Category: Sport

Star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has added a new feather to his hat by becoming the first cricketer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to score 2,000 runs and scalp 110 wickets.

In the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday which Chennai Super Kings lost by seven runs, the Arjun Awardee scored 50 runs in 35 balls during their chase of 165. During the course of his knock, he smashed 2 sixes and 5 fours.

The left-hander has become only the fourth cricketer to touch the 2,000-run mark and bag more than 50 wickets in the IPL. He has joined Shane Watson, Kieron Pollard and Jacques Kallis in the list of players who have achieved the feat.

“I am humbled to be the only cricketer in the history of IPL to achieve the double. This will only push me to work harder and bring more glory to my country and my team. I hope that my family and the cricket-loving audience are proud of me,” Jadeja said in a statement.

The 31-year-old has played a total of 174 matches so far in IPL (106 for Chennai Super Kings, 27 for Gujarat Lions, 14 for Kochi Tuskers Kerala and 27 for Rajasthan Royals).

The MS Dhoni-led side have not been in the best of form in IPL 2020 and have registered just one win out of the four games they have played so far. They will be taking on Kings XI Punjab in their next game at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday evening.

Also Read: Rohit Sharma becomes third in IPL to cross 5K runs

Delhi Capitals (DC) secured a thrilling 18-run win, but not before Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) gave them some anxious moments towards the end of the 16th IPL game on Saturday night.

DC skipper Shreyas who knocked 88 off 38 balls and remained on crease was adjudged the Man of the Match, and the win lifted DC to the top of the points table. They now have six points from four matches while KKR are placed sixth with four points from four games.

Despite some explosive batting by Eoin Morgan (44 off 18) and Rahul Tripathi (36 off 16) towards the end of the KKR innings, they failed to overhaul the massive 229-run target as the two-time champions fell short of the target.

Earlier, KKR won the toss and opted to bowl. Besides Shreyas, opener Prithvi Shaw scored a half-century (66 off 41 balls) and Rishabh Pant hammered a 17-ball 38 to take their team to 228 for four wickets in 20 overs. In reply, KKR made 210 for eight wickets in 20 overs, after once threatening to run away with the game. Nitish Rana was their top scorer with 58 off 35 balls and Eoin Morgan smashed 44 off 18 balls, but in vain.

Chasing the target, KKR opener Sunil Narine once again failed to fire as he fell cheaply after managing just three runs. Shubhman Gill (28) and Rana then took command of the proceedings as they took their side past the 50-run mark in 5.2 overs.

Just when everything was going KKR’s way, Amit Mishra dismissed Gill in the ninth over with KKR scorecard reading 72/2. Andre Russell (13), too, didn’t spent much time in the middle and KKR were reduced to 94/3 in 9.5 overs.

Rana continued to kept the fight on, but he couldn’t convert it as Harshal Patel dismissed him in the 13th over. Rana’s innings contained four boundaries and as many sixes.

Within five runs, KKR lost their skipper Dinesh Karthik (6) and Pat Cummins (5), and DC strengthening their grip on the contest. The fall of Cummis left KKR reeling at 122/6.

There was, however, another twist in the story as Tripathi and Morgan added 78 runs in the next 31 balls, courtesy some massive hits into the stands, which saw KKR making a comeback in the match.

Anrich Nortje, however, didn’t let the KKR duo succeed as he dismissed a dangerous looking Morgan in the 19th over before Marcus Stoinis, who bowled an exceptional final over, accounted for the wicket of Tripathi with a toe-crushing yorker.

Despite the phenomenal batting by Morgan and Tripathi, KKR failed to cross the line by 18 runs.

For DC, Nortje was the wrecker-in-chief as he returned with figures of 3/33 while Patel bagged 2/34.

Earlier, opener Prithvi Shaw’s blistering 66 followed by Shreyas’s (unbeaten 88 off 38) carnage propelled DC to a mammoth 228/4 in the allotted 20 overs.

Apart from the duo, DC stumper Rishabh Pant also took full advantage of the short boundaries as he blasted 38 off 17 balls with the help of five boundaries and a six.

DC were off to a flying start, thanks to openers Shikhar Dhawan (26) and Shaw, who made sure that their side cross the 50-run mark in just 4.4 overs.

However, while trying to go for a maximum, Dhawan became a victim of Varun Chakravarthy in the sixth over with DC being on 56/1.

The dismissal didn’t affect DC much as incoming batter and Shaw kept going at a decent pace.

