Sri Lanka decimate India by 161 runs

July 3, 2013

Upul_TharangaKingston, Jul 3: Upul Tharanga scored a career-best unbeaten 174 as Sri Lanka produced a clinical display to thrash India by 161 runs in the third match of the ODI tri-series here.

Sent into bat, Sri Lanka first rode on Tharanga's 174 and Mahela Jayawardene's 107 to pile up a mammoth 348 for one yesterday and then shot out the Indians for a paltry 187 in 44.5 overs.

Apart from Tharanga and Jayawardene, skipper Angelo Mathews made a quickfire 44.

The Indians looked a pale shadow of themselves with Ravindra Jadeja top-scoring with an unbeaten 49 followed by Suresh Raina (33), Murali Vijay (30), Shikhar Dhawan (24) and Dinesh Karthik (22).

Rohit Shamra was the first to depart, caught by Mathews at short mideicket off Nuwan Kulasekara's bowling. With a mountain to chase, the Indians found boundaries hard to come by as they dealt mostly in singles and twos.

The ever-climbing asking rate took a tool on the Indians as they lost Dhawan and skipper Virat Kohli in successive overs.

While trying to break the shakles Dhawan found out Tharanga at deep midwicket off Rangana Herath (3/37), Kohli hooked a Mathews delivery straight to Lasith Malinga at fine-leg in the next over.

Maling then went through Vijay's defence two overs later as India slumped to 70 for four after the end of 19 overs.

Wicket-keeper Karthik and Raina added 53 runs off 63 balls for the fitth wicket before the former perished, stumped by Kumar Sangakkara off Herath in the 29th over.

Raina tried hard to get India back on track with a run-a-ball 33 but fell victim of a run out.

Thereafter, the Indian innings fell apart as none other batsmen managed doubled digit scores with only Jadeja showing some teeth before the discipleined Sri Lankan bowling attack.

This is India's second defeat in the tournament after having lost to West Indies by one wicket in their tournament opener.

Earlier, Tharanga smashed a career-best unbeaten 174, while Jayawardene made 107 as Sri Lanka produced a dominant batting display to post an imposing 348 for one. Tharanga scored his runs off just 159 deliveries with the help of 19 boundaries and three hits over the fence.

Jayawardene, on the other hand, faced 112 balls during his century knock. He hit nine fours and two sixes during his innings.

Towards the end, captain Mathews played a 29-ball 49-run cameo to help help Sri Lanka get near the 350-run mark. He struck fours boundaries and one six in the process.

Sent into bat, Sri Lanka made a quiet start to their innings before Jayawadene and Tharanga opened up. Jayawardene and Tharanga mixed caution with aggression to pile up 47 runs in the first 10 overs.

Shami Ahmed, who replaced Bhuveneshwar Kumar, and Umesh Yavad failed to derive any assistance from the low and slow Sabina Park wicket as the Sri Lankan opening duo milked the Indian attack to surge ahead.

Jayawardene, who was dropped by Vijay off Jadeja at the personal score of 25, cashed in on the chance and played sensibly thereafter to reach his fifty in 60 balls with the help of four boundaries and one six.

Tharanga, on the other hand, played second fiddle initially and reached his fifty in 76 balls balls during which he struck five hits to the fence.

Nothing seemed to have worked in favour India captain Virat Kohli, who is leading the side in place of injured Mahendra Singh Dhoni, as his bowling changes came a cropper against the Sri Lankans today.

Kohli, who will captain India in the remainder of the tournament after Dhoni has been ruled out due to a hamstring injury, found the going tough as none of his bowlers managed to produce result till the 39th over of the innings.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin finally managed to break the deadlock when he dismissed the dangerous-looking Jayawardene but not before the batsman had scored 107 off 112 balls with the help of nine boundaries and two sixes.

Jayawardene was caught by a diving Yadav at short third man after the batsman went for reverse sweep.

Tharanga, however, went about his business in a quiet fashion and notched up his century in 124 balls during which he hit 11 boundaries. After Jayawardene's dismissal, Tharanga took the lead and in skipper Mathews' company he blossomed to take Sri Lanka forward.

The duo of Tharanga and Mathews pressed on the gas and registered their 50-run stand in just 27 balls.

Jadeja, who was the bowler of the tournament in the ICC Champions Trophy, came in for some harsh treatment as Tharanga and Mathews hit the left-arm spinner for a six each to pile up 15 runs in the 44th over.

Tharanga and Mathews took the ordinary-looking Indian attack for a task and struck boundaries and sixes at will to pile a whopping 124 runs off the last 10 overs.

Score Board

Sri Lanka:

Upul Tharanga not out 174

Mahela Jayawardene c Yadav b Ashwin 107

Angelo Mathews not out 44

Extras: (B-1, LB-6, W-16) 23

Total: (1 wicket in 50 overs) 348

Fall of wickets: 1-213

Bowling: Ahmed 10-0-68-0, Yadav 8-0-64-0, Sharma 9-0-68-0, Jadeja 9-0-55-0, Ashwin 10-0-67-1, Kohli 2-0-9-0, Raina 2-0 -10-0.

