sportslover

India wrapped up the four-match series against Australia and their marathon Test season of 17 Tests in fine fashion, as their batsmen chased down the target of 106 with eight wickets to spare on the fourth day in Dharamsala on Tuesday (March 28). KL Rahul laid the base for the win with a finely-crafted fifty while Ajinkya Rahane, in his first Test as captain, gave India a finishing touch that they would've have wanted with a brutal 28-ball 37, completing a fine turnaround after their crushing loss in Pune in the first Test. As a result, India won the series 2-1, regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and ending the season as the top-ranked Test team in the world in a season that ended with 12 wins, four draws and a solitary defeat - an amazing phase that they will look back with immense pride. India had put in a splendid bowling effort on the third day to dismiss Australia for 137. Needing 106 to complete a series victory, Murali Vijay and Rahul held on to their wickets for mor

After congratulating Team India for winning the Test series 2-1 against Australia, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced cash awards for its players. The BCCI announced that each member of the Test side would receive Rs 50 lakh for the “historic Test series win” against Australia. Head coach Anil Kumble will get Rs 25 lakh while the other members of the support staff will also get richer by Rs 15 lakh each. The home side took a stranglehold on the 4th Test match by dismissing Australia for just 137 in their second innings, leaving them just 106 for victory. Apart from a few hiccups in the first hour of play on day four, India cruised to victory courtesy of a fine innings by KL Rahul and an aggressive batting display by captain Ajinkya Rahane. Courtesy of the win India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Meanwhile, India have had a terrific home season and their domination in Test cricket in the past couple of years have led them to rise to number one spot in

India beat Myanmar 1-0 in their 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifier to start their campaign with a win and three points in the bag. A 90th-minute winner from Sunil Chhetri who started a counter-attack and finished it iff with a great run and assist from Udanta Singh saw the Blue Tigers top Group A which also includes Kyrgyzstan and Macau.

Agnieszka Radwanska, a former Wimbledon finalist nicknamed “The Ninja” because of her trick shots, has struck a multi-year deal with Lotos, Poland’s biggest oil and gas producer. Agnieszka Radwanska, a former Wimbledon finalist nicknamed “The Ninja” because of her trick shots, has struck a multi-year deal with Lotos, Poland’s biggest oil and gas producer. Agnieszka Radwanska, seen here at this week's Miami Open, is one of Poland's most popular athletes. (Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) The world No. 8 from Krakow, Poland will become an official ambassador for Lotos and wear the company patch on her visor during events on the women’s WTA Tour, her management company IMG said in an emailed statement. It's the first tennis sponsorship for Lotos, which is also an endorser of the Polish national soccer team. Radwanska, 28, is a big star in her home country. Her vast array of unusual strokes have earned her nicknames including “The Professor” and “The Ninja.” S

Carolina Marin has achieved all her sporting ambitions as listed on her profile page on the Badminton World Federation website - "Get a medal at the Olympic Games, be a World Champion and European Champion, and to become world No. 1." Yet when asked if she has any other ambitions to seek, the 23-year-old's answer came without hesitation: "More." Speaking to The Straits Times yesterday on the sidelines of the Primera Liga's launch of their regional hub office here, the Spaniard said: "(I just want) to get more and more - more tournaments and titles." The world No. 4's pursuit of "more" will continue at next month's OUE Singapore Open at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. She was the top-ranked player at last year's edition, but fell to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 13-21, 21-18, 21-18 in the quarter-finals. Marin will enter this year's tournament as an Olympic champion, following her triumph at the 2016 Rio Games, yet

Constantly in tennis there is talk about ways to speed up matches. This month, the ITF board approved an idea to make Davis Cup matches two-out-of-three sets long, a proposal that will be voted on at the organization’s annual meeting in August. A recent Sports Illustrated article proposed doing away with ball-bouncing before serves. And for years, there has been talk about playing let serves, a step already in place in Mylan World Team Tennis and the college game. Much as I love the traditions of tennis, I’m also a child of tennis boom, of tiebreakers, yellow balls, multi-colored clothing and further innovations. But I’ll admit to being uncertain about many of these proposed ideas. A few thoughts: When it comes to eliminating five-set matches – particularly in a one-off weekend such as Davis Cup – I’m torn. One of the most dramatic things in tennis is to watch a player try to finish off an opponent in five sets – only to see it then head to an even more dramatic fifth set. T

