Alaister Cook to retire from International cricket

Alastair Cook to retire from International Cricket

England's all-time highest run scorer- Alastair Cook has decided to retire from International cricket soon after the last test match (of the series) against India at the Oval. Great Alastair is an opening batsman of England and is fighting form from many matches. He is averaging 18.62 of the nine matches this year. Alastair made his test debut in Nagpur in 2006 and scored a century on his debut.

Alastair Cook raising his bat.

Image source- www.skysports.com

33-year-old Alastair is having 12,254 Test runs and stands on 6th position of most run scorers in the history of Test Cricket. Cook was a threat to Sachin Tendulkar's record of most runs in Test cricket. He is 3,667 runs behind the Master Blaster. Cook has the record of most unbroken appearances in Test cricket in the World. His last test match in International cricket at Oval against India will be his 159th appearance. Cook also holds the record of most number of centuries for England in Test cricket (32).

"After much thought and deliberation over the last few months I have decided to announce my retirement from international cricket at the end of this Test series against India"- said Alastair Cook.

After the retirement of Andrew Strauss from Test cricket, England has tried 12 opening partners with Cook but none is proven to be a proper replacement. The Legend England former captain- Alastair Cook will continue to play for Sussex but, it is a mammoth task on England selectors to find 2 proper Opening Batsmen for their nation in Test cricket.

Alastair Cook will always be remembered and respected for his great batting technique and relatively good guidance to the youngsters. He is and will be one of the greats in Test Cricket of all time.

England wins the Test series by 3-1 with a match to go

England wins the Test series by 3-1 with a match to go.

England seals the five-match test series against India by 3-1 by winning the 4th match at Southampton. The 4th match was scheduled on 30th August and went till 2nd September. Moeen Ali proving to be the nemesis for India took 9 wickets in the match. He is awarded as Man of the Match. Despite, a good fight, India fell 60 runs short of the target of 245 runs.

Moeen Ali celebrating.

Image source- www.iol.co.za

It was a neck to neck competition where England won the toss and decided to bat first. After England were 6 down at 86 it looked that Indians will restrict the hosts under 150. But, Sam Curran and Moeen Ali took the team to a total of 246. Visitors replied well with a century of Pujara and scored 271 runs. England’s middle and lower middle order gave a target of 245 to the Indians. The Indian side was 3 down at the score of 22 and was in serious trouble. But Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane stabilized the situation. They secured a 101 run- stand. It all looked well controlled till the magical Moeen took an important wicket of Virat. Ajinkya was batting well but was not supported well. Resultingly, he lost his wicket. Later Ashwin had some runs but those were not enough to take the team home. Moeen Ali took 4 wickets in the later innings and India tumbled down at 184 runs.

It was a great competition. England leads the 5 match series by 3-1 but, the gap isn’t much big (if I talk about the performances of both sides). Sam Curran was exceptional in this series. He played the role of an all-rounder in difficult times. But now, let’s get tuned for the next match and for the Asia Cup and hope for some good action.

Carolina Marin wins Gold at BWF World championship; Sindhu settles for Silver.

Carolina Marin wins Gold at BWF World championship; Sindhu settles for Silver

Spanish shuttler Carolina Marin defeats P.V Sindhu in the finals of BWF World championship and wins the Gold medal. This match was played on 5th August 2018 at Nanjing, China. Carolina sealed the match in straight sets by 21-19 and 21-10 and becomes the 1st woman to crown 3 women singles Gold medals in BWF Championship. 

Image 1- Marin with a gold bite.

Image 2- Marin in happy tears.

Match Summary :

P.V Sindhu looked comfortable when she led the 1st set by 15-11. But the Olympian champion came back stronger and sealed the 1st set by 21-19. Possibly, this was the most important come back of the match. Marin didn't give many chances to Sindhu in the 2nd set and took a heavy lead of 19-7. Sindhu tried her best to come back as she did in the semi-finals, which she won after trailing by 12-19 in the 2nd set. But this time Sindhu managed to score only 3 points after that heavy trail. Resultingly, Spanish shuttler won the 2nd set by 21-10. Marin won the Gold medal and Sindhu would have to settle for Silver. This was a great show by both of them.

