Bhubaneswar, Apr 10 : Football Club (FC) Goa thrashed I-League 2018-19 champions Chennai City FC 3-0 in the first semi-final of the Hero Super Cup, here at the Kalinga Stadium.
Now, FC Goa will face the winner of Wednesday’s match, to be played between ATK and Chennaiyin FC , in the Final.
On Tuesday, Ferran Corominas scored from the penalty spot in the 26th minute to give Goa a 1-0 lead. The Spaniard found the back of the net again after nine minutes to take the Goa’s tally to 2-0.
Brandon Fernandes added his name to the score sheet when he scored match’s third goal in the 69th minute.
Goa posted some early challenge against Chennai City’s defence, with Jackichand Singh finding space down the right wing and making a nuisance of himself with his speed and unpredictable run inside the box.
In the first 15 minutes, Seriton Fernandes and Zaid Krouch came close to score, but the player shot at goal post which was deflected wide, while Krouch’s deflected shot from range needed a fingertip save from Chennai custodian Mauro Boerchio to keep the Goa team goalless.
However, Goa kept attacking which finally paid off in the 25th minute as Jacki found Ferran Corominas in the box, who finished the deadlock in 26th minute by scoring first of his two goals.
In the second half too, Goa continued its dominance and scored third goal of the match in the 69th minute.
Boumous received the ball in the midfield and set Brandon Fernandes free.
The winger put on his afterburners, ran onto the through pass and calmly slotted it past Boerchio to make it 3-0 for Goa.
Then, Chennai tried their best to make come back into the game, but Goa managed to keep them at bay.
Goa’s assistant coach Jesus Tato gave all credit to their players for executing plans on the field.
Speaking after the match, he said, “Before the game, we knew Chennai City are a team with a lot of potential. We outplayed them easily as the score can tell. But at the end of the day, it was the players who displayed it on the pitch. We really worked hard towards this game. I must give all the credit to the players.”
Talking about his miss opportunities for third goal, Corominas said, “As a striker, you always want to score goals. Today, I would have liked to score a hat-trick, but regardless of who scores, the most important thing is that the team wins. I will always do my best for the team.”
Goa’s young left back Saviour Gama was adjourned Man of the Match. The defender was also instrumental in Goa’s victory.

Kolkata, Apr 09 : Adjectives like strength, vigour, courage have always been the attributes to describe men, and the women have been the soft, kind and poised ones. But, while in the 21st Century, the World is developing, there’s no such adjective that can discriminate a man or woman, explaining their attributes. A woman can also be strong, courageous and robust.

Thus, to break the stereotypical norms of the  patriarchal society, Ankit TMT Bars, who are one of the leaders in the  industry with their strength of steel, is introducing MC Mary Kom, who  is one of the epitomes of strength, as their brand ambassador. 

Nicknamed as ‘Magnificent Mary’, MC Mary Kom has been awarded with some of the most respectable titles like Padma Shri, Arjuna Award, Padma Bhushan, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, ?Meethoileima? title by Manipur Government, proving the fact the she’s not only a woman of physical strength, but a representative of Empowered women, who are capable of leading their life in the Society, equally with or without her male counterpart. People should look forward to MC Mary Kom, because ?Here’s to strong women. May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.?
MC Mary Kom on this occasion said, ?I believe, that there isn’t any job that the women cannot do. Strength need not be physical always. Mental strength and will power is the most important, in running every institution. Women know how to balance family and work, she is always the strength and support of the family and that is the most important factor.?
?I am so glad to be a part of Ankit TMT Bars. I, too, support and respect about their belief that women are the actual pillars of strength in the society?, said Mary. ?We always relate men with strength and vigour. But for us, it’s not men but women who are the ultimate pillars of strength, and who else would be better than MC Mary Kom as our Brand Ambassador, representing out thoughts?, said Ankit Patni, the MD of the Brand, Ankit TMT Bars.

Mumbai, Apr 9 : After wining their last IPL matches, both Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab will look to continue their winning streak as they face each other in the next match of the ongoing IPL season at Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.

In their last two matches, Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings and SunRisers Hyderabad and will want to continue their winning momentum against KXIP too.

On the other hand, Kings XI Punjab are also high on confidence after defeating SunRisers Hyderabad at home in their last match.

In the previous encounter between the two teams in Mohali, KXIP had a comprehensive eight-wicket win over MI but this time playing at home MI will obviously have an added advantage as they are aware about the ground conditions well.

