19-10-2020

MonDAY, oCToBeR 19, 2020
9
Dhawan ton condemns CSK
to sixth defeat of the season
Cadiz moved level on points with LaLiga leaders Real Madrid after they overcame the
defending champions thanks to Anthony Lozano's goal.
Photo: AP
Real Madrid slump to shock
defeat against Cadiz
SportS DeSK:
real Madrid suffered their first
LaLiga defeat of the season as they
went down 1-0 in dismal fashion at
home to minnows Cadiz on
Saturday, reports Ap.
promoted Cadiz set about
disrupting the defending
champions from the off and took a
deserved lead through Anthony
Lozano's 16th-minute effort.
thibaut Courtois denied Lozano a
second before half-time, when
Zinedine Zidane made four
substitutions with an injured Sergio
ramos among the players to make
way.
prior to his injury, ramos came to
Madrid's rescue inside two minutes,
hooking Alvaro Negredo's effort off
the line.
Negredo went close with a header
and Juan Cala tested Courtois with
a shot as Cadiz kept up the pressure,
though, and the visitors were
rewarded for a brilliant start when
Lozano prodded in over Madrid's
onrushing goalkeeper.
Lozano looked set to double his
tally just after the half-hour, but
Courtois made a fine save at his
near post, though Madrid's
goalkeeper had a lucky escape when
he dropped a cross which no Cadiz
attacker could pounce on.
With four new players on, Madrid
stepped up the tempo, though
Vinicius' wayward strike was the
closest they came to troubling Cadiz
early in the second half.
Vinicius should have restored
parity after the hour, only to head
wide from toni Kroos' left-wing
cross, the Germany midfielder
creating five chances as his teammates
struggled.
Jovic's introduction looked to
have sparked the comeback, yet the
substitute's goal was rightly
disallowed for an offside from
Benzema, who then struck the
woodwork as Cadiz held firm to join
Madrid and Granada on 10 points.
Madrid had not lost in 15 LaLiga
matches heading into this clash, but
Cadiz did the damage to end Los
Blancos' run and claim a first win
over the capital club since 1991.
on a dismal day for Madrid, they
had fewer attempts (13-14) and
shots on target (2-5) than Cadiz.
Cadiz played with no fear in the
first half, and a huge part of that
was down to Negredo, who at 35
was a thorn in Madrid's side. It was
his header which teed up Lozano -
one of two chances the veteran
campaigner created. Negredo also
had four attempts as he posed a
constant threat, tied for a game
high.
Lewandowski continues hot scoring
streak as Tolisso sees red
SportS DeSK:
robert Lewandowski
maintained his magnificent
goalscoring form as Bayern
Munich eased to a 4-1
Bundesliga victory over
Arminia Bielefeld on
Saturday, reports Ap.
Lewandowski scored four
times in Bayern's 4-3 win
over Hertha Berlin in their
last match before the
international break and
struck twice for poland in a
victory over Bosnia-
Herzegovina in midweek.
the prolific striker took his
goalscoring tally for the
season to nine goals in seven
matches with a first-half
double at Bielefelder Alm
after playing a big part in
thomas Muller's opener.
He then set up Muller for
Bayern's fourth as the
champions, who conceded
to ritsu Doan's low drive
before losing Corentin
tolisso to a straight red card,
made it four wins in a row in
all competitions and
climbed into second place.
Lewandowski played in
Muller with a first-time pass
in behind and the attacker
converted just eight minutes
in after his initial pass to
Kingsley Coman - earlier
denied a penalty - was cut
out.
tolisso and Muller wasted
good opportunities to extend
Bayern's lead before clinical
striker Lewandowski did
exactly that with a thumping
strike from 18 yards.
the pair were at it again at
the end of the first half as
Muller squared to
Lewandowski to score his
second from a near identical
position to the first, helped
by a telling deflection.
Lewandowski was denied
a third by the crossbar early
in the second half but
crossed for Muller to volley
in from six yards out 100
seconds later.
Bielefeld, previously
unbeaten in 10 home games
in 2020, did manage to pull
one back on the counter just
before the hour mark
through Doan's shot across
Manuel Neuer.
tolisso was then
dismissed with 14 minutes
to play for bringing down
Fabian Klos as the last man,
but Hansi Flick's men came
closest to scoring the sixth
goal of the match as
substitute Javi Martinez
nodded against the
woodwork late on.
Bayern's 32-match
unbeaten run was ended by
Hoffenheim in their most
recent away league outing
but they have responded in
style. Flick's side are a lethal
attacking force, managing 17
shots in total here as they
made it 14 goals in four
consecutive wins.
they are now a point
behind leaders rB Leipzig,
who beat Augsburg 2-0
earlier in the day.
