Virat Kohli Scores 22nd Test Hundred, First On English Soil
Edgbaston, Aug 02: India captain Virat Kohli on Thursday notched up his 22nd Test century on the second day of the first Test against England at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham. Virat Kohli scored his century off 172 balls. His innings was laced with 14 boundaries. This is the first time that Virat Kohli scored a century on the English soil.
At that moment, India were 221/9 and trailed England by 66 runs. Virat Kohli was the only Indian batsman who stood strong in front of the fiery English bowling line-up and kept India's scoreboard ticking. Kohli capitalised on his chances as he was dropped twice by Dawid Malan at the slips. First on 21 off James Anderson and then on 52 off Ben Stokes.
Earlier, the right-handed batsman took a quick single off Ben Stokes to become the 13th Indian batsman to score 1000 runs against England. In the beginning of the first Test, Kohli needed 23 runs to achieve the milestone.
The Indian captain survived a few nervy moments to reach the coveted landmark.
Last time when Kohli toured England in 2014, he scored a total of 134 runs in the five-match Test series at an average of 13.40. There were two occasions when Kohli departed on duck.
Virat Kohli fought a lone battle as wickets tumbled in the post-lunch session with England restricting India to 160 for six at tea. Highlight in the session was Kohli and Hardik Pandya's (22) 48-run partnership for the seventh wicket but the latter fell just before tea.
Resuming the session at 76 for three, India lost vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik in quick succession against the brilliant bowling by Ben Stokes and James Anderson.
After Sam Curran wreaked havoc (three wickets in eight balls) in the morning session, it was Ben Stokes who bowled superbly in the second session of the day.
Courtesy: www.ndtv.com
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PSG's Ousmane Dembele wins the Ballon d'Or; Barcelona's Bonmati retains women's award
Paris (AP): Ousmane Dembele won the Ballon d'Or for leading Paris Saint-Germain to its first Champions League title and Aitana Bonmatí received the women's award for a third successive year.
Dembele succeeded Manchester City midfielder Rodri to become the sixth Frenchman to win it after Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, Zinedine Zidane and Karim Benzema.
Bonmatí won ahead of her Spain teammate Mariona Caldentey. She's only the third player in the award's history to win three in a row after Platini (1983–85) and Lionel Messi (2009-12).
The award capped a remarkable turn of fortune for Dembele, who at one point last season was snubbed by PSG coach Luis Enrique for disciplinary reasons. But once repositioned as a No. 9, he became a scoring machine and was inspirational in PSG's historic Champions League campaign. The French club also completed a quadruple last season.
Dembele was praised after the Champions League final for the way he contributed to PSG's pressing and his ability to defend during the 5-0 rout of Inter Milan. He delivered 35 goals and 16 assists in 53 official matches last season, and was involved in 14 goals (8 goals, 6 assists) in the Champions League in 15 appearances.
Dembele received the Ballon d'Or from former winner Ronaldinho and teared up during his acceptance speech in which he asked his mother to join him on the stage.
“It's incredible to win a trophy like this,” he said in French. “I worked for the team to help win PSG's first Champions League (...) To then be rewarded with an individual trophy like the Ballon d'Or is truly exceptional.”
Dembele won ahead of teenage star Lamine Yamal. The forward, who turned 18 in July, helped Barcelona win La Liga and the Copa del Rey last season and reach the Champions League semifinals. Yamal was given the Kopa award for the best under-21 player for the second straight year.
“I need to keep on working to win other awards in the future,” Yamal said through a translator.
Dembele was injured and able to attend the ceremony in Paris while his team lost at Marseille 1-0 in the French league. He was one of nine PSG players nominated for the men's award, including goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, forward Desire Doue, who scored twice in the Champions League final, and winger Khvitcha Kvaratskhelia.
Although Bonmati lost to England in a penalty shootout in the Women's European Championship final last summer, she was named the best player of the tournament, which she began just days after being hospitalized by viral meningitis.
Bonmatí's spot kick in the shootout was one of two saved by England's Hannah Hampton, who was voted the best women's goalkeeper.
“Third time in a row here and I still can't believe it,” Bonmatí said “I owe Barcelona everything, this is the club of my life.”
She won a domestic treble with Barcelona and also reached the Champions League final.
Barcelona has won the last five women's awards but it was expected an Englishwoman would win for the first time. England won the Euros and Arsenal took the Women's Champions League. But with five England players among the women's top 10 nominees, the highest placed was Alessia Russo at third.
Other trophies
Barcelona forward Vicky Lopez won the women's Kopa trophy and Sarina Wiegman, who led England to European victory, took the Johan Cruyff award for best women's coach. On a great night for PSG, Luis Enrique won in the men's category.
PSG was voted the best men's club and Donnarumma received the Lev Yashin award for best goalkeeper. Donnarumma, whose shot-stopping in the knockout stages proved crucial to PSG's success, left for Manchester City during the offseason. Hampton was crowned the best women's goalkeeper.
The men's and women's Gerd Müller trophies for the top scorers went to Barcelona's Ewa Pajor and Viktor Gyokeres, who joined Arsenal this summer from Sporting Portugal after a prolific season.