The duo steered their side to the three-digit mark in the 11th over before Shaw was packed back by Kamlesh Nagarkoti in the 13th over.

Shaw’s knock contained four boundaries and as many sixes.

Iyer and Pant then added 72 runs in the next 31 balls as they clobbered every KKR bowler who came in their way.

Andre Russell, finally, gave KKR some respite as he accounted for the wicket of Pant in the 18th over, which saw DC’s scorecard reading 201/3.

Iyer, on other hand, kept his lusty blows going before Russell struck again, this time in the final over to send back Marcus Stoinis (1). However, the damage was already done as DC posted a challenging target before their opponents with ease.

Iyer’s sparkling innings was decorated with seven fours and six massive hits into the stands.

Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 228/4 wkts in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 88 not out, Prithvi Shaw 66; Andre Russell 2/29) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 210/8 wkts in 20 overs (Nitish Rana 58, Eoin Morgan 44; Anrich Nortje 3/33) by 18 runs

Also Read: Delhi Capitals betters position with second victory

India have overtaken New Zealand to grab the third spot in the ICC women’s team rankings for T20Is after the annual rankings update carried out on Friday.

The rankings table sees Australia and England retain the top two positions, their points tally remaining 291 and 280, respectively. India, who made the final of this year’s Women’s T20 World Cup in March, have overtaken the White Ferns, in what is the only change in the top 15 of the 56-team list.

In ODIs, six-time World Cup champions and winners of both editions of the ICC Women’s Championship, Australia’s stellar display during the rating period saw them win 20 of 21 ODIs, increasing their tally by eight points to 160 and because of that they have maintained their top position.

Their massive lead of 39 points over second-placed India is the largest by any team (men or women) in any form of the game. It comes on the back of 3-0 series wins over India, Pakistan, New Zealand, England, West Indies, Sri Lanka and an earlier 2-1 win over England at the start of the ICC Women’s Championship, only a few months after England had won the World Cup in 2017.

India (121) and England (119) have lost four points each while clinging on to their second and third positions, respectively, while South Africa (107) enjoy a 13-point lead over New Zealand (94), with the West Indies (85), Pakistan (77), Bangladesh (61) and Sri Lanka (47) following in that order.

The latest update expunges results from the 2016-17 season, weights the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons at 50 per cent and the 2019-20 matches at 100 per cent.

Also Read: Shafali, Smriti and Jemimah retains T20 top rankings

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has become the third batsman in Indian Premier League (IPL) history to score 5,000 runs.

He achieved the feat during Mumbai Indian’s emphatic 48-run win over Kings XI Punjab on Thursday night at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.

Batting first, Mumbai posted a monstrous total of 191/4, in which Rohit contributed with 70 off 45 deliveries. In reply, Kings XI could muster 143/8 in their allotted 20 overs.

Rohit is currently placed at the third position in the list of highest run-scorers in IPL. He has so far scored 5,068 runs in 192 IPL matches, including a hundred and 38 half centuries.

Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli are the other two players to cross the 5000-run mark in the cash-rich league. Kohli has scored 5,430 runs in 180 matches for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Raina, on the other hand, has scored 5,368 runs in 193 games (4,527 for Chennai Super Kings in 164 games and 841 runs in 29 games for Gujarat Lions). David Warner (4,793 runs in 129 matches) and Shikhar Dhawan (4,648 runs in 162 matches) complete the top five.

Mumbai Indians, currently placed at the top of the points table in IPL 2020, are slated to next take on SunRisers Hyderabad on Sunday in Sharjah.

Also Read: Mumbai Indians Dominate the Show

Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski has won the 2019/20 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award.

“It’s an amazing feeling. I would like to thank the teammates and coaches I work with every day. Obviously I’d like to thank my family as well,” said Lewandowski as per the Bayern’s official website on Thursday. “As a little boy I dreamed of playing in the big stadiums. Standing here now means a lot to me,” continued the 32-year-old.

The Pole scored 55 goals in 47 games on the way to the 2020 treble – he only missed five games – and was the top scorer in the Bundesliga (34 goals), Champions League (15) and the DFB Cup (6). He also provided 10 assists.

Meanwhile, his teammate Manuel Neuer became goalkeeper of the year, Joshua Kimmich was chosen as best defender, while De Bruyne won the prize for the best midfielder.

Bayern coach Hans-Dieter Flick received the UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year 2019/20 award.

The jury was composed of the 80 coaches of the clubs which participated in the group stages of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group from each of UEFA’s member associations.

