Lord’s, July 20
On a gloriously sunny second day afternoon of the first Test between India and England, the pendulum swung vigorously.

At close, the tourists had replied with 145 for four after surprisingly restricting the English side to 298.

A blossoming innings from Sachin Tendulkar and a third- wicket partnership between him and Wasim Jaffer was interrupted when James Anderson brought one in to trap the maestro leg before.

The lanky Mumbai opener continued till he was caught and bowled trying to fend off a rising delivery — which gave Chris Tremlett his maiden Test wicket. Jaffer recorded 58.

However, Sourav Ganguly, who 11 years ago burst on to the international scene with a hundred on debut at this venue, pugnaciously prevented any further inroads.

Long, curly-haired and left-arm, Ryan Sidebottom has been England’s most impressive bowler this season, mainly swinging the ball in to right-handers.

With the shiny leather, he bent it just right and held the movement back till late.

And he was the first to strike when Dinesh Karthik missed the line of a curving delivery.

The ball continued to deviate in the air; and soon Rahul Dravid also perished, caught behind.

At 27 for two, India still had a mountain to climb, notwithstanding the windfall earlier in the day.

But Jaffer, having been let off by wicketkeeper Matt Prior off Sidebottom before he had opened his account, first, cautiously and, then, more confidently, eased into his wristy elegance.

If anyone either abandoned coming to the match or went home after watching the midday downpour, they could hardly be blamed, for it was a ferocious deluge. 21 overs were lost to the weather.

England’s lapse in concentration surfaced on the very first day. Today, they lost their remaining six wickets for a paltry 32 runs.

S. Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan produced an off-stump line, as opposed to bowling on batsmen’s legs. Only Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell really presented a potential barrier.

The former went early, edging one that seamed away; the other persevered — hooking the Kerala quickie and cover driving Zaheer for handsome fours — before playing on. Pietersen’s added only three runs to his overnight score.

England (1st innings)

Strauss c Dravid b Kumble 96

Cook lbw Ganguly 36

Vaughan c Dhoni b RP Singh 79

Pietersen c Dhoni b Zaheer 37

Collingwood lbw Kumble 0

Sidebottom b RP Singh 1

Bell b Zaheer 20

Prior lbw Sreesanth 1

Tremlett lbw Sreesanth 0

Panesar lbw Sreesanth 0

Anderson not out 0

Extras (b-9, lb-10, w-7, nb-2) 28

Total (all out, 91.2 overs) 298

Fall of wickets: 1-76, 2-218, 3-252, 4-255, 5-272, 6-286, 7-287, 8-287, 9-297.

Bowling: Zaheer 18.2-4-62-2, Sreesanth 22-8-67-3, RP Singh 17-6-58-2, Ganguly 9-3-24-1, Kumble 23-2-60-2, Tendulkar 2-0-8-0.

India (1st innings)

Karthik lbw Sidebottom 5

Jaffer c&b Tremlett 58

Dravid c Prior b Anderson 2

Tendulkar lbw Anderson 37

Ganguly not out 25

RP Singh not out 5

Extras (b-4, lb-7, nb-2) 13

Total (4 wkts, 57 overs) 145

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-27, 3-106, 4-134.

Bowling: Sidebottom 16-4-48-1, Anderson 15-5-26-2, Tremlett 15-8-29-1, Panesar 8-3-22-0, Collingwood 3-1-9-0.

The left-arm seamer caught Pietersen’s outside edge with a perfect out-swinger
and this time there was no doubt as the ball thudded into Dhoni’s gloves at waist height. — PTI

Colombo, July 20
Pace bowler Dilhara Fernando claimed four wickets for 24 to guide Sri Lanka to a 70-run victory against Bangladesh in the first one-day international today.

At one stage, Bangladesh were well placed to cause an upset, being 45 for no wicket chasing a 235-run target, but Fernando inspired a spectacular collapse and Bangladesh were eventually bowled out for 164 in 40.3 overs.

Opener Shahriar Nafees was the top scorer for his team with 33.

Earlier, Chamara Silva and Upul Tharanga hit half-centuries to help Sri Lanka reach a modest 234-6.

Sri Lanka were struggling at 67-3 after being put in to bat, but left-handed opener Tharanga (57) and Silva (65) propped up the innings with an 83-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Bangladesh, blanked in the preceding three-Test series, rattled the hosts in the early overs with left-arm seamer Syed Rasel grabbing two wickets and paceman Mashrafe Mortaza one in their opening spells.

Sanath Jayasuriya (21), Kumar Sangakkara (16) and skipper Mahela Jayawardene (two) fell cheaply before Tharanga and Silva came to their team’s rescue.

