157 and ...

Injured Guptill likely to be ruled out of fifth ODI

A lower back injury to experienced New Zealand opener Martin Guptill has made him a doubtful starter for the fifth and final ODI against India here on Sunday. The 32-year-old opener aggravated his lower back while throwing a ball during the fielding practice at the Basin Reserve on Saturday. Guptill looked in pain as he walked off the ground with the help of New Zealand physiotherapist Vijay Vallabh and security manager Terry Minish. Colin Munro, who was left out of the fourth ODI after his scores of 8, 31 and 7 in the first three ODIs, is set to return to the squad. "Martin Guptill is in doubt for tomorrow's fifth ODI against India after aggravating his lower back while fielding this afternoon," NZC tweeted. "He's been assessed by team physio Vijay Vallabh & will be reassessed tomorrow morning. Colin Munro will rejoin the ODI squad tomorrow morning." India have already secured the five-ODI series after winning the first three games. New Zealand won the fourth match by eight ...

Indian women's hockey team draw 1-1 with Ireland

Dragflicker Gurjit Kaur scored in the first half to put the Indian women's hockey team ahead before World cup silver medallists Ireland fought back to draw 1-1 in the opening friendly match here. After levelling the four-match series with hosts Spain, India put up a determined performance in the first match. The visitors will end their 10-day tour of Spain with the second and final friendly match against Ireland on Sunday. India got off to a good start as they made a first breakthrough in the fourth minute when they created a PC opportunity. But the chance went amiss with good defending shown by the Irish. In the second quarter though, India made up for the lost opportunity when they were awarded a PC for an infringement by an Irish defender. Gurjit, India's dragflicker, made no mistake in putting the ball past the Irish goalkeeper Emma Buckley in the 18th minute. India's 1-0 lead put the Irish on the backfoot. While India defended the lead well with a disciplined structure, the Irish

New ATP-WTA tennis tournament for Adelaide in 2020

Adelaide will host the world's top tennis stars from next year at a new joint ATP-WTA tournament set to be played ahead of the Australian Open Grand Slam, it was announced Saturday. The event will take place at a revamped Memorial Drive, which has been given an Aus$10 million (US$7.3 million) cash injection to put a woven fibreglass membrane fabric roof on the centre court. Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley said it was part of his vision for the future of the Australian tennis summer. Sydney and Brisbane have already been announced as hosts of the new innovative 24-nation ATP World Team Cup, which will be played from January 3 over 10 days in the lead-up to the season-opening Grand Slam at Melbourne Park. A third host city for that event, widely tipped as Perth, is yet to be announced. "It's important for us to continually improve on the great tennis offering we have in Australia to ensure there are more opportunities for players, more opportunities for fans to get to see ..

Mental health issues force Pucovski out of Australia Test squad

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts Saturday defended the handling of young batting prospect Will Pucovski, who has left the Test squad to deal with mental health issues. The Victorian, who turned 21 on Saturday, smashed a superb 243 for Victoria against Western Australia this season, which saw him parachuted into the national setup for the two Tests against Sri Lanka. But he was overlooked for the first one in Brisbane and again missed out on selection for the second Test currently being played in Canberra. Pucovski travelled with the squad to the nation's capital but has now been released to return home to Melbourne. "He reported some challenges over the past few days, and the decision has been made that the best thing for Will's welfare is for him to return home to Melbourne," Cricket Australia doctor Richard Saw said in a statement. "Will has been proactive in this process and while he has made significant progress, he feels this is the best course of action to get ...

Man City look to revive title bid against Arsenal

Pep Guardiola needs a quick response from his side against Arsenal on Sunday to show that Manchester City's challenge for the Premier League title remains intact. Guardiola can be thankful City will go into the match at the Etihad Stadium only five points behind leaders Liverpool. It could well have been worse after a lethargic display brought a surprising 2-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Newcastle on Tuesday, but Jurgen Klopp's side struggled to take advantage as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Leicester the following night. City could argue Tuesday's defeat was a blip, given they had won their previous eight matches, but three of those victories were in cup games against lower-division opposition. A more worrying statistic for City manager Guardiola is that his team have lost four of their past nine league fixtures, and that three of those defeats have been against teams who started this weekend in the bottom half of the table. At St James' Park, City allowed their ...

