Leicester, August 3
Rookie medium pacer Ranadeb Bose (5-51) struck telling blows as India bowled out Sri Lanka ‘A’ for 266 on the opening day of the three-day warm-up match at the Grace Road ground here today.

At close of play, India were 25 for 1 in reply, having lost the wicket of Dinesh Karthik.

Sri Lanka ‘A’ were sailing merrily at 111 for 2 before Bose came up with an excellent spell after lunch to remove Malinda Warnapura (3) and opener Michael Vandort (52).

Just before tea, he trapped Kaushal Lokuarachchi (35) leg before wicket and later dismissed last man Chanaka Welegedara. Ramesh Powar finished with a haul of 4-85, including the wicket of top-scorer Thilan Samaraweera (75).

Sri Lanka were rescued by the sixth-wicket pair of captain Samaraweera and Lokuarachchi, who batted with a lot of pluck, and some luck, to prop up their side after Bose’s strikes had reduced them to 146 for 5 soon after lunch.

Samaraweera and Lokuarachchi stitched together a vital stand of 62 runs before the latter was out for 35 at the stroke of tea. Samaraweera’s valiant knock, which included nine fours, ended in the last session.

Electing to bat, Sri Lanka ‘A’ were given a steady start by Vandort and Mehela Udawatta, who put on 32 runs for the first wicket. Ramesh Powar drew first blood by getting rid of Udawatta (20).

Diruwan Perera was the second man to be dismissed when he departed just before lunch edging Ranadeb Bose to VVS Laxman at second slip for 34. Perera shared a 73-run stand with Vandort.

The Lankans reached 107 for two at lunch, but lost four wickets in the second session. Vandort, who has three Test hundreds to his credit, batted with a lot of discipline on a bright sunny morning.

India rested Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and S. Sreesanth, giving a chance to Bose, Ishant Sharma, Powar and Gautam Gambhir.

Sri Lanka ‘A’ (1st innings)

Vandort c Gambhir b Bose 52

Udawatte b Powar 20

Perera c Laxman b Bose 34

Warnapura c Karthik b Bose 3

Samaraweera c Karthik b Powar 75

Silva c&b Ishant 4

Lokuarachchi lbw Bose 35

Prasad not out 23

Herath lbw Powar 0

Ganegama b Powar 0

Welegedara c Karthik b Bose 1

Extras (b-4, lb-12, w-2, nb-1) 19

Total (all out, 76.2 overs) 266

Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-105, 3-111, 4-122, 5-146, 6-208, 7-259, 8-259, 9-261.

Bowling: Bose 18.2-4-51-5, Ishant 17-5-57-1, Powar 24- 2-85-4, Kumble 11-1-36-0, Dhoni 3-0-13-0, Yuvraj 3-1-8-0.

India (1st innings)

Karthik c Silva b Prasad 11

Jaffer not out 7

Gambhir not out 3

Extras (lb-2, nb-2) 4

Total (1 wkt, 11 overs) 25

Fall of wicket: 1-20.

Bowling: Ganegama 5-3-5-0, Welegedara 3-1-15-0, Prasad 2-0-3-1, Perera 1-1-0-0. — Agencies

Leicester, August 3
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been finding the wobbly Duke ball tough to negotiate from behind the stumps and has sought the advice of former players, including India's legendary Farokh Engineer.

"I have never seen the ball swing so much. It's not just me, most of the players feel the same way. Even our bowlers have acknowledged that the Duke ball has been swinging a lot, beyond their own expectations," Dhoni told PTI.

"However, it's not the swing but the wobble that has been testing wicketkeepers with their reflexes and athletic brilliance." Dhoni and the Indian team support staff have been consulting veteran wicketkeepers to help improve his glovework.

"I spoke to Farokh Engineer and some former players and they've told me to concentrate hard on my job and not to worry too much," Dhoni said.

"Wicketkeepers do have problems when the conditions are too difficult. Even Matt Prior (England wicketkeeper) has had to keep diving around all day and he too hasn't looked great."