Australia skipper confident India can cover the potential loss of Kohli in the fourth Test Australia captain Steve Smith has no doubt Ajinkya Rahane will be able to adequately lead India in the final Test should captain Virat Kohli be ruled out through injury. Kohli will need to pass a fitness Test on his injured right shoulder in order to play in the series-decider in Dharamsala, with youngster Shreyas Iyer called in as cover. When Kohli left the field after falling heavily attempting to prevent a boundary midway through the opening day of the third Test in Ranchi, Rahane, as vice-captain, was instilled as the interim skipper for the next 89 overs.  Australia were bowled out for 451 under Rahane’s watch but Kohli returned in Australia’s second innings, barely fielding a ball at first slip during the visitors’ 100 overs at the crease. With Kohli racing against the clock to be fit for perhaps the biggest Test of his career, Smith expects Rahane to once again fill in as his counterpar

MANILA, Philippines — The Beach Volleyball Republic (BVR) takes its act to La Union for the fourth leg of its 2017 series. Sixteen teams will compete in the men's and women's divisions at Kahuna Beach Resort in San Juan municipality, La Union, on April 1 and 2. Two pairs composed of BVR founders University of Santo Tomas, PNP-Davao, Air Force, San Beda, and University of Perpetual Help-Delta will vie for supremacy in the women's division. Meanwhile, teams from UST, Far Eastern University, Cebu, Air Force, Navy, Bacolod, Perpetual Help, and Lyceum Philippines University will battle in the men's division. Read: Gervacio and Gormley win epic BVR Lakawon Island final BVR on Tour has already held tournaments in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur; Dagupan, Pangasinan; and Lakawon Island, Negros Occidental in the first three legs. After the La Union stop, BVR will head to the Visayas in May, then to Ilocos Norte before the culminating tournament in June. Winners of the first leg w

Members of Utah's gymnastics team will get back to work in the coming days to prepare for the NCAA regionals on April 1 after a few days of rest and light work to let their bodies recover. The fourth-ranked Utes are the top seed in the Fayetteville, Ark., regional, where they will compete against No. 9 Denver, No. 16 Cal, No. 21 Auburn, No. 27 Arkansas and No. 28 Central Michigan. The Utes, who won the Pac-12 title with a season-high 197.925, continue to put their focus on clean landings, the one area in which they feel they can improve, Utah co-coach Megan Marsden said. The Utes are using practice competitions and other means to focus on the landings. "They enjoy competition among themselves, and it helps to have a reason and purpose at this point in the year to keep it fresh," Marsden said. The good news is the Utes feel they can focus on the details because their training has been solid throughout the season. If anything, the coaches are toeing the line bet

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) signed a partnership agreement with ZA Sport by Moscow-based designer Anastasia Zadorina after ending its longtime cooperation with sports brand Bosco. The agreement makes Zadorina responsible for the Russian Olympic team's outfits for the next eight years, including for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea’s PyeongChang. "Thanks to the ROC’s wise marketing strategy, we are getting many serious partners. We are glad that ZA Group, which intends to develop simultaneously with the Russian Olymic team, is among them. They are set to create a uniform that will take into account to all requirements by our athletes," ROC chief Alexander Zhukov said during the ceremony. "I’m sure that it will play a major part in promoting the Olympic movement and in creating a positive image of the Russian sports," he added. From 2002 to 2016, sport uniforms for the Russian Olympic team were designed by Russian sports brand Bosco. &qu

A first-round tennis match at the Miami Open in Florida was delayed on Wednesday due to a surprise visitor. Jiri Vesely from the Czech Republic was playing against Tommy Haas of Germany when he noticed an iguana. The large lizard seemed to enjoy his view from the top of the scoreboard at courtside. Vesely asked the umpire to stop play and try to remove the iguana. The umpire told Vesely he would not stop the match unless the iguana ran onto the playing surface. He said “If it’s like that, on the scoreboard, I don’t think it’s going to bother you, Jiri.” Vesely disagreed. The umpire said: “forget about it, it’s not a dangerous animal.” During their conversation, Haas, a former second-ranked player in the world, went over to the iguana and took a selfie.

