B’desh Tri-series Kulasekera, Mendis wreck Zimbabwe Dhaka, January 12 Spinner Ajantha Mendis became the fastest bowler to take 50 wickets in one-day internationals as Sri Lanka defeated Zimbabwe by 130 runs in their first match of the tri-series tournament in Dhaka today. Sri Lankan cricketers leave the field following the tri-series ODI match against Zimbabwe. — AFP

Daredevils rejoice over Warner’s heroics
New Delhi, January 12
Delhi Daredevils, the IPL franchise, rejoiced the success of the 22-year-old New South Wales sensation David Warner for Australia in a Twenty20 international against South Africa.

Moores is a fantastic guy: Pietersen
London, January 12
His bitter relationship with Peter Moores dumped English cricket in deep crisis, but former captain Kevin Pietersen has said he never had any personal problems with the sacked coach whom he described as a ''fantastic guy''.

Asif saddled with Rs 6.3 million bill
Karachi, January 12
Mohammad Asif narrowly escaped a two-year jail term in Dubai after Pakistan Board pleaded with the ruling family there to spare him in last year's drug possession case but the pacer is still saddled with an astronomical bill of Rs 6.3 million.

Banga boys, Dalbir Academy register wins
Patiala, January 12
Sikh National College (SNC), Banga, downed Star Impact, Malerkotla 2-1 in the 32nd All-India Gurdarshan memorial football tournament played at the Ripudaman college grounds here today.

Ranji Final
UP let Mumbai off the hook
Rohit (113 n.o.) and Abhishek (99) help Mumbai recover after pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s triple strike, including that of Tendulkar on zero, had left Mumbai tottering at 55 for 4

Hyderabad, January 12
Rohit Sharma cracked an unbeaten ton as Mumbai recovered from a miserable start to reach a decent 297 for six at close on a keenly contested opening day of the Ranji Trophy cricket final against Uttar Pradesh here today.

Sharma led the fightback with a chancy unbeaten 113 and the 207 runs he shared with Abhishek Nayar (99) helped Mumbai survive Bhuvneshwar Kumar's five-wicket haul.

Uttar Pradesh captain Mohammad Kaif's decision to insert Mumbai on a greenish track paid rich dividends with pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar dealing a triple strike, including the prized scalp of Sachin Tendulkar (0), to reduce the Wasim Jaffer-led side to 55 for four inside 20 overs.

Poor fielding soon came to hurt UP as Kaif, otherwise the safest pair of hands, twice dropped Rohit in the slips to allow Mumbai slacken the noose and regain much of the lost ground.

Rohit and Ajit Agarkar (21) were in the middle at stumps.

Rohit's unbeaten 206-ball knock, including 18 fours, may not count among his best but it came just when the team needed it most.

Nayar looked more solid of the duo and the left-hander hit 13 fours and a six en route to a 190-ball 99 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal near here.

Bhuvneshwar, who added two more scalps in the afternoon to his morning tally, finished with a figure of five for 64.

Put into bat, Mumbai found their skipper back in the hut in the sixth over when Bhuvneshwar's inswinger trapped Jaffer (1) plumb in front of the stumps.

Jaffer should have gone with a duck against his name when he was caught behind off Praveen Kumar but the umpires felt otherwise.

Looking in all sort of problems against the UP pacers, Vinayak Samant (26) perished in the same manner and 13 runs later, RP Singh trapped Ajinkya Rahane (23) just when the batsman seemed to have got his eyes in.

The biggest blow, however, was dealt in the next over when Bhuvneshwar brought one back into Tendulkar and a desperate Shivkant Shukla dived to pouch the ball which took the bat-pad route before lobbing up. It turned out to be Tendulkar's maiden duck in first class cricket.

Kaif soon ran out of luck and grassed two sitters that allowed Rohit prop up the Mumbai innings with adequate help from Nayar.

Batting on 16, Rohit edged Praveen and was relieved to see Kaif spill the regulation catch at first slip. Again on 39, Kaif dropped Rohit, this time off RP Singh.

The duo survived some torrid moments, and umpteen run out chances as well, before steadying the ship.

Nayar went after Piyush Chawla, coming down the track and hitting the leg-spinner over the long-on boundary and following it with a swept four that brought up Mumbai's 200.

Rohit also belted the chubby spinner, hitting him for three consecutive boundaries. Another four off Parvinder Singh took him to 99 and a single in the same over brought up Rohit's fourth first class century.

At the other end, Nayar hit Parvinder Singh for back-to-back fours but the century he so thoroughly deserved was to elude him.

Armed with the new ball, Bhuvneshwar dealt a double blow this time, trapping Nayar leg before and getting Sairaj Bahutule (0) caught behind to find himself on a hat-trick before next man in Ajit Agarkar thwarted his bid.

Scoreboard

B’desh Tri-series
Kulasekera, Mendis wreck Zimbabwe

Dhaka, January 12
Spinner Ajantha Mendis became the fastest bowler to take 50 wickets in one-day internationals as Sri Lanka defeated Zimbabwe by 130 runs in their first match of the tri-series tournament in Dhaka today.

