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India pummeled Sri Lanka to register their biggest win in T20 internationals at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Wednesday. The Indians beat Sri Lanka by 93 runs. After posting a satisfactory 180 on board, the hosts tumbled the Lankans for 87 to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Being put to bat first, KL Rahul fired upfront for India despite the early loss of KL Rahul. Shreyas Iyer played a decent cameo before Lanka bounced back by dismissing both the batsmen. The visitors looked like they could keep India quiet, but MS Dhoni and Manish Pandey had other plans. The two fired around the park to steer India to a big first innings total.

In reply, the Lankans also started on a good note but a few couple of wickets were enough to take the game away from them. The batting attack looked toothless and did not pose any sort of threat to the Indian bowlers. Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 23-4, while Hardik Pandya also scalped 3 wickets for 29 runs.

Smarting from Rohit Sharma's onslaught, Sri Lanka skipper Thisara Perera today said they were well prepared for the ODI series decider against India and would look to do "something special" in conditions similar to those back home. 

The islanders ' three-match ODI series against hosts India is tied 1-1.

"Definitely, Vizag is similar to Sri Lanka when it comes to weather and stuff. Mohali and Dharamsala were completely different. It was a total different story. We are well prepared. Here I hope we will be able to do something special as this is something similar to what we find at home," he told reporters on the eve of the match.

Perera said the team had a couple of training sessions and prepared well and they were taking it like just another game.

"We had a good couple of training sessions. We are well prepared for the game ahead," he added.

About India being under pressure ahead of the final game, he said it is the best team in the world and could be under some sort of pressure.

"From our side we take it as just another game. Not thinking too much as to whether the series is at stake or whatever. We want to play just another game. India are the best team in the world and I am sure they will be under some sort of pressure," the Lanka skipper added.

Perera said the team management had not finalised the playing XI as yet and said they would take a call after looking at the wicket tomorrow.

"We will take a look at the wicket and stick to a 12-man squad and decide tomorrow," he said.

He played down the defeat in Mohali and the onslaught from India captain Rohit Sharma, backing his bowlers to bounce back.

"Our bowling didn't click and that was disappointing. But these things happen in cricket. We want to put that game aside and bounce back. We have some plans for Rohit and for Shikhar Dhawan and now it is up to our bowlers to execute those plans. We will see what happens tomorrow," Perera said.

"Mentally we are all prepared. That is why I said that these things happen in cricket. We will not repeat these mistakes. First match we won, then they bounced back and we want to put our mistakes to rest and bounce back again," the big-hitting all-rounder said.

As for the pitch, he said, it looked a bit dry and expected it to be on the slower side.

"Took a look at the pitch, it looks to me a bit dry. Past matches there has been only one high scoring game. Today and yesterday there’s been good sunshine and I am sure there will be turn and the wicket will be slow," the Lanka captain said.

He said the plan was to take early wickets and capitalise on the batting line-up that was without Virat Kohli. It worked in Dharamsala but didn't in Mohali and expected the bowlers to deliver the goods in tomorrow's game.

"If you see we took two early wickets in Dharamsala and that enabled us to put more pressure on the Indian side. Their middle and lower order all of a sudden was under pressure. Our plan in to take early wickets in the first 20 overs and that will help us to put pressure on the opposition," Perera said.

"We had a good chat yesterday. These things happen. Those two guys (Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep) bowled really well in the first game , but failed to execute those plans in the second game. We have spoken about it and I am pretty certain they will delivery in tomorrow's game," he added.

Source: PTI

Pic: Hindustan Times

The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board has offered newly selected Sri Lanka Cricket coach Chandika Hathurusingha a deal worth over Rs. 6 Million a month according to the Sunday Leader.

Hathurusingha's package is higher than that which was received by former Sri Lanka Cricket coach Graham Ford who received between LKR 1-2 million a month.

Sources said that the deal was approved by the President of the cricket board Thilanga Sumathipala.

According to sources, Hathurusingha was not in good terms with the Bangladesh cricket team as head coach at the time he was approached by the Sri Lanka Cricket board.