Germany, Australia, Serbia, Russia, close in on Davis Cup finals

Alexander Zverev crushed Peter Nagy of Hungary to put Germany within touching distance of a place in the finals of the revamped Davis Cup. The German World No. 3 beat the Hungarian, who finished 2018 outside the top 600, 6-2, 6-2, to put Germany 2-0 up with the doubles and reverse singles all to be played on Saturday. Philipp Kohlschreiber had opened the tie in Frankfurt by outlasting Zsombor Piros 6-7 (8/6), 7-5, 6-4. Former champions Australia, Russia and Serbia also took 2-0 leads. John Millman brushed aside Bosnian number one Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-2, in Adelaide, before rising star Alex De Minaur beat Mirza Basic 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) to claim his first Davis Cup win. "It's a dream come true for me, and I'm so happy I finally was able to get a win for my country in Davis Cup," said the 19-year-old De Minaur. "You're playing for your bench, you're playing for your country -- we don't get to do that every week." Serbia also moved to within one win of qualification despite the absence of ..

Du Plessis, Hendricks end Pakistan winning streak

Faf du Plessis and Reeza Hendricks shared a record partnership as South Africa ended a nine-match Pakistan T20 winning streak in the first international at Newlands. South Africa prevailed by six runs in a tense finish after being sent in and making 192 for six. Pakistan came close, scoring 182 for nine. "We were two boundaries behind," said Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik on Friday. In the end, it was the fielding of David Miller that made the difference. His two direct-hit run-outs, including the key wicket of Babar Azam, and a South African record four catches, meant that Pakistan kept losing wickets as they chased a challenging target. Miller was named man of the match. Du Plessis hit 78 off 45 balls and shared a record second wicket stand of 131 off 74 balls with Hendricks, who made 74 off 41 deliveries. Du Plessis said at the post-match presentation that he would not play in the remaining two matches, citing the need to rest ahead of two Test matches against Sri Lanka, starting ..

West Indies fight back against England

West Indies fought through a tough second day of the second Test against England and rode their luck to edge ahead of their opponents at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Having dismissed the tourists for 187 in their first innings on day one, the hosts, starting the morning at 30 without loss, reached stumps at 272 for six, a lead of 85 runs with four wickets in hand with two established batsmen - Darren Bravo and captain Jason Holder - at the crease. Bravo's display of patience and discipline in getting to 33 not out after four hours at the crease typified the West Indies effort against a purposeful England bowling attack led by the aggressive but desperately unlucky Stuart Broad. Broad, surprisingly dropped for the first Test in Barbados which the Caribbean side won by a record home margin of 381 runs, left his teammates wondering what could have been a week earlier as he led the England effort with figures of three for 42 off 28 overs. Seaming the ball away sharply and ..

Alfa Romeo becomes F1 team again after deal with Sauber

Swiss Formula One team Sauber announced on Friday that it had reached a partnership deal with legendary racing make Alfa Romeo to compete in the upcoming season under the name of the Italian car manufacturer.

Brathwaite, Hope soild in reply as England frustrated

West Indies' top-order batting negotiated a testing two-hour period with a combination of luck and skill to reach the lunch interval at 126 for one replying to England's first innings total of 187 on the second day of the second Test of the three-match series at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Friday. Kraigg Brathwaite soldiered through the session in getting to 48 not out, anchoring the home side's effort to bat through the day in pursuit of a significant lead as they press for the victory which will give them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series and the Wisden Trophy back in their possession after ten years in English hands. Brathwaite and John Campbell, resuming at 30 without loss through 21 overs at the end of the first day, extended that opening stand to 70 with Campbell getting to 47 before his luck ran out. Reprieved within minutes of the start of play by a television review of an umpiring decision which was shown to be erroneous, the left-hander was then ...

