 |
|
|
Sri lanka’s Tour Of India Ist ODI
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Fitness key to success: Gopichand
Before Tiger got lost in the woods
|
|
Sri lanka’s Tour Of India Ist ODI
After the Indians rattled up 414 of 7 built around Virender Sehwag’s 146, Tillkaratne Dilshan (160) and Kumar Sangakkara (90 off 43 balls) launched a ruthless assault but the Indian bowlers held their nerve to eventually scamper home and give the home team a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. The Madhav Rao Scindia stadium turned out to be a batting paradise with over 825 runs being scored and India would consider themselves a trifle lucky to escape with a win despite the sloppy fielding and the erratic bowling. It was only the second time that more than 800 runs were scored in a one-day match. The match between Australia and South Africa in Johannesburg in 2006 had produced 872 runs which is the highest so far.
Apart from Sehwag’s blistering knock, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (72) and Sachin Tendulkar (69) were the other notable contributors in India’s record total. The Indians were guilty of dropping three catches, two of them sitters, and the ground fielding also left much to be desired. They had dropped as many as ten catches in the two Twenty matches. The two teams will now travel to Nagpur for the second game to be played under flooodlights on Friday. The Lankan run chase began with a flourish as the two openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga (67) tore the Indian bowling attack to shreds on a good batting strip. None of the Indians bowlers could manage to stop the run flow in the early stages as both the batsmen unleashed a barrage of strokes. Tharanga got a reprieve when he was on ten with Virat Kohli dropping a sitter at the point region much to the dismay of his teammates who have developed the habit of dropping catches far too often. Superstitious Viru supported Lanka While the entire country was praying for India’s victory in the see-saw series opener, Man of the Match Virender Sehwag said he was actually supporting Sri Lanka in the high-scoring humdinger. “I was not tense at all because I was supporting Sri Lanka,” Sehwag said after the match. “I’ve this superstition that whenever I support India, we lose. So I was supporting Sri Lanka here and was never tense,” explained Sehwag. On his personal form, Sehwag said he was trying to bring his ODI record at par with his Test batting and was ready to show restraint early in his innings before going berserk. “I am in good form. I scored 200 in Tests, 50 in Twenty20 and was telling myself I am in good form I have to utilise it. I knew I have to be careful in the first 10-15 overs and then it would be my day when I can score 100 or more.” Murali likely to miss ODI series Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has more or less been ruled out of the ongoing five-match ODI series due to finger injury that he had sustained during the final Test match in Mumbai, according to Lanka team sources. Murali is expected to leave the team tomorrow and head back home. Sri Lankan Team Manager Brendon Kuruppu, however, refused to confirm or deny the development and said you’ll have to wait till Wednesday. Murali had injured his finger while playing football during team’s training session at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, where Sri Lanka was playing final Test of the three match series against India. ‘Disappointing to lose’ Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss is disappointed to end up on the losing side after coming so agonisingly close to victory but he would not blame his batsmen for their defeat. “It was disappointing to lose at the end, but it was a great effort from our batsmen,” said Bayliss after Sri Lanka lost by three runs. “We made some mistakes. With 85 runs needed and six wickets in hand nine out of 10 times it could have been accomplished. But it was not our batters' fault. They did a fantastic job,” said the Lanka coach after his team was stopped at 411 for eight. “The Indian bowlers bowled very well in the end. They showed it’s not always necessary to take wickets to stop a team from winning. It can also be done by making it difficult to hit,” he said.
