08-03-2019

SPORTS
FRIDAy,
MARCh 8, 2019
9
Manchester United complete stunning
comeback to shatter PSG
Mahmudullah in fact urged his teammates to learn from the mistakes that they did in the first
innings of the opening Test against New Zealand.
Photo: AP
Mahmdullah emphasizes on good
start to dictate Wellington Test
SportS DeSk:
Bangladesh stand-in captain Mahmudullah
Riyad stressed upon the
requirements of doing better in the first
innings in a bid to dictate the course of
the game in the second Test, starting on
Friday at Basin Reserve in Wellington,
reports BSS.
Bangladesh's first innings debacle
was key in their crushing innings and 52
runs margin defeat in the first Test in
Hamilton, despite their good show with
batting in the second innings. The visitors
were bowled out for 234 in the first
innings and could not make it up
despite compiling 429 in the second
innings.
"I think last time the wicket was
greenish early on and it will be difficult
for the batsmen on the first day because
there will be some movement and
swing," Mahmudullah said on Thursday
in Wellington. "But what I feel is
that day by day it will be batting friendly
so the opening day is very important."
Mahmudullah in fact urged his teammates
to learn from the mistakes that
they did in the first innings of the opening
Test.
"In Test cricket first innings is always
very important because it helps you to
have a good build up for the remaining
part of the game," he said.
"Whether you are batting or bowling
in first innings, you have to do well
because it will dictate a lot as far as getting
hold of the match is concerned. So
in that context first innings is very
important and what we want is that if
we bat first we need to build a good
partnership and post a good total in the
first innings while if we bowl, we need to
do well here too," he said.
When the batting debacle in the first
innings got most attention,
Bangladesh's bowlers below par bowling
remained a headache also. The inexperienced
pace attack, combined with
rookie Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed Rahi
and Khaled Ahmed couldn't show anything
impressive and took just a solitary
wicket after three bowled 87 overs in
combined.
Their toothless bowling was the reason
that New Zealand could rack up
their highest ever total in their history,
with 715-6 (dec).
Mahmdullah however was reluctant
to give up hopes on them and said it will
be too early to write them off "The pace
bowling attack is pretty inexperienced
and it will be injustice if I expect a lot
from them straight away," he revealed.
"Certainly they are good bowlers but
we need to give them time to be
groomed up proper way. They are definitely
going to be better for Bangladesh
and they will perform better as the time
progresses," he hoped.
"They have that ambition and that
was pleasing for me. I think they were
pretty aggressive and they bowled a lot
of over, they tried several things like
bowling short balls and away from the
batsmen or the length balls but they
needed to be more consistent as that
would have been better," he said.
Bangladesh can draw inspiration
from the fact that pace bowler
Mustafizur Rahman is all set to return
for them in Wellington Test but the
team management is yet to decide who
would make his way in the fold.
"Mustafizur will come back but we are
yet to decide who will be dropped in
favour of him."
SportS DeSk:
Manchester United pulled off one of
the greatest comebacks in Champions
League history as Marcus Rashford's
last-gasp VAR penalty sealed a 3-1 win
at Paris St Germain on Wednesday and
sent the English side into the quarterfinals
on away goals, reports AP.
Never in 106 attempts in Europe's
premium club competition had a team
progressed in a knockout tie after a 2-0
home defeat, but Rashford's stoppagetime
penalty - the first he had taken for
the club - put Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's
side through in the most dramatic fashion
as the tie finished level at 3-3.
The result came 20 years after Solskjaer
wrote his name into the club's folklore
by scoring the injury-time winner
in the final victory over Bayern Munich
to complete the treble of Champions
League, Premier League and FA Cup.
Now back as caretaker manager after
the dismissal of Jose Mourinho, the
Norwegian has overseen a remarkable
turnaround as United have won 14 of 17
games in all competitions and hauled
themselves back into the top-four battle
in the Premier League.
Progress in Europe looked a step too
far, though, after United were outplayed
by PSG at Old Trafford and
arrived in Paris short of a host of key
players through suspension and injury.
However, with Alex Ferguson watching
proudly from the stands, Solksjaer's
team achieved what no other has managed
in the competition - as well as
making himself the shortest of odds to
fill the biggest seat in English football
on a permanent basis at the end of the
season.
"It's this club. It's what we do, that's
Man United, that's the Champions
League, it's what it does."" said Solskjaer,
who was managing Norwegian
club Molde before getting the call to
replace Mourinho in December.
"It's a typical Manchester United
night. We had a game plan and the
belief in the boys was what we hoped
for. Everyone shares a huge pride. The
players were focussed, they listened to
all the instructions and they knew that
we had to defend well. There was a lot
of quality."
