India crush Pakistan by 8 wickets in one-sided match

June 16, 2013

India_crush

India are on a roll and it’s going to take more than a beat Pakistan to stop them.

On a cold, windy day at Birmingham, India won the toss and chose to field first. It was a decision that surprised the experts – the pitch looked like it was slow and would get slower as the match would go on. Basically put, run-scoring would not be easy.

But India’s bowlers made the most of the rain interruptions – they kept their concentration even as the Pakistan batsmen lost their focus, to keep the opposition to 165 runs. The revised target according to the D/L method is 168, which was then further reduced to a 22-over game now and India’s target was 102.

Shikhar Dhawan (48) and Rohit Sharma (18) put on 58 runs for the first wicket and that was all India needed to do to snuff out Pakistan’s hopes.

India had already won Group B, Pakistan were already eliminated. So in the eyes of many this was a match about pride. But for India it was actually much more. It was about keeping the momentum going. So far, the conditions have favoured India – but it doesn’t take long for that to change and the confidence to drop.

So it wasn’t about bragging rights – it was really about keeping a good thing going. Asad Shafiq replaces Imran Farhat for Pakistan, which has lost both its group games, while India is unchanged after wins over South Africa and West Indies.

And once again Dhoni’s bowler’s delivered for him.

The rain interruptions – once again something that Dhoni and Fletcher had factored into their calculations saw the match being reduced to 40 overs. Batting second gave India the advantage of knowing exactly what they would need when they came out to bat.

Pakistan didn’t start off too well. They lost Nasir Jamshed in the third over to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who continues to get India early breakthroughs. But then Kamran Akmal (21) and Mohammad Hafeez (27) took the total to 50 before a stoppage due to rain.

The teams came back on before too long but Hafeez seemed less ready than most. He edged the first ball after the break to Dhoni. Replays later revealed that there was movement behind the umpire but the batsman didn’t put up his hand to stop the bowler, nor did he move away from the stumps.

Hafeez had a point but he didn’t make his move in time. His wicket was quickly followed by Kamran’s wicket as Pakistan were reduced to 56-3. They needed to rebuild and they did that through Asad Shafiq (41) and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (22) but even then, they never looked like taking the match away from India.

Umar Amin chipped in with 27 towards the end but Pakistan just didn’t look like they were ever forcing the pace or making India do anything different.

Bhuvneshwar got two wickets upfront (2-19) and then the likes of R Ashwin (2-35) and Ravindra Jadeja (2-30) ensured that the game never got away from the Indians. The bowling has once again continued to surprise and it has been backed up by some superb fielding too.

When India came out to bat, they needed to keep wickets in hand and they did that with a fair degree of ease. It’s fair to say that both, Rohit and Dhawan gave their wickets away. Pakistan did not earn them.

India would have perhaps liked Rohit to score a few more runs ahead of the semi-final on Thursday. In the end though it turned out to be one of the most one-sided India-Pakistan matches in recent times.

The India-Pakistan rivalry is fast becoming a myth and somehow Pakistan need to find some young talent to make their way back into the reckoning.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Jun 10: "It is never too late to fight for the right cause," said opening batsman Chris Gayle as he came out in support of former T20 World Cup-winning skipper Darren Sammy. The debate around racism in sport has kickstarted once again after former Windies T20 World Cup-winning skipper Darren Sammy alleged racism during his stint with SunRisers Hyderabad in the 2014 Indian Premier League. Taking note of Sammy's revelation, Gayle tweeted: "It's never too late to fight for the right cause or what you've experienced over the years! So much more to your story, @darensammy88. Like I said, it's in the game".

Earlier, Gayle had also revealed that he too has been a victim of racism, and added that racism is something that has been bothering cricket as well.

On Tuesday, Sammy had released a video specifying that the racial slurs against him were used within the SunRisers camp.

"I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people," Sammy said in a video posted on his Instagram account.

"This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for SunRisers Hyderabad, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people," he added.

Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn't know the meaning, and his team-mates used to laugh every time after calling him by that name.

"I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called as that word I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment, I thought teammates are laughing so it must be something funny," Sammy said.

The former Windies skipper has been a vocal supporter of the protests that are currently going on in the United States over the death of an African-American man named George Floyd.

Sammy had also made an appeal to the ICC and other cricket boards to support the fight against social injustice and racism.

Ever since the demise of Floyd, protests erupted from the demonstrations in cities from San Francisco to Boston.

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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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News Network
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Manchester United's Paul Pogba on Monday paid tribute to George Floyd, stressing that violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated and they have to stop.

Pogba took to Instagram to write: "During the past few days I have thought a lot about how to express my feelings about what happened in Minneapolis. I felt anger, pity, hatred, indignation, pain, sadness."

"Sadness for George and for all black people who suffer from racism Every day! Whether in football, at work, at school, Anywhere! This has to stop, once and for all! Not tomorrow or the next day, it has to end today! Violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated," he added.

Protests erupted in Minneapolis and other US cities on Tuesday after Floyd, an African-American man, died following his arrest by the four officers.

A viral video showed a police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning 46-year-old Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes. Floyd died at a local hospital shortly thereafter.

The four police officers were fired. Chauvin was also charged with murder and manslaughter, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

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zaki ahmed
 - 
Wednesday, 3 Jun 2020

This photograph in the above mentioned article is of Floyd Mayweather Jr , the world welterweight & super heavy weight champion & wrongly menitoned as Pogba .

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