Hathurusingha had negotiated the deal with Sri Lanka and Sumathipala had then negotiated with the Bangladesh cricket board to release him from his contract with Bangladesh.

Thirty years after the Jamaican bobsled team captured hearts around the world, three women from Nigeria stand on the brink of making history of their own in the same event.

Driver Seun Adigun and brakewomen Akuoma Omeoga, Ngozi Onwumere have qualified for Pyeongchang 2018, ensuring an African nation will be represented in the sport at the Winter Olympics for the first time ever.

Despite numerous success stories in the summer Games -- notably gold in the men's football at Atlanta 1996 --, no Nigerian has ever competed in a Winter Olympic event before.

Now, after completing all five qualifying races, the Nigerian women's bobsled team are on their way to South Korea in February.

"Ecstatic to say the least!" posted the Bobsled & Skeleton Sports Federation of Nigeria (BSFN). "To see a mere dream come to reality is a true blessing."

"Their hard work was inspiring and I hope Nigerians can appreciate what it took for them to achieve this," said BSFN president Solomon Ogba.

"They are all very successful people in their own right -- in sports and out of it, and somehow they are still motivated and still push for more success.

"I have watched them train and work hard to represent Nigeria at the Winter Olympics in a very technical and high-risk sport and they have achieved that."

Away from the ice, all three have been professional track and field athletes in their time.

Adigun, who once dreamed of becoming the first woman in the NBA, enjoyed particular success in the 100m hurdles, winning the national championships on multiple occasions and representing Nigeria at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

 Now they go where no Nigerians have gone before.

"We are from a continent that would never imagine sliding down the ice at 80 or 90 miles per hour," Adigun told the BBC in March. "I find the idea of getting people to take to that inspiring in itself."

Compatriot Simi Adeagbo, a four-time NCAA All American and triple jump school record holder, is aiming to compete in the skeleton.

Source: CNN

Brazil legend Kaka has announced his retirement from football at the age of 35.

The former AC Milan and Real Madrid midfielder revealed his decision on social media, more than two months after playing his last match for Orlando City.

"It was much more than I could have ever imagined," Kaka wrote. "Thank you! I'm now ready for the next journey."

Capped 95 times for his country, Kaka was a part of the Brazil squad that won the 2002 World Cup and was voted the FIFA world player of the year in 2007.

He began his career at Sao Paulo in 2001, but it was at AC Milan - whom he joined in 2003 - where he left his greatest mark.

In a glittering six-year spell, he led the Italian club to the 2003-04 Scudetto, the 2004 Supercoppa Italiana, the 2007 UEFA Super Cup, the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2006-07 Champions League title.

Kaka moved to Real Madrid in 2009 for 67 million euros, and although he never quite reached the heights of his Milan years, he helped the Spanish club to the 2010-11 Copa del Rey and the 2011-12 La Liga title.

The playmaker returned to Milan for the 2013-14 season and enjoyed a successful five-month loan spell with Sao Paulo before finishing his career at Orlando City.

Source : Xhihua

Serena Williams will be ready to make her tennis comeback at the Australian Open with her return to Melbourne for the season's opening Grand Slam "very likely", organisers said Wednesday.

Williams, 36, won this year's Australian Open while pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl in September. She has not played a competition since, raising questions over whether the 23-time Grand Slam winner would attempt to defend her title next month.

But tournament director Craig Tiley is optimistic she will return for a crack at her seventh Melbourne Park crown after marrying Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian last month.

"She's got her visa, she's entered, she's practising and she's probably just got to find a bit more space for a bigger entourage," Melbourne's Herald Sun quoted him as saying.

"There's no question that she'll be ready in our view and she wants to break a record that is Margaret Court's. It would be a pretty significant accomplishment for her to be able to do that."

Australian Court has 24 major titles, making her the most successful player in Grand Slam history.

Tiley described the Australian Open, which will be held from January 15-28, as a "family-friendly event".

"We've had this before. Roger Federer travels with his four kids and we are a family-friendly event," he said, referring to Williams and her baby.

