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Calypso after the collapse
Sizzling Serena stuns Sharapova
Serena Williams of the USA clutches the trophy
after beating Russia’s Maria Sharapova in the women’s singles final at the
Australian Open in Melbourne on Saturday. Serena won 6-1, 6-2. — AP/PTI photo |
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SA need 125 for victory
Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwari celebrates after guiding his team to victory over Karnataka in the semifinal of the Ranji Trophy in Kolkata on Saturday. — PTI
photo
Chandigarh women clinch team trophy in carrom
Ranjit Academy boys in semis
Deja vu: Aussies thrash England
Zakhir Khan shoots gold
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Calypso after the collapse
Chennai, January 27 After restricting India to 268 in 48 overs on a good batting track, the visitors overhauled the target with 38 balls to spare in the day-night clash at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, reducing the hosts’ lead to 2-1. Marlon Samuels struck a cavalier 98 from 95 balls, while skipper Brian Lara made a typically scintillating 83 to guide the Caribbeans home. Lara, back in the side after missing the previous game with a knee injury, and Samuels put on a match-winning partnership of 127 runs for the fourth wicket. Samuels reached his fifty off 42 balls with nine fours. He hit three more fours before edging Ajit Agarkar to Dinesh Karthik. Agarkar had given the Indians a promising by having Chris Gayle and Runako Morton in his first 10 balls. Lara smashed 10 fours and two sixes before top-edging Ramesh Powar to Robin Uthappa. India made as many as five changes to the team that won the previous match, in a bid to try out new players keeping the World Cup in mind but the move backfired with only Karnataka batsman Uthappa coming good. India’s total could have been much better after being strongly placed at 232 for 3 in the 35th over. Uthappa smashed 70 off 41 balls (11 fours, two sixes). He added 88 runs for the second wicket with Suresh Raina (23). Thanks to the 21-year-old’s attacking batsmanship, India raced to 100 in 11.3 overs and 150 in the 20th over. The right-hander, who reached his fifty off only 32 balls, fell while trying to loft Chris Gayle and ended up top-edging him to Lendl Simmons at long off. Raina perished just when it seemed he had got his eye in, driving Jerome Taylor straight to Brian Lara at mid-off. Tendulkar, who has been through a lean patch, played a smart innings in sustaining the momentum provided by Uthappa. After reaching fifty off 52 balls, Tendulkar fell to a brilliant catch by Runako Morton who leaped to hold on to a mistimed drive at mid on. Dravid was in a class of his own, too. The skipper was more open in his shot-making than his senior partner. He struck six fours in his 67-ball innings, his strokes balancing Tendulkar’s calmness at the other end. The Bangalorean fell while going for a big shot against Gayle and was caught in the deep. The twin dismissal of Tendulkar and Dravid allowed the Caribbeans to come back into the match. As it were, India could add only 36 runs in the next 13 overs while losing seven wickets. Dwayne Bravo, after conceding 19 runs in the first over, returned with 4-39 while Chris Gayle (2-57) and Jerome Taylor (2-45) benefited from the Indians’ hara-kiri. Scoreboard India Uthappa c Simmons b Gayle 70 Gambhir c Simmons b Powell 0 Raina c Lara b Taylor 23 Tendulkar c Morton b Bravo 60 Dravid c Emrit b Gayle 57 Yuvraj c and b Bravo 10 Karthik c Ramdin b Bravo 8 Agarkar c Morton b Samuels 2 Powar c and b Taylor 5 Kumble not out 3 Sreesanth c Morton b Bravo 1 Extras
(lb-14, nb-2, w-13) 29 Total (all out, 48 overs) 268 Fall of wickets:
1-7, 2-95, 3-126, 4-232, 5-237, 6-255, 7-255, 8-259, 9-265. Bowling:
Taylor 8-0-45-2, Powell 6-1-38-1, Emrit 5-0-34-0, Bravo 9-0-39-4, Gayle 10-0-57-2, Samuels 10-0-41-1. West Indies Gayle lbw Agarkar 0 Devon Smith c Dravid
b Kumble 33 Morton c Karthik b Agarkar 1 Samuels c Karthik b Agarkar 98 Lara c Uthappa b Powar 83 Simmons c Uthappa b Powar 17 Bravo c Raina b Sreesanth 4 Ramdin not out 4 Emrit not out 0 Extras
(b-4, lb-1, w-25) 30 Total (7 wkts, 43.4 overs) 270 Fall of wickets:
1-0, 2-27, 3-92, 4-219, 5-257, 6-261, 7-265. Bowling: Agarkar 10-1-45-3, Sreesanth 8.4-0-67-1, Kumble 10-0-67-1, Powar 10-0-53-2, Tendulkar 5-0-33-0.
