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T20 tri-series: India beat SL by 6 wkts
India’s Vijay Shankar, second left, celebrates the dismissal of Sri Lankas’ Upul Tharanga during their Twenty20 cricket match in Nidahas triangular series in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (AP/PTI)
2009 IPL probe: Srinivasan crossexamined Mumbai, Mar 13 (Agencies): The adjudication authority cross examined former BCCI president N Srinivasan in connection with transfer of funds from India to South Africa in 2009 for IPL without mandatory permission from RBI. It is alleged that in 2009, BCCI transferred foreign exchange equivalent to Rs 243 crore into the account of Cricket South Africa to organise the tournament there. In 2009, Shashank Manohar was the president of BCCI and N Srinivasan the secretary. Lalit Modi was, at that time, vice-president of BCCI and also the commissioner of IPL. During the cross examination proceedings, Srinivasan’s representative read out his earlier statement where he had mentioned that Modi was also part of the decision-making process related with the transfer of the funds, said a source. Srinivasan said that he was just following the instruction of than BCCI president (Manohar) and the cricket board’s working committee. Modi’s lawyer Mehmood Abdi said, “During the proceeding, Srinivasan tried to put the entire blame on Shashank stating that he was chief functionary of BCCI and everyone was working under him. Shashank is blaming Srinivasan. Modi was not involved in the financial decision-making process of the board or shifting of the IPL matches.”
Nagaland Post, Dimapur WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2018
Man City one step closer to title
Silva (centre) flicks the ball past Butland (right) to double the lead for Manchester City.
L o n d o n, M a r 1 3 (Agencies): David Silva scored twice as Manchester City moved a step closer to the Premier League title with a 2-0 win at Stoke City on Monday night. Man City broke the deadlock after just 10 minutes at the bet365 Stadium thanks to Silva’s neat sidefooted finish. The Spain midfielder then doubled the visitors’ advantage, converting after a lovely move five minutes into the second half. As a result, Pep Guardiola’s side will now win the Premier League by beating Everton and second-placed Manchester United in their next two fixtures. Stoke, meanwhile, remain in the relegation zone and a point from safety with just eight games left of the season. The championselect made the perfect start to proceedings, taking an early lead thanks to yet another brilliant team goals
that began with Vincent Kompany at the back. Man City’s captain fed the returning Fernandinho in midfield and, after a slick exchange of passes involving Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling, the England forward’s right-wing cross was swept home by Silva’s composed finish, although Jack Butland may have done better in Stoke’s goal. Stoke huffed and puffed in the first half, but the closest the hosts came to equalising was when Xherdan Shaqiri’s quick feet saw the Swiss get free to the byline on the right, only for Fernandinho to crucially deflect Badou Ndiaye’s goal-bound shot just past the far post. The visitors made Stoke pay for that miss when Silva scored his second of the night after 50 minutes, and his eighth league goal of the campaign, as Paul Lambert’s team were again undone by a breathtaking goal.
Fernandinho picked out the Spain international, who then found Jesus lurking just outside the box, with the forward’s lovely return pass allowing Silva to hook the ball over the advancing Butland to give Man City breathing space. Man City moved up a further gear and were unlucky not to add more goals in the final quarter, but a combination of poor finishing, excellent goalkeeping and bad luck denied both Sterling and the impressive Leroy Sane. Not that that mattered, and with Man City having now collected 81 points from their 30 league games this season, they have now equalled Leicester City’s total as champions three years ago. Manchester City will now travel to Goodison Park to take on Everton on March 31 followed by Manchester United at the Etihad on April 7.