Sri Lanka were spun around in Visakhapatnam, so starkly that if they were a cartoon character, they would have seen little Kuldeep Yadavs and Yuzvendra Chahals dancing in a circle over their heads. Then out came Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan to knock them out. Chases of 216 are often one-sided and when it was done, India emerged with their eighth straight series victory in ODIs – matching a world-beating Australian side in 2000s and second only to the legendary West Indians in 1980s.

Poor Upul Tharanga watched it all happen – though the temptation to find a quiet corner to bang his head against the wall must have been strong – having made a virtually flawless 95 off 82 balls. As opener, he gave his team a rapid start, hitting five successive boundaries in the ninth over. As senior player, he did all he could to bat as long as possible. So long as he was in the middle, Sri Lanka had a good chance at scoring over 300 and securing their first series win in India. As soon as he fell – stumped by an absolute pearler from Kuldeep – a collapse ensured. There were eight wickets for only 55 runs.

Now, there were no demons in the pitch. But the same could not be said of a certain 23-year old in only his first year of international cricket. India waited until the end of the Powerplay to deploy Kuldeep. And his control of line and length, through a 10-over spell that cost only 42 runs and reaped three wickets, was quite remarkable. The standout though was his bowling slow through the air, backing himself to beat batsmen with dip and drift.

His faith wasn’t misplaced. Tharanga, getting into all the right positions until that point, was drawn into a cover drive. He had every reason to play the shot, with the ball wide outside off and nicely tossed up. But the thing dipped, then turned sharply enough to beat the bat of a man five short of a hundred. MS Dhoni did the rest.

Then there was Chahal, who isn’t quite as big a turner of the ball, but is fast becoming India’s best weapon against an attacking batsman. Earlier in the season, he made Glenn Maxwell spontaneously combust by bowling wide of his reach. The same ploy worked against Sadeera Samarawickrama, brought in for this game at the expense of Lahiru Thirimanne.

The swap was, at first, working splendidly with Sri Lanka’s second wicket contributing 121 runs at 6.42 per over and Samarawickrama prospering by coming down the track every second or third ball he faced from the spinner. As wedded as he was to that gameplan, his shot selection was very good; nothing rash, or against the turn. In fact, he was one of the few batsmen who picked the googly, once smashing Kuldeep to the long-off boundary and looking a million dollars doing it. But against Chahal, much like others before him, he went after a wide one, without reaching the pitch of it, and was caught off a bit of an outside edge for 42.

A series decider, and one played against a team which owns its backyard the same way as Mitchell Starc owned James Vince’s off stump, requires each member of the XI to stand up and make themselves count. Sri Lanka, however, were stuck with nine men who could not get past a score of 20.

That made life quite easy for India’s batsmen. Even after they lost captain Rohit Sharma to a peach of a googly from Akila Dananjaya in the fourth over of the chase.

Dhawan found fluency pulling Suranga Lakmal wide of mid-on. Matching the audacity of that shot were cover-driven fours off perfectly good length balls and a square cut so brutal it zipped through the hands of short point before he knew what was happening. He finished 100 not out and in the process became the second-fastest Indian to 4000 ODI runs, behind Virat Kohli.

More pleasing for India would have been Iyer’s display. He is sometimes squared up by an outswing bowler, throwing up tantalising leading edges, but bowl too close to his body or even a little wide of off stump, and he is a natural at the cut and flick shot. Additionally, he seems to read length so very early, especially against spin. There was one shot that typified this. In the 18th over, when Sri Lanka brought Dananjaya back, their best source of a wicket, for a new spell, he got back and across to a good-length ball in line with the stumps, and with a straight bat, punched a couple through midwicket.

The dominance of a team in home conditions is the norm in all kinds of sport, but a stretch of 15 successive bilateral series, across formats, without a single loss, is still rather astonishing. This is India’s position in world cricket right now, brimming with talent that knows how to make the most of sub-continent conditions. Remarkably, they come into the side well equipped for top-flight cricket. Three of their four match-winners on Sunday, for example, were less than two years old at international level.

