India defeat Pakistan in the Women Session

India set a target of 121/5 for the green shirts. Mithali Raj's unbeaten 73 set the team up for victory. With Jhulan Goswami, Ekta Bisht and Preeti Bose on the offence from the beginning of India's bowling overs, the game was tipped in India's favour from the beginning. Pakistan ended the second inning with 104 for the loss of six wickets, 17 runs short of the target. Captain Bismah Maroof's 25 runs were the highest individual score on the Pakistani side. Opener Javeria Khan scored 22 while Nida Dar and Sana Mir returned to the pavilion with 12 runs not out each. Pakistan qualified for the final after defeating Thailand by five wickets on Saturday.

Smith's Stunning Performance for Australia

The Australia skipper smashed 164 off 157 balls, the highest individual One-day International score at the Sydney Cricket Ground, to lead Australia to 324 for eight. Man-of-the-match Smith struck 14 fours and four sixes in his seventh ODI century after winning the toss to give the Black Caps a tough target to chase down. Smith then took two great catches and paceman Josh Hazlewood claimed three wickets to dismiss the Kiwis for 256 in 44.2 overs. Smith’s knock, the seventh highest by an Australian, surpassed South Africa’s A.B. de Villiers’ 162 at the same ground in last year’s World Cup. It was also the joint-highest by an Australia captain. Ricky Ponting also made 164 against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2006. He then underlined his man-of-the-match qualities with two decisive catches in the Black Caps’ innings. It was his throat-high catch at slip that got a big breakthrough to dismiss New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson for just nine. Smith later latched onto a flying one-handed screamer to dismiss B.J. Watling for six off Mitchell Marsh, hurling himself to his left in the gully for a stunning catch. “I got a bit of luck. I was probably out lbw at one point,” Smith said. “It’s nice to get my highest score at my home ground and post a huge total. “We were able to get over the line, which was the most pleasing thing. I am sure New Zealand will hit back hard.”

Afghanistan win the victory over Bangladesh in the ODI series

DHAKA: Afghanistan skipper Asghar Stanikzai top-scored 57 runs as his side shocked Bangladesh by claiming a two-wicket victory in the second one-day international to level the three-match series 1-1 in Dhaka on Wednesday.Bowlers set up the win for Afghanistan as leg-spinner Rashid Khan took 3-35 and Mohammad Nabi claimed 2-16 to help the visitors dismiss Bangladesh for a modest 208 runs on a slow pitch at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.Man-of-the-match Nabi showed his all-round skill scoring 49 runs and putting on 107 runs with Stanikzai in the fifth wicket as Afghanistan recovered from 63-4 to reach 212-8, completing their second win against Bangladesh in four meetings. Stanikzai hit four fours and two sixes in his 95 balls to atone for some of his causal batting in the opening match, which saw Afghanistan lose by seven runs despite dominating Bangladeshi bowlers for a long period.

Defending a modest score, Shakib Al Hasan gave Bangladesh some hope with three early wickets before finishing with 4-47, but Nabi and Stanikzai stood firm to put Afghanistan in a strong position.

Mashrafe Mortaza trapped Nabi leg-before to end their partnership before debutant Mosaddek Hossain, who claimed 2-30, including one off his first ball, removed Stanikzai.But Najibullah Zadran made 22 and other lower-order batsmen gave him valuable support to see Afghanistan home, setting the third and final match on October 1 as the series decider.Stanikzai hailed his bowlers for their brilliant effort.

“This match, the credit goes to the team. Nabi and Rashid bowled really well,” he said.

“The ball reversed in the end, but Najib did it for us.” 

Earlier, Bangladesh could only pass the 200-run mark owing to an unbeaten 45 runs of Mosaddek, who shared 43 runs with Rubel Hossain in the last wicket pair.Put into bat first, Bangladesh, who were looking for their 100th ODI win and to wrap-up the series after winning Sunday's first match by a narrow seven runs, made a cautious start with the opening pair fetching 45 runs.Mirwais Ashraf, who claimed 2-23, removed both the openers Tamim Iqbal (20) and Soumya Sarkar (20) before Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad revived the innings, adding 61 runs for the third wicket.Afghan spinners took control of the proceedings once Naveen-ul-Haq bowled Mahmudullah for 25.Rahim, who scored 38, soon followed Mahmudullah attempting his favourite slow-sweep as Naveen-ul Haq took the catch at deep square leg off leg-spinner Shah. Nabi trapped Shakib Al Hasan leg-before for 17 before Rashid worked out the lower order. Bangladesh captain Mortaza lamented their poor batting.“(Our) batting wasn't up to the mark. The wicket was on the slow side, and after getting 20-30 runs, somebody should have made a good score,” he said.