good start. The first one to go was Raina in the seventh over. His time at the crease was cut short by Nuwan Pradeep when scoreboard was reading 62 runs. Three overs later, Rahul got hit-wicket off Jeevan Mendis. But after that, Manish Pandey (42) and Dinesh Karthik (39) played sensibly and made sure that their team overhaul the target without any more hiccups. Together they forged an unbeaten 68-run partnership. For Sri Lanka, Akila Dananjaya took two wickets. Earlier, put in to bat, Sri Lanka posted 152/9. The hosts lost their wickets at regular intervals. Apart from opener Kusal Men-
dis (55), no other batsmen contributed handsomely. The hosts started on a steady note but when scoreboard was reading 25 runs in three overs, opener Danushka Gunathilaka (17) was dismissed by pacer Shardul Thakur. Incoming batsmen Kusal Perera (3) also failed this time and was sent packing cheaply by leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in the very next over. With scoreboard reading 34/2, Mendis and new batsman Upul Tharanga (22) joined hands and forged a 58-run partnership to stabilise the innings. Ju s t w h e n t h i n g s seemed good in the middle, Tharanga was sent back by pacer Vijay Shankar in the 11th over, making the score
read 96/3. Skipper Thisara Perera (15) also failed to rise to the occasion and gifted away his wicket to Thakur when he was needed the most. Lower middle-order batsmen Jeevan Mendis (5), Dasun Shanaka (19), Akila Dananjaya (5) tried to score quickly towards the end but could not provide the finish Sri Lanka wanted. For India, Thakur scalped four wickets while Washington Sundar took two wickets. Brief scores: Sri Lanka 152/9 (Kusal Mendis 55, Shardul Thakur 4/27); India 153/4 (Manish Pandey 42 not out, Dinesh Karthik 39 not out, Akila Dananjaya 2/19)
Southampton fire coach Mauricio Pellegrino
Record ticket sales for 2018 Winter Paralympics
Roger Federer rolls into Indian Wells fourth round
Colombo, Mar 13 (IANS): A combined effort helped India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the fourth match of the Nidahas Trophy Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket tri-series at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium here on Monday. Chasing 152/9 target in a match which was curtailed to 19 overs due to rain, Rohit Sharma (11) and Shikhar Dhawan (8) could not provide the start India wanted. The duo was sent back to the pavilion in the fourth over with only 22 runs on board. New batsmen Lokesh Rahul (18) and Suresh Raina (27), who were looking good at the crease, were dismissed after getting a
Mauricio Pellegrino
L o n d o n, M a r 1 3 (IANS): English football club Southampton has announced the sacking of coach Mauricio Pellegrino, who joined the EPL side in June 2017. The Argentine manager came to England after a fairly successful run with Spain’s Alaves, but Southampton sit 17th in the EPL, just one point above the relegation zone with eight matches to play. News of Pellegrino’s dismissal on Monday follows the Saints’ 0-3 loss last weekend away to Newcastle United, their fourth consecutive league match without a victory. Southampton have won only once in their last 17 EPL outings, though
the team have qualified for the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Two of Pellegrino’s top assistants, Carlos Compagnucci and Xavier Tamarit, were also let go. “We would like to place on record our thanks to Mauricio, Carlos and Xavier for their efforts during their time with Southampton, and wish them well for the future,” the club said in a brief statement. “The club will look to appoint a new management team as soon as possible, with the search for a replacement already underway,” Southampton said. Some observers were surprised when Southampton fired manager Claude Puel last summer after he guided the team to an eighthplace finish in the EPL and to the final of the EFL Cup, where they lost 2-3 to Manchester United. U n d e r Pe l l e g r i n o, Alaves finished ninth in La Liga and played in their first-ever Copa del Rey final, losing 1-3 to Barcelona.
PyeongChang, Mar 13 (IANS): Ticket sales for the PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games in South Korea have reached 320,531, beating the record set four years ago in the 2014 Sochi Games, when 316,200 tickets were sold, according to the International Paralympic Committee. The opening ceremony on Friday was witnessed by 21,000 people and 105,966 people bought tickets for the first three days of the event. “It is fantastic news that PyeongChang 2018 has now sold a record number of tickets to the Paralympic Winter Games, beating the record previously set in Sochi,” International Paralympics Committee President Andrew Parsons said. With just six days to go for the event to conclude, the PyeongChang Organising Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Games (POCOG), sold 90 percent of the tickets for all the remaining sessions.