Imran Tahir, the world’s No.1 bowler in ODIs and T20Is, has been roped in to replace the injured Mitchell Marsh by the Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) for the upcoming edition of the IPL Tahir had been unsold in the auctions that took place last month.The 37-year old South African, who has taken 54 wickets from 31 T20Is, was part of the Delhi Daredevils side until last season. In 2015, Tahir was the highest wicket-taker for Delhi, joint with Nathan Coulter-Nile. He has picked a total of 29 wickets in 20 IPL games. His bowling average stands at 21.48, with one four-wicket haul in his kitty.

Ť India risk missing the inspiring presence of skipper Virat Kohli in the fourth and final test against Australia with the 28-year-old saying he would play only if he is 100 percent fit after sustaining a shoulder injury in the previous match in Ranchi. The feisty top-order batsman damaged his right shoulder when diving to save a boundary on the first day of the penultimate test in Ranchi and was off the field during most of Australia's first innings in the drawn game. Kohli did bat in the nets on Friday but looked downcast as he dwelled on the possibility of featuring in the winner-take-all match of the series which is all square at 1-1. "The physio wants to give it a bit more time till I can test myself and we'll probably take a call on it later tonight or tomorrow before the game," the Delhi player told reporters. "You want to be fit for the game 100 percent but sometimes you have to respect the fact that these things (injury) are part of your car

Yuki Bhambri beat Tatsuma Ito of Japan 7-6(2), 6-2 in the first round of the $50,000 Challenger tennis tournament in China on Tuesday. In the pre-quarterfinals, the 24-year-old Yuki will play fourth seed Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia. Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan joined hands with Christopher Rungkat of Indonesia to beat the Chinese wild cards Di Wu and Zhizhen Zhang in two tie-break sets. Davis Cupper Ramkumar Ramanathan lost in the third and final qualifying round of a similar Challenger in Mexico, in three tough sets to Alex De Minaur of Australia. In the ITF men’s Futures in Bahrain, Shahbaaz Khan capitalised on his lucky loser entry to make the pre-quarterfinals by outplaying a local wild card entrant for the loss of one game. In the $15,000 ITF women’s event in Greece, seventh seed Karman Kaur Thandi was beaten 6-4, 7-5 by qualifier Michaela Boev of Belgium. The results $50,000 Challenger men, Quanzhou, China Singles (first round): Yuki Bhambri bt Tatsuma Ito (Jpn) 7-6(2),

Veteran football player Sharda Parvin has joined Lim Kia Tong's team as the female candidate who will contest at the upcoming Football Association of Singapore (FAS) election on April 29. Parvin, 32, will run for the individual female member position in the FAS council. At least one female has to be in the elected 15-member council, but she does not have to join the nine-member slate. Lim's counterpart Bill Ng has not unveiled his female candidate yet, even though Singapore National Olympic Council vice-president Annabel Pennefather and 2015 SEA Games' chief medical officer Dr Teoh Chin Sim have joined Ng's slate. While Parvin is not as high profile as Pennefather or Teoh, she believes she knows local women's football at the ground level. She said: "I know the scene because I've been in this sport since 2001. I know the complaints, the issues, the struggles because I'm from the ground and I'm in their shoes. "This is the first tim

