Chennaiyin into ISL final post 4-1 aggregate win over FC Goa

Agencies
March 14, 2018

Chennai, Mar 14: Chennaiyin FC reached their second Indian Super League (ISL) final in three years after clinching a 4-1 aggregate win over FC Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai, on Tuesday.Chennayin FC, which settled with a 1-1 draw against FC Goa in the first leg of the semi-finals, went on to register a comfortable 3-0 win in the second leg to make it to the finals.

The tie was evenly poised as the first leg but a brace from Jeje Lalpekhlua (26 and 90 minutes) and one goal from Dhanpal Ganesh (29 minutes) was enough for Chennaiyin FC to seal a place in the final. They will now clash with Bengaluru FC at Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru, on Saturday.Jeje could have easily had a hat-trick but missed a handful of chances.

 However, when it mattered most, he put the ball in the back of the net as Chennaiyin turned a stunning first half on its head by scoring two goals in quick succession completely against the run of play. For the first 21 minutes, it was all FC Goa. The visitors were incredible in attack and produced a flurry of chances.

 Mandar Rao Dessai and Narayan Das combined to send in a stinging cross across the face of goal which Jerry Lalrinzuala almost turned into his own net.Chennaiyin goalkeeper Karanjit Singh was the busiest man on the pitch in this period where Goa sent waves towards goal. Hugo Boumous played in Mandar soon after and his shot went in off the inside of Karanjit`s thigh and eventually out of play.

Karanjit was at it again when he made a stunning save to deny Manuel Lanzarote from a powerfully driven freekick.Goa`s attacker in chief started creating more problems when he sent in a cross from the right to find Chinglensena Singh`s head, but the impending attempt on goal soared over the bar.

Chennaiyin finally produced something of meaning when Gregory Nelson`s super pass was met by Jeje`s header, but it was wayward. Just minutes later, he would score though - it was Nelson`s ball again, and Chennaiyin`s striker didn`t make any mistake from point-blank range with his head.The home side doubled their lead even before Goa could breathe.

Nelson sent in a lovely cross again and it was met by Dhanpal Ganesh, whose glancing header was enough to beat Naveen Kumar.Raphael Augusto started turning on the heat with some magical skills and almost scored after ghosting past two Goa defenders only to shoot straight at the keeper.

 The last chance of the half fell to Goa, when Mandar dummied past Ganesh, only to see his shot saved by the fingertips of Karanjit.Augusto, who ran the show with his graceful play, fired a warning shot seconds into the second half when he shot over from distance. Chennaiyin were pretty much in control in the latter half of the match, maintaining intensity in attack but keeping spaces tight at the back.

Jeje could`ve put serious daylight between the two sides in the 65th minute but his lob over the keeper didn`t go in after a finely timed run.Goa couldn`t fancy any chances as the match petered out, but it was Jeje again who could`ve sealed the match but his scissor-snapshot was loose and high as he attempted the half-volley. Minutes later, he capitalised on a defensive error and produced a fine finish to end Goa`s chances.

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News Network
February 18,2020

Feb 18: Spinner Poonam Yadav claimed three wickets as India geared up for the ICC women's T20 World Cup with a thrilling two-run win over the West Indies in a low-scoring warm-up match in Brisbane on Tuesday. Electing to bat, India posted a lowly 107/8 in their stipulated 20 overs before returning to restrict the West Indies to 105/7. Chasing 108 to win, West Indies were comfortably placed at 57 for one in 13 overs when Deepti Sharma struck, cleaning up opener Lee-Ann Kirby (42) to trigger a collapse. Soon skipper Stafanie Taylor (16), Chedean Nation (0) and Deandra Dottin (1) were back in the hut as West Indies slipped to 67 for five in the 17th over.

Hayley Matthews (25) and Chinelle Henry (17) blasted three fours and a six in the 19th over to leave them with 11 to get off the last six balls.

Henry blasted Poonam for a four but the Indian dismissed Matthews in the fourth ball.

West Indies needed three runs off the last ball but Henry was caught by Veda Krishnamurthy.

Earlier, India's top-three failed to fire as they were reduced to 17 for three in 3.1 overs.

Opener Smriti Mandhana (4) lasted just six balls, while Jemimah Rodrigues (0) failed to open her account.

Young Shafali Verma blasted a couple of fours before being caught by Britney Cooper off Shamilia Connell (2/20).

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (11), too, didn't stay long, while Krishnamurthy was cleaned up by Afy Fletcher (1/26), as India slumped to 52 for five in 11.2 overs.

