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England scramble past 300
Vijender is world No 2
WADA Row |
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‘Gambling to stay in cricket’
Champions Trophy
Nehru Cup
DDCA vs Players
Punjab U15 soccer
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London, August 20 Each of the England top four contributed to their dismissals while the Australians, who decided to omit off-spinner Nathan Hauritz for the second test in succession, bowled with sustained aggression and control. Peter Siddle was the pick of the bowlers with four for 63. With the series tied at 1-1, England need to win the final test to reclaim the Ashes from Australia, who need only a draw. There were consolations for the hosts in the form of Ian Bell, who top-scored with 72 after moving up a place to number three, and debutant Jonathan Trott, who made a composed 41. England can also take heart from the Oval pitch, which after being left open to the elements on the hottest day of the year on Wednesday, was already offering assistance to part-time spinner Marcus North. But overall Australia will be the happier of the two teams after a full day's play. Andrew Strauss won his fourth toss of the series and play began under menacing black clouds, which rolled away during the morning session and gave way to bright sunshine after tea. Alastair Cook (10) was the first of the England top four to gift his wicket when he played the impressive Siddle with angled bat to Ricky Ponting at second slip. Strauss, England's key batsman in the absence of the injured Kevin Pietersen, responded with an impressive half century, clipping 10 fours square of the wicket on the lightning fast outfield. Bell was given a torrid time by Mitchell Johnson, fending unconvincingly at three successive bouncers. He survived to play some exquisite drives but lost Strauss in the third over after lunch after one further boundary, caught behind from a limp defensive shot off Ben Hilfenhaus. Paul Collingwood made 24 before he, too, played a loose shot slicing a wide delivery from Siddle to Michael Hussey at gully. Bell dragged his first delivery after tea, a full delivery from Siddle, on to his stumps and Matt Prior (18) lobbed Johnson to Shane Watson at cover. — Reuters Scoreboard
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New Delhi, August 20 Vijender (75kg) had lost to Bayeux (2500 points) in the Olympic semifinals. Olympic gold medallist James De Gale of England was not rated as he has turned professional. “All the good things are happening in my life for the past one year. It feels fantastic to be rated so high,” Vijender said. Among other Indians, Beijing Olympics quarterfinalist Akhil Kumar has been placed ninth in the feather weight (57kg) rankings with 1050 points. Akhil competed in the bantam weight (54kg) division in Beijing and shifted to feather weight only this year. The Haryana-boxer is yet to compete in any major international tournament since changing his division and will make his feather weight debut at the World Championships next month. In the 48kg category, world youth champion Thokchom Nanao Singh has been ranked fifth with a tally of 1400 points. In the 51kg, national champion Suranjoy Singh has been ranked 14th with 800 points, while Beijing Olympics quarterfinalist Jitender Kumar has been ranked 13th in bantam weight with a total 837.5 points. — PTI
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WADA Row
Jalandhar, August 20 “Whatever views, we wanted to express on whereabouts clause of WADA, we have already conveyed to BCCI, which has strongly taken up the issue with ICC. Now the matter is pending between BCCI and ICC and whatever instruction BCCI will issue to us, we will abide by that. We know that our Board will definitely protect our interest and respect our views on the issue,” Harbhajan said. Harbhajan was also confident of a good show in the upcoming Champion Trophy saying that return of seniors Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid makes India a strong and balanced batting side. “We are the best combination of players in the form of strong batting order as well as combination of experienced and new players. After inclusion of Dravid and Tendulkar, Indian team has strong batting order with experienced minds,” Harbhajan said. The off-spinner, who will attend the four-day preparatory camp in Bangalore from August 27, said modern day cricket demands high fitness level, which the players can hardly afford to ignore. “Cricket has turned into more demanding game and you have to be fit enough to play. You cannot compromise on your fitness exercise. Players will have to be extra conscious for fitness,” he said. — PTI
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New Zealand Tour of Sri Lanka
