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Brilliant Bravo sinks India
Sri Lanka tame Pakistan
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Indian eves in must win against Pak
Junior Hockey WC
Nanao enters final
Thokchom Nanao Singh
All eyes on Spain, SA
More foreign players for I-League
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Brilliant Bravo sinks India
A decisive all-round display by Dwayne Bravo - 66 not out from 36 balls and four for 38 – boosted the West Indies to victory over defending champions India by seven wickets in the Super Eights of the World Twenty20. The Indians may now have to win both their remaining games in the competitive middle stage of the tournament against England and South Africa and also achieve a superior net run rate to qualify for the semifinals. India recovered from 66 for four to 153 for seven in their 20 overs, thanks to a flamboyant 67 from Yuvraj Singh off 43 balls. But this was insufficient to ward off the West Indies, who reached their target with eight balls to spare, rattling up their last 47 runs off a mere 3.4 overs. Chris Gayle – the only centurion till date in World Twenty20 - bludgeoned two boundaries – to long on and the sightscreen - in the opening over off Zaheer Khan, but didn’t quite tee off in his inimitable style. Harbhajan Singh, in fact, bowled a maiden to him in the 6 th over of the innings. Yusuf Pathan tends to hit the deck with his off-breaks. Gayle top-edged a pull, as he got one to bounce that bit more in the 8 th over. It was 42 for two; but Bravo, who’s meticulously honed his skills in the Indian Premier League, filled the breach. He and Lendl Simmons (44 off 37) realised 58 runs for the 3 rd wicket before a slog sweep from the latter was well held at deep square leg by Irfan Pathan. The West Indies meant business as they’ve rarely done in recent years. Fidel Edwards (three for 24) ratcheted up his velocity on a cloudy evening, with this ground’s new floodlights in operation from the very first ball. Edwards and Rohit Sharma may be teammates for Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League; but there was little bonhomie in evidence. The latter greeted him with a pull to midwicket for four. Edwards responded with ferocious pace to force a miscue to square leg. Suresh Raina hung his bat out to be brilliantly caught by wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin, diving forward; following which, Simmons took a catch, even better than his first, to terminate Gautam Gambhir’s stay. Three wickets fell in a span of 17 runs and 21 balls, with Edwards ensnaring two of these in 11 deliveries. Dhoni scratched around inelegantly as he’s wont to of late. Then, a slap off the backfoot against Bravo culminated in the hands of deep extra cover. The stands, dominated by Indian supporters, fell silent. In the same over, Andre Fletcher dropped a difficult chance from Yuvraj at square leg. The West Indians fielded with a zeal they were unknown to possess. India also failed to cash in from five overs sent down between Gayle and Kieron Pollard, which resulted in only 20 runs. In the 15 th over, though, the Trinidadian all-rounder’s third, he conceded 16 runs as Yusuf opened his shoulders for two fours and an effortless, short-arm on-drive for six. Once reprieved – and with the run rate requiring urgent acceleration - Yuvraj calculatedly threw caution to the winds. He swung Sulieman Benn to midwicket for six in the 14 th over. In the 17 th , he devoured 17 runs, including two boundaries and an amazing flick off the