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SA turn screws on Aussies
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Shane Warne slapped with $7.3 million divorce claim
Zaheer banking on his new action
Politics ruining Indian cricket: Latif
Chappell doing a fine job: Pawar
Dharmani, Mongia steady Punjab
Junior PHL from January 6
8 Pak players for PHL
Haryana cross country on January 21
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Kiwis clinch series
Christchurch, January 3 Astle was dropped from the New Zealand team prior to the series after an extended run of poor form. But he was recalled when captain Stephen Fleming pulled out of matches on Saturday and today to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. The veteran right-hander made little of his reprieve in the second match of the series, contributing only two runs to New Zealand’s seven-wicket win, but was their anchor today as they sewed up a series that began more than a year ago. The first match was played on December 26, 2004, the day an earthquake-generated tsunami struck Sri Lanka, devastating coastal towns and villages and leaving an estimated 40,000 persons dead. The Sri Lankan team, some of whom lost friends and relatives in the disaster, returned home to comfort families and to help their ravaged nation rebuild. They returned to New Zealand last week to play out the last four matches before crossing the Tasman Sea for a scheduled tri-series with Australia and South Africa. Sri Lanka’s batsmen showed more mettle today than they had in reaching only 164 in the second match at Queenstown. Talented opener Upul Tharanga made 103, his second century in limited-overs internationals, to lead the tourists to 255-7 batting first after losing the toss. New Zealand relied heavily on Astle to surpass that score, reaching 256-5 from the last ball of the 48th over as rain, which had previously interrupted the innings, began to set in. Openers Lou Vincent (46) and Jamie How (12) gave New Zealand’s run chase a strong start, sharing a partnership of 59 in only 8.2 overs but after their dismissals, the innings lost some of its direction. Peter Fulton, whose unbeaten 70 won the match at Queenstown, dallied for 53 balls over his 32 runs, Hamish Marshall fell for 12 and Scott Styris made 28 as Sri Lanka effectively curbed New Zealand’s scoring. Muttiah Muralitharan bowled 10 overs for 40 runs, dismissing Marshall, and Tillakaratne Dilshan sent down 10 overs for 38, removing Fulton to delay the result until the dying overs. Astle struggled at times to find his footwork and timing but he persevered and, when the run rate began to rise, found the boundary regularly enough to keep New Zealand on top. He hit seven fours and one six in a dogged innings. Chris Cairns had earlier claimed Dilshan’s wicket during Sri Lanka’s innings to become only the second New Zealander after Chris Harris (203) to take 200 wickets in one-day internationals. Tharaga opened and provided Sri Lanka’s early anchor, batting until the 38th over and providing 103 of his team’s first 169 runs. Catain Marvan Ataputta was run out on the second-to-last ball of the innings for 52, having reached his half-century from only 44 balls at a strike-rate of 114. Meanwhile, veteran Sri Lankan all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya is unlikely to play any further part on the cricket tour of New Zealand after dislocating his shoulder in a bathroom mishap. Jayasuriya was a late withdrawal from today’s one-day international here after he fell awkwardly, Sri Lankan manager Michael Tissera said. “Sanath was reaching for his shampoo when he slipped and fell in his bath,” Tissera said. Jayasuriya, the fourth player to score 10,000 one-day runs, will remain with the squad but is unlikely to play in the remaining matches in Wellington on Friday and Napier on Sunday. Tissera confirmed Jayasuriya would stay with the squad when they travel to Australia for a tri-series which starts in about a fortnight. Scoreboard
Sri Lanka Tharanga c Fulton b Oram 103 Gunawardene c Marshall Sangakkara run out 36 Jayawardene c McCullum Atapattu run out 52 Dilshan c Oram b Cairns 11 Maharoof b Mills 7 Arnold not out 21 Chaminda Vaas not out 0 Extras: (lb-3, w-10, nb-3) 16 Total: (7 wckts, 50 overs) 255 Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-133, 3-150, 4-169, 5-198, 6-217, 7-254. Bowling:
Mills 10-1-44-2, Bond 10-0-39-1, Cairns 8-0-50-1, Oram 10-0-51-1, Vettori 9-0-51-0, Styris 3-0-17-0. New Zealand Vincent c Sangakkara How c Mubarak b Vaas 12 Astle not out 90 Fulton c Jayawardene Marshall lbw b Muralitharan 12 Styris c Dilshan b Maharoof 28 Chris Cairns not out 10 Extras: (b-1, lb-14, w-3,nb-8) 26 Total: (5 wckts, 48 overs) 256 Fall of wickets:
1-59, 2-71 3-143, 4-170, 5-219. Bowling: Chaminda Vaas 10-1-43-1, Farveez Maharoof 6-0-41-2, Dilhara Fernando 9-0-61-0, Tillakaratne Dilshan 10-0-38-1, Muttiah Muralitharan 10-0-40-1, Russel Arnold 3-0-18-0.
