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Valtteri Bottas wins Australian Grand Prix for Mercedes

Agencies
March 17, 2019

Melbourne, Mar 17: Valtteri Bottas capitalised on a late pitstop to upset his world champion team mate Lewis Hamilton and clinch the season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix for Mercedes in Melbourne on Sunday.

Starting second behind pole-sitter Hamilton, Bottas got the jump on the Briton during a typically messy start at Albert Park and ended up cruising to his fourth win by some 20.80 seconds after delaying a tyre-change.

Runner-up Hamilton, who switched to the medium compound tyres seven laps earlier than Bottas, had to battle to hold off third-placed Max Verstappen and was fortunate the Red Bull driver took a skid in the grass late on to lose vital seconds.

Bottas, who claimed his first race win since Abu Dhabi in 2017, added icing to the cake by clinching a bonus point for the fastest lap at the lakeside circuit in one minute 25.580 seconds.

"I don't know what just happened. The start was really good, it was definitely my best race ever," said the Finn.

"I just felt so good and everything was under control. The car was so good today so truly enjoyable, I need to enjoy today.

"I'm just so happy and can't wait for the next race."

While Hamilton was forced to sweat, the Silver Arrows will have been thrilled that their raw pace was enough to blitz the chasing pack.

"It was a good weekend for the team," said Hamilton. "Valtteri drove an incredible race today so he deserved it."

For Ferrari, however, it was a sobering day as fourth-placed Vettel and fifth-placed new boy Charles Leclerc were reduced to fighting each other for a minor position.

In the midfield battle, Kevin Magnussen was sixth for Haas ahead of Renault's seventh-placed Nico Hulkenberg.

It was a disastrous Renault debut for home hope Daniel Ricciardo as he rolled wide into the grass straight out of the grid and destroyed his front wing over a bump.

He was forced to pit immediately to replace it and ended up retiring midway through the race.

McLaren driver Carlos Sainz also retired after easing into pit lane on the 11th lap with his car on fire.

Haas, who lost both cars due to botched tyre changes in last year's race, showed they were not free of their pit-stop gremlins, as a poor stop caused Romain Grosjean to lose two places.

Grosjean later was forced to retire with a reliability problem.

Prior to the start, drivers and officials stood for a minute's silence at the grid in tribute to the late F1 racing director Charlie Whiting and in remembrance of victims of a mass shooting at two mosques in New Zealand on Friday.

Australian Grand Prix results:

1. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/ Mercedes) 308 Km in 1hr 25min 27.325sec

2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/ Mercedes) at 20.886 sec

3. Max Verstappen (NED/ Red Bull) at 22.520 sec

4. Sebastian Vettel (GER/ Ferrari) at 57.109 sec

5. Charles Leclerc (MON/ Ferrari) at 58.230 sec

6. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/ Haas) at 1:27.156 sec

7. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/ Renault) at 1 lap

8. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/ Alfa Romeo) at 1 lap

9. Lance Stroll (CAN/ Racing Point) at 1 lap

10. Daniil Kvyat (RUS/ Toro Rosso) at 1 lap

11. Pierre Gasly (FRA/ Red Bull) at 1 lap

12. Lando Norris (GBR/ McLaren) at 1 lap

13. Sergio Perez (MEX/ Racing Point) at 1 lap

14. Alexander Albon (THA/ Toro Rosso) at 1 lap

15. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/ Alfa Romeo) at 1 lap

16. George Russell (GBR/ Williams) at 2 laps

17. Robert Kubica (POL/ Williams) at 3 laps

Retirements:

10th lap: Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/ McLaren) engine

30th lap: Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/ Renault) mechanical problem

30th lap: Romain Grosjean (FRA/ Haas) mechanical problem

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News Network
February 18,2020

Feb 18: Spinner Poonam Yadav claimed three wickets as India geared up for the ICC women's T20 World Cup with a thrilling two-run win over the West Indies in a low-scoring warm-up match in Brisbane on Tuesday. Electing to bat, India posted a lowly 107/8 in their stipulated 20 overs before returning to restrict the West Indies to 105/7. Chasing 108 to win, West Indies were comfortably placed at 57 for one in 13 overs when Deepti Sharma struck, cleaning up opener Lee-Ann Kirby (42) to trigger a collapse. Soon skipper Stafanie Taylor (16), Chedean Nation (0) and Deandra Dottin (1) were back in the hut as West Indies slipped to 67 for five in the 17th over.