toes for a maximum. But Edwards, coming back for his fourth and final over to take a return catch off an attempted pull. The crowd excitedly awaited pyrotechnics from the Pathan brothers in the final over. Yusuf, though, was bowled first ball by Bravo, albeit after 31 off 23 balls. Two deliveries later, Irfan holed out to deep midwicket. However, Harbhajan altered the anti-climax with boundaries off the last three balls. Scoreboard India: Gambhir c Simmons b Bravo 14 (13) Rohit c Simmons b Edwards 5 (3) Raina c Ramdin b Edwards 5 (8) Yuvraj c & b Edwards 67 (43) Dhoni c Fletcher b Bravo 11 (23) Yusuf b Bravo 31 (23) Irfan c Simmons b Bravo 2 (3) Harbhajan not out 13 (4) Zaheer not out 0 (0) Extras (lb 1, w 4) 5 Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 153 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-27, 3-29, 4-66, 5-130, 6-140, 7-141. Bowling: Taylor 4-0-44-0, Edwards 4-0-24-3, Bravo 4-0-38-4, Gayle 3-0-13-0, Pollard 2-0-7-0, Benn 3-0-26-0. West Indies: Gayle c Zaheer b Yusuf 22 (28) Fletcher c Yuvraj b Irfan 0 (2) Simmons c Irfan b Ojha 44 (37) Bravo not out 66 (36) Chanderpaul not out 18 (9) Extras (lb 3, w 3) 6 Total (3 wickets; 18.4 overs) 156 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-42, 3-100. Bowling: Zaheer 2.4-0-26-0, Irfan 2-0-9-1, Yusuf 4-0-27-1, Harbhajan 4-1-31-0, Ishant 3-0-31-0, Ojha 3-0-29-1. Player of the Match: Bravo
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Sri Lanka tame Pakistan
The Sri Lankans lived up to their higher billing as they trounced the Pakistanis by 19 runs in the South Asian Derby in the Super Eights of the World Twenty20. Fast bowler Lasith Malinga (three for 17) and old hand Muttiah Muralitharan (two for 28) combined to defend a relatively unimposing total of 150 after the consistent Tilakaratne Dilshan had top scored with 46. The Pakistani batsmen, on the other hand, barring the skilful Yunus Khan, who played a solitary hand with a knock of exactly 50, never looked capable of handling their assignment. The sun briefly and fitfully pierced the clouds as Pakistan commenced their chase. In the very first over, Salman Butt was bowled through the gate by an incoming ball from Angelo Mathews. Shoaib Malik then cracked Mathews for three fours through point in the 5th over. But in the following over, failed to middle a pull off a slower ball from Malinga to hole out at mid-on. In the same over, Kamran Akmal was run out notwithstanding a desperate dive at the non-striker’s end. It was 35 for three as the reliable duo of Yunus and Misbah-ul-Haq joined hands. Pakistan still only managed 59 for three after 10 overs compared to Sri Lanka’s 86 for one. There was once a gap of 34 balls between two boundaries. At crunch time, 52 were needed off 30 balls. In the 5th last over, a boundary-less Misbah heaved at Murali only to hit it down deep midwicket’s throat. Next ball, Shahid Afridi as usual couldn’t resist a slog, which only spiralled to deep square leg. The wheels came off in the 17th over when Yunus threw his bat at a quickish Malinga delivery. As the top edge shot straight up, wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara ran around to pouch the ball at short point, despite Murali colliding with him. The stands were nearly full as Sri Lanka chose to set a target under cloud cover. Not in their wildest dreams could they have imagined that Pakistani would be so accommodating to start with. Sohail Tanvir sent down an 11 ball first over, which included three wides and two no balls, and a nine ball second over, which had two wides