Hyderabad, January 16
Dhawal Kulkarni claimed five wickets as Mumbai asserted their supremacy by thrashing Uttar Pradesh by a huge 243-run margin and clinching the Ranji Trophy cricket title for a record 38th time here today.

Needing an improbable 525 to win the match on the last day, Uttar Pradesh folded up for 281 in 71.5 overs although the last wicket pair of Amir Khan and Praveen Gupta only delayed the inevitable.

The young Kulkarni was the pick of the Mumbai bowlers with five for 76 while spinner Ramesh Powar chipped in with three wickets at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at the Uppal.

Kulkarni removed Gupta to take the last wicket as the tired-looking UP batsman lazily drove an outside off-stump delivery to first slip where substitute S Kukreja grabbed it, triggering scenes of celebrations in the Mumbai dressing room. Mumbai had scored 402 and extended their 177-run first innings score with a big second-innings score of 367.

Mumbai dominated the first session by reducing UP to 55-4, but skipper Mohamad Kaif (72) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (80) added 65 runs to lend some stability to the UP innings at the rate of 3.84 runs.

With another 402 required to win in two sessions, UP frustrated Mumbai as they went on a run-spree for 10.2 overs, scoring in almost all the areas of the park. As bowlers got tired, captain Wasim Jaffer brought Sachin Tendulkar to do the trick but in vain as UP took tea break at 273 for 9.

Uttar Pradesh batsmen scored an admirable 150 runs in the second session with the last pair accumulating 47 runs in less than 10 overs even as Amir Khan was dropped in the 71st over off a Tendulkar delivery.

Kulkarni started the rot as he sent opener Shivkant Shukla back to pavilion in the sixth over. Shukla, who played the most impostant role in UP securing the final berth, guided the ball straight to be caught by Rohit Sharma at gully.

Kulkarni then got Suresh Raina, who went for a cut and edged to Sachin Tendulkar in the slips. Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar scalped the other two wickets of Tanmay Srivastava and Parvinder Singh in the morning session. Kulkarni later took the wickets of Bhuvaneshvar Kumar and R P Singh. Bhuvneshwar had picked five wickets in first innings while also impressing with the bat for UP. — PTI

Scoreboard

Mumbai (1st innings): 402

UP (1st innings): 245

UP (2nd innings):

S Shukla c Sharma b Kulkarni 11

T Srivastava b Khan 7

S Raina c Tendulkar b Kulkarni 10

Kaif c sub b Powar 72

Parvinder c Samant b Agarkar 1

B Kumar c Samant b Kulkarni 80

P Chawla c Jaffer b Powar 3

P Kumar c Nayar b Powar 0

Amir Khan not out 43

RP Singh c Jaffer b Kulkarni 4

P Gupta c sub b Kulkarni 25

Extras (b 6, lb 4, nb 10, pen 5) 25

Total (all out; 71.5 overs) 281

Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-21, 3-53, 4-58, 5-170, 6-193, 7-193, 8-217, 9-226.

Bowling: Zaheer10-1-42-1, Kulkarni 18.5-1-76-5, Agarkar 10-2-41-1, Nayar 13-6-29-0, Powar 19-3-75-3, Tendulkar 1-0-3-0. 

Melbourne, January 16
Albie Morkel’s quick fire 40 off 18 balls handed South Africa a thrilling three-wicket win over Australia in the first ODI of the five-match CB series here today. Set to chase 272, South Africa was helped by a 123-run fourth wicket stand between JP Duminy (71) and Neil McKenzie (63), who laid a solid foundation for dramatic chase which saw the Proteas requiring 50 runs from the last six overs.

Morkel was joined by his captain Johan Botha, who held one end, while the former launched an assault on the Australian bowlers whom he belted for four boundaries and huge six to register an emphatic win that came after two straight losses in the two-match Twenty20 series.

Botha was also spot on with his captaincy, especially while his team was batting and used the powerplay to perfection and romped home with three balls to spare. The Australian bowlers once again began their defence on a solid note and had South Africa on the back foot straight away.

Opener Hashim Amla (1) had little clue about Shaun Tait’s pace and the batsmen was in two minds whether to leave the ball or play, only managing to get an edge onto the stumps.

Herchelles Gibbs (22) also played one onto his stumps and just when Jacques Kallis looked good for a big one, he was clean bowled by left-armer Michael Clarke for a 49-ball 41.

