News Express

Inter Milan can clinch a first Serie A crown in over a decade, Lille look to stay in control of the Ligue 1 title race and Borussia Dortmund have their sights set on the German Cup final. AFP Sport selects some of the standout action in Europe this weekend: Inter on cusp of Italian title Crotone vs Inter Milan, Saturday 1600 GMT Inter Milan could secure a first Serie A crown since Jose Mourinho led the club to the treble in 2010 if they win and Atalanta drop points at Sassuolo on Sunday. The Nerazzurri are on the cusp of a 19th Scudetto, which would move them one ahead of city rivals AC Milan but still a distance behind Juventus' record of 36. Antonio Conte's side have drawn two of their past three games but are unbeaten in 17 and will be expected to see off a Crotone outfit all but condemned to relegation at the foot of the table. Nice roadblock the next threat to Lille Lille vs Nice, Saturday 1900 GMT Having battled back from two goals to beat Lyon, Lille will need

Nyon: English football's boycott of social media is spreading after FIFA and UEFA said they will join the players, clubs and organisations in a four-day protest against online abuse. The boycott will also be joined by English cricket and rugby clubs, and the British Lawn Tennis Association, highlighting concerns that Twitter and Facebook, which also owns Instagram, aren't doing enough to combat racist abuse on their platforms. "FIFA supports the initiative from English football to call out discriminatory and other offensive abuse on social media," world football's governing body said in a statement. "This has no place in football or society more generally and we strongly condemn it. pic.twitter.com/uf0YhmX4sS — FIFA Media (@fifamedia) April 30, 2021 "We believe that authorities and social media companies should take real and effective steps to put an end to these abhorrent practices because it's getting worse all the time and something need

Al Wahda scraped past FC Goa 2-0 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on Thursday. The victory consolidated second spot for the visitors, while the Gaurs ended their debut AFC Champions League campaign with three points from six matches. FC Goa, with their foreign contingent missing, made a string of changes to their team and never looked comfortable. The away side, on the other hand, dominated the opening exchanges and immediately stamped their authority on the encounter. Despite enjoying a major chunk of possession, though, Al Wahda were unable to scythe through the FC Goa defensive door as the teams went into the break on level terms. After the restart, Al Wahda turned a screw and looked much more positive with their attacking play. They were a lot more direct and put the Gaurs’ rear-guard under pressure. In the 60 th minute, Al Wahda finally broke down FC Goa’s defiance when Omar Khribin lashed the ball into the back of the net from inside the box. 30 minutes later, the

Ahmedabad: A livid Kolkata Knight Riders coach Brendon McCullum came down heavily on his team's top-order batsmen for not showing enough "intent and aggression" in the ongoing IPL after demanding "loyalty" from him during team selection. McCullum didn't name anyone but rising India superstar Shubman Gill is among those who have looked completely out of sorts. As an opener in all seven games, he has scored only 132 runs at an average of less than 19 and strike-rate of below 120. "It's very, very disappointing. I think as a player, you ask to be given freedom and confidence and loyalty when it comes to selection, to go out there and take the game on and try and be aggressive... and to try and make things happen for your team," McCullum said at the post-match conference after the team slumped to its fifth defeat against the Delhi Capitals. "That's the style of play which both myself and the captain (Eoin Morgan) have asked of our pla

Rishi Kapoor Death Anniversary: Chashme Baddoor co-star Divyenndu shares memories from Entertainment - Videos - The Times of India https://ift.tt/3vrJkVl

Ahmedabad: His six fours in the very first over set up Delhi Capitals' easy win over Kolkata Knight Riders in an IPL match in Ahmedabad on Thursday and Prithvi Shaw said he knew where pacer Shivam Mavi would bowl and was prepared for it. Shaw sent all the six legal deliveries from opening bowler Mavi to the boundary and went on to score 82 off just 41 deliveries to help DC beat KKR by seven wickets. "I wasn't thinking anything to be honest. I was just waiting for the loose balls. I knew where Shivam will bowl, we've played (in age-group)  together for four-five years," Shaw said at the post-match presentation. "The first four-five balls he bowled were half-volleys, so I was prepared for the short ball but he didn't bowl." He scored most of the runs on the off-side and asked about it, Shaw said, "On this wicket especially when the spinner is bowling it wasn't coming very nicely onto the bat. It was stopping a little. "So, I was wa