INDIAN WELLS, Mar 13 (Agencies): World number one Roger Federer stepped up his bid for a sixth Indian Wells Masters title with a 6-2, 6-1 demolition of Filip Krajinovic on Monday. The 36-year-old marvel continues to defy the ageing process as he needed just 58 minutes to overpower the Serb with a brilliant display of Swiss timing. “I was feeling like he was not loving my slice and I was also mixing in dropshots,” said Federer, who extended his perfect record this season to 14-0. “I was able to mix up my game nicely, make it difficult for him. At the same time, have fun with my game, play a variation, but for the most part try to stay on the offensive.” Federer blasted six aces, had one double fault and won 89 percent of his first serve points, losing just three points on his serve the entire match. “I actually was explosive out there today and I felt good,” he said. “So I’m
Roger Federer returns a shot to Filip Krajinovic at the BNP Paribas Open in California.
very happy how things are turning out to be.” Federer, who is the defending champion and trying to win a record sixth title in the California desert, was on the centre stadium for the third day in a row. His opening match on Saturday night against Federico Delbonis carried over into Sunday afternoon after heavy rains forced a postponement of several night matches. He said playing matches three days in a row doesn’t faze him. “You’ve got to be ready for it. It’s what tennis players do. We wait, we play, we
wait again, we play again,” Federer said. The 26-year-old Krajinovic struggled mightily against Federer in their first ever career meeting. “I still think he can play much better than he did today,” Federer said. “Maybe it was because it was the first time he ever played against me. Who knows why his level wasn’t able go higher than today.” Federer has already won two titles in 2018, claiming his 20th Grand Slam crown by winning the Australian Open in January. The other victory came in Rotterdam.
In the next round, he faces Jeremy Chardy, who beat fellow Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.
Venus defeats sister Serena
Venus Williams beat sister Serena 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 27 minutes on Tuesday to reach the round of 16 in the Indian Wells tennis tournament, where she will now play against Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova. The elder Williams sister reached the pre-quarterfinals after clocking her 12th win in the 29th match
with her sister, although this was her first victory over Serena since 2014. Venus had dominated the first set and broke Serena’s serve and set the tone of the match, keeping intact a noticeable trend in matches they have played against each other. Among the Williams sisters, the one who had won the first set, was the one who had won 24 out of the 28 matches between them. Serena was a mere shadow of her past self and managed to win just 54 percent of her first serve points in the first set. Venus seemed to be cruising to victory in the second set after getting a 3-0 lead early on, but Serena, who was playing her first official tournament since giving birth in September 2017, fought back to take the score to 4-5. H o w e v e r, Ve n u s held on to her advantage and beat her sister in two straight sets for the first time since the 2008 Wimbledon final.
Rabada banned for rest of series vs Aus
Port Elizabeth, Mar 13 (Agencies): South Africa paceman Kagiso Rabada has been banned for the rest of the Test series against Australia. Rabada won the manof-the-match award as South Africa won the second Test in Port Elizabeth to level the four-match series at 1-1. But the 22-year-old has been also found guilty of two ICC charges of misconduct for aggressive wicket celebrations during the match. Rabada’s first offence, of intentionally bumping into Australia captain Steve Smith after dismissing him in the first innings, earned the young quick a fine of 50 per cent of his match fee and three demerit points, which took him over a disciplinary threshold. That led to an automatic two-Test ban, although Cricket South Africa is seek-
Kagiso Rabada
ing legal counsel over a possible appeal As it stands, Rabada will miss the decisive tests in Cape Town and Johannesburg, having taken 11 wickets at St George’s Park as South Africa won an exciting match by six wickets. Rabada contested the first charge, claiming the contact with Smith was unintentional.
But he pleaded guilty to a second charge of provoking Australia batsman David Warner, when he screamed in Warner’s face after dismissing him in the second innings. That incident cost Rabada a further 15 per cent of his match fee and an additional demerit point. Before the verdict was announced, a remorseful Rabada said, “It’s going to have to stop. I’m letting the team down and letting myself down. I won’t change the way I express myself but I will get far away from the batter.” “I would have loved to be playing in the next game, especially coming off a performance like that. I felt really good in this Test match. If I do get banned, I will have to see it as a big learning curve and not repeat the same mistake.”
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