Dubai, August 27
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has resolved its dispute with Pakistan after the country was removed as joint host of the 2011 World Cup over security concerns. The agreement was reached at a meeting between ICC president David Morgan and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt on Thursday, ensuring the PCB drops its legal challenge after 14 games it had been allocated were shifted to co-hosts India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The two parties have agreed the PCB will retain its host fees and also receive an additional payment as compensation, said an ICC statement. “I’m glad we were able to come to an amicable agreement and I believe this is a fair resolution for the PCB and the ICC,” Morgan said.

“This resolution is good for world cricket and provides an improved platform for the World Cup as we now have a degree of certainty surrounding the event that was not there while the dispute was ongoing.”

The settlement had been expected after prolonged discussions between both parties. The ICC board decided in April to shift the matches out of Pakistan after security concerns were heightened when gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March, killing seven people and injuring six players.

The PCB has been hit hard, with last year's ICC Champions Trophy postponed and now due to be staged in South Africa next month. Pakistan welcomed Thursday’s resolution, hoping it would lead to a revival of their cricket which is suffering due to the refusal of teams to tour the country.

“The PCB is content with the settlement that has been reached,” Butt said. “We’re able to see this dispute from the other side. Our number one priority is that cricket in Pakistan must not be allowed to suffer unduly and I believe this agreement is the best possible outcome for the game.” — Reuters

New Delhi, August 27
The 2011 Indian Grand Prix has hit a roadblock with the promoters of the event failing to get the government nod for remitting the money they owe to the UK-based Formula One Administration.

With the Sports Ministry denying JPSK Sports, promoters of the Indian Grand Prix, the approval to remit $36.5 million to the Formula One management, speculation is rife about the fate of the event and the hushed silence of the organisers are not helping their cause either.

JPSK Sports Managing Director Samir Gaur simply refused to entertain any query when asked for his version. “You have seen what has appeared in the media and I have nothing more to add,” he said curtly. Officials in the Sports Ministry maintained it’s just not a simple case of giving the nod to a remittance since it involves the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Joint Secretary I Srinivas said the Ministry did not okay the remittance because it did not look justifiable. “Strictly in this context and under FEMA, the Ministry did not find the remittance desirable. They sought our recommendation for an outflow of nearly Rs 200 crore which the Ministry felt was not justified for a motor race,” Srinivas said. “We had to take a call on the matter and we took the call that it’s not desirable,” he added.

Another Sports Ministry official, requesting anonymity, put it more succinctly. “Tell me how many people in India bother about motorsport? It’s too niche and too elitist sport, if you can call it a sport in the first place,” he said.

“In their proposal, they talked how the Indian Grand Prix would woo tourists and boost tourism. If that’s the case, why don’t they approach the Tourism Ministry instead of knocking Sports Ministry’s door?” he said.

The Indian Grand Prix hit one roadblock after another since its inception. Once the track was earmarked, there was lot of confusion about who would run the show in the country. Rather surprisingly, Indian Olympic Association President Suresh Kalmadi took a lot of interest in this non-Olympic event and announced that IOA would be the promoter of the event in the country.

Subsequently, German F1 architect Hermann Tilke, who has designed F1 circuits in Malaysia, Bahrain, China, Turkey, Spain and Singapore, surveyed the proposed site. Land acquisition became another time-consuming affair and the organisers had to defer the Indian Grand Prix by a year from its original 2010 schedule. — PTI

Colombo, August 27
New Zealand struggled to 159 for five on the second day of the second and final test on Thursday, trailing Sri Lanka by 257 runs after Thilan Samaraweera’s century had put the hosts in command.

Ross Taylor was providing lone resistance for the Kiwis at the close, having compiled 70 not out from 118 balls. Wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum was also unbeaten on five. Left-armer Thilan Thushara continued his fine form by taking two for 37 for Sri Lanka.

Earlier, Samaraweera thumped 143 as Sri Lanka totalled 416 in their first innings despite losing their last five wickets for 27 runs. Samaraweera shared a 180-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Mahela Jayawardene. The centurion batted for more than six hours, facing 240 deliveries and hitting 17 fours and a six as he made his second hundred of the series.

New Zealand fought back in the afternoon session, off-spinner Jeetan Patel recovering from an expensive start to finish with four for 78. Sri Lanka, 1-0 up in the series, had started the day on 262 for three. Jayawardene scored 92 in 234 balls before being caught behind off seamer Iain O’Brien.

