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Tendulkar hails Ojha |
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Asia Cup
Chennai Davis Cup tie
South African Safari Fisi to start Bahrain GP 17th, Sutil 19th
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Ojha halts Mumbai in their tracks
Durban, April 25 Gibbs slammed six fours and a couple of sixes to help Deccan Chargers post a competitive total of 168 for nine, before Ojha weaved his magic to restrict the Mumbai Indians just 12 runs short of the target. Chasing 169, Mumbai made a watchful start after losing Sanath Jayasuriya cheaply in the second over but Tendulkar (36) consolidated the loss well and combined with South African JP Duminy (47) to score the first fifty in six overs en route a first wicket stand of 82 runs in 55 balls. In the fifth over, Tendulkar welcomed new bowler Harmeet Singh with consecutive fours and followed it up with a mighty six over long off before Duminy sealed it with a flashing four over cover. Tendulkar and Duminy played sensibly to post 84 runs in 10 overs but after the strategy break the match oscillated in Deccan's favour as spinner Pragyan Ojha struck thrice removing Tendulkar, Shikhar Dhawan (3) and Duminy in his fours overs. Part-time spinner Venugopal Rao also tightened the screw on the other end and although Harbhajan Singh kept the hope alive with some lusty blows, it was too little too late at the end. The chargers made a good start with Gilchrist and Gibbs stitching together a 63-run partnership of which the fifty came in just 33 balls. After setting his eyes in, Gilchrist (35) slammed Malinga's fifth ball for the first six of the day over long off and soon Gibbs too joined in and smacked Zaheer in the next over to set alight the Kingsmead ground. The duo played sensibly and involved in some good cricketing shots with Gilchrist bringing up the fifty in 33 balls playing a nice looking shot off Harbhajan Singh for a four. Dwayne Bravo made the first break through, removing Gilchrist in his first over when he tried to reach out to a wide delivery only to be caught behind by keeper Pinal Shah. However, that didn't stop the run flow as new man Dwayne Smith clubbed two fours and a six and along with Gibbs posted 88 for one before going into the strategy break after 10 overs. After the break, Gibbs stepped the gas and sent new bowler Dhawal Kulkarni for a six over mid-wicket to bring up the 100 for the chargers. One ball later, Smith joined the party and clubbed one with Gibbs ending the over with a blazing four to pick up the 50-run partnership in 31 balls after 12 overs. Gibbs continued the blitzkrieg welcoming Sanath Jayasuriya with a six in the next over. Smith also tried to repeat the antics only to see his woods being rocked.
— PTI Scoreboard Deccan Chargers: Gilchrist c Shah b Bravo 35 Gibbs run out 58 Smith b Jayasuriya 35 Rohit c Dhawan b Bravo 3 Laxman c Nayar b Bravo 0 Venugopal Rao b Malinga 9 Ravi Teja lbw b Malinga 9 RP Singh c Jayasuriya b Harbhahan 4 Edwards b Malinga 1 Ojha not out 0 Extras (b-2, lb-7, wd-5): 14 Total (for 9 wickets in 20 overs): 168 Fall of wickets: 1-63, 2-124, 3-136, 4-137, 5-141, 6-156, 7-161, 8-163, 9-168. Bowling: L Malinga 4-1-19-3, Zaheer Khan 4-0-32-0, D Bravo 4-0-34-3, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-27-1, S Jayasuriya 3-0-29-1, D Kulkarni 1-0-18-0. Mumbai Indians: Jayasuriya c Gilchrist b RP 1 Tendulkar c Gibbs b Ojha 36 Duminy c Smith b Ojha 47 Dhawan b Ojha 3 Bravo lbw b Edwards 21 Nayar c Gilchrist b Edwards 10 Harbhajan c Smith b R P Singh 20 Zaheer not out 4 PR Shah not out 1 Extras (lb 6, w 6, nb 1): 13 Total (7 wickets; 20 overs): 156 Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-86, 3-92, 4-105, 5-120, 6-144, 7-154 Bowling: FH Edwards 4-0-27-2, RP Singh 4-0-27-2, Harmeet Singh 1-0-19-0, DR Smith 2-0-15-0, PP Ojha 4-0-21-3, Rohit Sharma 1-0-8-0, Y Venugopal Rao 4-0-33-0.