While United march on, PSG are left
to wonder how, yet again, they have
failed in Europe despite spending millions
to put together a team that crushes
all domestic opposition.
They had lost only two of their last 50
European games at the Parc des
Princes but have still yet to reach even
the semi-finals of the Champions
League.
"The plan was to get the first goal, be
in the game with 10 minutes to go," Solskjaer
said and he could not have
scripted it any better as Romelu
Lukaku intercepted a weak back pass
from Thilo Kehrer, rounded Gianluigi
Buffon and slid the ball into the empty
net after two minutes.
PSG dominated possession, though,
and with United's defence all over the
place, it was no surprise when Juan
Bernat knocked in Kylian Mbappe's
cross to level after 12 minutes.
The hosts continued to control the
game but United took the advantage
again with their next chance when Buffon
failed to deal with a fierce, low
Rashford shot and Lukaku poked home
the rebound late in the first half.
PSG, with injured Brazil striker Neymar
watching from the stands, had all
the ball in the second half without ever
looking very threatening and seemingly
settling for their 3-2 aggregate lead,
while United were disciplined and tireless
in defence.
England striker Rashford, who had
never taken a penalty in a competitive
game for United, kept his nerve during
the long delay to smash it past Buffon.
PSG desperately pushed for the goal
that would have sent them through in a
further four minutes of play but United
held firm and celebrated wildly with
their fans when the whistle sounded.
In contrast, the stunned home players
sunk to the ground in disbelief at a
near-silent stadium.
"It is very hard to lose, very hard to
accept," said PSG coach Thomas
Tuchel, the latest to fail to deliver the
European glory the club's Qatari owners
have invested so much to achieve.
"If you lose a game like this it's horrible
and cruel because we did not
deserve to go out after those 180 minutes."
England striker Rashford, who
had never taken a penalty in a competitive
game for United, kept his nerve
during the long delay to smash it past
Buffon.
PSG desperately pushed for the goal
that would have sent them through in a
further four minutes of play but United
held firm and celebrated wildly with
their fans when the whistle sounded.
In contrast, the stunned home players
sunk to the ground in disbelief at a
near-silent stadium.
India look to seal series in Dhoni's
hometown against Australia
SportS DeSk:
Having already taken a 2-0 lead in
the five-match ODI series against
Australia, India will be eager to seal
the contest when the two teams take
to the field for the third match at the
JSCA International Stadium Complex
in Ranchi on Friday (March 8),
reports AP.
With the World Cup now less than
three months away, the Virat Kohliled
side would want to use the
remaining matches to fine-tune their
combinations while also testing their
bench strength ahead of the tournament.
For Australia, this will be their
last chance to keep the series alive.
Having swept the two-match T20I
series, the visitors have thus far struggled
to assert their authority in the
two ODIs in Hyderabad and Nagpur.
Their bowling attack did put in an
efficient performance in the second
ODI at Nagpur despite Kohli constructing
a century, but the batting
hasn't yet clicked, and the issues begin
from the top.
Skipper Aaron Finch has been
struggling for form lately and his
inability to provide the team with a
solid start at the top of the innings has
exposed the inconsistent middle
order. Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinus
and Peter Handscomb have
shown flashes of form so far but the
middle order's lack of a lynchpin is
evident.
Steve Smith will most likely be
thrust into that role during the World
Cup but given his lack of match practice
and the fact that he will be returning
from injury, Australia would do
well to temper expectations from the
former skipper. David Warner is also
expected to be back in the side following
the end of his suspension and he
could add firepower and stability to
the top order but he too will be returning
from an injury layoff.
Quite clearly, in this scenario, Australia's
batsmen will be eager to find a
modicum of consistency and rhythm
in the remaining three games to
assuage the concerns of the selectors
and team management.
For India, perhaps the biggest
dilemma they face is whether or not
they choose to experiment with their
playing XI in the final three games.
India have played with a near fullstrength
XI in the previous two games
yet common sense dictates that even
squad members need time in the middle
ahead of a tournament like the
World Cup.
KL Rahul, who will likely be India's
back-up opener, played in the T20I
series but has yet to feature in the
ODIs and will be keen to make a case
for himself should he be given the
opportunity to do so. Rishabh Pant is
another player who may feature in the
fifteen-man squad for the tournament
but hasn't played thus far in the series,
although given MS Dhoni's recent
form the youngster would most likely
feature in this series as a pure batsman
should he be given a game.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was
rested for the T20 series and the first
couple of ODIS, is part of the squad
for the last three ODIs. He hasn't been
at his best in white-ball cricket during
recent times but is a genuine threat
with the new ball and will be keen to
rediscover his rhythm soon.
India will be eager to seal the series against Australia when the two teams take the field for the third
match at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi today.