KXIP are largely dependent on their explosive openers K L Rahul and Chris Gayle. However, the likes of Mayank Agrawal, Sam Curran and Sarfaraz Khan have also performed well, whenever, they got the opportunity to bat.

MI don’t even have a single batsman in the top-20 run scorers’ list of this IPL season but they have a strong batting line-up.

MI are blessed with power-hitters like Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya who can change the fate of the game with their fearless batting in the fag end of the innings.

When it comes to the bowling, MI have a formidable pace attack with Jasprit Bumrah and left-arm Jason Behrendorff , Hardik and leg spinner Rahul Chahar.

Apart from batting, MI’s bowling have been also boosted by the inclusion of West Indian pacer, Alzarri Joseph, who blew away SRH with his record-breaking haul of 6/12 in Hyderabad in his previous game.

In bowling, KXIP skipper Ravichandran Ashwin (7 wickets) has done well in five out of six games that the team has played and has got good support from the likes of Sam Curran, Mohammed Shami and Murugan Ashwin.

Overall, it will be a good contest between two quality sides looking to keep the winning momentum going.
KXIP are placed at third spot in the IPL’s points table with four wins out of their six matches, while MI are placed at fifth spot with three wins out of their five matches so far in the tournament.

New Delhi, Apr 9 : The Indian National Football Team will be playing in the invitational King’s Cup in Thailand in June which will be held at the Chang Arena, Buriram.

Besides India, and hosts Thailand, the other teams in the competition are Vietnam, and Curacao. As per April 2019 FIFA Rankings, India are ranked 101, with Thailand at 114, Vietnam at 98, and Curacao at 82.

The King’s Cup is a FIFA-sanctioned international ‘A’ tournament being organised by the Football Association of Thailand since 1968. India’s previous participation in the King’s Cup was in 1977.

Two matches will be held on June 5, the winners of whom qualify for the final. The two others teams would be playing the play-off for the 3rd spot.

This is the first time in 18 years that the Blue Tigers will be playing in a FIFA Ranking tournament, the last being the Merdeka Tournament in Kuala Lumpur in 2001.

Kushal Das, General Secretary, AIFF said the King’s Cup is the perfect platform for the new coach to ?understand the nucleus of the team.?

The new National coach will be on board by mid-week of May. With the FIFA 2022 World Cup Qualifiers scheduled to kick-off in September, the King’s Cup will help the team get in proper shape for the tough challenges ahead,? he stated.

I am extremely thankful to the Thailand FA for sending us an invitation to play in the tournament.?

The 2018 edition of the King’s Cup was won by Slovakia when they beat Thailand 3-2 in a thriller in the final, while Gabon beat UAE 1-0 to clinch the 3rd place.

Hosts Kings XI Punjab rode on splendid innings by opener KL Rahul (71*) and Mayank Agarwal (55) to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in match number 22 of the IPL 2019 at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Monday.

This was SRH’s second consecutive loss as their tally reads three wins out of six matches to date.

Let’s have a look at the records broken tonight.

Jonny Bairstow’s woes against spinners continue

SRH opener Jonny Bairstow might be in a good form in IPL, but he is not comfortable against spin. He has been dismissed by the spinners on each of the last six occasions. Against KXIP, he got out off a delivery by Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

SRH score second lowest powerplay score of the season

While SRH openers are known for getting off to an explosive start, especially the likes of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow, it wasn’t the case today.

As Bairstow fell for one, Warner played slow, along with Vijay Shankar, and only 27 runs were scored by the side in the power-play.

It was second lowest score after CSK’s 16/1 in the opening game against RCB.

Warner

Warner scores his second slowest half-century in IPL

Albeit Warner is known for his fiery innings and fast-scoring run pace, it wasn’t the same scenario tonight.

As conditions looked different, Warner chose a composed approach and played sensible cricket.

Owing to this, he scored his second slowest half-century in the IPL, off 49 balls.

His previous slowest was off 45 balls, against KXIP, in Hyderabad in 2017.

Dominance

Warner’s dominant show against KXIP continues

While Warner scored his second slowest IPL half-century, he continued to dominate against KXIP bowlers.

This was his seventh consecutive half-century against KXIP in IPL.

With this, he also equaled his own record of consecutive 50s against a side (7 against RCB).