— PTI
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Sizzling Serena stuns Sharapova
Melbourne, January 27 The American had entered the tournament ranked 81st in the world, but made it look like a mathematical error with her brutal 63-minute destruction of a shell-shocked Sharapova. Down on bended knee, Williams fired a crunching backhand angled winner to seal the match and immediately sent her racket flying out of her hand as she fell flat on her back in her moment of triumph. Holding her head in her hands in disbelief, she got back on her feet and began leaping around the court. In fact she could barely stand still as she performed an impromptu jig before mouthing the words “Hey dad, thanks for the advice”. But once she hugged the trophy the tears started rolling down her cheeks as she dedicated the win to her sister who was shot dead in Los Angeles in 2003. “I would like to dedicate this win to my sister, who is not here, her name is Yetunde,” Williams said her voice cracking with emotion. “I just love her so much. A couple of days ago I said if I win this it will be for her so thanks Yetunde,” added Williams, who will climb to 14th in the world on Monday. She become the third lowest ranked woman to win a major since the inception of rankings and only the second unseeded woman to win the Australian crown in the professional era after Chris O’Neil achieved the feat in 1978. It was the most lopsided women’s final here since Steffi Graf beat Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario for the loss of just two games in 1994. It was a performance that won the 25-year-old a cool $989,189 but to Williams, it was priceless. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s Cara Black and Liezel Huber of South Africa won the women’s doubles title with a 6-4 6-7 6-1 victory over Taiwan’s Chuang Chia-jung and Chan Yung-jan in the final yesterday. American brothers Mike and Bob Bryan retained their men’s doubles title today with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi. India’s Rupesh Roy and Australian Stephen Donald finished runners-up in boys’ doubles on Friday. Eighth seeds Roy and Donald lost 2-6, 7-6(4), 3-6 to the unseeded duo of Graeme Dyce of Great Britain and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara.— Agencies
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SA need 125 for victory
Cape Town, January 27 South Africa, chasing 161 to win, were 36 for two at the end of the second day, Kaneria taking two for two in 2.1 overs. As many as 17 wickets fell during the day. Earlier, Pakistan were bowled out for 186 in their second innings. Fast bowler Dale Steyn was the chief destroyer, finishing with three for 47. Yasir Hameed was the top-scorer for Pakistan with 35. South Africa were all out for 183 in the morning, taking a slender lead of 26 after skittling out Pakistan for 157 on day one on an unpredictable pitch, grassy at one end and bare at
the other. South Africa, 131 for five overnight, lost five wickets for 52 runs in 14 overs in the morning. Mark Boucher’s unbeaten 40 with five fours and two sixes gave them the slender lead. Mohammad Asif took three for 53 and leg-spinner Kaneria claimed three for 44. The two teams are level 1-1 in the three-match series. Scoreboard Pakistan (1st innings) 157 South Africa (1st innings) 183 Pakistan (2nd innings) Hafeez c Prince b Steyn 10 Farhat lbw Steyn 13 Hameed c Prince b Hall 35 Younis c Boucher b Ntini 0 Yousuf b Hall 18 Inzamam c Boucher b Steyn 22 Akmal st Boucher b Harris 6 Sami c Amla b Kallis 31 Nazir c Boucher b Kallis 27 Kaneria not out 1 Asif c Prince b Harris 6 Extras
(b-6, lb-2, nb-4, w-5) 17 Total (all out, 51.2 overs ) 186 Fall of wickets:
1-17, 2-28, 3-44, 4-83, 5-92, 6-111, 7-121, 8-176, 9-179. Bowling:
