S P O R T S

Pietersen, Moores quit: Report
London, January 7
English cricket plunged into deep crisis with feuding captain Kevin Pietersen and coach Peter Moores resigning from their jobs, media reports said here today. According to a Sky Sports News report, both the coach and the captain stepped down from the posts after their fragile working relationship reached its breaking point.

In this file photo England captain Kevin Pietersen is seen with coach Peter Moores during a practice session at Kanpur on November 20, 2008. — PTI

• Strauss might replace KP

‘Tough being coach to KP’
Kevin Pietersen's relationship with England coach Peter Moores was doomed from the very start as the skipper respects only South African coaches or those who have been world class players, claims his former county team Nottinghamshire's Director of Cricket Mick Newell.

Maria Sharapova and Charlie Ebersol watch the LA Lakers play the New Orleans Hornets during their NBA basketball game in Los Angeles on Tuesday. — Reuters

Aussies win, retain top ranking
Sydney, January 7
A gutsy South African captain Graeme Smith failed to avert the defeat as Australia won the third and final Test by 103 runs with just 10 balls remaining on the final day and with this win, it also managed to defend its number one spot in the ICC Test rankings here today.

Wawrinka loses, Moya advances
Chennai, January 7
Swiss second seed Stanislas Wawrinka lost 6-4 6-1 to Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla in the first round of the Chennai Open on Tuesday. World number 138 Cipolla won in 95 minutes against the error-prone Swiss, who is ranked 16th in the world.

Malaysian Super Series
Saina, Sridhar, Chetan advance
 Kuala Lumpur, January 7
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal started her season on a winning note, dispatching little known German Nicole Grether in straight games to enter the second round of the Malaysian Super Series badminton tournament here today.

Ranji Trophy
Mumbai set up title clash with UP
Chennai, January 7
Fancied Mumbai entered the final of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament by virtue of their 258-run first innings lead, as their four-day semifinal against Saurashtra ended in a draw here today.

Chennai Open
Rain washes out second day’s play
Chennai, January 7
Rain washed out the second day’s play at the Chennai Open on Wednesday. Meanwhile, late last night Swiss second seed Stanislas Wawrinka lost 6-4, 6-1 to Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla in the first round. World number 138 Cipolla won in 95 minutes against the error-prone Swiss, who is ranked 16th in the world.

Pietersen, Moores quit: Report

London, January 7
English cricket plunged into deep crisis with feuding captain Kevin Pietersen and coach Peter Moores resigning from their jobs, media reports said here today.

According to a Sky Sports News report, both the coach and the captain stepped down from the posts after their fragile working relationship reached its breaking point.

Strauss might replace KP Opening batsman Andrew Strauss is set to take over as captain of the England cricket team after current skipper Kevin Pietersen and coach Peter Moores resigned from their jobs earlier in the day, leaving English cricket in an unexpected crisis. According to media reports ECB has accepted the resignations of Pietersen and Moores. According to a Sky Sports News report, both the coach and the captain stepped down from the posts after their fragile working relationship reached its breaking point ahead of the West Indies tour. “The ECB are believed to have held an emergency tele-conference of their 12-man executive board on Tuesday evening to discuss the rift between coach and captain. The outcome of those discussions appears to have prompted both men to quit. “Andy Flower, who worked as batting coach under Moores, is set to be interim coach in the Caribbean, with opening batsman Andrew Strauss favourite to be named captain,” a report said.

"The ECB are believed to have held an emergency tele-conference of their 12-man executive board on Tuesday evening to discuss the rift between the coach and the captain. The outcome of those discussions appears to have prompted both men to quit," the report claimed.

"Andy Flower, who worked as batting coach under Moores, is set to be interim coach in the Caribbean, with opening batsman Andrew Strauss favourite to be named captain," the report added.

After the coach-captain feud became public, the England and Wales Cricket Board entrusted its managing director Huge Morris to broker peace between the duo.

Morris did have an interaction with Moores, his old friend, but was waiting for Pietersen to return from holiday.

The ECB was miffed with both as they made their spat a public spectacle, much to the embarrassment of the Board.

