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Rain mars Gambhir’s heroics
Another milestone for Tendulkar |
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Sania’s decision evokes
sympathy
All-India Women Air Weapons
Shooting
Women’s Hockey
T20: England thrash Kiwis
by 32 runs
Pak ready to scrap Oz series
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Rain mars Gambhir’s heroics
Brisbane, February 5
India, now, head the league table with four points - as compared to two apiece for Australia (the third side in the competition) and Sri Lanka - albeit after playing two matches to the others’ one. The next clash in the round robin is between the hosts and the Sri Lankans at Sydney, while India collide with the Aussies a second time on February 10 at Melbourne. Gambhir’s third ODI hundred and his 184-run association with the skipper retrieved India from an inconvenient 83 for four. It looked a better batting wicket than the one versus Australia on Sunday; the grass having been shaved off. But it would still have been challenging to chase under lights here at the Gabba - as it normally is. India also had an even chance of beating Australia, but were dashed by the weather. Queensland, of which this city is the capital, is presently afflicted by floods after years of drought. Initially, Gambhir and Dhoni reconstructed the Indian innings with some quicksilver running between the wickets. Next, they tore into Sri Lanka’s soft underbelly - weaker bowlers sending down one-fifth of their overs - before pummelling 105 runs in the last 10 overs. It was an emphatic illustration of the value of preserving wickets in limited overs cricket. In front of a smattering of spectators, mostly of Indian origin, some ethnically attired, Gambhir, growing in confidence against the baffling Muttiah Muralitharan, effortlessly lofted him to the extra cover boundary to complete his 50. He, then, slammed back a cannonball delivery from Lasith Malinga howitzer-like over the long off fence. Dhoni followed suit by smashing left-arm spinner Sanath Jayasuriya to long on for six to reach his half-century. In the final over - entrusted to Lasith Malinga - Gambhir still required eight runs to register three figures. He crossed the milestone by crashing the second ball through the covers and the next with a flick to long leg. As 14 runs erupted off the last six deliveries, the centurian’s second 50 had surfaced in a mere 28 balls. Mahela Jawawardene was disappointed not to bat first. But Ishara Amerasinghe, right-arm fast medium with a whippy action, playing in only his second ODI, was most economical. Indeed, he was rewarded with Virender Sehwag’s wicket, when this batsman gloved a hook to the wicket-keeper down the leg side. But the strappy Sri Lankan was unfortunate not to capture Gambhir’s wicket, as well. Kumar Sangakkara dropped an outside edge when he was only 11. At the outset, Sachin Tendulkar twice simply pushed at a couple of deliveries to sending them speeding to the extra cover fence. But he chopped on to Malinga. The frequency of such dismissals suggest the little master is sometimes not moving his right foot back and across quickly adequately. The 1st wicket posted a useful 68 runs, with Sehwag sending Chaminda Vaas soaring to the terraces beyond long on. But Tilakaratne Dilshan floored him at point off this bowler when the batsman was 33. The veteran left-arm medium pacer, otherwise, leaked 72 runs in his 10 overs. But it was a double strike by Muralitharan in his very first over that pressurised India. A flighted ball to a rusty Yuvraj Singh, that dipped before it reached him, resulted in an easy catch to 1st slip off an outside edge. Two balls later, a doosra from the conjurer spun past Rohit Sharma’s bat. To the bowler’s pleasant surprise, umpire Rudi Koertzen adjudged the Mumbai youngster caught behind. Scoreboard India: Sehwag c
Sangakkara b Amerasinghe 33 Tendulkar b Malinga 35 Gambhir not out 102
Yuvraj c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 2 Rohit c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 0
Dhoni not out 88 Extras (lb-3 w-4): 7 Total (for 4 wickets, 50
overs): 267 Fall of wickets: 1-68 2-80 3-83 4-83 Bowling: Vaas 10-0-72-0 Malinga 10-1-56-1 Amerasinghe 10-2-30-1, Muralitharan 10-0-51-2 Kapugedera 6-0-23-0 Dilshan 1-0-8-0, Jayasuriya 3-0-24-0 Result: Match abandoned because of rain.