Ntini 10-2-41-1, Steyn 13-3-47-3, Kallis 7-0-36-2, Hall 7-1-23-2, Harris 14.2-2-31-2. South Africa (2nd innings) Smith not out 33 Dippenaar c Akmal b Kaneria 3 Harris lbw Kaneria 0 Total
(2 wkts, 11.1 overs) 36 Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-36. Bowling:
Asif 5-1-19-0, Nazir 3-0-15-0, Kaneria 2.1-0-2-2, Hafeez 1-1-0-0. —
Reuters
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Kolkata, January 27 Beginning the day at 72 for two, Bengal duo Manoj Tiwari and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, both of whom had a dream run this Ranji season, continued with their honeymoon with a deciding 150-run partnership in the third wicket that tilted the match in favour of Bengal. While Manoj played a flamboyant innings embellished with 24 hits to the fence and two towering sixes of veteran off spinner Sunil Joshi, Abhishek played the second fiddle scoring 54 of 189 balls with the help of seven boundaries. The post-lunch session saw the Bengal batsmen opening up and Manoj hit consecutive boundaries off Akhil to reach 90. The century came off a square drive of 176 balls. The next 51 runs was scored in a hurry, studded with six boundaries and two sixes. Meanwhile, Abhishek was trapped leg before playing across a line of a delivery from Sunil Joshi that fell in line with off stump and straightened. But by then the fate of the match was decided and Bengal reached the stipulated target of 360 with Deep Dasgupta remaining unbeaten on 19 after Rohan Gavashkar went back cheaply on 12. Bengal met Mumbai six times before but lost on all occasions. Mumbai would be seeking to win their 37th title, and their first since 2003-04, while Bengal their third in 73 editions, having previously won in 1938-39 and 1989-90. Brief scores: Karnataka (1st innings) 89; Bengal (1st innings) 238; Karnataka (2nd innings) 455; Bengal (2nd innings) 307 for 4 (A. Jhunjhunwala 54, M Tiwari n.o. 151). — UNI, PTI
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Chandigarh women clinch team trophy in carrom Patiala, January 27 Hosts Punjab remained second with four points whereas Haryana were third with two points.
In the men’s section, Delhi emerged winners with 10 points in the league stage. Chandigarh with eight points and Haryana with six points were second and third, respectively. Other results: men’s team championship: third round: Delhi bt Haryana 3-0 (Sayeed bt Mahender Sharma 22-4, 25-6; J. Zahid bt Anand Prakash 25-0, 25-0; Akhlaq & Suaib bt D. S. Shapola & Tirath Ram 23-7, 25-0); Punjab bt Uttaranchal 2-1 (Shabaz bt A.K. Gupta 25-11, 18-19, 13-12; Harpreet lost to H.O. Gupta 7-25, 13-18; Shamim & Kunwar Sudeep bt Manu Gupta & R.K. Gupta 25-12, 22-13); Chandigarh bt J&K 3-0 (Neeraj Bharti bt Quazi Mubasir 25-0, 25-0; Anuj K. Sinha bt Shaik Uzar 25-0, 25-0; Hassan & Sudhir Siddhu bt Md. Safi & Amandeep Singh 25-0, 25-0); fourth round: Delhi bt Punjab 3-0 (Saim bt Shahbaz 23-6, 25-0; Danish bt Harpreet Singh 25-0, 24-7; Akhlaq & Salman bt Shamim & Kunwar Sudeep 25-12, 35-5); Chandigarh bt Haryana 3-0 (Neeraj Bharti bt Mahender Sharma 14-10, 3-22, 25-16; Anuj K. Sinha bt Anand Prakash 19-14, 24-5; Sudhir Siddhu & Md. Hassan bt AAnkit & D.S. Dhapola 22-4, 25-2); Uttaranchal bt J&K 3-0 (H.O. Gupta bt Md, Safi Lone 25-0, 25-0; A. K. Gupta bt Atik Hamid Shah 25-0, 25-0; Manu & R. K. Gupta bt Shaikh Uzar & Jahid Khan 25-0, 25-0); fifth round: Haryana bt Uttaranchal 2-1 (Mahender Sharma bt A. K. Gupta 24-11, 25-1; Anand Prakash lost to H.O. Gupta 17-15, 8-20, 5-22; D. S. Dhapola & Ankit bt Manu & R. K. Gupta 23-10, 25-0); Punjab bt J&K 3-0 (Shahbaz bt Owais Rashid 25-0, 25-0; Kunwar Sudeep bt Atiif Hamid 25-0, 25-0; and Shamim & Harpreet bt Taverif Bashir & Ali Md. Eittoo 25-0, 25-0); Delhi bt Chandigarh 3-0 (Sayeed bt Neeraj Bharti 21-12, 13-11; J. Jahid bt Anuj K. Sinha 25-10, 25-23; and Akhlaq & Sim bt Hassan & Naushad 25-0, 25-0). Women’s