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India march into final
ICC Cricket Committee |
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Champions Trophy
PCB mulls replacing Lawson with Intikhab
Pathans’ day out at Karachi
Serena sets up a Williams’ final
Bhambri crashes out in doubles
Indian athletes win three gold
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India march into final
Karachi, July 3 India chased down the target of 309 with 19 balls to spare and after losing four wickets, thanks to a half century each by Gautam Gambhir (68), captain M S Dhoni (67) and Suresh Raina (54) and a valuable 42 from Virender Sehwag after Sri Lanka, electing to bat, had made 308 for 8. Yuvraj Singh (36 not out) and Rohit Sharma (22 not out) romped him with an unfinished 57-run stand for the 5th wicket. Today's result extinguished Pakistan's any hopes of making it to the final and rendered tomorrow's last Super Four match between the hosts and Bangladesh here inconsequential. India made a blazing start with the opening duo of Sehwag and Gambhir carrying their solid batting form from their match against Pakistan yesterday, putting on 92 runs from 70 balls. The duo drove, pulled and cut the Lankan opening bowlers without taking much risks, hitting boundaries in regular intervals and keeping the asking rate always lower than the required rate of 6.18 per over. Sehwag played second fiddle to his junior partner but did not shy away from hitting odd balls for boundaries including a huge six off Nuwan Kulasekara early in the innings. The 'Nawab of Najafgarh' fell to a soft dismissal in 12th over being deceived by a Kulasekara slow ball holing out to Dilhara Fernando at fine leg after scoring 42 off 34 balls, studded with six fours and a six. Gambhir raised his 11th ODI fifty by hitting a four off Thilan Thushara after facing 45 balls in the 15th over with the help of nine fours. Gambhir, however, failed to read a Muttiah Muralitharan 'doosra' and fell LBW in the 21st over at team total of 135 for 2 for a well-made 68 compiled with the help of 11 fours from 61 balls, to allow Sri Lanka come back into the match. Suresh Raina, who got a life when he was on 11 when Lankan 12th man Jehan Mubarak failing to hold on to an easy chance, made the most of the reprieve to hit his fifth ODI fifty and did the consolidation work along with his captain Dhoni, who also struck his 22nd ODI half century. Just as it seemed Dhoni would open up to end the run chase in quick time, the Indian captain fell to Muralitharan cleaned bowled for 67 (62 balls; 5x4; 1x6) in the 38th over. Needing just 47 runs from from the last 10 overs, Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma romped home with the Punjab southpaw hitting the winning runs, a four off Kulasekara, to reach 310 for four in 46.5 overs. Scoreboard Sri Lanka: Jayasuriya c Dhoni b Sharma 43 Sangakkara c Dhoni b Sharma 7 Jayawardene c Gambhir b Ojha 50 Kapugedera lbw b Kumar 75 Silva run out 50 Dilshan c RP Singh b Pathan 15 Weeraratne c Gambhir b RP 23 Mirando run out 23 Kulasekera not out 6 Muralitharan not out 1 Extras: (b-1 lb-11 w-3): 15 Total: (8 wickets, 50 overs): 308 Fall of wickets: 1-16 2-71 3-149 4-217 5-245 6-263 7-287 8-307 Bowling: R.P Singh 10-1-44-1, I. Sharma 10-0-55-2, Pathan 10-0-80-1, Kumar 6-0-36-1, Ojha 10-0-55-1, Sehwag 3-0-22-0, R. Sharma 1-0-4-0. India Gambhir lbw b Muralitharan 68 Sehwag c Fernando b Kulasekera 42 Raina run out 54 Dhoni b Muralitharan 67 Yuvraj not out 36 Rohit not out 22 Extras: (lb-11 w-9 nb-1) 21 Total: (for 4 wickets, 46.5 overs) 310 Fall of wickets: 1-92 2-135 3-234 4-253 Bowling: Fernando 9-0-52-0, Kulasekera 9.5-0-71-1, Mirando 8-0-67-0, Muralitharan 10-0-44-2, Weeraratne 5-0-36-0, Jayasuriya 3-0-19-0, Dilshan 2-0-10-0. Player of the match: Dhoni (India).— PTI
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ICC Cricket Committee
Dubai, July 3 Sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board said Lloyd was appointed as the Chairman of the high-profile committee after Majid's nomination was withdrawn before the ICC meeting started in Dubai. Majid's scathing attack on the PCB, for sacking senior official Saleem Altaf and its alleged failure to run the game properly, earned the former captain the wrath of the Board which reacted by withdrawing his name. Majid also called for the public accounts committee of the National Assembly to probe the financial affairs of the board and blamed it for increasing indiscipline among players. Majid's strong comments came as a surprise to many as the former Test player is generally an introvert who rarely speaks publicly or in the media on any issue. "After Majid addressed the press conference, the ICC was informed that he was no longer Pakistan's nomination for the post of Chairman of the Cricket Committee, which is vacant after the resignation of Sunil Gavaskar," a board source told PTI. Gavaskar relinquished the post after the ICC pointed towards his media commitments and asked the former India captain to choose between either of the jobs, which had allegedly created a conflict of interests. PCB sources said Majid himself was interested in the post and had given his consent when the board had first contacted him to get his clearance before sending in his nomination. "Obviously the board was disappointed and upset with his press conference and it was a clear conflict of interests that their nominee should be publicly criticising them strongly on every count," one source said. Lloyd was elected Chairman without any issues. — PTI
Samuels ban upheld
The ICC today upheld the two-year ban on West Indian batsman Marlon Samuels for bringing the game into disrepute. After its two-day meeting here, the ICC Executive Board said the two-year ban slapped on the batsman was “appropriate”.