Here are the podium winners.

Marin has now won 3 gold medals in BWF women singles World championship. First in 2014, then defended in 2015, and now in 2018. She is roaring and must be looking forward to winning the Gold in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

Smriti Mandhana smashes joint fastest T20 fifty

Smriti Mandhana smashes joint fastest T20 fifty

Left handed Indian batter Smriti Mandhana hits joint fastest T20 fifty in the women's cricket. She achieved this feat in KIA Super league when she was batting for Western Storm in a rain shortened match of 6 overs. Mandhana took just 18 balls to equal the record of New Zealand's Sophie Devine.

Mandhana hitting the ball. 

Image source- www.cricketcountry.com

The match between Western Storm(West) and Loughborough Lightning (Lough) was scheduled on 29th July. Lough won the toss and decided to bowl. The match got shortened to 6 overs per side due to rain. Smriti took on the bowlers early and remained not out at 52 of 19 balls. West's score was 85-2 after the innings.

Sophie Devine was present in the opposition team and made 46 runs in her innings but couldn't take her team to the victory. Lough's finals score was 67-0.  As the result, West won the match by 18 runs.

Mandhana is the first Indian women to play in Women's English Premier League. This player is a gem in the Indian women's team. She is an emerging talent who has bagged 3 ODI centuries in One Day Cricket. 

France recreates history!

France recreates history at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

France defeats Croatia by 4-2 in the World Cup final and wins the World cup for the second time, after 1998. The underdogs- Croatia played extremely well but would have to settle as runner-ups.

France lifting their 2nd crown.
Image source- www.telegraph.co.uk

About the game:

France took an early lead through an own goal from Mario Mandzukic (Croatian forward) in the 18th minute. Ivan Perisic equalised well for Croatia in the 28th minute but, Antoine Griezmann reestablished the French lead. It was France 2 and Croatia 1 at the end of 1st half.

Croatians were on the attack but Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappé enlarged the lead for France in the second half. French men started realising that their time is coming! Though Mario Mandzukic scored a goal in the 69th minute, Croatia trailed by 2 goals at the end of the match. 

The Final score was 4-2.

A hard fought journey of the Croatians came to an end. They trailed in every knockout match in this world cup and won every of that except the final, where it mattered the most. It would have been a shocking night if Croatia would have won it but rather I would have loved that night.

Next was the presentation ceremony in which the World Cup was awarded to France and few awards were presented to players. The list is as follows:-

1. Young Player of the tournament-  Kylian Mbappé.

2. Golden Ball Winner- Luka Modric.

3. Golden Boot Winner- Harry Kane.

4. Golden Glove Winner- Thibaut Courtois.

England smashes highest total in ODI cricket; Morgan highest run scorer for England

England smashes highest total in ODI cricket; Morgan highest run scorer for England

The inventors of cricket were in action again when they scored 481 runs and broke the record of most runs in One- Day International (ODI). The previous record of 444 runs in ODI was also held by England, which they scored in 2016 against Pakistan. They have now achieved this feat against the mighty Aussies in the 3rd ODI, played on 19th June 2018 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Australia is on tour of England for 5 ODI's and 1 T20i match. Eion Morgan- Captain of England smashed the fastest ODI half century for England in just 21 balls. Morgan also becomes the highest run scorer for England in ODI, surpassing Ian Bell's mammoth 5416 runs. He has the record now in his name with 5443 runs.

Image source- timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Australia won the toss and chose to bowl first. From England, Bairstow and Hales are the centurions, while Roy and Morgan are the half centurions. England are dominating the Australians as they have won 2 out of 2 matches and are favorites to win this match too. It would be more difficult for Aussies as they are missing Steve Smith and opener David Warner. 

