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
March 12,2020

Miami, Mar 12: The NBA has suspended its season "until further notice" after a Utah Jazz player tested positive Wednesday for the coronavirus, a move that came only hours after the majority of the league's owners were leaning toward playing games without fans in arenas.

Now there will be no games at all, at least for the time being. A person with knowledge of the situation said the Jazz player who tested positive was center Rudy Gobert. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the league nor the team confirmed the test.

"The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight's schedule of games until further notice,'' the league said in a statement sent shortly after 9:30 p.m. EDT. "The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.''

The test result, the NBA said, was reported shortly before the scheduled tip-off time for the Utah at Oklahoma City game on Wednesday night was called off. Players were on the floor for warmups and tip-off was moments away when they were told to return to their locker rooms. About 30 minutes later, fans were told the game was postponed ``due to unforeseen circumstances."

Shutdown for two weeks?

Those circumstances were the league's worst-case scenario for now -- a player testing positive. A second person who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity said the league expects the shutdown to last a minimum of two weeks, but cautioned that time-frame is very fluid.

"It's a very serious time right now," Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I think the league moved appropriately and prudently and we'll all just have to monitor the situation and see where it goes from here."

The Jazz released a statement saying a player -- they did not identify Gobert -- tested negative earlier Wednesday for flu, strep throat and an upper respiratory infection. That player's symptoms diminished as the day went along, but the decision was made to test for COVID-19 anyway. That test came back with a preliminary positive result.

"The individual is currently in the care of health officials in Oklahoma City," the Jazz said, adding that updates would come as appropriate.

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News Network
February 21,2020

Wellington, Feb 22: shant Sharma's lion-hearted bowling effort met its match in Kane Williamson's elegance as New Zealand ended an attritional second day of the opening Test against India with a slight upper-hand, here on Saturday.

After another lower-order collapse that saw India get bundled out for 165, Ishant, coming straight back from an ankle injury, took three for 31 in 15 overs despite Williamson's effortless 89 in New Zealand's day-end score of 216 for 5.

New Zealand now lead by 51 runs.

Mohammed Shami (1/61 in 17 overs), during his final spell of the day, removed Williamson, who couldn't check an uppish drive. Henry Nicholls' (17 off 62 balls) struggle seemed to have hampered Williamson's rhythm.

During the final hour, Ravichandran Ashwin (1/60 in 21 overs), who also bowled beautifully throughout the day, relieved Nicholls' of his agony with a delivery that had drift and a hint of turn as India skipper Virat Kohli snapped the low catch at second slip.

Williamson looked good as he hit some delightful strokes square off the wicket. The square drive on the rise off Jasprit Bumrah (0/62 in 18.1 overs), followed by a cover drive, showed his class.

In all, the New Zealand skipper hit 11 boundaries off 153 balls.

Bumrah, in particular, was punished by Williamson, who also back-cut him for a boundary and Taylor then punished another half volley through the covers.

There were quite a few loose deliveries on offer from the Indian pacers and in between a few did beat the bat. With the 'Basin' baked in sunshine, batting became lot more easier and Black Caps seized the initiative.

Bumrah, in particular, failed to find his length consistently. Either he bowled too full and drivable length deliveries or too short that even Rishabh Pant failed to gather with the ball going a couple feet over his head.

This is where Ishant came into the picture. While he was lucky to get opener Tom Latham out with a delivery drifting on leg-stump, the other opener Tom Blundell (30) had a typical Ishant dismissal written all over it.

The ball was full on the off-stump channel and jagged back enough to find the gap between his bat and pad.

Williamson and Taylor then had a partnership of 93 runs during which New Zealand also got the lead before Ishant, coming back for his third spell, bowled one that reared up from good length and proved to be an easy catch for Cheteshwar Pujara at short-leg.

Once Nicholls came in, Williamson, who was batting fluently, suddenly had a player at the opposite end who scored only 4 off 34 balls.

Looking good for his 22nd Test hundred, Williamson, in his bid to get another boundary, couldn't check a cover drive and the low catch was taken by substitute fielder Ravindra Jadeja.

Earlier, New Zealand's debutant Kyle Jamieson and veteran Tim Southee took four wickets apiece as Indian innings folded in 68.1 overs.

Jamieson (4/49 in 16 overs) and Southee (4/49 in 20.1 overs) took four of the five wickets that fell on the second morning with India adding only 43 runs to their overnight score of 122 for 5.

Rishabh Pant (19) started with a six but then a horrible mix-up with senior partner Ajinkya Rahane (46) resulted in a run-out and the little chance of recovery was gone for good.

It was a poor call from the senior player and Pant had to sacrifice his wicket in the process.

Ashwin then received a beauty from Southee, pretty similar to what Prithvi Shaw got, while Rahane inside edged one while trying to leave it alone.

With India at 132 for 7, Rahane knew that time was running out as he played a square drive off Trent Boult to get him a boundary.

Southee then got rid of Rahane when he tried to shoulder arm a delivery that made a late inward movement. Mohammed Shami's entertaining 21 then enabled the visitors to cross the 150-run mark.

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News Network
January 24,2020

Auckland, Jan 24: K L Rahul and Shreyas Iyer smashed quick-fire half-centuries, while skipper Virat Kohli made 45 as India defeated New Zealand by six wickets in the first T20 International to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series here on Friday.

Chasing a challenging 204-run target, Rahul smashed 56 off 27 balls and together with Kohli shared 99 runs for the second wicket to lay the foundation for the chase.

Later, Iyer (58 not out off 29 balls) and Manish Pandey (14 not out) remained unbeaten as India chased down the target with an over to spare.

Earlier, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor smashed scintillating half-centuries to power New Zealand to a challenging 203 for five.

Opener Munro blasted six fours and two sixes in his 42-ball 59, while skipper Williamson treated the Indian bowlers with equal disdain, hitting them out of the park four times in his 26-ball 51.

Taylor then clobbered an unbeaten 54 off 27 balls. His innings was laced with three sixes and as many fours.

Opener Martin Guptill also chipped in with a 19-ball 30.

Earlier, India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to field.

For India, Jasprit Bumrah (1/), Shardul Thakur (1/44), Yuzvendra Chahal (1/32), Shivam Dube (1/24) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/18) snapped one wicket each.

Brief Score:

New Zealand: 203 for 5 in 20 overs (Colin Munro 59, Kane Williamson 51, Ross Taylor 54; Jasprit Bumrah 1/31).

India: 204 for 4 in 19 overs (Shreyas Iyer 58 not out, K L Rahul 56, Virat Kohli 45; Ish Sodhi 2/36).

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