Pro Kabaddi: Gujarat edge past Bengaluru; Puneri Paltan outclass Bengal Warriors

Agencies
August 16, 2017

Ahmedabad, Aug 16: With Pro Kabaddi League(PKL) entering the inter-zone match phase, Zone A team Puneri Paltan outclassed Zone B side Bengal Warriors 34-17  to maintain their second position in the group standings.

Puneri Paltan combined well to pull off an all-round performance with key performances from defenders Sandeep Narwal (7 points) and Girish Ernak (4 points) along with raider GB More (6 points) to help their side win by a massive 17-point margin.

Bengal Warriors failed to work well as a unit in either half. Raider Maninder Singh (6 points) and defender Ran Singh (7 points) were their key performers.

Maninder Singh gave Bengal Warriors a bright start by clinching points from consecutive raids. Maninder along with Ran Singh took most of the load for the Warriors in the first half with star raider Jang Kun Lee on in his usual fiery form.

Puneri Paltans were straight forced to go for a do or die raid after their skipper Deepak Hooda failed to clinch points from his initial raids.

But Soon Sandeep Narwal began to dominate the opposition, helping his side impose an all-out on the Warriors and take a 12-5 lead with less than six minutes to go in the first half.

The team worked well together as a cohesive unit to help the Pune outfit take a 17-10 lead at half-time.

The second half began with consecutive empty raids for both the sides.

Later, Bengal broke the deadlock to cut short their deficit with a fine tackle point. However, Pune began to dominate as the Warriors failed to clinch too many points through their raids.

Ran Singh and Maninder showed some hope for the Warriors through their defence and attack respectively in the second half helping their side narrow the deficit.

But, Pune dominated the play and handed Bengal their second all-out with 15 minutes to play. There was no looking back for the Pune outfit after this point.

In the second match of the day, Zone A team Gujarat Fortunegiants made a stunning comeback to defeat Bengaluru Bulls 27-24 to register their fourth victory on a trot in the league.

Raider Sachin Tanwar (4 points) and defender Parvesh Bhainswal (4 points) helped Gujarat's surge from lagging behind in the first-half to register a win by a narrow margin to stay on top of their group standings.

A valiant effort from Bengaluru captain Rohit Kumar (7 points) and defender Kuldeep Singh (5 points) went in vain in a closely-fought match.

After couple of empty raids from both sides, Gujarat broke the deadlock with a successful tackle to get the scoreboard ticking.

The home side looked to gain momentum in the match after getting an all-out. Raiders Sachin and Rohit Gulia pulled off consecutive successful raids to help their side narrow the point gap after lagging behind in the early minutes of the match.

Bengaluru also opened their score tally with a successful tackle. The away side took the initial 4-2 lead, thanks to successful tackles from Rohit Kumar and fellow raider Ashish Kumar.

Rohit continued to display his fine show on the opposition mat to add vital points to his team's tally and maintain the lead.

The Bengaluru outfit also pulled off some fine tackles to all-out the home side taking a 11-3 lead with less than nine minutes to play in the first-half.

Thanks to an all-round effort, Bengaluru maintained a 14-9 lead at the half-time.

The second-half began with Gulia clinching a point for Gujarat Fortunegiants. Later, defenders Fazel Atrachali, Parvesh Bhainswal and Abozar Mighani combined in unison to give their side important tackle points which helped the team narrow the point gap to 18-20 with nine minutes to play.

Substitute Mahendra Rajput and Sachin later played an important role clinching back to back successful raid points in the match giving their side a slender 24-21 lead with less than five minutes to play, which later helped the side clinch the match.

The Bengaluru outfit added to their tally with a successful tackle, which was followed by a successful raid from Rohit which earned the team two points.

Later, substitute Gurvinder Singh kept Bengaluru in the match through his successful raids but failed to rescue his side from losing all on his own.

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Agencies
February 12,2020

Mumbai, Feb 12: Former Indian greats Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have been left disappointed by the behaviour of the Under-19 team after the World Cup final where they were involved in an altercation with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

After Bangladesh won the final beating India by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.

"I would like to see the board (BCCI) take some strict action against the players to set an example. Cricket is not about abusing the opponent. I am sure there is enough reason for these youngsters to be dealt with firmly by BCCI," Kapil was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"I welcome aggression, nothing wrong in it. But it has to be controlled aggression. You can't cross the line of decency in the name of being competitive. I would say it was unacceptable that youngsters put up such an obnoxious display on the cricket field," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned five players, including three from Bangladesh -- Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan --and two from India --Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi for the scuffle.

Azharuddin also reiterated what Kapil said, insisting that players need to be disciplined.

"I would take action against the errant Under 19 players, but I also want to know what role has the support staff played in educating these youngsters. Act now before it is too late. The players have to be disciplined," Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Priyam Garg-led team, saying their behaviour was disgusting and disgraceful.

"You bat, bowl and field badly�happens, but there's no excuse for behaving badly. The behaviour was disgusting and most disgraceful. The innocence of that age was not visible at all," Bedi told Mid Day.

Bedi, who represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, said the behaviour of the Bangladesh cricketers is not our problem.

"Look, what Bangladesh do is their problem, what our boys do is our problem. You could see that there was abusive language used," he said.

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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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Agencies
July 31,2020

Northamptonshire, Jul 31: Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez has tested positive for coronavirus, and as a result, he will miss the British Grand Prix.

The Racing Point driver was absent from the circuit on Thursday after self-isolating following what his team called an "inconclusive" test. Perez then re-tested later in the day and it returned positive.

Formula 1 is following a strict testing regime as part of the safety protocols put in place when racing resumed earlier this month, and this is the first time a driver has tested positive.

"Perez has entered self-quarantine in accordance with the instructions of the relevant public health authorities, and will continue to follow the procedure mandated by those authorities," Formula 1 and the FIA said in a statement.

"With the assistance of the local organiser of the British Grand Prix, local health authorities and the FIA COVID-19 delegate, a full track and trace initiative has been undertaken and all close contacts have been quarantined," the statement added.

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