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Tendulkar hails Ojha
Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar hailed Deccan Chargers' spinner Pragyan Ojha, who he believes took away the match from them with his brilliant 3/21 spell.
Ojha weaved his magic with the ball and earned the Man of the Match award by scalping three crucial wickets to restrict the Mumbai Indians 12 runs short off the 169 target, set by the Chargers. "Yeah, I thought till the 10 overs in the first half we were doing quite well but thereafter we lost a bit of momentum and lost wickets and didn't score enough runs. "Most of the time we were in control but we lost it in between when Pragyan Ojha came to bowl," said Tendulkar who made useful 36 at the top. Asked whether the strategy break had anything to do with their momentum loss, Tendulkar, a stern critic of the concept, said, " This has (time out) gone against us, hopefully next time it favours us." He, however, ruled out any possibility of changing the composition of the team for the next match before having a look at the pitch. "I have to go and look at the wicket before taking any decision but I am quite happy with the way we have approached the game so far." Asked whether the wash out against Rajasthan Royals had any affect on today's result, he said, "To certain extent because we are all set to play the last match against Rajasthan. I though those five six days in between we didn't get match practice as such. But no excuses, I think in the next match we will be able to put up a good show."
— PTI |
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Kolkata-Chennai match washed out Cape Town, April 25 Brendon McCullum led Kolkata and Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Chennai got one point each after the abandonment of the tie. It was raining since morning here and the match was called off without a ball being bowled. — PTI
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Asia Cup Chandigarh, April 25 Eighteen-member team announced at the conclusion of a coaching camp at Bhopal shows four changes in the team that won the Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament at Ipoh early this month. Unfortunately, winger Shivendra Singh, who sustained a shoulder injury, could not make it to the final squad and has been named among standbys. The team shows return of Chandigarh’s Rajpal Singh, fullback V. Raghunath, midfielder Vikram Pillay and Hari Prasad. They have come in for Ignace Tirkey, Swaranjit Singh, Bharat Chitkara and injured Shivendra Singh. India, who were the winners of the invitation version of the Asia Cup held in Chennai in 2007, are now placed in pool B with Pakistan, China and Bangladesh. Korea, Japan, Malaysia and Sri Lanka are in pool A. Winners of the Asia Cup will qualify automatically for the 2010 World Cup to be held in New Delhi. Though India, being the hosts, becomes automatic qualifier for the 2010 event, it can still retain its place in case the FIH, keeping in view security concerns or in case India fails to have an elected body in place in the country, decides to take the tournament away. It may be pertinent to mention here that India had failed for the first time in 80 years to qualify for the 2008 Olympic games in
Chennai. The team, a blend of youth and experience, has world’s most capped player, Dilip Tirkey, to man the defence along with skipper Sandeep Singh with V. Raghunath, another drag flick specialist, as the third fullback. Besides Chandigarh’s Baljit Singh, experienced Adrian D’Souza is the second goalkeeper in the squad. Strengthening the midfield are Gurbaj Singh, Sardara Singh, Ajitesh Roy, Vikram Pillay, Prabodh Tirkey and V.S.