After a few overs, one could sense the Mumbai Indians felt more comfortable in Delhi than in Chennai. Since the start of the IPL, the reigning champions have played their opening five matches on the slow Chennai pitches. The surfaces have not been ideal for batting and the free flowing Mumbai batsman had not been able to chalk up the runs like previous seasons. But on Thursday afternoon at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Mumbai looked like the dominant force that had won the previous two IPLs. A large factor was due to the nature of the track. By no means does Kotla have the bounce and pace like the Wankhede Stadium, but it was certainly more conducive to batting and pace bowling than Chennai. Also the fact it was only the second game to be played in Delhi meant there was decent carry at the start of the match, allowing Jasprit Burmah and Trent Boult to set the tone. Tactically, for the first time this season, Mumbai had Bumrah bowl two overs up front. The first four overs laid the foundation

Arjun Kapoor and Anshula Kapoor raise Rs 1 crore, helps over 30,000 needy amid COVID 19 crisis from Entertainment - Videos - The Times of India https://ift.tt/3388k7H

Margao: Indian club FC Goa suffered a 0-2 defeat at the hands of UAE's Al Wahda in the final group stage match to end their maiden campaign in the AFC Champions League on a disappointing note in Margao on Thursday. Already out of reckoning for a place in the knockouts, FC Goa played the match without their foreign players and also missed the services of Spanish head coach Juan Ferrando, as they had been allowed to leave the country in view of the restrictions being imposed on flights from India globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An unmarked Omar Khrbin struck in the 61st minute, taking advantage of a brilliant ball from Tim Matvaz, sending his shot on to the left side of the FC Goa goalkeeper. Al Wahda almost doubled the lead but goalkeeper Naveen Kumar, who replaced first-choice custodian Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem after an injury he picked following a collision with his own defender, managed to save the attempt by the visiting side in the 72nd minute. However, the visitor

Toggle between the tabs above to switch between quick scorecard, full scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary Day 1 report: Openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne posted hundreds and a double century stand as Sri Lanka reached 291-1 against Bangladesh on an ominous first day of the second Test on Thursday. Captain Karunaratne scored 118 for his 12th Test century, then Thirimanne hammered his third century and second this year. He was 131 not out at stumps in tandem with Oshada Fernando, 40 not out. “It’s the first time I have scored back-to-back hundreds, and (I am) really pleased with that," said Karunaratne, happy to win the toss. “Great to see Thirimanne getting a hundred, too. He’s been very good for us this year but he has not gone on to covert his 50s into hundreds. Good to see him getting there.” The Bangladesh bowlers had little chance against the in-form batsmen on another flat pitch, next to the block on which both sides scored more than 600 runs without be

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) began their Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign on 11 April by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 10 runs. They then lost, rather straightforwardly, four games in a row before easily disposing off Punjab Kings by five wickets with 20 balls to spare. On Thursday, they returned to their usual habits by losing to the Delhi Capitals. Their opponents were hardly required to work up a sweat. As things stand, KKR are fifth in the table with four points. Sitting below them are the two teams they defeated along with the Rajasthan Royals, who are sitting at second from last. All the other teams, apart from the Capitals, have played a game fewer. Given the make-up of their team and the way they have gone about their campaign, there should be no complaints about the position they find themselves in. Indeed, KKR could conceivably fall even lower after the teams below them play their next round of games. It’s not that they have had a run of bad luck, nor have they

Ahmedabad: Punjab Kings will have to play out of their skins to get their stuttering campaign back on track when they face a high-flying Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League in Ahmedabad on Friday. Smarting from a five-wicket defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders, it will not be an easy task for a struggling Punjab side to stand up to the challenge thrown by an RCB team, which has been firing on all cylinders. Following four losses and two wins, Punjab are currently placed sixth in the league table with four points, whereas RCB are second with 10 points from five wins, only behind Chennai Super Kings on net run rate. Apart from the sole loss against CSK, RCB have emerged as strong contenders for a maiden IPL title, with many of their players striking form as the tournament progresses. Punjab's inconsistent batting has been a letdown so far. In their six games, the KL Rahul-led side have gone on to make the three low totals batting first 106, 120 and

