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Graham Thorpe retires
Warne in the soup
again
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England not to play two ODIs at Karachi
Ex-cricketer’s widow ends life
Narain counting on ‘flashes of brilliance’
Srinath upsets Negi
Punjab cyclists on top
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Sania enters quarterfinal
New Delhi, July 22 After clinching a tough first set, Sania bounced back from a 3-5 deficit and took the second by winning the last four games against the 28-year old Brandi, ranked 67th in the world, at the Tier 3 event yesterday. Sania’s quarterfinal opponent will be Japan’s Akiko Morigami whom she had defeated in the first round at Wimbledon barely a month ago. The 25-year old Morigami, whose ranking had slipped to 72nd after the Wimbledon loss, would be looking to settle the scores after registering a 6-3, 6-2 upset win over second seed Vera Zvonareva. Sania, ranked 70th, was one point away from losing the second set but unleashed a flurry of strokes to scorch her way to success. “I didn’t even know she had set point,” the 18-year-old Hyderabadi said. The Puerto Rican kept Sania on a leash with a frills-free game that stifled the Indian’s strokeplay. It played on Sania’s nerves as she committed 26 unforced errors as against her rival’s 15, but her aggressive style of play carried her through. That she had 42 winners compared to Brandi’s 15 told the story of the day. “Kristina is a different player to play against. She gets a lot of balls in the court and likes to keep the ball low. She was breaking my rhythm a lot today. “I just started getting more balls in the court and was trying to get to a lower margin of errors with my shots. “I was committing a lot more unforced errors in the second set than I did in the first set.” Like at the Australian Open and the Dubai Open, the teenager had a huge group of diaspora fans rooting for her. “I always play better when I’m down ... I’m an aggressive player,” she said after posing for pictures with the group waving the Tricolour. “That’s how I’ve always played. I like going for it. If I stop doing that, I’m a different player.”
— PTI |
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Aussies build commanding lead London, July 22 Earlier, Hayden made 34 before dragging a pull off Andrew Flintoff on to his stumps to make it 54 for two shortly after lunch and Ponting accumulated 42 before playing a ball from Matthew Hoggard away from his body and straight to point. The home side, however, were left cursing when Kevin Pietersen, a leading light in the morning, dropped Michael Clarke at cover off Simon Jones in the final over before tea. It was Pietersen’s third spill of the game. Justin Langer had been run out for six by a direct hit from Pietersen before lunch after England were dismissed for 155 in their first innings. After the incessant clatter of wickets on a frenetic first day and Pietersen’s haymaking on the second morning when he smacked 57, the afternoon provided more traditional Test cricket. Drama was replaced by tension as England’s seamers attacked and the Australian batsmen hung on. Simon Jones bowled at pace, shaping the ball away. Flintoff, cutting the ball back down the hill, produced his quickest spell of the match and Steve Harmison continued to threaten jaw, throat and chestbone. England had resumed on 92 for seven in the morning and Pietersen, selected ahead of Graham Thorpe for his brash attitude and play, dominated as he hit eight fours and two sixes. McGrath, who looked unplayable in taking the first five England wickets to fall yesterday, was hammered for 32 runs in five overs to finish with figures of five for 53. After a restrained start on the first day, Pietersen lost Hoggard for a duck as the tailender edged Shane Warne to slip. Pietersen responded with a flat-bat four back past McGrath, hoisted his next ball into the middle tier of the pavilion and the next went through extra cover as he reached his 50. There was another six off Warne but Pietersen’s attempted action replay next ball ended with Damien Martyn diving full length on the mid-wicket boundary to take the catch. Jones and Harmison continued the festival mood, putting on 33 from 29 balls for the final wicket. Scoreboard Australia (1st innings) 190 England (1st innings) Trescothick c Langer Strauss c Warne b McGrath 2 Vaughan b McGrath 3 Bell b McGrath 6 Pietersen c Martyn b Warne 57 Flintoff b McGrath 0 G. Jones c Gilchrist b Lee 30 Giles hit wkt b Lee 11 Hoggard c Hayden b Warne 0 Harmison c Martyn b Lee 11 S. Jones not out 20 Extras
(b-1, lb-5, nb-5) 11 Total (all out, 48.1 overs) 155 Fall of wickets:
1-10, 2-11, 3-18, 4-19, 5-21, 6-79, 7-92, 8-101, 9-122. Bowling:
McGrath 18-5-53-5, Lee 15.1-5-47-3, Gillespie 8-1-30-0, Warne 7-2-19-2. Australia (2nd innings) Langer run out 6 Hayden b Flintoff 34 Ponting c sub b Hoggard 42 Martyn lbw Harmison 65 Clarke b Hoggard 91 Katich not out 10 Gilchrist b Flintoff 10 Warne c Giles b Harmison 2 Extras
(b-9, lb-5, nb-5) 19 Total (7 wkts, 70.2 overs) 279 Fall of wickets:
1-18, 2-54, 3-100, 4-255, 5-255, 6-274, 7-279. Bowling: Harmison 18.2-4-35-2, Hoggard 12-0-46-2, Flintoff 19-4-84-2, S.Jones 11-1-46-0, Giles 9-1-46-0, Bell 1-0-8-0.
