England cricketers touch down amid RWC semifinal backdrop
Kane, Son on target for Spurs
Wellington: England cricket coach Chris Silverwood had barely touched down on New Zealand soil before the inevitable question came.
In any other week, the arrival of England’s cricketers to these shores would be a leading sports story. New Zealand and England begin their five-match T20 series in Christchurch next Friday, but over the next few days, the Rugby World Cup semifinal showdown between the two countries will dominate the headlines.
It took just two questions for new England coach Silverwood, who has taken over from World Cup winner Trevor Bayliss, to be quizzed about the much anticipated rugby clash.
“I’m sure there’ll be a few conversations [about the rugby], but we’re here to concentrate on the series that’s in front of us,” Silverwood said.
“It’s always a hard fought series when we come out to New Zealand played by two very good teams.” England’s squad will no doubt pile around the hotel televisions in Christchurch on Saturday night. You can guarantee they’ll cop some good natured banter from Kiwi fans leading into the game. New Zealand cricket supporters were left heartbroken after July’s Cricket World Cup decider, where the Black Caps missed out on the title to England on a boundary countback - following a drawn final and super over. England prevailed on the boundary countback rule (26-17 on the day), which has since been scrapped by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
With five T20s and two tests on the schedule for this series, New Zealand won’t get a chance for ODI redemption against England.
Eoin Morgan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Pat Brown, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, James Vince.
November 1: Hagley Oval, Chch; November 3: Westpac Stadium, Wellington; November 5: Saxton Oval, Nelson; November 8: McLean Park, Napier; November 10: Eden Park, Auckland. - Stuff
London: Tottenham Hotspur finally kick-started their Champions League campaign in style by overwhelming Red Star Belgrade 5-0.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side needed to produce a response after they were thrashed 7-2 at home by Bayern Munich in their last Group B game and after losing a two-goal lead to draw with Olympiakos in the opening round of matches. And they secured their first win in emphatic fashion as an early header from Harry Kane and two smart finishes from Son Heungmin gave them a three-goal advantage by half-time.
Red Star, who were backed by a large group of fans despite Uefa restrictions imposed after incidents of racism at a qualifier against HJK Helsinki in July, had no answer as Erik Lamela scored a fourth and Kane added another. It was a performance and a 5-0 scoreline to give Pochettino and Spurs a much-needed injection of confidence after their indifferent start to the season, and before Sunday’s daunting visit to Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Shakhtar Donetsk 2-2 Dinamo Zagreb, Atletico Madrid 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen , Juventus 2-1 Lokomotiv Moscow, Manchester City 5-1 Atalanta, Club Brugge 0-5 PSG, Olympiacos 2-3 Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspur 5-0 Red Star Belgrade, Galatasaray 0-1 Real Madrid