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India hiccups to victory
Indians bowled the right line: Vaughan
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Sreesanth fined
Sledging: Boycott blames ICC
Brazil submits bid for 2014 World Cup
JCT, JCT Academy split points
Kang tied 3rd, Lahiri leads
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India hiccups to victory
Ultimately, it was a creditable rather than comprehensive victory for India on another glorious day, but with only a sprinkling of spectators, among them, clearly, ardent Indian fans. A 10-wicket win would have amounted to the latter. Nevertheless, a seven-wicket success is significant - India cricketers’ second in England this decade after the drought in the 1990s. Chandu Borde, India’s cricket manager, raced to the pavilion gate to greet skipper Rahul Dravid and the other unbeaten batsman, Sourav Ganguly as they triumphantly walked away from the field. Indian supporters danced Bhangra in celebrations; the players retired to their hotel to savour the special moment. India completed the formality of scoring 73 runs to cross the line. But not before the tree-trunk-like figure of Chris Tremlett had tested the sprinters with a fiery spell, albeit on a wearing pitch, which had become slightly unpredictable in bounce. The overnight openers commenced the fifth morning by piercing the close in cordon with well timed cuts to the thirdman boundary. Both looked comfortable, especially Wasim Jaffer, who gave vent to his penchant for the onside. But having greeted Tremlett with a hook for four, he rather casually attempted to repeat the stroke against a ball pitched outside the off-stump, only to top edge the shot. Dinesh Karthik, then, received an almost unplayable ball, which ascended steeply from around off-stump to graze his gloves en route to the wicket-keeper. Then, the aggressive, hit-the-deck fast Hampshire fast bowler dug one in to Sachin Tendulkar around his ribs. He fended it down, but not enough to escape leg gully. It seemed a forerunner of the shape of tactics to come in the final test at The Oval, London starting August 9. Not surprisingly, Zaheer Khan was heralded as the Man of the Match. His return of five for 75 in England’s second innings in conditions less favourable to swing than earlier in the match proved to be decisive. He has rarely, if ever, bowled better. It drew comparisons with the wizard of left-arm fast bowlers, Wasim Akram, in a section of English media, particularly because Khan seems to have perfected the art of confusing right-handed batsmen from around the wicket - now an additional weapon in his armoury. It was, however, a team effort. No Indian carved out a century in this test, yet the tourist pegged a total of 481 and a psychologically daunting lead of 283. Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer laid the foundation with an invaluable first wicket partnership of 147; Sachin Tendulkar’s stands of 99 and 96 with Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, respectively, all but finished the job. Tendulkar and Ganguly’s blunting of the second new ball on the 3rd morning was meaningful. But masterly defiance from Michael Vaughan - batting as well as he’s ever done - delayed the inevitable. It required perseverance from the indefatigable Khan to dislodge this barrier, though Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood showed intent if not the ability to save the match for the Englishmen. But the visitors have their work cut out if they to return home with the Pataudi Trophy, donated by the Marylebone Cricket Club to mark 75 years of India in tests. Rudra Pratap Singh, a clone of Khan, while promising, was inconsistent. Anil Kumble failed to trouble England’s top order. Most worryingly, Sreesanth allowed his hostility to reach unsporting terrain. Fined 50 per cent of his match fee for bumping into Vaughan, he once bowled a bouncer from around the wicket, which was a no ball by a good yard! Dravid and Borde need to step in. Similarly, throwing jelly beans on the wicket, as the English fielders did while Khan was batting, is unacceptable behaviour at the highest level of the game.
