Atlético Madrid v Barcelona : La Liga – live match watch now

Atlético’s Gabi Fernandez tussles with Neymar during these side’s Copa del Rey quarter-final clash. Photograph: Alberto Martin/EPA

Celebrated summer: Neymar and Fernando Torres will compete to express the most delight about scoring a goal in the Spanish capital this evening Photo: REC, GETTY IMAGES

Atlético Madrid v Barcelona : La Liga – live match watch now

Follow live commentary of the La Liga match between Atlético Madrid and Barcelona at Vicente Calderón on Sunday 17 May 2015 at 18.00 BST

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ATLÉTICO 0 BARCA 0
ESPANYOL 0 REAL MADRID 0

29 min

Messi is, once again, sent down in several painful installments. That must get a bit annoying after a decade or so, surely. Pedro, soon after, goes into the book for a foul on Gimenez.

26 min

Some minor Shockwave issues here, you won't be interested to hear. Back up and running, though, and this game's tempo is being hampered by the heat, it seems.

23 min

Lionel Messi is placed unceremoniously on his backside by Gabi. From the free-kick, Oblack races off his line to pluck the ball out of the blue Madrid sky.

19 min

Messi streaks forward (fully-clothed, I should clarify) and his pass almost releases Pedro, who would have been one-on-one with Oblak. Margins.

17 min

76% possession for Barcelona so far. Of course, if it falls below 70%, a bomb is automatically primed and Keanu Reeves has to come and make sure nothing terrible happens.

15 min

That early Atletico storm now officially weathered, Barcelona continue their hunt for a potentially title-securing goal. Their movement is typically waspish up front, even without 33% of their famed attacking trio.

13 min

CHANCE! Rakitic swings over a cross from the right and Lionel Messi, granted the freedom of the Atletico box, heads it straight at Oblak.

12 min

First glimpse of Barca's attacking rhythm. Neymar and Iniesta combine on the edge of the area before Messi picks up the ball and fires a shot into the midriff of Oblak.

10 min

ANOTHER BRAVO SAVE! Griezmann, it emerges, was offside anyway but Bravo wasn't to know that and instinctively flings himself to his right to palm away a top-spun half-volley. Barcelona under siege at the moment.

8 min

WHAT A SAVE! Claudio Bravo claws away a seemingly goalbound header from another Atletico corner.

6 min

Fernando Torres is bundled to the ground by Iniesta, and Diego Simeone is out of his comfy pitchside seat. Atletico force an early corner, which Barcelona struggle to clear.

4 min

It's over 30 degrees in Madrid (or just under 90 degrees, if you're old-school) and Barcelona are keeping the ball in the shade, quite sensibly.

3 min

Sky's Gerry Hamilton describe's Barcelona's squad as "a great bunch of lads". Such an underrated co-commentator, I say.

2 min

Barcelona's kit really is sensationally hi-vis.

1 min

Here we go! Atletico get the game started, exactly at the same time as Real Madrid's game at Espanyol.

AS IT STANDS: 1) Barcelona 90pts 2) Real Madrid 86pts

17.56

Handshakes are being completed, Barcelona are resplendent in Hazchem yellow, and kick-off is moments way...

17.50

Sky's Scott Minto joins the lads in the Crystal Maze's lesser-known Spanish Restaurant Zone:

 17.40

Please do email your thoughts on La Liga's title race to adam.hurrey@telegraph.co.uk or condense them into 140 characters and channel them to @FootballCliches.

17.20

Every day is a double-denim day if you play for Barcelona:


 17.07

Here are the teams - Fernando Torres starts for the hosts, Luis Suarez is absent for the champions elect:

Atletico: Oblak, Juanfran, Godin, Gimenez, Siqueira, M.Suarez, Gabi, Koke, Turan, Griezmann, Torres

Barcelona: Bravo, Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba, Rakitic, Iniesta, Busquets, Pedro, Messi, Neymar

17.01

Good evening. I've dragged myself away from such domestic English spectacles as Bristol Rovers bringing on a sub goalkeeper for a penalty shootout and Phil Jones falling over to tackle Olivier Giroud with his head to bring you live coverage of Barcelona's bid to secure the La Liga title from the reigning champions Atletico Madrid. With two games remaining, Barca sit four points clear of Real Madrid - who simultaneously face Espanyol - so a win for Luis Enrique's side would guarantee a 23rd league title.