When Rishi Kapoor said 'Amitabh Bachchan never gave due credit to his co-actors' from Entertainment - Videos - The Times of India https://ift.tt/2RciIZo

'Baqi bhi kat jayegi friends' sings Neena Gupta as she tries to cheer up fans amid COVID 19 pandemic from Entertainment - Videos - The Times of India https://ift.tt/3eInypx

Manchester: Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani each scored twice as Manchester United thrashed an injury-hit Roma 6-2 at Old Trafford to close in on the Europa League final. United are aiming to get to a final under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the fifth time of asking after four semi-final defeats in the past two seasons. But only a second leg collapse will prevent them from facing Villarreal or Arsenal in Gdansk on 26 May after a stunning second-half performance. The home side trailed at the break as Lorenzo Pellegrini's penalty and Edin Dzeko's tap-in cancelled out Fernandes's early opener. But the Italians lost three players to injury before the break and United took full advantage. Two predatory finishes from Cavani turned the tie around before Fernandes also fired home from the spot. Paul Pogba and Mason Greenwood rounded off the scoring as United became the first team to score six goals in a European semi-final since Real Madrid in 1964. "Very pleased with th

Barcelona spurned the chance to go top of the table on Thursday as a shock 2-1 defeat by Granada added another twist to La Liga's most unpredictable title race in years. Barca could have taken control at the top by moving a point ahead of Atletico Madrid but Granada came from behind to snatch a stunning win at Camp Nou, in what will be a huge boost to the other title contenders. Lionel Messi scored his 33rd goal of the season to put Barcelona in front but they failed to put the result beyond doubt and Granada hit back, Darwin Machis driving in and Jorge Molina's header completing a remarkable turnaround. Defeat means Barca took nothing from their game in hand except disappointment, which might be difficult to shake ahead of two crunch games now away at Valencia and at home to Atletico Madrid. They stay third, level on points with Real Madrid, as Atletico retain their two-point advantage at the top, while Sevilla in fourth remain just three points off first. "It's

Madrid: Unai Emery won his big reunion with Arsenal but 2-1 might prove a small reward for Villarreal, who failed to take advantage of Dani Ceballos being sent off in a frantic Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday. Manu Trigueros and Raul Albiol gave Villarreal a dream start at La Ceramica and the tie looked to be slipping away from Arsenal when Ceballos was shown a second yellow card early in the second half. But 10-man Arsenal rallied and grabbed an away goal when Nicolas Pepe converted a penalty in the 73rd minute, before Villarreal's Etienne Capoue also saw red with 10 minutes left to play. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang might even have snatched a late equaliser for the visitors but Mikel Arteta will be delighted his team are not just in the contest but in a healthy position too, with an away goal to take back to London next week. "It changes completely the tie. It makes a huge difference," said Arteta. "We know we are there, we have to be better and if

The 47-year-old Marsch, who was an assistant coach at Leipzig in 2018/19, will join from sister club RB Salzburg, where he won the Austrian league and Cup double last season. from The Hindu - Sport https://ift.tt/3325GRa

Madrid’s defense struggled against Chelsea in a 1-1 draw in their first leg in Spain this week from The Hindu - Sport https://ift.tt/3gLZ4hT

Garbiñe Muguruza pulled out of the Madrid Open on Thursday after failing to recover from a leg injury.The Spaniard was scheduled to face Sloane Stephe from The Hindu - Sport https://ift.tt/3eBGaYg

Says she will concentrate on her individual events — 100m and 200m from The Hindu - Sport https://ift.tt/3u4WxmH

Former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak, who was given an eight-year ban by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for corruption, on Thursday apologise from The Hindu - Sport https://ift.tt/3gT9j3Q

The nagging problem is affecting her performance in the snatch routine from The Hindu - Sport https://ift.tt/3aPiOxf

