St Vincent, June 25
Debutant Shaun Marsh struck an impressive 81 and Nathan Bracken took four wickets as Australia beat West Indies by 84 runs in the first of five one-day internationals.

Marsh, son of former Australia batsman Geoff Marsh, was making his first one-day international appearance yesterday after taking part in Friday's Twenty20 match and he was part of a flying start with Shane Watson (31).

Mike Hussey (44) and Brad Haddin (50) played a major role later in the innings as Australia made 273 for eight and the hosts never got close in their reply.

West Indies lost three early wickets and although Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy scored 33 each, Chris Gayle's side ended up 189 all out.

Play was stopped in the 40th over of the West Indies innings after the crowd responded to the dismissal of Sammy by hurling plastic bottles and other objects on to the field.

Sammy had queried the umpire's decision and the game continued without further incident once the debris had been cleared.

Gayle, who won the toss and put the tourists in, used five bowlers inside the first eight overs and Australia reached 53 without loss in the first ten overs.

The opening pair of Marsh and Watson put on 75 before Watson was trapped leg before by Dwayne Bravo as he tried to work the ball on the legside.

West Indies pace bowler Jerome Taylor continued his excellent record against Ricky Ponting (5), the Australian captain playing on with a thick inside edge, the fourth time he has been dismissed by Taylor in six one-day encounters between the pair.

After taking full advantage of the power-plays in the early stages, Australia became bogged down in the middle section of their innings with Sammy picking up two important wickets.

The seamer from St.Lucia had Michael Clarke caught behind to make it 117 for three and then Marsh eventually went, driving Sammy straight to Gayle at extra-cover. — Reuters

Australia

Marsh c Gayle b Sammy 81

Watson lbw Bravo 31

Ponting b Taylor 5

M Clarke c Ramdin b Sammy 9

Hussey c Pollard b Gayle 44

Haddin c Pollard b Benn 50

White lbw Sarwan 8

Hopes b Bravo 9

Lee not out 12

Johnson not out 3

Extras: (b-3, lb-5, w-13) 21

Total: (8 wkts, 50 overs) 273

Fall of wickets: 1-75, 2-96, 3-117, 4-140, 5-231, 6-248, 7-251, 8-269.

Bowling: Taylor 7-0-30-1, Gayle 10-0-55-1, Edwards 3-0-22-0, Bravo 8-0-54-2, Benn 10-0-39-1, Sarwan 5-0-34-1, Sammy 7-1-31-2.

West Indies

Marshall c Haddin b Lee 6

Gayle lbw Bracken 20

Sarwan c Hussey b Lee 2

Fletcher run out 26

Bravo lbw Clarke 33

Pollard c Haddin b Johnson 11

Ramdin b Watson 31

Sammy b Bracken 33

Taylor c Haddin b Bracken 11

Benn c Clarke b Bracken 7

Edwards not out 1

Extras: (w-8) 8

Total: (all out, 39.5 overs) 189

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-29, 3-29, 4-80, 5-92, 6-111, 7-163, 8-178, 9-186, 10-189.

Bowling: Lee 9-1-37-2, Bracken 5.5-0-31-4, Johnson 7-0-42-1, Hopes 5-0-14-0, Clarke 4-1-15-1, White 6-0-32-0, Watson 3-0-18-1.

Player of the match: Marsh (Australia)

Lahore, June 25
Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 131 runs in the ninth Asia Cup one-day tournament on Wednesday with Kumar Sangakkara scoring a brilliant hundred. Bangladesh, chasing a big Sri Lankan total of 357 for nine that also included half centuries from opener Sanath Jayasuriya (72) and Chamara Kapugedera (74), were restricted to 226 for seven.

Bangladesh never recovered after losing Nazimuddin for one to Chaminda Vaas in the third over and captain Mohammad Ashraful (8), who was unlucky to be given out caught down the leg side off Dilhara Fernando at a total of 35 in the 10th over.

Television replays showed the ball had brushed Ashraful's thigh pad.

It was a big setback for Bangladesh, with Ashraful scoring a hundred against United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.

Opener Tamim Iqbal lived a charmed live as Sri Lanka dropped three catches in quick succession but he was eventually bowled by Kulasekera for 28 from 40 balls to leave Bangladesh on 3 for 48.

Raquibul Hasan (35) and Mushfiqur Rahim (44) revived the innings with a plucky stand of 78 from 90 balls but it was not enough to stave off defeat.

Off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan dismissed both. He had Hasan stumped and caught and bowled Rahim who hit two fours in his 53 balls knock.

