Indore, November 16
With their confidence on a high after the landslide win in the opening ODI, in-form batsman Yuvraj Singh's back injury is India's only concern as they prepare to take on a battered England in the second one-dayer of the seven-match cricket series here tomorrow.

After drubbing the visitors by a massive 158 runs, the Indians are hoping that Yuvraj, who pummelled the English attack with an unbeaten 138, would be fit to take the field tomorrow.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni says a final call on the attacking left-hander, who required a runner for most part of his innings in the Rajkot ODI, would taken just before the match.

Pace spearhead Ishant Sharma, meanwhile, is all but out of the match after Dhoni admitted that his ankle sprain needs more time to heal.

England, on the other hand, have to battle low morale after the pasting they received at the hands of the marauding Yuvraj.

Skipper Kevin Pietersen says his team would bounce back and come hard at India in the second clash.

But that looks easier said than done against an in-form Indian line-up, which did not show any sign of missing a stalwart in Sachin Tendulkar, who has been rested for the first three matches.

The array of stroke-players that India possess in the batting line-up, starting with the potent opening combine of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir followed by Suresh Raina, Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma and Dhoni, must be causing not only envy but also awe among among the visiting team.

The Indian new ball bowlers Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel in particular extracted life even in the afternoon on what was a perfect belter in Rajkot while their England counterparts - led by the redoubtable Andrew Flintoff - looked quite innocuous and failed to take advantage of whatever juice it possessed in the morning.

Pietersen's decision to ask India to take first strike must have been prompted by the array of pace bowlers at his disposal, but to his chagrin all of them were taken to the cleaners by the Indian batsmen.

It is unlikely the South Africa-born batsman, who top-scored in England's reply
with a confident and attractive 63 before he was run out, will repeat the same
mistake henceforth.

"It's definitely disappointing to lose. But there are six games left in the series and we intend to bounce back and hit India hard on Monday. We would give them a good run for the money", the England captain said after his team's humiliating defeat in the first ODI.

However, to achieve this he said the team has to improve in all aspects of the game. India, on the other hand, could not have asked for a better start to the seven-match series.

The mandatory new ball after 34 overs and the new Power Play rule, taken by India from 34th to 38th overs, also is a big advantage for big hitters.

At the end of the 34th over, India were 216 for two giving a run-rate of 6.35 and the team added 171 runs in the last 16 overs at a whopping 10.6 per over, a clear indicator of the difference these two rules made to the overall picture.

England, meanwhile, are grappling with their problems of how to forge a potent bowling attack to take advantage of the wicket and weather conditions here. — PTI

Indore, November 16
The key to bouncing back against India in the second one-day International here after their huge defeat in the opening encounter at Rajkot would be to take early wickets and put hosts under pressure, feels England all-rounder Paul Collingwood.

"We just have to stop them. We need to be more aggressive. We want to hit India hard. The key is to take early wickets and put them under pressure," Collingwood told reporters at the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association stadium today.

"India is very much like any other team. We did not get into a situation from where we could get on top of them. Hopefully, we can do it tomorrow," he said.

The visiting team's lower middle order batsman claimed that despite the setbacks for the team in the Stanford Super Series in Antigua and the first ODI at Rajkot, the team was high on confidence.

"Ours in a close-knit team. The morale is very high. We will definitely bounce back (in the series)," he said ahead of the second match.

The good news for the visiting team is the return to fitness of their left-arm swing bowler Ryan Sidebottom who gives their attack variety that it lacked at Rajkot.

"Ryan is fully fit to play," Collingwood said. He said if Yuvraj Singh, who demolished the England attack at Rajkot with a blazing 138 not out, is not available for tomorrow's tie, it would be an advantage for the tourists.

"It was one of the best innings in one-day internationals. He has scored heavily against us in the Twenty20 World Championship at Durban. If he's not able to play tomorrow, obviously it would be bonus for us," he said.

The Indian camp is still not sure whether the Punjab batsman would be fit to play tomorrow and has decided to take a final call before the match.

Collingwood said that the toss could be vital as the wicket looked flat, the
boundaries short and the ground small, indicating that the best option would
be to bat first.

"It looks to be pretty flat with some cracks. The ground is small and the boundaries are short. Batting first on this wicket would be the way to go," said Collingwood.