It was 25 April, 2006. It was 15 years ago. The events of that night remain clear in my mind. It was the night that we were just two minutes and 12 yards away from defeating a legendary Arsenal side and reaching the final of the Champions League. That was the difference between success and an uncomfortable hangover that lasts for life. Fortunately, football has afforded Villarreal CF the possibility of reaching a new European final. Or, better put, Villarreal CF have earned this opportunity. This is the result of a well-established and sustainable project. That’s the only way to understand how a club from a city of just 50,000 residents has reached its fifth European semi-final of the past 16 seasons. In contrast to teams from big cities like Rome, Manchester, London, Paris or Madrid, the entire population of the city of Vila-Real would fit inside Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, and there would still be 10,000 seats left over! The club’s budget of 117 million euros is smaller than those

New Delhi : Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming says a change in attitude brought with it a change of fortunes for his franchise, which endured a forgettable IPL last year, and its focus this season has been on playing a faster brand of cricket. CSK have been on a roll this year losing just one match out of its six so far, which has taken them to the top of the points table. Their fifth consecutive triumph came last night against Sunrisers Hyderabad. "It was tough in the UAE (the last IPL's venue). We had a pretty bad run. A lot of things went against us, which we didn't make too much of at the time," Fleming said. "We made some changes around our attitude towards what we were doing, and then we were really sure what style we wanted to play going into this year's IPL," he added. "We needed to play a faster game, we needed to keep evolving if we were not in Chennai. And that's what we are trying to do; we are not the finished product by

Jhataleka Malhotra talks about her favourite matinee idols from Entertainment - Videos - The Times of India https://ift.tt/2PDinig

Notebook actress Pranutan Bahl on visiting film shoots with father Mohnish Bahl from Entertainment - Videos - The Times of India https://ift.tt/3nusXV4

Soni Razdan expresses anger over Uttarakhand govt's decision to start Chardham Yatra: 'Why will the world even help us if we continue to act like idiots' from Entertainment - Videos - The Times of India https://ift.tt/3aMY7lz

What Chitrangda Singh loved about the Bob Biswas shoot in Kolkata from Entertainment - Videos - The Times of India https://ift.tt/2QExuIE

West Side Story - Official Teaser from Entertainment - Videos - The Times of India https://ift.tt/2S3VdlM

Three Australians Andrew Tye, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa have left home due to the unprecedented health crisis in India. from The Hindu - Sport https://ift.tt/3t2uWRF

Sharath Kamal has been dreaming about winning a medal at the Olympics for 17 years now. The first time he went to the Games, at Athens in 2004, he was a 22-year-old youngster being hailed as the next big thing in the sport. But after two more appearances at the Olympics—Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016—Sharath will go to Tokyo in July this year as a battle-hardened veteran more confident of his own abilities than he has ever been. “We have a lot of confidence and faith that this is going to be the best Olympics in terms of performance, and results,” Sharath said on Wednesday at a virtual press conference facilitated by the Sports Authority of India. A large part of this optimism stems from his pairing with Manika Batra in mixed doubles and his own singles rankings and form going into Tokyo 2020. Sharath was the senior-most member of the Indian men’s table tennis team which won a historic bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games. He followed that up with a pathbreaking bronze in the mixed doubl

It is the big-hitting batsman that is often the star in cricket’s briefest format; the muscular, trained-to-the-minute player who has broken hitting down to a science; the player who deals in sixes and disdains singles; the batting marvel capable of hitting the ball far and often, clearing the boundary as a matter of course. Names like Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, and Glenn Maxwell immediately come to mind. They are, indeed, highly sought after and highly valued players. They have, on occasions, bludgeoned teams into the dust and stomped all over them, winning games almost on their own. Russell, for example, was once dubbed Superman due to his electric fielding and rapid bowling, but mostly because of his brutal ball-striking and an ability to bring his team to victory when all seems lost. And yet, as valuable as big-hitters like Russel and Kieron Pollard are, the T20 game also has a place for batsmen who are purists first. Time and again we have seen the worth of the batsman whose ga

