Real Madrid, Barcelona draw 1-1 in Copa semifinal

January 31, 2013

Real_Madrid

Madrid, Jan 31: Barcelona and Real Madrid played out a thrilling 1-1 draw in their Copa del Rey semifinal at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday. With Barcelona enjoying the majority of possession, the first-leg match grew in intensity with end-to-end play as both teams raced forward with fast-paced counterattacks.

As goalkeeper Iker Casillas was injured, Diego Lopez played in goal for Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo was captain. Lionel Messi intercepted a clearance, and passed to Cesc Fabregas, who opened the scoring in the 50th minute. "This is obviously a good result; we are in the Bernabeu, a very tough field, and we will have our own fans behind us for the return leg of the draw," Fabregas said.

The 19-year-old Raphael Varane sealed an excellent match, heading an equalizer in the 81st having saved three clear Barcelona chances earlier. "It's like a dream come true, incredible to score a goal like that against Barcelona at just 19," Varane said. "The second leg will be evenly matched and we're going to play a good match there to win."

The second leg will be at the Camp Nou on Feb. 27. The match ended Messi's prolific scoring streak in which he had found the back of the net in his previous 16 starts. Madrid began the match attacking, and Gerard Pique fouled a charging Ronaldo in the first minute to concede a free kick which the striker struck hard and head-high, but goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto saved. Barcelona had their first chance from a well-timed pass by Andres Iniesta that Jordi Alba ran onto, beating the offside trap, but he shot wide of the far post in the 13th.

Xavi Hernandez struck a free kick that hit the crossbar in the 21st. "These matches are always difficult and I had said that in all probability the semifinals would likely be decided in Barcelona and that's exactly what's going to happen," said Barcelona deputy coach Jordi Roura, who was in charge as Tito Vilanova was in the United States undergoing medical tests.

Defender Ricardo Carvalho nearly gifted Barcelona their first goal when he made a poor back-pass to Lopez which Fabregas intercepted and passed to Xavi Hernandez, who shot towards goal only to find that Varane had sprinted back to kick the ball out of the goalmouth in the 24th. The second half also began with Madrid attacking, but Karim Benzema shot high. Varane made his second vital interception to prevent Messi's pass reaching an advancing Fabregas in the 56th.

Madrid countered when Michael Essien crossed and Ronaldo reached forward to try and head the ball in, but he failed to make contact in the 61st. Madrid coach Jose Mourinho refreshed his midfield by bringing on Luka Modric for Jose Callejon and his attack with Gonzalo Higuain substituting Benzema three minutes later. "I'm new here but I saw a very united and strong dressing room. We're conscious this is a very tough rival, but we came out and showed our best side and displayed good ball control." said Lopez, who was signed on Jan. 26 to provide cover for Casillas.

Pique made an excellent tackle to divert a cross intended for Ronaldo from Essien three minutes later. With Barcelona dominating possession, Fabregas and Pedro Rodriguez came close to scoring midway through the second half. Madrid's sustained pressure towards the end was thwarted when Dani Alves stopped Mesut Ozil's ball reaching Ronaldo in the 84th.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Sydney, Jan 6: Nathan Lyon captured five for 50 and 10 match wickets as Australia crushed New Zealand by 279 runs on Monday, capping a golden domestic summer as they swept the three-Test series.

The off-spinner led the powerful Australian bowling attack to dismiss the Kiwis for 136 and seal another heavy win over the Black Caps after similar victories in Perth and Melbourne.

Australia have been unbeatable this season, winning all five Tests at home -- two against Pakistan and three against New Zealand -- after retaining the Ashes by drawing the series 2-2 in England.

"It's been a great summer for the Australian Test side," Lyon said.

"It's pretty special to be part of it, we have been impressive, pretty clinical, the batters have done well and given us bowlers plenty of time."

Australia declared their second innings at 217 for two with David Warner scoring an unbeaten century, leaving the Black Caps with a revised 416-run target in the fourth innings on a wearing Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.

But the Kiwis buckled under the pressure of Australia's superior bowling attack with Mitchell Starc taking three for 25 to support the wiles of spinner Lyon.

"They were clinical in all areas and after the first match they put us under pressure session after session," said skipper Kane Williamson, who missed the Test with a virus.

New Zealand were reeling early at 27-4 and never recovered after Starc and Lyon took two wickets each in the middle session to put the skids under the tourists.