Vinaya. Since India has chosen six midfielders, it has to slash one spot in the forward line. Seven defenders taken in the team are Tushar Khandekar, Rajpal Singh, SV Sunil, Arjun Halappa, Hari Prasad and Gurvinder Singh
Chandi. Standbys are P.R. Sreejesh, Sarwanjit Singh, Bharat Chitkara and Shivendra Singh. While Dhanraj Pillay will be the manager of the team, Harendra Singh (chief coach), Ramandeep Singh and Romeo James (coaches), Srikant Iyengar (Physiotherapist), Pradeep Dutta (trainer) and A. Narendra Kumar (video analyst) will be other members of the Indian squad at
Kuantan. After the opening game against Bangladesh on may 9, India will take on Pakistan on May 10 and China on May 12. The semi-finals are scheduled for May 14 and the final for May 16. |
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Chennai Davis Cup tie
Melbourne, April 25 The announcement came barely a day after the International Tennis Federation (ITF) rejected TA's plea to shift the Asia-Oceania Group I tie from Chennai, expressing it's satisfied with the security situation in India. "We asked for the tie to be moved because we have major security concerns for the players, particularly during the (Indian) election," TA President Geoff Pollard said in a statement. "The ITF decision has left us with no other option. We cannot send the team. It is extremely disappointing. It would be irresponsible of us to send our players into an area of such high risk. Davis Cup is very important to us but some things are more important than tennis," Pollard said. Australia face a fine of $ 100,000 and the ban for not abiding by the ITF verdict after the games's governing body yesterday upheld its decision to go ahead with the third round tie in Chennai. "The ITF Board of Directors has upheld the decision of the Davis Cup Committee... The tie will take place in Chennai on May 8-10. The location and venue was previously approved by the Davis Cup Committee following a positive report from the ITF's security consultants," an ITF statement said. The Australians wanted the ITF to shift the tie since the Lahore terror attack on Sri Lankan cricket team, which left seven Sri Lankan players and their assistant coach injured and eight policemen dead in March. Reports said Australian Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald also denounced the ITF decision to go ahead with the tie in India, pointing out the Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament was not shifted to South Africa for no reason. "It is just irresponsible. Surely some thought must be given to the players' safety. I believe they say the election is not a cause for concern, the IPL moving is not relevant and that an ATP tournament held in January shows it is safe to play in Chennai," Fitzgerald said in the statement. "A train was hijacked this week, but that does not alter their thoughts? Did the IPL move for no reason? This decision makes no sense. We have worked so hard to get back in to World Group contention, to have it snatched away like this is gut wrenching," he said.
— PTI |
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South African Safari
It’s a time for a jig and a shuffle, South African style in stadiums and streets, a moment of manifold festivals in South Africa. The main such event is, of course, the general election, which has thrown up an absolute majority for the African National Congress (ANC) and its presidential candidate, Jacob Zuma.
The issue was whether they would obtain a two-thirds majority, which would empower the incoming executive head of state to amend the country’s constitution, if he so desired. A confirmation was awaited when this was being penned. What is beyond debate, though, is that South Africa held a free and fair poll, which should be an example to the rest of Africa; indeed, to nations in the third world who haven’t got their act together in this respect. Tickets at a throwaway price
Meanwhile, another fiesta, also in sports stadia continued to unfold - a carnival of Twenty20 cricket, temporarily imported from India, but being enthusiastically endorsed by a significant section of the public in this genuinely sports loving country. While it’s only a week since the IPL got underway - and ultimately its accomplishment will be judged by the overall indicators at the end of the season - the initial assumption is quite favourable. Television ratings in India - vital for the well being of the event - reportedly matched last year’s heady figures before dipping slightly. Equally importantly, the grounds have filled with revellers - very important to reflect an aura of success. Admittedly, tickets were cleverly made available at a throwaway price (for the IPL revenue model for this off-shore venture is not dependent on gate receipts), but there still needed to be takers; and there were. Gentle giant’s fragile fitness
Only earlier this month Andrew Flintoff returned to national duty in one-day internationals after suffering a hip injury. Yet, the fragile fitness of this gentle giant of English cricket has again come to the fore. An England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) medical team had been despatched to South Africa to monitor the Lancashire all-rounder’s state of health from the very inception of the second edition of the IPL - as a precautionary step. Their worst nightmare has come true. Traditionally, Flintoff’s ankle has been his perennial problem. Now it’s his knee that requires an operation. A decent human being, he laughed about his variety of ailments on the eve of the tourney, but insisted he needed cricket under his belt - which is why he had opted to play in the IPL despite reservations in some quarters in England. On Thursday evening, David Collier, chief executive of the ECB, clarified to this diarist that England cricketers partaking in the IPL and selected for England’s 1st Test against the West Indies starting May 6 had to report back to London by 6 pm on Friday the 1st. In other words, both Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen could engage in an extra outing over and above their respective six-match contracts. |
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Fisi to start Bahrain GP 17th, Sutil 19th Sakhir (Bahrain), April 25 With Sutil finishing 16th and Fisichella 18th for in the qualifying session, Force India was set to start tomorrow's race from its highest grid slot so far this season. However, Sutil, who was only one tenth from Q2, was subsequently handed a three-place penalty for blocking Webber's flying lap and that pushed him down the grid. — PTI
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Earlier, Gibbs anchored the Deccan's innings leading from the front after skipper Adam Gilchrist won the toss and elected to bat in Kingsmead here.
