Messi on fire while Bale back on target in Spanish La Liga

Agencies
December 10, 2018

Madrid, Dec 10: Leo Messi was at his mercurial best, scoring two free kicks and setting up Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele for further goals as FC Barcelona extended their lead at the top of La Liga with a 4-0 win away to local rivals Espanyol on Sunday.

Messi opened the scoring with a magnificent free kick in the 16th minute and created space for Ousmane Dembele to curl home Barca's second of the game.

Luis Suarez added a third on the stroke of halftime to virtually assure the win and Messi put the icing on the cake with another brilliant free kick with 25 minutes left to play.

Sevilla remain second after drawing in Valencia, but Pablo Machin's side will see the 1-1 draw as two points dropped after taking the lead through the excellent Pablo Sarabia and seeing Andre Silva hit the post with just a defender on the line to beat before Mouctar Diakhaby scored a 92nd minute equalizer for Valencia with a powerful header.

The late goal did little to satisfy the Valencia fans who protested against their tea
m's recent performances by waving white handkerchiefs from the stands.

Atletico Madrid are level on points with Sevilla after a comfortable 3-0 win at home to Deportivo Alaves.

With Diego Costa out for two months following a foot operation, Nikola Kalinic's first goal for Atletico came at the right time as he opened the scoring in the 25th minute.

Antoine Griezmann then sealed the win with a typical goal on the break as Alaves searched for an equalizer and Rodri rounded off the scoring in the closing minutes.

Real Madrid made hard work of their visit to play bottom of the table Huesca, with Gareth Bale's eighth minute goal - his first in over 800 minutes of league football, giving them a 1-0 win, although goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois also played a big part with several important saves.

Huesca remain without a home win all season, while Real Madrid move up to fourth place in the table ahead of Alaves.

Eibar and Levante shared eight goals in a thrilling 4-4 draw with Eibar fighting back from 2-1 down to take a 4-2 lead, only to see Levante pull back thanks to an own goal and Borja Mayoral's first goal since joining on loan from Real Madrid.

Valladolid got back to winning ways after four games without a win with a 2-1 victory away to Real Sociedad. Laureano Villa Suarez and Antonito put Valladoild 2-0 ahead and they did well to defend their lead after Mikel Oyarzabal equalized with just under half an hour remaining.

A penalty from Giovani Lo Celso just before the hour and a right foot shot from central defender Sidnei gave Betis a relatively straightforward 2-0 win at home to second from bottom Rayo Vallecano.

Celta Vigo deepened Villarreal's relegation worries with a 3-2 win in Villarreal's Estadio de la Ceramica.

Brais Menzez, Okay Vokusli and Maxi Gomez put Celta 3-0 ahead , but goals from Carlos Bacca in the 83rd and 87th minutes for Villarreal kept the game on a knife-edge until the last minute.

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News Network
May 30,2020

New York, May 30: Cricket superstar Virat Kohli remains the only Indian in the Forbes' list of world's highest-paid athletes with total earnings of USD 26 million, jumping to the 66th spot from 100 in the 2020 standings.

Kohli's earnings from endorsement stand at USD 24 million and USD 2 million from salary/winnings. The 31-year-old is also the only cricketer in the top-100 list.

With earnings of USD 25 million, Kohli was ranked 100th in 2019 and 83rd in 2018 with USD 24 million.

Tennis legend Roger Federer has toped the list for the first time with earnings of USD 106.3 million, rising from fifth place last year.

Football icons Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are second and third respectively with earnings of USD 105 and USD 104 million.

The others in the top-10 are Neymar (football), LeBron James (basketball), Stephen Curry (basketball), Kevin Durrant (basketball), Tigers Woods (golf), Kirk Cousins (American football) and Carson Wentz (American football).

The athletes' earnings have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic which led to suspension of sporting activities all around the world.

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Sunday, 31 May 2020

Saina Nehwal is the only Indian to feature in the world’s 20 most charitable athletes, as per a list compiled by the US based website in Athletes Gone Good. 

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News Network
February 26,2020

Melbourne, Feb 26: On a high after two easy victories on the trot, including one against defending champion Australia, the Indian women's cricket team will aim to inch closer to a semifinal berth when it takes on New Zealand in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup here on Thursday.

The Indians have hardly broke a sweat in their 17-run and 18-run wins over hosts Australia and Bangladesh in their previous two matches, and they are perched at the top of five-team Group A standings with four points from two matches.

A win against New Zealand on Thursday will take the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side on the threshold of a knock-out stage spot, to be competed among top two teams from Group A and B.

In the two matches so far, the Indian team has been impressive both in batting and bowling.

The 16-year-old sensation Shafali Verma has been the standout batter with a whirlwind 17-ball 39 against Bangladesh, following her 29 against Australia.

One-down Jemimah Rodrigues has also been among the runs with 26 and 34 in the two matches so far.

Only captain Harmanpreet, among the top order batters, has not scored big and she is due big innings.

India is also likely to be bolstered by the return of star opener Smriti Mandhana who missed the match against Bangladesh due to fever.

The middle-order has also done its bit with Deepti Sharma playing a major role against Australia with an unbeaten 49 while Veda Krishnamurthy hit a match-defining 11-ball 20 not out for a late flourish against Bangladesh.

The bowling department has been led admirably by seasoned leg-spinner Poonam Yadav -- seven wickets in the first two matches -- with pacer Shikha Pandey ably supporting her with five scalps so far.

New Zealand, though, have a better head-to-head record against India in recent years, having won the last three matches between the two sides.

Exactly a year back, they had beaten the Indian team 3-0 in a three-match T20 International home series.

India will, however, remember their massive 34-run win against New Zealand in the previous edition of the T20 World Cup in 2018 in the West Indies. Harmanpreet had struck a memorable 103 to lead her side to victory.

New Zealand have some top-class players in their ranks in the form of captain and all-rounder Sophie Devine and top-order batswoman Suzie Bates while pacer Lea Tahuhu and leg-spinner Amelia Kerr will lead the bowling department.

They will go into this match on a high after an easy seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka on Saturday.

Devine had led her side from the front with an unbeaten 75 off 55 balls at the top of the order in that win.

The Teams:

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Richa Ghosh, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar.

New Zealand: Sophie Devine (capt), Rosemary Mair, Amelia Kerr, Suzie Bates, Lauren Down, Maddy Green, Holly Huddleston, Hayley Jensen, Leigh Kasperek, Jess Kerr, Katey Martin (wk), Katie Perkins, Anna Peterson, Rachel Priest, Lea Tahuhu.

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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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