— AP, AFP |
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SA turn screws on Aussies
Sydney, January 3 Prince scored 119 and Kallis 111 to help the Proteas amass a daunting total of 451 for nine declared before the Australians slumped to 54-3 in reply, 397 runs behind. Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer both played on against Charl Langeveldt while Brad Hodge fell to Andre Nel in the last over of the day at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The umpires immediately drew stumps after Hodge fell, leaving the Australian captain Ricky Ponting on 13 and the home team struggling to survive just four days after they won the second Test in Melbourne by 184 runs for a 1-0 series lead. Graeme Smith sent the Australians in to face a tricky 15-over spell before close of play after declaring South Africa’s innings with Test debutant Johan Botha on 20 and Langeveldt on one. The tourists had resumed on 230-3 and added 221 runs for the loss of six wickets on a flat pitch that offered the bowlers little encouragement but was ideal for batting. Prince and Kallis shared a record 219-run partnership for the fourth wicket that turned the match South Africa’s way after they had come to the crease the previous day with the visitors in trouble at 86-3. Prince registered his third Test century while Kallis chalked up his 23rd despite needing painkillers for an elbow injury that forced him to miss the drawn first Test in Perth and has left him in doubt for the one-day series. Both players batted over six hours and faced more than 270 balls each with Kallis, who started the day on 80, hitting 17 boundaries and Prince 11. They broke an 84-year record for the highest fourth-wicket stand by a South African pair against Australia before Kallis pulled Andrew Symonds straight to Glenn McGrath at long leg prior to lunch. Prince, who resumed on 62, departed after the first interval when he was given out lbw to Warne, failing to offer a shot to a sharply turning leg-break that struck him well outside off stump. Australia made a bright start, scoring freely at over four runs an over, before they were forced to apply the brakes after losing two early wickets. Langeveldt got Hayden for four in his second over, then Langer for 25 when he clipped an attempted pull back on to his stumps. Ponting brought up his 8,000th Test run in the penultimate over, joining Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Mark Waugh as the only Australians to pass the milestone, before watching Hodge fall for six, spooning a catch to Rudolph at short leg. Scoreboard
South Africa (1st innings) De Villiers c Gilchrist Smith lbw Lee 39 Gibbs b McGrath 27 Kallis c McGrath b Prince lbw Warne 119 Rudolph c Gilchrist b Boucher c Gilchrist b Pollock c Hodge b Lee 46 Botha not out 20 Nel c Hodge b Warne 12 Langeveldt not out 1 Extras (b-9, lb-6, nb-16) 31. Total (9 wckts decl) 451. Fall of wickets:
1-16, 2-69, 3-86, 4-305, 5-344, 6-355, 7-394, 8-433, 9-449. Bowling: McGrath 34-17-65-2. Lee 30.4-7-82-3, Symonds 23-4- 69-1, Warne 36-5-106-2, Hussey 2-0-12-0, MacGill 29-5-102-1. Australia (1st innings) Langer b Langeveldt 25 Hayden b Langeveldt 4 Ponting not out 13 Hodge c Rudolph b Nel 6 Extras
(lb-6) 6. Total (for 3 wckts) 54. Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-35, 3-54. Bowling:
Pollock 5-0-20-0, Langeveldt 7-2-23-2, Nel 2.2-0-5-1. — Reuters |
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Australian fast bowler Brett Lee was today reprimanded after being found guilty of showing dissent during the third cricket Test against South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Lee was reported by match umpires Aleem Dar and Billy Bowden under the International Cricket Council (ICC) code of conduct for “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision by action or verbal abuse”. A Cricket Australia spokesman said Lee had been found guilty of the charge during a hearing after the second day’s play and had been officially reprimanded by ICC match referee Chris Broad. Lee had a heated discussion with Pakistani umpire Dar after his leg before wicket appeal against Jacques Kallis was turned down in the 27th over of yesterday’s opening day’s play. At the end of that over, Lee followed Dar to further discuss the decision. He was heard on television audio demanding of Dar: “Why is it not out, I’m asking for a reason?” Dar replied: “Please, it’s not out, not out, that’s all.” Lee was led away from Dar by team vice-captain Adam Gilchrist. — AFP
