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Atletico beat Real Madrid to lift Super Cup

Agencies
August 16, 2018

Talinn, Aug 16: Saul Niguez and Koke scored in extra time as Atletico Madrid fought back to beat city rivals Real Madrid 4-2 and win the UEFA Super Cup in Tallinn on Wednesday, as Julen Lopetegui got off to a losing start with the European champions.

Real had earlier looked set to win the trophy in their first competitive game since the departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and coach Zinedine Zidane when a Sergio Ramps penalty put them 2-1 up in the second half.

That came after Karim Benzema cancelled out Diego Costa's first-minute opener in the Estonian capital, but Costa hauled Diego Simeone's side level again late on to force extra time.

Simeone's men then looked stronger in the extra period as they won this competition, the annual meeting of the Champions League and Europa League winners, for the third time in nine seasons.

Real had won the trophy under Zidane in each of the last two years, and emerged victorious against their neighbours in the Champions League finals of 2014 and 2016.

But this result comes after a close season in which Atletico have strengthened while Real look to have gone backwards, with no replacement signed for Ronaldo after his move to Juventus.

Griezmann starts, Modric on bench

Antoine Griezmann started for Atletico at the compact Lillekula Stadium, fresh from helping France to World Cup glory last month.

In contrast, former Spain coach Lopetegui left Luka Modric on the Real bench at kick-off, seeking to ease the Croatian playmaker back after he led his country to the World Cup final.

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois did not feature at all following his recent arrival from Chelsea, and nine of Real's starting line-up also started May's Champions League final win over Liverpool in Kiev.

Atletico also had France winger Thomas Lemar making his competitive debut following his 72 million-euro ($84 million) move from Monaco, and they took the lead after just 49 seconds.

With Simeone watching from the stands as he serves a touchline ban, Costa met Diego Godin's long ball forward with his back to goal and nodded it over Ramos before turning to burst through and rifle a shot home from a tight angle.

It was a superb finish, but Real were level just before the half-hour via a combination of the two men expected to step up following Ronaldo's departure.

Gareth Bale delivered a cross from the right and Benzema headed past Jan Oblak at the far post.

Lopetegui sent on Modric for Marco Asensio just before the hour mark and Real took the lead shortly after, Ramos scoring a 63rd-minute penalty awarded for a Juanfran handball.

It looked like that would win it, yet Atletico showed great resolve to level the scores again in the 79th minute as Juanfran and substitute Angel Correa combined to set up Costa to stab home.

Into extra time they went, and Atletico went ahead again in the 98th minute, Thomas Partey pressing to win back possession before holding up a cross for Saul to thump a superb left-foot volley past Keylor Navas from 17 yards.

The powerful Costa and substitute Vitolo then set up Koke to make it 4-2, securing victory and giving Atletico their seventh trophy since Simeone took charge in late 2011. Now they will hope to push Barcelona and Real all the way in La Liga, with their opening game at Valencia on Monday, after Lopetegui's side host Getafe on Sunday.

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News Network
July 5,2020

Colombo, Jul 5: Sri Lanka batsman Kusal Mendis was on Sunday arrested for knocking down a pedestrian while driving, police said.

Mendis hit a 74-year-old man, killing him in the wee hours, in the Colombo suburb of Panadura.

He is to be produced before a magistrate later today, police said.

The 25-year-old wicket-keeper batsman has represented Sri Lanka in 44 Tests and 76 ODIs. Mendis was part of the national squad which had resumed training after the Covid-19 lockdown.

Sri Lanka's international assignments, including a tour by India, have been cancelled due to the pandemic.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

Mumbai, Jan 5: All-rounder Irfan Pathan on Saturday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, ending an injury-ridden career that prevented him from realising his true potential.

The 35-year-old's retirement was on expected lines, considering he last played a competitive game in February 2019 during the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy for Jammu and Kashmir.

He did not even put himself in the IPL auction pool, last month.

The left-arm seamer's bowling was like a breath of fresh air when he made his India debut against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 2003.

He never had express pace but his natural ability to swing the ball into the right-handers got him instant success, also drawing comparisons with the great Kapil Dev.

It seemed India had found the all-rounder they were looking for since Kapil left the scene. Pathan, who last played for India in October 2012, featured in 29 Tests (1105 runs and 100 wickets), 120 ODIs (1544 runs and 173 wickets) and 24 T20 Internationals (172 runs and 28 wickets).

He was part of the victorious Indian team at the 2007 World Twenty20 and was the man-of-the-match in the final against Pakistan.

One of his best performances came on the tour of Pakistan in 2006 when he became the second Indian after Harbhajan Singh to take a Test hat-trick, removing Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yusuf during the Karachi game.

He also played a big role in India winning a Test match against Australia on a tough Perth wicket, which offered steep bounce.

Injuries and lack of form troubled him thereafter and his ability to swing the ball deteriorated.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: "Want to know what makes him tick," said Australian pacer Kane Richardson will talking about playing alongside Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.

The IPL 2020 will be played in the UAE from September 19-November 10 and the tournament will run for 53 days.

In the players' auction which was conducted in December 2019, RCB managed to bag key players like Richardson, Chris Morris, Aaron Finch, Dale Steyn, Joshua Philippe, and Isuru Udana.

In an interaction with news agency, Richardson talked about playing alongside Kohli and the learning curve which is in store for him by being in the same squad as Proteas great Dale Steyn.
"Huge. These guys (Virat, AB de Villiers) are the absolute legends of the game. Anything I can learn from them will be a bonus, that's for sure.

I am really looking forward to playing with Virat, there are few more competitive players in the world. I am really looking forward to seeing what makes him tick," Richardson said.

The 29-year-old pacer also said that he would want to learn from Steyn as to how to be consistent in all formats of the game over a long period of time.

"There are loads I can learn from Dale. He has been amongst the best at the highest level for so long. His control and ability to swing the ball without losing his pace is really impressive. 

I look forward to getting in his ear about how he performs so consistently over a long period, in all forms," said Richardson who has 39 ODI wickets to his credit.

Richardson has so far played 14 games in his IPL career so far and has picked up 18 wickets. The bowler played for Pune Warriors India in 2013, Rajasthan Royals in 2014, and RCB in 2016.

For this year's IPL, RCB has also bagged Australia's limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch, and Richardson thinks having a familiar face in the camp would help him to settle better in the franchise.

"Finchey is an awesome player and a fantastic leader. I am sure it will help to have two Aussies in the side along with Josh who is playing his first tournament after a massive summer in the BBL. We are all professionals, I'm sure it won't take long for us to gel as a side," Richardson said.

However, before the IPL starts, Australia is expected to tour England for a limited-overs series, comprising of three ODIs and as many T20Is.

The side was last seen in action in March this year as they played one ODI against New Zealand in Sydney. After the first match, the remaining two ODIs were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Talking about the series against England, Kane replied: "We will be fresh, that's one thing, while the England players have been in a bubble for some time now. As long as we get enough practice in before and possibly some centre wicket it should not be an issue."

"They are World Cup holders and the number one ranked side for a very good reason. It will be a tough series also given they will have played a fair bit of cricket together by then. We know we need to work hard on our one-day game which will be a priority over the next period," he added.

The pacer also talked about how the lockdown was like for him, and Richardson feels that everyone would come back strong as a result of this break.

"The break from playing has been refreshing, to be honest. We have come back strong and are well into pre-season training with our states. As a bowler, our loads are not at their peak but we are working towards getting ready for a tour of the UK in a few weeks," Richardson said.

The Australian quick has so far played 25 ODIs and 18 T20Is, managing to take 39 and 19 wickets respectively.

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