India take on Cambodia in Phnom Penh on Wednesday, and ahead of the encounter, head coach Stephen Constantine was quizzed upon various aspects leading up to the game. He made it clear why the friendly against the Cambodian side was important, given that India visit Myanmar next week to play their first 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifier. “For us it is an important friendly. We have a difficult game after this with Myanmar. Coming to Cambodia means similar conditions, similar weather. I think it will be an interesting game for us. I wish Cambodia's new coach (Leonardo Vitorino) all the very best and good luck except not so much good luck tomorrow. We are taking this game very seriously and we are trying to give our best performance,” he opined. He was made to reiterate his choice of opponents for the international friendly, and he elaborated on how the choice was a no-brainer for the Blue Tigers. “My first views to play Cambodia was that it is very close to Myanmar and the con

India overcame a spirited Cambodia side 3-2 at Phnom Penh as goals from Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua and Sandesh Jhingan sealed the deal for Stephen Constantine’s men. The Blue Tigers were lucky to go into halftime all square even after being thoroughly outplayed in the as a howler from the Cambodian keeper helped Suni Chhetri open the scoring against the run of player.The hosts were, however, back on level terms within seconds. The second half saw Indian make changes which ultimately proved to be the key to the visitors turning the screws as it opened the floodgates. Cambodia and especially Chan Vathanaka weren’t going away tamely as they looked to find their way back into the game. However, his goal turned out to be just too little as India ran out winners on the night by a goal.1 - This was India’s first win in an international friendly away from home in 12 years. This also comes in good time as they prepare to face Myanmar on the 28th of March in their opener of the AFC A

With the spot-fixing scandal gripping Pakistan cricket once again, this time in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), women's team skipper Sana Mir on Tuesday said those found guilty must not be allowed to represent the country again at any cost. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has provisionally suspended five cricketers -- Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Khan, Nasir Jamshed and paceman Mohammad Irfan -- on suspicion of alleged spot-fixing in the recently-held PSL T20 tournament. Reacting to the PSL spot-fixing scandal, Sana said such incidents, which mar the reputation of the game in the country must be dealt with seriously. "Whoever disrespects the green-shirt should be banned and punished without any mercy," the Dawn newspaper quoted Sana as saying at the National Stadium on Monday. "Match-fixing and spot-fixing had brutally damaged the image of Pakistan cricket as well as that of Pakistan." "This is a very serious issue and should be

Ravindra Jadeja, India all-rounder, who returned figures of 5 for 124 and 4 for 52 in respective innings of the recently-concluded Ranchi Test against Australia, has cemented his place at the top in the latest ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers. Earlier, the top spot was jointly held by Jadeja and his spin partner Ravichandran Aswhin. With 862 rating points to his name, Ashwin, who could only manage two wickets in the Test, has fallen 37 points behind Jadeja. The left arm spinner, on the other hand, has 899 rating points and is on the brink of becoming only the second bowler after Aswhin to touch the 900-point mark. He is also only the third Indian bowler after Ashwin and Bishan Singh Bedi to have topped the ICC Test rankings for the bowlers. The latest rankings include the Colombo Test, which saw Bangladesh register a historic win against Sri Lanka, and the Wellington Test where South Africa thwarted New Zealand to go 1-0 up in the series. South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj,

CANADIAN duo Julie Gordon and Camille Saxton have continued their red-hot form on the sand, winning the women’s beach volleyball World Tour event at Manly on Sunday. It followed their gold medal success at a tournament in Shepparton, Victoria, last month. Manly Rio Olympian Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Queensland rising star Jessyka Ngauamo kept them honest, with Gordon and Saxton eventually securing the silverware in straight sets, 21-14, 21-16. Triple Olympian Louise Grice and another 2016 Olympian, Manly junior Nikki Laird, snared bronze. Action was frenetic for the women’s finals on Sunday. Picture: Adam Yip Artacho del Solar and Ngauamo have been playing with different partners over the Australian summer, making their silver medal even more impressive. “We’re super happy to come away with a medal,” del Solar said. “Obviously a gold was what we were going for but, to be standing on the podium in our home country is just a very special feeling you don’t get oft

