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India win a thriller
VRV shines on day one
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IPL
Colts thrash SA
Hockey Olympic Qualifiers
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India win a thriller
Adelaide, February 19 Yuvraj Singh, who has struggled for runs all summer, found form at the perfect time to score an invaluable 76 and guide his team to their second win from six matches in the series. India now have 12 points and trail Australia, who top the
standings with 17 from five games. Sri Lanka are bottom with just six points from their five outings. "Congratulations to Yuvraj, he was one of the batsmen I
really wanted to get runs. The way he batted was excellent," Dhoni told reporters. "That's what we needed. We've got some confidence and we're winning matches." Kumar Sangakkara was named man of the match after making 128 for Sri Lanka and sharing a 153-run third wicket partnership
with his skipper Mahela Jayawardene, who made 71. They steered Sri Lanka out of trouble to post a competitive total on a scorching day at Adelaide Oval but their bowlers just came up short against an inspired Indian middle-order. "It was a very good game," Jayawardene said. "We had opportunities but Yuvraj came in the middle and batted really well then Dhoni finished it off." "Every game now for us is like a semi-final where we've got to go out there and win each time." The top two teams after their eight group games go into a best-of-three match final which starts on March 2. India made a great start when they dismissed Sri Lanka's openers inside the first three overs. Tillakaratne Dilshan fell to a catch behind when he was on four and then Sanath Jayasuriya was run out at the non-striker's end for a duck. Sangakkara and Jayawardene steadied the innings with a
careful display, taking few risks as they set about building a competitive total. Jayawardene brought up his half-century off 74 balls before he was unluckily run out when Sangakkara played a straight drive off Praveen Kumar that brushed the bowler's fingers and crashed into the stumps with the Sri Lankan skipper short of his ground. Sangakkara reached his 50 off 88 deliveries then his hundred off 141 before throwing his wicket away in the last few frantic overs after putting his team in a strong position. India could not have made a worse start to their reply when their master batsmen Sachin Tendulkar was bowled by Lasith Malinga for a duck in the second over and they slumped to 35-3 within the first 12 overs. The out of form Yuvraj proved an unlikely hero, belting eight boundaries and a six to race to his half-century off 46 balls. When he departed, Irfan Pathan joined Dhoni at the crease and contributed 31 before he fell with victory in sight. There were some signs of nerves when India lost two more wickets before reaching their victory target but Dhoni held his composure to score the winning runs and bring up his half-century in the process. Scoreboard Sri Lanka Dilshan c Dhoni b Patel 4 Jayasuriya run out 0 Sangakkara c Kumar b Pathan 128 Jayawardene run out 71 Kapugedera run out 1 Silva c Uthappa
b Harbhajan Singh 21 Maharoof not out 3 Vaas not out 1 Extras
(lb-4, w-4, nb-1) 9 Total (6 wkts, 50 overs) 238 Fall of wickets:
1-4, 2-6, 3-159, 4-161, 5-234, 6-235. Bowling: Patel 9-2-38-1, Ishant 10-0-44-0, Pathan 10-0-44-1, Kumar 10-0-49-0, Harbhajan 10-0-54-1, Yuvraj 1-0-5-0. India Gambhir c Sangakkara b Amerasinghe 15 Tendulkar b Malinga 0 Uthappa run out 10 Rohit c Silva b Muralitharan 24 Yuvraj b Vaas 76 Dhoni not out 50 Pathan b Amerasinghe 31 Kumar c Jayawardene
b Amerasinghe 6 Harbhajan lbw Malinga 3 Ishant not out 0 Extras
(lb-14, w-10) 24 Total (8 wkts, 49.1 overs) 239 Fall of wickets:
1-2, 2-33, 3-35, 4-99, 5-158, 6-216, 7-229, 8-236. Bowling: Vaas 10-0-27-1, Maliga 10-1-37-2, Amerasinghe 10-0-49-3, Maharoof 6.1-0-43-0,Muralitharan 10-0-44-1, Jayasuriya 2-0-14-0, Dilshan 1-0-11-0.
— Reuters
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VRV shines on day one
Mumbai, February 19 At close of play on the first day, North Zone had made a strong reply with 53 for no loss in 16 overs, with Akash Chopra on 35 and Shikhar Dhawan on 17 at the crease. North Zone skipper Mithun Manhas won the toss and elected to put West Zone into bat. Except for a defiant attacking 91 by one drop Ajinkya Rahane, none of the other batsmen could stand up to the North Zone attack, specially VRV Singh on a wicket that had some bounce and movement for the bowlers. West Zone began on a hurricane note with openers Sahil Kukreja and Wasim Jaffer going after the bowling. India Test opener Wasim Jaffer looked in real good touch making 23 in just 32 balls with five spanking fours in his innings before he hung his bat out to a delivery outside the off stump from VRV Singh. VRV Singh coming back for a new spell then had Parthiv Patel caught behind by Kaul for one, and then next ball had Cheteshwar Pujara clean bowled with a brilliant yorker to leave West Zone in trouble at 139 for four. Rahane also fell nine short of his century when he played across the line to Vikramjit Malik to be trapped leg before. Rakesh Solanki with 38 provided some resistance but the lower order batsman had no answer to VRV Singh's bowling as West Zone's innings folded up for 274.