Tennis star Roger Federer has won the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year for a record fourth time after a public vote.

The 36-year-old Swiss topped the poll ahead of five other shortlisted nominees.
Federer became the first man to win Wimbledon eight times and extended his record to 19 Grand Slam titles in 2017.

Boxer Muhammad Ali and athlete Usain Bolt are the only other people to have won the BBC award three times.

He was shortlisted by an expert panel this year alongside Tom Brady (American football), Katie Ledecky (swimming), Tatyana McFadden (Para-athletics), Sally Pearson (athletics) and Michael van Gerwen (darts).

At 35, victory over Croatia's Marin Cilic made Federer the oldest man in the Open era to claim the Wimbledon singles title.

Earlier in the year, he returned from six months off to recover from a knee injury and won the Australian Open with a five-set victory in the Melbourne final over old rival Rafael Nadal.

Former South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has been hurt in a prison brawl, less than two weeks after his sentence for the killing of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was more than doubled.

The disgraced Paralympian was allegedly involved in a fight over the use of a public phone, a prison department spokesman told the BBC.

Pistorius, jailed for 13 years and five months, sustained a bruise, he added.

No other serious injuries were reported, the spokesman said.

"It is alleged that he was involved in an altercation with another inmate over the use of a public phone in the special care unit where both offenders are detained at Attridgeville Correctional Centre," the spokesman, Singabakho Nxumalo, added.

The department has launched an investigation, in terms of standard procedure, to "establish the facts and to ensure that appropriate action is taken as incidents of assaults are not allowed", he said.

The brawl took place on 6 December, 10 days after South African prosecutors successfully argued Pistorius' "shockingly light" six-year sentence should be increased.

In November, the Supreme Court of Appeal gave Pistorius the minimum 15 years prescribed for murder in South Africa, less time already served.

Pistorius was initially found guilty of manslaughter after he claimed he shot Ms Steenkamp dead through a locked bathroom door having mistaken her for a burglar in the early hours of Valentine's Day in 2013.

But the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the ruling in 2015 and found him guilty of murder.

The six-time Paralympic gold medallist had made history by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics, in 2012 in London, running on prosthetic "blades".

He had his legs amputated below the knee as a baby.

Mohali, India (AP) Rohit Sharma hit his third double hundred in ODI cricket Wednesday as India beat Sri Lanka by 141 runs and leveled the three-match series at 1-1.

Riding Sharma’s 208 not out, India scored 392-4 and later restricted Sri Lanka to 251-8. Angelo Mathews’ knock of 111 not out went in vain.

Chasing an improbable 393, Sri Lanka made a poor start and lost openers Danushka Gunathilaka (16) and Upul Tharanga (7) early.

The visitors were reduced to 62-3 when Washington Sundar (1-65) bowled Upul Tharanga (7) in the 16th over.

Mathews found support in Niroshan Dickwella (22) and put on 53 runs with him for the fourth wicket. Later, he added 44 runs with Asela Gunaratne (34) for the fifth wicket.

Yuzvendra Chahal (3-60) accounted for both Dickwella and Gunaratne, extinguishing any hopes of an unlikely chase.

Mathews reached his second ODI hundred off 122 balls, but didn’t get much support from the lower order to even have a go at the target.

That was after Sharma hit 13 fours and 12 sixes off 153 balls. His 208 runs was the highest individual ODI score in Mohali, beating Virat Kohli’s 154 not out against New Zealand in 2016.

Sharma’s two earlier double hundreds were 209 against Australia in Bengaluru in 2013 and 264 against Sri Lanka in Kolkata in 2014.

Put into bat, Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan (68) put on 115 runs for the first wicket. Dhawan fell to Sachith Pathirana (1-63) in the 22nd over after scoring his 23rd ODI half-century off 47 balls.

Thereafter, Sharma and Shreyas Iyer (88) put on 213 runs. It was the highest second wicket stand at the ground in Mohali, improving on 173 runs by Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir against Pakistan in 2007.

Sharma reached his half-century off 65 balls. Iyer then scored his maiden ODI half-century off 50 balls. Together, they pushed India past 300 in the 44th over.