Hayley Matthews (25) and Chinelle Henry (17) blasted three fours and a six in the 19th over to leave them with 11 to get off the last six balls.

Henry blasted Poonam for a four but the Indian dismissed Matthews in the fourth ball.

West Indies needed three runs off the last ball but Henry was caught by Veda Krishnamurthy.

Earlier, India's top-three failed to fire as they were reduced to 17 for three in 3.1 overs.

Opener Smriti Mandhana (4) lasted just six balls, while Jemimah Rodrigues (0) failed to open her account.

Young Shafali Verma blasted a couple of fours before being caught by Britney Cooper off Shamilia Connell (2/20).

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (11), too, didn't stay long, while Krishnamurthy was cleaned up by Afy Fletcher (1/26), as India slumped to 52 for five in 11.2 overs.

Deepti Sharma made a 32-ball 21 before becoming a victim of Anisa Mohammed (2/16), while Pooja Vastrakar (13) was removed by Aaliyah Alleyne (1/9).

Stafanie taylor then got rid of Taniya Bhatia for 10. Shikha Pandey finally smashed a 16-ball 24 to give some respectability to the total.

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News Network
April 12,2020

New Delhi, Apr 12: As devotees across the world celebrate Easter today, former Sri Lanka skipper and current Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) president Kumar Sangakkara on Sunday condoled the demise of people who lost their lives during last year's Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka and said someone must seek answers to the questions which still remain unresolved.

"A year on we all share the pain of the families grieving lives lost, we stand with you and for you. We remember. So many questions still unanswered, but answer them someone must," Sangakkara tweeted.

On April 21, 2019, multiple blasts ripped through Sri Lanka when the Christian community was celebrating Easter Sunday.
The explosions rattled churches and high-end hotels across the country, killing 258 people and injuring over 500.

A local terror group called National Thowheeth Jama'ath had claimed responsibility for the devastating attacks.

The island nation was put under a state of emergency for a period of four months from April to August.

The Sri Lankan police had then said that 293 suspects were arrested in connection with the Easter Sunday bombings in the island country in April.

This year, most of the devotees would be offering the prayers from their homes as mass gatherings have been suspended in most countries due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ following his crucifixion on Good Friday. It also marks the culmination of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and penance.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

Silverstone, Aug 2: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on Sunday won his seventh British Grand Prix title after a dramatic last-lap at the Silverstone Circuit.

Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas were at the first and second spot respectively until tyre drama struck.

Second-placed man Bottas was the first to suffer as his tyre deflated on lap 50, resulting in 11th place finish. Hamilton also suffered a similar issue before the final few seconds of the race.

However, with Max Verstappen having opted to pit a few laps from the end to try and claim the fastest lap, Hamilton had enough time in hand to just cross the line first, five seconds ahead of Verstappen and the third-placed Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

McLaren's Carlos Sainz had been set to finish fourth, but his own last lap tyre issue saw him eventually come home P13, allowing Renault's Daniel Ricciardo to claim fourth, following a late pass on the sister McLaren of Lando Norris.

Renault's Esteban Ocon finished sixth, having enjoyed a race-long battle with Lance Stroll's Racing Point, with Pierre Gasly having enjoyed a fine race to finish seventh for AlphaTauri.

Alex Albon finished eighth for Red Bull, having recovered from a lap 1 tussle with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen that saw him fall to last, while Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top 10, Vettel holding off a late charge form the recovering Mercedes of Bottas.

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