Colombo, July 23
Sri Lanka face an uphill battle to save the third test against Pakistan after closing on 183 for three chasing a huge 492-run victory target on Thursday. The hosts started their chase positively with an opening stand of 83 either side of tea, but lost the wickets of Malinda Warnapura, Tharanga Paranavitana and Mahela Jayawardene in the final session.

Captain Kumar Sangakkara, dropped on 40 by Younus Khan, was unbeaten on 50 at the close with Thilan Samaraweera. The biggest challenge for the hosts will be the leg spin of Danish Kaneria, who followed his first innings five-wicket haul with two for 56 from 16 overs.

Kaneria found sharp turn and bounce on the dusty-dry pitch, snaring the left-handed Warnapura at leg slip and finding the outside edge of Jayawardene’s bat with a big leg break. Off spinners Saeed Ajmal and Shoaib Malik also applied pressure, the latter claiming the wicket of Paranavitana caught at short leg.

Pakistan set the hosts a daunting target when they declared shortly after lunch on 425 for nine having added 125 runs during the day. Pakistan resumed on 300 for five and Sri Lanka struck early with Jayawardene taking a fine diving slip catch off a thick outside edge to remove Kamran Akmal, who had scored a brisk 74 from 80 balls including seven fours and a six.

The breakthrough ended a punishing 133-run sixth-wicket stand between Akmal and Shoaib Malik. — Reuters

Scoreboard

Pakistan (1st innings) 299
Sri Lanka (1st innings) 233
Pakistan (2nd innings) (overnight 300 for 5)
Manzoor b Herath 2
Alam c & b Thushara 16
Khan lbw b Kulasekera 19
Yousuf c Sangakkara b Herath 23
Misbah c Sangakkara b Mathews 65
Malik c sub b Herath 134
Akmal c Jayawardene b Kulasekara 74
Gul c Vaas b Herath 46
Kaneria c Thushara b Herath 5
Aamer not out 22
Ajmal not out 3
Extras (b-10, lb-2, w-2, nb-2) 16
Total: (nine wickets declared; 123 overs) 425
Fall of wickets: 1-16 2-22 3-54 4-67 5-186 6-319 7-371, 8-399 9-405.
Bowling: Kulasekara 20-5-55-2, Thushara 28-2-121-1, Herath 46-6-157-5, Vaas 19-6-47-0, Mathews 10-1-33-1.

Sri Lanka (2nd innings)
Paranavitana c Alam b Malik 73
Warnapura c Malik b Kaneria 31
Sangakkara batting 50
Jayawardene c Akmal b Kaneria 2
Samaraweera batting 20
Extras (lb-5, nb-2) 7
Total: (three wickets; 59 overs) 183
Fall of wickets: 1-83 2-139 3-155.
Bowling: Gul 6-0-27-0 (1-nb), Aamer 9-0-20-0, Khan 3-0-16-0, Ajmal 16-1-36-0, Malik 9-1-23-1, Kaneria 16-1-56-2.

Madrid, July 23
Real Madrid’s strategy of splurging on the world’s most expensive players may boost revenue enough to keep the Spanish club at the top of the richlist, but president Florentino Perez needs trophies if he is to sustain his self-styled “spectacular sporting project.” Perez has created a cash-hungry monster whose demands will be hard to satisfy and success on the pitch is a crucial element that carries significant risks, according to sports businessexperts at institutions including Harvard Business School.

The media impact of buying players of the calibre of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka is shortlived and if Real fail to dethrone arch rivals Barcelona as Spanish and European champions Perez may again taste the failure that prompted him to walk away after his first term in 2000-2006.

“Spending a huge amount of money on stars puts a lot of pressure on the business side to generate revenue and create new ways of generating revenue,” said Stephen Greyser, a senior marketing professor specialising in sports management at Harvard Business School in Boston.

“I am not suggesting that a system of highly paid stars cannot be a successful approach but what I am saying is that it is not a guarantee of success on the field,” he said. Construction magnate Perez, 62, returned unopposed to the presidency last month and unleashed a spending spree matched only by his purchase of “galacticos” David Beckham, Figo andZinedine Zidane during his previous term.

He has spent more than 200 million euros ($284 million) on four players, including a record 93 million on Portuguese winger Ronaldo, and added to the club’s debts of more than 550 million euros at the end of the 2007-08 season.