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Shane Warne slapped with $7.3 million divorce claim
Sydney, January 3 Shane and Simone Warne publicly split during last year’s Ashes series in England after British papers alleged the champion leg-spinner had been involved in a series of sex scandals. In an interview with a women’s magazine, Simone Warne said she would not be taking her husband of almost a decade back despite his pleas for a reconciliation. “It’s over and there’s no going back,” she told ‘New Idea’. “I’ve worked out what I’m going to do and how I’ll cope. “I don’t think Shane had really thought about it. I don’t think he believed it was really over. I am sure he thought we’d try again when he got back from the UK.” Simone Warne did not discuss the financial aspects of the divorce settlement but the magazine said it was estimated at 10 million dollars. The cricketer’s management dismissed the figure as “a long way from the truth.” Despite the end of their marriage, the couple would continue to share their Melbourne home with their three children, Brooke, 8, Jackson, 6, and Summer, 3, Simone said. Warne wins award
Strained marriage and off-field controversies notwithstanding, Shane Warne continues to be applauded for his wizardry with the ball and the Australian leggie has won the 2005-06 McGilvray Medal for being the ABC’s Test Cricketer of the Year. The plump spinner, who scalped a world record 96 wickets in a calendar year in 2005, was voted for the award by a panel of ABC commentators. Previous winners of the award include his team- mates Damien Martyn, Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden. “To win this after the year I’ve had, it makes me feel pretty special,” an elated Warne told ABC Sport after he was awarded the medal during the ceremony at the SCG today.
— AFP, UNI |
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Zaheer banking on his new action
The left-arm paceman said the tour of Pakistan would provide him the opportunity to try out his remodeled bowling action for the first time in the international arena but believed his fine run in recent domestic matches would stand him in good stead. “I have reduced my run up. This tour will be the first international stage when I will be bowling with the new style. I am a bit anxious and nervous but I hope it should be okay,” Zaheer said. He said the time out of the national team provided him the opportunity to work on his bowling which he had wanted to do for long but did not have the time because of hectic international schedule. “My aim was to utilise time to work on my skills. I needed to bowl lot of overs because I was trying a few new things,” said Zaheer, who was dropped from the team for the home series against Sri Lanka and South Africa. “Even when I was working with the MRF Pace Foundation when I was going through the injuries, I wanted to cut down my run up and try a few things, but there was no time.” Those fine tunings saw Zaheer emerge as the highest wicket-taker in Duleep Trophy this season, with 23 scalps from three matches
at 12.52. He was also at his destructive best in Ranji Trophy where from four matches he picked 20 wickets at 15.85 with a 10-wicket match haul against Punjab in the fifth round. Zaheer said he was keen to be part of the Indian team for the Pakistan tour. “Well, I am happy to hear all the talk about preparing fast bowling pitches. I am looking to bowl on them, and our batsmen are well prepared to play on them.” Zaheer also warned Pakistan that playing in home conditions could actually work against them, just as it did the last time they hosted India two years ago. “Home advantage means gaining the upper hand by preparing wickets to suit your players. But they will have added pressure. They faced defeat at home last time (in early 2004). Zaheer said he was also keen to erase his bitter memories of the 2004 visit when he returned home midway through the tour with an injury. “Every series starts afresh, that is what I am telling myself. Hopefully I can turn everything around this time,” he said.