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Another milestone for Tendulkar
Brisbane, February 5
Tendulkar, who scored 35 runs against Sri Lanka in the second tri-series ODI at the Gabba, now tallies 16007 runs which is far more than Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya's aggregate of 12207, second in the list of all time top scorers. The champion batsman from India achieved the feat when he scored his 28th run during the India innings in his 409th match. Tendulkar seems set to stay at the pinnacle for a long time as Jayasuriya and former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq, who is third in the list with 11739 runs, are not anywhere near to surpass the record. Next in the list is another Indian Sourav Ganguly (11363) but with selectors shutting the ODI doors on him, he also does not appear a likely candidate to achieve the feat. He is followed by Australian captain Ricky Ponting (10835) and Rahul Dravid (10585). Tendulkar, who has scored 11782 runs in Test cricket, is just 172 runs away from displacing legendary Brian Lara to emerge as the highest run getter in the longer version of the game as well. — PTI
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Sania’s decision evokes sympathy New Delhi, February 5 The 21-year-old Sania, Asia's top women's player and ranked 29th in the world, pulled out of next month's Bangalore Open, saying it was increasingly becoming difficult for her to cope with such petty controversies dogging her career. Former Davis Cup captain Akhtar Ali sympathised with the way Sania was being treated and described her decision as "unfortunate" for the sport in the country. "It is a sad day for Indian sports. It is very unfortunate. She is not well. She did not have a good time at the Australian Open. And on top of that she is being made the subject of controversies every now and then. Some people are repeatedly hassling her. This is all sheer politics," Ali said. Coach Enrico Piperno, with whom Sania travelled to Bangkok as part of the Federation Cup team, hoped that Sania reconsidered her decision. "It is her personal decision. We have to respect it. The pressure of controversies became too much for her. Then there was the media also. I hope she reconsiders her decision," he said. "Her game is a treat to watch. In this respect Indian tennis buffs will lose out," he added. Former Indian player Vijay Amritraj also expressed shock at such an extreme step taken by the Hydrabad girl.
— PTI M. S. Unnikrishnan adds: Mahesh Bhupathi spoke up for Sania Mirza when he said here that “there is pressure on her” which forced her to say she would not be playing in India. “But she is not quitting for ever. It’s a one-off decision. You can’t say that she will never again play in India”, explained Mahesh. Mahesh arrived here last night to join the Indian Davis Cup squad for the Asia-Oceania Group I tie against Uzbekistan, to be played at the R. K. Khanna stadium centre court, from February 8 to 10. Mahesh said Sania’s decision to miss the WTA event in Bangalore was a “selfish decision” as tennis was basically a “selfish sport”. “She needs to think for herself as she has done a lot for the country. She’s injured as well”, Mahesh, considered as Sania’s “mentor”, added. “Moreover, it’s very trying that when she plays in India, there is always some controversy”, he noted. Mahesh practised with the Davis Cup team at the National Sports Club of India grass courts in the morning, though he skipped the evening session “with Leander’s consent”. The Davis Cup squad were in full strength with the arrival of Mahesh, and they sweated it out in two sessions under the supervision of non-playing captain Leander Paes, coach Nandan Bal and team doctor Vece Paes. Former Indian non-playing captain Naresh Kumar was a keen observer of the practise session and talked tennis with Leander, whom he had blooded in the 1990 Davis Cup tie against Japan in Chandigarh. The Uzbekistan team had a lengthy workout in the morning as they are determined to give the hosts a good run on grass-a surface on which the hosts are perceived to hold the advantage. As things stand, Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna are slated to play the singles while Mahesh may team up with Bopanna for the doubles. But the fourth member of the team, the young Somdev Varman, national hardcourt champion Ashutosh Singh and grass court champion Vishnu Vardhan also put in hard work at the practice sessions, which clearly indicated that that the team think-tank were keeping their options open .