When New Zealand went into bat, captain Kumar Sangakkara experimented with Tillakaratne Dilshan opening the bowling with off breaks. However Sangakkara quickly reverted to the pace of Dammika Prasad, who trapped Tim McIntosh lbw for five.

Thushara got Daniel Flynn caught behind the wicket. Martin Guptill (35) top-edged a pull to deep backward square before Jesse Ryder (23) helped steady the innings with Taylor, adding 85 for the fourth wicket. Rangana Herath got the wicket of Ryder while Muralitharan removed nightwatchman Patel for one. — Reuters

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka (1st innings)
(overnight 262-3)
Paranavitana c Taylor b Vettori 19
Dilshan c & b O’Brien 29
Sangakkara c Oram b Vettori 50
Jayawardene c McCullum b O’Brien 92
Samaraweera c McCullum b Patel 143
Kapugedera c Vettori b Patel 35
Jayawardene c O’Brien b Martin 17
Prasad c Taylor b Patel 6
Herath lbw b Patel 0
Muralitharan not out 17
Thushara c Patel b Vettori 0
Extras (b-2, lb-5, nb-1) 8
Total: (all out; 130.3 overs) 416
FoW: 1-34, 2-75, 3-115, 4-295, 5-367, 6-389, 7-396, 8-396, 9-415.
Bowling: Martin 24-3-81-1, O’Brien 22-4-73-2, Vettori 40.3-12-104-3, Oram 21-7-56-0, Patel 20-3 78-4, Ryder 3-1-17-0.

New Zealand (1st innings)

McIntosh lbw b Prasad 5
Guptill c Muralitharan b Thurshara 35
Flynn c P.Jayawardene b Thushara 13
Taylor batting 70
Ryder c Paranavitana b Herath 23
Patel c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 1
McCullum batting 5
Extras (lb-3, w-2, nb-2) 7
Total: (five wickets; 47 overs) 159
FoW: 1-14, 2-49, 3-63, 4-148, 5-149.
Bowling: Dilshan 1-0-6-0, Thushara 9-2-37-2, Prasad 6-0-41-1, Herath 20-8-38-1, Muralitharan 11-1-34-1.

New Delhi, August 27
Syria sank Lebanon 1-0 to qualify for the final of the Nehru Cup International Football Tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium here tonight. Mohamad Alzino shot in on the run, off a pass from Abdul Fatah Alaga in the 22nd minute, to fetch the match-winner.

Syria, with nine points from three wins, became the first to enter the challenge round from the five-team round robin league with a match against India on hand. The Syrian victory has brightened the hosts’ chances of entering the final, as they need only a draw against Syria to setup the title clash. India will be edged out of the challenge round only if they lose by a 0-3 margin to Syria, and Sri Lanka pound Kyrgyzstan by a seven-goal margin.

Lebanon, who logged just four points from as many matches, have bowed out while Kyrgyzstan are also out of the title contention. Syria were superior in every sense, though their thin 1-0 victory somewhat dimmed their high ranking.

The many fouls, a couple of skirmishes and three yellow cards often halted the tempo of the contest, though Syria muffed at least three easy chances on resumption to hung on to their slender lead. Syria, it looked, were not very eager to add to the goal scored by Alzino.

Alzino himself missed one fine chance when his crack came off custodian Lary Mehanna. Then Raja Rafe dodged two defenders, drew out the custodian, and hit wide with an open goal staring at him. Abdal Razad Al Housian too drove wide, with the goalkeeper out of position.

Though the Lebanese players matched the rivals in speed, they could not keep possession of the ball for long, and all they could do was to take pot shots at the Syrian goal, and some abortive corners. Akram Moghrabi and Hassan Maatouk were the only ones who could get a close peek at the Syrian citadel, but their attempts came to nought.

Hyderabad, August 27
Tainted cricket administrator and team India manager at the recent Twenty20 World Cup V Chamundeswarnath was today expelled by the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) from the post of the secretary following allegations of sexual harassment of women cricketers.

The decision was taken at the general body meeting of the ACA held at the coastal Andhra city of Vijayawada.

The sports body unanimously passed a resolution to expel Chamundeswarnath who is facing allegations that he had misbehaved with women cricketers and sought “sexual favours” from them for selection in the team. He was also accused of having sent lewd SMSs to some women cricketers. The controversial official was earlier suspended by the ACA in June last following charges of corruption and nepotism.

The meeting was chaired by president G Gangaraju and was attended by 35 members. It ratified the decision of the executive committee to remove Chamundeswarnath from the post.