Lets find out,  whether Australia will chase the record breaking target, or will England seal the series!

Russia deafeats Saudi Arabia in the World Cup opener

Russia defeats Saudi Arabia in the FIFA World Cup opener

 The most awaited FIFA World cup has been kicked off . This time it's Russia to host it. A wonderful opening ceremony welcomed the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Reputed singer- Robbie Williams, sang few songs like 'Angels' and 'Let me entertain you'. President of Russia- Vladimir Putin was in attendance and gave an introductory speech. There are 32 teams competing against one other which are divided in 8 groups. 

The 1st match is won by Russia, who scored 5 goals and won the first game of the World cup with the biggest margin of 5-0 by beating Saudi Arabia.

Image source- ultra.zone

Match Summary:-

1st Half:

The hosts were to their target straight away as they scored the 1st goal of the edition in the 12th  minute. Iury Gazinsky scored his 1st international goal for the team and it was 1-0. Russia faced a break down when Alan Dzagoev (one of the best players they have) went out due to a sudden hamstring injury. Denis Cheryshev replaced Alan and smashed his maiden international goal for the team. It was 2-0 by the end of the 1st half. 

Russia would surely have been more relaxed team to enter the dressing room after the 1st half.

2nd Half

Saudi Arabia was pressurized when they entered the battle ground in the 2nd half. They tried to maximize their chances by scoring a goal and reverse the pressure, but they failed to do so. Russia looked really positive throughout the game. They were attacking positively and managed their 3rd goal in 71st minute. Subsitute- Artem Dzyuba scored a goal for Russia, It was 3-0 by then. Celebrations for the fans were not finished yet. They Got two chances more to celebrate when Denis Chreshev and Aleksandr Golovin scored a goal each in the extra time. It was 5-0 in the end and Russia becomes the only host nation to win the inaugural match of the World cup by a difference of 5 goals.

No host team has ever lost 1st match in the history of FIFA World Cup.

The match promised to be an exciting stuff for the audience. By this win Russia can proclaim that they have enough qualities to make it to the round of 16, which they are yet to do from last 32 years.

GOAL! Oh yeah, you will hear more sounds like this as the FIFA World Cup continuous.

  

Sunil Chettri guides his men to clinch the Intercontinental cup

Sunil Chettri guides his men to clinch the Intercontinental cup

The Intercontinental cup kicked off on 1st June, 2018; and it  has been won by India. Chettri scored two goals and ensured the team to victory. The final was held at Mumbai Stadium on 10th June against Kenya, who managed to qualify for the finals by scoring 4 goals and not conceiving any, in the group match against Chinese Taipei. Kenya having momentum was not able to carry the same in the final. Resultingly India crowned the championship.

Indian coach- Stephen Constantine lifts the cup.

Match Summary

1st half:-

Match started well for both the sides, but an 8th minute foul by Kenya, resulted a free kick;  which lead to a spectacular goal for India. It was 1-0. Kenya defended really well but then came another magnificent goal from the Indian captain in the 29th minute. With this Chettri equalized Messi's 64 goals. He is now behind of only Ronaldo. The 1st half came to an end with India leading the way by 2-0.

2nd half:-

Kenya initiated this half by aggressive attacking, but the Indian goal keeper- Gurpreet Sandhu was saving the goal sensationally well. Kenya was seeking to direct the ball to  the opposition net, while the Blue pilgrims restricted them as unscored. The 2nd half came to an end and despite of some good stuff by Kenya, the scored remained 2-0.

The match came to a memorable end for the Indians and they crowned the cup. Stephen Constantine and his men are the champions. Everyone in the stadium was delighted.

Here is a video of celebration after the game:

So, a successful event of football came to an end with all feeling of patriotism for India. All teams played outstandingly and only 1 could be a winner. But Sportsmen spirit is bigger than any cup or trophy.

Here is the diet plan of the most decorated Olympian.

Diet Plan of the most decorated Olympian of all time.

Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time and what makes him greatest is his extraordinary diet and training. He is really an exceptional athlete and has 23 Olympic Gold medals out of total 28 Olympic medals in his bag.

Michael Phelps.
Image Source-sports.ndtv.com

According to ' The Telegraph ' Phelps had a diet of 12000 Calories a day at the time of Beijing Olympics back in 2008. He used to have an Omelet of 5 eggs, 3 fried- egg sandwiches and more in his breakfast.

The Telegraph disseminated the following diet of Phelps in 2008:-

Breakfast- Three fried- egg sandwiches with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise. Two cups of coffee. One five-egg omelet. One bowl of grain. Three slices of French toast topped. Three chocolate- chip.

Lunch- One pound of pasta. Two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread, plus energy drinks.

Dinner- One pound pasta, and entire pizza and even more energy drinks.

It is also believed that he loved Mexican food and training session, to burn the intake of those Calories.

However, great Olympian Phelps later revealed that it was an exaggerated diet, which is eschewed now. His diet at the time of 2016 Rio Olympics was a protein diet and includes fruits, oats, grains and more.

Here is his diet of 2016:-

Image Source- businessinsider.com

The legend swimmer has announced his retirement after the Rio Olympics and said that he is ready to retire and spend some time with his baby. The legend clinched his 1st Olympic gold at Athens in 2004 and his last Olympic gold achievement was in Rio Olympics, 2016.

Chennai Super Kings lifts IPL Trophy 2018!

Chennai Super Kings lifts IPL Trophy 2018!

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) prevailed Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 8 Wickets and bagged the IPL trophy for the 3rd time. The final was held at Wankhade on 27th May, 2018. Shane Watson took the team to a great victory by scoring 117* runs.

CSK lifted the crown.

CSK won the toss and chose to bowl first. SRH Captain- Williamson remained the highest scorer for the team and also in IPL 2018. He won Orange cap( most runs in season). Despite of some good contribution from SRH Batters', they were restricted at 178. Maiden 1st over from Bhuvi and an early blow of Faf du Plesis gave many hopes to Hyderabad. But Watson and Raina partnership gives stability and then Watson who scored a marvelous knock took the game away from sunrisers. At last Super Kings stole the show with big win by 8 wickets and 9 balls to spare. CSK have faced SRH for the 4th time in this IPL and they were superior each time. CSK are now joint highest winners of IPL along with Mumbai Indians.

Great show of Cricket. Well played everyone!

IPL 2018 records:-

Orange Cap- Kane Williamson from SRH (735 runs)

Most Sixes- Rishabh Pant from DD (37 sixes)

Most Fours- Rishabh Pant (68 fours)

Highest Score- Rishabh Pant (128 runs)

Emerging Player- Rishabh Pant

Fair Play Award Winners- Mumbai Indians.

Perfect Catch of the season- Trent Boult form DD.

Super Striker of the season - Sunil Narine from KKR.

Stylish Player of the Season- Rishabh Pant.

Nayi Soch Award of the Season- MS Dhoni from CSK.

Most Valuable Player- Sunil Narine (379.5 points)

Purple Cap- Andrew Tye from KXIP (24 wickets)

Best Bowling figures- Ankit Rajpoot from KXIP (5/14)

Most Dots- Rashid Khan form SRH (166)

Winning team got- 20 Crores.

AB de Villiers announces retirement

AB de Villers announces retirement

Great AB de Villers has announced that he is going to retire from all formats of International Cricket immediately. This is a really sad news for Cricket fans. 34 year old AB tweeted in his video that "After 114 Test matches 228 One Day Internationals and 78 T20 Internationals it is time for others to take over. I have had my turn and to be honest, I m tired". Fans thought that AB will pick and choose matches and formats and will play till 2019 Cricket World Cup. But he said that it would be difficult to pick and choose and he wanted 'everything' or 'nothing' on green and gold. AB said in the video- "I have no plans to play overseas, In fact I hope and can continue for Titans in Domestic Cricket".

