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Pak look to halt Australia
England book final ticket |
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We are still No 1: Tendulkar
Sushil Kumar wins gold in Asian Wrestling
Mark Waugh lauds Aussies’ depth
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Australia, on the other hand, have crushed whosoever have come under their wheels and remains unbeaten in the tournament so far but that reputation won't count when they take on an enigmatic Pakistan tomorrow. For Australia, their battery of lethal fast bowlers have knocked the stuffing out of the opponent batsman, While Pakistan have an array of spinners who have dominated on the slow wickets here. Shaun Tait, who has been consistently generating speeds of over 145-150 kmph, and Dirk Nannes have been devastating as a fast bowling pair, as much as Shane Watson and David Warner have been with the bat for Australia and they will hold the key to Australia’s success tomorrow. For Pakistan, their spinners - Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal -- could pose many questions to the free-scoring Aussie batsmen on this deck and it will be interesting to watch who calls the shots in this crucial game. Will it be the Aussies pacemen or the Pakistani spinners? On a man-to-man basis, Australia are a superior lot. They can bat right up to number nine, which is something Pakistan lack. Their fielding too has been outstanding, something which Shahid Afridi’s men can’t match. Given the depth and fire power in his side, Michael Clarke is confident of playing the final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on May 16. “I would really love to get to Barbados because that wicket will be really beautiful for our fast bowlers. Our batters like a little bit pace to come on to the bat. So who we play will not bother me. I think this game on Friday is a huge game for us. It's going to be tough for us,” said Clarke. However, Clarke was wary of the defending champions and said they have to be at their best to beat Pakistan tomorrow. “They have a lot of spinners. They have a lot of class. They have guys who have played international cricket for a long time. We need to play like we have played throughout this tournament. We need to be at our best both physically and mentally to play against this team, because they are a very good team,” averred Clarke. His counterpart, Afridi held Australia in high esteem but was confident that Pakistan would make it to the summit clash. — PTI
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Mathews was involved in two partnerships - 46 off 45 balls with Kapugedera for the fifth wicket and 33 off 20 balls with Thissara Perera for the sixth - which took Sri Lanka at least something to defend. England produced a clinical performance. Pacers Ryan Sidebottom, Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad barely gave any width, consistently keeping the ball in and around off stump. Broad was the most successful England bowler with two wickets for 21 while Bresman, Sidebottom and Swann chipped in with a wicket each. Except for calling the coin correctly, nothing worked for Sri Lanka as they lost their three key batsmen by the fifth over for just 26 runs. Opener Sanath Jayasuriya was the first to go in second over with the scoreboard reading just seven. The veteran batsman, who had a forgettable tournament, edged a Sidebottom delivery for England captain Paul Collingwood to take a regulation catch at second slip for just one. One-down Tillakaratne Dilshan was aggressive from the very start, clobbering Sidebottom for a boundary from the first ball he faced. — PTI Scoreboard England:
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We are still No 1: Tendulkar
Zirakpur, May 13 He also asked for the support of the fans for the team. Extended his full support for the team, Sachin declared, “We are still number one team in the world”. Tendulkar was in town to be part of Jaypee Cement Company’s felicitation programme for its dealers at a local resort here. However, Tendulkar did agree that the long schedule of the Indian Premier League, concluded just before the start of the World Cup, caused burnout for the players. “Along with some advantages, the league contains disadvantages also. Hectic game schedule and extensive travelling hours take a toll on the players, surely,” said Sachin while adding that otherwise it is good for the training purpose. Admitting that Indian batsmen were not good with short pitch balls, Tendulkar said, “Though it (the weakness) was there, it can be tackled with many ways. Every team has some weaknesses but the focus should be on the strong points. Notably, during the matches against Australia and West Indies the weakness of the Indian batsmen was more or less exposed again. About his dream of bringing World Cup-2011, Sachin said that like every Indian, he too nurtures the dream to win the top honours. The team will work hard to realise it, he added.
