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India’s WI Tour
With an eye on final, Indian eves face NZ
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Proteas up against mercurial Pak
Abbas, Saleem back Pakistan to win Cup
Mixed day for shuttlers
Men’s Junior Hockey WC
Eastern Railways win
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India’s WI Tour
New Delhi, June 17
The 30-year-old Nehra, who last played a one-day international in September 2005, was rewarded for his fine show in the recent IPL with a berth in the squad which has no place for Irfan Pathan and an injured Suresh Raina. Tamil Nadu opener Murali Vijay and middle order batsman S Badrinath were recalled in the squad announced by BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan through a press release. Srinivasan said Raina was not considered for selection as he sustained a hairline fracture on his thumb and has been advised two weeks rest. Zaheer has been rested while Tendulkar had made a request that he be rested for the tour beginning June 26. The 25-year-old Mumbai all rounder Nayar was also rewarded for his consistent performance in domestic cricket and the recent IPL by being named in the squad to be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni with Yuvraj Singh as his deputy. Virender Sehwag, who pulled out of the Twenty20 World Cup because of a shoulder injury, was also not considered for selection. India are scheduled to play four ODIs in the Caribbean with Jamaica hosting two matches (June 26 and 28) and St Lucia holding the two other games (July 3 and 5). The Indians will leave for the West Indies from London tomorrow. Nehra, who has played 17 Tests and 72 ODIs before going out of favour, got the nod ahead of fellow pacers Munaf Patel and S Sreesanth. The Delhi bowler, who has been plagued by injuries right through his career, had last played an ODI against New Zealand in 2005 and it remains to be seen whether he gets an opportunity to play in the matches. The team already has Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and RP Singh as the main pacers while Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha were the two specialist spinners. In the absence of regular opener Virender Sehwag, the selectors opted for Vijay though Rohit Sharma, who opened the innings in the T20 World Cup could carry on with the job along with Gautam Gambhir. Badrinath got a look-in mainly because of Suresh Raina’s injury and the Tamil Nadu middle order batsman, who had a decent outing in the recent IPL, would be keen to cement his place if given the opportunity. Dinesh Karthik, who replaced in the T20 World Cup squad, was retained as the second specialist wicketkeeper. The squad has three all rounders in Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja and Nayar. Team: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Murali Vijay, S Badrinath, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik. — PTI
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With an eye on final, Indian eves face NZ
Nottingham, June 17 Shrugging off the opening match disappointment against England, India bounced back with two successive wins against Pakistan and Sri Lanka to seal their place in the semifinals and skipper Jhulan Goswami hopes that her girls keep the momemtum going. India’s opening pair of Punam Raut and Anjum Chopra has not been able to give them a rollicking start. Although Anjum stood as a wall playing some good knocks, Raut struggled in her first match against England, scoring only four runs. But the left-handed teen will take some confidence from her 41-ball 30-run knock in the last outing against Sri Lanka, which set the tone for India’s five-wicket win. The middle order also looks a bit shaky with batters crumbling under pressure while chasing paltry targets. Even in their last match against Sri Lanka, the middle-order fall like a house of cards before Mithali Raj saved India the blushes with a 22-ball 32 which eventually sealed their semifinal berth. Among the bowlers, pace and spin combo of Rumeli Dhar and Priyanka Roy have provided India the breakthroughs, picking up crucial wickets. The duo have bagged five wickets each so far in the tournament. However, skipper Jhulan Goswami’s form has been a concern for the team as the right-handed pacer has so far failed to make an impact on the rival camps to remain wicket-starved in the tournament. But spinner Gouher Sultana has contributed to the team’s cause, chipping in whenever necessary and she would hope to do so once again tomorrow. In contrast, New Zealand have kept a clean slate, winning all their matches against Australia, the West Indies, South Africa in the league matches. Their batting have been in ominous form with openers Suzie Bates scoring bulk of the runs with her opening partner Lucy Doolan, who also contributed with the ball claiming four wickets in the tournament so far. — PTI |
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Proteas up against mercurial Pak