I'll make sure to keep you updated with events from both matches, and how they affect the final throes of the title race.

I should also point out - with the keenness of a man who has just double-checked it on Wikipedia - that, if the two sides finish level on points after the final game, it would go down to head-to-head goal difference and Real would triumph by one solitary goal.

12.00

Adam Hurrey will be here from 17.00 to talk you through a possible league-winning evening for Barcelona in Madrid. Real take on Espanyol in Barcelona knowing that they must better Barcelona's result to maintain any hope of regaining the title.

In the meantime, why not re-live Barcelona's frightening Champions League exploits in midweek with Henry Winter's match report:

The footballing gods are smiling, laughing, revelling in the prospect. They are having their way, having guided one of their own, Lionel Messi, to the final of the Champions League in Berlin on June 6. The most accomplished footballer in the world, a winning blend of glorious talent and prodigious work rate, now graces the most important match of the year.

“Messi is just incredible,” reflected his former coach at Barcelona, Pep Guardiola, now shaping Bayern Munich’s destiny. “He is really strong, really fast, and back to his best just as when I used to train him. He is the best player of all time. I can compare him with Pele.” Or Diego Maradona. Messi deserves mention in such legendary company.

• Bayern Munich 3 Barcelona 2; agg 3-5: as it happened

Audiences around the globe, and particularly in Europe, are used to Messi the goalscorer, the elegant disabler of defences. Here at Bayern, it was Messi’s other qualities, his creativity, his appetite for contributing to team orders, pressing opponents, that so impressed.

 Messi was magical. Again. Truly, it is a privilege to be following football in the age of this fabulous Argentine. It is not simply the artistry, agility and intelligence that he brings to moves time and again, shredding defences and conquering keepers with such elegance. It is the work off the ball, hounding Juan Bernat and Bastian Schweinsteiger here, making sure Bayern laboured to progress down their left.

“We had to make sure they didn’t surprise us,’’ said Barcelona’s coach, Luis Enrique, explaining a system that at times was 4-1-4-1 with Messi and Neymar covering their respective full-backs, Dani Alves and Jordi Alba. “We forced the opponent to attack us so they had to take some risk,” continued Enrique, giving an insight into his strategy for withstanding Bayern surges than hitting quickly on the break, pouring into the gaps.

 Bayern’s need for goals ensured they pushed up and their defence was simply not good enough to combat attackers of the quality of Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar. Suárez was selflessness personified, running hard, taking passes from Messi and setting up both of Neymar’s first-half goals which really killed off the tie.

“It goes without saying that they have great individual qualities,’’ said Enrique of his front three. “They are very good together, work together well, and it is very difficult for opponents to control these players.”

Enrique was embraced by Guardiola at the final whistle and then praised. “Luis Enrique does really good work,’’ said Guardiola. “I want to pay a big compliment to Barcelona. I hope in Berlin they can win their fifth Champions League. They do a good job. Barcelona are very strong at the back.”
collected from:http://www.telegraph.co.uk//http://www.theguardian.com

Atletico vs Barcelona Barca look to clinch La Liga thriller

Barcelona will be looking to wrap up the first part of a potential treble by beating Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday.

In a quirk of fate, Atletico won last season's Primera Division title at the Nou Camp after holding Barca to a 1-1 draw on the final day of last season - and now the Catalan club can do likewise on Atletico's home ground after strike action in La Liga was called off on Thursday.

In the next three weeks Barca will have two opportunities to win the league as well as facing Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final and Juventus in the final of the Champions League.
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It is a chance for the Catalan giants to emulate their historic haul from 2009, when they won all six trophies available to them in the calendar year, but defender Gerard Pique knows they cannot afford to get ahead of themselves.

"Looking at the teams that have won the treble gives you an appreciation of how difficult it is," he said.

