West Indies power-hitter Kieron P from corse178's blog
Amidst the elation in the aftermath of Ireland’s historic 40-29 victory over New Zealand on Saturday, full back Rob Kearney permitted himself a sigh of relief. Zapatillas Nike Vapormax Mujer . In Chicago, a city that saw its beloved Cubs end a 108-year wait for a World Series title earlier in the week, Ireland went one better by finally beating the mighty All Blacks after 111 years of trying.It was a fate they were cruelly denied in 2013 when they conceded an injury-time try to Ryan Crotty in Dublin and Aaron Cruden slotted a conversion from the sideline to deny Ireland even a draw. That can now been forgotten. Kearney and his team-mates have laid that particular ghost to rest but as he celebrated on the pitch afterwards at Soldier Field, his joy at Irelands collective achievement was tinged with a sense of personal vindication. Ireland players celebrate at the final whistle against New Zealand After an injury-riddled 18 months, there was a growing clamour in the lead-up to the game for Kearney - for so long an automatic selection at No 15 for Ireland - to be dropped.Kearney responded with one of his finest ever displays in an Irish jersey but he admits his growing number of critics were on his mind prior to kick-off.Its been a tough enough 18 months, Kearney admitted. Just, first and foremost, the body has not been where it was been [in the past].Then on the back of that, youre not playing to your potential and people get on your case, then you get on your own case.Inside my head has been a dark enough place in the last few months.I wasnt sure if I was going to be selected this week, and Im just glad I was able to repay Joe [Schmidt, Ireland coach] and my fellow players the trust that has been shown. Garry Ringrose making a trademark step and break for Leinster Kearneys Leinster team-mate Garry Ringrose is perhaps the hottest prospect in Irish rugby since Brian ODriscoll burst onto the scene back in 1999.Many observers were advocating for his inclusion in the Irish team at outside centre, with Ulster star Jared Payne shifting to what many consider his more natural position of full back at Kearneys expense.Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt resisted the calls but he left Kearney in no doubt about what the stakes were for him before the game.When asked the faith Schmidt showed in him, Kearney said: He did, a huge amount of faith.I was glad to be able to repay it a little bit. Im sure hell have lots of things for me throughout the week - a few missed tackles and some coverage in the backfield, I might have got caught out once or twice.He pulled me aside before the game and he said, You need a big one today. It wasnt ideal, but it was good. New Zealand coach Steve Hansen shakes hands with Ireland boss Joe Schmidt Schmidt has coached Kearney since taking over at Leinster in 2010 and although not every player would respond to such pressure favourably, the Louth man accepts it is probably what he needed to hear.Weve been together a long time now from when he first came to Leinster, Kearney said. Maybe that was the one-liner that I need to put the fear of God into me.Ive been waiting for a spark, something like that, for so long and this week I just said, Dont wait, just go try and make something happen with the shackles free.Ive been in those moments before and things havent gone [my] way. So I wont get carried away by any means, but its nice to be back on the horse a little bit, for how long I dont know.New Zealand trailed Ireland 25-8 at half-time in Chicago but there was a sense of déjà vu in the second half as the worlds No 1 team had cut the deficit to just four points by the 64th minute. The All Blacks celebrate Ryan Crottys last-gasp try in 2013 In November 2013 Ireland had led by 19-0 at one stage before ultimately paying the price for failing to trouble the scoreboard operators in the second half.Kearney and his team-mates learned a painful lesson that day about not sitting back against the All Blacks and put it into practice by going on the attack - an approach which paid dividends when Simon Zebo chipped the ball behind the All Blacks defence and forced Julian Savea to concede a five-metre scrum which led to Robbie Henshaws decisive try.It was unbelievable, Kearney said. When they got their few tries and they had their purple patch, we came back under the sticks and... we were right back in the Aviva in 2013 when we were under our sticks after losing the game. Irelands Simon Zebo celebrates with Johnny Sexton You learn from those experiences and I think we played and went to the edge once, and Zeebs [Simon Zebo] kicked that ball down the line. That was a huge play, whereas maybe back in 2013 we would have just kicked off first phase and let them come back