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India face uphill task
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 India can be dangerous: Ponting ‘Last game was semifinal, this one is final’ Nagpur, October 13 Australian captain Ricky Ponting today cautioned his teammates against complacency ahead of the sixth one-dayer against India, saying the hosts could be "most dangerous" when pushed to the corner. 
‘Racism unacceptable’
Symonds ‘racial abuse’ row
Fernando destroys England
Jyoti soars to joint lead
MATCH FIXING
Punjab eves rout Delhi in baseball
Punjab take 93-run lead
Haryana girls in super league
BBK DAV eves
win squash title
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Nagpur, October 13 The nine-wicket thrashing in Vadodara not only allowed the Australians to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the seven-match series but came as a big blow for the home team which had raised hopes of a spirited fightback. The Indians have now been left with the daunting task of winning the last two matches to level the series, a task which is not impossible but appears extremely difficult going by their current form. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has asked his teammates to forget the Vadodara humiliation and look ahead to the remaining two matches of the series but the Australians are in no mood to allow India to recover at all. The key to the Indian batting lies in the opening partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly as the wicket promises a feast of runs after a dew-freshened first hour's play. There could be some help to the new ball bowlers in the morning, with the dew factor coming into play though the wicket would be covered overnight. It would be interesting to see what decision Mahendra Singh Dhoni takes if he wins the toss for the second successive time in the rubber. Mitchell Johnson, the 25-year-old left arm swing bowler, who grabbed his maiden five-wicket haul in Vadodara, and Brett Lee were the nemesis of India in the last game and could again pose a big threat in the first hour's play because of the morning dew. But the Indians, at this point, seem better at setting up a target than chasing it and the team is confident of not only winning the tie tomorrow, but also the seventh and last one at the Wankhede Stadium. "Why not (about India drawing level in the rubber)? The boys are confident. They have come back from 0-2 down in England to level the series 3-3 (and then lost it 3-4). We will go in with positive intent and the boys are very confident," Rajput said. Barring Tendulkar, who came up with an elegant 47 to mark his 400 ODI appearance, the rest of the top-order batsmen succumbed to the swing of Johnson and speed of Lee, who removed struggling Rahul Dravid for a duck. India would be hoping for a big turn-around in Dravid's form, as he is one batsman who can lend solidity to the middle order and bat around the other stroke-makers which will help them to launch an attack in the last overs. Dravid's in woeful touch, having mustered only 44 runs in four innings and the total includes two ducks. An important aspect which could impact the result and strengthen India's hands is the hip injury sustained by the imposing Matthew Hayden when he made a turn for the second run during his half century stand with Adam Gilchrist at Vadodara. If Hayden is unable to play, it would be a huge relief for the Indian bowlers who have been at the receiving end of an imperious assault from Hayden and Andrew Symonds in the series so far. Sources in the Australian camp feel he's almost certain to play after having responded well to the treatment for the injury. But the additional worrying factor from the fifth game is the rediscovered touch of the other opening marauder in the Australian team, Gilchrist. — PTI
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India can be dangerous: Ponting
Nagpur, October 13 "The last game was more like a semi-final and this is probably a proper final where the series is on the line. We can stitch the series up if we win this game," Ponting said. "But this is where India can be at their most dangerous as well. They have nothing to lose. They can come out and just enjoy the game without probably a lot of pressure on them. That's when most teams can be pretty dangerous. We are aware of that and we will have to make sure we start the game well tomorrow," Ponting told reporters on the match eve. Ponting said though the tourists had put up their best show in the previous game they cannot afford to get carried away. "It's a venue where we have played a couple of games. One was a pretty good Test win (2004-05), which clinched the series. It's a big game for us tomorrow. If we win, we clinch the series," he said. "The last performance was the best part of the series so far. It was a very comprehensive win. But we can't get carried away. We are working very hard. We will go out there and try to improve and play and brand of cricket that we know we are capable of," he said. Ponting said there was some doubt regarding the fitness of opener Matthew Hayden and he will undergo a fitness test a few hours before the match. "Maddie has done a little bit of work at the ground. He was a bit sore coming to the ground. He's improved dramatically over the last couple of days. He has not done any batting today.” Ponting said there won't be a change in the team unless Hayden fails the fitness test tomorrow morning. "The balance of our team is pretty good. With (Mitchell) Johnson bowling the way he did in the last game and Brett (Lee) bowling the way he has done through the series there's no way that we can get any of the other fast bowlers into the team. "The batting line-up has been doing a pretty good job as well, " he said. — PTI ‘Racism unacceptable’ Ponting on Saturday denounced the alleged racist remarks by fans against Andrew Symonds during the fifth cricket one-dayer against India in Vadodara and called for an early end to the controversial issue. Ponting said the ICC Match Referee was aware of the incident and would hopefully mention it in his report. "Racism is unacceptable anywhere in the world. You don't expect it to happen when you step out to play. He (Symonds) did not deserve it and you don't expect it to happen," said Ponting on the eve of the sixth ODI.