"There are other teams vying too and the way people are talking it's as if we'd already won the treble, and that's not the case. The finals are against two historic clubs and we still haven't won anything yet.

"We're close but and we have to keep our feet on the ground."

Barcelona could be without striker Luis Suarez as he is nursing a hamstring strain while midfielder Tiago is suspended for Atletico.

Although they can no longer retain their title, Atletico still have something to play for this season as they try to protect their third place from Valencia, who are four points back.

Rojiblancos goalkeeper Jan Oblak knows it will not be easy to get anything off Barca, but is not throwing in the towel.

He said in AS: "There's no fear, but we know that it's not easy to stop them.

"I'm sure that we can beat any team in the world. We have to play with a lot of intensity, be very focused and do a lot of running, and in the end we'll see what happens."

He added of a top-three finish: "The objective was to be third and we're going to achieve that. If we do get it, the view of the season will be positive."

collected from:http://www1.skysports.com

Royal Challengers Bangalore qualify for play-offs after rain abandons match against Delhi

Quick Preview: After pulling of a thrilling win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their previous game, an upbeat Royal Challengers Bangalore would look to seal a play-off berth by beating laggards Delhi Daredevils in their last league match.
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RCB have been inconsistent in the tournament but the Virat Kohli-led side are very much in contention for a play-off berth. They are in second spot in the league table with 15 points from 13 games, behind Chennai Super Kings (16 points from 13 matches).

Delhi, on the other hand, are already out of reckoning with just 10 points from 13 games and they will play for pride only.

collected from:http://ibnlive.in.com//http://sports.ndtv.com

Lionel Messi Barcelona star Have Chance to Win Spanish League Championship

Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez and Barcelona have a chance to win the 2015 Spanish League Championship against Atletico Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid will play Espanyol as they still have a chance. Complete Week 37 La Liga schedule, fixtures preview and game stream provided here. 

(Photo : Getty)

It's all come down to this. The previous 36 weeks of diving saves, amazing goals and incredible headers could very well end this weekend. Barcelona has been in first place since their Week 26 victory over Rayo Vallecano.

Barcelona currently has a 29-3-4 record giving them 90 points this season. If Barcelona defeats Atletico Madrid (last year's champions) on Sunday, they will automatically clinch the championship over their rival Real Madrid.

Barcelona has won 22 Spanish League titles, the second most ever. Real Madrid sits on top with 32 La Liga championships. Although real Madrid has more titles all-time, Barcelona has the chance to win their fifth title in the last seven years. Lionel Messi has been a member of six Barcelona Spanish Premier championship squads.

Speaking of Messi, he leads Barcelona with 40 La Liga goals this year, and he leads the league with 18 assists. Barcelona is also competing for the Champions League title against Juventus, which Messi has a tournament-leading 10 goals. Messi is the best player on Barcelona, but Neymar and Luis Suarez help make up an incredible South American trio that has been unbeatable.


Barcelona defeated Atletico Madrid in Week 18, 3-1, but that was at home. This upcoming match will be played at the Vicente Calderón Stadium with Atletico Madrid having home-field advantage.

Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo has been the best netminder this year as well as leading the league in clean sheets and goals against average.

Real Madrid sits in second place with a 28-2-6 record giving them 86 points. However, last week's 2-2 draw against Valencia was extremely disappointing. Barcelona left last week with three points, while Real Madrid escaped with just one. Real Madrid does not control their own destiny, even if they were to win their last two games.

In other words, every Real Madrid fan will not only be rooting for their team, but Atletico Madrid to win as well. Real Madrid will be playing Espanyol this weekend, a team they beat 3-0 in Week 18.

The subplots heading into this week couldn't be juicier. Real Madrid needs Atletico Madrid to beat Barcelona this weekend to extend this race another week. But, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are huge rivals. See the Madrid Derby. Is it possible that Atletico Madrid won't field their best players or play to their full potential to ensure that Real Madrid doesn't have a chance to win it all? Stranger things have happened.

collected from:http://www.latinpost.com//http://www.goal.com

Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle credit Bangalore to win in IPL thriller

Virat Kohli's 44 off 19 helped Bangalore beat Hyderabad in a rain-affected match. Here are the highlights from the match.