Sri Lanka

Tharanga c Rahim b Reza 57

Jayasuriya b Rasel 21

Sangakkara c Rahim b Mortaza 16

Jayawardene c Hasan b Rasel 2

Silva lbw Razzaq 65

Dilshan c Ashraful b Mortaza 24

Mubarak not out 22

Maharoof not out 16

Extras (lb-4, w-6, nb-1) 11

Total (6 wkts, 50 overs) 234

Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-58, 3-67, 4-150, 5-190, 6-206.

Bowling: Mortaza 10-1-31-2, Rasel 10-2-43-2, Razzaq 10-0-48-1, Reza 10-0-42-1, Hasan 8-0-50-0, Ahmed 2-0-16-0.

Bangladesh

Iqbal c Jayawardene b Fernando 11

Nafees c Silva b Fernando 33

Imran lbw Fernando 0

Shakib c Sangakkara b Maharoof 0

Ashraful c Maharoof b Fernando 4

Aftab lbw Malinga 16

Rahim c Tharanga b Bandara 28

Reza c Tharanga b Jayasuriya 28

Mortaza c&b Bandara 6

Razzak run out 28

Rasel not out 1

Extras (lb-3, w-5, nb-1) 9

Total (all out, 40.3 overs) 164

Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-46, 3-47, 4-52, 5-56, 7-76, 7-118, 8-131, 9-148.

Bowling: Maharoof 10-3-32-1, Malinga 7-0-17-1, Fernando 9-1-24-4,
Bandara 9-0-64-2, Jayasuriya 4-0-23-1, Dilshan 1-1-0-0, Mubarek 0.3-0-1-0.
— Reuters, AFP

Kolkata, July 20
In a major reprieve for former Indian cricket board chief Jagmohan Dalmiya, the Calcutta High Court today stayed his suspension from the BCCI, allowing him to contest the board elections.

Dalmiya stepped up his offensive by filing a perjury case against the BCCI, president Sharad Pawar, secretary Niranjan Shah, vice-presidents Shashank Manohar and Chirayu Amin.

Charges had been framed against Dalmiya by the BCCI at an extraordinary meeting at Jaipur on December 16 last year.

Dalmiya had been accused of defalcation of money and other corruption charges and he had been suspended for life from the BCCI, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and other cricket organisations.

He had also been debarred from participating in any elections in any cricket organisations in the country or abroad.

Upholding Dalmiya’s appeal, Justice Indira Banerjee observed that the rule under which he was suspended by the Pawar-led regime was not registered and as such it was illegal.

Justice Banerjee said in her order that now there was no bar on the seasoned cricket administrator from contesting any elections of the BCCI or the CAB.

However, Dalmiya decided not to contest the CAB elections on July 28. No nomination was filed by him or on his behalf on the last day of filing of nominations today.

As a result, the present officiating CAB president, city police chief Prasun Mukherjee, was declared elected unopposed to the president’s post.

The BCCI responded by moving a Division Bench and sought leave to move an appeal on Monday against the order of Justice Banerjee, claiming that the order would affect the functioning of the BCCI and also several of its previous decisions.

Board counsel Ranjan Bachawat told the court that the appeal would be filed on Monday.

Meanwhile, Dalmiya’s counsel Arindam Banerjee alleged in the petition that the board had placed a forged document before Justice Banerjee regarding the condonation of time application for registration of an amendment to the BCCI’s clause V of Rule 38.

He alleged that the board had wrongly claimed to have got permission from the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration body to register the amendment at a later date.

Lahore, July 20
The prestigious Champions Hockey Trophy slated to be held here from December 1 to 9 is in jeopardy as Australia has pulled out of it due to security reasons.

Hockey Australia has informed the International Hockey Federation (FIH) its inability to accept the invitation to participate in the six-nation elite tournament, according to sources here.

Spain is likely to follow Australia and will pull out of the tournament, the sources said, adding that these two withdrawals will have a cascading effect and other teams may also join the bandwagon.

This is the second time in three years that Australian team has pulled out of FIH showcase events.

The Olympic champions had opted out of the the 2004 Champions Trophy held here also because of security reasons.

The present security situation in Pakistan where forces stormed into a mosque in Islamabad, followed by bomb blasts and attacks on security forces, are being termed as the main reasons for the Australian hockey team's withdrawal from the prestigious event.

The Olympic champions' decision is a big blow for Pakistan Hockey Federation, coming at a time when the Cricket Australia's security delegation is in the country to evaluate facilities and security.

The delegation was greeted by a bomb blast in Islamabad just before a meeting organised for suspended Chief Justice of Pakistan.

Already the Australian Government has advised its citizens to reconsider their travel plans to Pakistan.

However, sources said the PHF was hopeful that Spain will take part because Pakistan did not pull out of the Olympic qualifying event held in Madrid in 2004 though bomb blasts had taken place there during that period.

