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Dhoni’s men hope for miracle
Proteas choke again |
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WI blow away India
White takes Aus into semifinals
Azlan Shah Cup
Thomas and Uber Cup
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Gross Islet (St Lucia), May 10
To make matter worse for India, they would have to win by a handsome margin against the islanders tomorrow to bolster their net run-rate, which is a dismal -1.578. Despite losing to Australia by 81 runs yesterday, Sri Lanka have a NRR of -0.600 while the West Indies’ NRR is -1.057. India could have avoided this mathematical dilemma had their batsmen executed better skills or been prudent while handling short balls. Cramped for time and space, they have injudiciously played the pull shot, though not being physically and technically well equipped to challenge such hostile deliveries. As the frazzled Indian stars may have realised by now, merely throwing the bat around at short balls, without getting inside the line or under the ball, doesn’t fetch runs. It needs grit, gumption, skill and prudence to face such adversity, especially on a bouncy and fast track. “When we step out of the sub-continent and play on bouncy tracks, we get into trouble. In the other forms of the game, we can let the ball go by. But you can’t afford to let the ball sail past you in the Twenty20 format as the pressure will increase,” said India skipper Dhoni, lamenting his batsmen’s inability to combat the short-pitched deliveries. India need to win by 20 runs
A win alone is not sufficient for India to qualify for semifinals and they will have to beat Sri Lanka by a minimum of 20 runs on batting first and with 2.1 to three overs to spare on batting second in their last Super Eights clash of the T20 World Cup here tomorrow. Not only India need to win big tomorrow but also require Australia to beat hosts the West Indies in the second match of the day. And if Australia beat West Indies even by one run, India will be through.
— PTI |
Gros Islet (St Lucia), May 10 Chasing 149, South Africa never got the momentum going and could only manage 137 for seven with AB de Villers (53) as their topscorer. The defending champions had lost two of their Super Eights matches in Group E and were on the brink of being ousted from the tournament. But they bounced back today and produced some outstanding cricket to haul themselves back into the championship. If England defeat New Zealand later in the day, Pakistan will play Australia in the semifinals as they have a better net run-rate (+0.041) than the Kiwis (-0.300). Ajmal was the man of the moment. The off-spinner bowled intelligently to lure the South African batsmen to their doom. He accounted for the scalps of Jacques Kallis (22), de Villiers (53), Mark Boucher (12) and Johan Botha (19) to record his career-best T20 international figures. Left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman had done the early damage by removing skipper Graeme Smith and J P Duminy to set panic in the South African camp. The victory would not have been possible with the efforts of the Akmal brothers - Kamran (37) and Ukmal (51) — who rose to the challenge to take the fight into the South African camp, producing 41 runs for fourth wicket to rejuvenate the innings which looked crippled at 18 for three. — PTI
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Bridgetown (Barbados), May 10 Bravo produced an outstanding direct hit from long on to get rid off Dhoni and then held a catch in the deep off Harbhajan before dismissing Ashish Nehra at short mid-wicket by Suleiman Benn to put the last nail in Indian coffin. Earlier, Chris Gayle butchered the Indian bowlers with a whirlwind 66-ball 98 as West Indies posted a competitive 169 for six after India skipper Dhoni put West Indies to bat. India would need a miracle to reach the semis now as a win for Sri Lanka over Australia in the other Group F match at the Kensington Oval would mean they no longer had a chance of reaching the final four. If Australia defeats Sri Lanka and West Indies in their next two matches and India beats the Islanders in their last encounter, then it will come down to runrate which will be the only slight chance that India will have to make to the semis. Earlier, Gayle slammed five fours and seven sixes and involved in three crucial partnership with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Darren Sammy and Keiron Pollard to take his team to a competitive score. Gayle mixed aggression with caution to single-handedly anchor the West Indies innings on a damp but drying wicket which wasn't conducive for stroke making at the Kensington Oval here. Gayle piously defended his citadel when the bowlers demanded respect and treated them with casual disdain when they begged to be punished. He was calm and resolute when Harbhajan Singh was in operation and ensured his side did not lose wickets even when the Indian had the game in control after five overs which yielded just 26 for no loss. But the moment the off-spinner went off the attack, he opened his broad, muscular shoulders to annihilate the rest of the Indian bowlers. He was in no hurry to rotate the strike while raising 80 runs for the first wicket with Chanderpaul. Gayle lashed out at the bowlers with power and precision and showed scant respect to Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Ravindra Jadeja as all his sixes sailed over the pickets to the utter delight of the local fans. The Indian fielding lived up to its billing. Ravindra Jadeja spilled Chanderpaul at 12 when West Indies had made 43 in 7.4 overs. A little later, Gayle watched Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan collide with each other and drop what should have been a simple catch at short square. Gayle was on 46 in a score of 73 for no loss in 11.1 overs. He lived to flay the Indian attack in the death overs, adding 52 runs after the reprieve. — PTI
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White takes Aus into semifinals
Bridgetown (Barbados), May 10 White’s crafty knock and his unbeaten 101-run partnership with Mike Hussey snatched the initiative from the Sri Lankans, who had reduced the Australians to 67 for five. Spinner Suraj Randiv was responsible for Australia's misery early on as he bowled a dream spell in which he took three wickets and conceded just 20 runs. Sri Lanka’s start, like Australia, was disastrous as they lost wickets in a heap but they could find a White like rescuer and were bowled out for a paltry 87 in 16.2 overs. Australia are unconquered so far and the comprehensive win in today's encounter, which boosted their net run-rate (+3.25), have ensured their place in the semifinals.
