Ronaldo fires Portugal past Czechs into Euro 2012 semifinals

June 22, 2012


Ronaldo

Warsaw, June 22: Cristiano Ronaldo was the hero as Portugal beat an ultra-defensive Czech Republic 1-0 at the National Stadium on Thursday in their quarterfinal to qualify for the Euro 2012 semifinals.

Ronaldo headed home a cross from Joao Moutinho 11 minutes from the end to set up a possible semifinal against either world champions Spain or France.

It was just reward after another starring performance from the Real Madrid man against opponents who failed to register a single shot on target and were hindered by the absence of injured playmaker Tomas Rosicky.

As is so often the case in knock-out matches in big tournaments, the first half was a cagey affair.

Portugal struggled to string two passes together while centre-backs Pepe and Bruno Alves resorted to lumping long aimless balls up the field.

Czech Republic had some joy down their right with one particularly dangerous cross from Theodor Gebre Selassie only just being cut out by Pepe.

Moutinho hit a weak shot from 20 yards that Petr Cech gathered easily.

But then the Ronaldo show really took off.

The Real Madrid star sprung into life in the 25th minute as he darted across field, played a one-two with former Manchester United team-mate Nani, shrugged off Michal Kadlec and fired straight at Cech.

It was a rare burst of activity in an up-until-then tame affair but even that wouldn't have counted as referee Howard Webb penalised Ronaldo for pushing.

The 27-year-old was only just getting started, though.

On 33 minutes Pepe lobbed a ball into the box and Ronaldo sent an overhead bicycle kick wide of the upright.

Next up he sent a free-kick from almost 30 yards swerving wide but in stoppage time at the end of the half he demonstrated his full talent.

Raul Meireles knock a long ball into the box which Ronaldo controlled on his chest before turning Kadlec and prodding the ball past Cech, only to see it come back off the post.

It took Portugal only 20 seconds after the restart to show their intent as Meireles crossed for Hugo Almeida, a first half substitute for Helder Postiga, who seemed to have pulled a hamstring, but the Besiktas forwad headed over when it looked easier to hit the target.

Ronaldo then clipped the outside of the post with a free-kick from fully 30 yards.

Moutinho and Meireles combined to play Ronaldo in behind the defence as he came in off his left wing but his finish was skewed high and wide.

Porto's Moutinho had a crack from 20 yards on 64 minutes but Cech tipped it over the bar while Almeida sent another header woefully over.

Meireles cleverly played in Nani on 74 minutes but the winger's shot was deflected over the bar.

The goal Portugal's domination richly deserved finally came on 79 minutes as Moutinho made a determined run down the right and produced a peach of cross that Ronaldo headed home on the dive.

Full-back Joao Pereira had a chance to seal the match but he shot wide when well placed.



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News Network
March 2,2020

Mar 2: Indian captain Virat Kohli was left frustrated and deflated as New Zealand won the second Test inside three days in Christchurch on Monday to sweep the series.

India started the day at 90 for six and were all out for 124, before New Zealand chased down the required 132 to win for the loss of three wickets in 36 overs.

It ended a disappointing tour for India and Kohli as New Zealand, who won the first Test by 10 wickets early on day four, wrapped up the series with ease.

New Zealand are now unbeaten in their last 13 home Tests, winning nine of them, and in the past decade their record as hosts is played 39, won 20, drawn 13 and lost five.

In the latest series, on traditional New Zealand green wickets, India managed scores of 165, 191, 242 and 124, reflecting the low contributions from Kohli of 2, 19, 3 and 14.

Kohli came to New Zealand as the world's top Test batsman and oozing charm as he described New Zealand as the “nice guys” of cricket.

But during the series he lost his top ranking to Australian Steve Smith and when Kane Williamson went for three in the first innings of the second Test the pressure showed when he gave the New Zealand skipper a very animated send-off.

There was further evidence of frustration when he was caught on camera yelling an obscenity at a group of New Zealand supporters on Sunday.

The end came quickly for India on day three as Tim Southee and Trent Boult tormented the batsmen with their variety of inswing and outswing deliveries targeting both sides of the stumps.

Hanuma Vihari was the first to fall, in Southee's second over, when he turned a legside delivery too fine and was caught by BJ Watling diving to his left.