At that time the FIH and all teams had vowed to carry on with the event with the view to put up a brave front against terrorism.

Interestingly, PHF Secretary Khalid Mahmood had recently told the Voice of America that ''teams can pick and choose to participate or skip any event for the reasons suiting to them.''

He had given this statement when he was asked why Pakistan refused to participate in the Asia Cup to be held in India in September.

Khalid Mahmood's statement may leave the PHF with no line of defence to press foreign teams to participate in the Champions Trophy in case of their refusal. — UNI

Cincinnati, July 20
Top seeds Sania Mirza and American Bethanie Mattek hardly broke a sweat as they trounced Lilia Osterloh and Anastasia Rodionova in straight sets to breeze into the doubles semifinals of the $175,000 Cincinnati Open.

Sania and Bethanie took little over an hour to thrash the US-Russian pair 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinal yesterday.

Sania and Bethanie were in control right from the beginning as they held their serve, besides breaking the US-Russian pair twice, to clinch the opening set.

The Indian, playing on a wildcard, beat the local favourite 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 in the hardcourt event. — PTI

Hanoi, July 20
After negotiating a treacherous group phase, the Asian Cup's eight surviving teams are set to do battle in the quarter-finals.

A sequence of surprise results in the first round has produced an unexpected quarter-final line-up that promises more twists and turns over the concluding week of the competition.

Australia's shock loss to Iraq means the pre-tournament favourites have the daunting challenge of playing defending champions Japan in the most eagerly-anticipated match of the championship.

Regional powerhouses South Korea and Iran have also been drawn together somewhat prematurely, while three-times champions Saudi Arabia face an unlikely opponent in Uzbekistan, who advanced at the expense of China.

Co-hosts Vietnam are the surprise package of the 14th Asian Cup after sneaking through to the last eight where they face Iraq, who endured a haphazard build-up to the tournament due to the security situation back home.

Despite making their first appearance at the Asian Cup, Australia were widely regarded as the early favourites after reaching the second round of last year's World Cup.

But a sloppy start to Group A in Bangkok saw them finish second behind Iraq, setting up a quarter-final match with Group B winners Japan in Hanoi tomorrow.

''We're going to have to come up against one of the favourites some time so this is as good a time as any,'' Australia coach Graham Arnold said. — Reuters

Chetan Anand, Anup Sridhar, Ajay Jayaram, Nikhil Kanetkar and P Kashyap had exited out of the tournament with straight set first round defeats. — UNI

Chandigarh, July 20
A bad return nine saw Rahul Bakshi lose three strokes for a three-over card to tie for the 36th spot after the third round of the World Junior Golf Championship in San Diego, California, yesterday.

However, Jaipur golfer Amanjyot Singh failed to make the cut because of a better back-nine score by Thai golfer Naeosuk after the two had tied for the 52nd spot with identical 230 scores after three rounds.

Sixteen-year-old Rahul Bakshi of Chandigarh started day three with birdies on the second and third holes. Playing par on the subsequent four holes, he committed a blunder which resulted in a double bogey on the eighth hole. He finished the first nine at par.

The return nine was even worse. Rahul lost a stroke each on the 11th and 17th holes and double-bogeyed on the 14th. A compensatory birdie on the last hole saw Rahul finish with a three-over card for a three-round aggregate of 230.

For Amanjyot it was a bad day, and he paid the price by missing the cut. He finished tied with Thailand’s Naeosuk for the 52nd spot.

Jalandhar, July 20
As many as 76 sportspersons from Punjab Police who have ended their sports career in the past 15 years received lifetime achievement awards and 52 others who are still active received awards of excellence at a ceremony held here today.

The ceremony began almost 45 minutes late due to delayed arrived of the chief guest, DGP Punjab N.P.SPadam Shree, Arjuna Award, Dhyan Chand Award, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award and Olymp. Aulakh.

 Most of the lifetime achievement awardees included those who have already won ians, Asian Games winners, Commonwealth Games medalists and international stars in wrestling, athletics, hockey, basketball, boxing, cycling, football, judo, weightlifting and other sports.

Prominent among them were wrestler Kartar Singh, athletes Sunita Rani and Bahadur Singh, basketball players Paramdeep Singh Teja, Mander Singh Sandhu and Sajjan Singh Cheema, hockey players Balbir Singh, Dharam Singh, Surjit Singh (posthumous), boxer Jaipal Singh and bodybuilder Prem Chand Degra.

Awards of excellence went to athletes Manjit Kaur, Harminder Singh, Rajwinder Kaur, basketball players Gagnesh Kumar and Pritpal Singh, hockey players Gaganajit Singh, Jugraj Singh (father took the award) and Kanwalpreet Singh, wrestlers Gurbinder Singh and Palwinder Singh Cheema and many other stars.