Alok Kapali played a hand of 30 from 37 balls but the fight had gone out of the innings at 5 for 135 which became 6 for 142 when Mahmudullah (4) was bowled by Jayasuriya. — Reuters

Sri Lanka

Jayasuriya b Razzak 72

Sangakkara c Iqbal b Mahmudullah 101

M. Jayawardene b Razzak 6

Kapugedera c Mortaza b Razzak 74

Silva c Rahim b Kapali 19

Dilshan c Iqbal b Mortaza 29

Vaas c Iqbal b Mortaza 13

Kulasekara c Ashraful b Hossain 1

Mendis not out 15

Muralitharan c Ashraful b Hossain 5

Fernando not out 0

Extras (lb-4, w-18) 22

Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 357

Fall of wickets: 1-116, 2-170, 3-211, 4-264, 5-303, 6-330, 7-336, 8-337, 9-347

Bowling: Mortaza 10-0-53-2, Hossain 7-0-62-2, Mahmud 3-0-49-0, Mahmudullah 10-0-62-1, Razzak 10-0-55-3, Kapali 10-0-72-1.

Bangladesh

T. Iqbal b Kulasekera 28

Nazimuddin c Sangakkara b Vaas 1

Ashraful c Sangakkara b Fernando 8

Hassan st Sangakkara b Murali 35

M. Rahim c and b Murali 44

Kapali c Jayasuriya b Silva 30

Mahmudullah b Jayasuriya 4

Mortaza not out 34

A. Razzak not out 22

Extras (b-4, lb-6, w-8, nb-2) 20

Total (7 wkts, 50 overs) 226

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-35, 3-48, 4-126, 5-135, 6-142, 7-177

Bowling: Vaas 6-1-16-1, Kulasekera 7-0-33-1, Fernando 8-0-53-1, Mendis 10-1-34-0, Muralitharan 10-0-37-2, Jayasuriya 5-0-22-1, Silva 4-1-21-1.

Player of the match: K. Sangakkara (Sri Lanka).

Vienna, June 25
Spain hammered Russia 4-1 in the group stage of Euro 2008 but it should be a very different game when they meet again in Thursday’s semifinal after the latter’s fortunes were transformed by the return of Andrei Arshavin.

Spain won the first clash on June 10 thanks to enterprising attacking, loose Russian defending and a hat-trick by David Villa but it is the losers who now have momentum on their side.

With each match, Spain’s build-up has become slower and their attacks less dangerous. They barely threatened in their goalless quarterfinal with Italy which they won on penalties.

However, Russia have gone the other way by tightening up at the back and surfing a wave of attacking improvement that culminated in their fully-deserved and highly entertaining 3-1 victory over Netherlands in their quarterfinal.

Suddenly, Innsbruck seems a long time ago.

“If we think Russia will be the same as the opening match, we will be very mistaken,” warned Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

Russia’s progress has much to do with the efforts of playmaker Arshavin, who was suspended for the first two games, and striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, who has rediscovered the form that played such a key part in his country making the finals.

Arshavin was outstanding in the 2-0 group win over Sweden and again versus the Dutch, where his direct running, great ball control and visionary passing tore holes in both defences.

Three-goal Pavlyuchenko has regained his appetite for the fray and the lightweight Spanish centre backs will have to be on top of their game to keep a hold on him.

Free-running and sharp-passing midfielders Konstantin Zyryanov and Igor Semshov, together with virtual wing-backs Alexander Anyukov and Yuri Zhirkov, add more threat.

“The way we play, with technical skill and flair, it’s always joyful to see that,” said Russia’s inspirational Dutch coach Guus Hiddink.

Hiddink’s main worry is the absence of suspended centre back Denis Kolodin, who helped reorganise the defence into a unit that has conceded only one further goal after the Spain defeat.

Vasily Berezutsky is likely to replace him and together with Sergei Ignashevich must keep constant shackles on Villa and Fernando Torres to keep Spain at arm’s length.

After their enterprising display in the opener Spain have slowed their midfield play to the point where Italy happily sat with eight men behind the ball patiently watching the short passing that was neat but desperately lacking in penetration.

Only when Fabregas comes on, usually after an hour, does there seem to be any zest and their coach Luis Aragones knows they have to find new ways to threaten if they are to progress.

“It will be difficult to surprise Hiddink, but we will try,” he said. — Reuters

Start of play: 12.15 am

Anyone talking about Maria Sharapova’s performance yesterday against Stephanie Foretz in the first round at Wimbledon has got to like a lady.

Yesterday, she had the shorts of a man and played like a lady who means business. Only a few people could get away with that look and Maria's one of them.

I'm told that she spent almost her entire press conference answering questions about clothes, not tennis, but, given that her 6-1, 6-4 victory over Stephanie Foretz was so straightforward, I guess that's understandable.

I know Maria well, of course. Her father, Yuri, brought her to my academy with a just few dollars in his pocket more than a decade ago when she was just a little girl with massive potential. We raised her in tennis terms and the rest is history.

I'm glad to see that yesterday she was staying true to her game. She served well, hit those flat, booming groundstrokes, smacking the ball early and hard. You know that in 99 per cent of her matches she's going to give you a hell of a match and be ultracompetitive. She certainly took care of business out there.

Grass suits her. Despite her being tall, she's wonderfully athletic. She copes well with the downsides to her size and the lungeing and bending that is part and parcel of the net aspects of the grass-court game.

