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The Ashes: 2nd Test Day 1
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Bangladesh Tour of WI
Ranji Trophy moves into its 75th year
Bhullar rallies after miserable start
Asian Junior Badminton C’ship
Terry not for sale: Kenyon
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The Ashes: 2nd Test Day 1
At tea he had completed his 18th test century after putting on 196 for the first wicket with Alastair Cook. Australia clawed their way back into the game by winning two lbw appeals from Billy Doctrove in the afternoon session after England had raced to 126 for no wicket at better than a run a minute at lunch. Mitchell Johnson moved a ball down the slope from the Pavilion end to dismiss Cook five runs short of his 10th test century. Ravi Bopara played some elegant cover drives before he played across Ben Hilfenhaus, the pick of the Australia attack, and Doctrove again upheld the appeal. Cook’s wicket came from one of the rare balls Johnson managed to pitch on the stumps. Otherwise Australia’s leading strike bowler had a miserable day, conceding 77 runs from 11 overs. Australia lost off-spinner Nathan Hauritz during the afternoon session when he got his right hand to a fierce drive from Strauss. Scoreboard England (first innings) |
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Bangladesh Tour of WI
St George’s (Grenada), July 16 But celebrations have been tempered following a knee injury to their new captain Mashrafe Mortaza which appears likely to sideline him for the match. Mortaza fell clumsily on his right knee when bowling during the first Test, and spent the last two and a half days off the field. He underwent a medical scan on Tuesday, and though the results of the test are not as bad as initially feared, the visitors do not want to risk long-term injury to their main fast bowler. The Tigers have flown out Nazmul Hossain as back-up for Mortaza, but the way things unfolded in the first Test, the captain may not be missed. It was Bangladesh’s spinners who made life difficult for the West Indies batsmen in the first Test, particularly the second innings, when Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan - who is likely to lead the side in Mortaza’s place - dominated. The Tigers will consider playing three spinners with Mehrab Hossain Jr the likely choice to fill the breach, particularly if the pitch looks favourable. Winning the series will be very important to Bangladesh, after they arrived in the Caribbean as rank outsiders. Fortune favoured them when the long-running feud between the West Indies Cricket Board and the West Indies Players’ Association escalated just prior to the opening Test, and the leading West Indies players decided to boycott the series. This meant Bangladesh’s chances of a Test victory - and perhaps a Test series victory - were enhanced, once the hosts fielded a hodge-podge of players with limited Test and international experience. Fortunately, they kept their nerve through a batting collapse in the first innings, and then a solid, if not formidable West Indies reply, and sealed the deal in over the second half of the match. As the dispute between the West Indies board and leading players continues, the home team will again field a weakened line-up for the Test. The batting has been boosted with the addition of Ryan Hinds, one of the leading batsmen in last season’s first-class competition. Hinds played the last of his 14 Tests against England in March this year at Trinidad’s Queen’s Park Oval, but he is yet to make a meaningful impression at the top level. The left-hander managed just 91 runs in four Tests against England on their recent Caribbean tour and was dropped for the return trip in May. — AFP
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Ranji Trophy moves into its 75th year
“Nothing concrete has been planned but it’s going to be celebrated at the start of the season. Things would be finalised over the next few months,” the sources indicated. The first match in the Ranji Trophy was held between the then Madras (now Tamil Nadu) and Mysore (now Karnataka) on November 4, 1934 and resulted in the former completing victory by an innings in a single day at the Chepauk in Chennai, a remarkable piece of statistics especially in these days of instant cricket. Well-known all rounder AG Ram Singh, whose sons Kripal Singh and Mikha Singh played Tests for India, and CP Johnstone bundled out Mysore for 48 after Madras inserted the opposition in. Madras replied with 130, with MG Vijayasarathi, who later became a Test umpire, grabbing six wickets. But then Mysore toppled over for another paltry score of 59 in the second innings, MJ Gopalan (3) and Ram Singh (5) sharing the spoils, to give the hosts victory by an innings and 23 runs on the first day itself of the scheduled three-day tie. Later, Bombay (now Mumbai) commenced the domination of Indian cricket by clinching the title in the very first season of the tournament by defeating Northern India (now split into various units) by 208 runs at home in the final. Bombay made 266 and 300 while dismissing their rivals for 219 and 139, with HJ Vajifdar grabbing eight for 40. A total of 16 teams took part in the first season, including Central India, Northern India, Central Provinces and Berar, United Provinces, Sind, Western India and Southern Punjab - all of them defunct now. — PTI
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Bhullar rallies after miserable start
Twentyone-year-old Gaganjeet Bhullar from Kapurthala fought back after a miserable start to finish with a one over card of 71 to tie with the world’s top-ranked Tiger Woods (USA), on the opening day of the British Open at Turnberry in Scotland today.