Pakistan defeat West Indies in second T20 international Cricket Match

Pakistan outclassed world champions the West Indies by 16 runs in the second Twenty20 match in Dubai on Saturday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-game series. Pakistan scored 160-4 in their 20 overs after they were sent in to bat with skipper Sarfraz Ahmed (46 not out), Khalid Latif (40) and Shoaib Malik (37) amongst the runs. They then restricted the West Indies to 144-9 with left-arm paceman Sohail Tanvir taking 3-13, also completing 50 wickets in the shortest format. Medium pacer Hasan Ali grabbed 3-49. Andre Fletcher made 29 while Sunil Narine top-scored with 30 for the West Indies. Pakistan won the first match — also in Dubai — by nine wickets on Friday. Both teams kept the same eleven from Friday's first match which Pakistan.

Barca to miss injured Messi: Zidane

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane insists it is obvious rivals Barcelona will miss the injured Lionel Messi during a three-week layoff, but has injury concerns of his own ahead of Saturday’s trip to Las Palmas. The five-time World Player of the Year is set to be sidelined for Barca’s trips to Sporting Gijon, Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Champions League and Celta Vigo in the next week due to a groin strain. “Messi is Messi. We all know what he can bring to this team,” Zidane said on Friday. “Obviously, Barca are a different team when he is not there.” However, Madrid have been struck by a double injury blow of their own with a huge Champions League clash at Borussia Dortmund to come on Tuesday. Brazilian duo Marcelo and Casemiro will miss both trips to Las Palmas and Dortmund as well as Eibar’s visit to the Santiago Bernabeu next weekend. Both are also expected to miss Brazil’s World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Venezuela early next month. Marcelo limped off in the first-half of Real’s 1-1 draw with Villarreal on Wednesday and is expected to be out for at least two weeks. “He has been diagnosed with a grade two muscle strain in the soleus muscle of his right calf,” Madrid said in a statement on Friday. “It is always worrying when someone gets injured, even more so when they are first choice players,” Zidane said. Midfielder Casemiro has been diagnosed with a hairline fracture of his left fibula picked up in Sunday’s 2-0 win at Espanyol which will rule him out for three weeks. Casemiro has become a vital player in balancing Madrid’s midfield since Zidane took over as coach in January to balance the more attacking roles enjoyed by Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. “There is no other player who plays like Case,” added Zidane. “Hopefully the injuries aren’t severe and they return as soon as possible. We have a big squad.”

Pakistan defeat West Indies in first T20 International Cricket Match

Pakistan enjoyed the first T20 international cricket match against West Indies and won by 9 wickets after spoiling the opponent team on 115/10 in 19.5 overs.  The green-shirts are in good form after smashing England by nine wickets in the only Twenty20 game, which was wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed’s first match as skipper, on their last tour. On the other hand, the West Indies will hope to forget their off-field confusion and underline their status as World Twenty20 champions. Sarfraz, who replaced Shahid Afridi following Pakistan’s first-round exit in the World Twenty20, hopes his team won’t be discouraged by the champions. “We didn’t think England were World Twenty20 finalists when we beat them at Manchester,” said Sarfraz. “We will do the same here, go out and play hard because the team which plays well on the ground wins a T20 match.” He added: “Even without Gayle and Russell, West Indies is strong and a T20 match is not won with big names only.”

