Von Miller, Denver defense sparkle in gritty Super Bowl win

February 8, 2016

Santa Clara, Feb 8: A Super Bowl adorned with glitz and gold was dominated by black and blue.

Sunday's game featured 12 sacks, six turnovers and only two offensive touchdowns as the Broncos defense squelched league MVP Cam Newton and led the way to a 24-10 win, the third Super Bowl title for the franchise.

VonMVP

Denver's only offensive touchdown came on a four-yard drive with 3:08 remaining after linebacker Von Miller knocked the ball from Newton's hand and the Broncos recovered. The Broncos’ 194 yards on offense were the fewest ever by a Super Bowl winner.

Miller, who along with fellow outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware dominated the AFC Championship two weeks earlier, set the tone on the Panthers' second drive when he slipped past the protection and forced a Newton fumble that defensive lineman Malik Jackson recovered in the end zone.

Miller finished with 2 1/2 of the Broncos' six sacks, two forced fumbles and was named the game's MVP.

“I’m going for the ball every time,” Miller said afterward. “That’s the type of football player I am. If I was a basketball player, I’d be a three-point shooter. I’d go for the dagger. That’s what (defensive coordinator Wade) Phillips has been preaching to us all year. We need the ball. We need turnovers to win the game. We were able to get them today.”

The NFL's 50th Super Bowl aspired to showcase the game's massive popularity, and Levi's Stadium on Sunday was streaked with gold -- on towering billboards outside of the stadium, on the LED signboards that ringed the inside of the facility and on the field itself.

Newton never shied away from the splendor. In fact, he managed to match the Super Bowl showiness, arriving in California last week wearing gold and black Versace slacks -- retail, $849 -- and going through pre-game warm-ups Sunday in glittering, gold cleats and a black jersey emblazoned with a gold Superman logo.

The game, however, didn't exactly sparkle and neither did the quarterbacks. Newton, larger than life in the run-up to the game, was sullen and muted afterward.

The contest included 18 penalties -- three of them by Denver cornerback Aqib Talib -- and a 44-yard field-goal attempt by Carolina's Graham Gano that bonked off the right upright. Both starting quarterbacks had fewer than 100 passing yards at halftime and there were several slips and stumbles on the stadium's notoriously soft surface, which had players from both sides changing into longer cleats in the first half.

Early on, Newton's veteran counterpart, Peyton Manning, seemed to have the advantage.

While Newton dealt with nerves and fired passes over the heads of receivers, Manning directed a 10-play scoring drive on Denver's opening possession, which ended with a 34-yard field goal.

But Manning, too, mostly struggled in a game dominated by the defenses. He completed just 13 of his 23 pass attempts for 141 yards and threw his first interception of the postseason.

Carolina defensive end Kony Ealy intercepted Manning once, sacked him three times and forced a fumble. If the Panthers had won -- they were down only six points late in the fourth quarter -- it's likely Ealy would have been crowned MVP.

Denver's longest play of the game came not on offense but on special teams when in the second quarter Jordan Norwood returned a punt 61 yards, which broke the Super Bowl record, 45 yards, the 49ers' John Taylor set in 1989.

Former 49er Colin Jones appeared to interfere with Norwood as the ball arrived and his Carolina teammates looked as if they expected the play would be blown dead.

But Norwood kept running until he was tripped up at the Carolina 14-yard line. The play set up the second of Brandon McManus' three short field goals.

Miller, meanwhile, was drafted one selection after Newton, the No. 1 overall pick in 2011, but outshined him on the sport's biggest stage.

“He has been unbelievable in these playoffs,” Broncos general manager John Elway said. “He has got something with Cam. He likes to get after Cam. He did today.”

In back to back games against arguably the game's two best quarterbacks, Newton and the Patriots' Tom Brady, Miller had five sacks, 11 tackles, two forced fumbles and an interception.

He even managed to upstage his famous teammate, Manning, in what could have been the quarterbacks' final game. Manning admitted to being emotional during the two-week buildup to the game and having a hard time getting through a pep-talk speech to teammates on Saturday night.

But he stopped short of declaring that Sunday's was his final contest, saying that former Colts coach Tony Dungy gave him some advice during the run-up to the game: Don't make an emotional decision.

"You know, I'll take some time to reflect," he said. "I have a couple of priorities first."

Manning, who is four years removed from neck surgery and one month away from his 40th birthday, has been wobbly all season. And he missed six starts in 2015 with a foot injury.

The Broncos instead leaned on their top-ranked defense, which led the league in yards allowed and sacks in the regular season and which held its playoff opponents to an average of 14.7 points.

"This game was like the season has been," Manning said. "It tested our toughness, our resilience and our unselfishness. It's only fitting it turned out this way."

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: "Want to know what makes him tick," said Australian pacer Kane Richardson will talking about playing alongside Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.

The IPL 2020 will be played in the UAE from September 19-November 10 and the tournament will run for 53 days.

In the players' auction which was conducted in December 2019, RCB managed to bag key players like Richardson, Chris Morris, Aaron Finch, Dale Steyn, Joshua Philippe, and Isuru Udana.

In an interaction with news agency, Richardson talked about playing alongside Kohli and the learning curve which is in store for him by being in the same squad as Proteas great Dale Steyn.
"Huge. These guys (Virat, AB de Villiers) are the absolute legends of the game. Anything I can learn from them will be a bonus, that's for sure.

I am really looking forward to playing with Virat, there are few more competitive players in the world. I am really looking forward to seeing what makes him tick," Richardson said.

