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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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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News Network
January 30,2020

Hamilton, Jan 30: Caught unaware about the Super Over scenario, Rohit Sharma took five minutes to “find” his abdomen guard after the third T20 International against New Zealand had ended in a tie on Wednesday.

The India vice-captain said the team had almost given up with New Zealand going great guns at one point.

“Everything was packed. All my stuff was inside my bag. I had to get it out. It literally took me five minutes to find my abdomen guard because I didn’t know where it was,” Rohit said.

“I mean we never thought it would go to the Super Over, the way they were batting at one point. It looked like they could easily win the game,” he added.

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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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