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World Cup qualifying: Luis Suarez strikes on return from ban as Uruguay hold Brazil

March 26, 2016

Recife, Mar 26: Luis Suarez scored on his return from a worldwide ban for biting as Uruguay fought back from 2-0 down to grab a 2-2 draw with Brazil in a pulsating World Cup qualifying battle here Friday.

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Barcelona star Suarez -- playing his first international since infamously chomping on Italy`s Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup -- struck in the 48th minute to complete a remarkable Uruguayan fightback.

Uruguay had looked to be sliding to a heavy defeat after Brazil went 2-0 up inside the first half an hour thanks to goals from Bayern Munich striker Douglas Costa and Renato Augusto.

But Edinson Cavani pulled a goal back for Uruguay to allow Suarez -- installed as captain by coach Oscar Tabarez - his moment of glory at the Arena Pernambuco.

The draw left Uruguay in second place in the South American standings, three points behind leaders Ecuador with 10 points from five games.

Brazil moved up to third, level on eight points with Argentina and Paraguay but ahead on goal difference.

Brazil took the lead in the opening minute with a well worked goal created by Chelsea winger Willian.

The 27-year-old teased and tormented Sebastian Coates on the right flank before floating a cross to Costa who delicately steered home the finish.

Brazil`s dream start set the tone for the rest of the half, with the hosts rampant against a feeble Uruguay who offered only token opposition for long periods.

However Brazil had to wait until the 26th minute to grab their second, which arrived after more sorcery from Neymar.

The Brazilian captain split Uruguay`s defence with a wonderful pass that Alvaro Pereira could only deflect into the path of Renato Augusto.

Augusto then pulled off a magical dummy to wrong-foot the advancing Fernando Muslera before firing high into the net for 2-0.

Yet Uruguay came roaring back to score with their first attack of the game and what turned out to be their only attack of the half.

Pereira advanced down the left flank and crossed to Carlos Sanchez at the far post, who knocked down into the path of Paris Saint-Germain star Cavani who lashed in a perfectly timed volley to make it 2-1.

Thereafter however it was all Brazil, with Neymar shooting just wide on 34 minutes as Brazil laid siege to the Uruguayan goal.

But in the opening minutes of the second half Uruguay drew level with another goal against the run of play.

Pereira released Suarez, and the striker drilled a low shot that the advancing Brazil goalkeeper Alisson couldn`t grasp.

The goal galvanised Uruguay who showed far greater resilience thereafter.

Although Brazil dominated they were kept at bay, and Neymar`s frustration boiled over on 63 minutes when he was booked for a peutlant kick on substitute Alvaro Gonzalez.Dani Alves also earned a caution in the 75th minute for a wild tackle on Pereira.

Brazil`s Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho tested Muslera with a late long-range strike but Uruguay`s defence held firm.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Gibraltar, Jan 28: Young Indian Grand Master R Praggnanandhaa pulled off a huge upset, beating former world champion Veselin Topalov in the sixth round of the 18th Gibraltar chess festival to record his fifth straight win here.

The 14-year-old Chennai lad needed just 33 moves to put it across the Bulgarian. He had started with a loss against compatriot P V Nandhidhaa but since then he has been on a winning spree.

Praggnanandhaa, who recently won the world under-18 title, said: "It was very tough to prepare against him."

He is in second spot on five points with six other players and will take on Chinese GM Wang Hao in the seventh round.

Seventeen-year-old Russian GM Andrey Esipenko jumped to sole lead with 5.5 points with a win over Georgia's Ivan Cheparinov

The Russian player would be unpaired in the seventh round as he decided to take a bye.

A bunch of players including Indians — B Adhiban, K Sasikiran, Shardul Gagare, Karthikeyan Murali, SL Narayanan — are in joint third place with 4.5 points.

Adhiban beat Gabriel Flom, while D Gukesh, the world's second youngest Grand Master ever, defeated Martin Percivaldi to move to four points.

Also winning were Karthikeyan Murali against Qi B Chen and Gagare over France's Maxime Lagarde.

Top-seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's moderate run continued as he was held to a draw by GM Aryan Chopra.

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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has slammed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for not allowing recreational cricket to resume.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had described the cricket ball as a 'natural vector of disease' and ruled out recreational cricket's return in the country.

Hearing Johnson's argument, Vaughan tweeted: "Hand sanitiser in every players pocket. Use every time you touch the ball ... SIMPLE ... Recreational Cricket should just play from July 4th ... utter nonsense it's not being allowed back ... #Cricket."

Johnson was responding to a question from Conservative MP Greg Clark in the House of Commons, and it was then that Johnson said that it is too soon to lift current restrictions to allow the return of recreational cricket.

"The problem with cricket as everybody understands is that the ball is a natural vector of disease, potentially at any rate. We've been around it many times with our scientific friends," ESPNCricinfo had quoted Johnson as saying.

"At the moment, we're still working on ways to make cricket more COVID-secure but we can't change the guidance yet," he added.

Johnson had announced various relaxations on Tuesday, but the return of recreational cricket was not a part of them.

However, this statement given by Johnson will have no impact on the Test series between England and West Indies, scheduled to begin from July 8.

However, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has said that it is looking to resume recreational cricket in the country around July 4.

The board has also said that cricket is a low-risk sport as it is a non-contact sport.

"We believe that cricket is a non-contact sport, with very low risks of exposure, and that it can be played as safely as many other activities being currently permitted," the ECB said in an official statement.

"It is our strong desire to work with Government to see the return of recreational cricket on or around 4th July, as they continue to lift other restrictions more broadly across society," it added.

All international cricket has also been suspended since March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, it is set to resume to from July 8 as England and West Indies will lock horns in the three-Test series.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Batting great Rahul Dravid has attributed Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the IPL to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts and the incredible amount of work that goes behind the scenes.

N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the CSK franchise, agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings and going over data.

Both were speaking at a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Dravid said at the webinar according to ESPNcricinfo.

The former India captain added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts.

"So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."

The Super Kings have won the lucrative tournament three times -- one less than Mumbai Indians -- and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have been a part of.

Srinivasan also spoke about how Dhoni's instinct and judgement contributed to his team's success at a time when a lot of emphases is placed on data.

"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness etc.

"So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go.

"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyse. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)."

Srinivasan also recalled how Dhoni once refused to take "one outstanding player" suggested by the franchise boss as that could have broken the team's cohesion.

"There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: 'no sir, he will spoil the team'. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time," he said.

"In India, we're just starting and we're new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels."

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