and a no ball. Such generosity cost 29 runs. Indeed, the 50 of the innings also came up with a wide in the 5th over. After the first over had also leaked three fours - two of these in Sanath Jayasuriya’s favour - this perpetual firecracker pulled Mohammed Amir for the lone six of the Sri Lankan innings. But the advent of Shahid Afridi arrested the run rate till Jayasuriya top edged to square leg to make his exit. Meanwhile, Dilshan cut, off-drove, pulled and scooped for boundaries, before being surprised by a faster delivery from spinner Afridi. Two wickets, therefore, fell in the space of eight runs and 12 balls, with Sri Lanka tugged back a little after a flying start. Saeed Ajmal was employed at the pavilion end in a double spin attack. This fetched dividend, as he beat an onrushing Sangakkara to have the skipper stumped. This off-spinner captured his second distinguished scalp when Mahela Jayawardene failed to clear extra cover. The more experienced Umar Gul was slightly expensive; but at the same time, the pick of the Pakistani quicker bowlers as Sri Lanka mustered a mere 30 runs off their last five overs. He also struck Pakistan’s only six. Scoreboard Sri Lanka Dilshan b Afridi 46 (39) Jayasuriya c Younis b Afridi 26 (24) Sangakkara st Akmal b Ajmal 15 (16) Jayawardene c Afridi b Ajmal 19 (18) Silva c Akmal b Gul 8 (6) Mubarak run out 5 (10) Mathews not out 9 (8) Kulasekara lbw b Gul 0 (1) Malinga not out 2 (1) Extras (lb 7, w 10, nb 3) 20 Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 150 Fall of wickets: 1-81,2-89, 3-110, 4-128,5-132, 6-148,7-148. Bowling: Tanvir 2-0-29-0, Aamer 4-0-26 0, Gul 4-0-34-2, Afridi 4-0-23-2, Ajmal 4-0-26-2, Malik 2-0-5-0. Pakistan: Butt b Mathews 0 (3) Akmal run out 5 (9) Malik c Kulasekara b Malinga 28 (20) Younus c Sangakkara b Malinga 50 (37) Misbah c Silva b Muralitharan 21 (28) Afridi c Dilshan b Muralitharan 0 (1) Alam c Sangakkara b Kulasekara 12 (11) Tanvir c & b Malinga 3 (7) Gul not out 9 (4) Aamer run out 0 (0) Ajmal not out 0 (0) Extras (b 1, w 2) 3 Total (9 wickets; 20 overs) 131 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-34, 3-35, 4-101, 5-101, 6-108, 7-121, 8-123, 9-124. Bowling: Mathews 4-0-23-1, Kulasekara 4-0-30-1, Malinga 4-0-17-3, Muralitharan 4-0-28-2, Mendis 3-0-24-0, Jayasuriya 1-0-8-0.
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Indian eves in must win against Pak
Taunton, June 12 A crushing 10-wicket defeat at the hands of reigning one-day World Champions England has put India’s campaign in tatters as one more loss will almost write their ouster. Indian players will have to shed the rustiness to keep their hopes alive after yesterday’s morale-downing performance against the hosts. India will take heart from the fact that they had beaten the rivals from across the border by a comprehensive 10-wicket margin in the 50-over Women World Cup, finishing third in Australia in March. Indian bowlers had done a great job by dismissing Pakistan for a mere 57 and easily erased the target score. Indian top-oder specially Anjum Chopra will have to come up with a special effort to help the side make a decent total. Indian bowlers have to pull up their socks as keeping the rivals to a small total is required to give a push to their net run-rate, which may come into play while deciding the top two teams of the groups. Two top teams from each group will qualify for the semifinals, beginning from June 18. India play Sri Lanka in their last league match on June 15 and the skipper Goswami would like to go into the clash with a winning momentum.
