Lionel Messi Hits Champions League Century In Emphatic Barcelona Win Over Chelsea

Agencies
March 15, 2018

Barcelona hailed Lionel Messi as "The King" and he handed Chelsea the royal punishment by scoring twice to reach 100 Champions League goals and end their quarter-final hopes. After unfurling a banner showing the words "God Save The King" before kick-off, Barca's fans were celebrating after just 129 seconds at the Camp Nou as Messi found the net before Chelsea had even made a pass.

He then teed up Ousmane Dembele to double Barca's lead in the second leg of the last-16 clash before registering a century of Champions League goals on his 123rd appearance to complete a 3-0 victory, 4-1 on aggregate.

Messi becomes only the second player to reach the milestone in Europe's premier tournament, following Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 117 goals in 152 games.

"He knows in certain moments the stars have to come out," Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said. "We enjoy him. We're lucky enough to be seeing something that will go down in history."

By the end, the Argentinian's scintillating breakaway in the build-up to Dembele's first Barcelona goal had become little more than a footnote to what was another Messi masterclass.

"I think that a fantastic player moved the final result," Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said. "In these two legs, he scored three goals, he made an assist for Dembele to score a goal. It's a pity."

It also caps a remarkable five days for the 30-year-old, who sat out Saturday's La Liga win over Malaga to attend to the birth of his third child.

Chelsea, in touch after the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, were therefore unfortunate enough to encounter the striker fresh, free and at his frighteningly brilliant best.

At the finish, Conte left the field with his arm around the forward, perhaps with nothing to add but congratulations.

"I think when you have the opportunity to make great compliment to Messi, I think it's right," Conte added. "It's right to recognise a super, super, super top player."

Conte's team had chances, particularly in the first half, but the sense was once Barcelona were in front they were content to sit back and counter.

Fastest Messi goal

Chelsea hit the woodwork twice and claimed for a penalty when Alonso was brought down by Gerard Pique.

"If you watch the game you can see the final result is unfair," Conte said. "Over the two legs we hit the post four times. This is very strange."

With Manchester United dumped out by Sevilla and Tottenham outmanouevred by Juventus, Chelsea's exit means for all the talk of a Premier League resurgence, Liverpool and Manchester City are its only two representatives in the quarter-finals.

Spain have three, after Real saw off the challenge of Paris Saint-Germain.

Andres Iniesta shook off a hamstring strain to start while Dembele was a surprise inclusion, preferred to Paulinho and rewarded for his excellent display against Malaga.

Conte, meanwhile, plumped for Olivier Giroud up front ahead of both Alvaro Morata, who was on the bench, and Eden Hazard, who was granted his wish to play deeper in attacking midfield.

Within three minutes, however, Chelse's plan to frustrate was spoiled. Messi started the move and finished it, with Dembele, Luis Suarez and a deflection off Alonso, helping him find the space to fire through the legs of Thibaut Courtois for the fastest goal of his career.

Dembele's second came after Cesc Fabregas failed to secure possession in midfield and Messi was away, skipping past a desperate lunge from Andreas Christensen, before taking the whole stadium by surprise by squaring to the back post. Dembele took one touch and slammed the ball into the top corner.

Any hopes Chelsea had of a comeback were extinguishe shortly after the hour-mark. Suarez raced through midfield but looked to have hit a wall on the edge of Chelsea's box.

Messi took over, tearing past the rooted Moses and banging the ball, again through the legs of Courtois, into the net.

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Agencies
April 25,2020

London, Apr 25: Former Australian cricketer Graeme Watson who was fighting cancer, has died at the age of 75.

Primarily a middle-order batsman and a medium-pace bowler, he featured in five Tests from 1967 to 1972 and two ODIs in 1972, ESPNcricinfo reported.

The all-rounder earned the national call during the 1966-67 tour of Rhodesia and South Africa. Watson slammed a half-century in the first innings of the second Test of the series.

However, the medium-pace bowler was ruled of the next test after suffering an ankle injury. He returned for the fourth Test in Johannesburg where scalped his career-best 2 for 67 but failed to leave a mark with the bat as Kangaroos lost the series.

In 1971-72 he moved to Western Australia and played a major role in their Sheffield-Shield win in 1971-72, 1972-73, and 1974-75 seasons.

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News Network
May 1,2020

Melbourne, May 1: Reclaiming the top spot in Test cricket has brought smiles back on their faces but Australia coach Justin Langer says beating India in their own den remains the ultimate test and their numero uno status will be put to test when they clash with the Virat Kohli-led team.

After a tumultuous transition phase post the ball-tampering scandal, Australia on Friday displaced India as number one side in Test format but Langer is aware that it does not take long for the situation to change.

"We recognise how fluid these rankings are, but at this time it was certainly nice to put a smile on our faces," Langer told Cricket Australia website. "We've got lots of work to do to get to be the team that we want to be, but hopefully over the last couple of years not only have we performed well on the field, but also off the field," Langer added.

The former left-handed opener underlined what he felt will be the ultimate test of character.

"Certainly a goal for us has been the World Test Championship ... but ultimately, we have to beat India in India and we've got to beat them when they come back (to Australia).

"You can only judge yourself as being the best if you beat the best and we've got some really tough opposition to come," Langer put his priorities in place. The team he insists needs to get better as now others will come gunning for them.

"Getting to No.1 is a great thing, but when you're No.1, you're always the hunted," Langer said. "We've been the hunters for a while, now we're the hunted and we need to get better and better."

Langer also hoped that white ball team under Aaron Finch will win the World Cup. "I know how hard it is to win World Cups ... everything has to go right. One day, I'd love to see Aaron Finch with all his mates lift that T20 World Cup above his head."

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8: Former opener Gautam Gambhir is mighty impressed with the way K.L. Rahul batted during India's comfortable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I and said it amazes him why the right-handed batsman can't play the same way in Tests. On Tuesday, Rahul top-scored with a 32-ball 45 as India chased down the meagre target of 143 with utmost ease at the Holkar Stadium.

"Rahul is in unbelievable form. It amazes me every time I see Rahul bat that why didn't he play the same way in Test cricket," Gambhir told the host broadcasters. "It's not about only white-ball cricket; it is about Test cricket too. He just got into a shell too much. With the kind of quality he posses, he is someone who can get you a 50-ball 100 in Test cricket as well. The kind of shots he has is superb," he added.

Shikhar Dhawan, who is making a return to the team after an injury lay-off, also contributed with a "rusty" 30-ball 32. Both Dhawan and Rahul are virtually playing for the second opener's slot for the World T20, with Rohit Sharma set to be one.

And Gambhir feels going by the current form, Rahul should be opening the batting alongside Rohit in Australia. "You can't compare IPL to international cricket. When you're playing for Delhi Capitals, you know there's no one waiting for the opportunity, but when you're playing for the country and you know there's someone who's actually can replace you, there'll always be pressure. And today it was shown who's in better form," Gambhir said.

The cricketer-turned-politician, however, exuded confidence that Dhawan will bounce back strongly in the next game. "Shikhar Dhawan looked rusty but it's a good thing that he got some runs under his belt. It will help him when he walks out to bat in the next game. Had he got out early, the pressure would have been more," he said.

India will play Sri Lanka in the final T20I in Pune on Friday before taking on Australia in a three-match ODI series beginning January 14 in Mumbai.

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