Sports

King City, Jun 30: Steve Smith made his comeback from cricket exile on Thursday in front of a sparse crowd in a sleepy, rural town north of Toronto where the former Australia captain helped kick off the inaugural Global T20 Canada league. Smith, playing for the Toronto Nationals, showed few signs of rust in his 41-ball innings of 61, which included eight fours and a six, before being stumped and

Dublin, Jun 30: A ruthless India demolished Ireland by 143 runs to clinch the series 2-0 as spinners yet again tormented the hosts after authoritative batting show by the visiting batsmen in the second and final Twenty20 International, here on Friday. India posted a massive 213 for four after being asked to take the first strike and then bundled out the hosts for a mere 70 in 12.3 overs. It was

Kazan/Russia, Jun 30: Didier Deschamps may be tempted to execute a "no Messi, no Argentina" strategy when preparing for Saturday`s round of 16 clash but the France manager must also be mindful of getting the most out of his own marquee players. France`s smooth advance to the knockout rounds with two wins and a draw has made them favourites to beat an Argentina side who were thrashed by Croatia and

Jun 29: Japanese salarymen dashing to work Friday exchanged high fives with bleary-eyed football fans celebrating after the country reached the last 16 of the World Cup -- most blissfully unaware of a backlash against their team. Japan lost 1-0 to Poland in Russia on Thursday in a match that ended in farce as the Samurai Blue ran down the clock knowing unless they picked up a pair of yellow cards

Kaliningrad, Jun 29: A brilliant strike by Adnan Januzaj lit up an otherwise insipid clash as Belgium beat England 1-0 to secure top spot in World Cup Group G in Kaliningrad on Thursday. Januzaj's superb second-half goal sent Belgium into a last 16 clash with Japan while England will now advance to a second round meeting with Colombia on Tuesday. By finishing second in the group, England have

Kazan, Jun 28: France and Argentina took different paths to the knockout stage but have much in common at this World Cup. Both teams are filled with big-name players, both like to play an entertaining style and both have failed to impress so far. Forty years after their last meeting at soccer's biggest tournament, the former champions meet on Saturday in Kazan for a spot in the quarterfinals

Moscow, Jun 28: The internet turned cruel for Germany fans on Thursday as online mockery swept the globe following the defending champions' shock World Cup elimination. A stream of memes and jokes flooded social media after a stunning 2-0 defeat to South Korea condemned Die Mannschaft to their earliest exit in 80 years. "Don't mention the VAR," was a common refrain, while Brazilian media gleefully

New Delhi, June 28: Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday shared a video on Twitter, urging fans to play the sport they love. Tendulkar also nominated Indian footballer Sandesh Jhingan, Hockey player Sardara Singh, cricketers Virat Kohli and Mithali Raj, along with badminton players Srikanth Kidambi and P. V. Sindhu to join in and motivate youth to engage in sports. Master Blaster took to

St Petersburg, Jun 27: When Lionel Messi ran to the corner and sank to his knees, the enduring image of Argentina scrambling into the World Cup's last 16 was set. Their number 10, in the blue and white stripes, his head tilted and fingers vertical, about to be swamped moments later by adoring team-mates. But all those cameras not positioned in Messi's corner of the Saint Petersburg Stadium quickly

Dubai, Jun 27: Cricket has over one billion fans globally, with the Indian sub-continent alone constituting more than 90 per cent of them, according to the largest ever market research into the sport conducted by the ICC. As per the results of the research, the average age of fans (in the surveyed age category of 16-69) is 34 with a demographic breakdown of 61 per cent male and 39 per cent female