Category: SPORTS

South Africa hammered Australia by six wickets in the first one-day international in Perth on Sunday, with a Dale Steyn-led pace onslaught exposing their batting frailties.Set 153 to win, Proteas’ openers Quinton de Kock (47) and Reeza Hendricks (44) helped secure victory with 124 balls to spare, leaving Australia with plenty to ponder ahead of the second of the three-game series in Adelaide on Friday.The hosts came into the clash having lost 16 of their past 18 ODIs and with the reverberations of a ball-tampering scandal this year still hanging…

Read More

Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani says Paris Saint-Germain’s team of dazzling individuals including Neymar and Kylian Mbappe need to work more as a team if they are to win the Champions League.In an exclusive interview with AFP, Cavani said the importance of winning the Champions League for the French club was drummed into him even before he signed from Napoli in 2013.”It’s an objective that the club discussed with me before I signed the contract,” said ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League Group C clash in Naples.”It is in my head. It…

Read More

Anirban Lahiri has chosen nine-time Asian Tour winner Gaganjeet Bhullar as his partner after Shubhankar Sharma pulled out of the ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf to be held from November 21 to 25.Sharma, who was committed to three PGA Tour events in Asia, is also due to play three events in Turkey, South Africa and Dubai making it six weeks in a row.With events in Hong Kong and Joburg, where Sharma will be defending his title, and Mauritius and Indonesia also due before the year ends, the Indian…

Read More

India number three Pranjala Yadlapalli qualified for the main draw of a WTA tennis event for the first time in her fledgling career here Sunday.Pranjala outclassed her Georgian opponent Oksana Kalashnikova in straight sets in the second and final qualifying round match of the USD 125,000 L&T Mumbai Open at the Cricket Club of India (CCI). The 19-year-old mass communications under-graduate from Hyderabad, seeded third in the qualifiers aided by her ranking of 280 on the WTA circuit, needed one hour and 15 minutes to carve out a 6-4 6-3…

Read More

Handed a reality check after West Indies salvaged a morale-boosting tie in the second game, India will be hoping to put up an improved bowling show with their frontline pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah back in action for the third ODI here on Saturday. A well-oiled India hammered the Windies in the lung opener in Guwahati by eight wickets, but the gritty visitors indeed, made a statement of sorts in Visakhapatnam, by denying the hosts a victory and a chance to go 2-0 ahead in the five-match rubber.However the absence…

Read More

Shubman Gill rose to the occasion with a timely hundred to steer India C to the Deodhar Trophy final with a comprehensive six-wicket win over India A here on Thursday.In the presence of three selectors, U-19 star Gill hit an unbeaten 106 off 111 balls and showed why he is seen as the next big thing in Indian cricket. And probably, the day is not far when he follows his U-19 captain Prithvi Shaw into the national team. With the first three wickets down for 85 runs, Gill paced his innings…

Read More

Riding on Mithali Raj’s record-setting, unbeaten hundred, India A defeated their Australian counterparts by 28 runs to take a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match T20 series on Wednesday.The victory meant that the third and final match, also to be played at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Bandra-Kurla facility will be of academic interest only. Veteran Mithali, who opened the innings along with Smriti Mandhana, was the cynosure of eyes as she tormented the Aussie bowlers in her whirlwind 105-run unbeaten knock which came off just 61 balls.On her way, the…

Read More

West Indies skipper Jason Holder Tuesday demanded discipline from his bowlers in the remaining four ODIs of the five-match series against India, saying picking up wickets upfront would be crucial.West Indies notched up what seemed a stiff 323-run target in the series opener, but India made short work of the chase and reached the target with almost eight overs to spare, with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma slamming big hundreds.”In limited overs cricket, in these conditions you need to utilise the new ball. This is an area every team targets.…

Read More

Lewis Hamilton said Mercedes made life difficult for themselves with a cautious race strategy in the United States Grand Prix.    The 33-year-old Briton, who finished third, but missed out on clinching his fifth drivers title, told reporters that he was surprised when he was called in for an early pit-stop to take advantage of a Virtual Safety Car intervention on lap 11.  “It was a little bit of a surprise,” said the Mercedes man after finishing behind race winner Kimi Raikkonen in a Ferrari and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.  “And…

Read More

India made a stupendous comeback after being a goal down as they beat Pakistan 3-1 in the 5th Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament to stretch their unbeaten streak against arch-rivals to 11 games.Captain Manpreet Singh (24th), forward Mandeep Singh (31st) and Dilpreet Singh (42nd) scored for the winners with Indian captain’s impressive performance earning him ‘Man of the Match’ award on Saturday night.India dominated the proceeding despite Muhammad Irfan Jr’s first minute strike that had put Pakistan ahead.Ranked fifth in the world, India went into the match with a 10-match…

Read More