Sports
Kohli stars as India beat South Africa in first ODI
Star batsman Virat Kohli hit a record-extending 52nd one-day century to set up India’s 17-run win over a spirited South Africa in the first match on Sunday.
Kohli’s 135 came off 120 balls and he shared a second-wicket partnership of 136 with fellow stalwart Rohit Sharma to set India on course for 349-8 in the eastern city of Ranchi.
Number eight Corbin Bosch made a valiant 67 off 51 balls as South Africa fought until almost the end. Entering the 50th over, the visitors needed 18 for victory with one wicket left. Bosch fell on the second ball and South Africa were 332 all out.
Matthew Breetzke, who made 72, and Marco Jansen, with 70, put on a fighting stand of 97 for the sixth wicket to revived the chase after South Africa slipped to 11-3 and then 77-4.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav stood out with figures of 4-68 in the high-scoring contest.
His double strike to remove Jansen and Breetzke in the space of three balls was the turning point for India who took 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The 37-year-old Kohli remained the hero with his 83rd ton across the three international formats after he raised his hundred with a boundary off Jansen and lifted his bat to a raucous home crowd.
“If you’ve played 300-odd games and so much cricket, you know when you’re hitting balls in practice, you know the reflexes are there and the physical ability is there to bat long,” player of the match Kohli said.
“As long as you’re hitting the ball well and playing good cricket, it’s about physically fit, mentally ready and excited.”
Kohli mania
An Indian fan breached security and raced to the pitch to touch Kohli’s feet before he was dragged away.
Kohli has the most ODI hundreds, with Indian great Sachin Tendulkar second with 49.
The Indian cricket star tops the list of hundreds in a single format with Tendulkar’s count in Tests being 51.
Kohli and 38-year-old Rohit, who made 57, only play the 50-over format after they retired from T20 and Test cricket.
Their presence boosted India, led by KL Rahul in the absence of the injured Shubman Gill, after a 2-0 Test whitewash against South Africa.
Rohit lost fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal early for 18 but Kohli walked in to a huge roar from a 38,000-strong capacity crowd.
The pair steadied the innings and then took on the bowlers before Rohit was trapped lbw by Jansen.
Rohit hit three sixes in his 51-ball knock. That took him to 352 sixes in this format, overtaking Pakistan batter Shahid Afridi’s record of 351.
Kohli switched gears soon after reaching his first hundred since February. He hit off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen for two fours and two sixes in a 21-run 39th over.
He finally fell to Nandre Burger, caught by Ryan Rickelton, after hitting 11 fours and seven sixes.
Rahul kept up the attack with 60 off 56 balls, while Ravindra Jadeja made 32 off 20.
In the end Bosch’s first ODI half-century made it a close contest and much to look forward ahead of the next match is Wednesday in Raipur.
“Great to sit in the change room and watch the guys do their thing,” stand-in-skipper Aiden Markram said. “Never losing the belief that we can pull off a rabbit from the hat.”
Undefeated Nebraska earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament bracket released Sunday.
The five-time national champion Huskers (30-0) have dominated this season, dropping just seven sets. They lead Division I in hitting percentage at .352.
Dani Busboom Kelly, who won NCAA titles as both a Nebraska player and assistant, took over at her alma mater this season after longtime Huskers coach John Cook retired. Busboom Kelly led Louisville to the NCAA final in 2024, where the Cardinals lost to Penn State.
The other No. 1 seeds are Kentucky, Texas and Pitt. The Wildcats have won one NCAA title, and the Longhorns have four. The Panthers reached the final four the past four seasons but lost in the semifinals each time.
Pitt and Stanford finished tied atop the ACC at 18-2, and the Cardinal won their head-to-head matchup 3-2 at Stanford on Nov. 14. But the Panthers’ overall body of work secured them the last No. 1 seed, while nine-time NCAA champion Stanford is the No. 2 seed in Texas’ region.
SEC regular-season and tournament champion Kentucky defeated Texas 3-2 in the conference tournament final. They would face each other in the national semifinals should they advance that far.
Defending national champion Penn State, the only school that has appeared in every NCAA tournament dating back to the event’s start in 1981, is a No. 8 seed in Texas’ quarter of the bracket. St. Thomas (Minnesota) and Toledo are both making their first appearance in the tournament.
The Big 12 led all leagues with 10 teams in the field, the Big Ten has nine, the ACC seven and the SEC five.
Early-round matches will be held from Dec. 4 to 6 on campus sites. The regionals, scheduled for Dec. 11-14, will be hosted by the four highest seeds still standing in each quarter of the bracket.
The final four is at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, for the third time in the tournament’s history. It was there that Penn State won the championship in 2010 and Nebraska won its most recent title in 2017.
The national semifinals are Dec. 18 (ESPN), and the championship match is Dec. 21 (ABC).
The Commanders return from their bye week searching for their first victory since Oct. 5. It won’t be easy against the Broncos, who have won eight straight.
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Ruben Amorim has said that Manchester United are “stealing” set-piece routines from other clubs after goals from two free-kicks helped earn a valuable 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
United came from behind at Selhurst Park thanks to second-half goals from Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount, both of which came from Bruno Fernandes set plays.
Amorim’s team have now scored 10 Premier League goals from set-pieces this season — joint most with table-toppers Arsenal.
“We work a lot,” Amorim said when asked about United’s improvement at set-pieces.
“We have more time to work, we work a lot and we learn a lot in England.
“I think you are used to seeing that, but when you come for the Premier League you learn a lot with other teams how to do it and we are stealing a lot of things to score goals.”
United looked destined for another set-back following Monday’s defeat to 10-man Everton when Crystal Palace went in at half-time 1-0 up thanks to a retaken penalty from Jean-Philippe Mateta.
But there was marked improvement in their performance after the break as Amorim’s team recorded just their second league win away from home since March.
“I just said to the players we need to be more alive and you can feel that,” Amorim said.
– Mason Mount, Joshua Zirkzee inspire Man United comeback win at Crystal Palace
– Zirkzee leads Man United comeback in game of two halves vs. Palace
– Premier League table
“So if you are more alive, you are in more places, you are near the ball more often. I think everyone did that.
“But we also need to understand that the opponent was tired also in the second half.
“And when you increase the rhythm and the opponent gets tired a little bit, suffers right away a goal, you felt that we had the control of the game and that’s it.”
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