Champions League: Real edge past City to set up all-Madrid final

May 5, 2016

Madrid, May 5: Real Madrid will face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final for the second time in three years after overcoming Manchester City 1-0 in their semi-final second leg on Wednesday.

Champions

Brazilian midfielder Fernando deflected Gareth Bale's cross into his own net after 20 minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu for the only goal of the tie after the first leg ended goalless.

Fernandinho came closest to taking City to their first ever Champions League final when his shot clipped the outside of the post a minute before half-time.

Real beat Atletico 4-1 after extra time in Lisbon two years ago to win the competition for a 10th time and will be hoping for a repeat when they face Diego Simeone's men in Milan on May 28.

"It is another final. It has been very difficult to get there," Madrid defender Sergio Ramos -- whose 93rd-minute header sent the previous final against Atletico into extra time -- told BeIN Sports Spain.

"We have shown we know how to win a final and we are going to try and do it again."

City's performance over the two legs left much to be desired, but goalkeeper Joe Hart claimed the difference between the sides had been the luck Real enjoyed in the only goal of the game.

"We could easily be in the final but they managed the game well," he told BT Sport.

"They've beaten us with a very lucky goal but it is what it is."

City manager Manuel Pellegrini's time at the club will come to an end without European glory as he will be replaced at the end of the season by Pep Guardiola.

And the Chilean lamented his side's lack of creativity to cause Madrid problems over the two legs.

"We worked very well the whole game and that is why Real Madrid couldn't create chances, but after that you need creativity and players who can make the difference in the last third and we lacked that."

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane now has the chance to repeat his Champions League success as a player with Real in 2002 in his first season in charge as a coach.

"In a semi-final you always have to suffer, but we've achieved our place in the final," said Zidane.

Real were given a huge boost before kick-off as Cristiano Ronaldo made his return after a three-game absence due to a thigh injury.

By contrast, City were dealt a massive injury blow inside 10 minutes when captain Vincent Kompany was forced off once more with a muscle problem in an injury-disrupted campaign.

Ronaldo was looking to equal his own record of 17 Champions League goals in a season, but sent his first chance well over the bar with a header from Dani Carvajal's cross.

However, Madrid got the luck they needed to swing the tie in their favour with their next attack as Bale was played in on the right of the City box and his intended cross spooned up off Fernando and into the far corner to leave Hart helpless.

The difference in European pedigree between the clubs couldn't have been starker as Madrid were playing in their 27th semi-final, whilst City were in the last four for the first time.

That inexperience looked to be taking hold as City enjoyed decent spells of first-half possession without troubling the Real defence.

However, they came within inches of finding the crucial away goal just before the break when Kevin De Bruyne picked out Fernandinho and the Brazilian midfielder's low driven shot clipped the outside of the post.

The goalmouth action was all in City's box early in the second period as Hart denied Luka Modric and Ronaldo twice before Bale's looping header came back off the bar.

Yet, out of nothing City nearly snatched the goal they needed a minute from time when top scorer Sergio Aguero's first serious effort of the tie dipped onto the roof of the net.

Despite a frantic finale, though, Madrid continued their record of not conceding a goal at home in the Champions League this season to progress to their 14th European Cup final.

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February 5,2020

Hamilton, Feb 5: Talented Shreyas Iyer hit his maiden century while KL Rahul and skipper Virat Kohli carried on their fine form as India dished out a clinical batting effort to post 347 for four against New Zealand in the first ODI here on Wednesday.

Iyer showed why he is considered as the next big thing in Indian cricket, scoring 103 off 107 balls, his first ODI ton. Besides, Rahul continued his purple patch, smashing unbeaten 88 off 64 balls while Kohli made 51 off 63 deliveries.

Iyer's knock was laced with 11 fours and a six and together with Rahul shared 136 runs for the fourth wicket as India scored 96 runs in the last 10 overs after being sent into bat.

This was after Tom Blundell featured his maiden ODI for the Black Caps, while India gave debuts to two openers -- Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal.

It was the fourth such instance in Indian history with Rahul-Karun Nair being the last such pair in 2016 against Zimbabwe.

Shaw and Agarwal got the innings off to quick start, adding 50 off 48 balls for the opening stand.

But both Shaw and Agarwal fell in the space of five balls as India were reduced to 54 for 2.

Shaw was the first to go, nicking behind a Colin de Grandhomme (1/41) delivery, while Agarwal was caught at point by Blundell off Southee (2/85).

It brought Kohli and Iyer together, and they dominated the middle overs with a 102-run stand for the third wicket. They manoeuvred the field well and kept the scorecard ticking as India crossed 150 in the 28th over.

Kohli fell against the run of play as a wrong one from Ish Sodhi (1/27) got through his defence to clip the leg stump.

Rahul though didn't let the innings lose any momentum as he smacked six sixes along with three fours.

But the day belonged to Iyer, who, despite a scratchy start, had crossed 50 off 66 balls. Once he passed the 50-run mark, the stylish right-hander batted fluently to notch up his first century in 16 ODIs.

The centurion fell shortly afterwards, caught off Southee even as Rahul took control.

He reached his half-century off 41 balls as India eased past 300 in the 47th over.

Rahul's carnage meant that New Zealand conceded 191 runs in the last 20 overs. Kedar Jadhav remained unbeaten on 26 off 15 balls, stitching 55 off 27 balls with Rahul.

Brief Scores:

India: 347 for 4 in 50 overs (Shreyas Iyer 103, KL Rahul 88 not out, Virat Kohli 51; Tim Southee 2/85).

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News Network
January 30,2020

Hamilton, Jan 30: Caught unaware about the Super Over scenario, Rohit Sharma took five minutes to “find” his abdomen guard after the third T20 International against New Zealand had ended in a tie on Wednesday.

The India vice-captain said the team had almost given up with New Zealand going great guns at one point.

“Everything was packed. All my stuff was inside my bag. I had to get it out. It literally took me five minutes to find my abdomen guard because I didn’t know where it was,” Rohit said.

“I mean we never thought it would go to the Super Over, the way they were batting at one point. It looked like they could easily win the game,” he added.

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February 25,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 25: India opening batsman KL Rahul will be available for Karnataka's Ranji Trophy semi-final clash against Bengal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 29.

Rahul had asked to be rested from Karnataka's quarter-final match but is now available for the climactic stages of the Ranji Trophy. 

Karnataka had already been strengthened by the addition of Manish Pandey for the quarter-finals, with both Pandey and Rahul having returned from New Zealand after India completed the limited-overs leg of their tour, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Last year's finalists Saurashtra will take on Gujarat in the other semi-final at Rajkot. The other prominent players who will be part of the last four include Parthiv Patel (Gujarat), Jaydev Unadkat (Saurashtra) and Manoj Tiwary (Bengal).

Gujarat, Bengal, Karnataka, and Saurashtra had finished on top of the combined Groups A and B table, and all four progressed to the semi-finals after dominating their respective quarter-final matches.

Rahul has been phenomenal with the bat in the limited-overs series against Australia and New Zealand. He scored one century and four fifty-plus scores in his last ten innings in ODIs and T20Is combined

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