Page 909 - Sports
Root's 98 gives England 200-plus lead in second Test
England skipper Joe Root closed in on an attacking century to counter Sri Lanka's spin and push the tourists' second-innings lead to 213 in the second Test on Friday. Root took on the spin challenge to remain unbeaten on 98 off 118 deliveries as he hit seven fours and two towering sixes on day three on a deteriorating Kandy pitch. The tourists were 259 for six at tea with Ben Foakes, on 19, batting alongside Root, who technically came in at the rotating number three spot after Jack Leach opened batting with Rory Burns on Thursday. The star batsman built crucial partnerships including a 74-run fifth wicket stand with Jos Buttler, who made 34. England lead the three-match series 1-0. Root, along with other England batsmen, used the sweep and reverse sweep to great effect despite Akila Dananjaya taking two of his three wickets in a fast-paced second session of play. Buttler dragged one of Dananjaya's mystery spin deliveries onto his stumps while trying to reverse sweep. Moeen Ali was ...
Lakshya enters quarterfinals of World Junior Championship
Young Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen progressed to the quarterfinals of the BWF World Junior Championship after defeating Chinese Taipei's Chen Shiau Cheng in a men's singles event here. The 17-year-old from Almora, who had clinched the Asian Junior Championships title in July this year, saw off ninth seed Chen 15-21 21-17 21-14 in a match that lasted a little under an hour on Thursday. Fourth seeded Lakshya will take on Malaysia's Aidil Sholeh ALI Sadikin next for a place in the semi-final, which will assure him of a medal in the tournament. Lakshya, who received a bye in the opening round, beat Mexico's Armando Gaitan and Italian Giovanni Toti in the earlier rounds in straight games. Men's doubles pair of Vishnu Vardhan Goud Panjala and Srikrishna Sai Kumar Podile also entered the quarters with a 21-11 21-17 win over Indonesian combination of Dwiki Rafian Restu and Bernadus Bagas Kusuma Wardana. The Indian duo will face 10th seeded Korean pair of Tae Yang Shin and Chan Wang next. Other
1st Unofficial Test: Shaw shines while Vijay, Rahane fail against New Zealand A
Senior pros Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane were dismissed cheaply but young guns Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari warmed up nicely for the Australia Test series with half-centuries for India A against New Zealand in the first unofficial 'Test'. At stumps on the opening day, India A scored 340 for five with Australia bound opener Shaw (62, 88 balls), middle-order batsman Hanuma Vihari (86, 150 balls) and comeback man Parthiv Patel (79 batting, 111 balls) utilised the opportunity to the fullest. However opener Vijay (28, 64 balls) and Test vie-captain Rahane (12, 19 balls) found their defences breached by Blair Tickner and Doug Bracewell respectively. In-form Vihari, who made his Test debut against England with a half-century, was dismissed in the last ball of the day. Vihari hit eight boundaries during his stay in the middle, while Patel has so far found the fence 10 times. Also scoring a half-century was Mayank Agarwal (65), who came in at No 3. After the visitors opted to bat first, ..
Team India departs for Australia
Eyeing a maiden Test series win Down Under, the Indian cricket team left for Australia Friday for a gruelling tour, which will see them play four matches in whites, three ODIs and as many T20 Internationals. Various members of the team took to Tweeter to share their feelings ahead of their departure with chinaman Kuldeep Yadav terming it an "exciting challenge". "Exciting challenges ahead. Off to Australia with the boys #TeamIndia," tweeted Kuldeep, who posted a picture with his teammates comprising young wicketkeeper and batsman Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma and others. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah tweeted his picture and wrote, "Off we go! #Australia #Travelbound". "Taking off to head down under," wrote Krunal Pandya on the micro blogging site as he posted snaps with team mates. At the pre-departure press conference on Thursday, Kohli emphasised on the need for the batsman to step up. Head coach Ravi Shastri categorically said that there won't be any chopping and changing in the ODI team from .
Riga Marathon awarded IAAF Gold Label
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has awarded the Gold Label to the Lattelecom Riga Marathon as one of the world's leading road races, organisers of the Riga Marathon said.
I thought I would never bowl again: Steyn
Ace South African pacer Dale Steyn has opened up about the times when he thought that he would never be able to bowl again.The 35-year struggled with a series of injuries for nearly two years which raised several doubts on his comeback.The pacer, however, revived strongly and finished the recently-concluded three-match ODI series against Australia as the highest wicket-taker (7 with an economy rate of 3.48) for his team."Not so long ago I didn't think that I would be playing cricket again. When I broke my shoulder I had this real drive to come back, but it took a long time. It took a solid six months before I could bowl again and I kept joking with my physio saying it was like U9 pace ... I could get my arm over but there was no momentum," Sport24 quoted Steyn, as saying."I knew that once I started playing again it would be like riding a bike. I've done it for so long and I'm blessed with a very natural action and things come quite easy," he added.When asked about his plans for the ...
Peng Shuai in last eight at Houston tennis
China's former number 1 Peng Shuai rallied to beat Swiss player and top seed Belinda Bencic 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the second round to reach the quarterfinals of the Houston tennis tournament.
River captain Ponzio to return for Libertadores decider
River Plate captain Leonardo Ponzio will be fit to play in next week's second leg of the Copa Libertadores final against Boca Juniors after recovering from a leg injury, coach Marcelo Gallardo said.