— PTI |
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India win, fail to make quarters
Singapore, June 12 For India to reach the quarter-finals and be into medal contention, New Zealand had to lose. But the Kiwis held pool leaders Holland and sealed India's fate. The Dutch finished with 10 points while the Kiwis had eight. India, who finished with seven points, will now play for the 9th to 16th positions. India looked far from comfortable at Seng Kang Sports Complex as they began lethargically and there was little cohesion between the forwards. What made matters worse were several mis-passes from the midfield. However, they shrugged off their lethargy and took the lead in the 25th minute when unmarked left half Mohd Amir Khan seized an opportunity to send a reverse shot past Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Mis and into the net. India doubled the lead four minutes later when striker Pramod Kumar seized a rebound from a penalty corner attempt from captain Diwakar Ram. But if India thought that this would be a cakewalk, Poland had other ideas. The Poles returned after the break and hit back with two goals to restore parity. Krystian Makowski reduced the margin from a field goal in the 41st minute and Piotr Kozlowski then sounded the board from a penalty corner three minutes later. A stunned India pulled up their socks and forged ahead with a dragflick strike from Diwakar in the 50th minute and Victo Singh completed the tally in the final seconds of the match. — PTI
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Nanao enters final
New Delhi, June 12 Nanao (48kg), Suranjoy Singh (51kg) and Jai Bhagwan (60kg) were the country’s unlikely stars today making the summit clash of their respective categories. Apart from Vijender (75kg) and Jitender (54kg), Paramjit Samota (+91kg) and Dinesh Kumar (81kg) also settled for bronze medals after semifinal losses. Nanao, making his senior international debut, beat Nyayambayar Tugstogt of Mongolia 15-7. Fellow Manipuri Suranjoy notched up a 4-2 triumph over Thai Ruenroeng Amnaj. Nanao takes on Thailand’s Pongtrayoon Keaw and Suranjoy will be up against Li Hao of China in the finals. Jai, meanwhile, beat Zhailuov Gani of Kazakhstan 7-2. He will face Turkmenistan’s Hudayberdiyev Serdar tomorrow. “Both of us were tied 0-0 at the end of the first round but I attacked more in the next two rounds. I was expecting a better fight from him. I kept my guard up and didn’t allow him an opening,” Jai said. Vijender’s 8-11 loss to local favourite Zhang Jianting came as a surprise as the 23-year-old Indian had been in brilliant form, out-punching boxers from top countries like Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, in his previous two bouts.
— PTI |
Johannesburg, June 12 The government has deployed 8,000 police officers in the four host cities - Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Rustenburg - to ensure security while transport and other infrastructure will be put to the test. So far, around 70 per cent of tickets have been sold but organisers are confident all 16 games will be sold out. South Africa take on Asian champions Iraq in the opening game but those two teams, along with New Zealand, Egypt and United States, are likely to be a sideshow to Spain, Italy and Brazil. The trio have brought mostly full-strength squads, and that means the likes of new Real Madrid signing Kaka, Manchester City's Robinho, Liverpool star Fernando Torres and Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas will be on show. Defending champions Brazil arrived in chilly South Africa yesterday after beating Paraguay 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier. — AFP
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FOTA names Ferrari in 2010 list
Formula One teams moved to bypass FIA president Max Mosley on Friday after the governing body published a controversial 2010 entry list despite a standoff over next year’s rules. In an effort to remove what they see as the major obstacle to a solution, the teams association FOTA published a draft letter seeking the help of the International Automobile Federation (FIA)’s senate and world motor sport council.
Without an agreement, they warned that some teams would leave the sport. “We respectfully seek the intervention of the World Council to facilitate solutions to the present situation,” the letter said. “We have attended numerous meetings with the FIA’s representatives and have been unable to make any substantive progress. The entry list has been published with five established teams listed as conditional entries and Ferrari, Red Bull and Toro Rosso, who against their will, have been classified as unconditional entries,” it added.
— AFP |
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More foreign players for I-League
New Delhi, June 12 According to the new rule, a club can enlist four foreign players, but one them has to be from an AFC-member country, including Australia. The meeting also discussed the 2011 Goal Projcet and Mohun Bagan’s standoff with Baichung Bhutia. The executive committee felt that the club was duty-bound to release the player to attend the national camp, otherwise the club would face suspension. The Sikkim Football Association had questioned AIFF’s “inaction” on the Bhutia issue. The Indian team will train in Dubai from June 25 and at the FC Barcelona facility in Spain from July 7 in preparation for the Nehru Gold Cup International Tournament, to be held at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi from August 18 to 30. |
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A decisive all-round display by Dwayne Bravo - 66 not out from 36 balls and four for 38 – boosted the West Indies to victory over defending champions India by seven wickets in the Super Eights of the World Twenty20.
New Delhi, June 12
The Indian bowlers were conspicuously devoid of penetration, with Ishant Sharma particularly expensive. Bravo hit three towering sixes to put the issue beyond doubt. 
Sania through to quarters