Anuja shines as Indian eves beat Sri Lanka by 34 runs
Ranchi
Anuja Patil produced a cameo with the bat to lift the team to 130 and then took three wickets to guide India to a 34-run win over Sri Lanka in the first T20I here today. Opting to bat, India posted 130/6 and then managed to restrict Sri Lanka to 96/7 in 20 overs. The Indian women did not have an ideal start as they lost skipper Mithali Raj (3) and VR Vanitha (12) early to be reeling at 15/2 in four overs. But responsible batting by Smriti Mandhana (35) and Harmanpreet Kaur (36) put India back on track. Patil provided the final flourish after coming in to bat at No. 6. She hit three fours during her 22 that came off 17 balls. Brief scores: India: 130/6 (Harmanpreet 36, Mandhana 35; Patil 22; Sugandika Kumari 3/28); Sri Lanka: 96/7 (Manodara 41; Patil 3/14).
KARACHI
Pak’s cricket authorities mull inviting Commonwealth XI
Pakistan’s cricket authorities are making serious attempts to invite a Commonwealth side this year in a bid to revive international cricket in the country. Najam Sethi, who oversaw the conduct of the inaugural Pakistan Super League, said the PCB was trying to get a Commonwealth side to tour Pakistan. “We are in touch with Giles Clarke, a former ECB president. If we can have a Commonwealth side play in Pakistan, maybe we can also conduct some PSL matches here during the next edition,” Sethi said.
New Delhi
AIFF colts beat Mohun Bagan 4-0
AIFF U-18 Academy moved a step closer to booking a semifinal slot in the IFA Shield when then routed an U-19 Mohun Bagan side 4-0 in a Group B match. This was the second win for the Academy boys and they face Frenz United, Malaysia, in their next match on Wednesday.
Thiruvananthapuram
Shooters Tejaswini, Milan Preet win gold
Tejaswini Sawant won the women’s 50m rifle prone event at the 16th Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Shooting Championship on Monday. Tejaswini shot 618.4 to edge out V Srinithi Abirami of Tamil Nadu. Srinithi shot 618.1, just 0.3 points off Tejaswini, while Kuheli Gangulee won the bronze with a final score of 617.7 at the National Games Shooting Range. Om Prakash won the gold medal in the men’s 50m pistol event. Punjab’s Milan Preet Singh shot the gold in the men’s 10m air rifle individual event with a score of 205.7 in the finals. — Agencies
Madrid
Advantage Barca as Real Madrid, Atletico held
Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty as Real Madrid’s hopes of catching La Liga leaders Barcelona were all but ended with a 1-1 draw at Malaga on Sunday. Madrid remain nine points behind Barca with 13 games to go after Raul Albentosa cancelled out Ronaldo’s opener. Atletico Madrid also failed to gain significant ground on Barca as they were held 0-0 at home by Villarreal to move eight points behind in second. However, Gary Neville’s upturn in fortunes as Valencia boss continued with a third win in a week, 2-1 at Granada.
Milan
Roma hit five without Totti
AS Roma hammered Palermo 5-0 for their fifth successive Serie A win on Sunday, a triumph overshadowed by coach Luciano Spalletti’s decision to drop Francesco Totti and adorned by Edin Dzeko’s unreal miss of the season in front of goal. Dzeko recovered from his almost comical blunder to net twice while Mohamed Salah, with his own double, and Seydou Keita also scored to make it an unhappy return to the Palermo bench for coach Giuseppe Iachini. — Agencies
