Katie Ledecky on verge of history, Adam Peaty strikes double gold

August 6, 2015

Kazan, Aug 6: Katie Ledecky claimed her third world championships gold on Wednesday to leave her poised to make history while Adam Peaty`s breaststroke double capped an outstanding night for Britain in Kazan.

Katie

Ledecky underlined her status as the stand-out performer in the Kazan pool by claiming victory in the 200m freestyle final just 24 hours after breaking the world record for the second time in winning the 1500m freestyle final.

The USA`s triple world record-holder had already won the 400m gold last Sunday and she can become the first women to win four freestyle world titles when the 800m heats start on Friday with the final on Sunday.

"I have trained a lot to be able to do these races and I knew I could trust my training and this confidence has filled my swims this week," said the 18-year-old, who won the 200m freestyle final in 1min 55.16sec.

"I have a couple of races left to give my all in.

"I have been preparing all year for the whole year for these world championships."

Fresh from setting the world 50m breaststroke record of 26.42secs in Tuesday`s semi-final, Britain`s Peaty added to his 100m world title with victory over the sprint distance on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old won the 50m final by clocking 26.51 in the final with South Africa`s Cameron van der Burgh, the 2013 world champion, taking silver, at 0.15sec back.

The Briton has matched David Wilkie`s breaststroke 40-year-old double when the Scot won the 100 and 200m golds at the 1975 world championships.Peaty then backed up his individual win by helping the British team win the 4x100m mixed medley event in a new world record time.

It was the third time the event`s record had fallen on Wednesday alone after Russia, then the USA broke it in the morning`s heats and it means world records have now fallen on ten occasions in Kazan.

With two gold and two world records from his worlds debut here, Peaty can still claim a third individual title when the 200m breaststroke heats begin Thursday.

"It`s my first world championships, so I never thought I`d walk away with three gold medals, but I fought for every centimetre and every inch," said Peaty.

"All my training was for the 50m final tonight and then the 100m in the relay.

"It`s been the stuff dreams are made of, but head down now for the 200m heats in the morning."

Chinese long-distance expert Sun Yang claimed his second gold with victory in the 800m freestyle final, but he was made to work to retain his title after Italy`s Gregorio Paltrinieri pushed him all the way.

Sun clocked seven minutes, 39.96secs, but Paltrinieri swam a new European record at 0.85secs back as Australia`s Mack Horton took bronze at 4.06.

Defending Olympic and world champion Chad le Clos had to settle for silver in the men`s 200m butterfly final as Hungary`s Laszlo Cseh beat him on the wall to capture his first major title for a decade.

Cseh clocked 1min 53.48sec to beat Le Clos by just 0.20sec.

Ryan Lochte of the USA is on course to win his fourth consecutive world 200m individual medley gold as the quickest into Thursday`s final in 1:56.81.

Australia`s Cameron McEvoy is also the name to beat in the men`s 100m freestyle final, also on Thursday, having been the only qualifier from the semi-finals to go under the 48 seconds mark.

"There is a lot of excitement around the 100m freestyle," said McEvoy.

"It`s just a matter of recovering as much as I can before then and I`ll be using the same race plan regardless of who is in the final."

Russia`s Vladimir Morozov, who had posted the world`s joint fastest time this year coming into Kazan, was disqualified in his semi-final after leaving his blocks too early.

Olympic champion Nathan Adrian of the United States was fifth fastest.

Fresh from winning the women`s 100m world title on Tuesday, Australia`s Emily Seebohm was fifth fastest into Thursday`s 50m final as China`s Fe Yuanhai clocked the quickest time of 27.18secs.

Japan`s Natsumi Hoshi was the fastest into the women`s 200m butterfly final on Thursday at 2:06.36 secs, but the big surprise was Hungary`s `Iron Lady`, Katinka Hosszu failing to qualify as 13th fastest in the semi-finals as the 200m IM champion missed out.

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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
January 25,2020

Headingley, Jan 25: England have become the first team in the world to score 500,000 runs in Test cricket. They achieved the feat during the ongoing fourth and final Test against South Africa being played at The Wanderers.

On Friday - the opening day of the Test match -- England captain Joe Root's single through the covers took the Three Lions to a landmark 500,000 run-mark in the longest format of the game. They achieved the feat in their 1022nd Test match.

Australia comes second in the list, with 432,706 runs in 830 Tests. India, meanwhile, are third, with 273,518 runs in 540 Tests, followed by West Indies (270,441 runs in 545 Tests).

In the third Test played at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth, England had become the first team to play 500 Test matches on foreign soil. Australia are the second team to play the most away Test with 404 matches they have played so far.

India have played 268 Tests on foreign soil in which they have won 51, lost 113 and 104 have ended in a draw.

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Agencies
August 9,2020

Manchester, Aug 9: Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler played knocks of 84 and 75 respectively as England gained an improbable three-wicket win over Pakistan in the first Test of the three-match series here at the Emirates Old Trafford.

England chased down a total of 277 on the fourth day of the first Test.

Chasing 277, England openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley put on 22 runs for the first wicket, but Mohammad Abbas finally provided the breakthrough to Pakistan as he had Burns (10) adjudged leg-before wicket in the 12th over.

Skipper Joe Root came to the crease next, and he along with Sibley ensured that the side does not lose any more wickets before the lunch break, and England went into the lunch break at 55/1.

Sibley and Root eventually put up a 64-run stand, but their partnership was finally brought to an end by Yasir Shah as he dismissed Sibley (36) in the 36th over. Soon after, skipper Root (42) was also sent back to the pavilion by Naseem Shah, reducing England to 96/3 in the 39th over.

All eyes were on all-rounder Ben Stokes (9), but Pakistan's Yasir Shah sent him back to the pavilion in the 42nd over, and England was left in a spot of bother. Shaheen Shah Afridi, then also got among the wicket-taking charts as he scalped the wicket of Ollie Pope (7), reducing England to 117/5 in the 45th over.

Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler then got together at the crease, and the duo played in an aggressive manner to retrieve the innings for England. The hosts went into the tea break at 167/5, still, 110 runs away from the target with five wickets in hand.

Buttler and Woakes continued their march to frustrate the Pakistan bowling attack and the duo brought the target within the grasp of England. Both batsmen put up a stand of 139 runs, however, with just 21 runs away from the target, England lost the key wicket of Buttler (75) as Yasir Shah had him trapped in front of the wicket.

With England just needing four more runs for the win, Yasir Shah dismissed Stuart Broad (4), but in the end, Woakes and Dom Bess ensured England's win by three wickets.

For Pakistan, Yasir Shah was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped four wickets.

Earlier, resuming day four at 137/8, Yasir Shah (33) along with Mohammad Abbas (3*) and Naseem Shah (4) added 32 more runs to the overnight score to give England a target of 277 to win the first Test.

Stuart Broad was the pick of England bowlers as he scalped three wickets.

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