She also utilises the weapon of that huge serve on the surface. If you look at Maria's stats and she's consistently serving 65 per cent or upwards of first serves in, then you know she's going to control the match.

Yesterday she was at 73 per cent in that department, winning 76 per cent of her first-serve points against 59 per cent for Foretz.

Maria's two-handed backhand is a big asset for her, and part of the reason for it being so strong is the role of her left hand. Maria was naturally left-handed as a small child and I'm talking about before she came to the academy. I don't know the precise details of why or how she was actively encouraged to play right-handed instead, it happened before we got Maria.

Being a leftie has its advantages, there isn't a leftie in the women's top 10.

In arrangement with The Independent

London, June 25
A dazed Novak Djokovic was jettisoned from Wimbledon on Wednesday and his fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic was lucky not to suffer the same fate on a day of high drama at the All England Club.

Third seed Djokovic became the biggest name to tumble out of the grasscourt championships when he was dumped in the second round by Russian Marat Safin 6-4, 7-6, 6-2.

Nathalie Dechy could have completed a bad day for the Serbs when she came within a whisker of knocking out world number one Ivanovic in a nerve-jangling contest on Court One.

But a lucky netcord, at match point down in the second set, allowed Ivanovic to stage a great escape and she shrieked in delight after completing a pulsating 6-7, 7-6, 10-8 win over the unfortunate Dechy.

"I couldn't believe it, I was so lucky," Ivanovic said after surviving the three hour, 24 minute thriller.

Former champions Serena Williams and Amelie Mauresmo, however, will be cursing their luck after the duo headed for a third-round collision.

Sixth seed Williams steered past Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 6-4 and Mauresmo, languishing as 29th seed after an indifferent season, eked out a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual.

Roger Federer's pursuit of a sixth consecutive title gathered momentum when he outsted Sweden's Robin Soderling 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 with the minimum of fuss.

But for Djokovic, it was a day to forget. The Australian Open champion had been expected to roll over the former world number one, who had stepped on to Centre Court low on confidence and out of form.

But on Wednesday, the unpredictable Russian rolled back the years to produce some magical tennis.

As Safin whipped winner after winner past Djokovic, the Serb lost the will to fight and bowed out with two successive double faults, taking his tally to 10 for the match.

It was certainly not the kind of performance one would have expected from the man tipped to reach the final by Bjorn Borg. Safin made a mockery of his world ranking of 75 and was keen to keep his run going.

"I didn't play great for a long time and I don't remember how it feels. I hope I can go as far as I can and take advantage of the confidence that I got from this match," Safin said after winning back-to-back matches for only the third time in 2008.

Ivanovic had arrived at Wimbledon on cloud nine after capturing her maiden grand slam crown at the French Open just over two weeks ago but on Wednesday she crashed back to earth.

Serving at 4-5 and 15-40 down in the second set, Ivanovic looked to be heading out of the tournament.

But she somehow managed to conjure a winner to save the first match point and the net came to her aid on the second.

After smacking a ferocious groundstroke, Ivanovic could scarcely believe her eyes when she saw the ball hit the tape and then crawl over dead on the other side of the net.

She went on to level the match at a set all but Dechy refused to wilt and kept piling on the pressure.

In the 12th game of the decider, it was Ivanovic's turn to see two match points go begging but six games later — and an hour and 41 minutes after saving the two match points against her — the top seed finally punched away a forehand winner into the corner to deny the 97th ranked Dechy a famous victory.

A beaming Ivanovic celebrated her win by kissing the net.

While the Serbs provided all the action on day three it was business as usual for others. Lleyton Hewitt, who like Williams was demoted to Wimbledon's infamous Court Two, avoided getting distracted by some unruly fans in the stands and beat clay-loving Spaniard Albert Montanes 7-6, 6-0, 6-2.

Fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and France's Marion Bartoli, runner-up to Venus Williams 12 months ago, also emerged unscathed and 18th seed Nicole Vaidisova survived a second-set collapse to beat Australia's Samantha Stosur 6-2, 0-6, 6-4. — Reuters

Patiala, June 25
Boxer Pushpinder Singh was allegedly harassed during the 41st Junior National Boxing Championship that was held at Nagpur from June 17 to June 22.

At a press conference here, he said that he was disqualified on the basis of the rule of International Amateur Boxing Assocation (IABA) saying no one with beard and moustache can take part in a 
tournament.

Pushpinder represented Punjab and won silver in the sub-junior meet at Jalandhar and gold medal in junior national in Andhra Pradesh.

It was after the intervention of MP Sukhdev Singh Dhinsa, president of the Punjab Olympic Association and boxing association, and Abhay Chautala, president of the Haryana Olympic Association, that he was allowed to compete.

Despite all odds, he managed to come out with flying colours and win a gold medal.

Harmail Singh Tohra, former cabinet minister, said he would take up the issue to the IABA through the Indian Olympic Association, the SGPC and the Punjab government.

Jaipal Singh, general secretary of the Punjab Boxing Association said he would take up the matter in the next general body meeting of the world association.