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Sushil Kumar wins gold in Asian Wrestling
New Delhi, May 13 With Sushil winning the yellow gold, India's medal tally in the championships swelled to two gold. Narshing Yadav had won a gold in the 74kg freestyle yesterday. “It feels good to be the Asian Champion. This win gives a boost to my confidence before important events like World Championship and the Commonwealth Games. It was a tough fight in the finals, but I was lucky to get the first grip, from where I never looked back,” said Sushil after his win. Other Indians, however, fell outside the medal bracket.Rajiv Tomar finished fifth in the 120kg freestyle after losing to Iran's Mohd Azars in straight periods 0-1, 1-1 in quarterfinal. Anuj Kumar was also beaten in 84kg freestyle category by Zhang Feng of China in the second round, while Rahul Aware lost to Lee Woo Ju of Korea in the second round of the 55kg freestyle. It was a close bout in the 84 kg category for the wounded Iranian wrestler Lashgari Ehsan who defended his title outclassing Semonov S from Kazakhstan. Lashgari went down to Semenov in the first round 6-0 but came back strongly winning the next two rounds with a score of 1-0 and 2-0. Earlier Lashgari got wounded on his head wrestling against Zang Feng of China in the semifinal. Lashgari won the bout in straight rounds with a score of 6-0 and 3-1. — PTI
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Indian boxing’s Cuban revolution
Patiala, May 13 They have dominated the ring in international competitions for long and have the medals to prove it too. So when 13 Indian boxers came back from the ‘Mecca’ of boxing, the experience gained was shining on their faces. For Commonwealth Games gold medallist Akhil Kumar, it was just the kind of outing he was looking for ahead of a tough schedule that will see him defend his gold at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. “To put it right, Cuba is like the Mecca of boxing. The trip did us tremendous good in getting to know the way the best in the world train and do things. We hope that this will enrich us and help us understand our own game a lot better.” He further adds, “I believe the way the people react to boxing in Cuba is what makes the sport what it is. They understand the technical aspect of the game and are extremely supportive of a good boxer, irrespective of his nationality. Their knowledge of the sport is almost like we understand cricket. It just blows you away.” India’s Cuban boxing coach B.I. Fernandez feels that the Cuban experience will play a major role in the shaping of careers of many of these players. “It was a great experience and all the boxers made the most of it. They will be eager to put to practice whatever they have learnt in Cuba. It will go a long way to shape their thoughts about the sport and their own styles as well.” On reports that Akhil had hurt his wrist during one of the bouts Fernandez quickly hit back saying, “The level there is very high. And Akhil relishes that level of boxing. He had a slight inflammation, but is perfectly fit now. All the boys are looking forward to various competitions.”
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Mark Waugh lauds Aussies’ depth
Melbourne, May 13 “Even if they lose a couple of early wickets, they've still got the depth to keep going hard, where as a lot of other teams really only have two or three batsmen they can rely on,” he said. Australia has demolished opposition bowling attacks on their way to five straight victories and bowling trio of Dirk Nannes, Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait have struck fear in the hearts of opponents. “It doesn’t matter what form of the game - if you’ve got fast bowlers, batsmen don’t like it. And we’ve got three guys that bowl 150kmh - I haven’t seen any team collar our fast bowlers. They are all coming in from different angles with unorthodox bowling styles. Dirk Nannes is a hard bowler to pick up - his action’s a bit ungainly - and Shaun Tait has a very different action as well.” If they can defeat Pakistan again, Australia will have achieved their best result at the tournament and made amends for their exit at the group stages in England last year. Yuvi denies pub brawl GROS ISLET: Indian cricket team’s trouble doesn’t end with their ouster from Twenty20 World Cup with reports suggesting that some of the players were involved in a pub brawl here even though Yuvraj Singh dismissed the claim. According to reports, six Indian players went to a local pub, Tequila Joe’s, on Wednesday night where fans started taunting and abusing them for their failure to reach the semifinal of the Twenty20 World Cup. Pacer Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan apparently lost their cool and got into a confrontation with the fans and Yuvraj had to intervene to calm down his teammates, reports claimed. Yuvraj himself, however, denied the reports. “There was no fight, not even an argument,” Yuvraj wrote on his Twitter page, asking the media not to “make up stories”.
— Agencies |
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Anwar donates Rs 2 lakh to YFC
Chandigarh, May 13 He congratulated the team for winning Street Child World Cup at Durban, South Africa. Anwar also urged the young players to work hard and bring laurels to the country.
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After their miraculous entry into the last four stage, defending champions Pakistan face the uphill task of halting the Australian juggernaut in the second semifinal of the Twenty20 World Cup here tomorrow.
Gros Islet (St. Lucia), May 13
New Delhi, May 13
After struggling to come to grips with the short format since it became an international fixture in 2005, Australia are now one win from advancing to their first World Twenty20 final Former Opener Mark Waugh believes the selectors have sent a squad to this year’s tournament with the “best depth of any team going around.” “They have nine blokes that can hit the ball over the fence and three guys that can bowl the ball 150kmh,” Waugh said.
St Lucia, May 13
Gros Islet (St. Lucia), May 13
Earlier in the day, Mathews stood among ruins with a fighting half century as Sri Lanka scored a modest 128 for six. Mathews, who hit three fours and a six in his 45-ball innings, got little support from his batting colleagues as the next highest contributors were captain Kumar Saangakkara and Chamara Kapugedera after Sri Lanka elected to bat at a slow Beausejour Stadium pitch.
Schumi: No apology for cheating