Fast bowler Mohammad Amir joined the squad after his wedding on Tuesday and will spearhead a spin-cum-pace attack. Opener Mohammad Hafeez and lanky paceman Mohammad Irfan are out through injury. Middle-order batsman Umar Akmal will be in focus after being recalled following his axing on the England tour over disciplinary issues. Umar smashed a fiery century in a national Twenty20 event to force his comeback. The supremely talented but troubled West Indies side have arrived in the United Arab Emirates after sacking coach Phil Simmons and without all-rounder Andre Russell, who is facing a doping hearing. The Windies are also missing flamboyant big-hitter Chris Gayle, who complains of injury problems and makes only sporadic appearances for his country. Gayle also missed the West Indies’ one-run Twenty20 win over India in Florida last month, while Russell will front a hearing into claims he missed three drugs tests in a 12-month period, an offence which could trigger a two-year ban. Carlos Brathwaite stunned England when he smashed Ben Stokes for four consecutive sixes to clinch the West Indies’ second World T20 title in April. Brathwaite will now captain the side in UAE while towering former fast bowler Joel ‘Big Bird’ Garner replaces Simmons, who repeatedly clashed with the West Indies board. Brathwaite hopes his team will show their huge talent in the humid conditions in the United Arab Emirates, where they also trained ahead of the World Twenty20 in India. “It wasn’t as hot early in the year, but, apparently, we’re smack dab in the middle of their summer, so it can get very, very hot,” said Brathwaite. “It’s for the players to prepare well, manage themselves well off the field, rehydration-wise, get enough rest, and each and every one of us is a professional, and evidently performing well when the games come.” Brathwaite’s uncapped players — including wicketkeeper-batsman Nicholas Pooran, all-rounder Rovman Powell and fast bowler Kesrick Williams — will also want to fire against a dangerous Pakistan side.

The West Indies will rely heavily on their T20 specialist spinners Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine, who shared five wickets to spark a 22-run win in a warm-up game on Tuesday. The second match will follow at the same venue on Saturday with the third in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. The teams will also play three One-day Internationals and three Tests.

Australia' broke nine-year record in T20 cricket

Opener Glenn Maxwell's blistering century in Australia's world record 263 powered the visitors to a comprehensive 85-run win over Sri Lanka in the first Twenty20 international in Pallekele. Australia, who broke Sri Lanka's nine-year record of 260/6 against Kenya in 2007, restricted the hosts to 178 for nine in 20 overs to take the lead in the two-match series. Maxwell decently manage the Sri Lankan bowling attack with his unbeaten 145 off 65 balls, which was laced with 14 fours and nine sixes, after the visitors were invited to bat first. Skipper David Warner gave Australia a fiery start with his 28 runs off 12 balls as he put on a 57-run opening partnership with Maxwell to lay a solid foundation. Off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake bowled Warner on a looping delivery that held its line to take the off stump, but Sri Lanka's joy was shortlived as Maxwell was just warming up at the other end. The opener, who registered his maiden T20 century in his 35th game, found the perfect partner in Usman Khawaja, who scored 36 off 22 balls, as the duo put together 97 runs for the second wicket. Debutant left-arm spinner Sachith Pathirana got Khawaja trudging back to the pavilion, only to see Travis Head join forces with Maxwell. Maxwell and Head, who scored an 18-ball 45, then put on 109 runs for the third wicket as it was raining boundaries at a packed Pallekele International Stadium. Maxwell fell 11 runs short of teammate Aaron Finch's top T20 score of 156 as he faced a single ball in the final over of the innings. In reply, Sri Lanka were never in the chase after losing openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kusal Perera (4) in the first two overs of the innings. Pace spearhead Mitchell Starc struck in his very first over to get Dilshan, who is set to retire from international cricket after the second T20, bowled for four. The pressure of scoring at over 13 runs an over proved just too much for an inexperienced Sri Lankan batting side as the Aussie bowlers kept picking wickets at regular intervals. Skipper Dinesh Chandimal top-scored with 58 runs, his fourth T20 half-century, before falling to medium-pacer Scott Boland. Chamara Kapugedara also hit a 25-ball 43, studded with three fours and three sixes, to give some respect to the Sri Lankan total. Starc and Boland claimed three wickets each as James Faulkner, Moises Henriques and Adam Zampa took one each.