England skipper Kevin Pietersen had won the toss at Rajkot and put India in to bat and saw his bowling attack plundered by India who scored a massive 387 for five, their second-best ODI score ever.

Collingwood echoed his captain and Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's views that the new Power Play rule - which gives a chance to the batting team to avail it once - is interesting.

"It has given the captains a few more headaches in choosing your moment to take it. It's done between the 30s and early 40s (overs). It has certainly made it (ODIs) a lot more interesting," he declared. — PTI

Ahmedabad, November 16
After 37 days of action among
nine teams, Lahore Badshah rode
on Imran Nazir's unbeaten
swashbuckling 44-ball 111 to
rout Hyderabad Heroes by eight
wickets in the high-voltage third
final to lift the second edition of
the ICL 20-20 championship trophy
here today.

Imran Nazir hit the fastest century
of the tournament to help Lahore
Badshah reach the target of 159
in just 13.5 overs with a huge six
over deep mid-wicket to register
one of their biggest victories over
the Hyderabad Heroes in the third
of the best-of-three finals.

Nazir, who played with a runner in Naved-ul-Hasan, hit as many as seven fours and 11 sixes in his 44-ball massacre. He reached his century with a massive six over mid-wicket in the 14th over.

Nazir also reached his fifty in 16 balls, a record of the tournament. It is also the second fastest in international Twenty20 matches, with India's Yuvraj Singh holding the top spot, which he scored against England in October last year.

Imran Nazir started Badshahs' riposte with a fury, pulverising the bowlers for two sixes and a four in the first over to score 24.

Nazir triggered off a flurry of fours and sixes, bringing up the fifty in just 20 balls along with Imran Farhat before rocking his way to the fastest half-century of the tournament in just 16 balls.

Nazir showed no respect for the bowlers picked up the hundred in eight overs. Although Heroes tried to tighten the screw, picking up Imran Farhat (28 off 25 balls) and Shahid Yousuf (1) within the span of four balls but it was too late.

He then clubbed with Mohammad Yousuf (17) and hammered three sixes and two fours in the 14th over to score 160 and pocket the match in style.

Scoreboard

Hyderabad Heroes

Maher b A Mahmood 5

Khaleel c Farhat b Saqlain 45

Anirudh b S Nazir 12

Razzaq c Inzamam b S Nazir 1

Rayudu c H Farhat b S Nazir 13

Binny c I Nazir b Saqlain 25

Boje c H Farhat b Sami 19

Kemp not out 22

Harris not out 9

Extras (lb 4, w 2, nb 1) 7

Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 158

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-55, 3-57, 4-73, 5-82, 6-124, 7-126.

Bowling: Sami 4-0-31-1, A Mahmood 4-0-31-1, S Nazir 4-0-29-3, Naved 4-0-28-0, Saqlain 4-0-35-2.

Lahore Badshahs

Nazir not out 111

Farhat c Boje b A Razzaq 28

S Yousuf lbw b Boje 1

M Yousuf not out 17

Extras (lb 2, w 1) 3

Total (2 wickets; 13.5 overs) 160

Fall of wickets: 1-108, 2-109.

Bowling: A Razzaq 3-0-36-1, Binny 2-0-27-0, Reddy 2-0-23-0, Boje 3-0-25-1, Harris 2-0-11-0, Absolem 1.5-0-36-0. — PTI

Dharamsala, November 16
Bowlers dominated the Ranji Trophy match between Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) with fourteen wickets falling on the first day of match that started here today.

Himachal won the toss and elected to bat. Himachal’s opening batsman Bhavin Thakkar was the only one to withstand the onslaught of the J&K bowlers.

He went on to score a brilliant century before being dismissed by S.U. Begh the most successful bowler for J&K after scoring 122 runs.

J&K when put to bat also received early jolts. By the end of the day J&K were reeling at 22 for 4.

Sentosa (Singapore), November 16
Jeev Milkha Singh stayed calm in a nerve-wracking finish to clinch the $5 million Barclay’s Singapore Open here Sunday.

Jeev showed nerves of steel as each of three major contenders missed their final putts by the narrowest of margin.

But Jeev, coming to the 18th tee with a one-shot lead, stayed one ahead as he tapped a par putt from six inches and then waited for his rivals, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els, to finish.

Both Harrington and Els narrowly missed their birdie putts, that would have sent them into a play-off with Jeev, leaving him a victor by one shot.