— UNI
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Money, IPL teams chase Gilchrist
Melbourne, February 19 Local media claims Gilchrist could well earn nearly one million Australian dollars in the six-week tournament. However, IPL's Australia agent Neil Maxwell said he was not sure if Gilchrist would earn one million dollars but confirmed he will have his pockets full with money. "We don't know. (Gilchrist's) very well-placed. I think he will earn considerable money. I don't think it will be quite a million, may be in Australian dollars he will go close," Maxwell said. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who will lead the Kolkata side, has expressed his desire to have Gilchrist in his team. "He is definitely a guy we will look for. There are so many good players, and it also depends on the balance of the team," Ganguly was quoted as saying in 'The Age' newspaper today. The co-owner of the Kolkata team, filmstar Shah Rukh Khan, is also known to be keen on Gilchrist. Because teams are allowed to bid only once for each player during the auction, whichever team goes first is likely to put in a big offer to get Gilchrist. Tom Moody, coach of the Preity Zinta-co-owned Mohali team, said Gilchrist would be the most sought after player during the bidding. "Gilchrist would be one that I would like to get. No question, he is an attractive package, given his quality as a player and his quality as a person. "In the next couple of days, I will be in discussions with the franchise owners and Yuvraj to get his thoughts and ideas," Moody said adding "During the auction, there is no communication allowed - so prep work has to be done prior to that." Moody said Gilchrist's cricketing abilities were not the only reasons for his growing demand. "He is a guy that can help bring players together to function as a unit, and that is critical when you are forming a new team with different characters and nationalities. You need good, stable characters," he said. 13 Aussie players sign up
Altogether 13 Australian cricketers - including captain Ricky Ponting, retiring wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist and pace spearhead Brett Lee - today joined the Indian Premier League, while captain in waiting Michael Clarke decided to stay away from the venture. What is considered a setback of sorts to the BCCI-backed IPL, apart from Clarke, three other Aussies — left-arm paceman Mitchell Johnson, wicketkeeper Brad Haddin and veteran fast bowler Jason Gillespie - also did not opt for the multi-million dollar event and chose to concentrate on their international careers instead. "Clarke keen to play it over time, but with the amount of cricket he's got on the calendar, he just wants some time to spend with his family and friends," the spokesman said. In the list of 13 players issued by Cricket Australia, Ponting, Gilchrist, Lee, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Nathan Bracken, Cameron White and Simon Katich are the current players signed while Shane Warne, Justin Langer and Glenn McGrath are the retired trio.
— PTI
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IPL
Mumbai, February 19 According to BCCI sources here, top players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are likely to paid as much as $400,000 each for the six week IPL season. Dhoni is likely to play for the Kolkata team. These players have been categorized as 'Icon Players' and won't have to undergo the auction process. BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi said the players who will be auctioned will be categorized in six classes, A, B, C, D, E and F. The name of all the players will be put in a bowl. When every name is drawn bidders will call out their bids. The franchise owner placing the highest bid bags the player for the team. At least 15 Australian players have signed up for the IPL. These include fast bowler Glen McGrath and Ricky Ponting. New Zealand's skipper Stephen Fleming is part of the crowd as is West Indies' Chris Gayle. Pakistanis Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Afridi and Shahid Afridi too are part of the circus. Here are some rates for the rest of the Indian squad: Bidding for Anil Kumble and Harbhajan begins at $250,000 while the tickers open for Virender Sehwag, Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Robin Uthappa, Murali Kartik and Dinesh Karthik at $200,000. Irfan Pathan is lower down the pecking order with $175,000 while Rohit Sharma would command $150,000. Further down are Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina and Yousuf Pathan with a bounty of $125,000. The tailenders would be Joginder Sharma, Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel with a tag of between $100,000 and $125,000. However, all the players stand to make substantially more as bids are likely to be very high. The contracts have also been split into two categories: Basic and Firm. Under the basic contract a player is entitled to the entire amount he is sold off for while in a firm contract any amount over and above that set for them goes back to the
IPL.