— AFP, Reuters |
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Graham Thorpe retires
London, July 22 But having already long retired from one-day internationals, Thorpe’s Ashes place was called into question when he announced he would be coaching in New South Wales next year while England would be on tour in India. He was left out of the ongoing first Test against Australia at Lord’s, his place taken by debutant Kevin Pietersen, 10 years his junior. In a statement, Thorpe said: “My partner is having a baby in the next couple of weeks and I have decided that I want to concentrate on my family life. “I have enjoyed my time with England and I wish them every success in this Ashes series,” added Thorpe, who scored a hundred on his Test debut against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1993. England’s chairman of selectors, David Graveney, said of Thorpe: “He will be remembered as a tenacious batsman who served England with great ability and great pride.” In 100 Tests, Thorpe scored 6,744 runs at an average of 44.66 with 16 hundreds and 39 fifties. He also took 105 catches.
— AFP |
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Warne in the soup
again
London, July 22 Warne’s proposal allegedly came on June 21, just weeks
after his wife and their three children had moved to Britain to be with
him, the Daily Miror reported. Rebecca Weedon, a 20-year-old
archaeology student revealed that the Aussie cricketer, playing in the
Ashes Test at Lord’s, coached her on how to get unwitting wife Simone
to agree to the sex session by pretending to be an obsessed fan who
stumbled across the couple in a bar. Weedon said Warne tried to convince her that he was doing it to save his 10-year-old marriage which was on the brink of collapse due to a series of flings. But she claims he boasted about his exploits with other women during their five-week affair, loved spanking in bed and seemed more worried about his hair falling out than his doomed relationship. “But
then he said they were giving it another try and thought a threesome
might help,” she was quoted as saying in the newspaper. “It was
his fantasy, something he’d always wanted but never done, and he
wanted me as the other woman,” Weedon said. “He told me to say I
was sorry to interrupt but I was a massive Hampshire fan and I had
followed them for years, the real starstruck fan but like I’d never
met him before. “Then I was to say ‘Oh, is this your wife?’ and
start complimenting her and saying how beautiful and attractive she was.
He was going to keep buying us all drinks and we would take it from
there, he said. “I didn’t say no. I don’t think I said anything, I
was just so shocked.”
— PTI |
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England not to play two ODIs at Karachi
Karachi, July 22 Pakistan had proposed to England to play two one-dayers in the port city after the England and Wales Cricket Board refused to stay in the troubled city for a week. “We tried our best to convince England to play two one-dayers,” Zaidi said, adding that there was no threat to the England tour despite yesterday’s bombings in London. “The tour is very much on and the England cricket team will arrive on October 22. “Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan will host the Test matches. Now that we exactly know about the venues, the itinerary can be given final shape and I hope that it will be released by next week,” Zaidi said. Karachi’s National Stadium last hosted a Test against Sri Lanka in October, 2004, but more importantly South Africa and India have refused to play five-dayers here. Since England played here in December, 2000, and won the series in near darkness for the first time in 33 years, only two Tests have been played with Bangladesh being the other team. Zaidi said Pakistan would go down in the annals of history as the first country to post two neutral umpires in a one-day series after the ECB accepted its proposal. “We have received the confirmation from England and now we will write to the ICC so that it can depute both third-country umpires in the one-day series against England that will be played in December,” he said. The ICC, at the Lord’s meeting last month, had rejected Pakistan’s proposal of third-country umpires but had said it would have no objection if both countries agreed to having neutral umpires supervising the series. All expenses of the second neutral umpire will be borne by the PCB.
— PTI |
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Vaas strikes back for Lanka
Kandy, July 22 At close, the West Indies trailed by 58 runs with Narsingh Deonarine unbeaten on 36 and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin on eight not out. Earlier, Jamaican fast bowler Daren Powell took a career-best 5-25 as Sri Lanka were bowled out in just 46.1 overs, justifying his team’s decision to bowl first on a dry, grassless pitch. Powell bowled two lively bursts either side of lunch and was well supported by Tino Best, the first-change support
seamer, who finished with three for 50 from 10 fiery overs. Scoreboard Sri Lanka (1st innings)
Atapattu b Best 17 Jayasuriya c Ramdin b D. Powell 2 Sangakkara c Morton Jayawardene c Morton Samaraweera c Deonarine Dilshan run out 36 Vaas c Ramdass b Best 6 Wijekoon c Ramdass Herath c Ramdin b D. Powell 1 Muralitharan not out 18 Malinga c Ramdin b D. Powell 0 Extras
(lb-6, nb-1) 7 Total (all out, 46.1 overs) 150 Fall of wickets:
1-3, 2-17, 3-35, 4-42, 5-98, 6-107, 7-127, 8-130, 9-143. Bowling:
D. Powell 13.1-3-25-5, Lawson 10-0-29-0, Best 10-1-50-3, Banks 13-1-40-1. West Indies (1st innings) Marshall c Atapattu b Vaas
4 Ramdass run out 3 Morton b Vaas 1 Chanderpaul lbw b Vaas 13 Joseph c Dilshan b Vaas
18 Deonarine not out 36 Ramdin not out 8 Extras (b-4, lb-1, nb-4) 9 Total
(5 wickets, 41 overs) 92 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-9, 3-12, 4-27, 5-75. Bowling:
Vaas 13-6-17-4, Malinga 9-3-22-0, Wijekoon 5-2-9-0, Muralitharan 3-0-12-0, Herath 9-0-26-0, Jayasuriya 2-1-1-0.
