My Science School

The first of three ODIs between India and England in the series that marked the end of the visitors tour to India was played on March 23, 2021 at Pune. India won the match by 66 runs and even though they lost the second ODI, went on to win the series 2-1.

The first ODI, meanwhile, marked the ODI debuts of both Krunal Pandya and Prasidh Krishna. Both men made it a day to remember for themselves as they made record-breaking performances.

Playing for India for the first time in ODI cricket, both Prasidh Krishna (left) and Krunal Pandya (right) made a mark for themselves with match-winning performances in a high-scoring game. Batting first, India posted 317 for five on the back of Shikhar Dhawan's 98. Krunal Pandya's unbeaten 31-ball 58 included reaching half-century in 26 balls, the fastest fifty by an ODI debutant. And while it seemed England would run away with the chase at one point, India pulled it back. Prasidh Krishna's four for 54, the best figures on ODI debut among men for India, certainly had a role in that.

Prasidh Krishna's four for 54 is the best bowling figures by an Indian male on ODI debut, beating the previous best of three for 21 set by Noel David against West Indies in 1997. Varun Aaron (3/24), Subroto Banerjee(3/30) and Hardik Pandya (3/31) come in third, fourth and fifth in this list.

By reaching his 50 in just 26 balls, Krunal Pandya broke the record for the fastest fifty by an ODI debutant, held previously by England's John Morris. Morris' fifty against New Zealand in 1990 had taken 35 balls.

 

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During the fifth and final T201 between India and England that was played at Ahmedabad on March 20, 2021, England batsman Dawid Malan went past the 1000 run mark in T20 internationals.

He achieved the milestone in his 24th T201 while playing his 24th innings, thereby becoming the fastest to the landmark in terms of innings played.

Considering that Twenty20 is the youngest format of cricket, it is possible to trace the progression of batsmen reaching the 1000 T201 runs mark. New Zealand's Brendon McCullum was the first to achieve the feat when he reached the landmark in his 35 innings while playing his 35th match in 2010. England's Kevin Pietersen bettered it in 2011, when he went past 1000 runs in his 32nd innings and 32nd match. Four years later, India's Virat Kohli achieved the milestone in his 27th innings, while playing his 29th match. Pakistan's Babar Azam did it in his 26th match and innings in 2018. England's Dawid Malan now heads the list, having got there in his 24th match and innings.

Dawid Malan

• England


• Crossed the 1000-run mark while playing his 24th innings in his 24th match


• Opposition: India


• Venue: Ahmedabad


• Match date: March 20, 2021


• Match result: Dawid Malan scored a 46-ball 68 during the knock that made him the fastest to 1000 international T20 runs. Malan, however, ended up in the losing side. They were chasing 225 to win the match and the series and fell short by 36 runs in the end.

Babar Azam

• Pakistan


• Crossed the 1000-run mark while playing his 26th innings in his 26th match


• Opposition: New Zealand


• Venue: Dubai


• Match date: November 4, 2018


• Match result: Babar Azam's 58-ball 79 helped Pakistan to a total of 166. New Zealand were bowled out for 119 in the chase. Babar Azam was declared player of the match.

Virat Kohli

• India


• Crossed the 1000-run mark while playing his 27th innings in his 29th match


• Opposition: South Africa


• Venue: Dharamsala


• Match date: October 2, 2015


• Match result: Virat Kohli scored a 27 ball 43 as India posted a big total of 199 on the board. South Africa, however, chased it down with two balls to spare.

 

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Almost anything we manage to do three times in a row is called a hat trick today. The one thing you can be fairly sure of is that it seldom, if ever, involves a hat. However, a hundred years ago a hat gave rise to the expression. In those days hat tricks only occurred in games of cricket.

Back in the 1880s a bowler who took three wickets with three balls bowled one after the other was given a new hat by his club. The feat became known as a hat trick and, as it caught on, people began applying the term to all sorts of other sports and activities.

 

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The American tennis star Big Bill Tilden served a tennis ball at 263 kilometres per hour in 1931. The Australian cricketer Jeff Thomson bowled one delivery against the West Indies at just over 160 kilometres per hour in 1975. Table tennis balls have been measured at speeds of 170 kilometres per hour. But none of these exceed the speeds reached by the ball in pelota. This is a game that originated in Europe in the Middle Ages. It resembles squash only it's much faster. Pelota players wear a long curved wickerwork basket strapped to the hand, which they use to throw the ball against the walls of the court as hard as they can. In 1979 a pelota ball was clocked at 302 kilo metres per hour. Even more amazing is that another player had to try to return it.

