Kuldeep Yadav's six-wicket haul sets up India win

Agencies
July 13, 2018

Nottingham, Jul 13: Kuldeep Yadav took six wickets as India overpowered England in the first one-day international at Trent Bridge on Thursday.

The left-arm wrist-spinner returned career-best ODI figures of six for 25 as England were dismissed for a mere 268 after India captain Virat Kohli sent them in to bat.

Rohit Sharma, to the delight of the many India fans in a sun-drenched capacity crowd of over 17,000, then made an unbeaten century as the tourists won by eight wickets with a mammoth 59 balls to spare.

Sharma was 137 not out, after putting on 167 for the second wicket with Kohli (75) as India went 1-0 up in a three-match series.

It was all a far cry from the June 19 ODI at Trent Bridge where England compiled a men's ODI record total of 481 for six in a 242-run win over Australia during a 5-0 series rout of their arch-rivals.

After Kuldeep had dismissed England's top three during a burst of three wickets for five runs in 10 balls, Ben Stokes (50) and Jos Buttler (53) shared a fifth-wicket stand of 93.

But neither could break the shackles and both fell to Kuldeep, who was just the third overseas spinner to take five wickets in an ODI in England after Sri Lanka great Muttiah Muralitharan (five for 34 at Lord's in 1998) and India's Suraj Randiv (five for 42 at Old Trafford in 2011).

"It's a big day for me," Kuldeep, whose return was also the best by any spinner against England in ODI cricket, told Sky Sports.

"I started pretty well in the first two overs and luckily I got a couple (of wickets), which really changed the momentum for us."

Meanwhile Kohli accepted there was a chance both Kuldeep and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal could force their way into India's squad for the five-Test campaign in England that follows this series.

"He is making a strong start for himself, as his Chahal; both of them are pretty lethal for us and looking at the English batsmen struggling against them we might be tempted to do that," said Kohli.

Having struggled against Kuldeep in a preceding 2-1 Twenty20 loss, England captain Eoin Morgan said his side had to improve their playing of spin ahead of Saturday's second ODI at Lord's.

"Full credit to India -- they completely outplayed us," said Morgan. "Kuldeep had a pretty good day at the office. Playing spin against India is a challenge we will hopefully improve on but today we were off the mark."

England, in the absence of the injured Alex Hales, saw openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow put on a brisk 73.

But the introduction of Kuldeep for the 11th over changed the course of the match and it took him just two balls to strike.

Roy (38), attempting an ambitious reverse sweep, gave a dolly catch to Umesh Yadav.

Test captain Joe Root, in the team after being left out of the side that lost the third T20, then played back to Kuldeep and was plumb lbw for three.

Bairstow, who would have been lbw for a duck in the first over had India reviewed an lbw appeal from Umesh, made an attractive 38 before he was lbw to Kuldeep -- on review.

Morgan (19) then carelessly chipped Chahal to midwicket.

Stokes and Buttler staunched the flow of wickets, with Buttler first to his fifty, off 45 balls.

But with England hoping he would cut loose, Buttler's glance off Kuldeep was well caught down the legside by wicket-keeper MS Dhoni.

The normally hard-hitting Stokes then completed a fifty off a sedate 102 balls, including just two fours.

But one ball after reaching his fifty, the left-hander tried to reverse sweep Kuldeep only for debutant Siddarth Kaul to hold an excellent catch.

Kuldeep, who did not concede a boundary in his maximum 10 overs, struck again with his final delivery when David Willey holed out to KL Rahul.

Sharma, dropped on 92 by a diving Roy at backward point off fast bowler Liam Plunkett, completed an 82-ball hundred -- his 18th at this level -- when he drove Rashid for six.

Kohli, surprisingly, didn't reach three figures too and was instead stumped by Buttler off Rashid.

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News Network
June 23,2020

Karachi, Jun 23: Pakistan cricketers Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and rookie Haider Ali on Monday tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed three players - Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan - have tested positive for Covid-19," said the PCB in a statement.