Photo: AP
Marcus Rashford scored from the penalty spot to help Manchester United beat PSG 3-1.
Telles penalty
edges Porto
past Roma in
extra time
SportS DeSk:
Alex Telles converted a
VAR-awarded penalty deep
into extra time as Porto
defeated Roma 3-1 on
Wednesday to reach the
Champions League quarterfinals
following a tense 4-3
win on aggregate, reports
BSS.
Francisco Soares nudged
Porto ahead with a simple
tap-in on 26 minutes, but
Daniele De Rossi equalised
from the spot before halftime
after Eder Militao
chopped down Diego Perotti.
Moussa Marega restored
the lead on the night for Porto
early in the second half to
level the tie as he struck in
his sixth successive appearance
in Europe.
An additional half-hour
was required to settle an
encounter that looked to be
heading for a shootout
before Telles tucked home
from the spot on 117 minutes
after a tug on Fernando by
Alessandro Florenzi was
spotted upon review.
"It was not just me that
scored the penalty, it was the
whole team. The Dragao, the
full stadium, made me feel at
ease. It was a very good
energy," said Telles.
"We've got to accept it,
even if the way it happened
is terrible to accept," Roma
captain De Rossi told Sky
Sport Italia.
Swiss great Federer shies
away from Superman tag
SportS DeSk:
Roger Federer is still
savoring his latest remarkable
milestone, but the Swiss
great says his 100th career
title isn't a sign he's superhuman,
reports BSS.
"The problem is, people
always elevate the superstar
athlete to like Superman status
like we're super-human
and all that stuff," Federer
said Wednesday as he prepared
for his next challenge
at the Indian Wells Masters.
"I don't see myself like
that. Being perfect doesn't
exist," Federer said. "Everybody
has their flaws. So do
I."
Federer, owner of a men's
record 20 Grand Slam titles,
reached the 100-title milestone
with a ruthless 6-4, 6-
4 dismantling of Greece's
Stefanos Tsitsipas in the
Dubai Championship final
last Sunday.
Seeded fourth at Indian
Wells, he'll launch his bid for
a sixth title in the California
Desert exactly one week later
when he takes on either
Peter Gojowczyk or Andreas
Seppi in the second round.
He could find himself taking
on Swiss compatriot
Stan Wawrinka, a threetime
Grand Slam champion,
in the third round in a quarter
that also includes sixthseeded
Kei Nishikori of
Japan.
"It is something incredible
to see, how (often Federer)
plays at a high level and does
not have many injuries,"
said Nishikori. "For sure, he
works so much harder than
everybody."
Federer, 37, said he never
envisioned winning 100
titles - becoming just the second
player along with 109-
time winner Jimmy Connors
to hit triple digits.
"It's an achievement that I
never thought I was going to
make and one I only started
thinking about maybe in the
last nine months or year or
so, ever since maybe I got to
96 or 97," he said.
Federer's 99th trophy had
come last October at his
home event in Basel.
He missed out on the century
at the Paris Masters, the
ATP Finals in London and
then at Melbourne - failing
to make the final at any of
those events, but when he
got there in Dubai there was
no room for doubt.
"First attempt in a finals
it's nice to pass the hurdle
and get to 100 rather than
going to every single event
from now on and going 'Is
this going to be the week
where you're going to reach
100?' and going 'Yeah, I
hope so,'" he said.
"I think all the players
would have gotten fed up
with that too so I'm happy I
got it out of the way.
Photo: AP
Nadal wants
Kyrgios to set
better example
SportS DeSk:
Rafael Nadal insisted
Wednesday that he has
immense respect for Nick
Kyrgios's talent, and his public
scolding of the mercurial
Aussie after their stormy Acapulco
clash doesn't change
that, reports BSS.
Kyrgios survived three
match points to beat topseeded
Nadal in three sets to
reach the quarter-finals in
Acapulco, where he went on
to win his first ATP title in
more than a year.
Immediately after the
match, 17-time Grand Slam
champion Nadal said that
Kyrgios - who complained of
illness, served underarm and
taunted a pro-Nadal crowd on
the way to victory - "lacks
respect for the public, the
opponent and for himself."
Nadal told reporters at the
Indian Wells Masters that he
thought his comments may
have suffered in translation,
but his assessment of Kyrgios
hadn't really changed.
"I never said nothing too
negative about Nick, even if he
took it more personally,"
Nadal said, adding that his
comments had nothing to do
with the underarm serve,
which didn't make him feel
disrespected at all.
"I understand this part of
the game and I think it's a
good show for the game, but
there's other stuff in my opinion
he can do better," Nadal
said, adding that he feared
Kyrgios's attitude sets a bad
example for younger players.