Saransh Jain handed debut as India elect to bat against Sri Lanka in …

India handed a debut to spin bowling all-rounder Saransh Jain as captain Shubman Gill elected to bat against Sri Lanka in the second Test here on Sunday.

India have an unassailable 1-0 lead in the two-match series, having won the opening Test at Galle by a massive 165 runs.

For Sri Lanka, batters Kamil Mishara and Pasindu Sooryabandara are making their Test debut. saltysenoritaaz.com

Teams:

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill ©, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Saransh Jain, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

Sri Lanka: Lahiru Udara, Kamil Mishara, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva ©, Sonal Dinusha, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Keshara Nuwantha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando.

Brentford [UK], August 23 (ANI): Despite a big spending summer, Tottenham Hotspur continued their Premier League woes, starting off the season with a 0-3 loss to Brentford away from home on Saturday.

Having avoided relegation on the final day of the previous season, Spurs splurged out 237 million pounds on signings in the summer transfer window so far, but it did not pay off in their campaign opener, according to Sky Sports.

Spurs handed out debuts to five new signings, but it was Brentford’s club-record signing Mamadou Sangare who stole the show, assisting in a goal and dominating the play in the midfield.

Brentford scored two goals in the first half, with Keane Lewis-Potter (12th minute) and Vitaly Janelt (33rd minute) being among the goalscorers.

Four minutes into the second half, Michael Kayode delivered the third blow. Adding to the club’s terrible day at work, Igor Thiago missed a penalty in the 55th minute.

Having finished 17th in back-to-back seasons, Spurs will have a chance to redeem themselves at home against Newcastle United on August 29. But before that, they will feature in the EFL Cup against Charlton Athletic on August 27 at home.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi said that they were “not ready to fight the duels".

“We made a lot of mistakes in the timing of the pressure with Mikey Moore on the left centre-back. We arrived late too many times, but then we lost too many duels to compete with Brentford. I am sorry for that; I am sorry for the defeat," he said.

“I know we have to improve in the physical condition; we have to improve in the organisation because there were many new players. But it is the first game; it is part of our journey."

He also said that with a lot of new players, they need “soul and a style of play" to become the team they need to be.

“Today I think there was the soul, but in the end we did not fight in the right way for the difference of the duels. Brentford is one of the most important teams in the Premier League in terms of duels, but a fair game," he said.

“I believe in my players. It was a game, especially in the first half in one direction; we were in the right position with high pressure – I said with Mikey Moore. If you analyse the game, you can see how many duels we lost in the first half. The direction of the game went towards Brentford," he signed off. (ANI)

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A Chinese humanoid robot ran 100 metres in 9.39 seconds in a preliminary heat at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday, faster than the men’s world record held by Jamaican sprinting great Usain Bolt.

Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, won its heat at the opening of the Games’ second edition, organisers said.

The robot overtook smartphone maker Honor’s Lightning near the finish after falling behind early in the race. Lightning finished in 9.47 seconds, also faster than the 9.58-second record Bolt set at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin.

The two robots lacked Bolt’s flair, slamming straight into a thick mat designed to stop them in their tracks, with Tiangong stumbling wildly into the sidelines, forcing onlookers to move out of the way. Lightning was carried away on a stretcher after collapsing to the ground.

The results nevertheless marked a sharp improvement from last year’s inaugural games, when Tiangong Ultra won the 100 metres in 21.50 seconds. Tiangong also won the world’s first humanoid robot half-marathon, held in Beijing last year.

Earlier on Saturday, Chinese state media reported that Lightning had run 100 metres in 9.32 seconds in a preparatory test, reaching a peak speed of 14.5 metres per second.

Lightning won this year’s humanoid half-marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, faster than the pace of the elite men’s human world record.

Lightning stood 169 cm tall and had 95-cm legs during the half-marathon. Its researchers later lengthened its legs by 10 cm, to 1.05 metres, ahead of the games, according to broadcaster CCTV.

The 100 metres is among 51 events at the games, which include football, dancing and industrial-task contests.

CHINA SEES HUMANOID ROBOTS AS STRATEGIC INDUSTRY

China has promoted humanoid robots as a strategic emerging industry, with policymakers and companies betting that advances in AI and hardware will accelerate their use in manufacturing, logistics and consumer applications.

Investor enthusiasm for the sector was on display earlier this week when shares in Unitree, China’s best-known humanoid robot maker, jumped more than five-fold in its Shanghai trading debut on Wednesday, giving the company a market value of about $50 billion.

This year’s games have drawn 2,056 robots from 666 teams across 16 countries and six continents, up from 280 teams at the inaugural event.

The games, held at Beijing’s National Speed Skating Oval, run through Wednesday.