Tait and Ben Hilfenhaus grabbed two wickets each while Nathan Bracken claimed one wicket of Duminy, who played with a lot of self control and did not have even a single boundary in his 93-ball innings.

Earlier after electing to bat first, Australia was given a solid start by opener Shaun Marsh who played well for his 79. Although South Africa kept Australia’s run rate under check, useful contributions from Ricky Ponting (46) and David Hussey (52) made sure that the hosts reach a competetive total of 271. - UNI 

Scoreboard

Australia:

Marsh c Boucher b M Morkel 79

M Hussey c Boucher b Steyn 6

Ponting c Boucher b Botha 46

Clarke c Amla b A Morkel 19

D Hussey b A Morkel 52

White b Botha 21

Haddin run out 19

Hopes c Jaarsveld b M Morkel 2

Bracken not out 12

Hilfenhaus not out 1

Extras (b-2, lb-3, w-9) 14

Total (8 wickets, 50 overs) 271

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-102, 3-146, 4-174, 5-223, 6-231, 7-254, 8-259.

Bowling: Steyn 10-2-49-1, A Morkel 9-0-58-2, Kallis 10-0-35-0, M Morkel 10-0-68-2, Botha 10-0-50-2, Duminy 1-0-6-0.

South Africa:

Gibbs b Hilfenhaus 22

Amla b Tait 1

Kallis b Clarke 41

Duminy c White b Bracken 71

McKenzie c Ponting b Hilfenhaus 63

Boucher b Tait 0

Jaarsveld run out 4

Albie Morkel not out 40

Botha not out 12

Extras (lb-10, w-8) 18

Total (7 wickets; 49.3 overs) 272

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-36, 3-90, 4-213, 5-215, 6-219, 7-221.

Bowling: Bracken 10-2-49-1, Tait 10-0-43-2, Hilfenhaus 9.3-1-55-2, Hopes 10-0-51-0, D Hussey 5-0-35-0, Clarke 5-0-29-1. 

Melbourne, January 16
Spain’s world number one and top seed Rafael Nadal finds British contender Andy Murray in his half of the men's singles for the Australian Open, starting on Monday.

Murray, the fourth seed, is bidding to become Britain’s first men’s grand slam champion since Fred Perry in 1936.

Second seed Roger Federer, chasing one more slam title to equal the record 14 set by American Pete Sampras, has defending Australian champion Novak Djokovic in his bottom half of the draw, made here today. Nadal begins his campaign against Belgian Christophe Rochus and could face unseeded former world number one and Australian finalist Lleyton Hewitt in the fourth round.

Hewitt, whose ranking has slipped to 74 after hip surgery last August, has a tough first-up opponent in former finalist and 13th seed Chilean Fernando Gonzalez. Murray's first-round opponent is Romanian Andrei Pavel and he also has last year's beaten finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in his quarter of the draw.

Nabha, January 16
A thoroughly professional display by Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala ended the giant killing spree of the youngsters of Dalbir football academy,Patiala 1-0 while SN College, Banga stunned BSF 1-0 in the quarter final matches of the 32nd All-India Gurdarshan memorial football tournament played here today.

RCF put on a methodical display of percentage soccer and never allowed the Patiala boys to enjoy territorial supremacy in a match in which the winner’s domination was almost complete. That is totally another matter that their margin of victory does not reflect the control they held over the proceedings. RCF now take on PSEB, Patiala in their semi final encounter to be played on the morrow. In the other last four match slated for tomorrow SN college, Banga square off against CRPF.

The only consolation Dalbir academy had today was the fact that as many as nine RCF players were from their ranks and had joined RCF in phases over the last two years after graduating from colleges affiliated to Punjabi university, Patiala.

For the Kapurthala team, Amarinder Singh played a good game and was responsible for a majority of the moves his team wove upfront. He would join the forwards when in need and then would help the midfield when he sensed there were gaps there.

Amarinder served a reminder of his authority in the first minute of the match itself when he sent home a 30 yard pile driver which, however, went off course due to a defender’s unintended deflection.

RCF pumped in their first and only goal when Gopal Thapa ran in from the left, passed the ball to an unmarked Amrinder who tapped it in front of a running Yadvinder Singh who scored before punching the air in delight.

So commanding was Amarinder’s display that Dalbir academy had to put in a man to mark him but much to the chagrin of his opponents, the RCF striker repeatedly out marked and outran his man.

