Tag Archives: sport

ENGLANDÔÇÖs TOUR OF SRI LANKA – 1ST TEST REVIEW

By Pranav Kanade

Having beaten Sri Lanka 3-1 in the ODI series, England approached the Test series full of confidence. Side-lined by an ankle injury, Jonny Bairstow was replaced by Ben Foakes, for what would be his maiden Test cap. Following the retirement of Alistair Cook, Rory Burns was also given a maiden test cap and tasked with opening the batting and was called straight into action by the skipper Joe Root, who won the toss and elected to bat.

EnglandÔÇÖs first innings started poorly, with Lakmal picking up two wickets in the 3rd over of the match, sending Burns and Moeen Ali back to the pavilion. Keaton Jennings and Joe Root tried to rebuild the innings but were dismissed before reaching half-centuries, and the wicket of Ben Stokes brought debutant Foakes to the crease at 103-5. Despite a few shaky overs, Foakes grew in confidence and reached his first ever test century on his debut. 50+ partnerships with Buttler, Curran and Rashid helped Foakes take England to 342, before being dismissed.

Sri LankaÔÇÖs poor batting form continued as they collapsed to 40-4 after only 16 overs. Thanks to an 8-wicket haul by EnglandÔÇÖs spinners Rashid, Ali and Leach, and despite a solo Angelo MatthewsÔÇÖ knock of 52, Sri Lanka were bundled out for 203. EnglandÔÇÖs second innings began much better than their first, with Burns and Jennings taking England to 60 for no loss. However, a trio of wickets in short succession by the Sri Lankan spinners rocked the English to 74-3, but a brilliant knock of 146* from Jennings and 62 from Ben Stokes helped England recover to 319-6 before declaring and setting the Sri Lankans 461 runs to win.

Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, EnglandÔÇÖs bowlers picked up where they left off, with the three spinners claiming another 8 wickets. Unlike the Sri Lankan first innings, all the established batsmen got themselves settled at the crease, but poor shots and decision making meant they couldnÔÇÖt capitalise and extend their thirties into hundreds. As a result, they were bowled out for 250, meaning England won the test by 211 runs. Having picked up 8 wickets in this match alone, Moeen Ali was a clear contender for Man of the Match, but FoakesÔÇÖ debut century when England were in a hole in the first innings was deemed to be more of a match winning performance.

The first test match in EnglandÔÇÖs tour of Sri Lanka ended in a comprehensive victory for the visitors, albeit thanks to some poor batting by the hosts. With two more tests to be played, the Sri Lankans have plenty of time to turn it around, but it would seem England would have to play extremely badly to throw away the 1-0 lead.

 

A brief summary of the Premier League so far

WeÔÇÖve seen some blockbuster games in the English Premier League (EPL) including Liverpool versus Manchester City, Chelsea versus Liverpool and Tottenham versus Manchester United. WeÔÇÖve also seen upsets with West Ham beating Manchester United, Brighton defeating Manchester United and Watford overcoming Spurs. But as we head into the second last international break of the calendar year, which team sits on top of the EPL?

Manchester United kicked off on a bright note with a home win over Leicester but a loss away to Brighton and a defeat at home to Spurs highlighted frailties in the heart of the back four. A draw at home to Wolves, an exit from the EFL cup at the hands of Derby County and a 3-1 loss to struggling West Ham made it UnitedÔÇÖs joint worst start to a season since the start of David MoyesÔÇÖ reign in 2013/2014. Pressure for Mourinho to step down as manager reached an unprecedented high but a victorious comeback from two goals down against Newcastle last week could signal the start of a turnaround in the clubÔÇÖs form.

With a summer spending of just over £170 million and having reached the Champions League final last year, Liverpool were the team tipped to challenge reigning champions Manchester City for the Premier League title. Despite playing Manchester City, Chelsea and Spurs in their first 8 games of the EPL, Liverpool are not only unbeaten but have also kept the joint most clean sheets and conceded the joint least number of goals, proving they have shored up their defence, an area that has been their kryptonite in recent years. This major improvement means Liverpool are on track to be title contenders this year.