at us.Its little intricacies likes that that you cant see them from the spectator watching, but to us it was a big moment in how far weve come maybe.The fact that Ireland managed to upset New Zealand without key performers such as Sean OBrien, Peter OMahony, Iain Henderson and Keith Earls makes the achievement all the more remarkable but Kearney says it is a credit to the systems Schmidt has implemented and the mentality he has fostered amongst his players.Weve always seen that with this team, he said. Weve got defence and attack systems and if youve got a number from 25 to 30 guys who can fit in and do the things that are expected of you, its less about the individual and more about the collective.If you work hard and do the things that youve been working on. The preparation time that weve had has been minimal but I havent felt as prepared for a game in a long, long time.Everyone just fronted up and did what was expected. All Blacks captain Kieran Reid exits the pitch after his sides loss to Ireland The All Blacks will have an opportunity to exact their revenge on Ireland when they meet in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, November 19, in a game which will be shown live on Sky Sports 2 HD.Kearney knows Ireland will have to raise their performance even further if they are to upset the reigning world champions for a second time in two weeks.Theyll be back, theyll be wounded, Kearney said. Theyre a class side. Their lineout was not functioning really today and they had a fair few handling errors. Were under no illusions whats coming back. Also See: Schmidt one of the best Stander: This was for Axel No excuses from All Blacks Ireland seal historic NZ win Air Max 98 Gundam Hombre . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. Air Max 98 Gundam Comprar . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. http://www.zapatillasrebajas-es.com/venta-de-air-max-97.html . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency.The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 begins on Tuesday - with each and every game live on Sky Sports. Who will walk away with the trophy this year? But what happened last time out, at the World T20 two years ago? And are there any lessons to be learned going into this years event.Heres a look at the best (and worst) of the 2014 World T20 with our tournament review...Winners: Sri LankaAlways a bridesmaid, never a bride. Or at least Sri Lanka had been since their unexpected triumph in the 1996 World Cup. Beaten finalists in 2007 and 2011, Sri Lanka added further second-placed finishes at the 2009 World T20 and on home soil in 2012, before winning in 2014 with a solid, if a little unspectacular campaign. Paul Farbrace (L) guided Sri Lanka to World T20 success before becoming Englands assistant coach Sri Lanka werent represented in either the top 10 tournament run-scorers or top eight wicket-takers, but their success was built around a winning team effort, cultivated by coach-at-the-time, and now England number two, Paul Farbrace. A miserly bowling attack - Ajantha Mendis (10.28) the only one to play three matches or more and concede greater than 6.70 an over - who blasted out the Netherlands and New Zealand for 39 and 60 respectively, were backed up by a masterful batting line-up, with Kumar Sangakkara striking a crucial unbeaten 52 off 35 balls in the final win over India as Sri Lanka chased down 131 to win.Top player: Virat Kohli Virait Kohlis fourth fifty in six innings in the final against Sri Lanka didnt prove to be enough The tournaments top run-getter scored 319 across his six innings, turning four of those into fifties, tallying a stratospheric 106.33 average, and strike-rate of 129.14. He hit the third-most sixes in the competition with 10, trailing only Australias Glenn Maxwell (12) and the Netherlands unlikely superstar, Stephan Myburgh (13) - but more on him in a bit…Sadly Kohlis efforts werent quite enough to see India to a second World T20 success, although he did hit his highest score against Sri Lanka in the final, smashing 77 off 58 balls, and is set to be a key contributor once again in 2016.Best innings: Alex HalesDespite a dismal team tournament for England, on an individual note Alex Hales hit the highest score for the competition, an unbeaten 116 - the first century in T20Is by an Englishman - in the sides only win, against Sri Lanka. Alex Hales hit the first ever T20I century by an English batsman in the win over Sri Lanka Hales efforts are all the more impressive because it came in a winning cause against the eventual champs, it was in response to a stiff target of 190 - Mahela Jayawardene having smashed 89 off 51 balls - and England were reduced to 0-2 in a double wicket-maiden opening over. Hales and Eoin Morgan (57 off 38) recovered the innings