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2018 World Cup Qualifiers: Argentina fight back for 2-1 win against Chile on Lionel Messi return

March 25, 2016

Buenos Aires, Mar 25: Lionel Messi`s return sparked Argentina to a 2-1 win over Chile in Santiago on Thursday, breathing new life into their South American qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup.

Messi

Messi, who had missed the first four games last year with a knee injury, laid on the 24th-minute winner for defender Gabriel Mercado after Angel Di Maria had cancelled out Felipe Gutierrez`s opener for Chile.

Argentina, beaten finalists at the last World Cup in Brazil, moved up to fourth in the 10-team group on eight points from five games. The top four qualify automatically for Russia with the fifth-ranked team going into an intercontinental playoff.

"We had to win in whatever way we could," Messi told broadcasters TyC Sports. "I was glad to be back to help this group of players who fight for every point to the death."

Chile, who had beaten Argentina in the Copa America final in Santiago last July, took the lead after 10 minutes when Gutierrez took advantage of poor defending at a corner to head past goalkeeper Sergio Romero.

The home side dominated the opening quarter of an hour as Argentina struggled to find their feet but the tide turned when Di Maria curled a right-footed shot past Claudio Bravo for the equaliser 10 minutes later.

Argentina then pulled ahead when Messi won a tussle for the ball inside the box and lifted it over to right back Gabriel Mercado, who hooked the ball home past Bravo.

Chile drove forward in the second half searching for the equaliser, keeping Messi in check and Argentina on the back foot.

Fabian Orellana forced a diving save from Romero, substitute Mauricio Pinilla hit the side netting and Alexis Sanchez hit a 90th-minute free kick over the bar but the home side were unable to break through.

The defeat leaves Chile in sixth place on seven points, six behind leaders Ecuador, who needed a stoppage-time goal by Angel Mena to rescue a 2-2 draw at home to Paraguay.

The draw ended a run of four straight wins for Ecuador but they remain the only unbeaten team in the group.

Joining Chile on seven points are Colombia, who got an injury-time winner from Edwin Cardona to beat Bolivia 3-2.

Peru moved above Bolivia into eighth after Raul Ruidiaz struck a 94th minute equaliser as the hosts fought back from 2-0 down to snatch a 2-2 draw against winless Venezuela in Lima.

Second-placed Uruguay play Brazil, who are fifth, in Recife on Friday.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 1: Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are aiming to set up their preparatory camp for the 13th edition of the tournament from early August.

This year's IPL was slated to commence from March 29 but the tournament was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Recently, the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel had confirmed that the 13th edition of the mega event will commence on September 19 in the UAE.

As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, CSK players have been asked to report to Chennai first, following which they will leave for Dubai via a charter flight only after approval from the Indian government.

The IPL Governing Council will meet on August 2 to finalise the schedule and other key arrangements for the tournament. Also, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) around securing eight teams for 51 days across three venues will be formally established in that meeting.

CSK, who has the oldest squad in the IPL, are looking for a month's preparation before ahead of the tournament.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the side was the first team to start their training camp in March. Senior players like Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu had begun training their training in December 2019.

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Indian bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who features in the list of A category players released by BCCI, has revealed his first-ever paycheck.

Bhuvneshwar was participating in a question and answer session on Twitter where he gave his take on fans' queries.

The 30-year-old bowler was asked about his first paycheck by a fan and Bhuvneshwar responded by saying, "It was for Rs 3000. I shopped and still managed to saved some."

During the question and answer session Bhuvneshwar picked Barcelona striker Lionel Messi over Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The right-arm bowler also revealed that football and badminton are his favourite sports other than cricket.

Earlier this year, Bhuvneshwar was named in the list A category of players. BCCI had released the list of centrally contracted players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020. Annually, A category players get Rs 5 crore.

The right-arm bowler would have been in action for Sunrisers Hyderabad if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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