Phoenix Suns’ scorch Warriors, England women score 20 goals, and more!7 min read
Reading Time: 5 minutesAdithya G
The Big 2
Manchester United gets a new manager
Manchester United confirmed the signing of Ralf Rangnick as their new interim manager after their 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge at Chelsea.
The 63-year-old German joins from Lokomotiv Moscow, where he was manager of sports and development. At the end of the season, Rangnick is expected to take on a consultancy role with Old Trafford for a further two years. He replaced first-team coach Michael Carrick, who has been the caretaker manager for two games since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked. Ragnick’s first game in charge would be against Arsenal at Old Trafford.
Germany reaches Davis Cup semi-final for the first time since 2007
Photo: Reuters/Leonhard Foeger
Germany came from behind to upset Britain in the Davis Cup quarterfinals after Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz won the decisive doubles match.
The German pair defeated British teammates Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski 7-6 (10), 7-6 (5).
Krawietz and Pütz saved four set points in the tiebreaker before taking the opening set and won the second tiebreaker after winning seven straight points from 5-0 down.
Germany will meet either Sweden or Russia in the next round. Croatia will face either Serbia or Kazakhstan in the other semifinal.
Cricket
1st Test ends in a stalemate
India 345 (Iyer 105, Gill 52, Jadeja 50, Southee 5-69, Jamieson 3-91) and 234 for 7 dec (Iyer 65, Saha 61, Jamieson 3-40, Southee 3-75) drew with New Zealand 296 (Latham 95, Young 89, Axar 5-62, Ashwin 3-82) and 165 for 9 (Latham 52, Jadeja 4-40, Ashwin 3-35)
New Zealand secured a hard-fought draw against India in the first Test at Kanpur. Chasing 284 on the final day on a slow pitch, the Kiwis lost wickets at regular intervals to the wily Indian spin trio of R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. They were reduced to 155 for nine before a resilient last wicket partnership between debutant Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel helped the visitors avoid defeat. The duo batted out the final nine overs.
Shreyas Iyer was named the Player of the Match. Playing in his first Test match, the Indian middle-order batsman scored a century in the first innings and a half-century in the second.
The second and final Test of the series begins on December 3 in Mumbai.
Pakistan earn comfortable Test win against Bangladesh
Pakistan 286 and 203 for 2 (Abid 91, Shafique 73) beat Bangladesh 330 and 157 (Liton 59, Yasir 36, Afridi 5-32) by 8 wickets
Twin century partnerships from Pakistan openers in each innings of the Test helped set up the team’s victory. Though Bangladesh secured a first-innings lead, they were undone in the second innings by Shaheen Afridi’s sensational bowling spell – 15-3-32-5.
With this win, Pakistan take an unassailable 1-0 win over Bangladesh in the two-match series.
Opener Abid Ali was named the player of the match for his steady century in the first innings and a crucial 91 in the next.
Football
Robert Lewandowski Misses Out; Messi Wins Ballon d’Or
Lionel Messi was awarded the prestigious Ballon d’Or for a record seventh time earlier this week. The 34-year-old Argentine scored 40 goals in 2021 – 28 for Barcelona, four for PSG and eight for Argentina.
He finally won his first major international trophy earlier this year when Argentina won the Copa America. Bayern Munich and Poland striker Lewandowski finished second in the Ballon d’Or rankings.
The 33-year-old scored 53 goals in all competitions for Bayern in 2021 and was awarded the Striker of the Year prize. He helped Bayern win a treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal.
Barcelona and Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas has won the 2021 women’s Ballon d’Or.
Putellas was one of five players nominated from the Barcelona team following their first Champions League triumph along with winning the Primera Division title.
She was the highest-scoring midfielder in Europe with 26 goals in all competitions last season.
The 27-year-old was also named UEFA’s Women’s Player of the Year and midfielder of the year.
Barcelona’s Pedri wins Golden Boy Award 2021
Spanish midfielder Pedri has been awarded the Golden Boy Award 2021, given to the best emerging European talent every year.
The midfielder finished ahead of Borussia Dortmund and England’s Jude Bellingham with a margin of 199 points, the largest in the award’s history.
Pedri is the first player ever to be nominated for all of the Ballon d’Or, Kopa Trophy and Golden Boy in the same year.
England women score 20
England fired 20 goals past Latvia in a historic World Cup qualifying win, setting a new record for the biggest win in a European competition. Four England players netted a hattrick. Ellen White became England’s all-time leading scorer after the game, taking her tally to 48 goals.
Basketball
Even Warriors can’t stop the Suns
Phoenix Suns produced a defensive masterclass against Golden State Warriors to extend their winning run to 17 games. They beat Golden State 104-96. Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul had stellar games, scoring 24 and 15 points respectively. For the Warriors, Jordan Poole was impressive with 28 points.
Devin Booker injured his left hamstring in the first half of the game at Footprint Center between the top two teams in the league.
LA Lakers gave a stirring second-half display to triumph over the Sacramento Kings. Trailing 59-50 at the end of the second quarter, they came back strongly to finish the game 117-92. Anthony Davis (29 points), Dwight Howard (12 points, 13 rebounds) and Russell Westbrook (23 points) were excellent in offense.
The Toronto Raptors struggles at home continued as they lost 91-98 to the Memphis Grizzlies. Beginning with a 15-point loss to the Washington Wizards in the home opener, the Raptors have an atrocious 2-8 record at Scotiabank Arena.
Jonas Valančiūnas scored 29 of his career-high 39 points in the first half as the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Los Angeles Clippers for the second time in November.
The Lithuanian veteran hit seven 3-pointers without missing in the first two-quarters of the game. He was well supported by Brandon Ingram(27 points) and Herbert Jones (16 points) as the Clippers closed out a crushing victory.
Paul George scored 27 points and Reggie Jackson had 19 for the Clippers, who have lost three of four and six of nine after a seven-game winning streak.
The Detroit Pistons lost their seventh game in a row, helping opponents Portland Trailblazers break their three-game losing streak. CJ McCollum starred with 28 points in a 110-92 victory for the Blazers.