team championship: third round: Chandigarh bt Punjab 2-1 (Faheem lost to Heena 20-25, 5-19; Aakanksha bt Sukhpreet 25-0, 25-0; Anjali & Tuba bt Kulbir & Rajneet 25-0, 25-0); fourth round: Haryana bt J&K 2-1 (Aanchal Singh bt Rehana Qadir 25-0, 25-0; Toshali Gupta bt Adfar Jan 5-21, 19-11, 24-12); Punjab bt J&K 2-1 (Heena bt Ishrat 25-0, 25-0; Sukhpreet Kaur bt Bisma Jan 25-0, 25-0; Kulbir & Rajneet lost to Ifana Magbool 11-14, 0-25); fifth round: Chandigarh bt Haryana 3-0 (Aakanksha bt Aanchal Singh 15-12, 25-0; Faheem bt Toshali Gupta 25-0, 25-0). Men’s singles (first round): Mohit Vinayak (Punjab ) bt Atif Hamid (J&K) 25-0, 25-1; Hassan (Chandigarh) bt A. K. Gupta (Uttaranchal) 12-13, 25-24, 25-9; Hari Om (Uttaranchal) bt Shahbaza (Punjab) 23-12, 21-13. Saim (Delhi) bt T. Bashir (J&K) 25-0, 25-0; Mahender Sharma (Haryana) bt Harpreet (Punjab) 25-5, 25-5; J. Jahid (Delhi) bt Manu Gupta (Uttaranchal) 25-0, 25-1; Shamim Khan (Punjab) bt Ali Md. Eittoo (J&K ) 25-0, 25-0. Junior boys (first round): Shubhdeep Singh (Punjab) bt Amandeep Singh (J&K) 25-0, 25-0; women’s singles (first round): Farheen (Chandigarh) bt Kulwinder (Punjab) 25-0, 25-0; Adhfar (J&K) bt Gitika Batish (Punjab) 25-0, 25-0; Tuba (Chandigarh) bt Simta Sharma (Punjab ) 25-0, 25-0. |
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Ranjit Academy boys in semis
Ludhiana, January 27 Satinder Singh put Ranjit Singh Academy into an early lead (5th minute) and Ramandeep Singh increased the lead in the 25th minute. Satinder struck again in the 44th minute which sealed Moga Academy’s fate 3-0. In the second match, Grewal Academy, Kila Raipur, drew 3-3 with Baba Bakala Academy. Charanpreet Pal Singh, Hirday Pal Singh and Taranjit Singh found the target for Kila Raipur while Gurjeet Singh netted twice and Sukhdev scored one goal for Baba Bakala Academy. In the semifinals slated for tomorrow, Ranjit Singh Academy will battle it out with Sangrur XI at 1.30 pm while Surjit Academy will take on PAU Academy at 3 pm.
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Deja vu: Aussies thrash England
Sydney, January 27 Ricky Ponting finished not out 51 and Matthew Hayden was unbeaten on 30. Earlier, England had crashed to their lowest total on their disastrous tour of Australia and their ninth lowest from the 450 one-day matches they have contested since limited-overs internationals started in 1971. Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson, who was promoted to the team in place of Glenn McGrath and Nathan Bracken, captured four wickets for 45, while Brett Lee (2-8), Stuart Clark (1-21) and part-time spinners Brad Hogg (2-16) and Andrew Symonds (1-20) shared the remainder.
— Reuters
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Zakhir Khan shoots gold
New Delhi, January 27 Zakhir shot 576 points in the qualification round and 99.2 in the final to tally 675.2 points, according to indianshooting.com. His team-mate Amanpreet Singh won the bronze with a score of 673.9 (575+98.9), while the third Indian in this event, Amit Kumar Pilaniya stood sixth with 669.7. The silver was won by Pal Balazs of Hungary with 674.3 (576+98.3) points. Meanwhile, Pilaniya won the silver in the second match of the junior men’s 10m air pistol event. Pilaniya fired 573 in the qualification round and 101.4 in the final to tally 674.4. Amanpreet took his second bronze with a score of 672.3 (573+101.4). Lukas Grunder of Switzerland won the gold with a score of 674.8 (573+101.8).
— PTI
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India paid the price for tinkering with the winning combi- nation and some casual batting performance as the West Indies
record- ed a comfortable three-wicket victory in the third one-dayer to keep themselves afloat in the four-match series here today.
Melbourne, January 27
Kiwi opener Astle retires