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India toughest to beat: Lee
Aussie govt bombshell ahead of IPL |
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Langer ditches IPL
NZ clinch ODI series
Ponting bats for IPL
Dempo are I-League champs
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Sydney, February 23 A win tomorrow will almost certainly take Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men to the title round and render their game against Sri Lanka in Hobart on Tuesday of only academic interest. "We would like to seal it tomorrow and save ourselves pressure," Dhoni said as his side prepared to take on the world champions on a slow SCG track. Australia have already secured their place in the final, collecting 22 points from six games. India, on 12 points, have a handy six-point lead over their sub-continent rivals with one round of matches to go. Sri Lanka need to win both their remaining matches and at the same time hope that India lose both their games to go through to the final. India are no different than others when it comes to batting woes in the low-scoring series and, in all probability, Virender Sehwag will mark a return to the playing eleven to bolster the line-up. It would mean India discarding its new-found preference of five bowlers. It would revert to four frontline bowlers and expect the fifth bowler's quota to be shared between Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh. Openers have been a big issue in the tri-series with the best stand of 68, so far, coming between Tendulkar and Sehwag against Sri Lanka in Brisbane in the first week of the competition. It's an alliance which needs to be revived as runs have been at premium for all three teams. India are relieved at the return to form of Yuvraj in the last game against Sri Lanka and it remains to be seen whether he can carry the momentum in the crucial day-night encounter against the hosts. Dhoni alone has been the consistent Indian batsman in the series and its time the top order, including the mighty Tendulkar, start pulling their weight in. Gautam Gambhir, after a stupendous start, is falling off a bit and Rohit Sharma has a propensity to throw away his wicket when the bowling is at his mercy. Robin Uthappa, when he got the chance, has done nothing of note. Australia were fine without Brett Lee in the last couple of games though there is a chances that the speedster would return to the playing eleven tomorrow. Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds are facing the heat for obvious reasons. The Australian captain has just 64 to his name from six outings at 10.66 and has hit just six boundaries through the tournament. Symonds has fared worse, scoring 42 runs at 8.40 and hitting a mere couple of boundaries so far. Michael Clarke, meanwhile, has gone from strength to strength in the competition. He has 262 runs to his name from six matches at an average of 65.50 with three fifties. He has unfailingly come to Australia's aid after the top order has caved in. Fielding is an area where Australia are winning most of their matches and Indians would need to be at their best if they want to seal a place in the finals tomorrow. The home bowling has shown they give nothing away in the field. — PTI
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Sydney, February 23 Lee gave enough indication that Australia would face a tough fight if India made it to the best-of-three finals. "Sri Lanka and India are very hard teams to play against but for the moment, it looks India is the toughest side to beat. "If India gets a great start, they are very hard to pull back... a few guys in Sri Lanka can also fire. It's a tough question but I've always enjoyed playing against India, testing yourself against Sachin Tendulkar. If you can prove yourself against the best, you know you are going alright," the fast bowler said. Lee has taken a lot of workload during the current season but feels refreshed after resting for Australia's previous two tri-series games. "I will play tomorrow. We have had this thing through our sports scientists which showed I have bowled well above the limit I should have bowled this summer. But I have been allowed (a rest) to freshen up and would be ready to steam in again tomorrow," claimed Lee. Lee, whose services were acquired by the Mohali team in the Indian Premier League for a whopping $ 900,000 felt his close association with India had fuelled his brand value. "I have been touring India since 1994. I have been there some 20-odd times and personally, I love the place. You might walk down on a street in Sydney, be recognised and made to sign a few autographs but in India it's totally different. "They say in India there are three most important things: Cricket, Tendulkar and God. I think Tendulkar tops the list." Lee felt his desire to know more and more about Indian culture was a reason for his popularity there. "One of the reasons I think is I am looked upon as a nice guy. I try to go out of the way and learn a bit of Hindi -- 'chalo chalo', 'shukriya' and 'dhanyawad.' The pronunciation might not be right but people tend to appreciate it." The New South Wales bowler was excited about the IPL and Twenty20 cricket but hoped it would not overshadow the other two formats of the game. "There are three styles of cricket and if we can keep them separate, provided they don't flow into each other, we should be alright. "In the 70s, during the World Series of Cricket, it was feared it would affect Test cricket. It didn't happen