Colombia win 3-0, knock Poland out of FIFA World Cup 2018

Agencies
June 25, 2018

Kazan/Russia, Jun 25: Colombia’s World Cup campaign roared back into life with a 3-0 win over Poland in Group H on a sweltering evening at the Kazan Arena which sent the Poles tumbling out of the tournament on Sunday.

Defender Yerry Mina opened the scoring in the 40th minute with captain Radamel Falcao and winger Juan Cuadrado sealing a deserved victory with two goals in five minutes as the desperate Poles chased the game in the last quarter.

Midfielder James Rodriguez, winner of the Golden Boot at the last World Cup, returned to the starting lineup after an injury and played a part in two of the goals as Colombia got back on track after their opening loss to Japan.

The victory puts Colombia in third place in the group on three points behind the Japanese and Senegal, who shared a 2-2 draw earlier on Sunday to move to four points apiece.

A victory over the Africans in their final first-round match in Samara on Thursday would secure Colombia a spot in the last 16 as they target at least matching their charge to the quarter-finals in Brazil four years ago.

For Poland, the optimism fostered by their quarter-final spot at Euro 2016 and a strong qualifying campaign proved to be misplaced as they slumped to a second successive defeat.

The match started to a barrage of noise from the yellow-shirted Colombian fans and the early exchanges were frenetic with Poland putting in some physical challenges and Robert Lewandowski getting close attention from the Colombian defence.

OFFENSIVE TACTICS

Poland’s offensive tactics were limited to launching long balls towards their prolific striker and although Colombia were trying to play the ball on the floor they could not get their passes to stick.

Cuadrado was causing some problems down Poland’s right flank, however, and a piece of mazy dribbling in the 37th minute saw the winger forge the first genuine opening, which goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny blocked behind.

The respite was brief and on the next Colombia attack, Juan Quintero found Rodriguez lurking inside the box and the midfielder chipped a delightful cross into the danger area for Mina to head the ball into the net from point-blank range.

The Poles came out firing at the start of the second half but their limitations remained and Cuadrado was soon causing them more problems down the right.

Lewandowski finally got a chance to score his first World Cup goal in the 58th minute but his first touch on the long ball was not his best and goalkeeper David Ospina smothered his shot.

Quintero played creator in the 70th minute and Falcao turned the last defender before stroking the ball past Szczesny with the outside of his boot for his first World Cup strike.

Poland pushed forward to try and get back into the game and five minutes later were caught on the break by the Colombians with Rodriguez rasping a pass across the field to allow Cuadrado fitting reward for a fine performance.

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News Network
May 9,2020

May 9: Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has donated an undisclosed amount to financially help 4,000 underprivileged people, including children from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) schools, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tendulkar made the donation to the Hi5 Foundation, a non-profit organisation based out of Mumbai.

“Best wishes to team Hi5 for your efforts in supporting families of daily wage earners,” Tendulkar tweeted.

The organisation, through a tweet, thanked Tendulkar for doing his bit for the needy.

“Thanks @sachin_rt for proving once again that #sports encourages compassion! Your generous donation towards our #COVID19 fund enables us to financially aid 4000 underprivileged people, including children from @mybmc schools. Our budding sportspersons thank you, Little Master!”

The legendary batsman had earlier contributed Rs 25 lakh each to Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the country’s fight against COVID-19. Tendulkar had earlier pledged to bear the cost of feeding 5,000 people for a month in a couple of areas in Mumbai.

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News Network
July 1,2020

New Delhi, Jul 1: After being named as India's 'Most Valuable Player' in Test cricket in the 21st century, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Wednesday said that he will always aim to give his best for the country.

His remark came as Jadeja achieved an MVP rating of 97.3 and as a result, he was also rated as the second most valuable player Test player worldwide, only second to Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.

"Thank you Wisden India for naming me the 'Most Valuable Player'. I would like to thank all my teammates, coaches, fans, and well-wishers for your support as I aim to give my best for our country. Jai Hind," Jadeja tweeted.

Based on CricViz's market-leading analytics, each player in world cricket was awarded an 'MVP rating' by Wisden using a statistical model to rank their 'match impact' compared to their peers.

Jadeja has played in 49 Tests from 2012, managing to score 1,869 runs and has also picked up 213 wickets.

"It might come as a surprise to see Ravindra Jadeja, India's spin-bowling all-rounder, feature as India's number one. After all, he's not even always an automatic pick in their Test team. However, when he does play he is picked as a frontline bowler and has batted as high as No.6 - contributing to a very high match involvement," the official website of Wisden quoted CricViz's Freddie Wilde as saying.

"But Jadeja's position is based on more than simply volume: it's what he does when he's involved that really counts. The 31-year-old's bowling average of 24.62 is better than Shane Warne's and his batting average of 35.26 is better than Shane Watson's. His batting and bowling average differential of 10.62 runs is the second-best of any player this century to have scored more than 1,000 runs and taken 150 wickets. He is an all-rounder of the very highest quality," he added.

With the bat in hand, Jadeja has managed to score one century and 14 fifties in the longest format of the game.

He was last seen in action during India's two-Test series against New Zealand earlier this year.

He would have been in action for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL had the tournament commenced from March 29.

However, the IPL has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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News Network
February 12,2020

Mount Maunganui, Feb 12: India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday berated his bowlers for their mediocre performance as he tried to explain the team's first ODI series whitewash in over three decades, saying that the visitors lacked composure all through.

The five-wicket defeat here meant that India lost the series 0-3 to an injury-plagued New Zealand that had been deflated by a 0-5 whitewash of its own in the T20 format just last week. It was India's first whitewash in 31 years in an ODI series in which all matches have been played.

"The games were not as bad as the scoreline suggests. It boils down to those chances that we didn't grab. I don't think it was not enough to win games in international cricket," Kohli said in the post-match presentation.

"With the ball, we were not able to make breakthroughs, we were not at all good on the field. We haven't played so badly but when you don't grab those chances, you don't deserve to win," he added.

"Batsmen coming back from tough situations was a positive sign for us, but the way we fielded and bowled, the composure wasn't enough to win games," he asserted.

The ineffectiveness of Indian bowlers can be gauged from the fact that the team's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah finished the series without a wicket and the attack couldn't dismiss the complete rival line-up even once.

Kohli lauded New Zealand for bouncing back after the T20 hammering.

"New Zealand played with lot more intensity. We didn't deserve to win because we did not show enough composure," he said.

The batting mainstay is looking forward to the Test series, which begins on February 21, to make amends for the disappointment.

"I think because of the Test Championship, every match has that more importance. We have a really balanced Test team and we feel we can win the series here, but we need to step on to the park with the right kind of mindset," he said.

His opposite number Kane Williamson, who missed the first two games due to injury, was lavish in his praise for the home team's grit.

"An outstanding performance, very clinical. India put us under pressure, but the way the guys fought back with the ball and kept them to a par total. The cricket in the second half was outstanding to see," he said referring to the side's effortless chase of a 297-run target.

"We know how good they (India) are at all formats but for us the clarity about the roles the guys had was the most important thing. Outstanding effort against a brilliant India side," he added.

Player of the Match Henry Nicholls, who scored 80 on Tuesday, said his team benefitted from good batting starts during the series.

"To come back and win 3-0 after the T20Is is nice. The way (Martin) Guptill played today allowed us to get ahead. We got a 100-run stand, but we were fortunate enough to get good starts this series," he said.

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