Sushil loses first bout in four years
new delhi: Celebrated Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar lost his first bout in more than four years while competing at Tbilisi Grand Prix in Georgia even as his compatriots Bajrang Punia and Deepak Punia progressed to the quarterfinals. Sushil lost 4-8 to Polish grappler Andrzej Piotr Sokalski in the 74 kg category. It's not an ideal result for Sushil in the build up to the Asian Games. The WFI had exempted him from trials, held last month. The 35-year-old was handed exemption, give his past result and form as he had won his third CWG Gold in Gold Coast. Before Wednesday's defeat, Sushil had lost a bout way back in May 2014 in Sassari (Italy) where he lost to luca lampis of France. Sushil was re-admitted to the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) after a gap of two years last month. In the 65kg freestyle, Bajrang defeated Ukraine's Gor Ogannesyan to set up a quarterfinal clash with Iran's Yones Aliakbar Emamichoghaei. Deepak outwitted Georgy Rubaev of Moldova in the round of 1/8 and will face local hope Saba Chikhradze in the 86kg quarterfinals.
Pakistan knocks Zimbabwe out of series
harare: Pakistan knocked Zimbabwe out of the Twenty20 tri-series in Harare in a closely-fought encounter on Wednesday, beating the hosts by seven wickets with five deliveries to spare. Opener Fakhar Zaman top-scored for Pakistan with 47 before captain Sarfraz Ahmed overcame a spirited Zimbabwean fightback and saw his side home with an unbeaten 38. Their efforts meant that Zimbabwean allrounder Solomon Mire's bellicose earlier innings earlier went in vain. Mire struck 94, the highest score by a Zimbabwean in Twenty20 internationals, but Zimbabwe's 162 for 4 was not enough to overcome the world's top-ranked T20 side. Zaman said Pakistan was always confident they could pull off a successful chase. "We have a deep batting, so we were confident we could chase it," he said.
Wi dismiss B’desh for record low of 43
North Sound: Kemar Roach took five wickets as West Indies demolished Bangladesh for 43, their lowest Test total, on the opening morning of the first Test in Antigua on Wednesday. At lunch at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, West Indies had reached nine without loss. Bangladesh's pitiful performance was also the second shortest first innings in the 141-year history of Test cricket. At 18.4 overs, it was just one ball longer than Australia's dismissal for 60 off 18.3 overs by England at Nottingham in 2015. Put in to bat on the greenest surface seen in the ten years of Test cricket at the venue, the Bangladeshis were no match for the quality of the West Indies fast bowling. Roach set the rout in motion by claiming the first five wickets for eight runs in just five overs despite appearing to be troubled by a muscular strain behind his right knee.However, it was the visiting batsmen who felt the greatest discomfort with only opener liton Das reaching double-figures in a performance that once again exposed the vulnerability of their players in conditions away from what they are generally familiar with on the Indian sub-continent.
Warner to lead hawks in canadian t20
toronto: Banned former Australia vice-captain David Warner was on Wednesday named captain of Canadian Twenty20 franchise Winnipeg Hawks. "He's going to be a good leader," Winnipeg coach Waqar Younis was quoted as saying. "He's a team man. He's up front and he likes to give whatever his knowledge is. He's always there." Previously, Warner has skippered the Australian T20I team and Indian Premier league side Sunrisers Hyderabad. The dashing southpaw helped Sunrisers win the 2016 edition of the IPl.