Mohali, December 11
The Indian bowling came a cropper at Nagpur as Sri Lanka posted a total in excess of 200 runs on the board. Their batting, considered the strength of the team, had nothing noteworthy about it, barring, of course, the breezy half century from Gambhir as Sri Lanka staged a strong comeback after dismal show in Tests to wallop India by 29 runs in the first T20 game on Wednesday.

2nd T20: 5.30 pm

The hosts would be required to lift their game dramatically if they have to make an impact in the tomorrow’s day\night game at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali and draw level the two-match series.

Though he did not have too many wickets in his kitty, lanky seamer Ishant Sharma was the only bowler to make an impact. Though unluckily, he went without wickets, his spell of 4-0-22-0 must be comforting for Dhoni.

Left-arm seamer Aashish Nehra, coming back to the team after a break in the three-Test series, looked listless, while as left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha struggled to contain the marauding Sri Lanka batsmen.

Playing as an all rounder Yousuf Pathan proved just a passenger. Though he claimed the key scalp of Mahela Jayawardene, he conceded more than 50 runs, while in batting, he perished without scoring.

In fact, the Nagpur belonged to Sangakkara. The Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman was in sublime touch and looked unstoppable. Before he was back in pavilion, he had made bowlers look clueless during his scintillating 37-ball 78.

Tillakaratne Dilshan has been in amazing form. With 470 runs in 11 games, he has been the most successful batsman this year. This consist of five half centuries, again the maximum by any batsman in 2009.

The India bowlers will have their task cut out bowling to the duo and any lapse is bound to boomerang. As he has done it in the past, Chamara Kapugedera proved that he is no minnow with the bat. But at Nagpur, he was a revelation. It was an innovative Kapugedera towards the fag end of the innings, who toyed with the Indian bowling and virtually sealed it for the visitors.

The hosts would expect local hero Yuvraj to come good. Among the most dangerous batsmen on his day, the southpaw has been the most successful Indian batsman in this format of the game with two fifties in tally of 242 runs from nine T20 games.

A big innings from the swashbuckling batsman is long overdue and if the batsman comes good here, most of the worries of the Indian team will automatically be taken care of.

Though he has shown spark on numerous occasions, a worthwhile knock has eluded the middle order batsman Suresh Raina. It is time the UP batsman, who an agile fielder, played a knock of consequence.

India will, however, be hamstrung by the continued absence of seamer S Sreesanth, who has been ruled unfit for the game along with Rohit Sharma, both injured. Sreesanth did not figure in the playing eleven in Nagpur, while Rohit has a bruised shoulder. Though he took part in the team practice session in the afternoon, Dhoni said he will not play as he was not match-fit.

A traditional Mohali wicket with the reputation of providing swing and bounce to bowlers as well helping the strokeplay promises a keen contest. India would do well to play with application and draw level to be in a better frame of mind for the one-day series ahead.

Baku (Azerbaijan), December 11
Asian champion Suranjoy Singh became the first Indian boxer to clinch a gold medal at the inter-continental President’s Cup after out-punching Frenchman Nordine Oubaali 8-1 in the fly weight (51kg) finals here today.

The 22-year-old Manipuri’s triumph also fetched him a $3,000 cash prize at the prestigious season-ending event, where confederations from Asia, America, Africa, Europe and Oceania were pitted against each other.

Representing Asia One, Suranjoy didn’t allow his rival from the Europe Two team to land a single scoring punch in the first two rounds. Relying on his trademark left straights and cross punches, the reigning national champion opened up a 3-0 lead at the end of the opening round.

Suranjoy scored another four points in the next three minutes to be 7-0 ahead. The final round ended 1-1 but the huge lead from the previous two rounds was enough for the Indian to emerge triumphant.

“Nordine is a good boxer and fights very aggressively but I pushed him on the backfoot in the very first round. I had never fought against him before but it was not that difficult to read his game once I entered the ring,” an elated Suranjoy said after the match.

“I wanted to win a gold and I have done that. I will be getting some prize money for this but that was always a secondary thing for me,” he added. — PTI

Salta (Argentina), December 11
India spanked Belgium 4-2 in their final preliminary match to top group A and set up a semifinal clash with arch-rivals Pakistan in the Champions Challenge I hockey tournament here.

India, who needed just a draw to make the last-four, were tied 2-2 with the Belgians at half-time. Pakistan, on the other hand, thrashed South Africa 4-1 to finish second in group B. The beginning of yesterday’s match was spirited with chances going abegging at both ends, including a penalty-corner that India shot wide.

India controlled most of the play with Shivendra Singh and Prabhjot Singh being very active upfront, but the Belgian defence held tight. Prabhjot had a great opportunity to open the scoring after stealing a ball from Xavier Reckinger in deep defence but his shot was just wide.

India finally scored their first goal through a penalty-corner in the 19th minute, with a low flick by Dhananjay Mahadik. The Indians could have doubled their tally a few minutes later on another penalty-corner but the initial shot was saved and Rajpal could not negotiate the rebound.