Puerto Rico have hired a new women's national team director - former Haitian National Team Head Coach Shek Borkowski On March 11, 2017, the Puerto Rican Football Federation (FPF) announced the appointment of Shek Borkowski as the technical director for all the women's national teams. Labrador Rosa, the FPF President said: “For the first time in history we are designating a national coach specifically and permanently for our women's teams, which highlights the importance we are giving to women's football, understanding that we have a great chance of achieving a significant and rapid progress at an international level. We understand that with the arrival of Borkowski we give a big boost to the growth of that process of female advancement." Borkowski, who was the women's national team coach for Haiti for the past five years, has to hit the ground running in order to organize and prepare a team as 2019 Women's World Cup qualifying in the Caribbean reg

Jean Kadil scored twice, including a late-game conversion that proved to be the difference-maker as the FEU Lady Tamaraws secured a 3-2 win over the Ateneo Lady Eagles in UAAP Season 79 women's football action, Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium. A 21st minute conversion from Kadil set the tone for the match, as the Lady Tamaraws, hungry for a win, never looked back in the match. Lady Tamaraws skipper Jovelle Sudaria added what appeared to be a game-securing goal, pushing the FEU advantage to two goals in the 54th minute. With less than ten minutes to go in regulation, the Lady Eagles decided to make the match more interesting, as Ateneo skipper Cam Rodriguez managed to pull one back and cut the FEU lead to just one goal. It didn't take long for Kadil to respond, as she hit again in the 90th minute, seemingly closing the doors on an Ateneo comeback. With one final push, the Lady Eagles managed to find the back of the net once again, pulling to within a

The Indian men’s football team will play two friendlies against Lebanon and Palestine this year, as the team looks to successfully navigate the AFC Asian Cup 2019 qualifiers. The Blue Tigers kick their campaign off with an away game against Myanmar in Yangon on March 28th, while playing a friendly against Cambodia first six days earlier. Englishman Stephen Constantine, thanked the All India Football Federation and has been very vocal in recent times about the need to play more international matches. Constantine said, “The best way to test your growth is to play against stronger teams. Both Lebanon and Palestine are very strong teams and the matches would help the team immensely as we move forward.” The team will play Lebanon, currently ranked 155th in the world, on June 7, while the match against Palestine, in 134th place in the latest rankings, is scheduled for October 2. Venues for both games are yet to be decided. Kushal Das, the secretary of AIFF spoke about the upcomin

Tamil Nadu clinched the Vijay Hazare Trophy with a comfortable win over Bengal in the final on Monday (March 20) at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi. Tamil Nadu, the tournament's most successful side, won their fifth title after Dinesh Karthik stepped up with the bat once again in the summit clash. His 120-ball 112 helped Tamil Nadu post 217 on the board and in reply, Bengal could manage only 180. After winning the toss, skipper Vijay Shankar opted to bat as Tamil Nadu went in with an unchanged XI from their semifinal. Bengal on the other hand, were boosted by the return of India seamer Mohammed Shami who replaced Sayan Ghosh. Bengal made a terrific start to the game with Ashok Dinda and Shami making early inroads. Ganga Sridhar Raju, who made 85 in the quarterfinal, edged a short and wide delivery to the wicketkeeper for just 4. Although Kaushik Gandhi began in positive fashion striking Kanishk Seth for three boundaries, he inside-edged one back onto his stumps soon after.

Just after the hour's mark on the final day in Ranchi, the result seemed done and dusted. India looked all over Australia, and a 2-1 series lead for the hosts beckoned. But, as has been the case this series, Australia showed that they would not go down easily. Ishant Sharma had given the Indians their much-needed breakthrough by trapping Matt Renshaw in front and Ravindra Jadeja had hammered home the advantage by getting captain Steve Smith in the very next over. But just as everyone expected India, and Jadeja in particular, to run through the Australian line-up, Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh put together a marathon stand for the fifth wicket to help their side stave off defeat. The Test, much to the contrast of what had been predicted at its start, lasted the full five days, provided great entertainment and ended in a hard fought draw. The pair blunted everything the Indians threw at them, with Jadeja operating with the rough and Ashwin and the pacers attacking from the

