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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News Network
April 7,2020

London, Apr 7: Bowling coach Waqar Younis feels that it was the absence of pacers Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir which saw Pakistan getting whitewashed during Australia tour last year.

Amir and Riaz had quit the red-ball format ahead of the matches against Australia in 2019.

"Just before the Australia series, they ditched us and we had the only choice to pick youngsters.

We were the new management and decided to go on with taking in the younger lot and groom them. ESPNcricinfo quoted Younis as saying.

Pakistan was not able to win a single match in Australia as they got defeated both in T20Is and Test series.

"It's not like we have lost a lot, but yes they left us at the wrong time. But anyway, we don't have any grudge against them," Younis added.

"We cannot control players' choice on what they want to play, but then there should be a mechanism so we all are on board. "It's not like I am saying we could have won in Australia but we could have done better than what we have done," he opined.

Amir gave up the red ball format in July in order to manage his workload and extend his white-ball career for Pakistan as well as in T20 leagues around the world, while Riaz took an "indefinite break" from Test cricket in September last year.

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News Network
June 29,2020

Jun 29: The West Indies cricketers will sport a 'Black Lives Matter' logo on the collars of their shirts during the upcoming three-Test series against England to protest against racism in sports.

Skipper Jason Holder, who has voiced his support to the cause that has once again come to the forefront after the killing of American George Floyd, said in a statement on Sunday: "We believe we have a duty to show solidarity and also to help raise awareness."

The ICC-approved logo, designed by Alisha Hosannah, will be the one which featured in the shirts of all 20 Premier League football clubs since the sport's resumption earlier this month.

"This is a pivotal moment in history for sports, for the game of cricket and for the West Indies cricket team," Holder was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"We have come to England to retain the Wisden Trophy but we are very conscious of happenings around the world and the fight for justice and equality. "As a group of young men, we know of the rich and diverse history of West Indies cricket and we know we are guardians of the great game for a generation to come."

Holder, who wants racism to be treated at par with doping and corruption, said they arrived at the decision to wear the logo after much thought.

"We did not take our decision lightly. We know what it is for people to make judgments because of the colour of our skin, so we know what it feels like, this goes beyond the boundary. There must be equality and there must be unity. Until we get that as people, we cannot stop," he said.

"We have to find some way to have equal rights and people must not be viewed differently because of the colour of their skin or ethnic background."

The West Indies players are likely to wear the shirts for the first time in this week's four-day warm-up match at Emirates Old Trafford, starting on Monday.

The opening Test of the series, which will mark the resumption of international cricket after the coronavirus-forced hiatus, will get underway at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on July 8.

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Agencies
February 4,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 4: Yashasvi Jaiswal and Divyaansh Saxena guided India to a comfortable ten wickets win over Pakistan in the ICC U19 World Cup semifinal at Senwes Park on Tuesday and progressed to the final of the tournament.

Chasing 173, Indian openers Jaiswal and Saxena played cautiously and stitched an unbeaten partnership of 176 runs.

The duo built the highest opening partnership of the tournament's history. Jaiswal, the left-handed batsman, scored his maiden century of the tournament as he amassed unbeaten 105 runs studded with eight fours and four sixes.

Saxena scored 59* off 99 balls including six fours. India chased down the total in 35.2 overs. This is the first time in the history of the U19 World Cup that a team won a knockout match by ten wickets.

Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.

Opener Haider Ali and skipper Rohail Nazir's half-centuries guided the side to a respectable total of 172. Ali played a knock of 56 runs while Nazir accumulated 62 runs including six boundaries.

Pakistan did not have a good start as they lost Mohammad Hurair (4) in the second over. Fahad Munir, came to bat at number three, failed to score a single run and was departed by Ravi Bishnoi on a duck in ninth over.

Apart from Ali and Nazir, Mohammad Haris was the only batsman to score runs in double digits. He played an innings of 21 runs off 15 balls. Indian bowlers showed a spirited performance as they bowled out arch-rival in 43.1 overs.

Pacers Karthik Tyagi and Sushant Mishra bagged two and three wickets respectively. Spinner Ravi Bishnoi clinched two scalps and conceded 46 runs in his ten overs.

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