Meanwhile, the Vijayawada police, which had booked a case against the tainted cricket administrator based on complaint by some women cricketers, was continuing its probe into the allegations of sexual abuse.

The case was referred to the police after a high-level one-man probe, conducted by Additional Director General of Police M Ratan, indicted him.

BRIEFLY

Key To Success: He (Johnson) needs to keep it simple. That is the key. He just has to clear his head and not complicate things.
— McGrath on Mitchell Johnson

I was misinterpreted, says Baichung Bhutia
NEW DELHI: Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia on Thursday clarified that was misinterpreted when he spoke about some of the I-League club coaches not having AFC ‘A’ license and said he was nobody to advise anybody to about such a qualification. “What I have said has been misinterpreed. I am nobody to advise somebody or a coach to get a license or not,” Bhutia said. — PTI

Indian football team captain and president of the Football Players Association of India Baichung Bhutia addresses mediapersons after the launch of association’s website in New Delhi on Thursday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui

Jaitley’s assurance changed my mind: Sehwag
NEW DELHI: After leading a virtual revolt against the DDCA, Virender Sehwag on Thursday made it clear that he decided to stay with Delhi after being given a categorical assurance that selection malpractices would be brought to an end. Sehwag said Delhi and District Cricket Association President Arun Jaitley had assured him during his meeting that selectors with “ethics, integrity and spine” will be appointed. — PTI

Corporate Trophy unveiled
BANGALORE: The Indian cricket board on Thursday unveiled inaugural Sahara BCCI Corporate Trophy, with a number of cricketers including master batsman Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh in attendance here. The 12-team tournament, aiming at reviving the waning corporate interest in the game, will be held in four venues across the country. — PTI

HCA emerge winners
SIRSA: Haryana Cricket Association team lifted True Trophy 5th Twenty-20 Cricket Tournament by defeating Life Insurance Corporation of India, Delhi by five wickets. Batting first after winning the toss, the LIC, Delhi team scored 140 runs in 20 over with the help of 25 off 23 balls by Navneet. International cricketer Joginder Sharma took three wickets for 31 run. — TNS

Yuki enters semis
NEW DELHI: Three Indians including last week’s finalist Vishnu Vardhan and teen sensation Yuki Bhambri made the singles semifinal grade in the USD ITF Futures tournament here on Thursday. Second seed Yuki, reigning junior Australian Open champion, faced stiff resistance from fifth seed Briton before prevailing 7-6(5), 6-3 in his last-eight clash. — PTI

Federer, Nadal in opposite camps
NEW YORK: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal could meet in the US Open final even though they are not the top two seeds in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2005. Federer and Spanish star Nadal are on opposite sides of the bracket, something not assured for the first time in years because Britain’s Andy Murray is now ranked second. — AFP

Jwala keeps India in hunt
NEW DELHI: Indian shuttler Jwala Gutta paired up with V Diju and Ashwini Popanna to enter quarterfinals of mixed and women’s doubles events respectively in the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament on Thursday. Third seed Jwala-Diju beat Hong-Ling Chen and Pie Chen Hsien 25-23, 21-15 to enter quarterfinal. — PTI

Omitting Hauritz a blunder: Nielsen
LONDON: Forced into an introspection mode after the Ashes debacle, Australia coach Tim Nielsen conceded he misread the pitch at The Oval and omitting off-spinner Nathan Hauritz was a mistake. “I think we’ve shown by our selections and by the way we’ve tried players that, yeah, we would love to have a spinner who is a natural pick. And maybe that is something we will consider and keep talking about,” he added. — PTI

Nannes to play for Daredevils
MUMBAI: Australian Dirk Nannes will represent his ‘away’ team Delhi Daredevils in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20, a move that would cost the Indian Premier League side $200,000. Of the nine cricketers eligible to play for multiple teams, only Nannes was nominated in the preliminary squads of both the Daredevils and Victorian Bushrangers. — PTI

Henry back in France squad
PARIS: France will welcome back striker Thierry Henry but have left out midfielder Patrick Vieira for next month’s 2010 World Cup qualifiers against Romania and Serbia. Coach Raymond Domenech recalled Arsenal defender Gael Clichy, who won his second and last cap in a friendly against Tunisia in October last year. — Reuters

Fulham sign Dikgacoi
LONDON: South African international midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi has joined Fulham on a two year deal for an undisclosed fee, the Premier League club said on Thursday. Dikgacoi was part of the South Africa team that reached the Confederation Cup semi-finals in June. — Reuters