"The players had shown no symptoms until they were tested in Rawalpindi on Sunday ahead of the Pakistan men's national cricket team's tour to England."

The infected players will go into self-isolation.

"The PCB medical panel is in contact with the three who have been advised to immediately go into self-isolation," the statement said.

Earlier this month, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was tested positive for the deadly virus.

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News Network
March 2,2020

Madrid, Mar 2: Real Madrid won El Clasico and might have saved their season as they ended their slump in the best way possible last night by beating Barcelona 2-0 and returning to the top of La Liga.

Vinicius Junior's deflected finish and a stoppage-time goal from Mariano Diaz decided a frenzied contest at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Madrid found new life after a Champions League defeat by Manchester City had left them on the brink of crisis.

"It's been a tough week," said Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane. "We talked about how we had an opportunity this weekend and we took it."

Victory put them one point clear at the top of the table and shifts focus back to Quique Setien's Barcelona, who were outfought and, at times, outplayed.

"The reality is we lost a lot of confidence with the ball," said Setien. "We entered a nervous spell and that's when the goal came."

Lionel Messi's rasping shot was saved by Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the first half but it was the Argentine's opposing captain, Sergio Ramos, who was thrashing his arms in celebration after the final whistle.

His reaction was an indication of the importance of this victory, not only for the effect it has on the standings but on the dynamic of the title race, which had seemed to be switching firmly in favour of Barca.

Opportunity missed

Cristiano Ronaldo, now of Juventus, was watching from an executive box and Madrid could have done with him during a period in which they had won only one of their last five games.

Zidane said on Saturday this match would not decide who lifted the trophy in May but a Barca win and a five-point gap might well have been difficult to close.

Yet from the start Barcelona seemed keener to kill the game than win it, playing for time in the hope of keeping the contest tight, when they might have been better off attacking their opponents' fragility.

The Madrid we faced in the first half was one of the worst Madrids I have faced at the Bernabeu. I don't say it as a criticism, we also have our problems, but we've missed an opportunity.

--Gerard Pique, Barcelona defender

There was more tension than creativity in the early stages as Fede Valverde crashed into Arthur Melo before fellow Spain full-backs Dani Carvajal and Jordi Alba were both booked after a disagreement.

Madrid had the better of the play and regularly broke at speed through Vinicius down the left but constantly they failed to make the final pass, with Isco once left with his head in his hands after Marcelo opted not to pull the ball back.

Slow Barca

Barcelona's passing was slow and their lack of urgency obvious. At one point Messi bent to tie his bootlaces and re-spotted the ball before taking a corner.

But the visitors also created chances as Antoine Griezmann drove over from Alba's cutback and then Madrid had Courtois to thank for two excellent saves.

First, Arthur held off Toni Kroos to go clear but his finish was blocked by teh foot of Courtois and then the Belgian palmed away Messi's shot after he had skipped in behind Madrid's defence.

Ramos was lucky to get away with an error that allowed Nelson Semedo to break past him while Alba risked a second yellow when he checked Valverde but referee Mateu Lahoz was unmoved.

Barcelona were sloppy after half-time and Madrid should have capitalised. Instead, Isco's header beat Marc-Andre ter Stegen but not Pique on the line and Karim Benzema volleyed over after a sloppy pass from Arturo Vidal.

Vidal was replaced by Martin Braithwaite, Barca's emergency signing, and he sprinted in behind Marcelo twice in his first minute.

But Madrid remained in the ascendancy and in the 71st minute they took the lead.

Benzema came short and pointed right to encourage Vinicius to run in behind. Kroos found him and Vinicius's shot deflected off the sliding Pique to beat Ter Stegen at his near post.

The game opened up as Barcelona chased an equaliser. Marcelo celebrated when Messi's surge through was stopped by Raphael Varane. Pique headed Messi's cross over at the near post. Messi picked up a yellow card for a frustrated slide on Casemiro.

In injury time, Ter Stegen ventured up for a late free-kick but it was Madrid that struck again. Mariano sped past Semedo and finished from the angle.

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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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