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All-India Women Air Weapons
Shooting
Badal (Muktsar), January 5 Heena Sidhu, after gold haul at the Hungarian Open recently, was back in Punjab as she topped the 10 meter Pistol event with the score of 379/400 each in both senior and junior categories. Jotveer Kaur topped the women's junior category in 10 meter Air Rifle with 392, while she stood behind Maharashtra's Juthika Bhonsle (395) and the Railway's Anuja Jung (394) in the senior category of the same event. However, the day was not good for the Indian Olympian hopeful and national champion Avneet Sidhu, who scored 390 in her 10 meter Air Rifle event. "All eye were focused on me and, thus, I felt a sort of pressure," she explained with a smile after she had her chance this morning. Avneet would be joining Anjali Bhagwat in Sydney for the pre-Olympics shortly, as both the women are now the only medal hope at the Beijing Olympics in shooting event. The tournament proved fruitful for Punjab's Ramandeep Kaur, who qualified for the next National championship to be held in Kerala in December. The following were the shooters who remained in the lead with the scores out of the total 400 points. 10 Meter Rifle: Juthika Bhonsle (MAH)- 395, Anuja Jung (RAILWAY)- 394, Jotveer Kaur (PUN)- 392 10 Meter Rifle (Jr.): Jotveer Kaur (PUN)- 392, Lajja Gouswami (NCC)- 391, Shruti Tushar (MAH)- 389 10 Meter Pistol: Heena Sidhu (PUN)- 379, Rachna Devi (CRPF)- 378, Pushpanjali (CRPF)- 376 10 Meter Pistol (Jr.): Heena Sidhu (PUN)- 379, Bhawana Sharma (RAJ)- 372, Ruby Tomar (PUN)- 368.
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Chandigarh, February 5 Popularly known as the 'Rural Olympics', the annual rural event this year will see the country's top athletes, 100-metre runner champion Vishal Saxena, 800-metre Gharaunda Ram and the nation's 4 x 100 metres Olympic woman team member, Harwant Kaur in action. Star-packed Punjab Police and BSF hockey teams and the four best basketball teams of Punjab will also sweat it out for the title. From a seven year old to a 70-year-old, they will display their physical prowess and trickery, angling for the prize money which is being doled out for each event by the Grewal Sports Association which has been running this annual carnival for the past 73 years.
— UNI
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Women’s Hockey
Jalandhar, February 5 The Delhi girls dominated the proceedings from the word go as Babita opened their account through a field goal in the 3rd minute. Andhra wasted two golden chances when they failed to convert two penalty corners in the 10th and 11th minute. In the 17th minute Prem Lata struck for Delhi to make it 2-0. In the 21st and the 34th minute Sangeeta Singh added two more goals to Delhi’s tally. In the second half, Andhra girls pulled one goal back when K. Mamatha converted a penalty corner in the 58th minute. Two minutes later, Delhi girls once again mounted pressure on the rival goal and converted a penalty corner in 60th minute through Prem Lata. In another lopsided contest Indian Railways toyed with Maharashtra to register an emphatic 18-0 win whereas in Pool A Karnataka beat Pepsu 1-0 through a penalty corner conversion by Krithika. In Pool C, the match between Indian Universities and Bombay ended in a draw.
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T20: England thrash Kiwis
by 32 runs
Wellington, February 5 England, who opened their two-month tour with back-to-back wins over Canterbury last weekend, compiled an impressive total of 184 for eight from their 20 overs. New Zealand could only manage 152 in reply despite a gallant 61 from their big all-rounder Jacon Oram. Kevin Pietersen top-scored for England with 43 off 23 balls while Dimitri Mascarenhas thumped four successive sixes off spinner Jeetan Patel in a brisk 31. The captain Paul Collingwood (26), opener Phil Mustard (20) and Owais Shah (23) also chipped in with valuable runs for the tourists. Chris Martin and fellow seamer Kyle Mills captured two wickets each for New Zealand.
— Reuters
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Lee to be ‘handled with care’
Brisbane: Australian coach Tim Nielsen said Pace spearhead Brett Lee will be used sparingly during the ongoing Commonwealth Bank tri-series in order to keep him fresh and prolong his career.
The decision was prompted by Shaun Tait's sudden withdrawal from cricket due to physical and mental stress. ''We are certainly conscious of the fact Brett has worked hard. We will need to sit down and choose a time (to rest him) which suits Brett and the team. It is important that he is fresh and going well,'' Nielsen said. ''His resilience has been outstanding, he is in such a great vein of form. That is why it is critical that we do give him a spell at some stage in order to increase his longevity for as long as possible,'' he added.
— UNI
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Pak ready to scrap Oz series
Karachi, February 5 A senior PCB official told PTI that Ashraf is slated to meet Creagh OConnor in Dubai at an ICC meeting which will scrutinise the candidates for the chief executive's post.
— PTI
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An unbeaten 101-ball 102 by Gautam Gambhir in conjunction with an undefeated 88 from Mahendra Dhoni in 95 deliveries catapulted India to 267 for four in 50 overs against Sri Lanka.