as the game began to have specialists one-day and Test players. Similarly in IPL looking at the teams which have been chosen, we are seeing specialist players for T20 cricket," Lee said. He was looking forward to share a dressing room with stalwarts from different countries when he turned out for the Mohali IPL franchise. "Personally, I would be excited to be part of a team which has Yuvraj (Singh), (S) Sreesanth, Simon Katich and Kumar Sangakkara - men from different cultures forming a team." Lee, however, stressed that representing Australia was always the biggest honour for him. There has been a lot of needle between India and Australia in the current season and Lee defended the manner in which his team played the game. "There has been just one incident throughout this season, one complaint that has come through the switchboard. But that incident is done and dusted with.” Lee praised India's rookie speedster Ishant Sharma both as a person and an upcoming pace bowler. "Sharma looks great. He is just 19 years and this summer has come up by leaps and bounds. He has great pace, great control for a 19-year-old... He has got good intensity and isn't afraid to stare at the batsmen. But I want to emphasise that he is the first person who would grab hands with Gilchrist. Even though Symonds was given not out against his bowling in Sydney, he was the first one to shake his hands after he got his hundred,” Lee added. — PTI
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Aussie govt bombshell ahead of IPL Melbourne, February 23 Australian cricketers, including Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden, have been reluctant to tour Pakistan in March-April after the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DAFT) advice of the volatile situation there after the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. But now, the DAFT has also advised the Australian cricketers about the adverse security condition in India also, according to 'The Age' newspaper. This could jeopardised the participation of Australian cricketers in the multi-million dollar IPL starting on April 18. The DAFT report for Pakistan said: "We strongly advise you to reconsider your need to travel to Pakistan at this time due to the very high threat of terrorist attack, sectarian violence and the unpredictable security situation. "We continue to receive a stream of credible reports indicating terrorists are in the advanced stages of planning attacks. These could target Western or Australian interests and individuals and places frequented by foreigners." It said credible information indicated consulates and hotels could be targeted in Karachi and Islamabad and "they could occur at any time". The DFAT advice for India warned: "We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in India because of the high risk of terrorist activity by militant groups. Recent credible information indicates that Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata may be the targets of terrorist attacks and, more specifically, that terrorists are planning to conduct suicide attacks in Mumbai or New Delhi." Former Australian coach Buchanan, without having seen the latest government travel advice, however, believes the tour to Pakistan should go ahead to prove terrorists cannot disrupt the regular flow of daily life. "I think it (terrorism) is bigger than cricket. Cricket would be the medium by which you can keep making life as normal as possible," Buchanan said. "... my opinion would be definitely to go, not just to Pakistan but if there were similar issues anywhere. That would be my personal viewpoint, obviously without access to the information Cricket Australia might have. "A lot of the time our impressions of how dangerous things may be are somewhat exaggerated when you are actually in the place. "I remember being in Sri Lanka for Ricky Ponting's first tour. Tim Nielsen and I, along with the Australian High Commissioner, were the first white people to get on a military plane and head up to Janpur. There was a ceasefire, we were the first plane up there, and we did a little coaching camp for them. There are issues in most countries." Cricket Australia spokesman Peter Young said DFAT's advice would be crucial in a final decision on Pakistan but did not react on the security concerns in India. "There will be a visit to Canberra for a government briefing in early March. We'll get the most detailed inside information before we sit down with the players and the players' association to make the next step," he said. — PTI
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Langer ditches IPL
Melbourne, February 23Former Australian opener Justin Langer has ditched IPL for Langer said he will honour his commitment to Somerset instead of playing for the Jaipur team in the multi-million dollar Twenty20 tournament starting on April 18. Langer had no takers when he was first put up for auction on Wednesday in Mumbai but Jaipur later got him for $ 200,000. "I have made a commitment to Somerset and I intend to honour it," Langer was quoted as saying by 'The Age'. "I made that clear when I first signed with IPL and I have no hesitation sticking to it. "When you go to your grave, people will remember what you did with your life rather than how much money you made," he said. Langer's West Australian teammate Luke Ronchi is considering a $ 100,000 offer to join the Mumbai franchise, while another WA dasher, Luke Pomersbach, also is in line to sign with an IPL team, the newspaper claimed. — PTI