Tennis: Andy Murray pulled victory for Great Britain

Second seed and 2012 champion Andy Murray enjoyed Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov game by 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 to reach a sixth US Open quarter-final Monday, clocking up a personal fast serve record in the process. The 29-year-old reigning Wimbledon and Olympic champion stormed to an impressive seventh win in 10 meetings against the 22nd-seeded Dimitrov. From the moment Murray broke for a 3-1 lead in the first set, on the back of a lung-busting 32-shot rally, the outcome of the Arthur Ashe Stadium clash was never in doubt. For good measure, Murray sent down his fastest ever serve of 141mph (226.9 km/h) at the end of a set where he allowed Dimitrov just five points on his service. “I once hit a 145mph serve in San Jose but they recalibrated the machine the next day so it didn't count. Tonight was the first time I have gone above 140,” said the 29-year-old. “It was lucky and I doubt I'll ever do it again.” Dimitrov broke only once in the match in the fourth game of the second set but it was a brief respite as Murray quickly reclaimed it before taking 10 of the next 12 games to seal the rout. Dimitrov committed 43 unforced errors as Murray set up a last-eight clash with Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori, the 2014 runner-up who downed 37-year-old Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4). Karlovic fired 21 aces in the contest but Nishikori's 44 winners and a miserly seven unforced errors proved the key. “It's never easy facing someone serving like Ivo, never easy to return those kind of serves,” said Nishikori. “But I tried to stay down. I have been returning well, so that also helped today. I think I played one of the best matches — serve, return, ground strokes.”

Tennis: Novak Djokovic steamed into US Open quarter final

Novak Djokovic steamed into the quarter finals of the US Open with  tremendous victories against 84th-ranked Briton Kyle Edmund. Edmund, playing in a Grand Slam fourth round for the first time, barely got a look-in during the first two sets against the world number one and defending champion, who booked a last-eight meeting with ninth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (7/9), 6-2 winner over American Jack Sock. “Feels great to play a full match after aweird couple of days when I didn't have too much tennis,” said Djokovic, who received a walkover into the third round when Czech Jiri Vesely pulled out of the tournament injured and played just six games before third-round foe Mikhail Youzhy retired. Even with the extra rest, however, he required on-court treatment on his right arm – the same one he had treated during his scrappy first-round victory over Jerzy Janowicz. Having raced through the first two sets in just over an hour, Djokovic sought treatment after surrendering his first service break of the night – starting a run of three straight games for Edmund that gave the Briton a 3-2 lead. Djokovic put the set back on serve with a break for 3-3, and broke Edmund at love to close out the match. Even after the tighter third set, Djokovic was pleased with his night's work. “I came out of the blocks with high intensity which was hard after waiting all day to start the match,” he said. “I made him work for every point.”

Football: Rooney's celebration after winning goal for England

Rooney is celebrating the winning goal for England in the World Cup 2018 football qualificaion match against Slovakia in Trnava. Rooney, the performer, maintaining record for 116th appearance as an England outfield player, adopted a deep-lying midfield role for much of the game despite Allardyce having said he would play in a number 10 position. But Allardyce said: “This is the most decorated outfield player in England. He's won everything at Man United, more or less, and at Champions League and domestic level. “He holds a lot more experience at international football than me as an international manager. “So using his experience with a team, and playing as a team member, it's not for me to say where he's going to play. “It's up to me to (ask): 'Are you playing well in that position? And if you are playing well and contributing, that's great.' “Yes, I'd like him to get forward a bit more. He's been a goalscorer all his life and I want him still to score goals, but he reads a game as he reads it. “I must admit, he did play a little deeper than I thought he'd play. But I was pleased with his performance.” Rooney, 30, started the game in midfield alongside Jordan Henderson in a 4-1-4-1 system. He pushed up into a more orthodox number 10 role at half-time, only to retreat to a midfield holding role after Allardyce sent on Dele Alli for Henderson. Rooney, England's captain, has been playing as a number 10 for Manchester United this season and Allardyce indicated prior to Sunday's game that he would use him in a similar role. Adding to the confusion, Rooney himself told ITV he had played “where Sam wanted me to play”.‘Lucky coin’ England dominated possession against a stubbornly unadventurous Slovakia team, but it took the 57th-minute dismissal of Martin Skrtel for the visitors to take control. Skrtel, the former Liverpool centre-back, was booked in the second half for catching Harry Kane with a flailing arm and saw red after stamping on the same player's calf. Lallana hit the post and substitute Theo Walcott had a goal ruled out for offside as Slovakia threatened to pull off a repeat of their 0-0 draw against England at Euro 2016. But with the last kick of the game, Lallana aimed a left-foot shot towards the near post and Slovakia goalkeeper Matus Kozacik could not prevent the ball squirming beneath him and trickling over the line. Allardyce, who succeeded Roy Hodgson after Euro 2016, said the winning goal was “richly deserved”, but admitted it had come as a “huge relief”. Slovakia coach Jan Kozak felt his team's display had set the tone for the rest of their Group F campaign. “If you want to be successful, you need to leave everything on the pitch,” he said. “We, as a team, have the character and the enthusiasm. But the opposition were very tough. “England are a good team, but they had fewer chances here than they did in the Euros. It was only when we went a man down that they created more.” Allardyce, meanwhile, revealed an unlikely source of inspiration during his post-match press conference when he showed reporters a “lucky coin” he had been given before the game. “A father and his son, who was in a wheelchair, came to the hotel this morning and said: 'Is it OK if you have a picture with my son?” he said. “When we finished, he said: 'Here's a lucky coin for you.' So I said: 'Thank you very much.' In the end we had a little bit of luck and we won, so it'll stay with me.”