In women’s category, Pernille Harder, finalist with Wolfsburg, now with Chelsea, won the 2019/20 UEFA Women’s Player of the Year, her second time taking the accolade after her success in 2018.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the late finish to the 2019/20 season, the player awards ceremony took place in Switzerland.

Also Read: ‘Challenging times for Bayern Players’

Four-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) on Thursday cruised to a 48-run win over Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Chasing MI’s total of 191/4 wickets in 20 overs, KXIP only managed to reach 143/8 wickets in 20 overs as a clinical MI bowling attack rarely allowed the batsmen any space to score runs freely.

MI separated KXIP’s star opening pair of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal early on. Jasprit Bumrah accounted for Agarwal in the fifth over. Karun Nair fell for a duck in the very next over while Rahul Chahar outfoxed KXIP captain and top scorer KL Rahul in the ninth.

Nicholas Pooran kept KXIP’s hopes alive, smashing 44 runs off 27 balls and putting up 41 for the fourth wicket with Glenn Maxwell. It also turned out to be KXIP’s highest partnership and the last one that crossed over into two figures as they wilted after Pooran fell to James Pattinson in the 14th over.

Between the start of the 15th and 19th overs, KXIP scored just 18 runs and lost three wickets and the match slipped away from them.

Earlier, a late blitz from Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya helped Mumbai Indians (MI) post 191/4.

Sheldon Cottrell gave KXIP a good start with the wicket of Quinton de Kock in the very first over. While captain Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav then seemed to be steadying the ship for MI, the latter was run out by Mohammed Shami with a direct hit from short fine leg.

Ishan Kishan, who scored a memorable 99 in the previous match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, struggled to get the run rate for much of his innings. His troubled stay at the crease was eventually ended on 28 off 32 balls by Krishnappa Gowtham, thus ending a 62-run stand between him and Rohit.

Pollard then came in and provided able company as Rohit increased the run rate. The MI captain, who crossed 5,000 runs in the IPL through the course of the innings, looked set for a century but a brilliant piece of teamwork between Glenn Maxwell and James Neesham at the boundary behind the bowler led to his dismissal.

Maxwell ran in from long-off and caught the ball which Rohit was looking to deposit over the ropes off Shami. His momentum however took him over the ropes but he lobed it back towards Neesham who ran in from long on before he touched the ground beyond the boundary.

But Pollard and Hardik came in and smashed 44 runs off the last overs to take MI beyond the 190-run mark.

Brief scores: MI 191/4 wkts in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 70, Kieron Pollard 47; Sheldon Cottrell 1/20) beat KXIP 143/8 wkts in 20 overs (Nicholas Pooran 44, Mayank Agarwal 25; Jasprit Bumrah 2/18) by 48 runs

Also Read: Royals’ guns go silent before the Knight Riders

Indian batters Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues have been able to remain in the top 10 of the ICC T20I rankings for batswomen. While Verma is the highest ranked Indian batter at the third spot, Mandhana and Rodrigues have also been able to hold their respective seventh and ninth places in the list led by Australias Beth Mooney.

In the bowlers’ rankings, Deepti Sharma remains the highest ranked Indian, currently occupying the sixth spot. She is followed by Radha Yadav and Poonam Yadav at seventh and eighth places respectively.

Among all-rounders, Deepti remains the only Indian in top 10, currently placed at the fourth spot.

Meanwhile, Australia all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner and Captain Meg Lanning have advanced in the batters’ rankings after finishing as the leading run-scorers in their three-match home series against New Zealand that they won 2-1.

Gardner’s series-topping 90 runs, which came in only two innings, won her the player of the series award and lifted her seven places to a career best-equalling 18th position among batters. Lanning, who has been top-ranked in both ODIs and T20Is in the past, has advanced one spot to take fifth position after aggregating 71 runs in the series.

For White Ferns, former captain Suzie Bates and present captain Sophie Devine have retained their second and fourth positions, respectively, while another former captain, left-hander Amy Satterthwaite, has re-entered the rankings in 35th position after finishing as the highest scorer from her side with 69 runs. Satterthwaite was on maternity leave for 18 months, during which she missed this year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

Australia leg-spinner Georgia Wareham has reached a career best-equalling 10th position after her five wickets in the series helped her advance five places, while left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux (up two places to 13th) and seam bowler Delissa Kimmince (up eight places to 22nd) have also progressed in the bowlers’ list.

Also Read: Thirteen years pass since India’s incredible T20 WC win

The LA Lakers made their intentions loud and clear in the 2020 NBA Finals with a dominating 116-98 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 1.