Lewandowski has now
scored 213 goals in 258
Bundesliga matches and has
found the net against every
Bundesliga side - including
Bayern - with this double
against Arminia.
He had six shots in 86
minutes on the field, half of
those on target, and created
a joint-high three chances
for his team-mates -
including key passes for
Muller's two goals.
Stefan ortega, formerly on
the books of 1860 Munich,
was beaten four times but
could arguably have kept out
two of those goals.
His positioning for
Lewandowski's first goal was
questionable and he got a
touch to the striker's shot for
the second, though he did
make five other saves.
Holders Bayern host
Atletico Madrid in their
opening Champions League
group match on Wednesday,
while Arminia travel to
Wolfsburg in their next
league outing in eight days'
time.
Bayern Munich cruised to a 4-1 win over Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday, Robert Lewandowski helping
himself to another couple of goals.
Photo: AP
Sports Desk: With the rub of the green
on his side, Shikhar Dhawan's free
flowing unbeaten 101 off 58 - his first IpL
century - carried Delhi Capitals to their
seventh win, and the top of the table as
they chased down Chennai Super Kings'
179/4 in a final-over thriller. Dhawan
was on course to take DC over the line
with some comfort, until Marcus
Stoinis's exit in the 16th over threatened
to turn the tables on DC at the very end.
Sam Curran bowled an exceptional
penultimate over for just four runs, but
Dhoni's Jadeja gamble in the 20th saw
DC hit the required 16 off the last six,
reports Cricbuzz.
CSK didn't do themselves any favours
by offering him three reprieves - when he
was on 27, 50 and 79, and he cost them
two valuable points that could've given
them some breathing space in the midtable
fight they've found themselves in.
Like CSK's rayudu, Shikhar Dhawan
saw the benefits of giving the quicks the
charge early on, to pick boundaries off
Sam Curran, Deepak Chahar and
Shardul thakur. Dhawan also very
confidently unfurled the cut and pull shot
every time the bowlers offered him
width, with good effect in Sharjah's short
boundaries.
MS Dhoni went one bowler short -
relegating piyush Chawla to the bench -
which meant the onus was on Karn
Sharma and ravindra Jadeja to end his
flying start and clip DC's wings. Jadeja
nearly pulled it off when Dhawan topedged
a slog sweep, but Chahar couldn't
get under it at fine leg.
the DC opener toyed with Karn
Sharma and his lengths. He danced
down to a full ball and hit it straight down
the ground, and forced Karn to shorten
his length. When the leggie did that, he
camped back and cut it through extra
cover for another boundary. MS Dhoni
had the chance to cut Dhawan's essay
right at 50, but he let one edge slip past
his gloves to allow the DC opener to carry
on past the halfway stage of the chase.
Shreyas Iyer's exit in the 12th over after
a 68-run stand didn't change the course
of the game - or the route Dhawan had
chosen to take today. He carried on in the
company of Marcus Stoinis, continuing
to drive with disdain and flatbat any
short deliveries attempted against him.
It came with Stoinis's exit in the 16th
over. Alex Carey has played the last two
games in the absence of rishabh pant
and Shimron Hetmyer but hasn't found
himself in such a pressure situation as
today - when he walked out with DC
needing 41 off the last four overs.
Dhawan still cut down the deficit with
two gorgeous hits against Curran - a
pick-up hit over mid-wicket and a six
over long-on. He also second-guessed
Shardul thakur and his wide yorker in
the 18th over to shuffle across and sweep
it to the backward square leg fence.
However, Curran's penultimate over
nearly undid all of Dhawan's incredible
knock in the space of just six balls. the
left-arm pacer nailed the wide yorker
throughout the over, giving away just
four in it. Despite Dhawan standing tall
with a century to his name, DC were left
with a mountain to climb in the final
over, with 17 to get.
At that time, it did look like a left-field
punt, but the CSK captain would later
reveal that his go-to death bowler had
hurt himself and wasn't fit to bowl the
last over. Between throwing the ball to
Karn and Jadeja - both of who would
turn the ball into the two left-handers in
the middle (Dhawan and Axar patel),
Dhoni picked the latter.
Jadeja stuck to his guns of bowling
wide outside the off-stump but Axar
connected with each of his three big hits
- two over the leg side and one towering
six off a fuller, flatter ball over extra cover
to close the game.