Deepti Sharma made a 32-ball 21 before becoming a victim of Anisa Mohammed (2/16), while Pooja Vastrakar (13) was removed by Aaliyah Alleyne (1/9).

Stafanie taylor then got rid of Taniya Bhatia for 10. Shikha Pandey finally smashed a 16-ball 24 to give some respectability to the total.

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News Network
July 3,2020

Karachi, Jul 3: Pakistan limited overs captain Babar Azam is tired of his constant comparisons with India skipper Virat Kohli and says he would rather be compared to the greats at home.

Babar, six years younger to Kohli, has a long way to go in getting close to Kohli's staggering numbers across formats. The India skipper has 70 hundreds to his name and averages more than 50 in all three formats.

"I would be more happy if you compare to me say a Javed Miandad, Muhammad Yousuf or Younis Khan. Why compare me to Kohli or any Indian player?" asked the 25-year-old, who is in England with the national team, said in an online media interaction on Thursday.

Babar has scored 16 international hundreds and averages more than 50 in ODIs and T20s. In 26 Tests, he has scored 1850 runs at 45.12.

He also said that he is not targeting any English bowler for the series next month.

"I don’t see who the bowler is or his reputation. I just try to play each ball on merit. England no doubt has a top bowling attack and they have advantage of playing at home but this is a challenge I want to score runs in," he said.

Before the squad’s departure for England, Pakistan batting coach Younis Khan said that pacer Joffra Archer will be a handful for the Pakistani batsmen.

Babar said that he would try to play every English bowler on merit but conceded that after getting runs in Australia last year, he was keen to leave his footprint in the coming Test and T20 series in England.

Reminded that some former Test players had already written off Pakistan for the England series, Babar said they were entitled to their opinion.

"But we don’t have a bad team and already we have been enjoying our training. It is good to be back on the field after such a long lay-off. I think we have the bowlers to trouble them like Abbas, Naseem, Shaheen and others while we have some experience in our batting line-up."

Babar said he would love to get a triple century in a Test match.

"When you score a century, you naturally want to go on and convert that into a double or a triple century. This is something I would like to do during the Test series.

"I like to play my natural game but my selection of shots depends on the conditions and bowlers."

Babar also ruled out any problems in the Pakistan dressing room due to the presence of former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was sacked last year.

But he said that since Muhammad Rizwan had been playing in all formats for Pakistan in recent times, he would be the starting keeper in the Test series ahead of Sarfaraz.

"I think we first have to give Rizwan a proper chance and Sarfaraz is there as back up."

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Agencies
January 11,2020

London, Jan 11: Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the World Cup 2011 win has been nominated in Laureas's list for the most inspiring sporting event in the last twenty years.

The moment featuring Tendulkar has been described as "Carried on the shoulders by a nation".

On his sixth attempt at the World Cup and with India not having won the competition since 1983, Tendulkar finally became a part of the team that lifted the coveted trophy. Carried on the shoulders of the Indian team, he made a lap of honour, shedding tears of joy after the victory was sealed in his home city.

The 2011 World Cup was also the first time, in which a host nation ended up winning the trophy.

Apart from Tendulkar, England's Andrew Flintoff is the only other cricketer to feature in the list. In 2005, England managed to defeat Australia in an Ashes Test, but Flintoff chose to first shake hands with Brett Lee rather than celebrate with his side.

Matthias Steiner (weightlifting), Natalie du Toit (swimming), Sky Brown (skateboarding), Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee (triathlon), Xia Boyu (mountaineering) have been nominated in the list.

Female tennis stars also feature in the list for coming up with an equal play, equal pay campaign. After pressure from Venus Williams and others, Wimbledon announced that female tennis players would receive prize money equal to the men's.

German international footballer Miroslav Klose was playing for Lazio in Italy's Serie A in 2012 against Napoli when he rose for a ball in the early moments of the game.

The ball came spiraling off his hand and skirted into the back of the net and a goal was awarded. While most players would carry on as if nothing had happened, Klose was honest with the referee and admitted that he handled the ball.

As a result, he also finds a place on the list.

The Laureus Sporting Moment Award celebrates the moments where the sport has unified people in the most extraordinary way.

This campaign has shortlisted 20 sporting stories from the last 20 years that have left their mark on the world.

The winner will be decided on the basis of public voting. It has already started, and the final date to cast the vote is February 16.

Finally, the result will be declared on February 17.
With three knock-out rounds, the top-20 moments will be whittled down to ten then five, with the top-five moments going head-to-head.

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