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Modified 09 Mar 2020, 16:55 IST

Top / dominate group stages and sail through. Knockouts. And heartbreak. Rinse and repeat.

That has become a trend in Indian cricket over the last few years. Be it the mens team, womens team or even the Under-19 side, India bottling in the knockout stages of ICC tournaments has become an infectious pattern.

The knockout hoodoo has well and truly got to them, and in fact they are being called the new chokers. Since the 2013 Champions Trophy win, India have not won a single ICC event.

2014 World T20 final, 2015 Mens World Cup semi-final, 2016 Under-19 final, 2016 World T20 semi-final, 2017 Champions Trophy, 2017 Womens World Cup final, 2018 Womens T20 World Cup semi-final, 2019 Mens World Cup semi-final, 2020 Under-19 World Cup final and now, 2020 Womens T20 World Cup final: each one of them has been nothing short of a heartbreak.

10 times India have failed to cross the hurdle in ICC knockout fixtures. Since 2014, the only triumph came in the 2018 Under-19 World Cup when the Prithvi Shaw-led side lifted the title for a record fourth time.

India reaching the semis or even the finals at times is almost a given, but crossing those final hurdles has become a big problem.

In the group or league stages of the same tournament, youll find India breezing past most opponents. Even against the toughest of opponents, they find a way to win. But theres something that happens to them on the big day.

The Men/Women in Blue simply crumble, letting the pressure get to them, and thats been evident ever since the start of the year 2014.

Also see MI 2020 team

As they say, you need to treat the big game or the knockout game as just another one. Yes, its tough to do that and there will always be nerves, but you need to push that into the background.

The 2020 edition of the Womens T20 World Cup is the latest addition to the list. Its the third time that the womens side has faltered in the big game.

First, it was the Womens World Cup final in 2017 where they crumbled from a winning position. They were in a strong position but the nerves of the big final just got to them and they fell agonisingly short of Englands total of 228.

Another batting collapse took place in the 2018 Womens T20 World Cup semi-final. And it happened again against Australia this time, as they let the nerves get the better of them in a chase of 184.

This is particularly surprising given the way India have been dominating world cricket for a while now. They have a great record in bilateral series and tournaments, but they somehow find a way to succumb under pressure on the big day.

Its not that theyve been outplayed every single time. Yes, you could say that in the 2015 Mens World Cup, 2017 Champions Trophy or even this 2020 Womens T20 World Cup, they were clearly second best. But even in these matches, there were moments when India failed to control the controllables.

For instance, that Jasprit Bumrah no-ball or the two dropped catches in the 2020 final against Australia immediately come to mind. Those were big mistakes, and they ended up coming back to haunt the team.

If you were asked to name one team that has been the most dominant in world cricket since 2010, you would answer India without any hesitation. Even the womens team has raised its level, and has been getting better at winning rubbers consistently over the last few years.

The only black mark has been the inability to win ICC tournaments.

Yes, theyve won three in a decade (2011 World Cup, 2013 Champions Trophy and 2018 Under-19 World Cup). But they threatened to win a lot more and probably should have won a lot more, given their quality and the way they played in the lead-up to the final stages.

Theres certainly a psychological issue with the Indian teams and ICC knockouts. They simply need to get over this. They are too good to be missing out on ICC trophies and faltering in the semi-finals and finals of every tournament. Theres been enough of better luck next time, they deserved to win but one bad game ruined it.

For how long will this hoodoo last? The next stop is the ICC Mens T20 World Cup later this year. Can the Virat Kohli-led side finally end the jinx? Can they finally end the ICC trophy-drought? Only time will tell.

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Read more here:
India and their knockout hoodoo in ICC tournaments - Sportskeeda

Watfords stunning demolition of Liverpool left plenty of questions: should Jrgen Klopp adapt his approach? Has the team grown complacent? Why have they looked so lethargic since the winter break? Does missing out on going a full season unbeaten drop this teams place in the Premier League pantheon?

But as evidence by Klopps post-match words, there are some positives, if you look close enough.

The performance was awful. But in terms of Liverpools overall goals this season, the defeat might have come at the perfect time. The team has looked tight and antsy since they returned from the break. The weight of all the records and history was clearly on their minds.

