Sunil Chettri guides Bengaluru FC to Super Cup win over East Bengal

Agencies
April 21, 2018

Bhubaneswar, Apr 21: Skipper Sunil Chettri led from the front with double strikes as JSW Bengaluru FC came back from a goal down to notch up a dominating 4-1 win over 10-man Kingfisher East Bengal in the finals to claim the inaugural Super Cup trophy on Friday.

Two goals from Chettri and one each from Rahul Bheke and Nicolas Fedor (Miku) ensured that the early lead taken by East Bengal through Kromah did not stop their march to victory at the Kalinga Stadium.

Bengaluru made a positive start and tried to wrest control of the midfield early. Off a counter-attack, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Bengaluru FC Goalkeeper got the first booking of the match when Kromah broke free and Gurpreet brought him down just outside the Bengaluru box.

The game came to life in the 28th minute when East Bengal took the lead quite against the run of play. Off the fourth East Bengal corner which was fisted away by Gurpreet, Kromah pulled off a lobbed back volley from inside the box which went in despite a desperate Erik Partalau’s valiant attempt to keep it out.

BFC equalised in the 39th minute when Rahul scored against his former Club by heading in a corner.

Minutes before the interval, East Bengal were reduced to 10-men when Samad Ali Mallick was red-carded for a rough tackle on rival defender Subhashish Bose.

Changing over, East Bengal started the second half in a positive fashion. Kromah even managed to put the ball into the rival net but the flag had gone up earlier.

Gurpreet then rose to the occasion keeping off an Al Amna free-kick and then, the lanky custodian also thwarted a powerful Ladanmawia Ralte pile-driver.

However, the game changed with the introduction of Toni Dovale in the 61st minute in place of Erik Paartalu for Bengaluru FC. Dovale took control playing in tandem with Miku and Victor Perez.

Soon BFC surged into the lead in the 68th minute when Gurwinder Singh handled the ball off a corner and the referee pointed to the spot from which Chettri gleefully converted.

Three minutes later in the 71st minute, a Dovale-Perez combo from midfield found Miku inside the box, who sidestepped his marker and blasted it in.

Deservedly, the skipper finished it off in the 90th minute, when off an Udanta cross, Chhetri rose above Lalram Chullova in the East Bengal defence to head it in.

Chhetri was declared the Hero of the match, while Miku was declared the hero of the tournament.

My team has been most consistent this season: Albert Roca

Lavishing praise on his boys for claiming the inaugural Hero Super Cup, Bengaluru FC coach Alberto Roca described his team as the most consistent side in the domestic circuit this season.

Skipper Sunil Chettri led from the front with double strikes as Bengaluru FC came back from a goal down to notch up a dominating 4-1 win over 10-man Kingfisher East Bengal in the final.

“I am very happy for the supporters. This is the success we were looking forward to. Today we showed that my team has been the most consistent team this season,” Roca said moments after the dominating win.

“We were a little bit down in the first 20 minutes. They were very aggressive. I also need to congratulate East Bengal for their performance in the season.

“I am very happy for the way my team performed in the tournament. Three of the games we came from back from a goal down. It’s very credible.”

Referring to the Guard of honour which the Bengaluru FC team gave to the East Bengal players prior to the prize distribution ceremony, Roca said it was a “manner to show respect” to the “deserving opponents.”

“East Bengal had a very good tournament. They deserved to be in the final and even with 10-men they made it so difficult for us. I understand the supporters of East Bengal may be a bit sad at the moment but they should be proud of them and the manner they played in the tournament.”

Meanwhile, East Bengal coach Khalid Jamil said that his “boys worked hard.”

“Everybody worked very hard, especially the players. But the result was not in our favour. All the credit goes to the players,” he maintained.

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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
March 6,2020

Melbourne, Mar 6: Experienced middle-order batter Veda Krishnamurthy believes that "destiny" is in favour of first-time finalist India to win their maiden ICC Women's T20 World Cup title provided they get a grip on their nerves in the summit clash against Australia on Sunday.

India will have a psychological advantage going into the final as they had stunned the defending champions by 17 runs in the tournament opener.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India reached the final on the basis of their unbeaten record in the tournament after their semifinal against England was washed out on Thursday.

Krishnamurthy, who was a part of the Indian team that finished runner-up to England in the 2017 Women's ODI World Cup, knows the pain of missing out on a world title.

"It's all about destiny, and I'm a big believer in destiny. I feel like this is the way it was meant to be. There is a joke going around that this World Cup is made in such a way that it's helping us, starting from the wickets to everything else," she was quoted as saying by the tournament's official website.

"Being in the final is just reward for the way we played in the group stages. There was an advantage to having won all our games with the weather not in our hands."

The team's first target of reaching the final having achieved, the 27-year-old player said the Indians now need to hold their nerves and remain focussed leading up to the big day on Sunday.

"We said the first aim was to get to the final and take it from there. We've crossed the first stage. We need to make sure we hold our nerves and we do what we need to do on the final day," she said.

India's recent rivalry with Australia has taken fascinating twists and turns, with Kaur's outfit chasing down 173 in their recent tri-series, then getting home by 17 runs in the T20 World Cup opener.

But all is not hunky-dory for Krishnamurthy on the personal front. Considered a great finisher, she has recovered from a series of single-digit scores in the tri-series to score 20 from 11 balls in a finishing role against Bangladesh.

Having amassed just 35 runs from four matches in the tournament so far, the Karnataka batter knows her role in the team.

"As an individual, the role given to me is very consistent in the last year. They've put the effort in the last year to keep me there and I've been supported by every individual, not just one or two. The entire team, with all the support staff, have shown faith in me," she said.

"I know coming into the World Cup, I would play a crucial role to finish the innings well, which I felt I was unable to do in the last World Cup in the West Indies," she added.

Krishnamurthy said specific roles have been set for every player of the squad and they all are trying to contribute as much as they can to help the team achieve its goal.

"I was very motivated to do my role and I've been working on that. It's not just me, all 15 players involved know what their role is," she said.

"I'm happy we're all putting in efforts and executing our role properly. Even if it's a smallish contribution of saving a couple of runs, it's all panned out really well."

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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