A few months after being the first team in the history of the EPL to finish a season with 100 points and having paid the clubÔÇÖs record fee for winger Riyad Mahrez, Manchester City started the season as everyone expected. A comfortable away win to the expense of Arsenal and a 6-1 battering of Huddersfield Town showed that Pep GuardiolaÔÇÖs players would pick up where they left off. However, a draw away from home to Wolverhampton Wanderers meant Manchester City dropped their first points in just the third week of the season, casting doubts on whether they could replicate the domination and success of last season, but normal order was restored with four convincing victories in a row.

Having constructed a title challenge with Napoli in the Italian league, Maurizio Sarri took over from Antonio Conte as Chelsea Manager. By opening the season with five wins on the trot, Sarri joined an elite group of only four managers ever to win their first five games in their debut EPL season. Knocking Liverpool out of the EFL Cup and achieving back to back wins in the Europa League means Chelsea are the only team in the EPL yet to lose a match in all competitions, making them real contenders to win the Premier League.

After an emotional end to twenty years in charge of Arsenal, Arsene Wenger made way for Unai Emery, a man whoÔÇÖs won four trophies in two years with Paris Saint-Germain. Losses to Manchester City and Chelsea in their first two games meant that Arsenal sat joint bottom of the table with zero points, but EmeryÔÇÖs players were quick to find form with an unbroken win streak extending to nine matches across all their domestic and European ties.

Despite being the first club ever since the introduction of the transfer window in 2003 not to sign a single player in a summer transfer window, SpursÔÇÖ started the season with three wins on the bounce including the thrashing of Manchester United at Old Trafford. However, injuries to key players such as Lloris and Eriksen and defeats to Watford and Liverpool highlighted the need for more squad depth. Losses to Inter Milan and Barcelona means PochettinoÔÇÖs side sits at the bottom of their ChampionsÔÇÖ League group but a trio of consecutive victories in the EPL could indicate a comeback with 30 games still to play.

Eight games into the season and Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool are on top of the league with 20 points out of a possible 24. Liverpool, who have had the tougher run of games, will be the happier of the bunch, with Chelsea and Manchester City still having to play more of the ÔÇÿtop 6ÔÇÖ in the coming months. With the tableÔÇÖs top three or four teams only a few points apart, it promises to be a long, close and tense title race.

Varsity 2015

Yesterday, Cardiff took on Swansea for the 18th annual Welsh Varsity event. Xpress was there every step of the way, covering the sporting action from our hub in Swansea.

We brought you live updates and commentary of a number of sports – from canoe polo to ultimate – all thanks to our dedicated team of reporters across the city (and some further away than that). There were live updates via our app and Twitter, and commentary of the main football fixtures was provided on pop-up station Xpress Sports Xtra.

The Xpress Street Team was also out and about in the sunshine accompanied by newly named mascot Delyth; raising awareness for Stonewall Cymru with rainbow laces.

We also managed to get some cracking photos of Cardiff and Swansea students tirelessly supporting their teams. Face paint was all over the place.

Some people couldn’t contain their excitement – like former Team Cardiff Coach Martyn Fowler, who couldn’t resist a quick dance.

As usual, Xpress gave you live commentary of the incredible mens rugby match from the Liberty Stadium in Swansea, which saw Team Cardiff secure victory, with a final score of 27-22.

Cardiff also held onto the Varsity shield with a decisive 24-13 win. Full results can be found on Gair Rhydd’s website. Highlights will be available soon.

Varsity is tomorrow!

It’s nearly here… Welsh Varsity 2015 will be taking place in Swansea tomorrow! The biggest day of student sport in Wales culminates in the rugby grudge match between Cardiff and Swansea at the Liberty Stadium.