Virat Kohli celebrates after hitting the winning runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad 135-3 in 11/11 overs (Moises Henriques 57, David Warner 52; David Wiese 2-20, Mitchell Starc 1-26)

Royal Challengers Bangalore 83-4 in 5.5/6 overs (Virat Kohli 44 not out, Chris Gayle 35; Moises Henriques 2-3, Praveen Kumar 1-10)

Virat Kohli scored a brilliant, unbeaten 44 as Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets in the rain-shortened Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Hyderabad on Friday night.

Kohli hit a six off the second-last ball of their innings as the visitors chased down 81 runs in their six-over run chase.

Earlier in the day, Hyderabad won the toss and captain David Warner opted to bat first. The hosts posted 135 for three during 11 rain-interrupted overs, with Warner hitting 52 and fellow Australian Moises Henriques top-scoring with 57.

But with rain continuing to play spoilsport, the Bangalore run chase had to be limited to six overs.

In the end, it was enough as Kohli and Chris Gayle (35) took the attack to the Hyderabad bowlers, hitting a combined six sixes and seven fours.

The win propelled Bangalore to second spot in the IPL table and put them in a good position to qualify for the play-offs.

collected from:http://www.thenational.ae//http://sports.ndtv.com

La Liga strike called Spain's national court

Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) suspension and players' strike was called off by the Spain's national court. This means that the remainder of the season with two match-days left will now be allowed to finish.

he strike which was held by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Players' union (AFE) which threatened the rest of the season, has been suspended by the Spanish High Court.

The Spanish High Court, deeming the strike as illegal, took the decision on Thursday. This effectively means that the remainder of the La Liga season and the final of the Copa del Rey will be continuing as decided.

The strike was called following a dispute over distribution of the television revenue and rights. The Spanish government had proposed a new television deal on April 30. According to this, a more collective system will be introduced that would no longer allow the giants such as Real Madrid and Barcelona to negotiate their own terms and contracts for broadcasting the league games.

Although being praised, the AFE said it lacked some major issues and hence called a strike for the last two match days  as well as the Copa del Rey final. This was supported by the RFEF but made no such progress.

The decision initially was to be made on Wednesday but got delayed to Thursday. The court in Madrid has finally suspended it, meaning Barcelona can secure the title this week if they win their clash against  defenders Atletico Madrid.

Some of the key fixtures that were threatened by the strike were,

Sunday, 17th May: Atletico Madrid v/s Barcelona AND Espanyol v/s Real Madrid
Saturday, 23rd May: Barcelona v/s Deportivo AND Real Madrid v/s Getafe
Saturday, 30th May: Copa del Rey final - Athletic Bilbao v/s Barcelona (Camp Nou)

La Liga giants like Real's Sergio Ramos and keeper Iker Casillas have given their support to the AFE.

collected from:http://www.dnaindia.com

Phillip Hughes: Cricket Australia confirms independent review

Cricket Australia has confirmed it will commission an independent review into the death of batsman Phillip Hughes.

Test player Hughes died in November aged 25, two days after being struck on the top of the neck by a delivery during a domestic match in Sydney.

A Cricket Australia statement read: "We have a responsibility and obligation to look into the events of that day."

The statement added the review was not about blame but "preventing an accident of this nature happening again".

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland added: "When this tragedy happened, I said that it was a freak accident, but it was one freak accident too many.
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How can cricket helmets be made safer?

"Never again do we want to see something like that happen on a cricket field."

The review will be held with the support of Hughes's family and is expected to publish its findings later this year. It will examine:

• the causes and circumstances which led to Hughes's death

• what practices can be put in place to prevent a similar accident from occurring

• the use of personal protective equipment in order to protect the head and heart

• the medical screening of contracted players - especially those players with particular vulnerabilities

• the medical support and coverage afforded to players and on-field support staff, including match officals, at matches and training


 Hughes, who also played for Hampshire, Middlesex and Worcestershire, was hit by a delivery from bowler Sean Abbott.

His death stunned Australia and sparked thousands of tributes from around the world.