India' fielding coach Robin Singh said, "I've been talking to Alec Stewart (former England wicketkeeper) and others here. I even spoke to Andy Flower, who gave up the gloves in this sort of scenario."

Dhoni further said, "It's happening only with Zaheer (Khan) and Sreesanth because they swing the ball and make it wobble. However, there's been no problem when I'm standing up to RP (Rudra Pratap Singh).

"Since the ball is wobbling so much, once it pitches, it moves pretty late and that too by a long way.

"You can't make any movement beforehand because if it takes the edge, it might come straight or to your right.

"At the same time, once it pitches on or around the off stump, the ball jags back late by a long way down the leg side."

While Dhoni may have had a hard time with the gloves in this series, the team is fully backing him since they are aware of the demanding conditions.

On the eve of the series, captain Rahul Dravid said, "Dhoni has done nothing wrong in international cricket," while fielding coach Robin Singh felt that the good thing about the Jharkhand player was that he had not lost his confidence." — PTI

Russia’s Elena Dementieva celebrates on beating France’s Marion Bartoli in the third round of the Acura Classic tennis tournament in Carlsbad, California, on Thursday. — Reuters photo

San Diego (California), August 3
Sania Mirza recorded her fourth top-20 win in a week to set up a blockbuster quarterfinal clash with world no. 2 Maria Sharapova at the $ 600,000 Acura Classic women's tennis event here.

Sania, who has been on a roll the past fortnight, sustained her awesome form to demolish eighth seed Dinara Safina of Russia, world ranked 14, 6-1 6-2 in a third round match on Thursday.

For the 20-year-old Indian, it will be a rematch of the US Open fourth round in 2005 against Sharapova, the top seed at the Tier 1 WTA Tour event here.

The Indian, who is unseeded this week, beat world no. 18 Shahar Peer, also her doubles partner, in the first round. She also won against 17th ranked Patty Schnyder of Switzerland and Tatiana Golovin of France, ranked 19th, last week at Stanford.

"I played Sania a long time ago," said Sharapova, who routed Tatiana Golovin 6-0 6-3 to reach the last-eight stage.

"She is playing really good tennis and is a dangerous opponent," Sharapova said.

However, it turned out be a disappointing day for Sania in doubles as she and Peer crashed out in the second round. The Indo-Israeli pair lost to Su-Wei Hseih (Taipei) and Alla Kudryavtseva (Russia) 6-3 3-6 10-12.

Bangalore, August 3
Sharad Pawar, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said today that Team India would have a new coach in a month’s time.

The BCCI, which got egg on its face during the last exercise conducted by it to appoint a coach, has now requested other cricket boards to recommend names for the post. These are the boards of England, Australia, New Zealand and West Indies.

Talking to newspersons on the issue after a meeting of the Karnataka State Cricket Association here, Pawar said these boards had been told about the requirements needed for the job.

The BCCI seems to have re-discovered the importance of a coach after statements stressing on how well the “boys” were doing without a full-time coach recently. Pawar, who had stated a few days ago that the role of a coach should not be over-rated, now said the hiring of a coach was a top priority for the board.

Explaining the process the board will follow this time, the BCCI president said a shortlist of candidates would be made, following which the selection would be done by a three-member committee constituted for the purpose.

He said the services of bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and fielding coach Robin Singh would be retained for another year. “Both have made a difference to the team, which is also happy with them,” he added.

When asked about the future role of former coach Greg Chappell in Indian cricket, Pawar said there was no proposal to appoint him as coach for the National Cricket Academy. He said a suggestion regarding this might have been made by “somebody” but that “there is no such proposal as of today”.

When questioned about the jelly-bean episode, Pawar said the issue would be discussed at the forthcoming meeting of the ICC at Dubai on August 4. “However, it is best forgotten”, he added, indicating that India was not likely to adopt a tough stance on the matter.

Mumbai (PTI): Taking a tough stand, the BCCI on Friday warned that any player aligning with the rebel Indian Cricket League will be banned for life from playing for India.

