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Champions trophy Jadeja’s fifer and Dhawan’s ton put India in semifinals  London, June 11The Indian crowd got what it came for to the Oval cricket ground today; they wanted to see the decimation of the opposition. They came to see India rule — the opposition could have been Bermuda or Sri Lanka or the US, it didn’t matter. It just happened to be the West Indies today. The encounter was one-sided for the most part, and India crushed the West Indies by eight wickets to reach the semifinals. Shikhar Dhawan, the man with the golden bat, got to his second successive 100 with a six; Dinesh Karthik got to his 50 with the four that won India the match. Ravindra Jadeja’s 5/36 is the best ever performance by an Indian bowler in the Champions Trophy. — Reuters |
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Dhoni should disassociate from Rhiti Sports: Sawant
No need for panic, says Oz skipper Bailey
Where are the West Indian cricketing fans?
Woods-Garcia handshake could signal end to longstanding feud
Banning cheergirls is no solution: Gauti
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India shine in rain and mist Jadeja’s fifer and Dhawan’s ton put India in semifinals Rohit Mahajan/TNS London, June 11 Shikhar Dhawan, the man with the golden bat, got to his second successive 100 with a six; Dinesh Karthik got to his 50 with the four that won India the match. India won with nearly 11 overs to spare. For Indian supporters, this spelt perfection — India’s win knocked out Pakistan, after all. Their encounter in Birmingham would be inconsequential, but for the small matter of pride. Dhawan was immovable and impressive as he marched to his second century of the tournament; Rohit Sharma contributed a fine 52; Dinesh Karthik continued to impress on his comeback. The task proved to be less than challenging. London was misty and cold today; the Indians fielded and batted with considerable protection against the cold. They played with resolve and almost embarrassing indifference —embarrassing to the West Indies bowlers, who do have some quality but were mostly pedestrian today. Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were untroubled at the top, both playing attractive shots. They added 101 for the first wicket, their second 100-run stand in two matches, the first time in six years that this has happened for India. India got too 100 in the 16th over, 150 in the 23rd, and 200 in the 35th —always way ahead in the game. They were spurred by the threat of the rain, the mist that came right to the edge of the ground and stopped play at one point. But India were always way ahead of the Duckworth/Lewis equation. Jadeja the star The other important architect of the win was Ravindra Jadeja. Four years ago at this venue — on June 14, 2009 — Jadeja earned much opprobrium when India lost to England in the T20 World Cup. He had then played 35 balls for 25 runs; India chased 154 to win but fell short by three runs. Jadeja was, not unjustly, painted the villain. Today, he was the star with the ball, picking up five wickets for 36 runs. When he came in to bowl, West Indies had surged to 92/1 in 17 overs. The dangerous Chris Gayle had fallen cheaply, but Johnson Charles was making up for that. Jadeja simply turned the game around. He’s a man uniquely disparaged by Indian media, who believe he’s not international class; Jadeja, nevertheless, continues to pick up the wickets. He’s not a great bowler, but he displayed impressive skills yet again. He stuck to his line, and he varied his bowling speed. He tweaked some, he sent some balls straight. The sum total of it was that the West Indian batsmen found him troublesome. At one point he’d taken three for five in 14 balls. He got two men out LBW, bowled another one. He was accurate all right. West Indies, from 103 for 1, went on to 182 for nine. That they reached as many as 233 was possible due to the 10th wicket partnership of 51 between Darren Sammy and Roach. They batted together for only 4.3 overs; Roach faced eight deliveries but didn’t score at all. Sammy did all the scoring, hitting four sixers during that time. He remained unbeaten on 56 from 35 balls. Umesh Yadav went for nine runs, then Ishant Sharma for 21 and Jadeja for 14. It was impressive, but one suspected it was too little, too late. The Indian batsmen confirmed that easily.
Scoreboard
India
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Dhoni should disassociate from Rhiti Sports: Sawant
New Delhi, June 11 Savant said that Dhoni should be given a notice for conflict of interest if it was not part of his contract earlier. Dhoni found himself in a controversy when it came to light that he had 15 per cent stake in Rhiti Sports, which also manages Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha, besides the Indian captain. However, the firm has made it clear that Dhoni was a shareholder only for a brief period, and currently has no stakes. "Dhoni should immediately disassociate himself from the management firm while he is captain. Dhoni should be given a notice for conflict of interest if this was not part of his contract earlier," Savant said. The BCCI had said that it would look into the issue of conflict of interest after the Champions Trophy was over. "I don't want to disturb the team during the Champions Trophy. I gain nothing by doing that. We have taken note of the issue. We are looking into it but we are not going to hound someone," BCCI's interim chief Jagmohan Dalmiya had told a press conference here yesterday. Rhiti Sports management was set up and run by Dhoni's long-time friend Arun Pandey, who played three first-class matches. In 2010, Dhoni signed up with Rhiti Sports reportedly for Rs 210 crore, an average of Rs 70 crore a year, the costliest deal in Indian cricket. Interestingly, two of these players — Raina and Jadeja -- are part of the same IPL franchise, the Chennai Super Kings, which is also captained by Dhoni. Ojha had joined Rhiti Sports during Australia's last tour of India. — PTI
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No need for panic, says Oz skipper Bailey
Birmingham, June 11 Australia, bidding to win a third straight Champions Trophy, will look to get their Group A campaign back on track against New Zealand — the team they beat in the 2009 final in South Africa — at Edgbaston on Wednesday. The manner of Australia's 48-run defeat by England at Edgbaston last week, and the fact they suffered another poor top-order display in the absence of injured captain and star batsman Michael Clarke, led to many dire forecasts about what might happen to the side in the Ashes series starting next month. "We're not playing the cricket we'd like to play," Bailey told reporters at Edgbaston on Tuesday. "Probably the best way to get over that would be to win this tournament. I think we only lost the first game thus far, so we're not at panic stations just yet. "The loss hurt us as much as anyone, more than anyone. We don't want to be losing to England, we don't want to be losing to anyone, but more so than the loss, the challenge is to be playing our best cricket." Since Bailey made his OD) debut in March last year. — PTI clarke RULED OUT
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Where are the West Indian cricketing fans?
