Fernandes had been heavily linked to United since June last year and was offered to the club in the 2019-20 summer transfer window but Old Trafford heads backed off while Tottenham Hotspur also refused to pay the asking price. United returned in January with significant interests and almost sealed the deal before Sporting CP increased the asking price for their club captain.
Federer had survived against local hero John Millman in the third round before coming back from a set down to crush Marton Fucsovics in the fourth round and seal a record 15th quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open, where he is a champion six times. Federer demolished Hungarian Fucsovics 4/6, 6/1, 6/2, 6/2 after going down in the first set.
New Zealand opening duo Martin Guptill and Colin Munro have started well but have failed to go big. Munro scored a fine half-century in the 1st T20I match but failed to bat the ball in the 2nd while Guptill has played short cameos in both the Twenty20 internationals before getting out chasing a biggie.
Arsenal overcame Leeds United 1-0 in the third round with a gritty display while Bournemouth thrashed Luton Town 4-0 at the same stage to reach the fourth round. Arsenal have drawn their last three league games but are unbeaten in their with their last league win coming against Manchester United at home.
Chaminda Vaas finished with 355 Test wickets from 11 Test matches and with 400 ODI wickets after leading the Sri Lankan ball attack for over a decade. He remains one of the only three Sri Lankan bowlers to have taken 300 Test wickets and is only next after Muralitharan to have achieved 400 ODI wickets. Vaas is also the third-highest ODI wicket-taker of all-time.
He justified it initially, with a 159 against New Zealand and followed it with a match-winning double century against England. Such was his form that Pujara also become the second fastest Indian batsman to complete 1000 Test runs in international cricket. He is only next to Sunil Gavaskar in terms of matches played and the fastest by the number for innings played.
KL Rahul scored sixth-fastest half-century by an Indian batsman before Shreyas Iyer took over the mantle and smashed his third T20I half-century, which included a monstrous six over deep mid-wicket to take India home with six wickets remaining. Virat Kohli also showed good nick of form in his maiden T20I appearance in New Zealand with a 99-run partnership with Rahul.
With the T20I World Cup coming up later this year, both Pakistan and Bangladesh will be hoping to finalise their playing XI. Bangladesh would have to go through the qualifiers to reach the super 12. Pakistan lead Bangladesh 8-2 in head-to-head records in 10 meetings and will hope to extend the dominance.
India have the luxury of an impressive and experienced bench and can field a world-class playing XI despite the injuries to some of their regulars. New Zealand though step into the T20I series with an almost different team from the one that were drubbed in Australia. Virat Kohli will also be making his T20I debut in New Zeland.
This will be the first time Bangladesh will be playing Pakistan in a bilateral T20I series. Both teams had earlier met mostly in ICC tournaments or played a one-off T2wenty20 international match. Pakistan and Bangladesh have also met each other in only 1 T20I match in Pakistan. Pakistan won that match by 102 runs with Misbah-ul-Haq hitting 87 runs from 53 deliveries.
New Zealand endured another super over heartbreak to England, this time a T20I match, in their last T20I match at home. They squandered the five-match T20I series too with that 9-run super over defeat with the series tied 2-2. Surprisingly, the Blacks Caps despite their dominance over India in T20Is suffered a defeat in the only T20I match at Auckland.
Sergio Castel scored in Jamshedpur FC’s last win over FC Goa before a hamstring pull ruled him out for nearly 2 months. Jamshedpur FC played 6 games in that period and failed to win any. But Castel’s return for the Kerala Blasters clash coincided with their first win since November. Castel scored from the spot against Kerala and forced another as Jamshedpur FC won.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli has never played a T20I match in New Zealand and will be making his maiden T20I appearance when India and New Zealand walk out to the field for the 1st T20I match in Auckland. India have come with a visibly strong squad to New Zealand while the home team are already missing some of their key players in Trent Boult and Tom Latham.
Burnley upset Leicester 2-1 at home last week but have lost their last two away matches. They are just 4 points away from the relegation zone and currently find themselves 14th in the Premier League points table with 27 points after 23 matches. United from the same have 34 points and are 6 away from the top-four.
Juanan’s 37th-minute strike from two yards out after a melee in the box gave Bengaluru the win in their first meeting against Odisha FC in ISL 6. The Sunil Chhetri-led side have somewhat tailed off since then with three wins and losses each in six matches since then. Despite their wonderful run, Odisha FC’s away run has been drastic.
Rohit Sharma has scored at least a half-century in each of the last three T20I series India have played, which also includes the 50 against New Zealand in Auckland last year. Rohit’s half-century – his only 2nd against the Black Caps – helped India to their only win the 1-2 Twenty20 series defeat. Rohit also averages 24.75 against New Zealand.
Virat Kohli and his men could become the first team to win a T20I series in New Zealand if they manage to trample the hosts in the upcoming five-match T20I series, starting January 24, 2020 (Friday). India had departed for New Zealand on Monday, a day after beating Australia by 7 wickets to seal ODI series 2-1after going a game down.
Ronaldo’s close rival Lionel Messi isn’t far behind with 717 goals from 901 matches. Messi and Ronaldo are separate by a rung with both speeding their way through to the top. Ronaldo, who made his professional debut in 2001 has played the most number of matches among players in the top five with. Messi is the only other active player in the top 10 of scoring charts.
Manchester United overcame a 0-2 defeat against Arsenal with a big win over Norwich City. Despite their struggles, Ole Gunner Solskjaer’s side holds the record of being the only team to hold Liverpool in their marauding run. United continue to be without midfield duo Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay while Eric Bailey and Timothy Fosu-Mensah are not ready for the clash.
India and Australia will tussle for a series clincher when they meet in the 3rd and final ODI match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on January 19, 2020 (Sunday). Both sides head into the series decider on 1-1 with the 3rd ODI match being the deciding game. But both the games – in Mumbai and Rajkot – were lop-sided encounters.
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