— PTI |
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Politics ruining Indian cricket: Latif
Jalandhar, January 3 “In contrast, the cricket board in Pakistan is headed by a bureaucrat who is appointed by the country’s president directly,” Latif said. Latif was on his way back home with his team after winning the India-Pakistan veterans cricket series 3-1. Talking about the Indian cricket team, he said the experiments have affected the team as the confidence level of the players suffers when too many changes are made. “In the Pakistan team, the captain Inzmam-ul-Haq was not changed while the Indian captain Sourav was changed. The confidence level of the captain as well as the team is higher because of the trust the board has in them even after they lost matches,” he said. He said the pressure increases on every player and the new captain is no exception. The media hypes misunderstandings or differences of opinion and this makes the team suffer more. On the forthcoming Indian tour of Pakistan, the former captain said the Pak team was more united than the Indian team as the control of the Pak team is in the hands of the captain, which should always be the case and not in the hands of the cricket board as was the case in India. Only the captain can effectively control and manage the team and also affect any changes on the field required to win the game, he said. |
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Chappell doing a fine job: Pawar Jaipur, January 3 “I have talked to the players and others as well and all of them have confided that Chappell is doing a fine job. It is he who has helped in improving general quality of Indian cricket,” Pawar told reporters here. The Union Agriculture Minister, who is here on an invitation from the state unit of his political party NCP, also sought to bury the controversy over the selection of Sourav Ganguly for the Pakistan tour. “There was no pressure on selectors to pick him in the team. Earlier we used to send a 15-member team but now it is a 16-member team, the selectors felt that Ganguly merited selection.” Asked if there was pressure on the selectors to pick him in the squad after it was reported that the matter would be discussed in Parliament, a palpably irritated Pawar said Parliament had no business to discuss selection issues. — PTI
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Dharmani, Mongia steady Punjab
Visakhapatnam, January 3 Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Punjab, looking for an outright win to make it to the semifinals, began well with openers Ravneet Ricky (29) and Uday Kaul (32) adding 59. But the visitors got bogged down as they struggled to adapt to the slow surface. Andhra bowlers used the home advantage well, bowling a tight line. The fourth wicket pair of Mongia and Pankaj Dharmani (46) looked set to put Punjab in command but the stumper got out on the last ball of the day, padding up to off-spinner Md. Faiq was the most successful Andhra bowler with 2/ 44. Mongia hit seven delectable boundaries in his 114 ball essay. Dharmani ensured that quick wickets were not lost, batting resolutely for 169 balls, hitting three fours. Punjab coach Intikab Alam said, ‘’We decided to save wickets even if we had to score slowly on this wicket. We want to make around 400 tomorrow. It is better to keep wickets and fight on the second day than go for quick runs and get out.’’ Brief scores: Punjab 190 for 4 in 90 overs (Pankaj Dharmani 46, Dinesh Mongia 52 n.o., Md. Faiq 2/44).