Jeev carded two-under 69 to finish with a total of seven-under 277 and winner of the first prize of $792,50, which confirms his second Asian Tour Order of Merit besides a whole lot of other landmarks.

Jeev becomes the first Asian Tour player to cross $1 million dollars with a total of $1,405,607, the highest so far in the history of the Asian Tour.

Jeev did not betray emotion when his main rivals missed a few crucial putts. But when asked about his immediate feeling, he admitted, “It still hasn’t sunk in. I played very good but I think I was very fortunate; the golfing gods were on my side. I think those two guys - Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els - hit some good putts on the last hole and I was fortunate enough to win and I’ll take it.”

At the start of the week, he said he will cut down on the gruelling schedule, but now he was ‘happily tired’. “I was tired. But when you get into the hunt, all that tiredness goes and you start thinking about winning the title. That is when you work on getting stronger and focusing hard on the job.”

As for his injuries, he said: “If the injuries keep coming and the titles keep coming, I won’t complain anymore. But honestly, I need to slow down. I injured my neck yesterday when I was hitting some balls. Thanks to my physio Philipa. If they (physios) are not there, we won’t be able to play. She was nice enough to rub my back and loosen my muscle up so at least I could swing. She helped me out at the Indian Open also.”

Asked about wrapping up the Order of Merit with this victory, he said: “I won the Order of Merit in 2006 and if I can do it right now, it’s not confirmed. (Mark Brown would have to win all four remaining tournaments, but Jeev is also entered in two.) Any Order of Merit, anywhere in the world, for any pro, especially in Asian Tour where I started my golf, is great. This Tour has given me a lot and if I can do it again, that would be fantastic.” — IANS

Rai (Sonepat), November 16
Priyanka Bist of Kurukshetra in the women’s section and Tahir of Gurgaon in the men’s section bagged four gold medals each in 90m, 70m, 50m and 30m events of archery on the third day of the 22nd Haryana Games, here today.

In wrestling men (free style), Amit Kumar of Sonepat bagged the gold in 55 kg, Sandeep of Sonepat in 66 kg and Amit Kumar of Rohtak in 96 kg category bagged the gold medals.

In men (Greco Roman) Narender of Rohtak won the gold in 60 kg category; whereas 84 kg and 120 kg category gold medals were bagged by Rajesh of Jind and Rupender of Jhajjar, respectively.

In women’s wrestling Nirmala and Anita of Haryana police won the golds in 48 and 59 kg categories, respectively, and 67 kg gold went to Suman Kundu of Rohtak.

Sirsa dominated judo (women) events by claiming gold in all three categories. Anupal of SSS Sirsa in 44 kg, Krishna of Sirsa in 48 kg and Sarita also of Sirsa in 52 kg won the gold.

In badminton (men), Panchkula won the gold whereas Sonepat and Bhiwani bagged the silver and bronze, respectively.

In women’s section, Bhiwani, Panchkula and Sonepat won the gold, silver and bronze, respectively.

Sonepat along with Kurukshetra in women section and with Gurgaon in men section has entered in the finals of hockey.

In today’s matches Sonepat women defeated Hissar by 4-2 and Kurukshetra by 4-1 and Kurukshetra women trounced Yamunanagar by 6-0 to claim spot in the final.

Sonepat (men) defeated Kurukshetra by 4-1 and Gurgaon in one sided match outclassed Faridabad by 5-0.

In basketball, Haryana police and Rohtak in the men’s section and Sonepat and Jhajjar in women’s section have entered in the finals.

Haryana Police defeated Kurukshetra by 86-69 and Rohtak managed to register a win over Sonepat by 66-59.

In the women’s section, Sonepat trounced Bhiwani by 40-13 and Jhajjar convincingly defeated Rai by 56-20.

Kurukshetra and Bhiwani in the women’s section and Kaithal and Rohtak in men section of the kho-kho will clash in the final.

In today’s women semifinals, Kurukshetra defeated Rohtak by 10-6 and Bhiwani outpaced Karnal by 9-1.

