Balotelli header gives Italy 2-1 win over England

June 15, 2014

Manaus Brazil, Jun 15: Italy striker Mario Balotelli powered home a close range header to secure a 2-1 win over England on Saturday in an entertaining World Cup Group D game played amid baking heat and humidity.italy

England left back Leighton Baines, who often looked out of his depth, allowed Antonio Candreva to cross from the right for Balotelli to soar high and score in the 50th minute.

Andrea Pirlo almost made it 3-1 in second half injury time but his swirling 30-metre free kick crashed against the bar.

The result was a fair one in the jungle atmosphere of Manaus, where the temperature was 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) at kick-off.

England threatened sporadically in the second half but could not find a way past back-up keeper Salvatore Sirigu.

Italy took the lead in the 35th minute after a cleverly worked short corner.

When the ball was played into Pirlo the veteran midfielder let it run under his boot and Claudio Marchisio had time to hammer home a 25-metre right foot shot.

England recovered quickly and two minutes later a lovely pass from 19-year-old Raheem Sterling sent Wayne Rooney haring down the left and his curling cross was met by a sweet half-volley from Daniel Sturridge.

Italy though came close to scoring again in first half injury time. First, Balotelli chipped the ball over goalkeeper Joe Hart only for Phil Jagielka to head it off the line.

Seconds later a clever pass found Candreva alone in the area but he crashed his shot against Hart's right post.

Sirigu, deputizing for the injured Gianluigi Buffon, was in good form in the second half, palming away fierce shots from Welbeck and Ross Barkley as well as a free kick from Baines.

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News Network
March 31,2020

New Delhi, Mar 31: Australia batsman David Warner on Tuesday decided to shave off his head to show support towards all those people who are working relentlessly on the frontline in the battle against coronavirus.

After shaving off his head, Warner also challenged his Australian team-mate Steve Smith and India skipper Virat Kohli to do the same.

Warner, shared a time-lapse video on Instagram, of him shaving his head, and captioned the post as: "Been nominated to shave my head in support of those working on the frontline #Covid-19 here is a time-lapse. I think my debut was the last time I recall I've done this. Like it or not".

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Australia's death toll stands at 19, as per the Sydney Morning Herald.

As of 8 am today, 4460 people across Australia have tested positive for COVID-19.

The World Health Organisation had termed coronavirus as a 'pandemic' on March 11.

Earlier in the day, Australia Test skipper Tim Paine also confirmed that the side's tour of Bangladesh is unlikely due to the virus spread.
"You don't have to be Einstein to realise (the Bangladesh tour) is probably unlikely to go ahead, particularly in June. Whether it's cancelled or pushed back, we're not quite sure at the moment," cricket.com.au quoted Paine as saying.

Currently, Australia has 296 points in the WTC from 10 matches, while India has 360 points from nine matches.

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Agencies
January 14,2020

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Agencies
February 20,2020

New Delhi, Feb 20: Grappler Divya Kakran on Thursday became the second Indian woman to win a gold medal at the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championship.

Divya, a bronze medallist at Asian Games 2018, earned her first gold by winning all her four bouts against Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Japan.

Her final bout against Naruha Matsuyuki of Japan was the closest one but she managed to outclass her opponent 6-4 to seal her name on the gold medal. The 68 kg category was played in round-robin format as only five wrestlers were in the fray.

India is likely to add some more medals to its tally when Nirmala Devi, Pinki, and Sarita go out to grapple for the yellow metal in their respective weight categories.

Three-time Commonwealth championship gold medallist, Nirmala Devi (50 kg) first defeated Munkhnar Byambasuren of Mongolia in the quarterfinals by 6-4 to reach the semis.

In the semi-finals, Nirmala got the better of Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of Uzbekistan by 10-0 and will play against 2018 Under-23 World Champion Miho Igarashi of Japan for the gold medal.

Pinki (55 kg) started her day on a winning note against Shokhida Akhmedova of Uzbekistan by 12-4 in round 3 and lost to Kana Higashikawa of Japan to enter the semis where she defeated Marina Zuyeva of Kazakistan by a score of 6-0.

Pinki will play in the gold medal bout against Dulguun Bolormaa of Mongolia.

Sarita (59 kg) will now face Battsetseg Altantsetseg of Mongolia in the gold medal bout after winning against her opponents in the qualifiers, quarterfinals and semi-final by a score of 10-0, 11-0 and 10-3, respectively.

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