Perez argues that investment in marquee players will pay for itself over time. He is banking on a major boost to revenues from renegotiated contracts for sponsorship and audiovisual rights, sales of licensed merchandise and gate receipts.

“Buying stars is not the only route to strengthening the brand, in fact it's not even the most important route,” said Greyser. “The most important route is winning performance on the pitch.”

Real retained top spot in the Deloitte Money League for a fourth straight year in 2009 with revenues of 366 million euros ahead of Manchester United with 325 million and Barcelona with 309 million. But with Ronaldo and Kaka alone earning a reported 13 million and 9 million euros each per season, the club will be locked into a colossal wage bill that threatens to push them further into the red. — Reuters

Gaganjeet Bhullar fired a three under par 69, but finished three strokes behind the leaders, to occupy the joint 15th slot on the opening day of the $4 lakh Indonesia President Invitational in Jakarta today. Forty-year-old Amandeep Johl of Chandigarh tied with two other Indians, Rahil Gangjee and Manav Jaini, at two under 70 for the joint 30th slot.

On a low-scoring day, Thai star Thaworn Wiratchant, Finland’s Pasi Purhonen and Australian duo Marcus Both and Darren Beck fired matching six-under-par 66s to share the first round lead at the Indonesia President Invitational on Thursday.

The third edition of the Asian Tour event was a thriller with Korea’s Lee Sung, Thammanoon Srirot of Thailand and Australia’s Adam Blyth lying a further stroke back on 67s at the Damai Indah Golf - Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) course.

Singaporean prospect Quincy Quek, featuring in his first Asian Tour event as a professional, brilliantly fired seven consecutive birdies en route to a 68 to lie two off a crowded leaderboard. The 21-year-old Kapurthala lad, who could not make the cut in the British Open but showed his fighting qualities in the opening round, started in style sinking birdies on the fourth, sixth and eighth to be three under after the eighth. But then he conceded a bogey on the ninth to be two under 34 at the turn.

Bhullar, who has had a good season on the current Asian Tour, sank another birdie on a bogey free back nine to finish with a three under 69 card. With three more days to go, Bhullar is very much in the reckoning for the title which he missed by one stroke in 2007.

We will resort to legal recourse after getting a copy of the order.”Sandeep Bhatra of Nagrik Morcha Sansthan, an NGO, had lodged a complaint against Modi, accusing him of forgery in issuing a cheque of Rs 6 crore to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to be distributed among the victims of May 13 Jaipur serial blasts. — TNS

London, July 23
Andrew Flintoff fears Kevin Pietersen’s absence for the remaining three Tests against Australia could wreck England’s chances of regaining the Ashes. Pietersen will be sidelined for six weeks after surgery on an Achilles injury which had troubled him throughout the first two Tests.

The 29-year-old batsman, whose highest score in the series was just 69, had hoped pain-killers would allow him to help England build on the 1-0 lead they earned at Lord’s this week. But the injury, which first occurred against the West Indies earlier this year, deteriorated during the five-day clash and Pietersen agreed with advice from a specialist to have immediate surgery.

Now Andrew Strauss’ side face the prospect of heading into the third Test at Edgbaston next week on a low despite their impressive Lord’s performance. Flintoff, who is struggling with injury problems of his own, conceded Pietersen’s injury may give the Australians a major boost.

“He’s a massive influence on our team so it’s going to make it tougher for us - but he’s been in pain,” Flintoff said. — AFP

New Delhi, July 23
Jose Brasa of Spain, the chief of the Indan hockey team, said the serious eye injury suffered by Baljit Singh was a blow to the team. “Baljit was our No 1 goalkeeper. The injury suffered by him was a very big loss to the team”, said the foreign coach on the eve of the team’s departure for a four-nation, 12-Test tour of Europe.

“But we must get over the problem of losing our No 1 goalie”, Brasa maintained. Hockey India president A.K.Mattoo said Baljit’s injury was “very unfortunate, but we are ensuring that he’s provided the best treatment. We are giving him all the support he needs. The Government will pick up all his treatment expenses”, Matto added.

Brasa said the European tour would be a “learning experience for the team” though he admitted that it was ironic that India, who once ruled the hockey world with eight Olympic golds, had to travel to Europe to discover a new learning curve.

“The fact is that India are now 12th in ranking, and we would be playing against teams ranked 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th in the world. The purpose is to bring India among the firstfour in ranking”, Brasa explained.

