Jamie Vardy brace against Everton crowns Leicester's EPL title party at King Power Stadium

May 8, 2016

London, May 8: Jamie Vardy scored a brace and missed a penalty as new Premier League champions Leicester City comfortably defeated Everton 3-1 on Saturday ahead of their trophy presentation ceremony.

Jamie

Vardy, banned for Leicester`s two previous games, struck in each half at a jubilant King Power Stadium, with Andy King also on target, and would have had a hat-trick had he not blazed a second-half penalty over the bar.

But personal milestones were of secondary importance on a day when players, staff and supporters of the modest east Midlands club, who narrowly escaped relegation last season, united in joyous celebration of their 5,000-1 title triumph.

Fans were treated to a pre-match performance by renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, who prompted roars of approval from the flag-waving home support by removing his jacket to reveal a blue Leicester shirt as he sang.

Steve Worthy, a lifelong Leicester fan, was due to present the trophy to captain Wes Morgan following the game after winning a competition arranged by league sponsors Barclays.

The 25kg trophy has been decorated with ribbons of blue, for Leicester, and yellow, representing the royal house of Thailand, home country of club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

Leicester play their final game of the season next Sunday at outgoing champions Chelsea, the former club of inspirational manager Claudio Ranieri, before an open-top bus parade in Leicester on May 16.

Second-place Tottenham Hotspur`s 2-2 draw at Chelsea last Monday, which gave Leicester the title, sparked a week of celebrations in the city and fans arrived at the stadium several hours before kick-off on Saturday to drink in the moment.

Supporters formed a snake-like queue for blue team jerseys stamped with a gold and white "Premier League Champions 2015-16" sleeve badge, while souvenir scarves, flags and programmes were eagerly snapped up from stalls around the ground.Bright sunshine gave way to heavy spring downpours as kick-off approached, but the atmosphere inside the stadium remained fervent.

The sell-out 32,140 crowd witnessed a stirring pre-match performance by Bocelli, who fulfilled a promise to Ranieri by singing `Nessun Dorma` and `Time to Say Goodbye`.

Everton`s players gave their opponents a guard of honour as they emerged onto the pitch and it took Leicester less than five minutes to go ahead as Vardy converted King`s lofted cross for his 23rd goal of the campaign.

King made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute, sweeping home right-footed after Riyad Mahrez`s jinking run into the box was halted by Leighton Baines.

Vardy added a third 20 minutes after the interval, drilling a penalty past Joel Robles after he had been fouled by Matthew Pennington.

It would have been a hat-trick, but after Jeff Schlupp had been poleaxed by fellow substitute Darron Gibson, Vardy blazed his second penalty into the stand, prompting a shake of the head and a rueful smile.

Kevin Mirallas replied late on for Roberto Martinez`s Everton, who slipped one place to 12th in the table.

Vardy now has 24 goals for the campaign, one behind Tottenham`s Harry Kane in the race for the Golden Boot, while Leicester lead Spurs by 10 points ahead of the London club`s meeting with Southampton on Sunday.

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Mumbai, Mar 3: India on Tuesday retained their number one spot and captain Virat Kohli remained static at second in the ICC rankings despite a dismal Test series against New Zealand.

India have 116 rating points, six more than New Zealand with third-placed Australia accumulating 108 points. The 0-2 result against New Zealand was India's first series loss in the World Test Championship.

Kohli remains in second position in the batting rankings despite a forgettable Test series in which he made 38 runs in four innings, the ICC said in a statement.

New Zealand opener Tom Blundell and his Indian counterpart Prithvi Shaw and debutant paceman Kyle Jamieson were among the biggest movers in the rankings, released on Tuesday.

Blundell had a successful series against India, scoring 117 runs in four innings, with one half-century, which put him among the top two run-scorers in the series.

The performance meant he was rewarded with a jump of 27 places to No. 46. Shaw, who returned for his first series since his Test debut against West Indies in 2018, and made a punchy 54 in the first innings of the Christchurch Test, rose 17 places to No.76.

Australia's Steve Smith retained his top spot, holding a 25-point advantage over Kohli. Smith's apprentice Marnus Labuschagne jumped one spot to round off the top three, taking the place of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes and India opener Mayank Agarwal moved a spot each and swapped places to break into and fall out of the top 10 respectively.

Among bowlers, Tim Southee's Player of the Series winning performance against India took him into the top five, with a jump of two places to No.4, while Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult returned to the top 10, gaining four places each to occupy the seventh and ninth positions respectively.

But the biggest gainer was Jamieson, who rose from No. 80 to 43.

There was only one change in the top ten among all-rounders, with Southee dropping a spot to No.10 and team-mate Neil Wagner falling out of the top 10 with a drop of four spots.

As with the bowling rankings, Jamieson, who frustrated India with handy lower order runs, gained big on the all-rounders' table, rising 26 places to No. 22.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Kingston, Jun 10: "Enough is enough", said West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo as he opened up on the raging issue of racism and called for "respect and equality" for black people, who have faced discrimination for years.

Bravo joined the likes of his former captain Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle in denouncing racism in the wake of African-American George Floyd's killing at the hands of a white police officer in the USA.

"It's sad to see what's going on around the world. As a black man, we know the history of what black people have been through. We never ask for revenge, we ask for equality and respect. That's it," Bravo told former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa in an Instagram live chat on Tuesday.

"We give respect to others. Why is it that we are facing this over and over? Now enough is enough. We just want equality. We don't want revenge, war.

"We just want respect. We share love and appreciate people for who they are. That's what is most important."

The 36-year-old, who has played 40 Tests, 164 ODIs and 71 T20Is for West Indies, said he wants the world to know that they are powerful and beautiful people and gave the example of greats such as Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan.

"I just want our brothers and sisters to know that we are powerful and beautiful. And at the end of the day, you look at some of the greats of the world, whether it is Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan we have had leaders who paved the way for us," he said.

Two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain Sammy had earlier alleged that a racist nickname was used to address him during his IPL stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad and demanded an apology.

Sammy said he was called 'Kalu' while he was in India. 'Kalu' is a derogatory word to describe black people.

Gayle, who too plays in the IPL, took to Twitter to back Sammy, saying that racism does exist in cricket.

"It's never too late to fight for the right cause or what you've experienced over the years! So much more to your story, @darensammy88. Like I said, it's in the game!!," Gayle tweeted.

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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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