The committe found Samuels guilty of of offence C4 (ix) of the ICC code of conduct, namely that he recieved any money, benefit or any other reward (whether financial or otherwise) which could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute. |
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Champions Trophy
Melbourne, July 3 Sri Lanka was named the alternative host for the event but the island nation’s security issues led to South Africa being asked to be on the stand-by. India’s move came as it emerged that a key component of Pakistan’s past security plans would not feature for the Champions Trophy. An unnamed Australian player described the development as “worrying” as roads between team hotels and grounds perhaps would not be cleared of all traffic as had been expected. CA will review the findings of Dickason’s report before deciding whether to attend the Champions Trophy. But if it gives the nod, several leading players will consider boycotting the tournament. The Australian Cricketers’ Association said it would reserve comment on the issue until after it had met CA officials. Melbourne, July 3 The BCCI favours postponement of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan instead of relocating it to any other country if security situation was not too safe in September, Austrlian media reported today. “The report from Pakistan comes just days after Cricket Australia’s security consultant, Reg Dickason, toured the country to inspect systems and facilities during the Asia Cup. The ICC also sent a four-man security delegation to Pakistan last week,” reported Sydney Morning Herald. Sri Lanka was named the alternative host for the event but the island nation’s security issues led to South Africa being asked to be on the stand-by. India’s move came as it emerged that a key component of Pakistan’s past security plans would not feature for the Champions Trophy. An unnamed Australian player described the development as “worrying” as roads between team hotels and grounds perhaps would not be cleared of all traffic as had been expected. CA will review the findings of Dickason’s report before deciding whether to attend the Champions Trophy. But if it gives the nod, several leading players will consider boycotting the tournament. The Australian Cricketers’ Association said it would reserve comment on the issue until after it had met CA officials. — PTI
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PCB mulls replacing Lawson with Intikhab
Karachi, July 3 According to sources, the Pakistan Cricket Board feels appointing Lawson was a mistake and though the Australian, who took over in July last year, was offered a two-year term, PCB would debate terminating his contract in its next meeting. Even before he completes one year at the charge, Lawson has ticked off the media, Board officials and former and current players and his problem only compounded with Pakistan team's none-too-impressive performance in recent past. A senior PCB official, during a recent governing body meeting, told Chairman Nasim Ashraf that there was nothing wrong in admitting it was a mistake to bring in Lawson. "Lawson's attitude and his temperament is now being scrutinised closely within the Board after recent happenings," one source told PTI. "The Australian has had several run-ins with the selectors as well as some former Test players working at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore," the source said. "The senior official said at the meeting that there was nothing wrong if the Board released Lawson and accepted it was a mistake to appoint him as national coach," he added. He said another official, after the recent tri-series in Dhaka, had also made the point what was the purpose of having a foreign coach and manager if the chairman had to send emails to motivate and shake up the players. Pakistan won the tri-series final in Dhaka beating India but only after they had lost a group match to the Indians by 140 runs that prompted the PCB chief to send a strongly-worded e-mail to the manager on the team's performance. The Board was also not very pleased when Lawson raised an issue over the appointment of English umpire Ian Gould for Pakistan's matches in the Asia Cup, which was rejected by the International Cricket Council. "There is now a growing feeling that he clearly has a temperament problem as some players have also had arguments with him," the source said. Lawson was appointed as coach on a two-year contract by the Board and sources said his appointment over the more experienced Dav Whatmore came as a surprise. A senior official of the Board, himself a former Test player, had picked him for the job. "The official has supported him in recent times but at the next governing body meeting, Lawson's tenure could be debated more openly by the members as there is already a talk about bringing back former Test captain Intikhab Alam," another well-placed source said. — PTI
