Sports

Adelaide, Dec 10: India gave wings to their ferocious ambition of winning a maiden series Down Under, beating Australia by 31 runs in the opening Test with an irresistible fusion of self-belief, hunger and talent here Monday. Chasing 323, the hosts were bowled out for 291 in 119.5 overs shortly before tea on day five with Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami taking three wickets

Adelaide, Dec 10: Australia were 186/6 at lunch, with India just four wickets away from the win on day five of the first Test of four-match series here at Adelaide Oval on Monday. Meanwhile, Australia need another 137 runs, with Tim Paine (40 not out) and Pat Cummins (5 not out) at the crease at lunch-break, while India four wickets away from the victory. The hosts resumed their second innings

Madrid, Dec 10: Leo Messi was at his mercurial best, scoring two free kicks and setting up Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele for further goals as FC Barcelona extended their lead at the top of La Liga with a 4-0 win away to local rivals Espanyol on Sunday. Messi opened the scoring with a magnificent free kick in the 16th minute and created space for Ousmane Dembele to curl home Barca's second of the

Dubai, Dec 9: Indian women cricketers Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur scored record half-centuries for their respective teams in the ongoing fourth edition of the Women's Big Bash League on Sunday. While Mandhana scored 50 off 24 balls while playing for her team Hobart Hurricanes, Kaur reached the fifty-mark in 23 balls for Sydney Thunders. Both the fifties were fastest ever for their teams

Adelaide, Dec 9: Indian bowlers once again exposed the chinks in jittery Australian batting line-up leaving the hosts tottering at 104 for 4 in pursuit of a tough target of 323 on the fourth day of the first Test on Sunday. With 219 runs required on a fifth day track, it will be an onerous job for the Australian batsmen, who have been struggling against a consistent Indian attack with their ultra

Adelaide, Dec 8: Virat Kohli was booed by a small section of the Adelaide Oval crowd when he stepped out to bat in the second innings against Australia, an act that has been criticised by rival batsman Travis Head and former skipper Ricky Ponting. Kohli came out to bat after the fall of opener K L Rahul and was jeered by a small group of Australian fans. He received similar boos when he had headed

Adelaide, Dec 8: Australian coach Justin Langer says if his players were to celebrate wickets like Indian captain Virat Kohli does, they would now be seen as "the worst blokes in the world". Langer also took umbrage at Sachin Tendulkar's "defensive mindset" tweet following Australia's slow batting on the second day of the opening Test against India. Kohli was his usual animated self on Friday

Adelaide, Dec 8: Rain hampered play on day three of the opening Test before India took a 15-run lead in the first innings by bowling out Australia for 235 runs here on Saturday. The visitors had scored 250 runs in their first innings. Inclement weather first delayed play by 45 minutes in the morning session, and then there were two more delays in the first session before lunch was taken at 1.12 pm

Dec 7: India had the slight edge in a sedately-paced battle of attrition after senior off-spinner R Ashwin cleaned up the Australian top-order and a meticulous pace effort kept the home team's scoring in check on the second day of the opening Test. Travis Head (61 batting) and Pat Cummins (10) kept Australia in the game with a 50-run partnership in the last session but India walked away with the

Adelaide, Dec 7: Australia's cricket chief Friday urged India to reconsider its opposition to day-night Tests with crowd numbers hurt by their refusal to play under lights in Adelaide. Cricket Australia had originally pencilled in the ongoing opening Test of the current series as a pink-ball match, but India baulked at the idea. The Indians, who are the world's top-ranked team, have yet to play a