ISL 2015: FC Goa thrash Delhi Dynamos 3-0 in semi-final second leg, advance to final

December 16, 2015

Margao, Dec 16: A scintillating offensive display enabled a buoyant FC Goa to a 3-1 aggregate victory over Delhi Dynamos in a two-legged semi-final and enter the title round of the Indian Super League (ISL) in Margaon on Tuesday.

ISLSpanish midfielder Joffre Mateu scored in the 11th minute, followed by Brazilian forward Rafael Coelho on 27 minutes that helped Goa lead 2-0 at half-time in the second leg match. Man-of-the-Match Nigerian striker Dudu Omagbemi put the finishing touches to the lop-sided 3-0 scoreline in the 84th minute as the hosts overturned a 0-1 deficit they conceded in the first leg at New Delhi on December 11 to enter the final.

They await the winner of defending champions Atletico de Kolkata and Chennaiyin FC whose second legged match will be played in Kolkata on Wednesday. Chennaiyin lead the tie 3-0.

Goa were the semi-finalists in the inaugural edition of the tournament last year. The final of the competition will be played here on December 20.

Goa were determined to hit the ground running at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in their aim of plucking up an early goal that would have nullified Dynamos' deficit.

They were egged on by their animated coach Zico who entered into an argument with the referee at the very beginning of the game that displayed his eagerness as well as nervousness.

They got what they yearned in the 11th minute. Spanish midfielder Joffre Mateu capped off his superb solo run from the right with a fierce low left-footed shot that crashed into the near post of goalkeeper Toni Doblas.

Dynamos were subjected to intense pressure, which reflected on their coach Roberto carlos' face. He was seen in an enthusiastic discussion with his defensive spearhead John Arne Riise after the goal with both visibly disagreeing with each other.

They were in serious trouble and were disintegrating spectacularly under the consistently impressive combined attacking display of Goa's frontmen.

Dynamos survived going behind on 23 minutes when the sparkling home-grown talent Romeo Fernandes' attempt went inches wide after latching onto a feeble clearance from Doblas.

Goa deservedly took an aggregate lead four minutes later with a similar strike as the first goal amidst sporadic, hopeful attempts by Dynamos.

Coelho dangerously danced his way towards the box from the vulnerable right side and let loose a low grounder, this time towards the far post of Doblas. The ball landed into the net after thundering off the inside of the post as a diving Doblas clutched thin air.

By this time, the hosts were all over Carlos' side and the disapproving Brazilian reacted by replacing the non-functioning Riise with Dutch midfielder Hans Mulder at the half hour mark hoping to provide support to lonely Frenchman Florent Malouda.

Dynamos hoped the change of ends would facilitate a change of fortunes but Goa creditably didn't let their foot off the pedal and continued to expose the bungling right-back Robert Lalthlamuana by creating two golden opportunities.

A conversion of any one of them would have killed off the contest considering the sustained domination of the hosts.

But Doblas rose to the occasion producing smart saves, blocking shots of Fernandes and Brazilian Leo Moura, to keep his team in the hunt though the clock unfailingly ticked away.

The frenetic nature of action evoked some bruising physical display from both sides prompting the referee to show several yellow cards.

As the match entered its finals stretch, hope of Dynamos evaporated rapidly as a marauding Goa looked likelier to score.

They duly obliged when Fernandes laid it for Dudu to finish off another free-flowing coordinated attack from close range, much to the dejection of the Dynamos camp whose English striker Adil Nabi, substituted in the 58th minute, was red-carded for showing dissent at a linesman.

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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan deeply regrets his "silly mistake" of not reporting a corrupt approach by an Indian bookie to the ICC, leading to his one year suspension from the game.

Shakib was banned for two years, one year of it suspended, for failing to report corrupt approaches during an IPL edition by an alleged Indian bookie named Deepak Aggarwal.

"I took the approaches too casually When I met the anti-corruption guy and told them and they knew everything. Gave them all the evidence and they knew everything that happened," Shakib told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"To be honest, that's the only reason I was banned for a year, otherwise I'd have been banned for five or 10 years," he added on the ICC's investigation.

The 33-year-old, who was in brilliant form before the ban, amassing 606 runs in the 2019 World Cup in the UK, said he regrets how he went about the situation.