Around 5,000 people attended the funeral in Hughes's home town of Macksville, New South Wales, with the service broadcast live to millions of people on Australian television.

After the incident, a British-based company designed a new helmet with a 'stemguard' - a device made of foam and a rubber-like compound that clips onto the back of a helmet, aimed at preventing another tragic death.

collected from:http://www.bbc.com

Pietersen heads 'Let down' for IPL

The 29 runs that Kevin Pietersen added to his overnight score against Leicestershire, to end on a magisterial and undefeated 355, could be the last he ever scores in first-class cricket. Pietersen will fly out to India on Friday, to fulfill his obligations for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the latter stages of the IPL, after Andrew Strauss confirmed that the batsman did not figure in England's plans.

Having been told to go back to county cricket and score runs by the incoming ECB chairman, Colin Graves, two months ago, Pietersen will feel "let down in the way he's been treated", according to Alec Stewart, Surrey's director of cricket. "He's given up a £250,000 contract to play in the IPL, he's done what's been asked of him and now unfortunately from Kevin's point of view the door has been shut," Stewart said.

Stewart also suggested that Surrey could feel disappointed with the ECB. "To an extent I think the club could feel a little bit let down or short-changed," he said. "If you go back five years when he left Hampshire, he didn't have a county and the ECB said to us will you take Kevin Pietersen and we did. So, we helped the ECB to therefore help England, which, as a county, is our duty. Then, on the back of Colin Graves's comments we've re-signed him. We know he's going to help us through scoring runs, and also try and help England."

Stewart, who had been one of the contenders for the England director of cricket role awarded to Strauss, said that he would not have ruled out a return for Pietersen.

"I'd want to be able to pick from everyone available. I believe that England should be picking their best players and that would include Kevin Pietersen," he said. "Part of management is managing difficult players and difficult situations.

"It's going to be a very tough summer and I, personally, would have said: Right, we've got a good middle order at the minute. Ballance, Bell and Root are playing exceptionally well. Kevin, you're doing what we asked you to do, which is come and play county cricket, come and score runs. If you continue to do that, should there be an injury, a loss or form or a reason to make a change, you're very much in the frame. No guarantees, but you're very much in the frame.

"They haven't gone down that route, but I respect what Andrew has said and what he has done because he has to be his own man starting in this new role."

Stewart contacted Pietersen after news broke on Monday evening that he had been told he was highly unlikely to play for England again. "He was disappointed. We exchanged messages last night so I was aware that it had happened. He wanted to play for England, he was desperate to play for England. He thought the door had been opened from the incoming chairman."

Stewart also reiterated that he has had no issues with Pietersen in the Surrey dressing room over his five years involvement with the club.

"When he has been here he's been a breath of fresh air," he said. "I always say I only judge people how I find them. He's got a track record of upsetting people in other dressing rooms, or being upset in other dressing rooms. But when he's been in our dressing room we've had no problems with him.

"Everyone deals with people in certain ways. I'm not saying the way we do it here is perfect by any shape of the imagination. We do it a certain way and we've been rewarded with some fantastic batting.

"There's been a breakdown between Kevin and various parties or various people at the ECB, which means the decision has not been reversed and Kevin Pietersen is a former England player."

On Tuesday, Pietersen was only left two runs short of claiming the all-time Surrey record in first-class cricket because Matt Dunn, who contributed five to a tenth-wicket partnership of 139, was dismissed. "It was one of the best innings I've seen," Stewart said. "He's probably the only player in world cricket who could do that."

Surrey may feel they were overdue such a performance after Pietersen's mediocre spell in Twenty20 for the club last season, when he was dismissed 12 times without passing 39.

"He's fitter, that's all. His knee's back to being fit so he can stand in the field, he can bat for a day and a half with no issues and he can rock up the next day too, whereas last year he couldn't," Stewart said. "Also I think he'd admit that his mind wasn't as it should be because of what had been going on with his England career.

"From the Big Bash through to what we've seen yesterday he's playing as well as he's ever played. In the nets he hits the ball as cleanly as ever. People have to understand that it's nothing to do with his cricket. Everyone still agrees that he's still good enough to play but there's the trust issue which obviously the ECB believe there is no trust between the two of them so they feel they can't select him."