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NZ clinch ODI series
Christchurch, February 23 England had made 242 for seven from their 50 overs and New Zealand were cruising along at 213 for six after 37 overs when play was abandoned. New Zealand were adjudged comfortable winners because they were well ahead of England's adjusted rate of 179. New Zealand wicketkeeper batsmen Brendon McCullum was named player of the match after smashing 77 off 43 balls. McCullum set the Kiwis on course for victory, racing to his half-century off 27 deliveries and belting five fours and six sixes before eventually being bowled by Collingwood. Ross Taylor finished with an unbeaten 41 while Jesse Ryder (24), Jamie How (24) and Scott Styris (25) all kept the scoreboard ticking along. Ryan Sidebottom captured three late wickets, including two in successive balls, to give England some hope of pulling off an unlikely win before the rain intervened. — Reuters
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Melbourne, February 23 ''There were some studies done in India recently on the Twenty20 game and it was something like 87 per cent of cricket fans in India had Twenty20 as their favourite version,'' Ponting was quoted as saying by The Australian. Australian captain Ricky Ponting, whose base price was $ 3,25,000, was picked up by the Kolkata franchise for $ 400,000. ''As I said a week ago, I really do think there has to be some time carved out of the international programme to fit this game in. I read a few things in the paper a couple of days later that some people had a laugh and a joke about it, but I think everyone now understands that with the amount of money being bandied around and spent over the last couple of days, there are going to be some tough decisions to be made from international cricketers,'' he added. The 33-year-old Tasmanian said the ICC should make way for the IPL in it's schedules so as to prolong the careers of some of the finest Test and ODI stars. ''For the betterment of the game worldwide, the ICC and the home bodies really do have to look at how they can make this thing fit in because if it doesn't fit into the international programme, you could see the loss of lots of very good Test and one-day players giving it all up and going to play Twenty20,'' he said. — UNI
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JCT crush Salgaocar, finish third
Ludhiana, February 23 With this win, JCT accumulated 33 points to finish at the third place and pocketed a cash prize of Rs 20 lakh, while Salgaocar finished at the bottom of the points table. The JCT domination was total and they made light work of the visitors' defence. They were quick on the uptake, fast with their passes and exhibited great mobility in their attacks. Eduardo and Chhetri combined well giving the Goan custodian Milagriao Medeira a harrowing time. JCT went ahead in the 31st minute when their skipper Julius Traborakpele gave a long measured pass to Sunil Chhettri, who headed it into the goal. Six minutes later, JCT extended the lead when Daljit Singh weaved a fine move from the left flank, dodged past couple of players and stormed into the box where Brazilian Eduardo slammed it home to make it 2-0. JCT then went all out and made regular forays into the rival territory. Salgaocar wilted under pressure as they conceded one more goal in the 43rd minute when Baljit Sahni snatched the ball from Fabio passed it to Chhetri who sent in a sizzler to make it 3-0. Immediately after half-time, JCT pumped in one more goal when they forced two flag kicks in quick succession and on the second attempt, Eduardo scored a superb goal to complete the rout. JCT's territory was threatened once, midway through the second session, but custodian Jaspal Singh brought off a splendid save. Sunil Chhetri was declared the man of the match. Eduardo scored 14 goals in this league and was the second best scorer after Odafa Onyeke of Churchill Brothers who scored 22 goals.
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Dhaka, February 23 Junaid was unbeaten on 64 at the close as the home team reached 125 for four in their second innings after skittling South Africa for 170 thanks to a career-best haul of six for 27 by Shahadat. Bangladesh were struggling at tea on 48 for three but added 77 runs in the final session for the loss of Mohammad Ashraful, who was caught behind for 24 by Mark Boucher off the bowling of paceman Makhaya Ntini. — Reuters Scoreboard South Africa (1st innings) McKenzie lbw Hossain 5 Smith b Hossain 10 Amla lbw Rafique 25 Kallis b Rafique 17 Prince run out 10 Botha lbw Hossain 25 De Villiers c & b Ashraful 46 Boucher lbw Hossain 11 Morkel c Rahim b Hossain 1 Steyn b Hossain 7 Ntini not out 3 Extras (b-1, lb-5, w-1, nb-3) 10 Total (all out, 60.3 overs) 170 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-19, 3-54, 4-69, 5-77, 6-145, 7-156, 8-158, 9-163. Bowling: Mortaza 9-1-43-0, Hossain 15.3-8-27-6, Rafique 25-6-55-2, Hasan 10-6-30-0, Ashraful 1-0-9-1. Bangladesh (2ndinnings) Iqbal b Steyn 2 Siddiqui batting 64 Nafees lbw Steyn 16 Bashar lbw Steyn 2 Ashraful c Boucher b Ntini 24 Ahmed batting 13 Extras (lb-1, w-1, nb-2) 4 Total (4 wkts, 48 overs) 125 Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-25, 3-29, 4-85. Bowling: Steyn 12-1-38-3, Ntini 11-3-21-1, Morkel 11-2-33-0, Kallis 6-1-10-0, Botha 6-0-18-0, McKenzie 2-0-4-0. — Reuters
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Melbourne, February 23
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