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Dhoni might go in with two spinners
England's Paul Collingwood is bowled by South Africa’s Jacques Kallis at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, on Thursday. — AFP
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£80 m Real move for Ronaldo
Asian Boxing Champioships
Junior Men’s Hockey WC
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Dhoni might go in with two spinners
On what could be a sunny evening on Friday, India would enter the
business phase of the World Twenty20 with an opening clash against the
West Indies in the Super Eights of the tournament. At a media
conference on the eve of the match, captain Mahendra Dhoni indicated
India will stick to two specialist spinners in their XI. “There’s no
reason why we shouldn’t look for two spinners”, he categorically
remarked. With the pitch expected to be dry, this could work to India’s
benefit. India are expected to name an unchanged side, with Zaheer
Khan and Ishant Sharma as the two quicker bowlers. Dhoni, however, said
he’s “flexible about number three”. In other words, Dhoni, who’s been failing in this position, may not hold on to this slot, with perhaps Suresh Raina replacing him. Dhoni explained the decision to experiment with Rohit Sharma as opener by simply stating: “He has time to spare even against the fastest of bowlers.” He slightly underplayed Virender Sehwag’s unavailability by saying Sharma “is filling his shoes, he’s a part time opener, but he’s doing his job”. About the perceived danger from his opposite number Chris Gayle in the West Indian side, Dhoni replied: “What you can really expect is bowling according to plans, in the right areas and he commits a mistake.” But he went on to say: “Each and every side have at least two players who are as good as Chris Gayle.” He added there are “quite a few big blokes (among the West Indians) who can hit sixes”. He concluded: “They are a good side, potentially a good side. You can expect some good cricket.” He conceded fielding is one area where there’s room for improvement as well as bowling in the “death” overs. In Sehwag’s absence India are without a vice captain. Dhoni did not know who his deputy is. But the manager said chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth has here and can decide on the matter. Yuvraj Singh is an obvious choice. |
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SA humble England Much to the disappointment of a packed Trent Bridge ground – now upgraded and a beautiful blend between the ancient pavilion and modern stands - hosts England, batting first, could only muster 111, thus paving the way for an elementary seven wicket victory for South Africa in the first match in India’s group in the Super Eights. Kallis stood out with an undefeated 57, opening the innings; this, in addition to two for 20 with the ball. Medium pacer Wayne Parnell went one better with the leather with a return of three for 14. South Africa, one of the favourites in the competition, were not extended at all. A straight six from Hershelle Gibbs off Graeme Swann was one of only two such clobbers in the South African innings; the other being from Kallis at the expense of Adil Rashid, the leg spinner of Pakistani origin. South Africa simply didn’t need to exert themselves. Electing to bat on a bright evening, the home side plummeted to four for two, with both openers back in the hut. Ravi Bopara played on to a slower delivery from Steyn in the very first over, while Wright swung and edged to the wicket-keeper off left-arm Parnell in the second. Kevin Pietersen struck two fours off consecutive balls from Steyn and then off successive deliveries from Kallis; but didn’t quite get elevation on an on-drive to be caught acrobatically by Roelof van der Merwe. After this blow, only Shah – top scorer for England with 38 - raised any expectation of a counter attack. Spinner van der Merwe was lofted for a six to long off besides two fours in the 12 th over. In the previous one, Shah had cannoned a full toss from Botha over the midwicket fence. With Kallis uprooting captain Paul Collingwood’s off and middle stumps as the batsman attempted to give himself room to drive, the much needed middle order revival failed to transpire. Morkel was about to replace the expensive van der Merwe when skipper Graeme Smith opted to give the latter another over. It proved an inspired move as van der Merwe grabbed two wickets - James Foster reverse sweeping to thirdman before getting his eye in and Dimitri Mascarenhas paying the penalty of trying to cut a delivery not short enough for this stroke. In the 15 th over, Kallis, working up decent pace, had Shah caught behind, which pretty much extinguished England’s aspirations. But are South Africa clicking with the bat? They struggled against New Zealand and should have made shorter work of their assignment against England. Scoreboard South Africa: |
