Euro 2016: Gareth Bale's Wales outgun Russia 3-0 to take top spot from England

June 21, 2016

Haute-Garonne, Jun 21: Gareth Bale kept up his goal-a-game Euro 2016 campaign Monday to guide Wales to a 3-0 win over Russia and push them ahead of rivals England in their group.

Euro

England could only manage a frustrating goalless draw against Slovakia and dropped to second place in Group B.

Aaron Ramsey and Neil Taylor also scored in Wales` easy win in Toulouse against a limp Russian side whose campaign has been tainted by their roughhouse fans.

In the last 16, Wales will play one of the four best third-placed finishers at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Saturday.

Manger Chris Coleman said the European Championship finals -- where Wales are appearing for the first time -- could expect a lot more from his side.

"I said before that there`s more to come for this group.

"Even after this tournament is over, this group are on the way to something else. I`m just glad me and the staff are here with them. We have no fear. And after playing like that, why should we?" Coleman said.

England must now take on the runners-up of Group F in Nice next Monday. Depending on Group F`s final results on Wednesday it could throw up a clash against Cristiano Ronaldo`s Portugal.

Wales came into the competition bursting with confidence. Coleman has inspired an underacheiving group to support Bale as he tears through opposing defences.

After two free-kick goals against Slovakia and England, the Real Madrid forward did it again against Russia.

Arsenal`s Ramsey put the ball behind the ineffective Russian defence to Bale who pushed the ball past goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.

The game in Toulouse started with drama in the stadium when police arrested Russian far-right football fan leader Alexander Shprygin who had sneaked back into the country two days after being expelled over fan violence.

The rot started on the field in the 11th minute.

A brilliant Joe Allen ball through the middle set up Ramsey and the peroxide blonde-haired midfielder confidently lifted the ball over Akinfeev.

Russia manager Leonid Slutsky spend much of the match grabbing at his hair in frustration. Wales gave him plenty of reason.

On 20 minutes, Bale wove through the Russian defence and fed the ball to Taylor, whose last goal was in 2010.

Left free on the left-hand side of the penalty area with only Akinfeev to beat, his first shot hit the goalkeeper but he made no mistake with the second.England fans suffered another night of frustration after seeing their side held to a 1-1 draw in Marseille.

Prince William was in Saint-Etienne for the match, sitting next to English FA chairman Greg Dyke who has set manager Roy Hodgson the target of reaching at least the semi-finals.

The England boss made six changes to the team, starting strikers Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge, who came on to score in the 2-1 win over Wales, and leaving skipper Wayne Rooney among the replacements.

Vardy squandered two clear chances of England`s nine first-half attempts on goal to Slovakia`s single effort.

He fired over early on, then had his shot blocked by goalkeeper Matus Kozacik in a one-on-one after winning a sprint against Slovakia captain Martin Skrtel.

Only a fine tackle from right-back Peter Pekarik denied Sturridge at the near post in the opening 10 minutes. And Adam Lallana was denied by Kozacik`s reflex save with half an hour gone.

The game became tougher for England as it went on.

A mix-up between centre-back Chris Smalling and goalkeeper Joe Hart allowed Slovakia winger Robert Mak a half-chance.

At the other end, only the slightest of deflections off Kozacik`s shoulder blocked Nathan Clyne`s shot.

There was a big cheer from travelling England fans when Rooney came on for Jack Wilshire with 56 minutes gone. He was a constant menace but the pressure came to nothing.

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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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News Network
January 28,2020

Columbo, Jan 28: The Sri Lanka Cricket Board on Monday announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Women`s T20 World Cup, slated to commence from February 21. The board also announced five standby players for the ensuing tournament.

The squad members are -- Chamari Atapattu (captain), Harshitha Madavi (vice captain), Anushka Sanjeewani, Hansima Karunaratne, Shashikala Siriwardene, Nilakshi De Silva, Ama Kanchana, Kavisha Dilhari, Udeshika Probodhani, Achini Kulasuriya, Hasini Perera, Sathya Sandeepani, Umesha Thimashini, Sugandika Kumari, Dilani Manodara.

The standby players are -- Sachini Nisansala, Prasadani Weerakkody, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Tharika Sewwandi, Inoka Ranaweera.

Sri Lanka will take on New Zealand in their opening encounter on February 22.

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Agencies
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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