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Indians bowled the right line: Vaughan
Nottingham, July 31 "Zaheer was brilliant. We need players who can come ahead and play like him. He helped us get the game by the scruff of the neck," Dravid said after leading India to seven-wicket win at Trent Bridge. "Our bowlers put the bowl in the right areas which was very important for us to win the match," he added. The Indian captain, who now looks forward to a series win in England after over a two decade gap, praised the team as a whole and players' collective effort. "Everyone had some contribution in it. We knew we had players who could do well. It was a new innings after the Lord's (when the team was saved from a certain defeat due to weather)." Dravid said openers Dinesh Kaarthick and Wasim Jaffer gave India the chance to dominate in the match from the second day itself by laying a strong foundation. "The middle order definitely answered back to their critics. We did it even without a hundred from anyone. The openers are also learning and they gave us the chance to dominate in the match from the start," he said. Dravid said he expected it to be a tough encounter till the end even though India needed just 63 more runs for the win on the final day. "It was a close match. It was a tough match. I expected it to be so as I did not think England were going to lie down till the end," he said. England captain Michael Vaughan also praised the Indian bowlers for bowling right line and length during the whole match. “They bowled in right areas. It was a very-very good bowling from Zaheer. He bowled beautifully,” he said. Vaughan, who has an impeccable record at home, said “We played some good cricket. But 60-70 more runs could have really helped us,” he said. On the umpiring errors, he said “you have to play in the spirit of the game”. Zaheer, who gave heroic performance of 5-75 in the second innings to claim the match haul of nine wickets, said he enjoyed bowling in English conditions. — PTI
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Sreesanth fined
Nottingham, July 31 Sreesanth, charged after shouldering Vaughan during the first session yesterday, pleaded guilty to a Level 2 offence in a hearing convened by Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle after stumps were drawn. The bowler accepted he breached clause 2.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to "inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play." India manager Chandu Borde and captain Rahul Dravid also attended the hearing. — PTI
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Sledging: Boycott blames ICC
London, July 31 Both the English and Indian players have been involved in on-field spats more often than not during the Lords and Trent Bridge Tests and Boycott, known for having a purist's approach towards the game, lashed out at the trend calling for its end. ''The ICC are to blame for not telling umpires to be much firmer with the players,'' Boycott told BBC Radio Five. ''They are the guardians of the game, they run it,'' he added. — UNI
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San Diego, California, July 31 The former world number one and San Diego champion has been contending with a shoulder injury all year and has not won a title since October. After losing at the French Open and Wimbledon last year, she arrived in San Diego refreshed and aiming to make a major statement in the U.S. hardcourt season. She did so in resounding fashion, beating Kim Clijsters in the final and then winning her second grand slam title at the U.S. Open by defeating Justine Henin in the final. This year, Serbian teenager Ana Ivanovic crushed her in the French Open semi-finals and eventual champion Venus Williams overpowered her in the fourth round at Wimbledon. The 20-year-old is not completely down on her year, but she is not celebrating 2007 either. Consistent basis"When you are a Grand Slam champion and achieve so much, people expect you to be up there and I expect it myself," Sharapova told Reuters. "I know I'm capable of beating all the players and have done so before, so it's a matter of doing it on a consistent basis and doing it on my terms. "It's been a up and down year for me. I'm riding the line and waiting for opportunity to set myself apart like I did last year." Sharapova, the world number two, knows that will not be easy as her right shoulder is not completely healed and she suffered a minor foot injury last week in practice. "When you are injured you don't realise how happy you were to be healthy," she said. "It sets a whole different bar, sets your mood, and sets your practice level. It restricts you." But Sharapova believes that if she can get enough matches in the U.S. and avoid a physical catastrophe, that she will be factor for the rest of the season. High level
"I just need to keep a high level, which doesn't mean winning tournament after tournament, because sometimes that's physically hard. But I proved last year that I could do it." Sharapova was criticised for failing to show up at two of Russia's Fed Cup ties this year. After she pulled out of the semi-final earlier this month against the U.S., which Russia won 3-2, captain Shamil Tarpischev was quoted as saying that he would not consider her for the final against Italy in Moscow in September. But Sharapova has made herself available for the final and says she is committed to playing if named to the squad. Nadia Petrova, part of the team that beat the U.S., told Reuters that she thinks Sharapova was healthy enough to be able to make the effort to play the tie. "This is a serious enough issue for me to be honest about," Sharapova said. "It's about my team mates and my tennis, so why would I create fictional information? "I take criticism good and bad and I respect it. I totally understand that my injury has created a big issue, but at the end of the day there aren't a lot of top players who get far in grand slams and get ready to play Fed Cup." Sharapova has a first-round bye in San Diego and will play either Laura Granville or Tamarine Tanasugarn on Wednesday. — Reuters