The board also said that players signing up for the breakaway league will also be barred from taking part in all domestic tournaments.

“Our stand is very clear. Players who take part in the ICL will never be eligible to play for the country again. It is up to the players to decide what they want to do,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah told PTI here.

Asked whether the ban would also be applicable for young players who have not played for the country yet, Shah said, “Definitely. It is applicable for all players.”

New Delhi, August 3
Five countries, including India - the others being Krygyzstan, Cambodia, Syria and Bangladesh - have confirmed their participation in the Prize Money ONGC Nehru Cup International Football Tournament, to be held at the flood-lit Ambedkar Stadium here from August 17 to 29.

The AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco announced here today that out of the over Rs 40 lakh in prize money, the winners will take home Rs 20 lakh. Colaco said the tournament was strictly for the national teams and no less than the National A teams of the participating countries would be permitted.

Colaco said discussions were continuing with Iran for their participation in the tournament though the AIFF was not happy with the team Iran had initially wanted to field.

The AIFF secretary said there was no possibility of Iraq fielding their team for the tournament as presently, the Iraqi Football Federation was based in Amman (Jordan) and most of their players were playing for different clubs in West Asia and other parts of the world.

Colaco said the revival of the Nehru Cup International Tournament, the last edition of which was held in Cochin (Kerala) in 1997, had become inevitable for the development of Indian soccer and to give the much-needed foreign exposure to the players as it was not always possible for the AIFF to send out teams for foreign exposure.

Moreover, India needed to play more international tournaments to push up their ranking, as the country are presently languishing at a lowly 162nd position and the Nehru Cup would evolve into a good ranking tournament in the coming years with the sanction of the FIFA.

Colaco said it would be an interesting coincidence that the Nehru Cup would be revived two days after India celebrate its 60th anniversary of Independence.

Meanwhile, Alberto Colaco said three states — Punjab, Orissa and Assam — had been shortlisted for hosting the Federation Cup, from September 4. Kerala were also in the fray, but since the State had played host to the championship seven times it has been eliminated from the fray.

The responsibility of hosting the Federation Cup is likely to fall on Punjab, as the state has never hosted the national championship for clubs while Assam (Guwahati) and Orissa (Cuttack) had hosted the event once each.

Chandigarh, August 3
India’s No. 1 amateur Anirban Lahiri braved a valiant fightback by Manav Das of Ambala to triumph at the LG Jaypee Open Amateur Golf Championship, which incidentally was his last tournament as an amateur, at the par-72 Jaypee Greens in the Capital today.

Lahiri, who shot a three under 69 today, finished the tournament at six under 282. Manav brought in a final-round card of one-over 73 to finish second at 286, while Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu finished third at 293 after shooting a final-round 73.

Oil India’s Abhishek Jha carded a final round of one-under 71 to finish fourth at 296. Three-time Sri Lanka Amateur champion Oil India’s Simarjeet Singh fired a one-under 71 to share the fifth place with ONGC’s Vikram Rana (75) at 297. Abhinav Lohan and Mithun Perera were a further stroke behind in tied seventh place at 298.

Lahiri had a bogey-free round today. He started confidently with a birdie on the first hole, where he used a driver-lob wedge combination to nail the ball to within 4 ft of the pin.

A birdie on the sixth saw him make the turn at two-under. On the back nine, Lahiri birdied the 11th and parred the remaining holes to clinch the title.

“I am really happy to win my last tournament as an amateur,” said Lahiri. “I putted well and I am glad that I didn’t drop any shots today,” he added.

Manav started with birdies on the second and fourth but dropped a shot on the ninth, where he missed a 10-ft putt to turn at one-under. On the back nine, he bogeyed the 12th and 14th, birdied the 16th but dropped a shot on the 17th, where he missed a 3 ft-putt.

Ajeetesh started well with a birdie on the first but then dropped shots on the ninth and 11th to end at 73. “The greens were a bit soggy and that affected my putting,” he said.