Pandya's cameo guides Mumbai to 5-wicket win over Bangalore

Agencies
April 16, 2019

Mumbai, Apr 16: Hardik Pandya`s (37 unbeaten off 16) quickfire cameo down the order handed Royal Challengers Bangalore their seventh defeat this season as Mumbai Indians won their Indian Premier League (IPL) tie at the Wankhede Stadium here on Monday by five wickets.

Despite a great start, Mumbai faltered during the slog overs but Pandya rescued his side as they clinched the contest with an over to spare.

Chasing a competitive 172 for victory, Rohit Sharma (28 off 19) and Quinton de Kock gave a perfect start to Mumbai`s innings, taking them to 52 for no loss in the initial five overs.

Moeen Ali was the first to strike as his off-break delivery clattered Sharma`s stumps, leaving Mumbai at 70/1 in the eighth over.

Just three balls later, Ali once again jolted the hosts as he picked de Kock (40 off 26) in front of the wickets.

Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav then forged a 33-run partnership as they repaired the major damage but Yuzvendra Chahal packed both of them back in short time to leave Mumbai reeling at 129/3 in the 16th over.

It seemed Mumbai would suffer a batting collapse but it was Pandya who made sure to help his team cross the line as the all-rounder and his brother Krunal Pandya (11 off 21) took Mumbai to 148 before the latter became a victim of Mohammed Siraj.

With 22 needed off the last couple of overs, Pandya showed his cameo with the bat as he smashed Pawan Negi for the required runs in just an over to help Mumbai register their fifth win this season.

For Bangalore, Chahal and Ali picked couple of wickets each.

Earlier, AB de Villiers` scintillating knock (75 off 51) with Ali`s 50 off 32 propelled Bangalore to 171/7.

Despite some early blows, de Villiers and Ali anchored Bangalore`s innings with a valiant 105-run partnership for the third wicket before Lasith Malinga (4/31) rattled the middle order.

The visitors lost their skipper Virat Kohli (8) with just 12 runs on board. Kohli was trying to force a Jason Behrendorff delivery through the off-side, got cramped, and ended up giving an inside edge to de Kock behind the wickets.

Parthiv Patel (28) showed some resistance, taking his side near the 50-run mark before he was sent back by Hardik Pandya in the seventh over. De Villiers was then joined by Ali and the duo denied the hosts any further wicket, anchored the innings and took the team past the 100 run mark.

Enroute, they also notched up their respective half-centuries with the team looking comfortable at 144/2 in 17 overs.

Malinga finally shattered the partnership by packing Ali back in the 18th over. The Sri Lankan pacer went on to rock the lower middle order, sending back Marcus Stoinis (0), Akshdeep Nath (2) and Negi (0) to the hut in quick succession.

De Villers finally departed trying to convert a single as he fell short of the crease. The South African superstar`s knock was laced with six boundaries and four maximums.

Behrendorff and Pandya also picked a wicket each.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians: 172/5 in 19 overs (Quinton de Kock 40, Hardik Pandya 37 not out; Moeen Ali 2/18) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore: 171/7 in 20 overs (AB de Villiers 75, Moeen Ali 50; Lasith Maling 4/31) by 5 wickets.

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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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Agencies
August 7,2020

Islamabad, Aug 7: Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, known for his blistering deliveries on the cricket field, recently baffled many with a deadly off-field bouncer by claiming he is willing to eat grass if it enabled an increase in budget for his country's Army!

"If Allah ever gives me the authority, I will eat grass myself but I will increase the budget of the army," said Akhtar in an interview with ARY News.

The 'Rawalpindi Express', considered the fastest bowler in history said he does not understand why the civilian sector cannot work in collaboration with the Armed forces.

"I will ask my army chief to sit with me and make decisions. If the budget is 20 per cent, I will make it 60 per cent. If we insult each other, the loss is ours only," the once feared fast-bowler said.

Akthar had also claimed to ARY News interview that he was willing to take a bullet for his country and had turned down a county stint just because he wanted to fight the 1999 Kargil War.

Ties between India and Pakistan have been strained in the recent months over several issues, the latest being Pakistan's attempt to broach in the UNSC the issue of Kashmir on the first anniversary of the India's move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and to split the erstwhile state into two union territories .

Pakistan also has not been in a good financial position and under prime minister Imran Khan, himself an all rounder cricketer, has added nearly USD 22 billion, that is 35 per cent to the nation's international debt pile in the last two years, according to an Asia Times report in July.

While Pakistan recently received USD 1.39 billion from the IMF to cushion the economic shocks caused due to COVID-19 outbreak, Akthar had a few months ago proposed that a joint cricket match be played between India and Pakistan to raise funds to fight the coronavirus. The suggestion that was put down by cricketers in India.

Meanwhile the 'Pindi boy' whose deadly pace and bounce was once dreaded by batsmen had recently taken to Twitter to deny former India cricketer Virender Sehwag's claim of sledging him.

Sehwag along with other Indian crickerters such as Harbhajan Singh and even Rahul Dravid had been at the receiving end of Akthar's sledging and antics during their playing days.

"Yes, totally self made story by him. Mujhe yeh bol k bach k jana kidhar tha us nay," Akthar tweeted to a report in which Sehwag claimed that he had sledged the 'Rawalpindi Express' by telling him that Sachin Tendulkar was his father.

During an awards ceremony Sehwag had recounted that fed up with Akthar's sledging and retaliated by telling him to say the same things to Tendulkar, who smashed the 'Pindi boy' for a six. Sehwag quipped that he told Akthar then that "Baap baap hota hai".

In the recent ARY interview, asked about the allegation made against him by former India cricketer Virendra Sehwag that he makes pro-India comments for greater following on social media channels, Akhtar said, "I cannot talk on the basis of hate." 

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News Network
April 5,2020

New Delhi, April 5: England batsman James Vince lashed out at people for not taking proper measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and said people are going out as if "everything is normal".

"Just seen the pictures of people out and about today as if everything is normal. What selfish people, surely by now they've realised this is serious. Well done to everyone who's doing their bit and staying in," Vince tweeted.

On March 13, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that Europe was now the 'epicentre' of the disease.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus in the UK has exceeded 4,313 with at least 708 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the largest one-day rise since the start of the outbreak as confirmed by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The total number of cases in the UK as on Saturday is 41,903, a rise of 3,735 cases in the last 24 hours.

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