 

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A lot of people who are bored stiff by cricket probably ask the same question. But for cricket lovers in both Australia and England the Ashes is one of the greatest prizes in cricket - which is all the more remarkable because it does not exist!

The Ashes is a mythical prize played for by England and Australia when they meet in test matches. The name dates from 29 August 1882 after Australia had beaten England in England for the first time. The Sporting Times printed a mock death announcement for English cricket ending with the sentence, The body will be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia.'

When England beat Australia in 1882-3, two English ladies presented the captain, the Honour able Ivo Bligh, with an Ashes Urn, and this remains permanently in the pavilion at Lord's.

 

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What does tennis mean for most of us? Tennis stars who earn millions of pounds in prize money? Huge sponsorship deals? Jetting around the world to play in major tournaments? Modern tennis has all of this and more. It seems a long way from the earliest form of the game played in the Middle Ages. That is what it is though, deep down – a medieval game with a medieval scoring system.

Tennis has been popular for centuries. Nearly four hundred years ago the city of Paris alone had more than a thousand tennis courts.

In the original scoring system, players had to win four points to win a game and four games to win a set. The points were often recorded on a clock face, with one point for each quarter. So it became common to refer to the first point as fifteen, because it was the first quarter. Thirty became the second point for the same reason. Forty-five was shortened to forty. That marked the third quarter. And the game had been won when the hand reached the fourth quarter at the top of the clock face.

What about ‘love’? Where did that come from? As I am sure you do not need telling, ‘love’ means no points in a game or no games in a set. It is possible that this may have come from the English pronunciation of the French word ‘l’oeuf’, meaning ‘the egg’. Maybe the oval shape of nought reminded people of an egg.

Tennis has another unusual score too. This is ‘deuce’, which probably comes from ‘deux’, the French word for ‘two’. Deuce is used when both players (or doubles pairs) have scored forty, and need to win two points running to take the game.

 

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Marathons are enormously popular, though goodness knows why. All over the world, millions of people take part in these races. They line up alongside hundreds of thousands of others just to run as fast as they can for forty-two kilometres! The fastest of them take more than two hours, while others stagger over the line hours later.

About the only thing that today’s marathons have in common with the original one is the distance. The first ‘marathon’ was not a race. Only one runner ran the distance. And he dropped dead at the end of it. This all took place back in 490 B.C. In that year the Greeks won an important victory against the armies invading from Persia. The battle was fought on the plains of Marathon, forty kilometres north of Athens. News of the victory was carried by the messenger, who ran all the way back to Athens before he died. Every marathon run since has commemorated his great feat – and his great feet!

 

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In the third T20 of the five-match series between India and England, visiting skipper Eoin Morgan became just the fourth cricketer to play 100 T20 internationals.

Eoin Morgan has been the backbone of England's limited overs side for years now and is looked up to by his team-mates. Many believe that England's ODI and T20 sides are moulded in Morgan's character, giving them the fearless nature that they are known now far.

Morgan, seen here in the third T20 during a photo shoot and in game, has also enjoyed plenty of success as England's captain. He led the side that won the 2019 ODI World Cup, the first time England won the tournament. He would dearly love to add a T20 World Cup to his kitty as well.

Shoaib Malik

Pakistan

116 matches played

Playing role: Allrounder

2335 runs scored at an average of 31.13

28 wickets taken at an average of 23.54

Date of birth: February 1, 1982

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak Highest score: 75 (8 50s)

Strike rate: 124.20

Best bowling figures: 2 wickets for 7 runs

Economy rate: 7.08

Rohit Sharma

India

111 matches played

Playing role: Top-order batsman

2864 runs scored at an average of 32.54

1 wicket taken at an average of 113.00

Date of birth: April 30, 1987

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak

Highest score: 118 (4 100s, 22 50s)

Strike rate: 138.96

Best bowling figures: 1 wicket for 22 runs

Economy rate: 9.97

Ross Taylor

New Zealand

102 matches played

Playing role: Middle-order batsman

1909 runs scored at an average of 26.15

Date of birth: March 8, 1984

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Highest score: 63 (7 50s)

Strike rate: 122.37

Eoin Morgan

England

102 matches played

Playing role: Middle-order batsman

2311 runs scored at an average of 29.62

Date of birth: September 10, 1986

Batting style: Left-hand bat

Highest score: 91 (14 50s)

Strike rate: 138.46

 

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By scoring four of Borussia Dortmund's five goals over two legs against Sevilla in the Champions League Round of 16 dash, Erling Haaland not only gave them a 5-4 aggregate victory that took them to the quarter finals of the competition, but also broke individual records.