I see it rather positive, Klopp said post-game. Because from now on we can play free football again. We dont have to defend or try to get the record we just can try to win football games again.

The idea of free football was a deliberate phrase. Liverpools front three were free to roam and move on Saturday, but it had little impact. Roberto Firmino dawdled out to the right without any real intent. Sadio Man cut further and further inside looking for a kick of the ball, clogging Mohamed Salah natural habit. As so often is the case, the Egyptian maestro switched places with Firmino, hunting for a sight of the ball inside. But the supply line was cut-off, with Man routinely jamming his space dragging defenders into Salahs path.

According to Understat's expected goals metric, it was the worst attacking performance from any game during Klopps tenure as Liverpool manager just 0.2 xG, a pitiful return against a side 19th in the league. They mustered only two shots in the box. Two.

The players were moving and rotating positions, but not with any kind of purpose. Their shape became discombobulated, disorganized, and made life easier for the Watford defence.

An embarrassing drubbing might be enough to blow all those cobwebs away. Fortunately for the team, they have a game on Tuesday night against a Chelsea side that is rank average without the ball.

Frank Lampards team plays an expansive, wide-open style, nothing like the past four games that have given Klopps team bother. It is just the sort of game that should give Liverpool's front-three the space to do what they do better than any attacking trio on Earth.

Re-focusing on cup competitions rather than an unbeaten season is a net-win. Winning a treble is more difficult, more meaningful than going unbeaten over the span of the season. The Arsenal Invincibles were an exceptional team. But it's interesting to note that that achievement is often cited by fans and media members more so than the players themselves. It's an extraordinary achievement, but drawing 12 games and losing in the FA Cup and Champions League quarter-finals puts a slight dampener on the thing. If they were really invincible, they would have waxed the floor with opponents in Europe, too.

A defeat right before an FA Cup game allows Klopp to shift his focus to the knock-out tournaments. The European Cup is obviously the biggest prize, and building towards the Atltico game should be the major focus of all at the club, coaches and players. But the FA Cup is there for the taking. All other sides, except Man City, have something to fight for in the league. Only Liverpool and City are able to tweak their squads in such a way that they can be at full during the knockout rounds of the cup and in Europe.

Klopp has to take advanatge. It was in vogue, including from this very writer, to call on the manager to play the kids after they found their way past Shrewsbury in early February. They earned the right to play at Stamford Bridge, the idea went. But that's gone now. Klopp has to put out his strongest, fittest XI on Tuesday. "We want to strike back straight away and we will," Virgil van Dijk said after the Watford game, a rallying cry that should be echoed by all within the club.

Winning a treble is the most impressive team a club side can do. Saturday's defeat stung, but that doesn't lessen the team's chances to pull off something that's never before been done in the club's history. Klopp has toyed with the FA Cup before treated it as lesser than. Now, it's time to take it every bit as seriously as a Champions League knockout game.

Read this article:
Watford defeat allows Jrgen Klopp to take FA Cup seriously, and to focus on a historic treble - Liverpool.com

Lynne Marnewick, Jane Blythe, Mary-Ann Dummer, and Amanda Jooste from the Honeydew Bowling Club. Photo: Supplied.

Bowls, or lawn bowls, is often referred to as old mans marbles. The objective of the game is to roll a slightly larger black ball (known as a bowl) towards a smaller, stationary white ball known as the jack.

Despite the common association with elderly players, bowls is actually an all-ages game. The Sables Bowling Association is made up of 10 clubs from throughout the West Rand, and their youngest player is nine years old (with their oldest player being over 90 years old). The Sables Bowling Association has more than 800 players.

Despite the fact that the game may seem monotonous to onlookers, bowls is extremely competitive, and can be quite straining, according to Brain Oxley, the Sables Convener.

On Sunday, 16 February, the Florida North Bowling Club hosted the Sables annual District Fours Tournament. Teams of four players each male and female from the different West Rand clubs participated. There was no limit on the number of teams each club could enter, and no age restriction either. This year, 24 female teams and 36 male teams were ready for action.

The first stage of the competition consisted of the teams being split into sections of four teams, then playing three games against each other. The highest-scoring team from each section progressed to the next stage.

In the second stage, the winners of each section were entered into a draw to play one knockout game each until the tournament was down to four male and four female teams that would compete in the semi-finals.