Image source-financialexpress.com

AB is and will be one of the greatest batsman in all formats for the proteas and in the World. AB has scored 9577 runs in ODI, 8765 in Tests and 1672 in T20i's. He also holds the world record of fastest century in ODI Cricket by scoring 104 runs in 31 balls. The fear could be seen in the bowlers' eyes when AB looks deadly.  

World XI team is announced for West Indies match

Team of 'World XI' announced

A match of World XI against West Indies is scheduled on 31st May 2018 at Lords. This is a fund raising match for the restoration and renovation of five venues at Caribbean which were damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. 

Image Source-lords.org

Here is the team of World XI:-

Team of World XI against West Indies.
Self designed team table.

''It's a great honour to be leading a side which has a selection of players from a number of nations, and I can't wait to get on the field for what promises to be an engrossing contest,'' Eoin Morgan- captain of World XI said.

According to The Hindu Carlos Brathwaite is expected to lead the West Indies side while Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Samuel Badree and Andre Russell are also in the team.

Earlier, in 2017 there was a 3 match T20 series of World XI against Pakistan. This series was prevailed by Pakistan by 2-1. 

Now lets get tuned for the thrilling shortest format match! It is expected that we will have a good contest.

Is it over for Delhi Daredevils? Have a read.

Is it over for Delhi Daredevils?

IPL 2018 is on full swing and we are half way down the tournament. Several teams have performed exceptionally well while others are struggling for their place in the playoffs.

Delhi Daredevils captain Gautam Gambhir left the captaincy as the team was on the last spot and was down falling. Young Shreyas Iyer was handed the opportunity.   

Delhi Daredevils (DD) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were to face each other on 30th April 2018. Delhi won 2 out of 7 matches prior to the match and a win would give them slight more hopes to qualify.

MS Dhoni(CSK captain) on left and Shreyas Iyer(DD captain) on right.
Image Source- firstpost.com

Match Summary:-

Daredevils won the toss and decided to bowl first. But things were not going their way as a solid opening stand was secured by Chennai. DD came back when they took 3 quick wickets at 28 runs. But Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni had some other plans. They both smashed each and every bowler for runs and took the team to 211 runs.

Daredevils had to chase the big target. They never looked neck to neck after losing Shreyas Iyer and Maxwell. Rishabh Pant was hitting the ball very well but was struggling to match the run rate. Pant gave some hopes to DD fans.We could also say Vijay Shankar's late sixes pressurized CSK a bit. But unfortunately DD faced a loss by 13 runs. A hard fought run chase came to an end.

Three time semifinalists DD are in a difficult position now. They will qualify safely if they win all the 6 remaining matches. However a team can qualify at 7 wins out of 14 but would have to depend on other team's victory and loses.

Points table:-

Points table after DD vs CSK.
Self designed table. 

India's schedule for Cricket world cup 2019.

India to face South Africa in World Cup opener

All Indian fans are eagerly waiting for the Cricket World cup 2019 as the nation's schedule for the tournament is out. As per India Today, India will play against South Africa on 5th June as it's first match in the tournament.

Image source- dnaindia.com

India will face their Arch rivals Pakistan on 16th June. World Cup of 2019 is going to be held in England and Wales.

Here is India's schedule for CWC 2019.

Schedule of India in CWC 2019.
Self designed Schedule table.

The tournament will begin from 30th May and the final will be held at Lords on 14th July. Earlier India was scheduled to play on 2nd June but as per BCCI agreement with Lodha Commitee there should be gap of 15 days between Indian Premier League (IPL) and International fixture. IPL would start about 10- 15 days early than it starts every year. Also is expected to get over till May 19. Players will get more rest for the greatest Cricket tournament- The World Cup.

Previous edition was won by Australia back in 2015. It was their 5th title. India and West Indies each have won it twice. While Sri lanka and Pakistan each won it once. Others are yet to win.

Lets get tuned for the event and watch the greats in action.   

Commonwealth 2018- An event to be remembered.