London, June 11 It took 20 minutes to cover a distance of less than 200 metres up the station and across the road and the gates of the ground. About 90 percent, if not more, of the crowd comprised Indian supporters. There was practically no West Indian support at the ground; West Indian fans were similarly outnumbered during their match against Pakistan at this ground last week. This would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, especially at the Oval in South London, home to a large expatriate population from the West Indies. The support for their team, though, has shrunk considerably. This is reflected in the composition of the England team as well. There have been no players of West Indian descent in the English team in recent times. The days of Devon Malcolm, Gladstone Small, Phillip DeFreitas, Chris Lewis are long past. The reasons are not too difficult to find -- it seems the West Indian heritage people have given up on cricket. Cricket’s loss has been the gain of other sports, like athletics and football. Journalist and writer Mihir Bose, long-time UK resident, has observed this change over the last few years. “Football is much more lucrative than cricket, even if you don’t make it to the Premiership and play only in the first division of leagues here,” he says. The decline of the West Indies team has played a part in the dispersing of their flock too. The Indian fans, on the other hand, have been buoyed by the rise of their team, and also the rise of India as an economic power. “The younger Indians are very confident, they are more successful than immigrants of other Asian/African communities,” Bose says. They are doing better economically too than, say, the Pakistani or West Indies-origin people. This is crucial, because the tickets for the cricket are generally quite expensive. Punters who took the wise decision to buy the tickets for this match in advance, with the intention of selling them later, did good business today. Tickets bought for 25 pounds were going for 125 pounds today. Many Indian supporters had turned up without tickets; negotiations were hectic, and sales were made. It all translated to the polarised crowd.
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Woods-Garcia handshake could signal end to longstanding feud
Ardmore, Pennsylvania, June 11 Details about the handshake and a brief conversation afterward are expected to come on Tuesday when each man will have a news conference ahead of Thursday's start of the 113th US Open at Merion Golf Club. The moment was believed to be the first face-to-face meeting between Woods and Garcia since last month when the Spaniard attempted a joke about what he might serve Woods should they have dinner together. "We will have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken," Garcia said. The reference to fried chicken, seen as an insult to African-Americans, sparked a racism furore much the same way that Fuzzy Zoeller had in 1997 when he suggested Woods serve fried chicken at a Masters champions dinner. Garcia later apologized in a statement and at a news conference and said that he wanted to do so in person to 14-time major champion Woods, who had quickly tried to put the comment behind him in a Twitter posting. "The comment that was made wasn't silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate," Woods tweeted, but added. "It's long past time to move on and talk about golf." Jack Nicklaus, who has won a record 18 majors, called the incident "stupid" and said it was time to move on. Woods, who has won four times this year and this week seeks his first major title since the 2008 US Open, said dealing with racial stereotypes is nothing new for him. "Well, I live with it," he said. "It's happened my entire career. It exists all around the world, not just in the sport of golf. — Agencies |
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Saina survives a scare in opener
Jakarta, June11 World number two Saina had to play out of her skin against the 14th ranked Fanetri, who posed a huge threat to the Indian before surrendering 17-21 29-27 13-21 in an hour and 14 minutes in a women's singles first round match at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium. The 23-year-old from Hyderabad will take on the winner of the match between Sayaka Takahashi of Japan and Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in the pre-quarterfinals on Wednesday. Saina, seeded second, relied on her smashes, while Fanetri dominated the net play. In the opening game, Fanetri was leading 5-2 initially and it was only from tied 9-9 that Saina could get ahead of the Indonesian even though she was always breathing down her neck. The 24-year-old Indonesian, egged on by the local crowd, raised her game and engaged in a fierce battle and went into the breather with a slender 11-9 advantage in the second game. Saina battled on and turned the tables at 15-15 but even though she was just two points away from pocketing the match, Fanetri clawed back at the right time and eventually roared back into the contest after an intense fight till the end. However, in the decider, Saina showed why she is considered to be one of the best in the business. While the gruelling second game took a toll on Fanetri, Saina's fitness came to her rescue as she zoomed ahead to a 5-0 lead. Thereafter the Indian just didn't allow the Indonesian to come close and at the end won the issue comfortably. In the mixed doubles, world number 29 pair of Tarun Kona and Ashwini Ponnappa prevailed over Praveen Jordan and Vita Marissa, ranked 30, 21-18 14-21 25-23 in a 53-minute engrossing battle. The Indian pair will face the seventh seeded Polish combo of Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Zieba in the pre-quarterfinals on Wednesday. — PTI |
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Banning cheergirls is no solution: Gauti New Delhi, June 11 The KKR skipper felt banning cheerleaders won’t eradicate corruption from the event. “Everything depends on an individual. You can't stop an individual from doing something wrong. It has to come from within,” he said. — PTI
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