Set to score a modest 211 for victory, Zimbabwe were all out for 80 in 28.2 overs with just Stuart Matsikenyeri reaching double figures.

Mendis took three for 15, completing his 50-wicket haul in his 19th one-day international and bettering the record of India's Ajit Agarkar, who took 23 matches to reach the milestone.

Medium pacer Nuwan Kulasekera ripped through the Zimbabwean top-order to take three for 13, while Muttiah Muralitharan claimed two wickets.

Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews was named man-of-the-match. — Reuters

Scoreboard

Daredevils rejoice over Warner’s heroics
M.S.Unnikrishnan
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 12
Delhi Daredevils, the IPL franchise, rejoiced the success of the 22-year-old New South Wales sensation David Warner for Australia in a Twenty20 international against South Africa.

The left-handed Warner, who was taken into the Delhi Daredevils fold last month for the ensuing IPL season in April, cracked a rapidfire 89 off 43 deliveries with seven fours and six sixes to set up a 52-run victory for Australia at Melbourne. He was adjudged the Man of the Match on his debut as he became the first player since 1877 to play for Australia without making a first-class debut.

Former India pacer T.A.Sekhar, vice-president of Delhi Daredevils franchise GMR Sports, expressed great joy at the success of his latest recruit.

"The moment I saw him at the Emerging Players' tournament, I realised he was a huge potential, particularly for the Twenty20 format. Our coach Greg Shipperd also has a very high regard for David's talent and we quickly decided to get him into our side", Sekhar said here today.

Warner's was among the first sign-ups for Daredevils' second IPL season. "His performance in the days leading up to his signing up with Delhi Daredevils vindicated our view of him and since then he has gone from strength to strength. And now he has played for Australia in Twenty20 and could soon find a place in the national side in other formats", observed Sekhar.

"We look forward to having him in Delhi alongside our other explosive stars like Virender Sehwag and Gautam

Gambhir. The stage is now set for an exciting second season of IPL", added Sekhar.

Warner in November scored a one-day record 165 not out for New South Wales against Tasmania and has continued with his amazing run. He will join Australian legend Glenn McGrath at Delhi Daredevils and is looking forward to playing in the IPL.

"It (IPL) is an exciting platform. Just to be given the opportunity to go over there and play with the world's best is going to be amazing", Warner had said after signing up with Delhi Daredevils.

Sekhar said other Delhi Daredevils players have also been doing very well for their respective national teams.

"Dilshan Tillakaratne (Sri Lanka) has come up with big scores in Tests and was adjudged man of the series against Bangladesh and had a century in both innings in the second Test. AB de Villiers has been in fine form for South Africa and New Zealand's Daniel Vettori has been bowling very well, leading his team with great distinction. Shoaib Malik has been retained as captain of Pakistan, and on the home front, Dinesh Karthik and Manoj Tewary have been among runs, too", summed Sekhar.

Moores is a fantastic guy: Pietersen

London, January 12
His bitter relationship with Peter Moores dumped English cricket in deep crisis, but former captain Kevin Pietersen has said he never had any personal problems with the sacked coach whom he described as a ''fantastic guy''.

Pietersen and Moores were in a power struggle during the Indian tour, with the former captain unhappy with the role of the coach in the side.

As part of the selection panel, Moores did not support the inclusion of former captain Michael Vaughan for the West Indies' tour, which did not go well with Pietersen.

Pietersen subsequently told the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that he could not work with Moores and the captain-coach feud eventually cost both the individuals their jobs.

Pietersen admitted that he did not share a healthy professional relationship with Moores but insisted that he never had any personal problems with the sacked coach.

''It's been hard, it's been horrible and it's been hurtful and disappointing,'' Pietersen said.

Offers full support to Strauss

Despite leaving the England captaincy under controversial circumstances, Kevin Pietersen insists he has no ill-feelings towards his teammates and offered his full support to newly appointed skipper Andrew Strauss. Pietersen resigned as skipper last week after five months in charge due to differences with former coach Peter Moores.

However, Strauss revealed that his predecessor had offered his full support following his appointment, and Pietersen confirmed he will assist the new man in any way he can during the tour of the West Indies and beyond.

''Straussy knows that he can ring me up for advice. If he needs advice on a friends basis and on a team-mates basis, I'll totally give him advice. He's a top, top man. He's one of the guys I get on really, really well with, so he's gonna have no troubles,'' Pietersen told Sky News.

''But at the end of the day, I've only captained England for three Test matches and I've only captained nine or 10 one-day internationals, so I'm no expert in captaincy,'' he added. — UNI

Asif saddled with Rs 6.3 million bill

Karachi, January 12
Mohammad Asif narrowly escaped a two-year jail term in Dubai after Pakistan Board pleaded with the ruling family there to spare him in last year's drug possession case but the pacer is still saddled with an astronomical bill of Rs 6.3 million.