Commonwealth- An event to be remembered

The Commonwealth games of 2018 held at Gold Coast in Australia was a journey and destiny to be remembered forever. Sons and daughters of the proud country- India led the nation to many glorious titles as well as records. 

We finished 3rd on medals tally.

Caption- Manika Batra after winning gold in tennis.
Image source- www.rediff.com

India bagged 66 medals in total which is the 3rd highest for our nation in Commonwealth history surpassing the previous games 64 medals held at Glasgow in 2014. We registered 26 Golds, 20 Silvers and 20 Bronze. We have to applaud the 'Women power' as 12 gold out of 26 were brought by women. 13 brought by men and 1 by mixed team. This proves that women are not meant to just cook. Young guns were absolutely tremendous. 15 year old Anish becomes youngest Indian to bag Gold for India in Commonwealth history. Neeraj Chopra secured 1st gold for India in Javelin throw. 

Shooting gave us most medals-16.

Here is a table showcasing the decorations bagged in each sport participated by India:-

Caption- Table is self designed.

This Commonwealth hits 9 world records and 91 Commonwealth records.

Manika Batra- Table Tennis champion is the most decorated player of India in 2018 Commonwealth games. She bagged 2 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze. She is the only Indian to win gold in table tennis women's singles at Commonwealth games history. There is gold for Sushil kumar again. He hits hat trick of Gold in Commonwealth games.

One thing that not went to our way was Hockey. India did not register any medal in hockey. Well leave that thing as a teaching and better focus on approaching Hockey World cup and Olympics.

It was an honour for me to write a blog for my Country's performance at 2018 Commonwealth games. 

India won 4 medals in a day at Gold Coast in Wrestling.

 Indian Sons and daughters have made us proud again

India won 4 out of 4 medals in a day in Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2018 in Wrestling. 1st medal for the day was provided by Babita Phogat, who won the Silver medal. She is the only Indian lady wrestler to win 3 back to back medals in Commonwealth games. Silver in 2010 Delhi CWG, Gold in 2014 Glasgow and Silver again in 2018 Gold Coast.

Top left- Rahul Aware, Top Right- Sushil kumar.
Bottom left- Kiran, Bottom right- Babita phogat. 

Rahul Aware won the 1st Gold medal in 57 kg for the nation in wrestling by defeating Canadian wrestler- Steven Takahashi. Such a proud moment for Rahul and the nation. Rahul Aware edged the lead in 1st round. In the second round he won the match by 15-7. By Classification points he won by 3-1.

Kiran from India was fighting for the Bronze medal against South African Wrestler. She won the medal by Technical Superiority. Score was 10-0. She registered the Bronze medal for the nation. We are proud of her.

Sushil kumar hit the hat trick of Gold medals in Commonwealth games. Sushil won Gold in 2010, 2014 and 2018. Sushil won the final by Technical superiority in just 80 seconds against South African J.Botha. What a moment.

National Anthem of India:-

All the wrestlers have made us proud. They did the great job.

India won 14 Gold, 6 Silver and 9 Bronze till now.

Indian men and women both teams are in Semi-finals of Hockey. Stay tuned at CGW 2018 as there are more players who will be in the list of medals.

Steve Smith, Cameron Bancroft and David Warner are banned

Smith, Warner and Bancroft are banned

Cricket Australia (CA) smashed 12 months ban on Steve Smith and David Warner while Cameron Bancroft is banned for 9 months due to planned ball-tampering. Bancroft was caught on the camera for rubbing the ball with a yellow colour object while 3rd Test match against South Africa. The object is known to be adhesive tape. Smith and Warner are excluded from IPL 2018 season as per Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Cameron Bancroft taking out adhesive tape from his pocket.
Image Sourceimages.news18.com

        

                                                                

Australian team is on South African Tour and on Day 3 of the 3rd Test Match, Bancroft was caught taking out an object(known adhesive tape) from his pockets and pants and rubbing it on the ball. When asked by the umpires he said that he his having his Sunglasses cover in the pocket. This incident is known to be a planned strategy by some of the Australian players. Steve Smith, the Captain of Australia confirmed in the press conference on same day that 'Leadership group' was involved in the sad incident excluding the coach- Darren Lehmann. It tells that Warner, the vice-captain of Australia too had a hand in it. Smith left captaincy for the 4th day of Test match and Tim Paine was selected as the interim Captain.