Internacional keep alive Brazil Serie A title hopes
Former Brazil international striker Leandro Damiao scored one goal and set up another as Internacional kept alive their Brazilian Serie A title hopes with a 2-0 victory over America Mineiro.
Ecuador beat Peru 2-0 in friendly
Second-half goals from Antonio Valencia and Enner Valencia gave Ecuador a 2-0 victory over Peru in their international friendly here.
Batshuayi leads Belgium 2-0 over Iceland
Michy Batshuayi had a brace to lead Belgium to a 2-0 win over Iceland in a UEFA Nations League contest.
Shuttler Srikanth crashes out of Hong Kong Open
Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth lost his men's singles quarter-final match to bow out out of the Hong Kong Open here on Friday.
Federer cruises past Anderson to reach last-4 of ATP Finals
Roger Federer booked his place in the last four of the ATP Finals, tennis' elite season-ending event, with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over big-serving South African Kevin Anderson.
Socceroos coach says South Korea clash no friendly
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold is already in Asian Cup mode and made clear on Friday that the team's warm-up clash with South Korea this weekend will be no friendly. Australia beat the Koreans in the final of the 2015 continental championship and Saturday's match in Brisbane will be a test of where each side is at ahead of the 2019 tournament in the United Arab Emirates in January. "We know the Asian Cup is just around the corner and in my view there are no friendly games -- it's all about winning and building up belief and confidence in everything we're practising," he told reporters. "The energy has been great, the training is high-energy, we've got pace in the team, a lot of creativity, and the freedom of a flexible system to show the boys' qualities." Australia head into the match without two of their most experienced players -- Tim Cahill and Mile Jedinak. They have both called time on their international careers, although Cahill will make a cameo against Lebanon in Sydney next ...
ATP Finals: Federer books semis berth
Swiss tennis maestro Roger Federer stormed into the semi-final of the ongoing ATP Finals tournament after defeating Kevin Anderson of South Africa in the men's singles event here on Friday.The 37-year-old thrashed Anderson 6-4, 6-3 in the quarter-final clash that lasted 77 minutes.Getting over the initial setback in the tournament which he had received after losing the opening encounter to Japan's Kei Nishikori, Federer won 68 per cent of second-serve return points against Anderson in the match to emerge victoriously.The twenty-time Grand Slam champion, with his skilful hitting, broke Anderson four times in the match and did not let him get settled.If Federer manages to win the ATP finals title, then it would be his 100th tour-level trophy. The player, however, said that he does not want to focus on the numbers right now.While talking about the milestone, Federer clearly stated that he does not want to let this go into his head as it is likely to create extra pressure. He further ...
Du Plessis likely to draw curtains on T20I career post WC
South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis has stated that he might draw curtains on his international T20 career after 2020 International Cricket Council (ICC) World T20."The T20 World Cup is in Australia and that's not too far away, so hopefully we'll be back for that and that will probably be my last international tour I would think," Cricket.com.au quoted Du Plessis, as saying.Talking about the domestic T20 leagues around the world, the 34-year-old said that they have prevented the national sides to play their strongest team in the international tournaments."From our perspective, T20 cricket for us over the last two or three years has been a case of bringing in the young guys, giving them an opportunity, so we never really play our strongest XI, which isn't great for the international game," he said."Football (has) a situation where it's playing for your clubs and then there's an international tournament. In my opinion, that's a good place for T20 cricket to be in because you shouldn't ..
New-look Germany ease past Russia in friendly
A youthful Germany team easily beat Russia 3-0 as Joachim Loew began a rebuilding process following the summer's World Cup debacle with a simple friendly win. Manchester City winger Leroy Sane and Bayern Munich pair Niklas Suele and Serge Gnabry claimed the first-half goals in Leipzig for head coach Loew's new-look Germany side on Thursday. "We can be pleased with that, we were in top form in the first half," said goal-scorer Gnabry. "We were a bit too passive after the break, but we will take the win. "It doesn't matter how old this team is, look at someone like Kai (Havertz), he's only 19, but played really well." This was Germany's biggest victory and most convincing performance of 2018, a year which saw a record six defeats. After so many lacklustre performances from the Germans in the last 12 months, Loew's spritely side came through thanks to some high-tempo football. However the victory is no more than a confidence booster for Monday's crunch Nations League match at home to the
England thump US 3-0 in football friendly
England's national football team drubbed the US 3-0 in a football friendly match played at Wembley Stadium.
Germany show signs of recovery, beat Russia 3-0
Germany showed signs of recovery after a horrible year and beat Russia 3-0 in a friendly match in Leipzig.
India A reach 340/5 in first unofficial Test against New Zealand A
India A scored 340 for five with four of the visiting batsmen, including young opener Prithvi Shaw, striking fluent half-centuries in the first unofficial Test against New Zealand A here Friday. At stumps on the first day of the four-day game, the experienced Parthiv Patel was batting on 79 off 111 balls, with Vijay Shankar slated to join the wicketkeeper in the middle on Saturday. Having made 86 off 150 deliveries, Hanuma Vihari, who made his Test debut in England with a half-century, was dismissed in the last ball of the day. Vihari hit eight boundaries during his stay in the middle, while Patel has so far found the fence 10 times. Also scoring fifties were Mayank Agarwal (65) and the 19-year-old Test opener Shaw (62). After the visitors opted to bat first, India A were given a fine start by Shaw and his senior partner Murali Vijay, who fell for 28. The Mumbaikar then added exactly 50 runs for the second wicket with Agarwal, before he was dismissed by slow-left-arm spinner Theo van .