He is followed by Chris Gayle and Jos Buttler, who have scored four consecutive half-centuries against KXIP.

Warner’s love with Mohali grows four-times strong

Other records

Warner scores third lowest individual score while facing 60-plus deliveries

As the match seemed to be a low-scoring record for SRH, it saw another unwanted record from Warner.

He scored the third lowest score while facing 60-plus deliveries.

He slammed 70 from 62 deliveries. The list is led by JP Duminy, scoring 59 off 63 deliveries. He is followed by Aaron Finch for scoring 68 off 62 deliveries.

Rahul’s fastest

Rahul scores his fastest half-century of the season

In what was an easy match for KXIP, their opener Rahul too put up a commendable shift.

He scored his fastest half-century of the season that came off just 34 balls.

His previous fastest fifty this season was off 42 deliveries against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), while his third fifty was against Mumbai Indians (MI), off 45 deliveries.

Match report

How did the match pan out?

Put to bat first, SRH were off to shaky start, losing Bairstow early.

Although Warner played a calm innings of 70*, they could only post an average total of 150/4.

KXIP’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammed Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin claimed a wicket each.

In reply, it was Agarwal and Rahul’s outstanding 114-run stand that saw them pull this off comfortably.

Agencies

New Delhi, Apr 4 (UNI) After a disastrous start in the 12th season of IPL, Royal Challengers Bangalore will look for their first win as they face Kolkata Knight Riders in their next match at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Friday.

RCB lost their last game by seven wickets against Rajasthan Royals but skipper Virat Kohli is still hopeful will come out with flying colours in the upcoming matches.

?We have 10 games to go. If we start turning things around pretty soon, then we can get on a roll as well. We have to keep believing as a side. Just four games in, we would have liked one result our way if not two. The Mumbai game and this one, I thought we played well,” RCB skipper Virat Kohli said after the match.

”We just didn’t grab onto our chances, we will like to improve our performance and take a bit of confidence that we were a bit more competitive than the last game,” he added.

Both batting and bowling department has led RCB down in this season of IPL so far.

Batting collapse is the biggest worrying factor for RCB and even captain Kohli’s form hasn’t been up to the mark as compare to his international performance. So far, Virat’s has been batting with an average less than 20 in four games. Parthiv Patel and AB de Villiers are the only batsmen who have batted with an average of 20.

Despite their struggling form, Kohli and de Villiers are very close to achieve new feat in cash-rich game. Kohli is 17 runs away from becoming the second Indian cricketer after Suresh Raina to complete 8,000 in T20 matches while De Villiers is 15 runs away from becoming the second highest T20 run-scorer for RCB. He has 3,406 runs under his belt.

RCB’s bowling department has also been disappointing and they need to work hard on it. Apart from Yuzvendra Chahal, all the other RCB bowlers have failed to take wickets at crucial points of the matches.

On the other hand, KKR won their first two matches in this season before losing their last game in the super over against Delhi Capitals.

Though KKR lost their last game by three runs but their confidence level is still high as their batsmen, including Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Robin Uthappa and Shubhman Gill are in top form.

Russell has been in sensational form with his incredible power-hitting ability that helped KKR to win two matches. Restricting him will be a challenge for RCB bowlers.

However, only concern for KKR is lack of experience in their bowling attack. Sunil Narine sat out of their previous match due to an injury. If Narine is fit enough to play, he will be definitely included in the playing XI.

Last year, KKR defeated RCB in both the matches. In the head to head clash, KKR are ahead with 14 wins to RCB’s nine from 23 matches till date.

KKR is at fourth position with four points in the eight team standings after playing three matches while RCB is at bottom of points table as they are yet to win a game in the ongoing IPL season.

Dubai, Apr 4 British batting star Jos Buttler has finally spoken up on the Mankading controversy between him and Ravichandran Ashwin in Rajasthan Royals’ season-opener against Kings XI Punjab and asserted the third-umpire’s decision was fallacious.
Buttler was mankaded by Kings XI Punjab captain R Ashwin in Royals’ season-opener, and it cost them the match as they fell 14 short of the target. Buttler had been batting on 69 off 43 balls then.

“Of course, a Mankading has to be in the laws of the game, because a batsman can’t just run halfway down the pitch trying to get a headstart,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Buttler as saying.
“But I do think, the way the law is written, there is a bit of a grey area in that saying ‘when a bowler is expected to release the ball’. That is a bit of a wishy-washy statement,” he added.