Smith and Warner were barred by ICC to play the last test match and Smith was penalised 100% match fees while Bancroft was penalised with 75% fees. But James Sutherland, the Chief Executive of CA smashed the trios with a ban from all forms of cricket excluding the grade cricket. Smith and Warner are banned for 12 months while Bancroft for 9 months. Middle order batsman Glenn Maxwell and openers Joe Burns and Matt Renshaw are replacements of the trio for the last match.

On left- Steve Smith, Middle- Cameron Bancroft and Right- David Warner
Image Source- deccanchronicle.com

                                                      

Smith cannot captain the side for 2 years. CA left the decision on BCCI to decide whether they want Smith and Warner to include in IPL 2018 or not. BCCI excluded them from IPL 2018.  Both of them will return in next summer and will play World Cup and Ashes. The trio will face difficulty in practicing for those tournaments. It will also be interesting whether cricket Australia selects them as soon as ban ends. But there can be a appeal from these players to cricket Australia to lift ban on them. Till then they are out from all formats of competitive cricket.

Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, 2k18

New Season to bring Joys for Ferrari 

The opening race at Melbourne in Australia held on 25th March 2018 where both the Ferrari drivers dominated. With a new season drivers tried to gear up and take the most advantage from the opening race. Rivalry began from the Practice sessions when Lewis Hamilton won 2 out of 3 practices. Qualification for the race was scheduled on a day before of the main race.

Qualifying

Qualifier was divided in 3 rounds- Q1, Q2 and Q3. 15 racers out of 20 qualify for Q2 and 10 out of 15 go to the final Q3. Mercedes rider Lewis Hamilton secured 1st place in the qualifyings as he was quickest from all. He registered his 73rd Pole position in his career and 7th in Australia. While Raikkonen stood 2nd and Vettel on 3rd. Valtteri Bottas, other Mercedes rider was penalised 5 positions back and started the race on 15th spot. Daniel Ricciardo was too penalised for 3 positions and he started the race from 8th spot   

Standings for the Race

Pos.- Position, No.- Number

Main Race

The 1st race of the season started senastionaly well. Hamilton managed to maintain his lead while Magnussen jumped to 4th spot leaving both Red bull drivers back. Sirotkin got out in his first Formula One race, not a good start for Williams. Vettel lead the race when Raikkonen and Hamilton went for the pit stop.

Racers were constantly attacking on each other to gain position. Haas riders were looking good but a pit stop costed end of the race for them. Haas team principal said that the wheels were cross-nutted when each of them departed the pit. The car's stopped when they went to the track and they were out. The incident resulted in Yellow flag and Virtual safety car which means the racers have to lower their speed below a limit and cannot overtake anyone on track. Sebastian took the most advantage of the situation. When the racers were slow he went to the pit to get fresh tyres and defended his 1st position from Hamilton when he came out. Alonso jumped to 5th spot, ahead of Red Bull rider Verstappen. Alonso was constantly attacked by him.

While the race was coming to an end, Vettel managed to maintain a gap of  more than a second from Hamilton. But a software malfunction with Lewis assured German rider Sebastian to a spectacular win. Vettel was all cheered up! He got the perfect start for the season he would have wanted. While British rider Hamilton secured 2nd and Finland rider Raikkonen stood on 3rd. Ferrari performed really well as their racers secured podium.