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Kiwis blow away Ireland
Nottingham, June 11 Ireland, replying to New Zealand's 198 for five, never threatened to upset the Kiwis and were bowled out for just 115 in 16.4 overs. Redmond, officially cleared to replace the ailing Jesse Ryder in New Zealand's squad, upstaged opening partner Brendon McCullum with an innings which belied his reputation as a dogged batsman. Redmond’s dominance was shown when New Zealand's fifty was registered by a McCullum six that sailed over the square leg boundary, the hundredth maximum of the tournament. Redmond was then on 40 and proving a worthy replacement for Ryder, who was undergoing tests in hospital for an infection. He was eventually lbw to medium-pacer Alex Cusack but his departure was followed by a solid partnership of 61 between Scott Styris (42) and Martin Guptill (45 not out). Ireland’s batsmen struggled against the off-spin of Nathan McCullum, brother of Brendon, who completed figures of three for 15. Brendon McCullum was leading the side in place of the injured Daniel Vettori. Ireland next play on Sunday against Sri Lanka at Lord's and New Zealand meet
Pakistan at The Oval on Saturday. — Reuters McCullum c West b McCallan 10 (14) Redmond lbw b Cusack 63 (30) Guptill not out 45 (32) Styris c O’Brien b McCallan 42 (25) Oram c Botha b Cusack 15 (7) McGlashan b Johnston 5 (5) Franklin not out 7 (7) Extras (b 3, lb 4, w 4) 11 Total (5 wickets; 20 overs) 198 Fall of wickets: 1-51,2-91, 3-152, 4-168, 5-176. Bowling: Connell 1-0-14-0, Johnston 4-0-43-1, O’Brien 4-0-31 0, McCallan 4-0-33-2, Cusack 4-0-43-2, West 3-0-27-0. Ireland: O’Brien c Oram b Mills 3 (4) Botha run out 28 (17) O’Brien c Franklin b N McCullum 2 (3) Mooney run out 12 (14) Cusack c B McCullum b N McCullum 20 (12) Johnston run out 14 (9) McCallan lbw b N McCullum 0 (2) West b Mills 8 (8) Connell not out 1 (2) Extras (lb 2, w 1) 3 Total (all out; 16.4 overs) 115 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-15, 3-57, 4-58, 5-67, 6-86, 7-104, 8-104, 9-112. Bowling: Mills 2.4-0-12-2, Franklin 3-0-17-0, Butler 2-0-15-0, Oram 3-0-25-0, Styris 3-0-29-1, N McCullum 3-0-15-3.
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Sehwag did not hide injury: BCCI
New Delhi, June 11 The BCCI said that it hoped Sehwag would recover before the tournament got underway but the injury aggravated in London which ruled him out of the Twenty20 World Cup. Media and Finance Committee Chairman Rajiv Shukla said the BCCI knew about a “minor” Grade I tear in Sehwag’s shoulder but the extent of his injury got clear only in London. “The fitness report was submitted by the physio and it was suggested that Sehwag had minor injury which will heal in two or three days, so keeping that in mind he was picked in the squad,” Shukla said. “But when the test was done in London it was discovered that there was an additional tear in his shoulder so treatment was done by giving him injections. But when the test was done a second time, there was no improvement so it was decided to send a replacement for him,” he added. On whether the physio’s report was misguiding, Shukla said the injury was already there but the additional tear was discovered later. “No, physio’s report was not misguiding. The tear was already there but there was an additional tear which developed there and was discovered in London,” he insisted. The BCCI’s belated statement has put to rest all speculation on whether Sehwag had hidden the injury from the BCCI and the team management before leaving for England. After the injury came to light in England, there was intense speculation of a rift between Sehwag and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who bluntly refused to answer questions on the opener’s fitness at a heated press conference. Sehwag, the vice-captain of the team, admitted later that he had suffered the injury during the Indian Premier League semifinal clash against Deccan Chargers in South Africa on May 21. Sehwag carried the shoulder injury to England and missed the warm-up games as well as the opener against Bangladesh on June 6 and was ruled out from the tournament on Tuesday. — PTI
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£80 m Real move for Ronaldo