After Pietersen's IPL stint, Stewart hopes he will return for two more Championship games - against Lancashire at the Kia Oval and Leicestershire, who will hope they do not encounter him in this mood again, at Grace Road - before his stint in the Caribbean Premier League. But nothing is certain.

"Whether we see him play again for Surrey, I hope so, but it's got to be right for us and it's got to be right for Kevin," Stewart said. "I hope it's not the last first-class innings we'll see in a Surrey shirt."


collected from:http://www.espncricinfo.com

Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey burst onto the women's MMA scene in August of 2010. Born in Riverside County, California on February 1, 1987 to parents Ron Rousey and AnnMaria DeMars, little Ronda was born with an umbilical cord wrapped around her neck that damaged her vocal chords. She didn't speak coherently until the age of six. Ronda was a self-professed tomboy and swam from the ages of 6 to 10. She competed on the Jr. Olympic swim team where she placed in the state level.

Because of her mother, a 7th degree black belt and 1984 World Judo Champion, Ronda took up the sport. She had a hard time socializing with other kids and found that Judo gave her confidence. She holds a 4th degree black belt in the martial art.

Ronda's Judo career is a storied one. At 17 she became the youngest judoka in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. That same year she won a gold medal at the World Junior Judo Championships in Budapest, and in 2006 she became the first U.S. female in almost 10 years to win an A-Level tournament going 5-0 to clench the gold at the World Cup in Great Britain. At 19 she won the bronze medal at the Junior World Championships. She is the first U.S. athlete to win two Junior World Medals. In 2007 she added a silver at the World Judo Championships and a gold at the Pan American Games. The pinnacle of her Judo career was a bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Rousey became the first American to win an Olympic medal in women's Judo since it became an Olympic sport in 1992.

After medaling in the Olympics, Ronda's career hit a dead end. She did some bartending to make ends meet and tried to find a better paying job, but it was tough finding anyone that needed her particular skill set. Throwing people down and putting them in armbars aren't really something you can put on a resume. By chance Ronda caught the Gina Carano vs. Julie Kedzie fight on television and things changed.

She made her mixed martial arts debut as an amateur in 2010. Since then she has never lost a fight, winning the majority in the first round by armbar submission. Ronda took it upon herself to chase after and demand attention so that the UFC could no longer ignore women fighters. UFC President Dana White had publicly stated that women would never be allowed to fight in the UFC, but on February 23, 2013, Ronda did just that. She won the fight against Liz Carmouche in the first round with her signature armbar and became the first UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion.

collected from:http://www.imdb.com

Erin Andrews denies rolling eyes during Noah Galloway’s marriage proposal on ‘Dancing with the Stars’

Erin Andrews didn’t seem too pleased when Noah Galloway got down on bended knee to propose to his girlfriend, Jamie Boyd, on Monday’s "Dancing with the Stars."

 

Erin Andrews' "ugly" expression was in no way meant to shun Noah Galloway's proposal to Jamie Boyd on "Dancing with the Stars."

Reports quickly pointed to Andrews "rolling her eyes while touching her ear piece" following the semifinalist's romantic moment.

"@usweekly uhhhh it's called an oh great I'm going to bawl on camera ..ugly cry face alert," she tweeted in response to Us Weekly's story, one of several outlets that claimed she rolled her eyes.

Viewers agreed with the initial reports with one tweeting, "Someone BETTER gif @ErinAndrews reaction face to that proposal #dancingwiththestars."

Gifs were in fact created bringing into question the validity of Andrews' statements about trying not to become overly emotional. One shows her at the end of the program appearing to roll her eyes just before touching her ear piece.

"It's called emotion .. as in, oh my gosh I'm going to loose it right here ..," she tweeted as more fans wrote about her seemingly unkind gesture.

collected from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Andrews

Pakistan players rise in latest Test player rankings

For Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan’s scores of 89 not out and 13 have helped him move up five places to a career-high 30th

Pakistan players rise in latest Test player rankings - Cricket News
Yasir Shah (20th) has moved into the top 20 for the first time in his career after rising six places.