Five balls later and with no addition to the score, India's other overnight batsman Rishabh Pant was caught behind off a Boult delivery that swung away.

Mohammed Shami was caught for five by Tom Blundell at deep mid-wicket and Jasprit Bumrah was run out when trying to give the strike to Ravindra Jadeja, who was unbeaten on 16.

Boult and Southee signed for most of the dismissals with Boult taking four for 28 and Southee three for 36. The swing pair accounted for 25 of the 40 Indian wickets in the series.

There was enough seam and swing available for India to keep the New Zealand batsmen guessing but Bumrah and Umesh Yadav were unable to apply consistent pressure and Mohammed Shami was troubled by a sore shoulder.

New Zealand coasted through a century opening stand by Tom Latham and Blundell before losing three quick wickets.

Latham notched his 18th half-century and second of the Test before he was caught behind off Yadav for 52, Kane Williamson had a short stay for five, and Blundell went for 55.

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News Network
July 18,2020

Johannesburg, Jul 18: Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Saturday mourned the demise of former spinner Ismail 'Baboo' Ebrahim who died in Durban at the age of 73.

"Baboo was one of the outstanding South African spin bowlers of the 1960s and 1970s who would undoubtedly have played as many Test matches for his country as the 48 first-class games to which he was limited," CSA said in a statement.

In those matches, he took 179 wickets at an average of 21.33 with an economy rate of 2.12 including 8 five-wicket hauls and 2 ten-wicket hauls.

The left-arm spinner only had one opportunity on the international stage when he played for a SA Invitation XI against the International Wanderers at Kingsmead in 1976.

"At the age of 29, he was in his prime and took a match-winning 6/66 in the second innings, his victims including international captains, Greg Chappell of Australia and Mike Denness of England. It was a clear indication of what he could have achieved on grounds around the world at the highest level had he been given the opportunity. He was a master of flight and spin and had a good arm ball to back it up," the statement read.

His ability to perform at this level had become apparent much earlier when he went to watch the Australians at practice before their Test match against South Africa in 1970.

He persuaded the Australians to let him bowl to them and made an immediate impression, bowling experienced Test batsman Ian Redpath and impressing the likes of Ian Chappell and Ashley Mallett, the latter being Australia's leading spinner of the 1970s.

He had one season for Radcliffe in the Lancashire Central League when he took 62 wickets at 14.62 apiece.

Baboo finally got his chance to represent his country in Masters events in one of which he dismissed both Sir Vivian Richards and Gordon Greenidge.

"Baboo Ebrahim was one of the countless number of outstanding cricketers who was denied the opportunity to display his talents to the world and live his cricketing dreams," said CSA Acting Chief Executive, Dr Jacques Faul.

"On behalf of the CSA Family I extend our deepest sympathy to his family, friends and cricketing colleagues," he added. 

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Agencies
January 5,2020

Mumbai, Jan 5: All-rounder Irfan Pathan on Saturday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, ending an injury-ridden career that prevented him from realising his true potential.

The 35-year-old's retirement was on expected lines, considering he last played a competitive game in February 2019 during the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy for Jammu and Kashmir.

He did not even put himself in the IPL auction pool, last month.

The left-arm seamer's bowling was like a breath of fresh air when he made his India debut against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 2003.

He never had express pace but his natural ability to swing the ball into the right-handers got him instant success, also drawing comparisons with the great Kapil Dev.

It seemed India had found the all-rounder they were looking for since Kapil left the scene. Pathan, who last played for India in October 2012, featured in 29 Tests (1105 runs and 100 wickets), 120 ODIs (1544 runs and 173 wickets) and 24 T20 Internationals (172 runs and 28 wickets).

He was part of the victorious Indian team at the 2007 World Twenty20 and was the man-of-the-match in the final against Pakistan.

One of his best performances came on the tour of Pakistan in 2006 when he became the second Indian after Harbhajan Singh to take a Test hat-trick, removing Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yusuf during the Karachi game.

He also played a big role in India winning a Test match against Australia on a tough Perth wicket, which offered steep bounce.

Injuries and lack of form troubled him thereafter and his ability to swing the ball deteriorated.

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