Jayawardene fell immediately after hitting Nannes for a six and soon Sri Lanka were three for 26 as yet again Aussie pacers spit fire. Tillakaratane Dilshan and Angelo Mathews tried to put up some fight, hitting Shane Watson for 15 runs in the sixth over but Johnson removed both in the next over. Dinesh Chandimal was the other batsman to manage a double-digit score and his dismissal, a stumping off Steven Smith ended all Lankan hopes. Earlier, Randiv rocked the Australia middle-order before White scored a masterly half-century to rescue his side. Electing to bat, Australia were in an unusually pathetic situation of having lost four wickets at a score of 33 and were reduced to 67 for five in 11 overs but White brought his side back in the match. White made Sri Lanka pay heavily for dropping him, when he was on 23 in 11th over, and raised the match winning partnership with Mike Hussey. — PTI
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Azlan Shah Cup
Ipoh (Malaysia), May 10 With today’s win, India are the only undefeated side in the tournament topping the seven team table with ten points from three wins and one draw, while Australia have six points from three outings. Defending champions India, who led 3-0 at half time, recorded their first win against Australia since 2003. Both the sides though came to the tournament without some key players. India outplayed Australia in the first half with an intelligent gameplan to contain their rivals and silence their attacks. Their ball rotation and short passes were exemplary as the attacking midfielders supported the forwards to mesmerise the Australian defence. India did not allow the Australian forwards to attack from the centre as Rajpal, Mandeep Antil and Shivendra denied the space. That forced the Aussies to run down the flanks which the Indian deep defence and wing halfs anticipated with perfection. Jose Brasa’s men used both flanks with wingers Mandeep Antil and Tushar Khandker with good measure while Rajpal and Shivendra led the onslaughts down the centre. India wasted three scoring chances to break into the lead. First, Khandker was foiled by sweeper Christopher Ciriello followed by Sarvanjit Singh's double fumble at the goalmouth. India, however, drew first blood in the 19th minute from a move engineered by Arjun Halappa and Gurbaj Singh. Shivendra took over and he pushed the ball to the waiting Khandker to apply the finishing touch. Bouyed by the lead, India fired another goal two minutes later as Rajpal nailed home from a brilliant move crafted by a Halappa and Danish Mujtaba combination. Australia’s woes continued as the Indians increased their tally to 3-0 in the 32nd minute as Khandker found the mark again from Antil’s cross. After the breather, a determined Australians came firing on all cylinders and the Indian deep defence was repeatedly outwitted by their strikers Grant Schubert, Mark Paterson and Timothy Devin. — PTI
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Thomas and Uber Cup
New Delhi, May 10 World number six Saina spanked Kerry-Lee Harrington 21-8, 21-8 in the first women’s singles to put India ahead and then Aditi Muttatkar and Trupti Murgunde scored convincing wins to hand India unassailable 3-0 lead. Aditi thrashed Stacey Doubell 21-5, 21-6, while Trupti tamed Jade Morgan 21-10, 21-9 in 20 in the second and third singles respectively. Shruti Kurian and Aparna Balan then got into the act and swept past Stacey Doubell and Kerry-Lee Harrington 21-13 21-10 in the women’s doubles match. Later, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Poppanna completed the Indian whitewash with a 21-8, 21-12 win over Michelle Edwards and Jade Morgan in the mixed doubles. However, the Thomas cuppers had a pretty tough day in Kuala Lumpur as despite Arvind Bhat's stunning victory and P Kashyap heart-rendering attempt they couldn’t save India the blushes. World number 33 P Kashyap was given the responsibility of leading India and he almost gave the side a stunning start by winning the first game 21-14 against formidable Taufik Hidayat. But the talismanic Indonesian used his experience to bounce back winning the next two 21-19, 21-18 to quell the Indian charge in a Group D match that last over an hour. “I lost out in experience. I should have nailed him when I had a seven-point lead at 11-4 over Taufik but he used his experience to full use,” Kashyap said. — PTI
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Ipoh (Malaysia), May 10
Despite the two defeats, India are mathematically still in the fray for a semifinal place. But for that to happen, Dhoni’s men will first have to beat Sri Lanka tomorrow and then hope Australia drub the West Indies by a big margin, which will see three teams locked with same points in Group F. In such a scenario, the net run-rate (NRR) will be brought into action to pick which one of these three teams - India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies - qualify for the semifinals.
Sri Lanka will now have to beat India on Tuesday and pray that Australia beat West Indies if they have to make the last-four stage. In-form Mahela Jayawardene has been instrumental in his sides's smooth run so far in the tournament and his failure today impacted Sri Lanka’s performance. Also, the Australian fast bowlers yet again were clinical with Mitchell Johnson and Dirk Nannes sharing five wickets.