— PTI Scoreboard India Sri Lanka Bowling: Kumar 9-0-67-1, Nehra 10-0-81-1, Zaheer 10-0-88-0, Jadeja 8-0-73-0, Harbhajan 10-0-58-2, Raina 3-0-37-1. |
|
Cwg 2010
New Delhi, December 15 CoCom reviewed the financial status, cash flow linked to major procurement and delivery requirements, procurement schedules and arrangements, transport, security, marketing, licensing, communication, overlays, accreditation, sports (competition and operations), testing and readiness. Tomorrow, CoCom will have meetings with more functional areas of the Organising Committee, including technology and ticketing, besides having meetings with stakeholders Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Delhi Government. On Monday, CoCom assessed six functional areas--games venue, venue operations, games village and its operations, broadcasting and press opertions. After its three-day meetings and inspections, CoCom will present its report to Commonwealth Games Federation president Michael Fennell. The CoCom members were happy that the sub-committees of the Organising Committee were functioning efficiently and smoothly, meeting their deadlines regularly, after Randhir Singh took charge of them and turned things around. The CoCom review meetings were attended by Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, vice-chairman Randhir Singh,
|
|
Fitness key to success: Gopichand
New Delhi, December 15 On the sidelines of the ongoing Global Sports Summit ‘Turf 2009’ here, the former All England champion said with four major events lining up next year, the Indian shuttlers would have to maintain their fitness and manage their workload sensibly to give themselves the best chance “Next year is very important. It will be a testing time for Saina and Indian badminton as a whole. There are four big tournaments - All England, World Championship, Commonwealth Games and the Asian championship. So everyone have to ensure that they are injury-free and peak at the right time,” Gopichand said. “I think Saina in women’s singles and Jwala-Diju in mixed doubles have definitely good chance in Commonwealth Games. In men’s singles I would like Chetan (Anand) to do well and win a medal,” he said. Gopichand felt scheduling would be key and it has to be done in such way that the shuttlers are in their prime form for the October 3-14 Commonwealth Games. “From June next year, we will schedule it in such a way that they have August and September to pick themselves up and then they go into the Commonwealth Games in October,” Gopichand said. Gopichand did not fuss about Saina’s rankings and said he would be happy if the shuttler from Hyderabad wins medals or performs well in the big events. “Ranking-wise, I will be happy if she remains anywhere within the top 10 but I would be happier if she plays well in the All England, Commonwealth Games and Asian Championship. I think she should focus on that. Performing well and winning medals in these tournaments would be more satisfying,” he said. The 2001 All England champion said the top men shuttlers of the country should also take care of their fitness if they have to perform well next year. “The idea would be to ensure that they stay physically fitter. I believe we have at least 4-5 players who have the potential but their fitness is an issue. They need to take care of that if they want to perform well,” he said. The national coach said he would be interested to see how some of the young players perform in the next season. “I would be interested to see how some of the players like (PC) Thulasi, Sikki (Reddy) and (PV) Sindhu from the women’s side play. They are very young and I would be interested to see how they evolve and perform next year,” he said. — PTI
|
|
Before Tiger got lost in the woods
Wellington, December 15 Asked in the interview “family first and golf second...always been like that?”, Woods replied, “Always. Always.” He goes on to say that having a family - he has two young children with wife Elin Nordegren - “has been great, actually, the best thing that ever happened.” The interview was conducted on November 17, ten days prior to the accident outside his Florida family home which prompted reports of marital strife. The world’s No.1 golfer later admitted to liaisons with other women. Woods says he has applied time management skills learned at Stanford University to his dual roles as a golfer and father and had been more focused as a player since he became a family man. “I don’t practice as much as I used to. I don’t spend the amount of hours on the golfcourse, not like I used to” he said. “But my focus is so much more intense than it used to be. I know whatever I have to get done (has to be done) in a shorter amount of time.” The interview, conducted in Melbourne was due to be aired on Christmas Day but New Zealand’s Sky Sport brought it forward after the revelations about Woods’ private life. The interview also dealt with Woods’ 10-year relationship with his New Zealand-born caddie Steve Williams. Williams has denied any knowledge of Woods’ extra-marital relationships but has said the golfer has since confided in him. During Tuesday’s interview Woods says he and Williams are “great friends”. “We talk about anything and everything together,” he said. Williams said in an interview that he and Woods had a relationship that was “just like a marriage really.” Woods said his basic values had been shaped by his mother Kultida, who was the family disciplinarian. “You’d think Dad, being a Special Forces operator, was the tough guy. No, he was always the softie,” Woods said, laughing and shaking his head. “My mom was tough.” Mistress No. 14 revealed
FLORIDA: The list of Tiger Woods’ mistresses keeps getting longer and a website here now claims to have found his oldest flame with whom the disgraced golfer had his longest affair. “Theresa Rogers, a beauty with a home in Wellington, Florida, is the 14th mistress linked to Tiger Woods,” celebrity gossip website RadarOnline.com reported. The website said the 40-something married woman has already hired an attorney to deal with any damaging revelation with regards to her relationship with Woods, who has taken an “indefinite break” from golf in a desperate bid to save his devastated marriage.
— Agencies |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Cwg 2010
Wellington, December 15
Rajkot, December 15
The islanders needed 22 runs off 19 balls with five wickets intact in the tense dying moments of the game but Angelo Mathews and Thilina Kandamby got a little jittery and were unable to take their team to victory. The Lankans scored 411 for eight.