The semi-finals and finals are played on the same day. The four teams play against each other and aim to get the most points. The two lowest-scoring teams in the semi-final then play against each other to determine third and fourth place, while the two highest-scoring teams move to the final where they play for first and second place.

The Sables Mens Fours winning team was made up of Mark Beckett, Sakkie Oosthuizen, Werner van Rensburg, Piet Steyn and Richard Miller from Discovery Bowling Club.

The Womens Fours winners were Di Anderson, Kimberly du Preez, Marianne Lane and Midge Calicchio, also from the Discovery Bowling Club.

The Sables District has produced some superb players, with some representing the Proteas team, and the Gold and Silver Squads. The Junior teams (U/15 and U/20) have just won the Gauteng Challenge and will now be competing in the National Championships in Bloemfontein in March.

Read this article:
The Discovery Bowling Club dominated on Florida North territory - Roodepoort Record

They have just 12 more games. Their home games remain shrouded in uncertainty. And they're coming off consecutive 45-plus point defeats.

Welcome to life with the Sunwolves: The Japanese Super Rugby franchise whose existence will cease - save for an unlikely run to the finals - on Friday May 30th when they face the Brumbies in Canberra.

Coincidentally, the Sunwolves face the Brumbies on Friday night in Wollongong, a match that was moved from Hanazono after the COVID-19 [Coronavirus] forced tournament organisers SANZAAR into action.

If the Sunwolves weren't up against it already, having back-to-back home games against the Brumbies and Crusaders moved to offshore venues - and the high likelihood that others may follow suit - has only added to the team's challenge in what is their farewell Super Rugby season.

"Management are dealing with it more than what the players have to; for us, we knew that we were going to be on the road most of the year anyway, so it was more just a change of scenery," Sunwolves back-rower Jake Schatz told ESPN from the team's current base in Coogee, Sydney.

"We were always going to be doing lots of travel, so it was more behind the scenes, they were working a lot harder than us [logistically]. We've just got to focus on rugby and the next week; we've had a couple of hard losses. So we just need to get back on the winning bandwagon and work out what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong."

The coronavirus is just another speedbump the Sunwolves have had to deal with since they were told they had no long-term future in Super Rugby midway through last season, a decision SANZAAR officials arrived at when the Japan Rugby Football Union refused to stump up $[U.S]10 million to bankroll the franchise's future.

How would the Sunwolves attract players for only one season? Would fans walk away from the club given it had no long-term future? How would they compete in a competition that still includes some of the game's greatest players?

They were all valid questions.

As for what he saw in the opportunity with the Sunwolves, Queenslander Schatz says the positives outweighed the negatives as he plotted his next career move following two seasons in England.

"I'd been overseas at London Irish and was looking to come home, so the Sunwolves presented an opportunity to come home and play Super Rugby again, that's how it all worked out," Schatz said.

Was there any hesitation then given the Sunwolves were, in effect, on the clock?

"Yes and no, like I said it was a bit of an opportunity either way. Rugby in Japan, especially, has grown so much, you get 20,000 people to your home games in Japan so you can't really complain on that front."

And that has been the effect of last year's Rugby World Cup in which Japan made the quarterfinals for the first time, having upset both Ireland and Scotland as they topped Pool A to book a knockout game against eventual champions South Africa.

Japan's Top League has enjoyed a surge in popularity as a result with crowd figures in some regions outstripping those of the long established J-League football competition, but there was always a question mark as to whether that support would transfer to the Sunwolves.

Those doubts were quickly cast aside in Round 1.

Playing their opening home match against the Rebels in Fukuoka, the Sunwolves drew more than 10,000 people while two weeks later they were greeted by a near-capacity crowd at their regular base: Tokyo's Prince Chichibu Stadium.

"They love it, the support's great, the people get around it; they buy the merchandise; they turn up to the games; you can't really ask for much more from the fans than that," Schatz said of the Sunwolves fans. "I'd say the rugby support in Japan in general has gone through the roof.

"Coming off the World Cup there was a bit of buzz around rugby in Japan, so to get that following just makes it even more special when you play in front of a good crowd.

"So hopefully that continues to grow and we keep our supporter base at least for the rest of the season, and hopefully we can do them proud."