but the run-rate continued to climb, England requiring 12.18 an over at its peak. Hales wouldnt hit his first six till the 15th over, in which he tonked Mendis for three of them, and he hit a further three in three closing overs, including one to win the game for England with four balls to spare.Over-achieversThe Netherlands were the true overachievers in a tournament that was full of them. Nepal went nuts for cricket with a win over Afghanistan in the initial group stage, while Hong Kong trumped that with a thrilling two-wicket triumph over Bangladesh. Stephan Myburgh had a sensational tournament opening the batting for the Netherlands Ireland also produced their standard upset-win for the tournament by beatingg Zimbabwe, but the Netherlands booked their spot in the Super 10 stage at their expense with an astonishing six-wicket win over the Irish, chasing down 190 inside 14 overs to boost their net run-rate sufficiently to qualify. Air Max 97 Mujer Rebajas. Myburgh smashed 63 from 23 balls - including a staggering seven sixes and four fours - while Tom Cooper (45 off 15) went similarly berserk to see them over the line.The Dutch werent done there though, they had one more shock left in them, one that ended another world tournament in embarrassment for England. Having bettered them already in the 2009 World T20, the Netherlands coldly and clinically despatched a jaded England outfit fresh from a 5-0 Ashes drubbing down under. Set only 134 to win, interim coach Ashley Giles hopes of earning the job full-time disappeared as swiftly as Englands batsmen did, slipping to 88 all out with only three reaching double figures - Alex Hales (12), Ravi Bopara (18) and Chris Jordan (14). Ravi Bopara is dismissed as England collapse to an embarrasing defeat against the Dutch Best matchThere were a fair few thrillers, Hales heroics mentioned earlier contributing to a cracking encounter between England and Sri Lanka. But it was South Africa who really provided value for money, with all four of their Super 10 games decided by six runs or fewer. They were on the wrong end of a five-run defeat to Sri Lanka, and bettered England by three runs to secure a semi-final spot. But it was their two wins over the New Zealand and Netherlands in between that were the most thrilling.Against the upstart Dutch outfit - who had admittedly just been utterly trounced by Sri Lanka, losing by nine wickets, skittled out for 39 - South Africa struggled to 145-9, with Ashan Malik taking 5-19. Myburgh teed off at the top again, racing through to a 25-ball fifty and the Netherlands were well ahead of the rate at 80-2 when he fell in the eighth over, but Imran Tahir (4-21) tore through the middle order as the Netherlands slipped to 139 all out, falling short by six runs. Dale Steyn celebrates during his fantastic final over that secured a thrilling win over New Zealand The game against New Zealand trumped even that though, with JP Duminy smashing an unbeaten 86 off 43 balls as South Africa set a stiffer score of 170-6. But again the chasing side looked to be cruising to the target, with Kane Williamson scoring fifty and Ross Taylor unbeaten on 62 off 36 balls going into the final over, with the Black Caps needing only seven to win. But Dale Steyn (4-17) took two wickets in a terrific final over, and Taylor was run out final ball to secure South Africa a two-run win.Best of the T20 ZoneThe best action wasnt just confined to the outfield, as there was star power a plenty in the Sky Sports studio as we brought you the very best analysis with England batsman Joe Root - who missed the tournament through injury - Australian legend Ricky Ponting and West Indies power-hitter Kieron Pollard were among those who stepped up. Here are some the best moments from the 2014 World Cup T20 Zone We headed to the T20 Zone where Root showcased his range hitting, Ponting gave his thoughts on the pull shot, and Pollard, well he just smacked it! There were further and expert demonstrations by more familiar faces, Michael Atherton - who tried to perfect the ramp shot for surely the first time in his career - Dominic Cork, and Rob Key. Although the less said about the latters questionable dance moves, the better…Sky Sports is the only place you can watch all 35 games of the 2016 ICC World T20, starting with Zimbabwe v Hong Kong on Tuesday 8th March at 9am on Sky Sports 2 HD. Or watch from £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV. Also See: ICC World T20 fixtures ICC World T20 squads WATCH: Best of 2014 World T20 Pick your Ultimate World T20 XI Jerseys NFL Cheap Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys China Jerseys NFL China Cheap Jerseys 2019 Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys China Jerseys ' ' '
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