India set up ICC Champions Trophy clash with Australia
DUBAI: Spinner Varun Chakravarthy returned figures of 5-42 as India beat New Zealand by 44 runs on Sunday to set up a semifinal clash with Australia in the Champions Trophy.
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Australia or South Africa will return to Pakistan from Dubai for semifinal
DUBAI: Australia and South Africa have been forced to travel to Dubai from Pakistan, the International Cricket Council confirmed Sunday, due to a tangled schedule at the Champions Trophy. India and New Zealand play the final group match on Sunday in Dubai and the result of the game will decide the semifinal line-up. Australia are in Dubai and will train in the afternoon, when South Africa are expected to fly in from Karachi where they hammered England to get top spot in Group B. The winners of the India-New Zealand clash will play Australia, who finished second to South Africa in their group. But irrespective of the placing and opponent, India will play the first semifinal in Dubai on March 4 after they refused to travel to hosts Pakistan for political reasons. That will leave New Zealand and either Australia or South Africa, hours after landing in Dubai, to head back to Pakistan for the second semifinal scheduled on March 5 in Lahore. Pundits and ex-cricketers had called out the one-venue “farce” at the 50-over tournament after India were allowed to play all their matches at the Dubai International Stadium. The rest of the seven teams in the eight-nation competition had to shuttle between three Pakistan venues — Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore — and the United Arab Emirates. New Zealand all-rounder Glenn Phillips said his team were not thinking about India staying at one venue for the course of the tournament. “No, for us there’s no focus on anything like that,” he said on Saturday. “We have a ‘no-excuses’ mindset.” The final on March 9 will be in Dubai if India go the distance. Lahore’s Qaddafi Stadium will be the venue if India miss out.
Third-time lucky for Tsitsipas as he overcomes Auger-Aliassime to take Dubai title
DUBAI: Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas made it third time lucky at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Saturday night, defeating Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 to claim his maiden ATP 500 title in front of a jubilant Centre Court under the lights at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
Leverkusen stay in sight of Bayern before Champions League showdown
BERLIN: Bayer Leverkusen cut Bayern Munich’s lead in the Bundesliga back to eight points ahead of the sides’ Champions League last 16 clash, with a 4-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. Bayern’s comeback win over Stuttgart on Friday had sent them 11 points clear of champions Leverkusen. Wanting to keep their slim hopes of defending the Bundesliga title alive, Leverkusen did not blink against third-placed Frankfurt, scoring three goals in a seven-minute blitz to grab hold of the game. Nathan Tella latched onto a defense-splitting Granit Xhaka pass and slotted home after 26 minutes. Nordi Mukiele scored Leverkusen’s second three minutes later, prodding a loose ball into the goal through a crowded penalty area. Patrik Schick scored four minutes later, sliding in an Alex Grimaldo pass, his 16th goal in his past 14 games. Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike took advantage of a poor pass from Mukiele to score in the 37th minute. Despite the hosts starting the second half brightly, a cracking long-range effort from Aleix Garcia with 63 minutes gone sealed a crucial win for Xabi Alonso’s side, who go to Bayern in Europe on Wednesday. “It’s easy to talk, but to show it on the pitch is harder. We want to show once more that we can take the fight to Bayern,” Alonso told DAZN. Xhaka felt it was the perfect preparation for the all-German showdown. “We’re strong enough to aggravate Bayern next week.
Man City survive Plymouth scare, Palace’s Mateta hospitalized in Millwall win
MANCHESTER: Manchester City survived a scare to beat giant killers Plymouth 3-1 and progress to the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, after Crystal Palace striker Jean Philippe-Mateta was hospitalized in the Eagles’ 3-1 win over Millwall. Plymouth had shocked Premier League leaders Liverpool in the previous round and were on course for another stunning upset at the Etihad when Maksym Talovierov headed them in front on 38 minutes. Argyle boss Miron Muslic said it would be the “biggest honor” of his life to go head-to-head with Pep Guardiola. With FA Cup glory City’s only realistic hope of silverware this season, Guardiola surprisingly rotated his side with Erling Haaland among those left on the bench. However, it was one of City’s youngsters who took his chance to shine as Nico O’Reilly turned the tie around. Muslic will be furious at the manner of both the 19-year-old’s goals as he twice headed in from set-pieces under little pressure. O’Reilly’s equalizer just before half-time calmed City’s nerves before he powered in Phil Foden’s corner 14 minutes from time. By that point Guardiola had summoned Haaland off the bench and he teed up the third for Kevin De Bruyne in stoppage time. “Big compliments to Plymouth for making our job so difficult.
Real Madrid lose at Betis as Isco spearheads a 2-1 comeback win over former team
BARCELONA: Real Madrid stumbled in the three-way race for the Spanish league title as Isco Alarcón guided Real Betis to a 2-1 comeback win over the defending champion on Saturday. The former Madrid player delivered a corner kick that was headed in by fellow midfielder Johnny Cardoso in the 34th minute, canceling out Brahim Díaz’s opener for Madrid. Isco then put Betis ahead from the penalty spot in the 54th after he passed to Jesús Rodríguez and Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger knocked the Betis forward down in the area. Madrid’s loss left them level on points with Barcelona, which host Real Sociedad on Sunday. Atletico Madrid are one point behind before they play fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao later on Saturday. Kylian Mbappé was back starting for Madrid after missing one game because of a dental problem.
Fenerbahce’s Mourinho has four-match ban halved after appeal
ANKARA: Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho’s four-match suspension has been halved by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) following a review of the club’s appeal. Mourinho was handed a fine and the ban over his comments about Turkish referees after a game at rivals Galatasaray, where he criticized the match officials in a press conference following the 0-0 Super Lig draw on Monday. The TFF fined the 62-year-old Portuguese 1.6 million Turkish lira ($43,963.89) but that was reduced to 558,500. The penalties were due to “derogatory and offensive statements toward the Turkish referee” and accusations of chaos and disorder in Turkish football, according to the TFF. The TFF said Mourinho’s remarks violated sports ethics, promoted violence and disorder and could incite fan incidents. Monday’s game was refereed by Slovenian Slavko Vincic after both clubs requested a foreign official take charge. Fenerbahce issued a statement on Tuesday defending Mourinho, saying his comments were taken out of context and deliberately distorted. Former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur manager Mourinho has previously been fined and suspended for his comments about Turkish match officials. On Friday, Fenerbahce said Mourinho filed a lawsuit against Galatasaray after they accused him of making racist statements. The Portuguese manager will return for Fenerbahce’s Super Lig match against Samsunspor on March 16. Fenerbahce are second in Turkiye’s Super Lig, six points behind fellow Istanbul side Galatasaray.
Corner kick awarded if goalkeeper holds the ball more than 8 seconds
BELFAST: Soccer’s rule makers are taking another crack at reducing timewasting by goalkeepers who hold the ball for too long. The International Football Association Board approved a rule change Saturday whereby the opposing team will be awarded a corner kick if a goalkeeper holds the ball for more than eight seconds. The new rule will first be used at the Club World Cup in June and then in domestic and international competitions from next season.