Sport News

South African bowlers Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada helped set up an eight-wicket win for Delhi Capitals on Wednesday in an Indian Premier League match that went ahead despite a SunRisers Hyderabad player testing positive for coronavirus. Hyderabad left-arm quick Thangarasu Natarajan and six of his close contacts were isolated hours before the latest match in the Twenty20 tournament in Dubai. An IPL release said Natarajan is "currently asymptomatic" while the contacts and other Hyderabad players all returned negative tests. On the field, Nortje returned figures of 2-12 and fellow Proteas quick Rabada took three wickets to further hurt Hyderabad who managed just 134-9 after electing to bat. Shikhar Dhawan lay the foundations for Delhi's chase with his brisk 42 and then Shreyas Iyer (47) and skipper Rishabh Pant (35) took the team home in 17.5 overs with an unbeaten stand of 67 for the third wicket. The left-handed Dhawan leads the IPL 2021 batting chart with 422 runs . . .

South African Anrich Nortje, with his extreme pace, is a great asset to have as he became the difference between a score of 134 and 160 during Delhi Capitals' eight -wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad, feels winning team captain Rishabh Pant. Norte returned with figures of 2/12 in his 4 overs, but more importantly scared David Warner with raw pace in a lethal spell as none of the SRH batters were able to handle that extra speed. "It's a good bowling performance because we thought 150-160 would have been a good total, so 130-something was a good score to restrict them to. We have one of the quickest bowlers in the world so I think they're great assets to have," Pant said at the post-match presentation ceremony. The skipper was happy that they are carrying the momentum of the first phase. "We discussed that we had a good first phase, and we are happy to start the second phase this way. We said the same thing about focusing on the process and giving it 100 per cent every . . .

Former England captain Mike Atherton minced no words as he lashed out at the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) over their decision to cancel the men’s and women’s tour of Pakistan. Atherton says it was strange that ECB called off the Pakistan tour, citing players’ welfare but allowed them a three-month window to play the IPL. He termed it worse than India’s recent withdrawal from the Manchester Test. There are questions in England cricket fraternity on how a few England players, who would have had to play the short white-ball series in Pakistan, can now play for their IPL franchises in the play-offs if required. “Citing player welfare is strange when the ECB has essentially washed its hands of its players’ travel and cricketing commitments for three months of the year so that they can play in the Indian Premier League,” Atherton wrote in his column for ‘The Times’. ECB’s decision came just a few days after New Zealand abandoned their tour of Pakistan, citing a security . . .

Getty Images Alyssa Naeher has reached soccer's pinnacle by appearing in the 2019 World Cup and 2020 Tokyo Olympics for Team USA, but she didn't fulfill her biggest childhood dreams in doing so. The 33-year-old goalkeeper told the Just Women's Sports podcast she originally wanted to play basketball for coach Geno Auriemma at the University of Connecticut. "Basketball was my first love...that's what I thought I would do with my life," Naeher said. "I prayed every morning when I was a kid, my parents can attest to it, of wanting to make the WNBA, I wanted to be a professional basketball player. I wanted to go to UConn." While basketball didn't work out for Naeher, soccer certainly did. Naeher won the National Women's Soccer League's Goalkeeper of the Year award in 2014 and has since appeared in two World Cups for Team USA. In 78 matches with the Americans, Naeher recorded 44 clean sheets. Naeher was particularly strong against penalty kicks during the 2019 World Cup, her first . . .

Getty Images Nine-time All-NBA guard Russell Westbrook's mercurial persona has long been evident to fans, and in October they can watch how it developed. Showtime Sports documentary films will release "Passion Play: Russell Westbrook" -- a film about the former MVP's  journey from high school to the NBA -- on Friday, Oct. 15 on its network, on-demand and streaming platforms. While Westbrook has been notoriously short with the media throughout his career, he showed investment in Passion Play by working as an executive producer on the project. Westbrook's younger brother, Raynard Westbrook, co-produced. Passion Play will feature interviews with Westbrook's former UCLA teammate Kevin Love and his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Nick Collison, among others. It'll also feature never-before-seen interviews with Westbrook's family and the man himself. "I'm proud to share this documentary and give audiences an inside look into who I really am on and off the court," . . .