Main Race Results  

NC- Not classified, DNF- Did not Finish

Statistics:-

• Vettel ensured 3rd victory in Australia
• Back to Back victories in Australia for Vettel
• This is his 48th career win and 100th podium position
• Ferrari ensured 8th win in Australia
• No Australian has ever managed a podium position on Australian Grand Prix 

Delhi Dynamos VS Pune FC,2nd March 2018

Delhi Dynamos end up with a Tie

Delhi Dynamos and Pune FC played their last match against each other. Delhi won their 1st match of the season but failed to carry on the winning momentum and end up the season on the 8th spot. While Pune had qualified.

Delhi Dynamos Vs Pune FC

The last Match of both the teams was scheduled on 2nd March at 8PM in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi. The date was remarkable as the country celebrated Holi!

Pune Vs Delhi squad for the Match.Above is Pune and Beneath is Delhi

Pune Subs-S.Golui, R.Kumar, Jonatan, J.Raja, Ajay.Singh, K.Singh, G.Singh.

Delhi Subs- X Irureta, P.Kotal, J.Lumu, E.Moya, D.Ngaihte, R.Rodrigues, S.Singh

Squad Design is self-designed and not copied from anywhere.

Here is a video of the entry of players:

First Half!

The Game was full of adventure and thrill. The teams kept on attacking and then came a heavenly penalty for the hosts. It was a Goal!Delhi got the start they were looking for as Kalu Uche scored a goal in the 10th min. Delhi thought that they hit them hard. But a team who is on the 2nd position on Points table knows how to deal the situation. Pune leveled the scores immediately in the 12th minute by a penalty. It was 1-1.Both teams tried gaining the lead. The next few minutes were defended more by Delhi. 27th minute gave Delhi a real chance to lead when ball went inside the goal, but just called Offside! Further, mistake from goalkeeper V.Kaith and a defender gave the ball to Kalu Uche of Delhi and he hits this time too. Delhi was 2-1 up in the contest! Hosts were roaring at the end of the 1st half and hitted the pole of the goal in 42nd minute.Half Time Up!

What a half time it was.Both teams tried their best but Delhi led the way by 2-1.

Second Half!

This half initiated with Visitors attacking hard but defended. A change in the 51st minute felt clumsy to the audience. Two Goal scorer Kalu Uche of Delhi was replaced in the 51st minute.Crowd shouted 'Kalu Uche' and cheered him. Pune tried equaling the match. Delhi fans chanted 'Jai Mata Di'. Hosts were inching towards the last match win of the season for them. But a 86th minute foul resulted in a penalty to Pune and E.Alfaro scored the second goal and equalled the scores.It was 2-2. Further the teams wanting to lead managed to make it a tie. Full Time Up!

The result of the match was a tie by 2-2.

Pune would be happy with the tie as they have not lost the last match before the playoffs. They might be having immense confidence to get good results further in the tournament. But Delhi would be little unhappy for the tie. However I witnessed a great close match by the teams and respect the sportsmanship showed. Delhi could reverse their mood as they lost only 1 match out of 7 in the later tournament.

Stats:

Team Stats                                         Delhi Dynamos                                          Pune FC

Shots                                                             13                                                            12

Shots on target                                              04                                                            05

Possession                                                     59%                                                        41%

Fouls                                                             15                                                            11

Yellow cards                                                 03                                                            01

Red cards                                                       -                                                               -

Offsides                                                        03                                                             02

Corners                                                         07                                                            06

Delhi Goals- Kalu Uche 10'(P), 34'

Pune Goals- Emiliano Alfaro 13'(P), 86'(P)

Yellow cards -S. Panwar (Pune), P. Dias, S. Singh, M. S. Dhot(All Delhi)

Awards of the Match

• Club award worth 50k given to Kalu Uche and A.Khan.
• Limitless Player award worth 25k given to E.Alfaro.
• DHL Winning Pass of the Match worth 25k awarded to Nand Kumar.
• Amul Fittest Player of the match worth 25k awarded to Arana.
• ISL Emerging Player worth 25k presented to I.Vanmalsawma.
• Hero of the Match worth 50k presented to Kalu Uche.