The big news: Undefeated East Zone cruise to title win

Teenager Virat Singh was again in the limelight with a cracking half-century which guided East Zone to an eight-wicket victory over West Zone to clinch the National T20 Championship for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, reported PTI.

East Zone annexed the title by virtue of an all-win record with the tournament being played in round-robin format.

After restricting West to a manageable 149 for 5 despite Sheldon Jackson’s 44-ball-52, East romped home in only 13.4 overs with 19-year-old Jharkhand left-hander Singh scoring an unbeaten 58 off 34 balls with five boundaries and three sixes.

Another young Jharkhand talent, Ishank Jaggi smashed his way to 56 off 30 balls that had six huge sixes including a hook shot off fast bowler Ishwar Chaudhary. Virat had earlier impressed with his unbeaten 74 against North Zone in the previous game.

Other top stories:

Cricket:

  • New Zealand coach Mike Hesson stated that quicks Adam Milne and Mitchell McCleanaghan will be considered ahead of the One-day International series against South Africa at home, reported ESPNCricinfo. “It will be challenging because there’s not a heck of a lot of cricket for them to play, but the likes of Milne and McClenaghan will certainly have to come into consideration,” the Kiwi coach said. 
  • The Australians were on top against India A during their practice match at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. The visitors had posted a formidable 469/7 courtesy of skipper Steve Smith and Shaun Marsh’s centuries. 
  • New Zealand Cricket revealed that it is monitoring the issue of bush fires in the Port Hills area close to Christchurch, ahead of the second ODI match between the hosts and and the South Africans. The fires have destroyed many homes and has led to large scale evacuations, reported ESPNCricinfo.
  • The mind-games have begun ahead of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series with veteran Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh cheekily pred that “If Australia play well, India will win 3-0. That is if Australia play well,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying. 
  • Former England batsman Peter Richardson died late on Friday, aged 85. Richardson is known for hitting a century in the “Laker Test” of 1956, where the spinner took a record 19 wickets. The opener scored five centuries in the 34 Tests he had featured in. 

Football:

  • Former Manchester United forward Dwight Yorke was denied entry in the US because he had an Iranian stamp on his password. American President Donald Trump signed an executive order to bar people from seven countries, out of which Iran was included, “They told me there was a visa problem and a red flag had come up against my name because of an Iranian stamp in my passport. I went there to play in a legends match to open a stadium and didn’t even stay overnight,” Yorke was quoted as saying by ESPN.    
  • Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel said he does not intend resting star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the Gabonese suffered a miserable African Cup of Nations, “It would be wrong to give him a break. He is 100 percent fit,” Tuchel said. 
  • Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday that he will never coach Barcelona again as pressure mounts on current boss Luis Enrique after Barcelona’s loss against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday.  
  • Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville threw his weight behind under-fire Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, “His performance levels consistently for 20 years have been unbelievable. And you’d have to say, I do go along the line of, ‘Be careful what you wish for,’” Neville said. 
  • Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan still harbours hopes of winning the English Premier League title, despite being eight points adrift of runaway leaders Chelsea, “Anything is possible in the Premier League,” the German said. 
  • Chelsea boss Antonio Conte challenged his fringe players, including skipper John Terry and midfielder Cesc Fabregas to force him to make changes to the squad, “I want the player to try to fight to put me under pressure, to give me the problems to solve [and find] the best solutions for the team,” the Italian was quoted as saying.  

Athletics:

  • Former discuss thrower Harpreet Singh was arrested in Delhi for possessing around 25 kg of the party drug, Meow, amounting upto Rs 50 crore. Singh was caught along with two others.

Boxing

  • The newest Indians in the professional boxing circuit, Akhil Kumar and Jitendra Kumar are scheduled to fight as many six bouts each this year, reported PTI.