We’ll be providing live coverage and commentary of the rugby from 6:30pm. We’ll be live from Swansea from 9am and with you throughout the day bringing updates, results, interviews and analysis, and we’ll also have live commentaries of the men’s and ladies football matches on Xpress Sports Xtra, available at xpressradio.co.uk/varsity.

actual kick off times (1)

There have been 5 events so far, with both Cardiff and Swansea winning two. Cardiff won the rowing after Saturday’s Welsh boat race , winning three out of four races. Cardiff won the equestrian competition with Swansea winning the track cycling. Last night, the Varsity boxing event was held at Swansea Union, with Swansea’s boxers winning 3 fights to Cardiff’s two. Today, Cardiff’s rifle club were beaten by Swansea’s ┬áwith Swansea finishing on 1110 and Cardiff on 1073. Swansea are currently 3-2 up in the Shield going into the main day of Varsity Action with 25 sports set to take place tomorrow.

We’ll be providing updates and results live┬áon 87.7FM in the Cardiff area, at xpressradio.co.uk and through our free app – just search xpressradio in Google Play and the iTunes store.

 

Here’s all the starting times for tomorrow:┬ávarsity schedule (1) (1)

 

Xpress launches Xpress Sports Xtra for Welsh Varsity 2015

Xpress Radio will be providing live coverage of all the sports from this year’s Welsh Varsity.

Tori and Lewis will host the official Varsity Breakfast show as Cardiff students travel down to Swansea, before James & Arainrhod present live from Swansea from 9am. We’ll provide score updates and results from every sport, as well as interviews and reports.

Alongside our results show, which will be available on 87.7FM, our app and our website, we’ll be launching another online stream, at┬áhttp://cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk/xpress/varsity/, where you’ll be able to listen to live commentaries of the Men’s and Ladies football.

We’ll also be bringing you full commentary of the Men’s rugby , live from the Liberty Stadium. Will Cardiff be able to avenge last year’s 19-15 defeat to Swansea?

Varsity Flag Varsity PullupsVarsity Headlock

Cardiff – The home of Welsh sport

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Cardiff is the centre of Welsh sport and you can catch Cardiff City and Cardiff Blues in action at a discounted rate for students.

The rugby autumn internationals kick off with Wales against Australia on the 8th November, followed by a fixture against Fiji on the 15th; tickets start from just £20 for the Fiji match. Wales also face New Zealand and they seek revenge against South Africa following their 31-30 defeat to the Springboks in June. The Millennium Stadium is a fortress regarded by many as one of the best rugby stadiums in the world. The atmosphere on match days is unlike any other in Britain, if not Europe.

Xpress Radio does live commentary from the Millennium Stadium every year as part of our extensive Welsh Varsity coverage, where Cardiff University take on Swansea University in over 20 different sports, culminating in a massive rugby game between the two rivals.

Cardiff CityÔÇÖs Championship campaign is already underway; their fixtures during September include play-off final losers Derby County and Brighton & Hove Albion. The Cardiff City Stadium recently hosted the UEFA Super Cup Final, with Welsh wizard Gareth Bale playing on Welsh soil for the first time since moving to Real Madrid.

Cardiff Blues offer student season tickets for just £80, which includes all home games (even European matches!). Cardiff Blues have recruited well over summer, with star signing Gareth Anscombe expected to make a big impact upon his arrival in Wales. On their day the Blues can rival the best northern hemisphere teams, shown through their Heineken Cup win over French giants Toulon last October.

As well as watching professional sport, there are plenty of opportunities to take part in sport at Cardiff University . From trying a new sport to representing your country, Cardiff UniversityÔÇÖs Athletic Union accommodates all levels. All of Cardiff UniversityÔÇÖs sports clubs can be found here (http://www.cardiffstudents.com/activities/au/list/ )and it’s well worth attending the free taster sessions during the first few weeks of university.

By Bethan Lyons