Galle, August 20 Thushara claimed three for 80 in 22 overs while Muralitharan picked up three for 66 from 37 miserly overs on his return to test cricket after a knee injury forced him out of the recent Pakistan series. Opener Tim McIntosh provided stubborn resistance with a gritty 69 from 226 balls, an innings that included six fours and a six, before being trapped lbw by Muralitharan. The Kiwis, who started the day on 87 for two chasing Sri Lanka’s total of 452, frustrated the home attack in the morning as McIntosh added 49 in 18 overs with nightwatchman Jeetan Patel. Muralitharan broke the partnership before lunch, trapping Patel lbw for 26. Another stand then developed between McIntosh and Ross Taylor (35), the pair adding 51 for the fourth wicket. Taylor was dropped on 27 by Nuwan Kulasekara at square leg but was eventually caught behind off Thushara. The breakthrough revitalised Sri Lanka, with Muralitharan removing McIntosh and Thushara bowling Brendon McCullum for one off a thick inside edge. Jesse Ryder chiselled out a useful 42 while all-rounder Jacob Oram was unfortunate to be given caught out at bat-pad for 12 when television replays showed the ball had missed the bat. Sri Lanka took the new ball in an effort to polish off the tail and Kulasekara responded by bowling Ryder. — Reuters
Scoreboard
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‘Gambling to stay in cricket’
Melbourne, August 20 “There’s rumour of thousands and thousands of illegal bookmakers in India alone. Nobody knows the transactions they do, who they deal with. Quite clearly they don’t pay tax as well,” Daffy said. “This is where the problem started and it quite clearly still exists in this day and age,” he was quoted as saying. Daffy feels T20 format offers easy way for batsmen to get involved in the menace because of the slam-bang style of batting. “I guess if you are a cynic on the outside looking in, it’s easier to hide a poor display in Twenty20 cricket. A player goes out to a rash shot and nobody asks any questions because that’s the way the game is played. But who knows what’s going on in the background?” he said.
— PTI |
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Champions
Trophy
Johannesburg, August 20 The 24-year-old Morkel has played in 21
ODIs, taking 31 wickets at an average of 30.16. Left-arm swing bowler
Tsotsobe, who has recovered from a long-term injury, and left-arm spinner Robin Peterson are the only new players in the squad. Squad: Graeme Smith (captain), Johan
Botha, Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques
Kallis, Albie Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale
Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe. — Reuters |
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Nehru Cup
New Delhi, August 20 Their crafty forwards Mohamad Alzino and Abdul Fatah Alaga did the scoring in immaculate style. Kyrgyzstan not only struggled to get their act together, but also suffered a serious blow when their key defender Roman Ablakimov was red-carded for fowling Syrian striker Abdul Fatah Alaga in the 24th minute of the second half. In the rest of the session, they played with ten men, and Syria seized this chance to knock in their second goal.
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DDCA vs Players
New Delhi, August 20 Paceman Ashish Nehra and Vartik Tihara, son of DDCA’s Sports Committee head Vinod Tihara, were the players who gave a miss to the camp today. Others missing from the camp include were Rajat Bhatia, Mithun Manhas and Chaitanya Anand. Selection Committee chairman and DDCA Vice President Chetan Chauhan insisted that unrest against the Sports Committee was not the reason for their absence and they were absent because of prior engagements. “Some players have informed us about their engagements. But see the positive things. The positive thing is that two people have already joined us. Some others will also join. They all will join. I don’t know why Nehra has not come. Usually he comes a little late,” Chauhan said. The players’ revolt has received support from former players like Madan Lal and Bishan Singh Bedi, who represented Delhi in domestic cricket. — PTI
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Punjab U15 soccer
Chandigarh, August 20 In the inaugural edition six football academies namely Sant Baba Hazara Singh Football Academy, Nikki Ghuman (Gurdaspur), Rurka Football Academy, Rurka Kalan (Jalandhar), Mauji Football Academy, Kala Afgana (Gurdaspur), Guru Nanak Football Academy, Bilga (Jalandhar), Khalsa High School Football Academy, Baddon (Hoshiarpur) and Kuljit Football Academy, Bhala Pind (Amritsar) have been invited to participate. 1st Punjab State Grassroot Under-15 Football League is being held at VPO: Kala Afgana, Near Batala, District Gurdaspur from 21 to 25 August.
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New Delhi, August 20
Jalandhar, August 20
New
Zealand Tour of Sri Lanka
Australia have to make sure that Flintoff bowls four or five spells in the first innings. They have to wear him and his knee down, and make him tired. — Shane Warne on strategy to win Ashes final Test