Sources said after Asif was detained by the Dubai Airport police, authorities in Dubai assured the PCB that Asif would be released soon.

"But Asif to save himself from the stigma of being involved in a drug possession case during his detention leaked out a story to a media group that upon his arrival at Dubai he was drunk and had an altercation with Dubai Airport authorities which landed him into detention," the source said.

It infuriated the Dubai authorities who decided to press ahead with criminal charges against the pacer which would have put him in prison for two years.

Asif, who was detained for possession of 0.24gm of opium, was released only because some influential people got involved and the pacer was only deported and no criminal charges were pressed against him. — PTI

Banga boys, Dalbir Academy register wins
Ravi Dhaliwal

Patiala, January 12
Sikh National College (SNC), Banga, downed Star Impact, Malerkotla 2-1 in the 32nd All-India Gurdarshan memorial football tournament played at the Ripudaman college grounds here today.

In the second outing Dalbir Football Academy, comprising mostly of students of Punjabi university, Patiala, rode on some good play by Rinku Masih and Harpreet Singh to carve out a 3-0 win over SRC, Ramgarh.

The Banga squad played a cohesive game scoring midway into the first half. Skipper Satbir Singh mesmerised the rival defence with his skills and making use of his tactical acumen he passed the ball to an unmarked Atinder Mani who had no difficulty in caressing the ball home.

Stunned by the reverse, the Malerkotla lads changed tactics and pitchforked a man from the midfield into the forward line. This move almost paid dividends but for an acrobatic save made by Banga custodian Varinder Singh.

Stepping up the accelerator in the second half, Banga went ahead when Satvir Singh, who had a good outing, relayed the ball to Bharat Kumar who lobbed it back to his captain. Satbir easily scored and with it went down whatever hopes Malerkotla might have nurtured of making a comeback

Banga could have gone 3-0 up but for a blunder by Atinder Mani when he was just about to score. He lost his nerve and a chance to score his second goal when he shot wide off the mark.

With just a minute to go for the final hooter, Star Impact scored through Pardeep Kumar. But that attempt came too late in the match as the Banga romped home 2-1.

BRIEFLY

Somdev jumps to 154 in ATP rankings New Delhi: Somdev Devvarman's stellar show at the Chennai Open, where he ended runners-up, catapulted him to 154 in the latest ATP singles tennis rankings issued on Monday. The Indian leapfrogged 48 places from his earlier ranking of 202. Somdev, with 562 points, continues to be India's numero uno singles player but the gap between him and second highest ranked Prakash Amritraj is widening as the latter is now placed 209, a loss of three places. Somdev, playing in his maiden ATP Tour event final, lost in straight sets to Marin Cilic of Croatia, yesterday. In the doubles, Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes hung on to their sixth and 10th position respectively. Both Bhupathi and Paes cut a sorry figure at the home event making early exits with their respective partners. Meanwhile, Sania Mirza, who is all set to return to competitive tennis at Australian Open, was ranked 107th in the latest WTA singles rankings. — PTI

Somdev Devvarman of India holds his trophy after being defeated by Marin Cilic of Croatia in the finals of the Chennai Open ATP tennis tournament on Sunday. — Reuters

Sania-Schiavone in doubles quarters
Hobart: Sania Mirza, playing her first competitive match since a long injury lay-off, and her Italian partner Francesca Schiavone reached the doubles quarter-finals of the $ 220,000 WTA Hobart International tournament here on Monday. The fourth seeded Indo-Italian pair defeated Latvian Liga Dekmeijre and Turkey's Ipek Senoglu 7-6 (4) 6-4 in the first round of the hard court event. It took Sania and Schiavone one hour and 24 minutes to carve out the hard-fought win. Sania-Francesca converted two of the seven breakpoints in the first set while saving four. In the second set, they broke their rivals thrice while dropping their serve twice. Meanwhile, Shikha Uberoi and Germany's Jasmin Woehr lost their first round match 6-7 (4) 7-5 6-10 to the Russian-American pair of Natalie Grandin and Abigail Spears. — PTI

Pak ODI squad for Sri Lanka series
Karachi: Pakistan have included uncapped batsman Umar Amin in a 15-man squad for the one-day series against Sri Lanka this month. ''Amin has been rewarded for his excellent performances in domestic cricket,'' a Pakistan Cricket Board said on Monday. The left-handed batsman is expected to be given a chance to fill the void created by the defection of senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf to the unofficial Indian Cricket League. The Pakistan selectors included fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who is still entangled in a court battle with the board over the 18-month ban and seven million rupees fine imposed last year for disciplinary reasons. The first one-dayer is on January 21 with further games in Lahore and Multan. Sri Lanka will also return in February to play two tests in Karachi and Lahore. They were invited for the unscheduled tour by the Pakistan board after India cancelled a test series in the wake of the Mumbai attacks. Squad: Shoaib Malik (captain), Khurrum Manzoor, Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Amin, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Sohail Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Arafat. — Reuters