London, June 11 Matters are expected to be concluded by June 30. The club said that it will not comment on the issue until further notice. Earlier, the club had said it would consider transferring the star Portuguese winger to the Spanish football giants for £85 million. Reports in Spain insisted that Manchester United CEO David Gill had quoted this figure to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. According to The Sun, Ronaldo, who is currently on holiday in Los Angeles, was asked to put in a transfer request and tell Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson that he wants to quit Old Trafford for The Bernabeu. Ronaldo has told close friends that he wants a new challenge. Real Madrid president Perez said he is ready to end what he called a “phony war” with Manchester United. Having purchased Brazilian striker Kaka for a record £59 million, The Telegraph quoted Perez as saying that Real are now on the brink of discussing with United precisely what it will take to secure the Portuguese winger’s services. Speaking to Spanish public radio station
RNE, Perez said: “I have not yet spoken to them (United) but I will do it in the coming days.” Real general director Jorge Valdano also described Ronaldo as a great professional and a great footballer. —
ANI Top Transfers
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Asian Boxing Champioships
New Delhi, June 11 Vijender out-punched Kyrgyzstan’s Karipov Ruslan 19-4 in the middle weight quarterfinals to assure himself of at least a bronze in the event where he had clinched a silver medal in the previous edition. Fly weight (51kg) national champion Suranjoy Singh also entered the medal rounds after beating Pak Jong Chol of DPR Korea 5-1. The 22-year-old from Manipur will be up against Thailand’s Olympian Ruenrotng Amnaj tomorrow. However, it was heartbreak for Chhote Lal Yadav (57kg) and Vijender’s cousin Balwinder (64kg), both of whom lost close bouts. Chhote lost 3-4 to Masuk Wuttichai, while Balwinder lost in the countback against Karami Houman after both the boxers had ended 4-4. —
PTI |
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Junior Men’s Hockey WC
Singapore, June 11 Weerden was bang on target with penalty corners and found the net in the 10th, 14th and 52nd minutes, while Mandeep Antil (5th minute) and Innocent Kullu (54th) scored for India at the Sengkang Sports Complex. With this win, the Netherlands have assured themselves a place in the next stage with three outright wins from as many outings. The second position from the pool is still up for grabs with both India and New Zealand in the hunt. Contrary to the result, the match started with the Indians playing attacking hockey from the start. Their tactic soon bore fruit as Mandeep gave India the lead in the fifth minute through a field goal. However, the joy proved short-lived as Weerden single-handedly turned the table for Netherlands with two strikes in a span of nine minutes. He restored parity for the Dutch in the 10th minute, converting their second penalty corner with a high flick that landed at the right top corner of the Indian goal. Weerden again struck four minutes later, converting another set-piece with his powerful dragonflies to hand the Netherlands a 2-1 lead. Stung by the reversal, India stepped on gas but the Pramod Kumar-led forward line lacked vision and squandered scoring opportunities galore. Unfortunately for India, Diwakar was off-colour again with penalty corners. There was no surprise element in his drag-flicks as the Dutch goalkeeper easily anticipated his mid-net flick from India’s third short corner in the 48th minute. — PTI
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The situation with Symonds is very bad. It seems that playing for Australia is not as important to him as it once was. —
Shane Warne
Cristiano Ronaldo (C) from Manchester United to Real Madrid (2009) - 94 million euros - Zinedine Zidane (top L) from Juventus to Real Madrid (2001) - 75 million euros - Kaka (top C) from AC Milan to Real Madrid (2009) - 65 million euros - Luis Figo (bottom L) from Barcelona to Real Madrid (2000) - 61 million euros - Hernan Crespo (top R) from Parma to Lazio (2000) - 56 million euros - Gaizka Mendieta (L) from Valencia to Lazio (2001) - 48 million euros - Rio Ferdinand (bottom 2L) from Leeds United to Manchester United (2002) - 47 million euros - Andrei Shevchenko (bottom 2R) from AC Milan to Chelsea (2006) - 46 million euros - Juan-Sebastian Veron (bottom R) from Lazio to Manchester United (2001) - 46 million euros - Ronaldo (L) from Inter Milan to Real Madrid (2002) - 45 million euros.