— PTI
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Symonds ‘racial abuse’ row
Sydney, October 13 Indian and Australian media had reported, quoting visiting team officials, that sections of the crowd during the fifth ODI were heard making ''monkey noises'' directed to Symonds while he fielded near the boundary in the visitors' nine-wicket win over the hosts. But, Board of Cricket for Control in India (BCCI) Secretary Niranjan Shah said without an official complaint from the Australian team or Cricket Australia, the incident, effectively, never happened. ''I don’t understand where this anti-racism thing has come from as we have had no complaint,'' Shah was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald. ''There is always something happening in the crowd but it's unclear that it is racism. The crowd was disappointed at the (Indian) debacle of the game,'' he added. International Cricket Council (ICC) is now not remaining a silent spectator on the issue and its media spokesman was quoted as saying by Australian media as saying that the Symonds incident could be investigated after looking into the report filed by match referee Chris Broad. ''There has been no complaint from Cricket Australia but, nevertheless, we were made aware of this issue by media reports,'' the ICC spokesman said. ''First and foremost we will examine the match report of ICC match referee Chris Broad. If that report indicates an issue then, as appropriate, we would write to the host Board, in this case the BCCI, asking for their comments before proceeding further,'' he added. Meanwhile, head of ICC's investigation panel into racist matters last year and India's Solicitor General Goolam Vahanvati has asked the Australian team to make a formal complaint over the matter. — UNI
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Sreesanth’s advice to Aussies
Nagpur, October 13 "It is a pressure game. It happened in the Twenty20 matches as well. I was trying to be bit different but it's not working for me. I will try to reduce my aggression and enjoy my game," Sreesanth said. "I will concentrate on my game and think about nothing else", Sreesanth told 'CNN-IBN'. Sreesanth's brush with Australia started in the semifinal of the Twenty20 World Cup encounter and it boiled over in the Kochi game where he gestured and exchanged words with Andrew Symonds after getting him out. But in the last game in Vadodara, Ponting had come down heavily on Sreesanth for taunting the batsmen from the boundary line and wondered how he escaped punishment from the ICC Match Referee. Sreesanth, though, gave a piece of advice to Australia, ahead of tomorrow's crucial match here. "They should concentrate on the game and not concentrate on me or what we are doing," Sreesanth said when asked about his skirmishes with Australian players. — PTI
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Colombo, October 13 Fernando produced an inspired spell to bowl out England for a paltry 104 in 29.1 overs. England were chasing a modest target after their bowlers had bowled out Sri Lanka for 211 in 48.1 overs. England looked on course on 72 for 3 until Fernando trapped captain Paul Collingwood (2) lbw in the 18th over, a dismissal that sparked a dramatic collapse, with the final seven wickets falling for just 32 runs. Scoreboard Sri Lanka Perera c Musturd b Sidebottom 30 Jayasuriya c Pietersen
b Anderson 26 Sangakkara b Shah 26 Jayawardene c Broad b Sidebottom 0 Silva c Anderson b Broad 73 Dilshan run out 9 Mubarak c Bopara b Panesar 6 Lokuarachchi lbw Bopara 0 Vaas b Broad 15 Fernando b Broad 12 Malinga not out 0 Extras
(lb-4, nb-1, w-9) 14 Total (all out, 48.1 overs) 211 FoW: 1-45, 2-74, 3-74, 4-108, 5-131, 6-158, 7-159, 8-193, 9-210. Bowling: Anderson 8-1-48-1, Sidebottom 10-2-41-2, Broad 9.1-0-36-3, Panesar 10-0-31-1, Shah 3-0-18-1, Bopara 8-1-33-1. England Cook c Sangakkara
b Fernando 28 Mustard c Sangakkara b Vaas 1 Bell c Malinga b Fernando 11 Pietersen b Vaas 28 Collingwood lbw Fernando 2 Shah c Lokuarachchi
b Fernando 4 Bopara not out 16 Broad c Jayasuriya b Fernando 1 Sidebottom b Fernando 0 Anderson c Sangakkara
b Malinga 2 Panesar c Sangakkara b Malinga 3 Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-3) 8 Total (all out, 29.1 overs) 104 FoW: 1-3, 2-32, 3-56, 4-72, 5-76, 6-78, 7-82, 8-82, 9-87. Bowling: Vaas 10-0-36-2, Malinga 6.1-1-24-2, Fernando 8-0-27-6, Lokuarachchi 5-0-12-0.