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The Indian all-rounders made the most of a rest day, Tuesday, before their team's back-to-back matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka by going out for Nihari with a Pakistani journalist. According to an eye witness, they loved it. Unlike the Pathans - who managed to break away from what is a regimental food policy - most of the Indian cricketers are religiously following the diet instructions of their nutritionist. For them, Karachi - which is famous for its spicy food - is like any other place in the world. The cricketers eat what's especially prepared for them by their hotel chefs on the instructions of the team management. Their officials want them to be in proper physical shape, especially for the ongoing Asia Cup, which is being played in energy-sapping conditions. — IANS
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Serena sets up a Williams’ final
London, July 3 Zheng, 24, made a dramatic improvement in the second set which reached 5-5, after an exchange of breaks in mid-set and the Chinese leading 40-30 on her serve when there was a second rain delay lasting 82 minutes. The set went into a tiebreak after Serena saved a break point in the 12th game. Serena set up match point with a thundering delivery then took it when Zheng double faulted. Earlier, champion Venus Williams powered her way to her seventh Wimbledon final on Thursday with a matter-of-fact 6-1 7-6 victory over Russian Elena Dementieva. Williams, aiming for her fifth Wimbledon title, launched an array of blistering serves and ferocious groundstrokes at the 26-year-old fifth seed and allowed her to hold serve just once in the opening set. Standing inside the baseline to receive the Dementieva serve, Williams attacked every point and came up to the net to unleash an aggressive overhead shot across the court to take the first set. After Williams broke at the start of the second, it looked like another one-sided set was on the cards but Dementieva suddenly seemed to find a will to fight and managed a rare break of the Williams serve in the third game after a lucky netcord. The Russian, appearing in the last four at Wimbledon for the first time, was buoyed by the breakthrough and seemingly lifted by a Centre Court crowd who were cheering on the underdog. She surprised the 28-year-old Williams with some excellent passing shots and seemed to have got better at dealing with the often more than 120 mph serves that kept hurtling towards her. Schuettler wins epic match
German Rainer Schuettler grabbed the last Wimbledon men's semi-final spot on Thursday with a dogged 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, 6-7, 8-6 win over France's Arnaud Clement in a match lasting more than five hours. “I don’t know how, but I won it,” a delighted Schuettler told a news conference. “It could have gone either way. It’s one of my matches that I will always remember.” The two former Australian Open runners-up returned to the court after sharing the first two sets on Wednesday when bad light halted play and they faced two rain interruptions the next day. Fans on Court One were treated to a magnificent bonus as the two experienced players provided some enthralling tennis, with rallies full of angled drives and stealthy advances to the net as they both covered every blade of grass in pursuit of a semi-final showdown with Rafael Nadal. Schuettler breathed a sigh of relief at the end of a gripping third set. After streaking into a 6-0 lead in the tiebreak he suddenly got the jitters and in the blink of an eye the bandana-wearing Clement had made it 6-6. However, Clement served a double fault to undo all his effort and Schuettler sent down an ace to take the set. The German, two years older than Clement at 32, then raced into a 4-1 lead in the fourth and had three break points. Clement again refused to go quietly and he roared back to level the set and came through a tiebreak full of intense leg-sapping rallies to set up a decider. By this stage Schuettler was getting visibly annoyed at the slow pace of Clement's play and his own failure to kill off his opponent, perhaps aware that Nadal would have had an extra 24 hours' rest by the time this match had finished.
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Bhambri crashes out in doubles
The unseeded Indo-Chinese pair, fought hard against the Australian duo in a rain-affected match but their effort was just not enough as they were beaten 6-7 (6) 6-3 9-11. Earlier, Yuki was already shown the doors in the singles competition in the first round itself. Poojashree Venkatesh failed to take the Indian challenge further as she, too, made a first round exit in the girls' singles event. — UNI |
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Indian athletes win three gold
London, July 3 Paulose won the race with a timing of 2:03.87 seconds beating local girl Rachael Ogden (2:05.97 secs) and Norwegian Ingvill Makestad (2:06.92 secs). In the men's 1500 mts, Hamza clocked 3:40.90 seconds to beat local boys Steve Davies (3:45.92 secs) and Daniel Pettit (3:48.27 secs) by a big margin. After this performance, Hamza is confident of achieving the Olympic qualification mark at the Sollentuna Grand Prix in Stockholm, Tuesday. Joseph clocked 1:48.25 secs to win the men's 800m race beating local favourites Tim Bayley (1:49.2 secs) and Chris Moss (1:49.39 secs). — IANS
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Karachi, July 3
London, July 3