Moores, as coach, was part of the selection committee which ignored Michael Vaughan for the West Indies tour, a decision that miffed Pietersen who wanted the former captain in the side.

But their relationship had soured even earlier and Pietersen apparently was not happy with Moores' inputs during the two-match Test series in India which they lost 0-1.

According to media reports, Pietersen didn't hold Moores in very high esteem as a coach and was, in fact, keen to have his mentor and Kent coach Graham Ford in the charge.

Pietersen was keen to resolve the issue before starting for the West Indies and had said, "This situation is not healthy, we have to make sure it is settled as soon as possible and certainly before we fly off to the West Indies. Everybody has to have the same aims and pull in the same direction for the good of the England team." — PTI

‘Tough being coach to KP’

Kevin Pietersen's relationship with England coach Peter Moores was doomed from the very start as the skipper respects only South African coaches or those who have been world class players, claims his former county team Nottinghamshire's Director of Cricket Mick Newell.

Pietersen left Nottinghamshire in acrimonious circumstances in 2004 and Newell says it is tough being a coach to Pietersen, who is not just "driven and dedicated, but also uncompromising and intolerant of mediocrity".

"Ideally for Kevin, the coach would be South African or someone who was once a worldclass cricketer," Newell told 'Sportsmail'.

"Anyone else is going to struggle to work with him. If you're an average county player like Mooresy was, and he would admit that, and you had earned your coaching reputation in the county game, that would mean nothing to Kevin. It just wouldn't register with him or earn his respect.

"The bottom line is that Peter Moores means nothing to Kevin in terms of name or reputation. Because of his background, he has more time for South African coaches because they taught him the game. He really enjoyed working with Ricey (Clive Rice) and also had a good relationship with Duncan Fletcher," he added.

Recalling his own experience of working with Pietersen, Newell said though the left-hander never undermined his authority the two never really shared a very warm relationship.

"The hardest thing for me was that I took over from Clive Rice, who Kevin grew up worshipping. Ricey had brought him over to England, so when he left Notts it was obviously a problem for Pietersen, because he had been the reason to come to the county in the first place," he said.

"To be fair to Kevin, he was very professional about it. He never set out to cause a huge amount of trouble. We made him stay for the last year of his contract when he wanted to leave, but he knuckled down and made sure he scored a lot of runs. He was determined to play for England and he wanted to make a strong case to do that," he added.

Newell said Pietersen likes to lead from the front and gets agitated if the team fails to match his high standards.

"To work with him any coach would have to be prepared to let him act as the front man," he said. — PTI 

Aussies win, retain top ranking

Sydney, January 7
A gutsy South African captain Graeme Smith failed to avert the defeat as Australia won the third and final Test by 103 runs with just 10 balls remaining on the final day and with this win, it also managed to defend its number one spot in the ICC Test rankings here today.

However, South Africa, with its two memorable wins at Perth and Melbourne won the three-Test series 2-1.

On the final day today, South Africa needed 314 runs to achieve the required target of 376 runs and make a 3-0 clean sweep but the visitors were dismissed for 272 after Australia had declared its second innings at 257 for four yesterday.

However, South African tail tried hard to hang in but it was still not enough to defy Australia from salvaging a consolation win even as the visitors won the series 2-1.

Inspirational Smith (3) came in as the 11th man and batted with a broken hand in a courageous but ultimately failed attempt to save the match.

Smith received a standing ovation when he took the field at nine wickets down with 8.2 overs of play remaining and survived 16 balls before Johnson nipped a ball back off a crack on the wearing pitch to bowl the Proteas' captain, who was later declared the man-of-the-series.

Earlier, Australia made heavy work of the last session, dropping two catches, while South African tailenders Dale Steyn (28) and Makhaya Ntini (28 not out) put up some resistance, combining for a record partnership of 55 in 73 minutes.

Debutant Andrew McDonald dropped a catch off his own bowling to give Steyn a life, but got a leg before decision against him two balls later.

That brought Smith to the crease to face two balls from McDonald before the end of the over. — UNI

Wawrinka loses, Moya advances

Chennai, January 7
Swiss second seed Stanislas Wawrinka lost 6-4 6-1 to Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla in the first round of the Chennai Open on Tuesday. World number 138 Cipolla won in 95 minutes against the error-prone Swiss, who is ranked 16th in the world.