Getty Images The New York Giants suffered another blow to their offensive line on Wednesday. Starting offensive guard Shane Lemieux underwent surgery to repair his patellar tendon . He will now miss the rest of the 2021 season. Lemieux tried to play through the injury, but to no avail. He started in Week 1 against the Denver Broncos , but played just 17 snaps. Back in July, he was carted off the field during a training camp session. Head coach Joe Judge believed that Lemieux had avoided a "worst-case scenario" and it looked like he was right at first. Unfortunately, he was unable to play through the injury. What was hoped to be a short-term shuffle along the offensive front wasn't helped by Nick Gates ' injury. In Week 2, New York inserted Billy Price at center while Gates replaced Lemieux at guard, but Gates suffered a season-ending lower leg fracture . It now looks like Price will stay at center while Ben Bredeson plays guard. Lemieux was originally . . .

Mumbai will be anxiously waiting for an update on the availability of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya as both of them were missed the match against Chennai Super Kings. However, coach Mahela Jayawardene had indicated that both Rohit and Hardik are available for selection for the match against the Knight Riders. As with any other match, this one too will offer MI and KKR players to go past some milestones. Here are a few of them. 1. The standing of MI, KKR Mumbai Indians are still holding on to their 4th place in the IPL 2021points table with 8 points but a defeat today can push them down the order. KKR also has 8 points but they are behind MI on the net run rate. A win can push them to the 4th slot. So, in that context, both the teams will vie intensely for a win as an adverse result can hinder their chances, even at a later stage. 2. MI vs KKR head to head record Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders have faced each other on 28 occasions in the . . .

Shreyas Iyer says he relished captaining the Delhi Capitals in the IPL but completely respects the team management's decision to let Rishabh Pant stay as leader of the pack till the end of the 2021 season. Iyer had led the Capitals to the summit clash of the 2020 season but he missed the first phase of this year's season due to a shoulder injury and the management asked Pant to captain the side. The 26-year-old returned to the side before IPL's resumption after the COVID-19 forced break but the Capitals chose not to change the leader again, keeping Pant in the captain's chair. The young Mumbai batsman, who hit a blistering 47 in team's win on Wednesday night, said he understands team's policy and has no complaints. "When I was given the captaincy, I was in a different frame of mind and my decision-making and temperament level was very good and I benefited from it in the last two years," Iyer said at the post-match press conference. "This is part of the decision-making from . . .

Slamming 42 runs off 37 balls on Wednesday, Shikhar Dhawan once again consolidated his position on top of the Orange Cap race in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season. The swashbuckling batsman was in top form, helping Delhi Capitals (DC) chase a target of 135 runs , set by SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). Other than Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant also made noteworthy contributions to the chase. Iyer crossed 4000 T20 runs and remained unbeaten. Meanwhile, captain Pant also remained unbeaten after smashing 35 off 21 balls. Speaking on Star Sports after the match, legendary West Indies cricketer Brian Lara praised Dhawan for his approach to the match. "Much needed and losing his partner Prithvi Shaw early, he needed to stay there. He gave a little bit of comfort and consolidation for his side. See what happens so far in the IPL, you can't take anything for granted. See the way he came out and performed, also put on a partnership which is good," he said. "He did not . . .

Delhi Capitals (DC) resumed their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 campaign with a win against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match 33, at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday. Kagiso Rabada took three wickets to restrict SRH to 134 for nine after 20 overs. Facing a target of 135, DC cruised to 139 for two in 17.5 overs, with Shreyas Iyer scoring an unbeaten knock of 47 runs in 41 balls. Shikhar Dhawan also hit 42 in 37 deliveries. Meanwhile, skipper Rishabh Pant also remained unbeaten and registered 35 off 21 balls. IPL 2021 Points Table With the win, DC have climbed back to top of the table with 14 points from nine matches (seven wins and two defeats). Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who earlier occupied top spot, are in second position with 12 points from eight fixtures. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are in third position, followed by Mumbai Indians (MI). After the defeat, SRH remain bottom of the eight-team table. Rajasthan Royals (RR) are in fifth position, . . .