Nottingham, June 17 South Africa have been on the roll with their five-match unbeaten streak in the tournament, and they are the favourites to win the title after their emphatic wins against the West Indies, England and holders India in the Super Eight stage. But the Graeme Smith’s men, known for faltering in crucial matches, will also try their best not to choke again in their bid to reach any World Cup final. The Pakistanis, mercurial as the unpredictable nature of a Twenty20 game, would look to rely on their bowling strength to fancy their chances against the Proteas at Trent Bridge here tomorrow. South Africa have been the most balanced side in the tournament. Their batting have come up short twice - against New Zealand and India - but on both occasions their bowlers rescued with some clinical performances. Smith and company clearly have the upper hand in batting with the Pakistanis having failed to click as a unit in that department so far in the tournament. South Africa boast of AB de Villiers (185) and Jacques Kallis (174) as the second and third highest-run getters in the tournament while the Pakistani top-order has been just ordinary with captain Younis Khan (148) not getting support from seniors Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul Haq. But it will be an intriguing battle for supremacy in the bowling department with both the sides having match-winners in their ranks. Pakistan will look up to Umar Gul to repeat his record performance of five for six against New Zealand and he will fancy his chances against the Twenty20 International leading scorers Graeme Smith and de Villiers not to speak of JP Duminy and Herschelle Gibbs. Gul, the leading wicket-taker of the inaugural tournament in South Africa is also the leading bowler with 12 wickets this time also, and he has fellow right-arm spinner Saeed Ajmal (11) in his company in the second spot. — PTI
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Abbas, Saleem back Pakistan to win Cup Karachi, June 17 If they retain their momentum they can go on to win the Cup," former Test captain Zaheer Abbas said. Zaheer, who had criticised the performance of the team in the early part of the World Cup, said the batsmen must support the bowlers if they were to win the title. "Our bowling has been superb so far and is one of the reasons we have made it to the semifinals. But our batsmen need to give more runs for the bowlers to defend against a strong side like South Africa (in the semifinal)," he said. Zaheer said that although Twenty20 cricket was very unpredictable, it was becoming obvious in the ongoing tournament that teams were learning to cope with the fast nature and pressures of the format. "Bowlers are now bowling according to the condition and I think they have been fortunate that the pitches have been slow and turned a bit. “That is what allowed Pakistan to progress to the semifinals and that is why India's exit was a surprise," he said. — PTI
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Mixed day for shuttlers
New Delhi, June 17 Sixth seed Saina beat Bulgarian Petya Nedelcheva 21-18, 21-12 in a 30-minute clash, while Aditi also made a good start to her campaign defeating Nicole Grether 21-19, 19-21, 21-7 in a hard-fought battle that lasted 51 minutes in the other women’s singles. Arvind bowed out of the tournament after losing 20-22, 12-21 to Yu Hsing Hsieh of Chinese Taipei in 30 minutes. Anand also could not recreate his form and lost to fourth seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia 15-21, 21-13, 18-21 in 53 minutes. Meanhwile, India’s new women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa started their campaign in a positive note winning 21-19, 21-23, 21-16 against American pair of Mona Santoso and Cynthia Tuwankotta in 35-minute battle.
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Men’s Junior Hockey WC
Singapore, June 17 For them, skipper Diwakar scored thrice (23rd, 48th, 67th minutes) and Danish Mujtaba twice (1st and 20th) while Jay Karan (7th), Victo Singh (32nd), Mandeep Antil (52nd) and Innocent Kullu (63rd min) found the target once each. India, who had beaten Poland 4-2 in an earlier first round pool match, will face the same opponents again on Saturday. The Indian colts took the lead in the opening minute as central mid-fielder Vikas Sharma set up Jay Karan on the left flank. The nippy winger dodged past full back Simon Faulkner to set up Danish Mujtaba who beat goalkeeper James Bailey. India’s second goal came six minutes later as left mid-fielder Manjeet Kullu sent a crisp pass into the circle for Jay to deftly push home a reverse. Buoyed by the early goals, India intensified attack, outplaying England comprehensively with their swift off-the-ball running, short pass and the quick position interchange among the forwards. — PTI
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Eastern Railways win
Mandi, June 17 After the lemon break Railmen mounted pressure and their winger Baryar Murma managed to score from a very difficult angle in the 57th minute. In the second match of the day, Mandi District Football Association XI made their unceremonial exit after losing to Uttrakhand Police 1-0. Mandi boys started well and mounted pressure on their opponents from the very start but the sturdy police defence thwarted their moves. Saurab Rawat of Uttrakhand Police made a fine move and gave a cross pass to Deepak Kandri who made no mistake. Uttrakhand Police now play Dalbir Football Academy while Eastern Railway play RCF, Kapurthala. |
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New Delhi, June 17
New Delhi, June 17
On a roll with consecutive wins in their last two matches, Indian eves will face an uphill task of disrupting the applecart of an unbeaten New Zealand when the two teams lock horns in the first semifinal of the women’s Twenty20 World Cup here tomorrow.