Sending Sam Curran to open didn't
yield desired results this time around, as
he was hurried with a pacy short ball
outside the offstump from tushar
Deshpande. the urge to show intent
pushed Curran to take a stab at it, but he
ended up top-edging it to Anrich Nortje
at third man. Kagiso rabada started with
a maiden over, as CSK were headed
towards another passive end to a
powerplay. But then, Faf du plessis
found his touch again - after a mini threematch
slump - to help CSK move on
quickly.
ravichandran Ashwin bowled a series
of carom balls and Axar patel kept Shane
Watson on his toes as DC conceded just
eight runs in two overs right after the
powerplay. But once CSK's veteran pair
of Watson and Du plessis got used to
Ashwin, they went after him in his
second over, fetching 15 runs in the
process. they targeted tushar
Deshpande next to fly away to 85/1 in 11
overs.
Shikhar Dhawan's free flowing unbeaten 101 off 58 carried Delhi Capitals to their seventh
win.
Photo: AP
Klopp hopes derby
unites virus-hit
Liverpool
SportS DeSK:
Jurgen Klopp says football
can help bring people
together in tough times as
Liverpool gear up to face
everton on Saturday in a city
placed under tough
coronavirus rules, reports
BSS.
Klopp's champions travel
to face Carlo Ancelotti's
premier League leaders for a
second Merseyside derby
behind closed doors in four
months.
Liverpool has been placed
under the "very high" alert
level of the British
government's new three-tier
system to check the spread
of Covid-19.
Under the strict rules
many pubs and bars are
closed and people are not
allowed to socialise with
anybody beyond those they
live with.
the Liverpool squad itself
has been hit in recent weeks,
with Sadio Mane and thiago
Alcantara testing positive.
"I like to think that here
football is always a massive
point in this city," said
Klopp. "I think months ago
we discussed 'is football
really necessary, does
football play a role in
society?'
pakistan’s ‘Gul-dozer’
calls time on topsy-turvy
journey
SportS DeSK:
pakistan bowler Umar Gul, who earned the
nickname 'Gul-dozer' for his rattling of stumps,
has called time on his 17-year cricket career,
reports BSS.
With no crowds to bid farewell to the national
hero because of coronavirus restrictions, the
twenty20 World Cup winner bowed out to a
guard of honour from teammates and opponents
after his final match - a disappointing defeat - in
rawalpindi on Friday.
"I want to be remembered as someone who
tried his best for the country and it's flattering
that I was called 'Gul-dozer' during this
memorable journey in cricket," the 36-year-old
told AFp. It was a topsy-turvy journey for Gul,
whose affair with cricket began on the crowded
streets of peshawar.
He entered the international arena exactly a
month after the legendary pace duo of Wasim
Akram and Waqar Younis retired following
pakistan's disastrous 2003 World Cup.
It was like the baton of swing bowling had been
passed from one generation to another, Gul
recalled.
"It was tough to fill those shoes but I tried my
best and it was great to lead pakistan to the final
of the twenty20 World Cup in 2007 and then to
the title two years later," he said.
He finished with 163 test and 179 oDI wickets,
but he achieved his greatest success in twenty20
cricket, the start of his career coinciding with the
launch of the shortest format in 2003.
Gul was at his destructive best in england in
2009, finishing as the top wicket taker of the
twenty20 World Cup with 13. that included a
mesmerising five wickets for just six runs in the
semi-final win over New Zealand.
"Winning the World Cup was the highest point
of my career," he said. "I remember those were
very tough days and there was unrest in our
country so our win brought smiles back on the
faces."
At the time, pakistan's military was fighting an
insurgency from militants in the northwestern
region of the country.
Gul attributes his twenty20 skills to the early
days of his love for the game.
"I grew up playing 20-20-over matches in the
streets and then ramadan cricket where you
look for wickets in a 20-over innings," he said.
But his baptism was in test cricket, where he
became an instant hero in 2004.
In only his fifth test, Gul destroyed a starstudded
Indian batting order in a Lahore test
with figures of 5-21. His victims included the
great Sachin tendulkar, rahul Dravid, Virender
Sehwag and VVS Laxman.
the feat almost halted a burgeoning career,
causing a stress fracture in his back.
He later featured in the inaugural Indian
premier League in 2008, topping the chart for
the Kolkata Knight riders with 12 wickets in six
games - the only time pakistan players were
allowed to feature in the world's most lucrative
league.
But the 2011 World Cup semi-final against
India - in the one-day format -turned out to be
the most bitter of his career.
He was targeted by the top order and finished
with figures of 0-69 in eight overs for the match
in Mohali, India.