India thrash Kenya, lift Intercontinental Cup
Mumbai, June 10: Skipper Sunil Chhetri continued his superb form, striking a brace as India thrashed Kenya 2-0 to clinch the Intercontinental Cup at the Mumbai Football Arena here on Sunday.
Chhetri, who scored in the eighth and 29th minutes to hand India a convincing victory, also equalled Argentina's Lionel Messi's tally of 64 international goals, making him the joint-second active international goalscorer behind Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (81 goals).
With the stadium jam-packed with Indian fans, the hosts started on an aggressive note as they penetrated the Kenyan defense twice in the first minute.
The hosts took an early lead when a free kick from Anirudh Thapa was flicked perfectly by skipper Sunil Chhetri into the net.
After conceding the goal, Kenya regrouped and started to counter-attack. Jockins Atudo, who scored twice in the last match, was not too effective on Sunday thanks to some brilliant marking by the Indian defenders.
Unpetrubed by the Kenyan pressing, India continued playing offensively and as a result Chhetri scored with a superb finish just before the half hour mark to double India's lead.
Defender Anas Edathodika lofted a long ball and Chhetri beat the offside trap to chest-trap the ball before slamming an accurate left-footer low into the far corner.
The desperate Kenyans kept on creating attacks at regular intervals but were let tried down by poor finishing.
Bernard Oginga, who enjoyed a lot of ball possession, struggled to beat the Indian defenders and also received a yellow card for his efforts.
Kenya started the second half on an attacking note as Otieno Ochieng almost netted the first goal for Kenya with a viciously curling long ranger. But Indian goalkepper Gurpreet Sandhu pulled off an excellent diving save to keep out the brilliant effort.
In the 60th minute, Kenya was unfortunate to miss another chance as another long range effort from Ochieng failed to beat Gurpreet, who used both his fists to punch the ball out.
The visitors were once again was on the verge of opening their account in the 71st minute but Dennis Odhiambo failed to get past Sandhu.
There was no stopping for Sandhu tonight as the keeper saved yet again six-minutes later off Ochieng's strike.
The final few minutes saw India desperately defend their citadel and making a string of substitutions.
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IPL first phase schedule announced amid travel concerns caused by war in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on March 28 as the BCCI announced the first phase of the tournament schedule amid concerns around players' travel arrangements due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.
All matches scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Stadium remain subject to clearance from the Karnataka government appointed expert committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 13 to assess venue preparedness in the wake of the deadly stampede at the stadium last season.
The BCCI announced the schedule of the first 20 games on Wednesday and will unveil the full schedule once the dates of elections in three states -- Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal -- are announced.
Besides the state elections, the escalating conflict in West Asia will also be at the forefront of BCCI officials' minds. The war has wreaked havoc to international travel with operations of major airports like Doha and Dubai being heavily restricted.
As a result of that, some of the squad members of South Africa and West Indies are yet to reach home a week after the completion of their T20 World Cup campaign.
It remains to be seen if IPL bound players of those two nations report to their respective teams in time.
"There was a substantial delay in departure of West Indies and South Africa players. It would be a tough task to get them back to India on time. Plus the airfares have gone up substantially due to the war in West Asia," a team official told PTI.
Additionally, hotels across India are facing cooking gas shortage due to the raging conflict and on Tuesday, the central government invoked Essential Commodities Act to ensure uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas.
Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanthan told PTI that he is expecting his players from the West Indies and South Africa -- Akeal Hossein and Dewald Brevis, to join the team well before their IPL opener.
"We are expecting no delays from their end," he said.
The second game of the opening weekend will see Mumbai Indians host Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium and the opening weekend will not feature any double-headers.
A total of 20 matches will be played across 10 venues: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
"During the season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play five home matches in Bengaluru and two in Raipur. Punjab Kings will play four home matches in New Chandigarh and three in Dharamshala, while Rajasthan Royals will play three home matches in Guwahati and four in Jaipur," said the BCCI in a statement.
"During this period (the first 16 days), the tournament will feature four double-headers, with the afternoon matches beginning at 03:30 PM IST and the evening matches commencing at 07:30 PM IST.
"Following the opening encounter on Saturday, Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
"The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka," the BCCI added.