Cricket: Fifth One Day International in the name of Pakistan

Pakistan confidently chased England by four wickets to secure its victory in the fifth and final one-day international in Cardiff. England have the series with 4-1 but the success of Pakistan save them from their clean sweep and ended their season as 4-1 in 50-over cricket match. Pakistan dropped its 3 wickets on just 77 Runs in the chase of 303 after that fourth-wicket partnership of 163 between Shoaib Malik (77) and Sarfraz Ahmed (90) turned the match in the favor of Pakistan. Imad Wasim, who born in the nearby south Wales city of Swansea, hit the winning drives when he struck a four off all-rounder Chris Jordan with 10 balls to spare as Pakistan finished on 304 for six. Mohammad Rizwan was on 34 with not out position and left-hander Imad Wasim on 16 and not out. Previously, Jason Roy and Ben Stokes both strucked quick fifties as England made 302 for nine in the fifth and final one-day international against Pakistan. Roy made 87 and Stokes an ODI-best 75 as England, bidding for a first 5-0 clean sweep of a home one-day series, set Pakistan a challenging total to chase. At 244 for five England, who posted a world record 444 for three in the third ODI in Nottingham, have set again good total. But Pakistan pulled them back with paceman Hassan Ali taking an ODI best 4 for 60 and left-arm quick Mohammad Amir 3 for 50. Both of them performed their best and restrict England players in the last overs from setting again a huge target against Pakistan. Opening batsman Roy, dropped on 56 when a diving Mohammad Rizwan could not hold a tough chance at mid-wicket, put on 72 for the fourth wicket with Stokes. All-rounder Stokes and wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow then he added 55 Runs for the 5th wicket. England had positive start after being sent into bat on a green pitch and under overcast skies by Pakistan captain Azhar Ali, who was in hope for English bowlers attack by having ground and pitch conditions in their favor. Ultimately, Pakistan have won the match and secured it from getting clean sweeped from England in the last ODI 50-overs match which was being played in Cardiff.