The full membership of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) was under threat from the day the Supreme Court accepted Lodha Committee's reforms, one of which was `one state-one vote,' but that eventuality now looks inevitable after the association's name was missing amongst the list of full members mentioned in the new Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) constitution put up on the Board's website on Saturday. The new constitution was finalised by the Supreme Court-Committee of Administrators (COA). As per the new system, the 41-time Ranji champions, who've produced more than 70 Test cricketers, and were once the power centre of Indian cricket, have been reduced to an associate member, and will get to vote once every three years in the Board elections, sharing their turn with Maharashtra (which has been recognised as a full member since it's a state, but gets to vote once in three years) and Vidarbha. In a similar case in Gujarat, Baroda, Saurashtra

Svetlana Kuznetsova had won the first set from Elena Vesnina, 8-6 in a tiebreaker, on a lucky net-cord winner. She had broken her demoralized opponent to start the second set, and was now up 3-1 and serving at 40-15. Kuznetsova had won 17 WTA singles titles during her 14-year career; Vesnina, a doubles specialist for most of hers, had won two. Everything seemed to point to a Kuznetsova win. When she tossed the ball to serve at 40-15, though, something changed. Specifically, Kuznetsova’s grunt changed. Out of nowhere, it became deeper, more pronounced, more guttural. It sounded like the grunt of someone who was laboring mightily just to put the ball over the net, not cruising to an inevitable victory. Despite being broken seven times on the day, Vesnina had no trouble holding onto her serve for a 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-4 win in three hours and one minute. After 13 years on tour, she had earned by far the biggest win of her singles career. This popular and thoughtful 30-year-old, who

THE IRELAND U17 women qualified for the Uefa Women’s European Championships following a 1-0 win over Hungary in Gradski Zemum, Belgrade earlier today. A goal from Heather Payne after 13 minutes handed her side a deserved victory. The Peamount United player gave Ireland a lead that they seldom looked like surrendering with a spectacular free kick from distance in the game’s early stages. The victory means Dave Bell’s side progressed from their three Elite Round games unbeaten on seven points, after previously drawing against Scotland and beating Serbia. In total, they have won five and drawn one of their qualifiers, scoring 14 and conceding only one goal while topping both their groups. It is a fantastic achievement,” said Bell after the match. “The girls worked so hard and the dedication that they gave to these qualifiers is testament to their attitude and also their quality. To qualify as group winners makes it even more enjoyable. We had to work hard to get the win becau

Mata nets winner; Pogba’s injury puts a dampener on the win Manchester United, which held Rostov 1-1 on a difficult pitch in the first-leg, needed a 70th minute goal from Juan Mata, who turned the ball home from Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s back-heel, and two good saves from Sergio Romero. However, midfielder Paul Pogba was forced off with an injury in the second half, putting a dampener on the win which took it to the quarterfinals of the Europa League. The results: Anderlecht 1 (Acheampong 65) bt APOEL 0 (Anderlecht won 2-0 on aggregate); Borussia Monchengladbach 2 (Christensen 26, Dahoud 45+2) drew with Schalke 2 (Goretzka 54, Bentaleb 68-pen) (Schalke won on away goals 3-3); Roma 2 (Strootman 17, Tousart 60-o.g.) bt Lyon 1 (Diakhaby 16) (Lyon won 5-4 on aggregate); Manchester United 1 (Mata 70) Rostov 0 (Manchester United won 2-1 on aggregate); Ajax 2 (B. Traore 23, Dolberg 45+3-pen) bt Copenhagen 0 (Ajax won 3-2 on aggregate); Krasnodar 0 lost to Celta Vigo 2 (Mallo 52, Aspas 80)