Ali magic as Qatar shock Japan to win first Asian Cup

Qatar stunned Japan 3-1 to win their first Asian Cup on Friday sparked by a moment of magic from record-breaker Almoez Ali and after nail-biting late drama. Sudan-born striker Ali scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick after just 12 minutes before Abdelaziz Hatim curled in a superb second and Akram Afif converted a VAR-assisted penalty to give the 2022 World Cup hosts a famous victory in Abu Dhabi. Qatar survived a scare at 2-0 when Takumi Minamino pulled one back on 69 minutes, only for Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov to award the Maroons a penalty on review for a handball by Japan captain Maya Yoshida. Ali became the first player to score nine goals at a single Asian Cup after only being cleared to play just hours before kickoff following a UAE protest over his eligibility. The Qataris had been pelted with plastic bottles and shoes during the 4-0 semi-final thrashing of hosts United Arab Emirates over the Gulf blockade of the tiny, energy-rich state. Emirati football officials ...

Davis Cup: We failed to take our chances, says Bhupathi

Not ruling themselves out even after falling behind 0-2, captain Mahesh Bhupathi on Friday said India paid the price for not making the most of the opportunities in their first singles rubber against former champions Italy in the Davis Cup World Group qualifier tie here on Friday.

ISL: FC Goa beat Mumbai City FC 2-0

FC Goa ended Mumbai City FC's unbeaten run of nine games after registering a comfortable 2-0 win in an Indian Super League game here on Friday. Spanish midfielder Edu Bedia (28th minute) and star striker Ferran Corominas (79th minute) struck on either side of the break at the Mumbai Football Arena as a sizable number of fans cheered the visiting team. Right from the beginning, the two teams played aggressive. The visitors had an early chance in the second minute. A throw-in from Seriton Fernandes from the right reached Corominas, who gave a low pass to Brandon Fernandes. But the midfielder sold a dummy to skipper Mandar Rao Dessai behind him. Dessai shot from a distance but an alert Mumbai custodian Amrinder Singh parried it away. Goa had more chances but Mumbai defenders thwarted the attack either from near the box or inside the box. Also, the match officials were kept on their toes with Goa player Seriton Fernandes and Mumbai's Milan Singh, Lucian Goian earning yellow cards inside ..

Twelve Russian track and field athletes suspended for doping

Twelve Russian track and field athletes, including 2012 Olympic high jump champion Ivan Ukhov, have been suspended for doping, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced on Friday. The suspensions range between two to eight-year bans, with 2013 world high jump gold medallist Svetlana Shkolina also suspended. CAS had been ruling in the cases in place of the suspended Russian Athletics Federation (RUSAF), and pursued allegations of anti-doping based on evidence from the McLaren report, which uncovered state-sponsored doping in Russia when it was published in 2016. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) banned Russia from competing in its competitions in November 2015 and last month upheld the country's suspension into 2019, and CAS opened procedures against the suspected dopers "on behalf" of the IAAF. "In all cases, the athletes have been found guilty of ADRVs (anti-doping rule violations) under the IAAF Rules and individual sanctions have been imposed by

Real Madrid draw Barcelona in Copa del Rey semis

Real Madrid will face defending champions Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. The draw made on Friday means there will be back-to-back Clasicos, with the second leg due to take place in the last week of February, before Madrid host Barca in La Liga on March 2. The first leg will be played at the Camp Nou next week before a return at the Santiago Bernabeu. The provisional dates are February 6 and 27. Real Betis will go up against Valencia in the other semi-final. Barcelona are 10 points clear of Madrid in La Liga and will be favourites to progress but their opponents have found form in recent weeks, winning six of their last seven matches. Barcelona director Guillermo Amor said: "Real Madrid are playing well and they will be the Madrid team we always expect -- a group of winners that competes for everything, that can give us a scare if we are not ready to work." "There's nothing like it," Real Madrid director Emilio Butragueno said. "We are talking about two teams with a .

ISL: Chennaiyin look to steady ship against Pune (Preview)

Chennaiyin FC will look to dispel the gloom in the club when they take on FC Pune City in an Indian Super League (ISL) clash at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here on Saturday.