— Reuters
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Jyoti soars to joint lead
New Delhi, October 13 If Jyoti succeeds in retaining the title, he would emulate Australian Peter
Thomson. Jyoti’s fine performance today helped him tie with overnight leader Chapchai Nirat of Thailand on 10-under-par 206. Chapchai failed to sustain his form and slumped to a 73, while Mark Brown of New Zealand fired the day’s best card of 64, with an eagle on the 18th hole, to leave him one shot behind the leading
duo. Gaurav Ghei shot 70 to put himself at the fourth place on 209, while joint overnight leader Chang Tse-Peng of Chinese Taipei carded a 77 to slip to the joint fifth place with Lu Wen-Teh (67) and David Gleeson of Australia
(76). Randhawa tallied seven birdies and two bogeys. “It took me a couple of days to get adjusted to the greens,” said the 35-year old, who first won the title here in 2000 and then repeated the feat last
year. Chapchai, leading the pack yesterday, was all caution and failed to reproduce his form, though he said he was looking forward to a duel with Randhawa tomorrow. Chang, who shared the lead with Chapchai yesterday, suffered four three-putt bogeys, but is looking forward to a better display
tomorrow. Randhawa, Mark Bro, Ghei, Lu Wen-Teh, Chang, Gleeson, Gary Rusnak and S Sivachandran are the front-runners for the title.
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Match-fixing
London, October 13 The International Tennis Federation, the ATP, the WTA Tour and the Grand Slam Committee met in London to discuss the issue, only three days after 18th-ranked Andy Murray claimed that corruption in the game was common knowledge. “While we do not believe that our sport has a corruption problem, we do recognise that a threat to the integrity of tennis exists,” the group said in a statement. Murray, who is playing at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow this week, has already backed off his claim in a statement on his website. “The comments that I made with regard to betting in tennis have been taken out of context and I would like to clarify them,” Murray said. “When I said ‘everyone knows that it’s going on,’ I meant that everyone has probably heard that three or four players have spoken out about being offered money to lose matches, which they refused.” Tennis officials have been discussing ways to keep the sport free of match-fixing, and they have called in experts from other sports to help. Murray’s comments earlier this week led the ATP to ask him to explain himself at a meeting. That is expected to happen on Monday at the Madrid Masters. Ivan Ljubicic, the president of the ATP Player Council who is playing at the BA-CA Tennis Trophy in Austria, became the third player to question Murray’s remarks. “I think Murray talked more about what he heard than about what he knows,” Ljubicic said yesterday after losing in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Vienna. On Thursday, Nikolay Davydenko, the player at the centre of the sport’s biggest match-fixing scandal, criticised Murray by saying that if the British player knew it was going on then he must be involved himself. World number two Rafael Nadal also expressed doubts about Murray’s claims. Federer stunned by betting claims
Madrid: Roger Federer is stunned by all the talk of match-fixing and gambling in tennis. “I’m surprised by all of these stories, shocked really that this might be happening,” the top-ranked Federer told AP yesterday.
— AP
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Punjab eves rout Delhi in baseball
Abohar, October 13 Punjab’s Ranbir and Neha scored three points each, while Jasleen, Maya, Sukhpreet and Kuljit contributed two apiece and Amandeep got one point to seal a thumping win. In the men’s category, Haryana defeated Madhya Pradesh 4-2. Robin, Amit, Rajesh and Ashok scored one point each for Haryana, while Vicky got two for the losers. Chandigarh beat Delhi 5-1. Amit, Atul, Vishal, Vicky and Ashok scored one point each for the winners, while Prashant earned the maiden point for Delhi. Meanwhile, Punjab, Orissa, Uttarakhand and Goa failed to enter the super league in the men’s section. In the women’s category, Haryana, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh and Goa missed super league berths. — OC
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Punjab take
93-run lead
Patiala, October 13 Haryana, in their second essay, were 96 for 3. Earlier, Punjab started from their overnight score of 109 for 3 but were reduced to 138 for 6 before a 58-run seventh wicket partnership between Sumit Sharma and Uday Kaul bailed them out of troubled waters. Sumit perished at mid-off after he failed to keep his drive on the ground after making 47 while Uday Kaul made 46. Amritsar southpaw Munish Bhatia played some elegant off drives and cuts but soon ran out of partners to remain unbeaten 22. Badhwar and Jatinder cut through the tail with the new ball to finally put the skids under the hosts batting who ended up with 251 all out. Haryana opener Jaideep Chowdhury back in the pavilion soon as the ball which cut back sharply at the seam. However, Sandeep Godhara and Ankit Rawat steadied Haryana innings. Scores: Haryana (1st innings): 158 Punjab (1st innings): 251 ( Sunny Sohal 69, Sumit Sharma 47, Uday Kaul 46, Munish Bhatia 22
n.o, Naresh Gogia 16, Sanjay Badhwar 5 for 70, Jatinder Billa 4 for 57, Prem Parteek 1 for 55)
Haryana (2nd innings): 96 for 3 (Ankit Rawat 37 n.o, Sandeep Godhara 45, Sidharth Kaul 1 for 35,Sarabjit Ladda 1 for 18).
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Haryana girls in super league
New Delhi, October 13 Mandeep
Kaur, Shikha Batta and Harwinder Kaur scored three goals each as the Amritsar girls crushed Shri Janata
Vidyalaya, Gujarat, 13-0. — PTI
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BBK DAV eves win squash title
Amritsar, October 13 Earlier, the college team beat Layallpur Khalsa College for Women,
Jalandhar, in the semifinals.
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