Sports
Ananda conclude league in pole position
by Reemus Fernando
Despite a shock defeat at the hands of Dharmapala, Ananda have concluded the league stage of the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘B’ limited overs tournament as the leading team in group ‘X’.
The team captained by Iruth Gimshan recorded six victories during the group stage where they met eight teams. They beat St. Aloysius’ (by 48 runs), St. Joseph Vaz’s (by four wickets), Isipathana (by eight wickets), St. Sylvester’s (by 131 runs), Holy Cross (by seven wickets) and Dharmaraja (by ten wickets). They earned bonus points from as many as five matches, while the match against St. Peter’s ended in a no decision. Dharmapala were the only team to record a victory against Ananda.
St. Aloysius’ and St. Peter’s are trailing behind Ananda in second and third positions in the points table in group ‘X’. Both teams have one match remaining in their schedules but Ananda are in an unassailable position as they have accumulated 31 points from their six wins.
St. Aloysius’ and St. Peter’s have 21 points each.
Isuru Ayesh, Minaga Perera and Ashinsa Nainayake in the bowling department and Nethula Edirimanne, Kanchana de Livera, Kenul de Zoysa and skipper Gimshan with the bat have done well for Ananda during the league stage.
Ayesh is their leading wicket taker. He has taken 14 wickets at an average of 9.64 runs, while Perera has 12 wickets against his name.
Edirimanne has aggregated 198 runs. Kanchana de Livera has accumulated 190 runs.
Now Ananda will advance to the knockout stage as one of the favourites in the Tier ‘B’ tournament. St. Aloysius’ and St. Peter’s too are almost certain of their places in the knockout stage.
Ireland Women 118/9 in 20 overs (Alana Dalzelle 14, Orla Prendergast 26, Leah Paul 10, Alice Tector 10, Louise Little 26*; Lauren Bell 1-39, Linsey Smith 1-20, Sophie Ecclestone 3-22, Charlie Dean 2-11, Dani Gibson 2-10) lost to England Women 119/6 in 17.3 overs (Dani Wyatt Hodge 16, Nat Sciver-Brunt 48, Heather Knight 26; Aimee Maguire 2-23, Orla Prendergast 2-17) by 4 wickets
Lionel Messi marked his record sixth World Cup appearance with his first hat-trick at a FIFA tournament as Argentina beat Algeria 3-0 to open the defence of their global crown, he also became the joint highest scorer at World Cups with the feat.
The former 38-year-old forward thought he had opened the scoring in the eighth minute in Kansas City on Tuesday when he slotted home from close range, but the offside flag was raised.
The dream start to his record-setting appearance, which will be matched by Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal against DR Congo on Wednesday, was not to be denied for long though.
A trademark, mazy run was capped by a drive on the edge of the box from that famed left foot. The power too much for Algeria keeper Luca Zidane, son of World Cup winner with France, Zinidine.
Messi doubled his tally on the hour mark with a simple tap in from a rebound off the keeper following a drive from Alexis Mac Allister.
The moment that even a player as decorated as Messi came in the 76th minute when he drilled low past the keeper from just outside the box.
The strike took Messi level with former Germany striker Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals.
His substitution came just three minutes later to a standard ovation, even old maestro seemed disappointed to be removed – and most likely rested for Argentina’s tilt at becoming only the third side to defend a World Cup title.
Algeria – the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations winners – offered little, but were themselves denied an early goal when Fares Chaibi’s ninth minute strike was ruled out for offside.
Messi saw to it that there was no opening game upset to be had tat this edition, having lost their opening game at Qatar 2022 to Saudi Arabia.
Messi, who spent the majority of his club career in Spain with Barcelona before moving to French giants Paris-Saint Germain, plys his trade in US football’s Major League Soccer with Inter Miami.
Jordan and Austria open their account in the group later on Tuesday in San Francisco.
[Aljazeera]
Iran twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with New Zealand in an exciting World Cup clash at Los Angeles Stadium as protests against Tehran’s government and a peace deal signed to end the US-Iran war formed a charged backdrop to the match.
High security presence and protests outside the venue were among the off-field concerns surrounding the match on Monday.
And when New Zealand took an early lead through Elijah Just’s volleyed shot from inside the box, after being set up by Chris Wood, some fans critical of the Iranian government celebrated with New Zealand supporters.
Many of these anti-regime spectators also carried Iran’s pre-Islamic Revolution Lion and Sun flag, against FIFA’s rules. Several also booed Iran’s national anthem before kickoff.
But most of the crowd of more than 70,000 appeared firmly behind Team Melli, chanting “Ir-ran! Ir-ran!” and erupting when Ramin Rezaeian equalised shortly after the half-hour mark.
Rezaeian, one of several Iran players who had not played club football since February after the domestic league was suspended amid US and Israeli air strikes, reacted quickest to a blocked shot and poked the ball past the advancing goalkeeper.
Wood and Just combined again early in the second half, the New Zealand captain sliding a precise pass into the 26-year-old forward’s path before Just hammered home to restore the All Whites’ lead.
Iran responded 10 minutes later with a superb goal from Mohammad Mohebbi, who headed Rezaeian’s perfect cross in off the far post to make it 2-2.
The stalemate means all the teams in Group G have one point after Belgium drew 1-1 with Egypt earlier on Monday.
New Zealand, making their third appearance at the tournament, remain without a win at a World Cup after seven matches. Iran are looking to reach the knockout round for the first time.
The match laid bare divisions among Iranian American fans, many of whom said they felt torn between pride at seeing Iran on the sport’s biggest stage, anger over Tehran’s crackdown on protesters and concern over Washington’s bombing campaign.
Before kickoff, about 300 to 500 protesters gathered outside the stadium, waving anti-government signs and flags.
Some Iranian Americans had said attending the match would imply support for Iran’s government, while others said they wanted to set politics aside and support the players.
Iran will next return to Los Angeles to face Belgium on Sunday when New Zealand take on Egypt in Vancouver.
[Aljazeera]
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