Cricket: The first England player who commits to Bangladesh tour

Moeen Ali has become the first England player to confirm unreservedly that he will be available for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh. The future of the tour was in the balance after an attack on a Dhaka cafe in July killed 20 — mostly foreign — hostages, with the Islamic State group claiming responsibility. But all-rounder Ali, speaking in Cardiff on Saturday ahead of England's fifth and final One-Day International (ODI) against Pakistan in the Welsh capital on Sunday, said: “If selected, I'll definitely go. “I'm pretty happy with everything and really looking forward to it,” the Worcestershire off-spinner and left-handed batsman added. “I've been there a few times, five or six.” Following the Dhaka attack, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) sent an inspection team to Bangladesh led by long-serving security chief Reg Dickason. After he reported back, the ECB said last month that the tour, which includes three ODIs and two Test match fixtures in October and November, would go ahead as planned.“My view is you're not safe anywhere these days,” said Ali. “I think you can be anywhere and still not be safe.” England assistant coach Paul Farbrace, who was with the Sri Lanka squad when their bus came under armed attack in Lahore in 2009, has also said he intends to travel to Bangladesh. But England one-day captain Eoin Morgan, who was among a group of players given a security briefing by Dickason, said Friday he had still to make up his mind. Meanwhile wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow told several British newspapers: “I've not made a 100 percent decision but I know within my mind that I have a lot of faith in Reggie. I've been on a heck of a lot of tours with him, he's known me since I was a young boy. So I've got a lot of faith in him.” Ali said he had no qualms about anyone taking their time over deciding whether or not to commit to the tour. “It's really tough (to decide), even for myself. “Everyone's different, and has their own views on things — and as a team, you back other other's decisions. “It's up to the individual. There's no pressure on anyone — it's up to that person and how he feels. 

South Africa will have to perform with atleast six black players

South Africa's national cricket team will have to place a minimum average of six black players with immediate effect. Although, this is the first time they have been introduced for the national cricket team. The official targets are a minimum of fifty four percent black players (effectively six players other than white) with eighteen percent black players, which equates to two players in a team of 11. This effectively means an average maximum of five white players in a team. CSA president Chris Nenzani described the targets as “very attainable” and said the South African team was already meeting them. The targets will be measured as an average across all three forms of the game (Tests, One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 internationals) over the course of a season. The team that beat New Zealand in the second Test in Centurion met the target exactly. There were two black Africans in Temba Bavuma and Kagiso Rabada and four other players of color, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Vernon Philander and Dane Piedt. Nenzani found that the ODI team which competed in series against Australia and the Windies in the West Indies recently had up to eight players of color in the team.

Schweinsteiger departs from United's Euro Squad

Schweinsteiger departs from club's squad for the Europa League group stage. Schweinsteiger has been forced to train with United's reserve this season as new boss Jose Mourinho looks to sell the German World Cup winner. The thirty two years old has now to participate under Mourinho, who has told the former Bayern Munich star it will be “very difficult” to give him any playing time this season. Schweinsteiger enlisted in United's Premier League squad but he will be ineligible to play in Europe after being excluded from the list of 27 players submitted to UEFA.

Tennis: Djokovic celebrating his win against Mikhail after 32 mins

Novak Djokovic reached the US Open last 16 in just 32 minutes Friday when Mikhail Youzhny retired injured before fellow two-time winner Rafael Nadal also made the fourth round for the first time in three years. Defending champion Djokovic was 4-2 ahead in the first set when Russian 34-year-old Youzhny called it quits suffering from a left hamstring injury. The outcome completed a bizarre first week for world number one Djokovic. After labouring over four sets to beat Jerzy Janowicz on Monday, he was handed a walkover into the third round when Czech opponent Jiri Vesely withdrew from their second round clash with an arm injury. “I have never had this happen before in my Grand Slam career, getting a walkover and the next match lasting just half an hour,” said Djokovic. The top seed next faces Britain's world number 84 Kyle Edmund who stunned John Isner of the United States 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) to make a Slam fourth round for the first time. Nadal reached the fourth round for the first time since 2013 – the year of his last New York title – with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov. “Andrey is always a tough opponent, he returns well and has good shots from the baseline,” said fourth seed Nadal who faces France's Lucas Pouille for a quarter-final slot. “I had a fantastic first set, a little trouble with my serve in the second but the third was key so I'm very happy.” Djokovic's very brief encounter had been preceded on Arthur Ashe Stadium by women's eighth seed Madison Keys pulling off an epic comeback to beat Japan's Naomi Osaka.