— UNI |
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Rupesh, Sumit advance to quarters
Chandigarh, January 3 Talented Rupesh missed a match point at 5-4 in the second set after having dominated the contest against Roman Petronin. Rupesh will meet the seventh seed Min-Woo Shin of Korea, who ousted local lad Navinder Pal Singh Sidhu. Second seed Sumit Prakash Gupta was equally authoritative in his win over qualifier Dong-Lu Shao of China . Fourth seed Akshay Bajoria downed the national champion Arnav Jain for the loss of seven games to emerge the third Indian to make into the third round in the boys event. He will also contend with a Chinese, the eighth seed Long Yin Xiao. Local lad Kinshuk Sharma played close to his best but was unable to maintain the tempo after winning the first set and thus the fifth seed went down to the determined Tomer Hodorov from Israel. Fourth seed Sanaa Bhambri, a French Open junior doubles semifinalist with Sania Mirza, proved too good for Shao-Zhuo Liu of China as she dropped one game, under the flood lights that had to be switched on at 4.40 p.m. because of the dense fog. In a battle of left-handers, Sanaa’s court craft proved too good for the Chinese who struggled to cope with the tactical brilliance of the Indian lass. Four other Indian girls, including the national under-18 and under-16 champion Poojashree Venkatesh, who had recently won ITF junior events, fell without much of a fight to opponents from China and Israel. Results: (Second round): Boys: Rupesh Roy (India) b Roman Petrunin (Russia) 6-3, 7-5; Chen Yu Wu (China) b Navinder Pal Singh Sidhu (India) 6-3, 6-4; Akshay Bajoria b Arnav Jain (India) 6-3, 6-4; Xiao-Long Yin (China) b Siddharth Alapati (India) 6-3, 6-4; Tomer Hodorov (Israel) b Kinshuk Sharma (India) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2; Ivan Anikanov (Ukraine) b Antonio Comporto (Italy) 6-3, 6-4; Jiang Chuan (China) b Tejesvi Rao (India) 6-3, 5-7, 6-2; Sumit Prakash Gupta (India) b Shao Dong Lu (China) 6-4, 6-4. Girls: (first round): Gayatri Krishnan (India) b WC-Prerna Bhambri (India) 7-5, 6-2; Liu Shao Zhuo (China) b Anna Vavrik (Russia) 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3. (Second round): Ksenia Palkina (Kyrgyzstan) b Liu Chang (China) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; Zhou Ni (China) b Wang Wen Bo (China) 6-3, 6-2; Zhou Yi Miao (China) b Poojashree Venkatesh (India) 6-3, 6-2; Nadine Fahoum (Israel) b Bhavani Tirumurti (India) 6-2, 6-3; Zhong Yi (China) b Gayatri Krishnan (India) 6-1, 6-2; Sanna Bhambri (India) b Liu Shao Zhuo (China) 6-1, 6-0; Julia Glushko (Israel) b Shivika Burman (India) 6-2, 6-3. |
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Bopanna shocks Saulnier
Chennai, January 3 Bopanna, into his second appearance in this prestigious event, outclassed 80th Ranked Cyril Saulnier of France 6-3, 6-3, to become the second Indian to find a place in the last 16 stage after Prakash Amritraj won his opening round yesterday. Meanwhile, third seed Moya, gunning for a hat-trick of titles at Nungambakkam Stadium, struck form late in the match to pack off Dick Norman of Belgium 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, while the fourth seed Thai, who had always been facing tough first round match, held his nerve in crunch situation to register a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) win to enter last 16 stage. Joining them in the second round were second seed Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic, sixth seed Rainer Schuttler of Germany, qualifier Michael Berrer (Germany), Giles Muller (Luxemborg), and Justin Gimelstob (United States).
Radek Stepanek in second round
Czech Republic’s Radek Stepanek, the No 2 seed, moved one step forward in his quest to begin the New Year winning a title, but not before struggling hard to edge out qualifier Ivan Navarro Pastor of Spain 6-4, 7-6 (3) to enter round two of the ATP tour Chennai Open 2006 at the Nungambakkam Stadium here today.
