 |
|
|
India, Pakistan begin today
Kiwis take off in style
Atletico oust Liverpool, reach final
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Injured Nanao doubtful for C’wealth Games
Djokovic rues Federer, Rafa claycourt domination
Mahindra United FC to be disbanded
|
|
St Lucia, April 30
"They have a cricket culture in their country. It is not that somebody has just sprung up from no where. They definitely have that little bit of cricket in them. We need to be on top of our game tomorrow," said
Yuvraj.
Considering that a loss tomorrow can jeopardise their Super Eights hopes, India are expected to have their best men on the park. While Murali Vijay may make his debut, it is unlikely they would blood R Vinay Kumar, who though could be handy on this slow-paced deck. The Indian top-order has been fortified with the presence of Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, who was in rollicking form during the just-concluded IPL.
Ravindra Jadeja, whose imprudence forced him out of the IPL, is a gutsy customer who can use the long handle to good effect down the order. His accurate left-arm spin will come in handy if the likes of Zaheer Khan, Asish Nehra, Praveen Kumar go for runs far too many. Harbhajan Singh, Pathan and Yuvraj strengthen the bowling stable, giving it the teeth that India have been longing for in the big event environment. Afghanistan, on the other hand, have already rang a warning bell, saying they have some tricks up their sleeves and were capable of surprising the Indians at the Beausejour Cricket Ground tomorrow."It is good that they don't know us because when they know about you they will plan. Luckily, we know everything about them. We have seen all their IPL games. We will give them a surprise which will make them remember us after the game," Afghan coach Kabir Khan said. Pak face B’desh
Pakistan have played very few Twenty20 matches in the last one year and some of their top cricketers were banned and fined for indiscipline. Prominent among them are Shoaib Malik, who got married to Indian tennis star Sania Mirza recently, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and former skipper Younus Khan and all of them will be missing in action in the World Cup. Hence the onus would be on skipper Shahid Afridi, who was also fined for $35,000, to ensure that his teammates puts behind all such issues and give their best. Yesterday, Pakistan had a batting collapse with opener Khalid Latif, Mohammad Hafeez, Afridi and Umar Akmal all managing single digit scores. Senior player Abdul Razzaq also managed just two runs as they folded for 131 chasing Zimbabwe's 143 in 20 overs. Afridi will have to make sure that this defeat doesn't dent the team's morale and has no bearing in tomorrow's clash against Bangladesh.
— PTI |
|
Earlier, Mahela Jayawardene notched up his career-best score of the format to steer Sri Lanka to a modest 135 for six in their twenty overs. While his team-mates struggled to score runs in the slow Providence Stadium wicket, experienced Jayawardene’s breezy 51-ball innings was a classic example of effortless sensible hitting. He also shared a crucial 59-run fourth wicket stand with debutant Dinesh Chandimal to lay the foundation for the Sri Lanka score. Shane Bond turned out to be the pick of the Kiwi bowlers as he accounted for two Lankan batsmen by giving away 35 runs. Opting to bat in the sluggish pitch, the Lankan openers found runs hard to score initially. Out-of-form Tillakaratne Dilshan’s stay at the crease was a struggle which finally ended with Jacob Oram castling the opener's stumps in his first and innings sixth over.
— PTI Scoreboard Sri Lanka: Jayawardene c Nathan b Southee 81 (51) New Zealand: McCullum c Malinga b Mathews 0 (4)
|
||
|
Atletico oust Liverpool, reach final
Liverpool, April 30 Liverpool looked set to overturn that deficit when Alberto Aquilani scored in the 44th and Yossi Benayoun netted at the start of extra time, but Forlan's goal condemned the five-time European champions to a fourth consecutive trophyless season. "It was a really difficult game - we knew they would come after us," Forlan said. "I feared the worst when Benayoun scored, but we knew we only needed one goal and we kept going." Atletico can win the double by beating Fulham in the May 12 Europa League final and Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final a week later. "We were at a pretty low moment earlier in the year and no one would have expected us to get this far," Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores said through a translator. "It's an honor and a great source of pride to be sole representative of Spain now in the European finals. "Any English teams are tough opposition - they are always competitive and I am sure Fulham are no exception to that." But while this was Atletico's first appearance in a European last four since losing to Parma in the 1999 UEFA Cup, which the Europa League has replaced, Liverpool has appeared three times in the more illustrious Champions League semifinals in the previous five seasons alone - winning it in 2005. Liverpool had started the match looking like the Champions League power of recent seasons, not the team that has endured a dramatic slump in form this season, exiting Europe's elite competition at the group stage and slipping to seventh in the Premier League, in which it was runner-up last year. "It's a season when everything has gone against us, but the players worked so hard you have to be proud of them," Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said. — AP Fulham come from behind, beat Hamburg 2-1
London: Fulham came from behind Thursday to beat Hamburg 2-1 and set up a Europa League final date with Atletico Madrid. After a goalless draw in the first leg, Mladen Petric's first-half free-kick seemed to have put Hamburg in control. But Simon Davies levelled midway through the second half, before the Hungarian forward Zoltan Gera forced in the winner with quarter of an hour to go. "It's the most important goal I have ever scored so I'm very, very happy. It's amazing," Gera told ITV4. "We did so well, every single player."