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Brazil submits bid for 2014 World Cup
Zurich, July 31 A Brazilian delegate, headed by CBF president Ricardo Teixeira, handed over a 900-page dossier at the headquarters of world soccer’s governing body but declined to answer media questions on the size of the bid budget or any potential challenges it faced. Brazil last staged the World Cup in 1950 and is the only country bidding to stage the 2014 version, having benefited from FIFA’s decision to rotate the World Cup between different continents. Colombia briefly launched a rival bid but withdrew in April. FIFA president Sepp Blatter has repeatedly warned however, that Brazil must still meet the logistical and financial requirements of staging the tournament or risk the competition being opened up to nations from outside South America. Blatter said FIFA would begin inspections of all aspects of Brazil’s bid at the end of August before taking its final decision on October 30, following a meeting of the organisation’s executive committee. Brazilian best-selling author Paulo Coelho, an official ambassador for the bid, came closest to addressing the challenges faced by Brazil. “I saw the World Cup in Germany and how it changed the soul of the country,” said Coelho. “In Brazil it will change the body and soul of my country, meaning that all the infrastructure we need will surely be put in place.” — Reuters
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Chandigarh, July 31 Both teams were playing their fourth match. JCT Academy increased their points tally to seven and are jointly sharing the second spot with Punjab Police, who have also secured identical seven points from four outings. Rail Coach Factory of Kapurthala are leading the table with nine points. JCT and Punjab State Electricity Board have collected six and five points, respectively. Border Security Force, Jalandhar and Mahilpur Football Club of Hoshiarpur are facing relegation with two and one points, respectively. Coming to the match, it was JCT which drew the first blood through Sakatar in the 25th minute and Lahlimathara Mahlima put JCT Academy on par by scoring in the 70th minute. Sarabjit Singh of JCT Academy was given yellow card by referee Balwinder Singh for rough play, in the 49th minute. — UNI
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Kang tied 3rd, Lahiri leads
Chandigarh, July 31 India’s top amateur Anirban Lahiri fired a three-under card of 69 to take the lead, with Abhishek Jha occupying the second spot, three strokes behind. Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu and Manav Das of Ambala shared the fifth place with K. Prabagaran, Amit Nigam and 14-year-old Kapil Kumar, each returning identical cards of 74. Lahiri had a perfect round. He erred only once, and that on the 15th hole, where he three-putted from 20 ft. He birdied the sixth, seventh and ninth to make the turn at three-under. He birdied the 10th to finish at three-under. “I missed the short putts on the first, third and fourth holes, otherwise things could have been still better”, said Lahiri. A 10th tee starter H. S. Kang dropped a shot on the 12th, where he missed an easy three-foot putt. But then the Oil India golfer got a grip on his game and sunk birdies on the 13th and 14th. A bogey on the 18th saw him make the turn at level-par. On the return leg , Kang bogeyed the third to finish at one-over 73.
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Wushu Tourney Arpit grabs gold Tribune News Service@@Ambala, July 31 @@The Ambala district wushu tournament was held at Anand Memorial Sports Complex here today.@@Results@@Sub-junior boys; up to 20 kg: Arpit gold, Tanmay Pal silver, Tusshar Aggarwal bronze; 20-24 kg: Shubham gold, Jatin silver and Bhanu bronze; 24-28 kg: Abhinav gold, Rohit silver and Udit bronze; 28-32 kg: Vikram Hans gold, Manvinder Singh silver and Manish bronze; 32-36 kg: Sardeep gold, Jermiah John silver and Shivam bronze; 36-40 kg: Saurabh gold, Aakash silver and Viraj bronze; 40-44 kg: Jagdeep Singh gold, Darpandeep silver and Abhishek Saini bronze; 44-48 kg: Jasdeep gold, Garvit silver and Jaspreet bronze; 48-52 kg: Sparsh gold, Herambh silver and Jatinder bronze.@@Junior boys; up to 45 kg: Prashant gold, Sohan Lal silver and Sumit bronze; 45-48 kg: Sandeep Singh gold, Karambeer Singh silver and Deep Chand bronze; 48-52 kg: Sanjeev gold, Manpreet Singh silver and Ravi Chawla bronze; 52-56 kg, Harshdeep gold, Gursimran silver and Gagandeep bronze; 56-60 kg: Yogesh Nath gold, Jitender silver and Daljeet bronze; 60-65 kg: Upender gold and Parminder Singh silver; 70-75 kg: Nikunj gold and Sourabh silver; 80-85 kg: Shray gold.@@Senior boys; up to 48 kg: Vinod gold, Rajesh Nehra silver; 48-52 kg: Pankaj Dogra gold and Rinku Kumar silver; 56-60 kg: Deepak gold, Ramesh silver and Inderjit bronze; 75-80 kg: Pawandeep Singh gold and Deep silver.@@Sub-junior girls; 24-28 kg: Sakshi gold and Mansi silver; 28-32 kg: Priya gold, Aradhana silver and Jasmeet bronze; 40-44 kg: Harmanjot Kaur gold and Harjeet Kaur silver; 44-48 kg: Deepti gold and Kajal Rana silver.@@Junior girls; up to 45 kg: Sonika gold, Shhama silver and Manpreet Kaur bronze; 56-60 kg: Sonia gold, Samreet Gill silver and Sanjana Anand bronze.
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