Toggle between the tabs above to switch between quick scorecard, full scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary 2nd Test preview: Sri Lanka risk falling to their lowest world rankings position if they fail to beat Bangladesh in the second and final Test starting Thursday at Pallekele after being punished for a "below average" pitch in the high-scoring first game. The International Cricket Council decision to order a demerit point for Pallekele has added to the pressure on the home side. The first match ended in a tame draw with the two sides scoring 1,289 runs for the loss of just 17 wickets over the five days. ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle said the Pallekele pitch was "below average". "The character of the pitch hardly changed over the course of five days," Madugalle said. "There was no shift in balance between bat and ball as the game progressed." Sri Lanka will fall from seventh to eighth in the ICC Test rankings if ninth-placed Bangl

Comedian-actor Vir Das and netizens flood Twitter with hilarious memes as CoWIN site crashes after vaccine registration begins for 18 plus from Entertainment - Videos - The Times of India https://ift.tt/330xhlw

New Delhi: India's top umpire Nitin Menon and his Australian counterpart Paul Reiffel has pulled out of the IPL due to personal reasons. It is learnt that Menon, a resident of Indore, has left the IPL bio-bubble after his wife and mother tested positive for COVID-19. Menon is the only Indian in the ICC elite panel of umpires and was recently praised for his work during India's home series against England. "Yes, Nitin has left as his immediate family members have COVID-19 and he is currently not in a mental state to conduct games," a BCCI official told PTI. In Reiffel's race, the Australian government imposing a travel ban from India in the wake of the rising COVID-19 cases led to his quick departure. Menon is the second Indian to pull out of the tournament after Indian off-spinner Ravi Ashwin, who also went home after all his family members tested positive. Three Australians Andrew Tye, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa have left home due to the unprecedented he

Amid all the banners and tifosi at an eerie Parc des Princes, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City reignited their rivalry for European dominance in the last four of the Champions League, the competition that for now remains the continent’s premier club competition and represents the very best and the very worst of the global game. On the one side, the hosts and UEFA allies lined up in their traditional colours of dark blue; on the other side the visitors and Super League rebels wore their famous sky blue. In many ways, PSG and City have shaped the European game, a sport that has capitulated to hypercapitalism and a vortex of other nefarious forces in the past two decades. Much in football has changed ever since Kevin De Bruyne’s sumptuous strike from the edge of the box ensured City’s progress from the quarter-finals in ‘El Gasico’ in 2016. The transfer market became inflated, FFP was breached, competition ossified across Europe, and in the background of the PSG-City rivalry, geo

Ahmedabad: Kolkata Knight Riders' floundering batting will be put to test once again as they look to build a winning momentum against a star-studded Delhi Capitals in their Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on Thursday. KKR's batting woes emanate right from the top with the highly talented Shubman Gill continuing his poor run— 89 runs from six outings. While their bowling, especially the 'master-apprentice' spin duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, have done an excellent job in restricting the oppositions, KKR's top-order batting has hurt them the most. Chasing an easy 124 against Punjab Kings in their last match, KKR's top-order cut a sorry figure to be at 17 for 3 inside three overs before skipper Eoin Morgan led from the front to snap their four-match losing streak. Against a DC batting line-up boasting tournament's leading run getter Shikhar Dhawan (265 runs), Prithvi Shaw, Steve Smith and the dangerous Rishabh Pant, KKR can't aff

When Irrfan Khan once shocked his relatives saying 'I will fast on a Monday as it is the day of Lord Shiva' from Entertainment - Videos - The Times of India https://ift.tt/32Vq0Dt

New Delhi: Defending champions Mumbai Indians will look to sort out their middle-order woes and bring their campaign back on track when they take on an inconsistent Rajasthan Royals in an IPL game in New Delhi on Thursday. MI are coming into the match after suffering back-to-back losses, the last one being a nine-wicket defeat against Punjab Kings in Chennai and need to start the Delhi leg afresh. The Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan have lost thrice in the tournament so far and will seek to build on the six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous match. Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma (201 runs) has got starts but hasn't played a big knock and the Mumbaikar would be itching to get one as would be his opening partner Quinton De Kock (47 runs). But Mumbai's middle-order, which boasts of hard-hitting batsmen like Suryakumar Yadav (154 runs), Ishan Kishan (73 runs), Hardik Pandya (36 runs), Krunal Pandya (29 runs) and Kieron Pollard (65 runs), haven't fired in unison