"But I think that was a silly mistake I made. Because with my experience and the amount of international matches I've played and the amount of ICC's anti-corruption code of conduct classes I took, I shouldn't have made that decision, to be honest."

Lesson learnt, Shakib's advice to all young criceters is to never take any such message lightly.

"I regret that. No one should take such messages or calls (from bookies) lightly or leave it away. We must inform the ICC ACSU guy to be on the safe side and that's the lesson I learnt, and I think I learnt a big lesson," he added.

The all-rounder, whose ban ends on October 29, said he became a bit arrogant and never felt he was doing anything wrong by not reporting the bookie's approach immediately.

"Because you do most things right in your life, you tend to get arrogant with some decisions. You may not realise but you're doing wrong by the books. It never came to my mind that I am doing something wrong

"It was just a feeling of 'okay, what's going to happen, leave it' and I continued with my life. But that's the mistake I made. And that happens," Shakib said.

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News Network
July 1,2020

New Delhi, Jul 1: After being named as India's 'Most Valuable Player' in Test cricket in the 21st century, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Wednesday said that he will always aim to give his best for the country.

His remark came as Jadeja achieved an MVP rating of 97.3 and as a result, he was also rated as the second most valuable player Test player worldwide, only second to Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.

"Thank you Wisden India for naming me the 'Most Valuable Player'. I would like to thank all my teammates, coaches, fans, and well-wishers for your support as I aim to give my best for our country. Jai Hind," Jadeja tweeted.

Based on CricViz's market-leading analytics, each player in world cricket was awarded an 'MVP rating' by Wisden using a statistical model to rank their 'match impact' compared to their peers.

Jadeja has played in 49 Tests from 2012, managing to score 1,869 runs and has also picked up 213 wickets.

"It might come as a surprise to see Ravindra Jadeja, India's spin-bowling all-rounder, feature as India's number one. After all, he's not even always an automatic pick in their Test team. However, when he does play he is picked as a frontline bowler and has batted as high as No.6 - contributing to a very high match involvement," the official website of Wisden quoted CricViz's Freddie Wilde as saying.

"But Jadeja's position is based on more than simply volume: it's what he does when he's involved that really counts. The 31-year-old's bowling average of 24.62 is better than Shane Warne's and his batting average of 35.26 is better than Shane Watson's. His batting and bowling average differential of 10.62 runs is the second-best of any player this century to have scored more than 1,000 runs and taken 150 wickets. He is an all-rounder of the very highest quality," he added.

With the bat in hand, Jadeja has managed to score one century and 14 fifties in the longest format of the game.

He was last seen in action during India's two-Test series against New Zealand earlier this year.

He would have been in action for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL had the tournament commenced from March 29.

However, the IPL has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Jan 10: Australian cricketer Shane Warne’s prized 'baggy green' cap raised more than A$1 million ($686,000) on Friday for bushfire relief efforts after the former leg-spinner donated it for auction.

Twenty-seven people have been killed and thousands made homeless in recent months as huge fires scorched through more than 25.5 million acres of land, an area the size of South Korea.

The baggy green is presented to Australian players when they make their Test debut and they receive just one for their entire career. The Aussie cricketer donated the cap to an online auction site on Monday. The auction closed at 10 a.m. on Friday (2300 GMT Thursday) with a final public bid of A$1,007,500.

"Unbelievable … so generous from everyone. Totally blown away," Warne said on Twitter shortly before the auction closed.

The auction attracted global interest and the price eclipsed the A$425,000 achieved by the late Don Bradman's baggy green when it was sold in 2003.

"We have been overwhelmed and it is a fantastic result," Marc Cheah, head of marketing for auctioneers Pickles, said.

"Other baggy greens have been auctioned and Don Bradman’s got $425,000 about 15 years ago, but the Don is the Don. He’s the greatest cricketer that ever lived," Cheah said in relation to the widely held recognition Bradman was the best batsman the game has produced.

"But Shane is also right up there and that drove a lot of traffic and momentum, while the cause is also very worthwhile."

Warne, 50, is one of many local and international athletes to support the fundraising for bushfire victims with several cricketers promising to donate a sum based on the number of sixes they hit in Australia’s Big Bash Twenty20 competition.

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