Belgium reacted well and after crashing a penalty-corner on the post, equalised with a penalty-stroke by Jerome Dekeyser in the 24th minute. Less than a minute later, a field goal by Renaud Pangrazio helped them go ahead of India.

The end of the period was dominated by India with a goal by Shivendra, who was left unmarked on the far post, in the 30th minute helping the team equalise with the Belgians.

India missed a chance to break the deadlock early in the second half on a penalty-corner, and the game continued back and forth at a high tempo, providing thrilling entertainment to the crowd.

Tushar Khandekar scored the go-ahead goal in the 48th minute, after a series of saved shots, but Belgium were not down yet and Adrian D’Souza had to pull a spectacular diving save to protect the Indian net.

Belgium continued with the same intensity but the very focused Indian team denied them until the end, scoring a last second goal by Prabhjot. With the win, India won pool A ahead of New Zealand, Belgium and China. After a rest day today, India play Pakistan in the semifinal tomorrow. — PTI

Chandigarh, December 11
Though they earned just a solitary point in the end, but the satisfaction must have been priceless. Punjab batsmen, who have been patchy at their best till now this season, finally put their act together to come good on a weary fourth day strip and forced Orissa to settle for a draw in their crucial Ranji Trophy Group “A” fixture here today. Hosts now have 16 points from their six encounters and only a draw in their next match against Railways would see them sail to the next level. Orissa got 3 points on the basis of first innings lead.

Orissa batted for another 64 minutes and added 51 runs to their overnight total and declared after reaching 247, leaving Punjab 354 to get in maximum 75 overs. Haladhar Das completed a well composed half-century, but Orissa looked to play for a draw as they batted patiently and showed no intent to raise the tempo in the first hour. Punjab’s first innings total was enhanced with 5 runs owing to Orissa batsmen running on the pitch.

With 17 overs to negotiate before the first interval, Punjab started on a nervous note and lost Sunny Sohal and Ravi Inder in consecutive overs. Debashish struck in the ninth over to send back Sohal with Das taking a blinder behind the stumps. Alok provided another breakthrough in the next over by managing to see the back of Ravi Inder. At the interval, Punjab were 54 for 2 and visitors were in with a chance.

Taruwar further bolstered Orissa’s hopes of a win by playing a rash stroke and Punjab were reeling at 65 for 3 with another 50 overs to play with. Kaul and skipper Dharmani then steadied the ship with gutsy knocks and ensured there were no more hiccups. Though Dharmani missed another deserving half-century, Kaul completed one and remained unaccounted for till the end with 73 to his name.

Punjab have recalled wicket-keeper batsman Chandan Madan in place of Bharat Loomba for their last group match against Railways at Delhi from December 15. “I am happy we played well to save the match and ensured a crucial point. But we cannot afford to take Railways lightly as they will be playing at home. It will be a tough game and we are ready for the challenge,” averred Punjab skipper Dharmani at the end of the day.

Brief Scores: Orissa (1st Innings) 283; Punjab (1st innings) 182; Orissa (2nd Innings) 247 for 8 dec.; Punjab (2nd Innings) 192 for 4.

New Delhi, December 11
Twelve teams, divided into two pools of A and B, will play in the FIH Hero Honda World Cup Hockey Championship, to be held at Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi from February-March, next year.

According to the format of the tournament, there will be three matches daily at the pool stage, for the first 10 days. The teams will be grouped on the basis of the updated FIH rankings after the Champions Challenge I, presently being played in Argentina. There will be rest days prior to the semifinals and the classification matches.

India were placed 12th in the last FIH rankings, released in September, with the teams at the pecking order being: Germany, Australia, Spain, Netherlands, Korea, England, Pakistan, New Zealand, Belgium, Argentina, Canada, India, China, Japan, South Africa, Malaysia, France, Ireland, United States and Austria.

When the groupings of the World Cup are announced in mid-December, the presence of Argentina would cause trepedation among the Asian teams, particularly India and Pakistan. Argentina had emerged as giant-killers during the 1975 World Cup at Kuala Lumpur, when they stunned eventual champions India.

And for the coming World Cup, Argentina have qualified narrowly, as after being down 1-3, they clawed back to beat Belgium 4-3 in the final of the World Cup qualifiers in Quilmes last month.

Pakistan had an enviable record of 15 straight wins in the World Cup, which included their title triumps at Buenos Aires in 1978 and in Mumbai in 1982, and were deemed to be the favourites at the London World Cup.

But Argentina stunned the defending champions 3-1, and Pakistan finished a rung above the bottom place, at the 11th position.

The Latin American team also proved to be the bugbear of Pakistan at the 2002 Kuala Lumpur and 2006 Monchengladbach (Germany) World Cups. And the Pakistan team have never ever been the supremos they once were. A four-nation tournament will be held at the National Stadium, which is set to be completed by December 15, in January to test the facilities ahead of the World Cup.