Former world number one Carlos Moya of Spain overcame Thai qualifier Danai Udomchoke 6-3 7-6 with two aces to close out the tie-break.

Fourth seed Croatian Ivo Karlovic pounded 10 aces to dismantle qualifier Rajeev Ram of the United States 6-4 6-3 to make a winning start to the new season. After a series of unforced errors, 23-year-old Wawrinka, who broke into the top 10 last year, trailed 4-1 in the opening set.

The Swiss number two, who won the doubles gold at last year's Beijing Olympics along with Roger Federer, clawed back to 4-5 in the first set but could not find the consistency to overcome an opponent he beat at the U.S. Open last year. — Reuters

Malaysian Super Series
Saina, Sridhar, Chetan advance

Kuala Lumpur, January 7
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal started her season on a winning note, dispatching little known German Nicole Grether in straight games to enter the second round of the Malaysian Super Series badminton tournament here today.

World number 10 Saina took just 26 minutes to send Nicole packing 21-15, 21-8 in the first round to set up a clash with Hsiao Huan Chen of Chinese Taipei, who defeated compatriot Shih Ying Chen 21-18, 21-15, in the second round tomorrow.

Saina made a cautious start and gradually moved to a 7-3 lead before taking full control to wrap up the first game 21-15. The Indian was even more dominant in the second game and wrapped up the match in just 26 minutes.

The Indians had a good day in the men’s singles competition as well with Anup Sridhar and Chetan Anand advancing to the next level after notching up easy wins. While Chetan beat Canadian Bobby Milroy 21-10, 21-12, Sridhar got the better of Malaysian Muhammad Roslin Hashim 21-17, 21-14.

However, Anand Pawar’s campaign ended after he went down fighting to Taipei's Hsuan Yi Hsueh 27-25, 16-21, 19-21 in over an hour long contest. Meanwhile, the mixed doubles pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta beat Taipei's Chieh Min Fang and Wen Hsing Cheng 21-17, 21-15 in their tournament opener.

But there was disappointment in men’s doubles as Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas lost 9-21, 17-21 to the Polish duo Michal Logosz and Robert Mateusiak. — PTI

Ranji Trophy
Mumbai set up title clash with UP

Chennai, January 7
Fancied Mumbai entered the final of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament by virtue of their 258-run first innings lead, as their four-day semifinal against Saurashtra ended in a draw here today.

This was for the 42nd time that the 37-time champions had entered the summit clash of this prestigious event in Indian domestic calendar.

Mumbai, who failed to qualify for the final last year, came up with a clinical and professional display. The batsmen scored enough runs and the bowlers backed it up with good performance to put the team in the title clash after a gap of one year.

Resuming at the overnight score of 247 for 5, Saurashtra were bowled out for 379 in 130 overs, 34 minutes after lunch, conceding a 258-run first innings lead. Mumbai scored 637 for six in the first innings.

With a place in the summit clash sealed, Mumbai did not enforce the follow on and decided to bat for the second time.

However, bad light accompanied by incessant drizzles halted the proceedings with Mumbai scoring 42 for one in 12 overs.

As the light did not improve and the drizzle continued, the match was called off at 3.30 pm. — UNI

Shukla 178 n.o.

Nagpur: Opener Shivakant Shukla’s unbeaten 178 was instrumental in Uttar Pradesh achieving a Ranji Trophy final berth after pipping Tamil Nadu on the basis of first innings lead on the last day of the super league semifinal here today.

Uttar Pradesh will now take on the 37-time Ranji champions Mumbai, who secured a place in the finals pushing behind Saurashtra today. Shukla spent nearly 14 hours at the crease to guide his team home, overcoming TN bowlers’ brave fight on a dead track. Uttar Pradesh surpassed TN’s first innings total of 445 with two wickets and 6.3 overs to spare.

Shukla’s career-best score came off 596 balls and included 26 boundaries. — UNI

Chennai Open
Rain washes out second day’s play

Davydenko pulls out