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Colts thrash SA
Kuala Lumpur, February 19 In what had been billed as the biggest match of Group B, Sangwan made optimum use of the conditions. He ripped through South Africa's top order, finishing with 5-44, the best figures an Indian bowler has registered in any U/19 world cup. The early exchanges left SA reeling at 45-5, with the talented left-armer bagging all of them. Jonathan Vandiar (53) and captain Wayne Parnell (31) threatened to stage a recovery for the junior Proteas but spinner Ravindra Jadeja got into the act, taking three quick wickets to make sure SA only managed 149 all out in 30.5 overs. When it came India's turn to bat, they did not look any less confident. Opener Taruwar Kohli hit a stylish and unhurried half-century while number three Tanmay Srivastava chipped in with 47 as India took its time, knocking off the runs in 42 overs for the loss of four wickets. — UNI
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Daredevils seek Viru as iconic player
New Delhi, February 19 In the auction, Sehwag, however, will go to the highest bidder, and franchise GMR can net Sehwag only if they Eightynine players will be up for auction tomorrow and each team can put a maximum of around $5 million (Rs 20 crore) and a minimum of $3.5 million at stake for buying players in the auction. The teams can also rope in Ranji Trophy, Under-21 and other players from the catchment states for which no budget limit has been put. Delhi and UP are the winners and runners-up of the Ranji Trophy and the Delhi Daredevils hope to cobble together the best team among all the IPL teams. “Delhi and UP have an ocean of cricketing talent and the players will be the biggest beneficiaries of the IPL,” noted Delhi and District Cricket Association (DCA) president Arun Jaitley. He said since GMR was in the construction business and the DDCA was in the business of promoting cricket, the partnership would be very fruitful as the DDCA will take GMR's advise to rectify whatever flaws are there in the construction of the brand new stadium at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground. Though presently the Kotla stadium has no floodlights, the facility would be put in place within the next few weeks. In their first match Delhi Daredevils will take on Team Jaipur on April 19. The Delhi team will then travel to Hyderabad to meet Deccan Chronicle on April 22 in their first away fixture. The Delhi Daredevils' second away match will be on April 27 against the Mohali team and then return home to meet Vijaya Mallaya-owned Bangalore team at the Kotla on April 30. Delhi's other away fixtures will be in Chennai on May 2 and in Mumbai on May 5. For 40 days, there will be a non-stop fiesta of 20/20 IPL matches at eight venues across the country, with each venue hosting seven matches. In all, there will be 59 matches in the IPL, lasting overall 44 days. "The three-hour spectacle will be much more than cricket, pure entertainment for the fans, unlike traditional cricket", said BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla. The name and logo of the Delhi team, owned by GMR Holdings Ltd., who are in the construction business and are building a most modern international airport in Delhi, was launched at an impressive function at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here today. Delhi Daredevils will have Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as catchment areas. Greg Shephered of Victoria, the 20/20 national champions of Australia, has been appointed the coach of the team.
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Hockey Olympic Qualifiers
New Delhi, February 19 There were not many surprises in the side as performers with proven track record were given preference keeping in mind the necessity to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. Striker Ajitesh Rai is the other youngster who has got into the squad on the strength of his good showing in the Premier Hockey League and various international assignments at the junior level, according to IHF sources. Diwakar Ram was rewarded with a berth in the squad for his consistent showing in junior tournaments. Laying stress on penalty corner conversion, two drag-flickers have been drafted into the side. In the absence of Sandeep Singh, who opted out of the preparatory camp on health grounds, V.R. Raghunath was the automatic choice. Diwakar snatched the other spot with his ability to rattle experienced goalkeepers in addition to his excellent defensive skills. Old warhorse Dilip Tirkey and his understudy William Xalxo will be in charge of the defence. The experienced duo of Bimal Lakra and Ignace Tirkey will be the main playmakers and the skilful quartet of captain Prabodh Tirkey, Sardara Singh, Vikram Kanth and Gurbaj Singh will man the midfield. The onus of the attack will be on the lethal combination of Rajpal, highest goal-scorer in Asia Cup Prabhjot Singh, Tushar Khandekar and Shivendra Singh with young blood Bharat Chikara and Ajitesh providing the back-up. As Adrian D’Souza is not fully fit, Bharat Chetri and Baljit Singh, who coincidentally were rival goalkeepers in the PHL finals this year, have been picked for guarding the Indian post. When contacted, coach Joaquim Carvalho told PTI that it was a balanced side. “This is the best possible team that I expected to be given to me. The juniors in the stand-bye list are not lagging far behind. It is a well-balanced team. It has been picked on the basis of performances against Belgium and matches played in Perth, where each player was tried out in various positions,” he said. While nominating England as the main threat in the Santiago tournament, to be played from March 1 to 9, Carvalho said his team would not take the other sides lightly. Team: Goalkeepers: Bharat Chetri, Baljit Singh: Defenders: Dilip Tirkey, V.R. Raghunath, Wiiliam Xalxo, Diwakar Ram. Midfielders: Gurbaj Singh, Prabodh Tirkey (captain), Bimal Lakra, Sardara Singh, Ignace Tirkey, Vikram Kanth. Forwards: Rajpal Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Shivendra Singh, Bharat Chikara, Ajeethesh Rai.
— PTI
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Adelaide, February 19