Haaland became the fastest to reach the 20 Champions League goals landmark, and also became the youngest to the milestone.

FASTEST TO 20 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GOALS

1. Erling Haaland 14 appearances


2. Harry Kane Z 24 appearances


3. Alessandro del Piero J 26 appearances

YOUNGEST TO 20 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GOALS

Erling Haaland was just 20 years and 231 days old when he achieved the milestone of 20 Champions League goals on March 9, 2021. That makes him the first player ever to reach the landmark before turning 21.

Kylian Mbappe was 21 years and Z 355 days old when he scored his 20th and 21st goals in the competition. He reached the landmark in December 2020, during the group stages of this edition of the tournament.

Lionel Messi was 22 years and 266 days old when he notched up his 20th goal in the 2009-10 edition of the Champions League. His record stood for a decade, but he has now been pushed to third place in a matter of months.

 

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On March 3, 2021, Australia defeated New Zealand by 64 runs to win the third T20 in the five-match series and keep the series alive. While they eventually lost the series 3-2, Australian slow left-arm orthodox bowler Ashton Agar can look back at the third match fondly as he played an instrumental role in the win.

In fact, with figures of six for 30 in his four overs, Agar joined Ajantha Mendis, Yuzvendra Chahal and Deepak Chahar as the only bowlers to have taken six wickets in an international T20 game.

Agar ripped apart New Zealand's middle and lower order to derail the hosts' chase. He dismissed Glenn Phillips (caught Kane Richardson), Devon Conway (caught Marcus Stoinis), James Neesham (caught by wicket-keeper Matthew Wade), Tim Southee (caught Glenn Maxwell), Mark Chapman (caught Adam Zampa) and Kyle Jamieson (Ibw).

Deepak Chahar >> Country: India

• 1 (overs, maidens, runs, wickets) Opponent: Bangladesh When? November 10, 2019 Where? Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur Result? India won by 30 runs

Ajantha Mendis Country: Sri Lanka

Best figures: 4-2-8-6  (overs, maidens, runs, wickets) Opponent Zimbabwe When? September 18, 2012 Where? Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Sooriyawewa, Hambantota Result? Sri Lanka won by 82 runs

3 Mendis

Mendis has taken six wickets on another occasion as well.. Figures: 4-1-16-6 (overs, maidens, runs, wickets) Opponent: Australia When? August 8, 2011 Where? Pallekele International Cricket Stadium Result? Sri Lanka won by 8 runs

4 Yuzvendra Chahal >> Country: India

Best figures: 4-0-25-6 (overs, maidens, runs, wickets) Opponent: England When? February 1, 2017 Where? M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru Result? India won by 75 runs

5 Ashton Agar >> Country: Australia

Best figures: 4-0-30-6 (overs, maidens, runs, wickets) Where? Sky Stadium, Opponent: New Zealand When? March 3, 2021 Wellington Result? Australia won by 64 runs.

 

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The sport of football might be called so owing to the fact that the bulk of the action takes place with the players using their feet, but heading forms an integral part of the beautiful game as well. Be it scoring a goal, making a pass, or defending the goal, all the players on a football field use their head at various instances to make a play.

Bruises the brain

There is, however, growing concern over heading a football and the potential damage that it can cause to the players. Typically, a football weighs about half-a kilogram. Scientists have calculated that at the highest level of the game, footballs can strike a players head at over 100 km/hour. When the ball strikes the head at those speeds, the brain, which floats within the skull cavity, can bounce against the walls of the skull, thereby becoming bruised.

A single header will likely not create significant damage. Professional footballers, though, are exposed to extended periods of heading the ball, and the combined effect of these could lead to problems.

The issue has been delved into this century with growing research on the subject. A research in 2019 showed that footballers were three-and-a-half times more likely to die of dementia when compared to people of the same age group in the general population. Even though there is no direct evidence that indicates that heading the ball is the root cause of dementia, many countries are taking steps already, before the final verdict (which requires long-term research) is out

Protecting children

In 2020, new guidelines were passed in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland that stated that children aged 11 and under would no longer be taught to head footballs in training. Additionally, the guidelines stated that the intensity of heading in training would be increased in a phased manner among older children as well, based on their age. With no clear answer to the question whether heading is the reason footballers are more prone to dementia, it does make sense to be cautious, and play it more safely.

 

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