In a game played late on Wednesday, the Heat were able to take an early 13-point but that was it. Post the first six minutes of the Game, the Lakers took control of the game and closed the first quarter on a 19-3 run. At one point, it became 75-30.

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel agreed that the team got off to a slow start but lauded his bench for turning the tide. “Kuzma and Rondo came in and Alex, those guys brought great energy. Helped us get stops and get out on the break some. Rondo orchestrated a few buckets for us and helped turn the game around,” said Vogel.

LeBron James too agreed that run from Miami was like a wake up call for his team. “From that moment when it was 23-10, we started to play to our capabilities. We started flying around. We started getting defensive stops. We started sharing the ball a lot better offensively and just got into a really good groove,” explained James.

For Lakers, Anthony Davis was the star with 34 points, nine rebounds and five assists. James was happy he was on the same team as Davis. “I’m happy to be on the same floor with him and in the same uniform. He was, once again, a force in every facet of the game, offensively and defensively,” he said.

Game 2 of the Finals between the two teams will now be played on Saturday.

Also Read: Lebron pays emotional tribute to Kobe

Rafael Nadal, the 12-time Roland Garros champion, completed another overwhelming show at the ongoing French Open as he registered a straight-sets win No. 236 Mackenzie McDonald to progress to the next round.

On Wednesday, the ‘King of Clay’ defeated McDonald 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 in just one hour and 40 minutes to improve his record at the clay court grand slam to 95-2.

“I am very happy,” Nadal said after his triumph as per the ATP Tour website. “(It) will be another difficult match against Travaglia or Nishikori. I hope to play a good level. It’s always very special to play here in Paris, especially here on Court Philippe-Chatrier, so I’m very happy to play another time,” he added.

Second seed Nadal will now face Italy’s Stefano Travaglia in the round of 32. The latter survived a five-set thriller against Japan’s Nishikori Kei to advance 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-2.

In the other men’s singles clash, newly-crowned US Open champion Dominic Thiem extended his winning streak to nine matches, defeating American qualifier Jack Sock 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (6) in two hours and 22 minutes. He will next face No. 28 seed Casper Ruud.

Meanwhile, in women’s singles, top seed Simona Halep beat her fellow Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3, 6-4 to book a spot in the third round, while third seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine overcame defeated Mexican qualifier Renata Zarazua 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 to keep on track for her maiden Grand Slam title.

Also Read: French Open cuts down spectator count

A clinical Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Wednesday secured a 37-run win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) here. After scoring 174/6 wkts in 20 overs, KKR restricted RR to 137/9 in 20 overs, with top scorer Tom Curran (54 not out off 36 balls) being one of just three RR batsmen to enter double figures.

Pat Cummins struck early with the big wicket of his Australian team mate Steve Smith in the second over of the RR innings. The in-form Sanju Samson was dismissed by Shivam Mavi in the fifth over which meant that RR had lost both their highest scoring batsmen thus far this season within the powerplay.

Jos Buttler scored a quickfire 21 off 16 and threatened to get back to the form he displayed last season, before falling to the very first ball of the seventh over bowled by Mavi.

It was all downhill for RR after that as they failed to get partnerships going. They were reduced to 88/8 in the 15th over with the fall of Jofra Archer. They were dragged to 137/9 by Curran who scored 54 not out off 36 runs and it meant that his unbeaten last wicket stand of 31 runs with Ankit Rajpoot ended up being RR’s highest on the day.

Earlier, opener Shubman Gill’s 47 and Eoin Morgan’s unbeaten 34 helped the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) score 174/6 against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. For RR, Jofra Acher marked his return to form with the ball as he bagged 2/18.

Sunil Narine’s dry spell with the bat continued as he was dismissed for 15 runs in the fifth over. His opening partner Gill, however, anchored the innings throughout its first half before finally falling in the 12th over to Archer, three runs short of a second consecutive half century.

Explosive all-rounder Andre Russell was threatening to finally show his full array of shots this season, reaching 24 runs in 14 balls. His innings was punctuated by three sixes but it was cut short by Ankit Rajpoot who got him holed out at deep midwicket. Morgan then anchored the lower middle order and saw KKR through to 174 for six in 20 overs.

Brief scores: KKR 174/6 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 47, Eoin Morgan 34 not out; Jofra Archer 2/18) beat RR 137/9 in 20 overs (Tom Curran 54 not out, Jos Buttler 21; Kamlesh Nagarkoti 2/13) by 37 runs’

Also Read: Rajasthan Royals seize their first outing