Leading the field, with the game to continue into the small hours of Friday (Indian time) was Tom Watson (USA), who fired a five under 65 just two months short of his 60th birthday. Another American Ben Curtis shared the lead at this stage. Playing his first Major, the lone Indian challenger started miserably conceding a triple bogey on the second hole. Another bogey in the next hole saw him at four over after the third hole. A birdie and a bogey in the next two holes and the score read the same. But then a hat-trick of birdies on the seventh, eighth and nine saw him take the turn at one over par 36. The Kapurthala lad had shown that he could fight back despite his first major exposure. A bogey on the 10th and a double bogey on the 14th put him back to four over 58 after 14 holes. This is where Bhullar came back with another hat-trick of birdies on the 15th, 16th and 17th to finish with a card of one over par 71, sharing the spot with Tiger Woods. The two birdie hat-tricks are a clear indication that the Kapurthala lad has a good mental control over the game. He is confident of making the cut. With 41st ranked Jeev Milkha Singh out of the tournament becasue of a rib injury, Gaganjeet Bhullar is the only other Indian to carry the challenge into the second round. Vijay Singh, the Fijian of Indian origin, fired a three under 67 card to be tied 11th at this stage of the game. After a simply stunning five under par 65 had given Watson the lead for much of the day he declared, “I feel that I’m playing well enough to win. I feel inspired playing here.” The oldest man in the 156-strong field says he has never seen anything more stunning in golf than Tiger Woods winning the 2000 US Open Championship by 15 shots. But if he does go on to equal Harry Vardon’s record six victories on Sunday it will surely take the place of that. “It would be amazing,” said Watson, who underwent hip replacement surgery last October and at the Masters Tournament in April - his last major round - posted an 83. Woods, after all, managed only a one over par 71 and Norman slumped to a 77. Playing partner Sergio Garcia, who shot a level par 70, called Watson’s display “awesome” and needless to say 16 year old Italian Matteo Manassero, the third member of the group and the youngest-ever British Amateur champion, was blown away by it too.
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Asian Junior Badminton C’ship
New Delhi, July 16 The lone disappointment in this category came when Naqvi went down to second-seed Le Ha Anh of Vietnam 5-21, 19-21. In the women’s singles Sikki Reddy and Saili Rane advanced to the pre-quarters but Thulasi crashed out. Sikki beat Korean Shin Seung Chan 12-21, 21-13, 21-18 while Saili beat Nguyen Thi Mai Anh 21-14, 21-13. Thulasi proved no match for her opponent M Minatsu who cruised to a 21-7, 21-8 win. Thulasi found some consolation when she partnered Sikki to beat Huynh My Lan and Nguyen Thi Mai Anh 21-8, 21-16. Two other Indian pairs, Megha Merin Ninan-PV Sindhu and Jackeline Rose Kunnath-Prajakta Sawant, however, lost their matches to crash out. In men’s doubles, HS Prannoy and Sumeeth Reddy got the better of Nguyen Khac Tuan and Bui Quang Tuan 21-11, 16-21, 21-12 to reach the pre-quarters. In mixed doubles, Pranav and Prajakta edged out the Korean pair of Choi Seung Il and Yang Soo Youn 19-21, 21-17, 22-20 to reach the pre-quarters. — PTI
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London, July 16 At the club’s announcement of its sponsorship renewal deal with Samsung, where Terry was also present, Kenyon said reiterating that the Londoners would not countenance selling their talismanic captain.
“We’re very confident John will be remaining here as captain of Chelsea. We’re not going to sell John so from that point of view it’s really irrelevant what another club will offer. He’s too important to us. We’re very confident he will be leading us forward in the years to come,” he added. City have had two bids rejected for the 28-year-old over the past six months and are expected to lodge an improved third offer. Terry’s team-mates expect him to remain at the club despite City’s willingness to double his £135,000-a-week salary with a five-year contract. “He’s a big part of Chelsea and he’s played here for a long time. It’s football, anything can happen, but at the moment everyone is hopeful that he will stay. I don’t want to talk too much about our conversation, but I think he will be playing for Chelsea (next season). Everything else is speculation,” said Michael Ballack.
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London, July 16
Hauritz, in obvious pain, signalled to the Australian dressing room and left the field. A team spokesman said he had dislocated his middle finger.
— Reuters 
Mumbai, July 16
“I don’t know what they (City) are offering but I’m confident John is going to remain with us. John is a talisman, he’s the heart of Chelsea, he came through our academy, he’s our captain and he’s also become captain of England while he's been with us,” Kenyon was quoted as saying by The Guardian. 
Punter’s Guess:
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