Ranked 19 on the ATP Tour, the Czech, serving steadier in an essentially serve volley contest, managed to reign in his opponent in the tie break after winning the first set easily, breaking Navarro in the ninth game. The Spaniard was getting his first serves in better and the second went on serves till Stepanek, who failed to capitalise on his chances edged his rival out in the tie break. The Czech, who declared his objective was to win the tournament at least this year, said he was disappointed about losing often in the semifinals on the Tour. “I will do everything to win if I get to the final again,” Stepanek said, adding, “I will be more focussed”. Leander Paes blasts new rules
The new doubles format introduced by the ATP came in for flak from experienced campaigners like Leander Paes of India and Martin Damm of Czech Republic. The ace Indian Davis cupper fully concurred with his new found partner's view that the move by the sports governing body was a retrograde step and said “one has to wait and see whether the same will be introduced in singles also.” Speaking after their tough 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-3 win over Ashley Fisher (Australia) and Justin Gimelstob (US) in the Chennai Open ATP Tournament here last night, the top seed doubles pair disagreed with the view that the new rule would attract more singles players to play doubles. The new format was launched simultaneously at the ATP's three tournaments this week at Doha, Adelaide and Chennai.
— UNI |
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BP to clash with IA in semis
Jalandhar, January 3 The tie between the Bharat Petroleum and defending champions Punjab and Sind Bank proved to be an exciting one as the defending champions and seven times title holders Punjab and Sind Bank were shown the door by spirited Bharat Petroleum. The absence of star player Baljit Saini proved fatal for the bankers as they went down 2-0. BPs Amar Ayama scored first goal through brilliant indirect conversion in the first half while in the second half, Hari Prashad took the tally to 2-0. In the women section, Pepsu XI will meet Haryana XI in the final tomorrow. In the league match today, Pepsu XI surprised everyone by defeating Haryana XI 3-1. Both Pepsu XI and Haryana XI now have six points each. Pepsu took the early lead in the 29th minute as Manpreet Kaur converted a penalty corner. In the 45th minute the score was equalised by Haryana XI’s Balwinder Kaur while in the 50th minute Pepsu’s Amandeep Kaur struck again. The Pepsu team was not offered much resistance as the defence line of the much stronger contenders Haryana XI was missing from the front line. In the 69th minute Manpreet Kaur of Pepsu took the score to 3-1. |
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Junior PHL from January 6
Jalandhar, January 3 Top 12 teams of the Jalandhar — Layalpur Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Government Model Senior Secondary School, Government High School, Maksudan, Sports School, Jalandhar, Doaba Khalsa Model Senior Secondary School, Government High School, Police DAV Public School, Government High School, Mithapur, Doaba Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Government High School, Khusropur, MGN School, Jalandhar Cantt, Cantt Board Senior Secondary School — will take part in the meet. The matches will be played on knock-out basis and the top team of each pool will qualify for the semifinals.
— TNS |
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8 Pak players for PHL
Lahore, January 3 Saqlain, Rehan Butt, Mudassar Ali Khan, Shakeel Abbasi, Salman Akbar, Imran Warsi, Mohammad Shabbir and Adnan Zakir will take part in league, Daily Times reported, quoting a PHF spokesman. Saqlain will play for Sher-e-Jallandhar, while Akbar and Abbasi will represent Hyderabad Sultans, Zakir and Warsi Maratha Warriors. Butt will don Banglore Lions colours, while Shabbir and Mudassar will turn up for Chandigarh Dynamos.
— UNI |
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Haryana cross country on January 21
Panchkula, January 3 Competitions will be conducted for the following categories: Men: long race 12 km; short race 4 km: juniors (below 20 years) 8 km; and women: long race: 8 km; short race: 4 km; junior (below 20 years): 6 km Haryana state cross country teams for National Cross Country Championships to be held at Pune on February 5, and for Federation Cup National Cross Country Championships to be held at Munnor, Kerala, on February 26 will be selected on the basis of performance during the championship. Entries will close with Mr P.C. Gupta, District Sports Officer, Narnaul, on January 15. In junior category, athletes should bring with them original certificate of
age proof. |
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New Delhi, January 3