The 29-year-old pacer also said that he would want to learn from Steyn as to how to be consistent in all formats of the game over a long period of time.

"There are loads I can learn from Dale. He has been amongst the best at the highest level for so long. His control and ability to swing the ball without losing his pace is really impressive. 

I look forward to getting in his ear about how he performs so consistently over a long period, in all forms," said Richardson who has 39 ODI wickets to his credit.

Richardson has so far played 14 games in his IPL career so far and has picked up 18 wickets. The bowler played for Pune Warriors India in 2013, Rajasthan Royals in 2014, and RCB in 2016.

For this year's IPL, RCB has also bagged Australia's limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch, and Richardson thinks having a familiar face in the camp would help him to settle better in the franchise.

"Finchey is an awesome player and a fantastic leader. I am sure it will help to have two Aussies in the side along with Josh who is playing his first tournament after a massive summer in the BBL. We are all professionals, I'm sure it won't take long for us to gel as a side," Richardson said.

However, before the IPL starts, Australia is expected to tour England for a limited-overs series, comprising of three ODIs and as many T20Is.

The side was last seen in action in March this year as they played one ODI against New Zealand in Sydney. After the first match, the remaining two ODIs were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Talking about the series against England, Kane replied: "We will be fresh, that's one thing, while the England players have been in a bubble for some time now. As long as we get enough practice in before and possibly some centre wicket it should not be an issue."

"They are World Cup holders and the number one ranked side for a very good reason. It will be a tough series also given they will have played a fair bit of cricket together by then. We know we need to work hard on our one-day game which will be a priority over the next period," he added.

The pacer also talked about how the lockdown was like for him, and Richardson feels that everyone would come back strong as a result of this break.

"The break from playing has been refreshing, to be honest. We have come back strong and are well into pre-season training with our states. As a bowler, our loads are not at their peak but we are working towards getting ready for a tour of the UK in a few weeks," Richardson said.

The Australian quick has so far played 25 ODIs and 18 T20Is, managing to take 39 and 19 wickets respectively.

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Agencies
June 4,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 4: Indian men's hockey team defender Harmanpreet Singh is delighted and honoured to be nominated for the Arjuna Award by Hockey India.

The Indian women's hockey team captain Rani Rampal has been nominated for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award while her compatriots Vandana Katariya, Monika and Harmanpreet Singh have been nominated for the Arjuna Award.

"I was extremely delighted to hear the news. It's an honour to be nominated for the Arjuna Award and I am sure the nomination will motivate me to perform even better in the upcoming years. All of us have received tremendous support from Hockey India over the years and I was extremely happy to know that Rani has been nominated for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and Vandana Katariya and Monika have been nominated for the Arjuna Award. They have put up some brilliant performances in the recent past and I would like to extend my congratulations to them," Harmanpreet said.

The 24-year-old dragflick sensation stepped up his role in the team and shouldered the responsibility of vice-captain with aplomb. As a defender-dragflicker, he was instrumental in the team's winning performance in the FIH Series Finals in Odisha. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Test Event, he captained the team to victory in the absence of Manpreet Singh who was rested for the tournament.

Harmanpreet was also part of the Indian team that won the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers against Russia last year. Harmanpreet said that he has been able to perform for the team only because of the support he has received from his teammates.

"I am very happy with the way I have been contributing to the team in the last couple of years. However, I have been able to come up with the goods only because of the way my teammates have supported me. Hockey is a team sport and all of us ensure that we are contributing to the team's cause in some way or the other. If we score a goal, then it's not only the goal scorer, who takes the credit, but the entire team is credited for a particular effort," said the defender.

Harmanpreet added that booking a place in the Tokyo Olympic Games was the biggest achievement for the team in 2019.

"It was simply amazing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in front of our home crowd last year. I will cherish the memory forever. The balance of our side was fantastic and everyone chipped in to make the tournament a memorable one. Now, we will give everything we can to come up with great results at the Olympics next year. It's our sole target at the moment and all of us are up for the challenge. Hopefully, we will become a much better side once we play our first match in Tokyo," he said.

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News Network
July 12,2020

New Delhi, Jul 12: Former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to do away with 'umpire's call' whenever a team opts for a review regarding a leg-before wicket (LBW) decision.

The Master Blaster has also said that a batsman should be given out if the ball is hitting the stumps.

Whether more than 50 per cent of the ball is hitting the stumps or not should not be matter, he further stated.

"What per cent of the ball hits the stumps doesn't matter, if DRS shows us that the ball is hitting the stumps, it should be given out, regardless of the on-field call," Tendulkar tweeted.

With this tweet, the former India batsman also shared a video, in which he has a discussion with Brian Lara regarding the working of DRS.
"One thing I don't agree with, with the ICC, is the DRS they have been using for quite some time. It is the LBW decision where more than 50 per cent of the ball must be hitting the stumps for the on-field decision to be overturned," Tendulkar said in the video.

"The only reason they (the batsman or the bowler) have gone upstairs is that they are unhappy with the on-field decision, so when the decision goes to the third umpire, let the technology take over, just like in tennis, it's either in or out, there's nothing in between," he added.

This call for doing away with umpire's call has been recommended by many former players.
Whenever a verdict pops up as 'umpire's call, the decision of the on-field umpire is not changed, but the teams do not lose their review as well.

ICC recently introduced some changes to the game of cricket, and they gave all teams liberty of extra review as non-neutral umpires will be employed in Test matches due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, all teams will now have three reviews in every innings of a Test match. 

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