Pandya thanked all those who have supported him through his tough time.

An on-field injury followed by some controversial statements off the field saw all-rounder Hardik Pandya in the news for all the wrong reasons. But the Mumbai Indians player wants the focus back on his game and was instrumental in helping MI beat Chennai Super Kings by 37 runs at the Wankhede Stadium.

A brilliant 8-ball 25 was followed by bowling figures of 3/20 from his four overs as the all-rounder was rightly handed the Man of the Match award.

Speaking after the game, Pandya thanked all those who have supported him through his tough time.

“The injury happened and then the controversy too. These seven months weren’t easy and I wasn’t sure of what to do. This award is special and I dedicate it to all those who stood by me during those tough times. My goal is to keep performing and hopefully, help India win the World Cup,” he said.

Pandya said he was waiting to get some game time after spending hours at the nets. He also added that he is hitting the ball really well at the moment.

“It feels really good to help the team win and to contribute to it. It’s been seven months since I played much competitive cricket. Have batted and batted and batted in the nets. I am someone who loves to have game time and I am hitting them really well at the moment,” he said.

While Pandya played a cameo at the end, he was well supported by West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard as he hit an unbeaten 17 off just 7 balls. The experienced campaigner said that Pandya was doing a fabulous job for the team.

“Taking into context, the Pandya boys are doing really well. He has a clear mind and has been hitting the ball very well. As a team, we strive on momentum. It’s good for us, we have been batting pretty well, it’s just a matter of improvement,” he said.

On his own little cameo at the end of the MI innings, Pollard said: “Whenever I get a chance, I try to make a difference and contribute to the team.”

Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni has been an iconic figure in both the Indian cricket team as well as for his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise.

Dhoni has guided India to the 2007 T20 World Cup triumph and then led them to the 50-over World Cup win in 2011 to become the first Indian skipper with two world cup victories under his belt.

On the domestic circuit he has been equally influential, guiding Chennai Super Kings to all three of their IPL titles so far. The iconic wicketkeeper-batsman, who is hugely influential as a skipper, is closing on a personal landmark as his side prepare to take on the Mumbai Indians on Wednesday.

Dhoni has amassed 3998 runs in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings and with two more runs against Mumbai Indians, he will become only the second batsman from the Chennai franchise to achieve the 4000-run landmark.

The veteran batsman is second only to Suresh Raina in CSK’s list of all-time run scorers. Raina has amassed 5071 runs from his 174 matches, while Dhoni’s 3998 runs have come from 172 games at a remarkable average of 41.21 and a strike rate of 140.52. He has a highest score of 79 not out.

The 37-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down and helped propel CSK’s total from 115/4 from 17 overs to a remarkable 175/5 with some vintage hitting in the final 3 overs of the match.

With Dhoni striking it so well, he is expected to go past the personal landmark with ease when his side face Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday

Agencies

Virat Kohli’s Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) crashed to their fourth straight defeat after losing by seven wickets to Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on Tuesday. Jos Buttler made 59 and Rahul Tripathi hit the winning runs with a six off the penultimate ball as Rajasthan Royals made 164/3 to secure their first win of the season by seven wickets. Royal Challengers Bangalore are now rock bottom in the eight-team tournament and the only outfit without a win. Becoming increasingly frustrated at RCB’s performances, fans of the Bengaluru-based franchise slammed Virat Kohli for his leadership skills.

Although RCB were undone by their clumsy fielding and dropped catches, fans have also been disappointed with Virat Kohli, who has scored just 78 runs from four innings.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan also ridiculed Bangalore’s tactics. “They look in shambles, the strategy they had pre-tournament has all been ripped. They are just picking tactics out of the hat as they go along.”

However, the Indian skipper is still hopeful that RCB will find their mojo if they win a few close encounters. “The team hasn’t got off to a good start and these things look really bad but we have to keep believing that we can turn things around,” Kohli said.

RCB, who are yet to win an IPL title, ended the last two editions at the sixth and eighth spots despite having top players like Kohli, AB de Villiers and the big-hitting Chris Gayle in their ranks.

Luck has also not been on RCB’s side as an umpiring error led to their loss against Mumbai Indians last week.

All said and done, RCB, who are yet to open their account in 2019, have just 10 games in hand to turn things around and break their IPL jinx.