India innings:

Rohit Sharma c Mathews b Kulasekara 5

Shikhar Dhawan c Tharanga b Herath 24

Murali Vijay b Malinga 30

Virat Kohli c Malinga b Mathews 2

Dinesh Karthik st Sangakkara b Herath 22

Suresh Raina run out 33

Ravindra Jadeja not out 49

Ravichandran Ashwin c Malinga b Senanayake 4

Shami Ahmed b Senanayake 0

Ishant Sharma c Sangakkara b Herath 2

Umesh Yadav b Malinga 0

Extras: (LB-4, W-12) 16

Total: (all out in 44.5 overs) 187

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-52, 3-57, 4-65, 5-118, 6-142, 7-153, 8-153, 9-166, 10-187.

Bowling: Kulasekara 9-0-37-1, Mathews 8-2-23-1, Senanayake 10-0-46-2, Herath 10-0-37-3, Malinga 7.5-0-40-2.

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News Network
January 3,2020

Jeddah, Jan 3: Spanish driver Fernando Alonso is aiming to create history as the first Formula One world champion to win the Dakar Rally when the 12-day marathon gets underway in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

Alonso, who won the F1 championship with Renault in 2005 and 2006, is one of 351 starters in this year's 7,500 km race which has moved from South America to Saudi Arabia, both venues a long way from the original 1979 route between Paris and the Senegalese capital Dakar.

Among the starters will be motorbikes, quad bikes and trucks but Alonso, who will have five-time bike champion Marc Coma navigating his Toyota, will be in the car category as he bids to become one of the greatest all-round drivers of all time.

Apart from his success in F1, the 38-year-old Spaniard has also won the Le Mans 24-hour race and has singled out the Indianapolis 500 as his priority for 2020. He describes Dakar as “the biggest challenge of my career”.

Alonso is not the first F1 driver to take part in the race, however.

The Belgian Jacky Ickx, a winner of eight grand prix and six-time winner of Le Mans, won Dakar in 1983 and came second in 1986 and 1989. Frenchman Patrick Tambay, who had two wins in his 114 grand prix, came third in 1988 and 1989.

Given the treacherous conditions--long stretches of sand dunes--Alonso is not overly confident of challenging for victory, noting that even the nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb was unable to deliver when he raced the Dakar. Loeb won 13 stages but could only finish second in 2017 and third in 2019.

“If Loeb still hasn't won the Dakar, imagine me, who is coming from asphalt,” Alonso told RTVE. “I think the goal is more to approach the rally as an enriching experience for us.”

Fellow Toyota driver Nasser Al-Attiyah is a more likely candidate, not least because the Qatari is a three-time winner and reigning champion.

"Give me some sand and I'm happy," Al-Attiyah told dakar.com.

He will be pressed, however, by the Minis of Carlos Sainz and 'Monsieur Dakar' aka Stephane Peterhansel who has won 13 Dakars across bikes and cars in 30 races.

“We are obviously very excited about the Dakar in Saudi Arabia. It will be a new challenge for everyone,” said Peterhansel who will be partnered by Paulo Fiuza after the Frenchman's wife Andrea pulled out for health reasons.

“Unfortunately, it is not possible to contest the rally with Andrea, as was planned, however I have known Paulo Fiuza for a very long time. According to the organisers, the navigation will be very complicated and play a major role this time.”

Cyril Despres, a five-time winner on bikes, is also back with a new teammate -- explorer Mike Horn.

“I was stuck in the ice for a month, and now I'm heading to Jeddah. For the first time, the Dakar Rally is in Saudi Arabia and I'm doing it with a very good friend of mine, Cyril Despres,” tweeted Horn whose adventures include an 18-month solo journey around the equator without using any motorised transport.

Horn is also the first man to travel without dogs or transport to the North Pole during winter, in permanent darkness.

Across the dunes of Saudi Arabia that experience may come in handy.

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Agencies
May 9,2020

Tokyo, May 9: As the world continues to grapple with coronavirus pandemic, the organisers of Tokyo Game Show have cancelled 2020 showpiece event.

TGS 2020 was slated to be played from September 24 to September 27 at the Makuhari Messe convention center. However, there now talks going on for holding an online event instead.

According to the Verge, this is the first time that TGS has ever been cancelled since it started in 1996.

TGS 2020 gained more attention because of its status as the last major trade show before the launch of the upcoming next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Jeddah, Jan 9: Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde criticised the new Supercopa format and said that "football has become a business and as a business it looks for income".

"The bottom line is football has become a business and as a business it looks for income. That's the reason we are all here," Goal.com quoted Valverde as saying ahead of Barca's semi-final against Atletico.

"It's a completely different format to what we're used to. It was always the first title and the opener of the season and to me, that seemed fine," he added.

The Supercopa was traditionally a two-legged affair played between the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Rey at the beginning of the season, but following last term's one-off meeting between Barca and Sevilla in Tangier, Morocco, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) went ahead with a full revamp.

Instead of just two teams being involved, the Supercopa has been expanded to also include the runners-up from La Liga and the Copa - meaning Barca and Valencia are joined by Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. It is also set to be hosted in Saudi Arabia for the next three editions.

"It's been changed and let's see, it will be judged once it has happened. It's interesting, with four good teams, but from a sporting point of view, I'm not sure," Valverde said.

"We must bear in mind that the football we are involved in is an industry, sources of income are sought and in the same way that there are special connotations in this country, there are also in Morocco, where we played last year," he added.

Barcelona will face Atletico Madrid in the semifinal of the Supercopa at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on January 10.

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