La Liga: Vinicius brace helps Real Madrid beat Espanyol; Betis thrash…

Catalonia [Spain], May 4 (ANI): La Liga 2025-26 fixtures saw Real Madrid and Real Betis register convincing wins in their respective matches, strengthening their positions in the standings.

Real Madrid claimed three points against Espanyol at the RCDE Stadium. The Los Blancos secured a 2-0 win over Espanyol, with Vinicius Junior emerging as the star of the match. turconews.click

The Brazilian forward scored both goals, finding the net in the second half to ensure all three points for the visitors. Madrid controlled possession for large parts of the game and created multiple chances, but it was Vinicius’s clinical finishing that made the difference.

In another fixture, Real Betis outclassed Real Oviedo 3-0 in a dominant display. Cucho Hernandez led the charge with a brace, scoring in the 22nd and 58th minutes, while Abde Ezzalzouli added a third goal just before halftime to put the game beyond Oviedo’s reach. Betis were in control throughout the contest, showcasing attacking flair and defensive solidity.

Following these results, Barcelona continue to lead the points table with 88 points from 34 matches. Real Madrid strengthened their hold on second place with 77 points, while Villarreal and Atletico Madrid occupy third and fourth positions with 68 and 63 points, respectively. Real Betis climbed to fifth place with 53 points after their emphatic win.

Espanyol remain in the mid-table positions, while Real Oviedo continue to struggle at the bottom end of the standings.

As the season heads towards its final phase, the race for European qualification spots remains intense, with several teams still in contention, while the relegation battle continues to heat up. (ANI)

(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)

Mumbai Indians (MI) are always known to be playing for top honours, but that’s not the case for the five-time champions this season.

With their Playoff hopes all but over after just two wins in nine games, MI, who are placed ninth, will be playing for pride now besides hoping and praying that some of the other results go their way too.

Mahela Jayawardene

Having lost four consecutive games at the Wankhede, their most in a season, the Hardik Pandya-led side will have a good opportunity to seek a turnaround against bottom-placed Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and give the home fans something to cheer for tonight. But can the hosts post a huge total or chase a 240-plus score, given their batting struggles?

Tilak Varma (193 runs), Suryakumar Yadav (183), Pandya (146), who are known for single-handedly winning matches, are out of form. Opener Ryan Rickelton (297 runs) and middle-order batter Naman Dhir (233) are the only batters with 200-plus runs this season.

MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene is hopeful that Suryakumar will find his rhythm soon. “If he [Suryakumar] gets a few scores together, I think he will find that rhythm. I think sometimes when things are not going your way, it doesn’t fall in place,” Jayawardene said after MI’s eight-wicket loss to Chennai Super Kings on Saturday.

Jayawardene felt that some of Suryakumar’s well-timed shots have been caught at the boundary. “He’s definitely up for it, he’s in a good space. It’s just that it hasn’t worked like the amount of times he’s got caught on the boundary this season. I think he himself is disappointed, but [he] just has to keep working harder,” he added.

MI players opted to rest on Sunday after their defeat to CSK in Chennai on Saturday. However, Rohit Sharma (137 runs), who last played against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, scoring 19 before retiring hurt on April 12 at Wankhede, enjoyed his batting at Wankhede on Sunday. Unlike routine net sessions, he had match-like situations, keeping the off-side open. Rohit batted for half an hour with fielders at short third, point, cover, extra-cover, mid-off and long-off, facing left-arm pacers and spinners while trying to find gaps. Occasionally, he also smashed a few over the bowler’s head for maximums.

Even defending a decent total seems to be a big challenge for MI’s struggling bowling attack led by star pacer Jasprit Bumrah. Off-spinner AM Ghazanfar (11 wickets) is the only MI bowler with more than 10 wickets this season. The next most successful bowlers for MI are pacers Ashwani Kumar and Shardul Thakur, with six scalps each.

20.33
Suryakumar Yadav’s strike-rate this season — his lowest since the 2017 edition

2-6
MI’s win-loss record against LSG

Debasis Sen, Kolkata

Former Test cricketers, Wasim Jaffer, Shaun Tait and Ben Hilfenhaus, are among the notable candidates who have applied for the job of senior men’s Bengal Head Coach. The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) had recently issued an advertisement for the job of various coaches and support staff. The last date for the application was on Friday.

Current Bengal coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla has also applied for the post along with former Indian cricketers from the state – Manoj Tiwary and Wriddhiman Saha. Also throwing his hat for the coaching role is current Bengal batter Anustup Majumdar. It is learnt that as many as 75 candidates have applied for the job.

Former India opener Jaffer seems to be the frontrunner for the job along with Shukla. Jaffer is highly experienced in terms of coaching duties, having been previously associated with teams like Punjab, Uttarakhand and Odisha. He has also served as batting consultant for Bangladesh U-19 team, and was the batting coach for the IPL side Punjab Kings. He is a stalwart of domestic cricket with over 19,000 first-class runs. Post his retirement in 2020, he has shifted focus to coaching career.

Shukla too is keen to continue as the senior Bengal coach. Under him, Bengal made it to the semifinal and final of Ranji Trophy. He was appointed as the coach of senior men’s Bengal team in 2022. Many in the state association are in favour of continuing with him for another term.

Former Australia pacer Tait too has applied for the job. Tait is currently associated with the Bangladesh national side as a pace-bowling coach. His contract is till November 2027. In terms of experience, he has previously worked with the Pakistan, West Indies, and Afghanistan national teams.

Among the other notable candidates are former India cricketers, Tiwary and Saha, along with current Bengal cricketer Anustup. The selected candidates will be called for an interview following which the name of the new coach will be announced.

Follow Revsportz for latest sports news

The post Bengal Coach Selection: Shaun Tait, Wasim Jaffer and Laxmi Ratan Shukla among applicants appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly preparing to introduce stricter rules to save Indian cricket from the trap of "girlfriend culture" during the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches, shortly after similar rules were introduced for the Indian players, featuring in international matches as well. In a bid to streamline the protocols and maintain team discipline and professionalism in the biggest cricket leagues.

The issue has been making headlines after several high-profile cricketers – Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Arshdeep Singh – have been spotted with their respective girlfriends at team hotels, often accompanying them to the team bus as well.

"We are discussing this among ourselves. It will be discussed in the next BCCI meeting. There is no problem with wives and family members staying in the hotel with the players, but we will have to be a little more serious about girlfriends," a BCCI official said in a report as quoted by Jagran.

The official further added that introducing this rule first helped the board end the culture in the Indian team, but it was limited to wives and immediate family members and did not specify girlfriends. Now, plans to not allow girlfriends to stay with players in team hotels are being laid out for the IPL as well. This plan will also help in streamlining of the IPL's anti-corruption protocols.

"We made this rule, and something will have to be done regarding the IPL too. Previously in IPL, girlfriends were not allowed to stay in players' hotels, but now it has become a trend. I spoke to an officer from the IPL's anti-corruption unit about this, and he told us that we have been asked to allow wives and 'officially announced girlfriends' to stay together," the official added.

Another important aspect of players' girlfriends is that a lot of them are quite popular on the internet as social media influencers. This riskens the team or insider information being leaked out, whether or not unintentionally.

"Sir, we're just doing it that way. It's certain that the BCCI will now introduce stricter rules regarding whether or not to stay with a girlfriend," an officer in IPL's anti-corruption unit said.

While international matches do not allow for the violation of anti-corruption protocol, as the situation is completely under the control of the BCCI, the IPL teams are privately managed, and there are ten different franchises, making it relatively difficult for the board to keep an eye on all the movements happening off the field.