Football: Loew eyes Germany's rising stars on road to Russia

With Manuel Neuer confirmed as his new captain, Joachim Loew plans to blood Germany's next generation as part of his team's preparations to defend their World Cup title in Russia. Germany's journey to the 2018 finals starts on Sunday at Oslo's Ullevaal Stadium in their opening qualifier against Norway.  Since winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, head coach Loew has lost five experienced veterans, each of whom made more than 100 appearances for Germany. Philipp Lahm, Miroslav Klose, Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski and now Bastian Schweinsteiger, who bowed out in Wednesday's 2-0 friendly win over Finland, have all retired from international football. With them went the collective experience of 604 caps and 152 goals. But Germany's next crop of talent is knocking at the door. Loew has said they will get their chance on the road to Russia, in forthcoming qualifiers and friendlies, plus next June's Confederations Cup, against the likes of Portugal, Mexico, Chile, Australia, New Zealand and hosts Russia. Hoffenheim defender Niklas Suele made his debut against Finland while Schalke 04's Max Meyer and Bayer Leverkusen's Julian Brandt also started in Moenchengladbach. All three are still only 20.

Football: Captain Neuer struggling to raise standards for Germany

The new captain Manuel Neuer is struggling to take the standards of Germany game so high to perform as bright stars in coming World Cup 2018. He aimed at improving his team fitness in the future games to defend any. “We don't know Norway that well, as we haven't played them that much in recent years, but we have analysed them and want to make sure we take the three points in Oslo,” said Bayern Munich goalkeeper Neuer. “We didn't have the best qualifying tournament for Euro 2016, so there is room for improvement. “We are very motivated. We want to win the four games we have until November,” he added, with home games against Czech Republic and Northern Ireland then San Marino away, also to come.

Samaraweera joined Bangladesh to streamline its batting lineup

Samaraweera joined Bangladesh in hope to flourish their batting strength for coming matches. Further, the president of Bangladesh have focused on hiring more coach to streamline their batting position in future ODIs and test series. Bangladesh named their batting consultant as Samaraweera for next month's home series against England. The former Sri Lankan batsman now has the responsibility to strengthen Bangladesh batting position to enhance their position and performance in international cricket. Samaraweera is one of the talented heros of cricket as he wearing medal for 231 runs of his best and he has also enjoyed cricket of three innings with two double centuries in his past . Ultimately, Bangladesh now blessed with a batting hero. 

Messi celebrating winning goal against Uruguay

Lionel Messi scored the winning goal on his return from a short-lived international retirement, as Argentina defeated Uruguay to take control of South America's 2018 World Cup qualifying race. Messi had stunned the footballing world in June after vowing to never play for Argentina again following an agonizing defeat to Chile in the final of the Copa America Centenario. But that tearful farewell was a distant memory at Mendoza's Estadio Malvinas, as the Barcelona superstar orchestrated a 1-0 victory over the two-time World Cup winners.

Ryan Harris joins Australian Cricket as a bowling coach

Ryan Harris will work for Ausis as a bowling coach in this month tour of South Africa. Ausis are confident to have such senior swing bowler as their bowling coach. Harris is actually the great player who took 113 wicket in 27 test matches. He is recently replaced for David Saker who is newly appointed coach for Australia. Rayan Harris was previously serving for under 19 cricket of Ausis as their bowling coach but now he joined as bowling coach for Australian cricket team especially for this month tour. He retired last year due to persistent knee problems with him. We expect that he will built strong bowling attack against South African team to win the coming series of matches.

Pakistan chasing England wickets at Headingly, Leeds

England found themselves struggling in the chase of 248 runs as they were four down for 74 in 14.3 overs against Pakistan during the fourth One-Day International (ODI) at Headingly, Leeds.England captain Eoin Morgan edged Umar Gul towards the slip cordon 11 deliveries after in form Joe Root had fallen 20 runs short of his sixth consecutive ODI fifty when he top-edged Hasan Ali's good-length delivery into fine-leg's hands. Mohammad Irfan sent back both England openers by 6.4 overs as England were two down for 36 in the pursuit of 248 against Pakistan during the fourth Alex Hales, who spanked a mighty-171 in the last ODI to seal the five match series for England, was removed with an immaculate good-length delivery that moved a fraction away. Irfan's thunderbolt kissed Hales' blade on its way to Sarfraz Ahmed's gloves. Earlier, England were reduced to 15 for one in 2.5 overs by returning Mohammad Irfan when he dismissed Jason Roy (14 off 11 balls).