— Reuters |
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Ex-cricketer’s widow ends life
Mumbai, July 22 Leela Gulabrai Ramchand (80), wife of the late Gulabrai Ramchand — who led India to their first Test victory against Australia — was staying alone in the seventh floor apartment of
“Sportsfield”, that houses some well-known sportspersons of the country. Preliminary investigations indicated that financial problems could be one of the reasons for her
suicide. Gulabrai Ramchand, who died two years ago, had led India to victory against Australia at Kanpur in 1959.
— PTI |
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Narain counting on ‘flashes of brilliance’
London, July 22 Finishing the races with the last year’s car, as he did with roaring success in the opening Grand Prix at Melbourne and Malaysia, has itself been an achievement for the debutant Formula One Indian driver. But there have been more lows than highs with the problematic car stalling more frequently, and although it does not entirely reflect on his racing skills, questions have begun to be asked in the media about his performance. The 28-year-old from Chennai, however, employs peer praise as a simple yardstick to assess success in his rookie season. “I think for me success in the first season in Formula One would be for other teams, and this (Jordan) team, to recognise that I am a quick and competitive driver,” says the “Fastest Indian on wheels”.
— PTI |
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Srinath upsets Negi
Belfort (France), July 22 Negi’s first loss may prove costly as he would lose important rating points as Srinath was about 300 points behind him. In the under-16 girls section, top seed D Harika was also in for a surprise as she was held to a draw by Katherine Pelletier on the top board. The other Indians had mixed results in 10 categories of the event. Sahaj Grover maintained his lead in the under-10 boys section with a clinical victory over Nikita Krayushkin, while VAV Rajesh continued to make his presence felt in the under-12 category, defeating Aplin Christer to maintain a clean slate. In the under-14 boys section, too, India’s best bet Y Sandeep continued to be among the leaders with a cent percent score. On the receiving end against Sandeep in the third round was Charles Baudson. Among the Indian girls, Saheli Nath emerged the group leader in under-16 after she had a smooth sailing over Mathilde Congiu in her third round game. Negi apparently was coasting home with black pieces against Srinath when disaster struck him in the middle game. Playing the Sicilian Nazdorf, Negi was up against an English attack and his preparation came good as he was able to launch his offence on the white king side while his opponent was getting ready for a similar attack. However, as the game progressed, Negi went for an erroneous plan that put Srinath in a slightly advantageous position. Srinath let go a rook for a direct attack and did not falter in picking the black queen a few moves later for another rook. Negi, having lost a handful of pawns also in the process, hardly had any chance to recover thereafter and he called it a day on the 43rd move. Harika survived some anxious moments before she took the draw with Pelletier, who played the white side of Sicilian Nazdorf. The Indian even had a dangerous looking passed pawn in the centre but fine planning by her opponent led to a rook-and-opposite-colour endgame wherein Harika was a pawn down. Surprisingly, Pelletier opted for a safe route to split the point rather than pressing hard for a win. Y Sandeep was a bit lucky to win a pawnless endgame against Baudson in 76 moves while Saheli Nath used her Pirc defence to good use against Mathilde Congiu to win in 58 moves.
— PTI |
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Punjab cyclists on top
Hyderabad, July 22 Gurpreet Kaur of Punjab pedalled two seconds ahead of team-mate Kulwinder to win the gold, relegating R. Sandhya of Kerala to third spot in the women’s section of the one-lap point-to-point individual time trial. Marred by controversies, the time trial in the u-16 boys was cancelled and the technical committee decided to conduct the race tomorrow. Ashi of Haryana won the gold in the u-16 girls section of time trial with a timing of 16:40.40 leaving Deepa Chandran (Kerala) and Maldeem Kaur (Punjab) far behind. In the two-lap mass-start time trial too, Aashi won the overcoming beating the challenge of Malveen Wadalia (Punjab) and Sativa Goudar (Karnataka).
— PTI |
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