Sensing that time was running out for them, the academy players became a bit more forceful but RCF tenaciously held on to their one goal lead to earn a spot in the semifinals. 

BRIEFLY

Melbourne
Somdev fails to qualify for Australian Open: Somdev Devvarman's hopes of entering the singles main draw in Australian Open went up in smoke after the lanky Indian lost his second round qualifying match to Lukasz Kubot of Poland here on Friday. Seeded 28th, Somdev began in the right earnest to go one up before his opponent staged a brilliant comeback to pip him 4-6,6-4,7-5 after nearly three hours of marathon fight. Fresh from his runners-up finish in the Chennai Open, world number 154 Somdev converted both the break points and defended one as well to wrap up the first set in 37 minutes. The 207th ranked Kubot turned the table in the second set, breaking Somdev once and holding his serve to draw parity. In the marathon see-saw decider too, Kubot prevailed, converting three berak points as against Somdev's two. — PTI

New Delhi
Reaching No 1 and sustaining it a tough task: Sehwag: It is going to be difficult for India to become the number one side in the world and sustaining that position will be even more difficult, according to flamboyant opener Virender Sehwag. Australia's 2-0 loss in the recent home series against South Africa has suddenly opened up a three-horse race for the top slot and India, thanks to their 2-0 triumph over Ricky Ponting's men late last year, are also among the contenders. Sehwag said the task would not be easy. "I think it's going to be difficult to become the number one side because we still have Australia and South Africa ahead of us. And as the saying goes, sustaining your place at the top is always more difficult than reaching there," Sehwag said here on Friday. — PTI

Seoul
Gutta-Diju in Korea Super Series semis: India’s mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju reached the semi-finals of the Yonex Korea Super Series 2009 defeating Indonesian eight-seed Wijaya Rendra and Meiliana Jauhari, here on Friday. The unseeded Indian duo won 21-17, 16-21, 21-9 to meet Thai pair of Songphon Anugritayawon and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul for a place in the final. The fourth-seed Thailand duo defeated Denmark's sixth-seeds Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen 17-21, 21-19, 21-18 in the other quarter-final. Gutta and Diju, who toppled the top seeds yesterday, were trailing Rendra and Jauhari for the initial part of the first game before opening up a five-point lead with their excellent understanding and neat play at the net. — PTI

Sydney
Paes in Auckland finals, Bhupathi loses in Sydney: Leander Paes and his American partner Scott Lipsky advanced to the finals of ATP Heiniken Open in Auckland, New Zealand but it was curtains for Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles at the Sydney International after they lost in the doubles semifinals here on Friday. The second seeded Paes and Lipsky beat Australians Paul Hanley and Jordan Kerr 6-3, 6-7, 10-7. Damm and Lindstedt sailed past the fourth seeded Czech-Slovak pair of Frantisek Cermak and Michal Mertinak 6-3, 6-2 in their semifinal match of the $480,750 hard-court event in Auckland. However, there was disappointment for Bhupathi and Knowles as the third-seeded Indo-Bahamian duo went down fighting 1-6 7-6 (4) 5-10 to second seeded Americans Bob and Mike Bryan in the semifinals of the hard-court tournament here. — PTI

New Delhi
Kapil appears in HC over pension case: Former captain Kapil Dev on Friday appeared before the Delhi High Court to depose in connection with the affidavit filed by the ICL against the BCCI to release the pension due to him and other players, who had joined the rebel league. On December 12 last year, Kapil appeared before the court registrar for a hearing but the BCCI sought an adjournment, citing the Mumbai terror attacks, resulting to uncertainity hovering over the Test series against England, leaving the board with no time to prepare for the case. The Registrar, after hearing the arguments of ICL promoter Essel Sports Pvt Ltd and the BCCI, adjourned the cross-examination of six witnesses, including Kapil and former BCCI selector Kiran More and had fixed Friday as the date of hearing. — UNI

MELBOURNE
Wawrinka to meet Federer in Kooyong final: Stanislas Wawrinka set up a final clash with Swiss compatriot Roger Federer in the Kooyong Classic after a tight 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 victory over Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez on Friday. World number two Federer advanced to Saturday’s final in the eight-player invitational event when he beat Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in three sets. Wawrinka, who partnered Federer to the gold medal in the doubles at last year’s Beijing Olympics, took the first set in a tiebreak before the 2007 Australian Open finalist levelled the match in the second set, winning the second tiebreak 7-1. — Reuters