In men’s semifinal, Kaithal defeated Jind by 11-8 and Rohtak defeated Hissar by 12-6. Results:

Handball: (men): Jind beat Sirsa (25-21) and Jhajjar beat Rohtak (20-11) (women) Jind defeated Sonepat (18-8), Haryana Police defeated SSS Sirsa (15-12); Wrestling: (men) (free style) 55 kg Amit (Bhiwani) 1, Suresh (Sonepat) 2, Sukhvinder (Jind) 3 and Jagdish (Rohtak) 3; 66 kg- Sandeep (Sonepat) 1, Amar Pal (Bhiwani) 2, Amit kumar (Jhajjar) and Sandeep 3 (Haryana Police) 3; 96 kg- Amit Kumar (Rohtak) 1, Praveen (Jhajjar) 2, Narender (Bhiwani) 3 and Surjit (Panipat) 3; (Greco Roman) - 60 kg- Narender (Rohtak) 1, Pradeep (Jhajjar) 2, Surender (Haryana Police) 3 and Deepak (Karnal) 3; 84 kg- Rajesh (Jind) 1, Harish (Jhajjar) 2, Kuldeep (Bhiwani) 3 and Anil (Haryana Police) 3; 120 kg- Rupender (Jhajjar) 1, Prem Singh (Sonepat) 2, Bhim Singh (Rohtak) 3; Wrestling women: 48 kg- Nirmal (Haryana Police) 1, Sudesh (Jind) 2, Sudesh (Gurgaon) 3 and Poonam (Hissar) 3; 59 kg- Anit (Haryana Police) 1, Nirmal (Hissar) 2, Neetu (Jhajjar) 3 and Rekha Narwal (Sonepat) 3; 67 kg- Suman Kundu (Rohtak) 1, Poonam (Bhiwani) 2, Reetu (Sonepat) 3 and Kavita (Jhajjar) 3; Taekwando: (women) - 51 to 55 kg- Jyoti (Yamunanagar) 1, Ritu (Sirsa) 2, Shalu (Hissar) 3 and Suman (Panipat) 3; 55 to 59 kg- Santosh Jaglan (Panipat) 1, Amanpreet (Ambala) 2, Monika (Sonepat) 3 and Shiwani (Rohtak) 3; (men) 54 to 58 kg- Arvind (Yamunanagar) 1, Navjeet (Rohtak) 2, Sunil (Hissar) 3 and Harminder (Ambala) 3; 58 to 62 kg- Jai Kumar (Yamunanagar) 1, Sunil (Haryana Police) 2, Shrawan (Hissar) 3 and Navpreet (Ambala) 3; 72 to 78 kg- Somvir (Sonepat) 1, Nitin (Rohtak) 2, Vishal (Ambala) 3 and Shailender (Haryana Police ) 3.

Bangalore, November 16
Saina Nehwal is ‘champion material’ and in another three years, India can look forward to seeing a world number one in the Hyderabadi youngster, said legendary shuttler Prakash Padukone.

Seventeen-year-old Saina has most of the qualities a champion needs - physical, technical, mental and self-belief - the former All England Champion said. “If she continues to work hard and remain focused, there is no reason why she can’t reach the very top”, Padukone, himself a former world number one and a World Cup winner, told PTI here in an interview.

“It (Saina becoming world number one) is definitely possible. She is already at 11 (in world rankings) now. It’s just a matter of time before she breaks into the top 10”, he said.

“I think within a year, she is definitely capable of being in top five, and go on to even become number one may be in two-three years,” he said.

This year has been an extraordinary one for Saina, who reached the quarterfinals in the Beijing Olympics and won the recent World Junior Badminton title.

“If she continues like this, she has got everything going right”, Padukone said, terming her performance in the two events as impressive, creditable and commendable. “One can look forward to some great performances from her in the future,” he said.

Saina needs to plan her tournament schedule properly, Padukone said, advising her to be selective about tournaments and space them out in such a way that she gets enough time and rest and can work on her weaknesses in between.

“Training for short stints abroad - may be in Malaysia or Indonesia - would be a good idea for her as such outings would help her familiarise more with the type of game that foreigners play. They (foreign players) play a different kind of game, compared to the Indians. So, that does not come as a surprise to you when you play them (If you have short training stints abroad)”, Padukone said.

“She believes now that she can beat the best in the world,” Padukone said, but cautioned that she should also be prepared to face some defeats along the way as the other players would not give her titles on a platter.

“You have to be prepared mentally to face some reversals...may be one or two odd defeats”, he said. — PTI