The stand-in skipper then scored his 16th ODI century off 115 balls. He is now fourth in the list of all-time Indian batsmen in terms of hundreds, after Tendulkar (49), Kohli (32) and Sourav Ganguly (22).

Iyer fell in the 46th over, caught in the deep off Thisara Perera (3-80). The latter also accounted for MS Dhoni (7), trapping him lbw two overs later.

Sharma, at the other end, unleashed a plethora of sixes as he scored the next hundred runs off only 36 balls. He got to the milestone off 151 balls.

Eighty-one runs came in the last five overs. That was the highest ODI total at the ground in Mohali after South Africa’s 351-5 in 2011. India’s previous highest total was 321-9 against Pakistan in 2007.

Pic: Hindustan Times

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Sri Lankan Anura Rohana followed up his stunning second-round 10-under 61 with a top-class five-under-66 in round three of the 16th TATA Open 2017 to storm into a three-shot lead on an extremely windy day at the Golmuri Golf Course here on Saturday.

Kolkata's Raju Ali Mollah was on track to revive his 2017 season as his three-under 68 took him to second place at 14-under-199 -- three strokes behind Rohana at the Rs. 1 crore event.

Rohana s (69-61-66) occupying tied second and one off the lead at the start of the day scored early birdies on the second and fourth to contend for the lead. But a couple of missed opportunities from close range cost him bogeys on the fifth and sixth.

The 44-year-old Anura a four-time winner on the PGTI then began his recovery with a birdie on the ninth. He followed that up with four more on the back-nine to achieve his target for the day a five-under.

Rohana who won on the PGTI earlier this year said, "I came back well after the two bogeys on the front-nine to end the day at 17-under which was my goal at the start of the round. I m happy that I have a three-shot cushion going into the final round considering that today was a tough day for scoring due to the wind.

"The birdie on the 17th was my best today. The 20-feet conversion on the 17th gave me a lot of confidence and will help me begin the last round in a positive frame of mind.

"The plan for round four is that I ll look for a score of four to five under to set up a good chance of winning. However I ll try to play steady on the front-nine and then assess the situation at the turn " added Anura who is currently in 12th place on the PGTI Order of Merit.

Kolkata s Raju Ali Mollah (66-65-68) made a move from overnight fourth to second place as a result of his solid 68. Raju s brilliant third round saw him make a tap-in for eagle on the second followed by three birdies and two bogeys.

The 40-year-old Raju a former winner on the PGTI has had a quiet season with just one top-10 out of 14 starts to be placed 67th on the Order of Merit. Mollah s performance at Jamshedpur has somewhat rescued his season as he is now likely to retain his tour card by finishing inside the top-60.

Noida golfer Vikrant Chopra s bogey-free 64 the best score of the day helped him close the penultimate round in tied third place at 13-under 200 total along with Om Prakash Chouhan (65) of Mhow and Delhi s Shamim Khan (67).

Chandigarh s Abhijit Singh Chadha the second round leader dropped to tied 10th place at 10-under-203 after a round of 74 on Saturday.

Pic: IANS

Former world number one and two-time champion Victoria Azarenka has been given an Australian Open wildcard.

The 28-year-old pulled out of the US Open and Belarus' Davis Cup final earlier this year because of a custody dispute over her young son. "Vika's current situation is obviously very difficult for her. We have reached out to offer any support we can," said tournament director Craig Tiley.

Azarenka is ranked 201 in the world and has not played since Wimbledon.

The champion in 2012 and 2013 at Melbourne Park, Azarenka has claimed that a judge in California has not allowed her to travel outside of California with 11-month old Leo while a legal case is ongoing.

"I'm so excited about coming back to Melbourne for the Australian Open, it's my favourite tournament," Azarenka said.

"I've won there twice and always feel so comfortable on the court and the city is great." Azarenka has already received a wildcard to the WTA event in Auckland where she will begin her 2018 season.

The Australian Open begins on 15 January.

Source : BBC
Pic Source : NY Times