This Day in Sports History

0
188
- Advertisement -

1844: Did you know cricket’s oldest international rivalry is not the Ashes? Thirty-three years before the first match between England and Australia, USA met Canada at Manhattan’s Bloomingdale Park for a two-day game (though the second day was washed out and the teams decided to play the next day). Canada won controversially after USA’s No. 3, George Wheatcroft, was not allowed to bat when he turned up 20 minutes following the fall of the last wicket.

1920: Future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth becomes first to hit 50 home runs in a MLB season with a first inning blast off Jose Acosta in a 2-1 loss to the Washington Senators.

1983: Unlucky 13 for Pakistani opener Mohsin Khan, who in the second Test against India in Jullundur became the 13th person to be dismissed by the first ball of a Test match, and the first for almost nine years, when he was trapped lbw by Kapil Dev. Watching on at the non-striker’s end was debutant Shoaib Mohammad, son of the great Hanif. A chip off the old block, Shoaib went on to make 2705 Test runs at an average of almost 45.

1985: The Chinese national basketball team arrived in New York to begin a month of training and practice with NBA personnel, as part of the cultural and educational agreements between China and the United States.

1988: Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson breaks his own 100m world record with a time of 9.79 at the Seoul Olympics; disqualified three days later for use of drug stanozolol; Carl Lewis awarded gold and world record 9.92.

1988: American heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee sets new world record 7,291 points to win the gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; East Germans Sabine John and Anke Behmer take the minor medals.

2007: The perfect finale to the perfect competition. With up to three matches a day and no pausing for breath, the inaugural World T20 in South Africa was done and dusted inside a fortnight. Though the action was exhausting, it was also exhilarating, not least the final between India and Pakistan. Set 158 to win after Gautam Gambhir’s 75, Pakistan were out of contention at 77 for 6, only for Misbah-ul-Haq to hoist them right back into the match with three sixes in an over off Harbhajan Singh. But then, with the game at his mercy, Misbah chose the wrong shot, Sreesanth claimed the catch, and India had their first global title since 1983.

2017: NFL players kneel, lock arms or stay in their dressing room during the anthem in protests against comments made by President Donald Trump.

2017: LeBron James calls President Donald Trump “U Bum” in a tweet in response to Trump’s comments about Stephen Curry.

2018: Real Madrid midfielder and Croatian World Cup captain Luka Modrić is named world’s best male player at the FIFA Awards in London; Brazil and Orlando Pride forward Marta best female player; France’s Didier Deschamps best men’s coach.

- Advertisement -