“If we want to be among the first four, we have to change things. We need to approach the game in a modern way”, he added. He said the five-week camp at Pune was rather a short

period to assess the team, but still, he could get a fair grip of the plus and minus points.

“The players are excellent. It’s necessary that the players improve. They are very good in top skills, but need to firm up the basic skills (like hitting, trapping, stopping etc)”, Brasa noted.

He said the European tour of England, Belgium, Holland and Spain was to help the team iorn out the flaws and get fine-tuned for the big event - the 2010 World Cup in New Delhi.

“We are teaching the players the positive things. Five weeks are not a long time to prepare a team. But we have a very, very talented team. So we can compete with the top teams in the world”, the coach explained.

He said the idea was to build the team slowly, but surely. “We are not in peak form now. Our peak moment will be the World Cup next year”, the coach added. He said he put thrust on man-to-man marking and defence - the two grey areas of 
the team.

“Defence is a big problem. We have to improve a lot”, he added. Indian team captain and drag-flicker Sandeep Singh said the five-week coaching camp under Brasa was a learning experience.” 

BRIEFLY

Gambhir Issue:It's difficult to consistently perform for anyone because we play so much of cricket, that too in 3 changing formats.
— Gautam Gambhir

Test cricket not dying, says Ganguly
LONDON: Refusing to paint a gloomy picture of Test cricket, former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Thursday said the five-day game poses no serious threat from other formats and for a player it will always be the ultimate form of cricket. “Test cricket is the ultimate form of cricket and I know for sure players will be remembered with what they do in Test matches,” Ganguly told reporters at Oxford, where he is attending the ICC’s History Conference. — PTI

Langer breaks Bradman’s record
LONDON: Justin Langer became the highest scoring Australian in first-class cricket on Thursday when he overtook the great Don Bradman. The gritty left-hander passed Bradman’s record of 28,067 runs during an innings of 107 for English county Somerset against Worcestershire at New Road. The 38-year-old Langer retired from international cricket after helping Australia crush England 5-0 in the 2006-07 Ashes series. — Reuters

India gets direct entry in Golf WC
NEW DELHI: Thanks to Jeev Milkha Singh’s presence among golf’s elites, India became one of the six Asian countries to earn a direct entry at the 2009 Omega Mission Hills World Cup to be played in China from November 26 to 29. The field, selected on the basis of each nation’s leading player on the Official World Golf Ranking as of June 22, is headed by Sergio Garcia - ranked number four at the cut-off date - who will represent Spain. — PTI

I punched in self defence: Gerrard
LIVERPOOL: England midfielder Steven Gerrard admitted to police that he threw three punches toward a man in a bar room, according to testimony presented in court. The transcript from the Liverpool captain’s police interview was read on Wednesday at his trial on affray charges. Gerrard admitted throwing three punches but that only one connected with McGee. He said he only swung at McGee because he thought he was about to be attacked himself. — AP

Tevez’s Man City debut delayed
LONDON: Manchester City has delayed Carlos Tevez’s debut, as the latter has a heel injury. The Argentinian star, who has been purchased for 25 million pounds from Manchester United, has missed his new club’s first two matches on their tour of South Africa, reports The Sun. — ANI

Barcelona’s Argentinian player Lionel Messi during a training session at Bisham Abbey Sports Centre in Marlow, in southern England, on Thursday. -— AFP

Barca agrees to sign Keirrison
MADRID: Barcelona have agreed to sign Brazilian forward Keirrison from Palmeiras on a five-year contract for 14 million euros, the Spanish and European champions said on Thursday. The fee for the 20-year-old, who is due to have a medical on Friday, could rise to 16 million euros. — Reuters

Swine flu scare for Australian team
NORTHAMPTON: Ricky Ponting and his teammates suffered some tense moments after it was discovered that one of the Australian reporters, staying in the same London hotel, might have been suffering from swine flu. News Limited reporter Ben Dorries fell ill during the second Ashes Test in Lord’s and a doctor suggested that he might be suffering from swine flu. The journalist has been asked to stay away from the players and stay put in London, while the cricketers reached here for their tour match. — PTI

Armstrong to quit Astana
MADRID: Seven times Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong will quit Astana and form a U.S. based team in 2010 in partnership with RadioShack Corporation, the company said in a statement on Thursday. — Reuters