Europe beat United States to regain Ryder Cup

Agencies
October 1, 2018

Paris, Oct 1:  Francesco Molinari fittingly took the glory as Europe regained the Ryder Cup in dominant style on Sunday, the Italian beating Phil Mickelson on the 16th to post the point needed to reach the magic tally of 14.5. Mickelson conceded the hole after firing his tee shot into the water with Molinari on the green to leave the Italian as the first European to win all five matches in a week — having not won any of his previous six.

Europe were effectively already assured of victory when he teed off as the Italian, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia were all dormie and guaranteed at least half a point from their games — with Europe at that stage needing one.

They had started the day 10-6 up, needing to secure four and a half of the 12 points available to win back the trophy and extend their stranglehold on home soil that dates back to 1993. Only twice before had a team come from four down going into the singles to win — the US doing so at Brookline in 1999 and Europe in 2012 in the 'Miracle of Medinah', but another stunning comeback never really looked on the cards.

Justin Thomas, Webb Simpson and Tony Finau gave Jim Furyk's team a glimmer of hope with early wins but then the European points started pouring in from all over the course. Thorbjorn Olesen hammered Jordan Spieth and fellow rookie Jon Rahm beat Tiger Woods — leaving the 14-times major champion with a stunning four defeats out of four.

Ian Poulter, “Mr Ryder Cup”, then produced probably the loudest cheer of the week when world number one Dustin Johnson conceded on the 18th green to leave Europe on the verge.

It was then just a question of which match out on the course would finish next and it proved to be Molinari's — sparking amazing scenes of celebration watched by the biggest galleries in the event's history.

Five out of five for magical Molinari

Italian Francesco Molinari sparked wild celebrations as his record-breaking 4&2 win over Phil Mickelson put the rubber-stamp on Europe's Ryder Cup victory over the United States on Sunday.

On an electrifying afternoon at Le Golf National south west of Paris, Molinari was rock steady as he completed a comfortable victory with a birdie on the 16th green.

He is the first European player ever to score maximum five points in the Ryder Cup and only the second since Europe combined to take on the Americans.

American Larry Nelson also did it in 1979.

His incredible weekend comes just over two months after the 35-year-old became the first Italian player to win a major with his triumph at the British Open in Carnoustie.

“It means so much more than majors, more than anything,” Molinari said as he was swamped by yellow and blue clad fans.

“It's hard not to get emotional when you think about the other players, the vice captains, Thomas (Bjorn), the wives.

“It's been an incredible week. Obviously they had probably the strongest team ever and were just so good.”

Europe's victory was already assured even before five-times major champion Mickelson offered his hand to concede on the 16th green. But that moment sparked scenes of pure delirium as hundreds of fans wedged in around the sun-bathed green danced in delight and sprayed beer into the air.

Molinari had never won a Ryder Cup point in his two previous appearances in 2010 and 2012 but formed a superb partnership with England's Tommy Fleetwood here at Le Golf National.

They won all four matches they played together over the weekend, including three victories over 14-times major champion Tiger Woods. The duo, already nicknamed “Molliwood”, are the first European twosome to sweep all four pairs matches they played.

“Obviously I had an amazing partner in Tommy. Never felt like I had a rookie playing alongside me,” Molinari said.

“It's been amazing, and today, it was just hard to get the energy. It's been a long week, playing five matches, but you know, again, I stepped it up when I had to.”

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News Network
July 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 24: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who was earlier banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching the Anti-Corruption Code, on Friday, said that people are bound to make mistakes and the important thing is that how well they make a comeback.

Shakib was banned from all forms of cricket on October 29 last year after he accepted the charges of breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code. He will be able to resume international cricket from October 29, 2020.

"You have to be honest. You just can't lie to the people and pretend different things. Whatever happened has happened. People are bound to make mistakes. You are not 100%. The important thing is how well you can comeback from those mistakes. You can tell other people not to make those mistakes. Tell them the path so that they never take those paths," Shakib told Deep Dasgupta in a videocast hosted by ESPNcricinfo.

The 33-year-old all-rounder said he has seen many controversies ever since he was first made captain in 2009. He had trouble with the board chief, selectors and the media, mainly about selectorial decisions and not being made permanent captain between 2009 and 2010.
He believes those experiences have changed him as a person over time.

"I think [it's] combination of both [controversy following him, and vice versa]. I got the responsibility so early in my career, I was bound to make mistakes. I was captain when I was 21. I made a lot of mistakes, and there are so many things that people think about me. Now I realise that it was my fault in some areas, and in some I was misunderstood. But I get it completely. It is part and parcel in the subcontinent," Hasan said.

"Of course I will try to minimise [my mistakes] as much as I can, but by the time I got married, and now I have two kids, I understand the game and life better. It has made me a calmer person than I was in my twenties. I have changed quite a lot. People won't see me doing a lot of mistakes now. My two daughters changed my life completely," he added.

Shakib is likely return to international cricket during Bangladesh's proposed Test series against Sri Lanka in October. 

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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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News Network
February 11,2020

Dubai, Feb 11: Two Indian players-- Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi -- and three Bangladeshis have been charged by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for involvement in the quarrel just after the U-19 cricket World Cup summit clash in Potchefstroom, South Africa on Sunday.

Akash and Bishnoi and three Bangladeshi players -- Md. Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan -- were found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct after a few players from both sides nearly came to blows after Bangladesh beat India by three wickets to win their maiden U-19 World Cup title.

"Five players have been found guilty of a Level 3 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Support Personnel ... (they) were charged with violating Article 2.21 of the code, whilst Bishnoi received a further charge of breaching Article 2.5," the ICC said in a statement.

"All five players have accepted the sanctions proposed by ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup Match Referee Graeme Labrooy," it added.

A near brawl broke out after Bangladesh’s historic win over India in the final. The Bangladesh players were aggressive during the Indian innings with lead pacer Shoriful Islam frequently sledging the Indian batsmen.

As soon as the match ended, Bangladeshi players rushed into the playing area.

"India's Akash accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of eight suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years," the ICC said.

Compatriot Bishnoi accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of five suspension points, which equates to five demerit points.

"Bishnoi also accepted a level 1 charge of breaching Article 2.5 for a separate incident during the match, where he used language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter following the dismissal of Avishek Das in the 23rd over," said the ICC.

"For this he received a further two demerit points meaning seven demerit points will remain on his record for the next two years."

Bangladesh's Towhid Hridoy accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of ten suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

Shamim Hossain accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of eight suspension points, which equates to six demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

Rakibul Hasan accepted the charge of breaching Article 2.21 and has received a sanction of four suspension points, which equates to five demerit points, which will remain on his record for two years.

All charges were levelled by on-field umpires Sam Nogajski and Adrian Holdstock, third umpire Ravindra Wimalasiri as well as fourth umpire Patrick Bongni Jele. Level 3 breaches carry a minimum penalty of four suspension points and a maximum penalty of 12 suspension points.

The suspension points will be applied to the forthcoming international matches the players are most likely to participate in at either senior or U-19 level. One suspension point equals a player being ineligible for one ODI or T20I, U-19 or A team international match.

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