Download the Reliance ICC Rankings App via www.icc-cricket.com/mobile to predict the outcome of the series

Following Pakistan’s 328 run victory over Bangladesh in the second Test in Mirpur on Saturday, a number of its players have made gains in the latest Reliance ICC Test Players Rankings

Younus Khan has moved up one place to seventh in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after scores of 148 and 39, while Azhar Ali has also moved up five places to 16th position after compiling 226 and 25 in the match which helped steer the visitors to a 1-0 series win. On way to his maiden Test double-century, Azhar also passed the 3,000-run landmark (and now stands at 3,185 in 41 Tests).

For Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan’s scores of 89 not out and 13 have helped him move up five places to a career-high 30th.

Though the top 10 in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers has remained unchanged, there were some big movers with Pakistan left arm opening bowler Junaid Khan moving up two places to 15th after claiming match figures of three for 71.

Yasir Shah (20th) has moved into the top 20 for the first time in his career after rising six places following match figures of seven for 131, Mohammad Hafeez has climbed five places to a career high 34th position and Wahab Riaz has gained 10 places to raise to 52nd spot.

Bangladesh’s Mohammad Shahid has vaulted 36 places to 84th after match figures of four for 95, while Shuvagata Hom has broken into the top 100 for the first time in 87th spot (up by 15 places) after claiming three for 94 runs.


collected from:http://www.icc-cricket.com

Bafta television awards celebrate small screen success

11 May 2015 Last updated at 07:28 BST

The Bafta television awards have taken place in London, celebrating performances in front of the camera and the very best behind the scenes talent.

The broadcaster and journalist Clive James received a special award honouring his 50-year career. The c has terminal cancer and was unable to attend the ceremony.

The BBC's entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba reports.

collected from:http://www.bbc.com

This week's cover: Inside Quentin Tarantino's bloody, brutal new western The Hateful Eight

This week's cover: Inside Quentin Tarantino's bloody, brutal new western The Hateful Eight

 Somebody’s dying today—you can hear it in Samuel L. Jackson’s voice. On a soundstage in Hollywood this April, the actor who plays Major Marquis Warren in Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight is swirling up a tornado of a monologue—one, it’s safe to say, that contains great vengeance and furious anger—and preparing to deliver his hapless victim a new pair of breathing holes courtesy of Mr. Samuel Colt. Squibs are packed and ready to spew twin gooey bursts of fake blood all over the cozy rustic interior of Minnie’s Haberdashery.

You can be sure this won’t be the only time someone comes down with an acute case of lead poisoning in Tarantino’s bloody new production, which traps eight of the West’s nastiest gunslingers in a snowbound frontier way station, each wrapped in as many layers of deceit as they are clothing. The film scales down from Tarantino’s last two films, the revisionist revenge epics Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained, going for something more intimate if no less violent, like a stick of dynamite in a shoebox. “For me it has more of a Western Iceman Cometh kind of vibe about it,” says Tarantino. The film also takes a belt from the bottle of the director’s first film Reservoir Dogs. “A bunch of guys in a room who can’t trust each other,” he says. “That wasn’t a marching order when I sat down to write the script, but pretty quickly I realized this is kind of a nice coming-full-circle.”

The cast is a Who’s Who of the Tarantino-verse, including Jackson, Kurt Russell, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Walton Goggins, as well as newbies Demián Bichir and Jennifer Jason Leigh. “I knew Quentin, but I had never had a chance to work with him, and I really wanted to,” recalls Leigh. The film, which hits theaters later this year, almost never happened. After a script leak last January shot the horse out from under the project, Tarantino injuredly announced he was shelving the film, but some time and a successful live script read later that year thankfully convinced him to renege.

This week’s EW cover story brings you a first look at the highly anticipated new western, as well as a behind-the-scenes with Tarantino and his formidable cast. So down that shot of two-bit rotgut, holster your six-shooter, and pick yourself up a copy. You’ll be more grateful than hateful.

For more on The Hateful Eight, pick up this week’s copy of Entertainment Weekly, on stands Friday.


collected from:http://www.ew.com