Whether SANZAAR turns out to regret its hardline financial demand for the Sunwolves, will be seen in the run to the next five-year broadcast cycle in 2025, but there is little doubt the power struggle for new territories and redrawn competitions is well and truly underway.

SANZAAR boss Andy Marinos last week told reporters the alliance was doing its due diligence in assessing the opportunities in Japan but wasn't concerned by rumours the Six Nations had approached the JRFU, perhaps due to similar reports linking the Springboks with a move to the northern hemisphere.

"It's not about who gets there first, it's about growing the game in that market," Marinos said. "Ultimately we can do all the hard work we can because we want to align with Japan, we want to grow into the Asian market and their executives could turn around and say 'we want to align with the northern hemisphere,' and we can't control that.

"I think what we've got to be working hard towards is how can we best develop rugby in that country so that they can have a competitive national team. And then it's going to be about which hemisphere is going to have a bigger appetite to include them in their structures going forward."

All the Sunwolves can do in the meantime is give their absolute all for the remainder of the year and, in Schatz's case, play as well as he can so that he is left with more than one offer for his next professional move.

He says that could be in Japan - where a new Top League competition could commence as early as next year - or back home in Australia with another Super Rugby franchise.

Given the spread of the coronavirus and threats of travel bans, there may be a couple more curve balls to confront before the sun sets on the Sunwolves and the howls at Prince Chichibu fall silent for good. But Schatz and his fellow squad members from around the globe, will just get on with the job.

And that job continues against the Brumbies in Wollongong on Friday night.

"The Brumbies are always a tough challenge, they're forward orientated and that's probably the area where we have to aim up," he told ESPN. "I think last week we let ourselves down in first-up tackles; we've had some good starts to games and I really like to play the game plan we're playing, but we really need to keep ball in hand and be able to make those tackles.

"And the Brumbies biggest [strength] is really that set-piece area, so we really need to focus there as well."

Read more here:
COVID-19, No future and heavy defeats life at the Sunwolves - ESPN Australia

Joao Moutinho is targeting a second Europa League winners medal as Wolves prepare for their first knockout tie in nearly 50 years.

Moutinho lifted the trophy in 2011 with Porto and the experienced midfielder insists Wolves are determined to make a huge statement in this years competition.

Wolves progressed from the group stages as runners-up from Group K and face Spanish strugglers Espanyol in the first leg at Molineux on Thursday night.

Espanyol are bottom of La Liga and while Moutinho has warned Wolves to expect a difficult evening, he is on a mission to add some more silverware to his CV.

Moutinho, 33, has also won three league titles with Porto, a league title with Monaco and was a member of the Portugal squad which triumphed at Euro 2016.

Ive won it [Europa League] once before and we are in every competition to try and win every game, he said.

The direction of the club at Wolves is going up and up. There is a big difference between what the other clubs pay and its difficult for our budget to do it - but we have a young team, a very good group, and we want to try and catch the big teams.

We are now in the knockout stages and the feeling is good.

Espanyol is a good team, even though their position in the league is not a true reflection with the players they have. It will be a tough game and we have to do it 100 per centto pass.

Wolves have not competed in the knockout rounds of major European competition since the 1971/72 season and head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has insisted that Espanyol cannot be underestimated.

Nuno is also hoping that Wolves do not experience any further issues with the Video Assistant Referee, with the system to be introduced by Uefa for the knockout stages.

Wolves have suffered more than most at the hands of VAR this season, most recently with a controversially disallowed goal against Leicester last Friday night.

Nuno said: Losing the emotion part of the game is the big risk. Football is about goals and that cannot go away from the game.

It is part of us, it is here to stay and the only thing I hope [for] is improvement, to be more clear to everybody and especially the players.

Sometimes they are on the pitch and they dont understand. With the delays the fans are not happy and something has to be done.

Nuno is expected to field a strong starting XI against Espanyol, with wing-back Ruben Vinagre the only absentee with a hamstring injury.

This is a tough game and the table doesnt mean anything, he said. We have done well [so far], we started early in the competition and the group phase was tough but since day one we have embraced the challenge.

We are proud of what we have done and now know we want to compete well. We want to keep building and improving.

See the article here:
Joao Moutinho says Wolves determined to make a big statement ahead of first European knockout game in almost 50 years - Telegraph.co.uk