Starc removed both openers, Tom Latham and Tom Blundell, in the first five overs. Blundell fell to a stunning catch by a diving Lyon at point for two and stand-in skipper Latham lost a review for leg before wicket.

Jeet Raval was out in a review to the faintest of edges on 'Snicko' in Lyon's first over for 12.

First-innings top-scorer Glenn Phillips went for a duck after technology detected a faint outside edge to wicketkeeper Paine off Lyon.

Taylor's Kiwi record

Ross Taylor became the leading all-time Kiwi batsman, going past Stephen Fleming (7,172) before he was bowled by Pat Cummins for 22 to take his Test aggregate to 7,174.

Big-hitting Colin de Grandhomme smacked Lyon for six to bring up his fifty but went next ball hoicking to Joe Burns at deep mid-wicket for 52.

Todd Astle was out to a superb diving catch by James Pattinson in the outfield for 17.

Starc yorked William Somerville's middle stump for seven and BJ Watling was the last to fall, caught at backward square leg by Pat Cummins for 19.

Earlier, Warner completed his 24th Test century and remained unbeaten when skipper Paine declared upon the dismissal of Marnus Labuschagne.

"You know you're capable of doing so," Warner said, when asked about how he had bounced back from his disastrous Ashes campaign in England last year.

"I was in the nets hitting the ball well and had the skipper backing me. To be able to play with freedom helped me. It's all paying off."

Labuschagne, who was dropped on four in a regulation caught-and-bowled chance by leg-spinner Astle, was caught at long on off Matt Henry for 59 -- his seventh score over 50 in eight innings this domestic summer.

Labuschagne finished the home five-Test season with a stunning aggregate of 896 runs, made up of his 215 in the first innings, three other centuries and three half-centuries in eight innings.

There was drama late in the Australian innings when Warner was given an official warning by umpire Aleem Dar for running down the middle of the pitch in scampering a single.

It resulted in five penalty runs being added to New Zealand's first innings total meaning their target was revised down from 421 to 416.

The Test was played against the backdrop of one of Australia's most devastating bushfire seasons with at least 24 people losing their lives in blazes raging across the country, including on the outskirts of Sydney.

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News Network
May 3,2020

New Delhi, May 3: In a startling revelation, India speedster Mohammed Shami has claimed that he thought of committing suicide thrice while battling personal issues a few years ago, forcing his family to keep a watch over him at all times.

He said his family members feared he "might jump" from their 24th floor apartment.

Shami, one of India's leading bowlers in recent years, opened up on his personal and professional life during an Instagram chat with teammate and limited overs squads' vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

"I think if my family had not supported me back then I would have lost my cricket. I thought of committing suicide three times during that period due to severe stress and personal problems," Shami revealed during the session on Saturday.

Now one of the mainstays of Indian bowling attack across formats, the 29-year-old was struggling to focus on his cricket, then.

"I was not thinking about cricket at all. We were living on the 24th floor. They (family) were scared I might jump from the balcony. My brother supported me a lot.

"My 2-3 friends used to stay with me for 24 hours. My parents asked me to focus on cricket to recover from that phase and not think about anything else. I started training then and sweated it out a lot at an academy in Dehradun," Shami said.

In March 2018, Shami's wife Hasin Jahan had accused him of domestic violence and lodged a complaint with the police, following which the India player and his brother were booked under relevant sections.

The upheaval in his personal life forced his employer BCCI to withheld the player's central contracts for a while.

"Rehab was stressful as the same exercises are repeated every day. Then family problems started and I also suffered an accident. The accident happened 10-12 days ahead of the IPL and my personal problems were running high in the media," Shami told Rohit.

Shami said his family stood like a rock with him and the support helped him get back on his feet.

"Then my family explained that every problem has a solution no matter how big the problem. My brother supported me a lot."

Speaking about another painful period in his life after his injury in the 2015 World Cup, Shami said it took him almost 18 months to get back on the field.

"When I got injured in the 2015 World Cup, after that it took me 18 months to fully recover, that was the most painful moment in my life, it was a very stressful period.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Lahore, Apr 27: Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has been banned from all forms of cricket for three years for failing to report spot-fixing offers, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced Monday.

Umar, who turns 30 next month, pleaded guilty to not reporting the fixing offers which led to his provisional suspension on February 20 this year.

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