— DPA |
|
Injured Nanao doubtful for C’wealth Games
Boxing federation officials decided to play it safe and plumped for Amandeep Singh in place of Nanao Singh for the championship. However, during a recent training stint at the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala, Nanao aggravated the injury. Medical experts at the NIS opined that Nanao Singh would have to undergo surgery following which the boxer, who is a household name in his home state of Manipur, decided to go to Mumbai for treatment under Dr Joshi. Sources reveal that after the surgery Nanao Singh may not box for many months jeopardising his chances in the Commonwealth Games. The injury also meant that Nanao could not take part in the AIBA youth world championship currently underway at Baku (Azerbaijan). Boxing officials are now pinning their hopes for the Commonwealth games in Nanao’s light flyweight category on Amandeep Singh whose strength is his stamina and footwork. Said a close friend of the boxer, “Nanao Singh has led a tough life. His achievement last year in Mexico brought hope and much joy into his family. His father met with an accident 19 years ago and had been on wheelchair ever since. Today, Nanao is not only a source of pride for the family but an inspiration for the whole State as well. Earlier we used to look upto Dingko Singh, now it is Nanao Singh Today, Nanao represents the aspirations of all the youth of Manipur who want to make their mark in life and earn recognition not just at the regional but at the international level as well.”
|
|
Djokovic rues Federer, Rafa claycourt domination
Rome, April 30
"I don't think I have had decent result, I think I have had great results in the past couple of years (on clay), especially in 2009 when I won a couple of events," he said. "I played the final (here) against Rafa and in the French Open I played twice the semi-finals and quarters and I lost all of those to Nadal. If I didn't have such strong opponents as Nadal and Federer, I would probably have been one of the best players in the world on this surface in the last couple of years. That is a fact. I grew up on this surface and I have had a lot of successes, and I just feel comfortable playing lately. "I am aware that it needs a lot of physical energy and you just have to be fit to keep on with the long rallies because it's a slow surface and it makes you run more. You need to be dedicated more to the point than on other surfaces. I think I'm doing quite a good job and I have a good game going. I produce a lot of spin from the forehand. In Rome, all the conditions here are a bit faster than the other surfaces which gives me more freedom to perform." Next up for Djokovic is Verdasco who spanked him 6-2, 6-2 in Monte Carlo two weeks ago, also on clay. But the Serb insists he simply had a bad day at the office while he was struggling with his serve. — AFP
|
|
Mahindra United FC to be disbanded
Ruzbeh Irani, Executive VP Corporate Strategy, M&M Ltd, said the decision to get out of competitive football after so many years was in line with the Group's "philosophy and shift in focus from taking part in professional sport to developing it". "We feel we can make a much bigger difference to sport in India at the schools level in soccer and grassroots level in basketball (after associating with NBA of USA in Mahindra NBA Challenge), than by running one professional team," he added. — PTI
|
| 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 | |
St Lucia, April 30
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has already warned his star-studded legion not to underestimate Afghanistan and teammate Yuvraj was also worried about the X-factor of their opponents, who have caught the imagination of the world over the last two years. "It can be dangerous when you don't know what the opposition is like. After ten overs you will end up in a situation when you don't know what you are going to do.
Down the order, there is Yusuf Pathan, who can murder any opponent with his big-hitting spree, while in Mahendra Singh Dhoni, they have someone who gets going when the going gets tough.
Smarting from an embarrassing defeat to Zimbabwe in a warm-up match, defending champions Pakistan will have to quickly get their act together as they have a tricky opener against Bangladesh in the Twenty20 World Cup here tomorrow. Last night's defeat came as a rude shock for the defending champions, who had beaten Sri Lanka in the summit clash of the previous edition at Lord's to clinch the title.
Guyana, April 30
Gurdaspur, April 30
It continued a fine run that Djokovic has enjoyed in Rome where he lifted the title in 2008 and also reached last year's final. And while he is not considered a clay specialist, Djokovic said that's only because there are two other players out there who are outstanding on the surface.
Mumbai, April 30
Paes-Dlouhy in quarters
Bindra for Euro Cup