KINGSTON: Britain's Mo Farah and Kenya's David Rudisha are among the athletes who will compete in the Racers Track Club Grand Prix on June 10, the final Jamaican competition for superstar Usain Bolt, organizers said on Friday. The two are part of a star-studded international athletics field who will join the retiring Bolt for the meeting at Kingston's National Stadium. Farah is the most successful British athlete in modern Olympic Games history having won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000m at both the 2012 and 2016 Summer Games. Rudisha, the reigning 800m Olympic champ and South Africa's 400m world record holder Wayde van Niekerk are also in the field. "It will be my last competition on home soil. I might shed a tear even though I'm not an emotional person as I close out where it started on Jamaican soil," said Bolt of the event which is being dubbed "Salute to a Legend." The reigning Olympic 100m and 200m champion announced earlier th

COLOMBO: Bangladesh clinched a historic four-wicket win in their 100th Test match, also their first ever Test victory against Sri Lanka, to secure a series draw on Sunday. Needing 191 to win, the tourists reached their target losing six wickets in the final session. Tamim Iqbal top scored with 82, his 22nd Test half-century and shared 109 runs for the second wicket with Shabbir Rahman (41). Sri Lanka batted first having won the toss and made 338 in its first innings. Bangladesh were bowled out for 467, a 129-run first innings lead. Sri Lanka then made 319 in its second innings. Iqbal and Rahman stalled a potential collapse of Bangladesh's chase with a 109-run partnership for the third wicket after Sri Lanka captain Rangan Herath took two wickets in successive deliveries to leave the tourists struggling on 22 for two. Iqbal faced 124 deliveries for his 82 runs that included seven boundaries and a six. He was brilliantly caught by Dinesh Chandimal in the outfield off offspi

There are dominating displays, and then there is this. Australia had gone all out in their preparations to counter the Indian players and conditions before their tour, but no amount of work or foresight would have enabled them to be ready for what unfurled on Day 4 of the third Test in Ranchi. Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha put on a record seventh-wicket stand, and in course broke multiple other records, to pound Australia into the ground and put India in a position from where they cannot lose the match. When these two got together at the crease, India were still far from safety at 328 for 6 in the 116th over. When Pujara eventually was dismissed, India had racked up 527 in the 194th over. By then Pujara had hit his 11th double hundred in first-class cricket, and Wriddhiman Saha his third Test century. With a lead of over 70 already, India had assumed a position of great strength. Ravindra Jadeja added the cherry at the top of the cake in his inimitable style by cracking

The road to a Champions League record for Bayern Munich coach Carlo Ancelotti will go through his old club — defending champion Real Madrid. When Ancelotti fulfilled Madrid's quest for the "Decima" — a record-extending 10th European Cup title — in 2014, he joined a select group of five coaches to win the competition with two different clubs. He also coached AC Milan to two Champions League . Ancelotti's new team will host his previous club in Munich in the first leg of the quarterfinals on April 12. The return match will be played in Madrid six days later. "Matches against Real are obviously special for me," Ancelotti said. "It'll be exciting for me to go back to Madrid." Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane was Ancelotti's assistant for the 2014 title, and won a Champions League of his own last May to cap his coaching debut season. "Our relationship is like that of a master and apprentice," Zidane said. Also in Friday's dra

Australian Open champion Roger Federer will face compatriot Stan Wawrinka in an all-Swiss final at Indian Wells. Wawrinka swept past Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta, the world number 23, 6-3 6-2 in Saturday's opening semi-final. Federer, the 18-time Grand Slam singles winner, who has won the event four times, had few problems joining him in the decider. The world number 10 defeated the American world number 18 Jack Sock 6-1 7-6 (7-4). Federer came into the match after his scheduled quarter-final opponent Nick Kyrgios pulled out because of illness, and he was imperious from the start. He needed just 21 minutes to wrap up the first set, with Sock requiring treatment from the trainer midway through it. Sock made more of a match of it in the second set but Federer always held the advantage and capitalised on some unforced errors from Sock in the tie-break to reach his seventh final in the Californian desert. Wawrinka had won his two previous meetings against Pablo Car