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Chance pe dance
Ivanovic, Krumm sent packing
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England ease to 105
Star track
Aussies first to reach South Africa
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With big names rested for the series, the tournament comes as an opportunity for the youngsters to prove their worth at the international level, especially with the 50-over World Cup just over nine months away. It will also be a test of character for the young Suresh Raina, who will make his captaincy debut after as many as eight senior players including regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, were rested for the tournament.
Raina has an aggressive deputy in Virat Kohli, who would be keen to prove his worth to the selectors after being ignored for the Twenty20 World Cup. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and leg-spinner Amit Mishra also have a point to prove after the Twenty20 World Cup snub while Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik along with Raina will form the core of the Indian line-up during the series.
However, an area which will be a matter of concern for Raina is the pace department. With the likes of Ashok Dinda, R Vinay Kumar, Pankaj Singh and Umesh Yadav, the Indian seam attack lacks experience and it remains to be seen how the quartet fairs in pressure situations. Incidentally, the Raina-led side has a fair idea about Zimbabwean conditions as players like Pankaj Singh, Pragyan and Rohit were part of the A team that toured the African country in 2007. India last sent a full side to Zimbabwe way back in 2005-06. On the other hand, the absence of so many international stars have irked the cash-strapped Zimbabwe Cricket which was banking on this series to revive the game here. — PTI
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Paris, May 27 Six singles matches, including those of four-times champion Rafa Nadal and Serena Williams, were cancelled while 16 doubles contests were also forced to be rescheduled. Around 90 minutes of play were possible mid-afternoon during which time Ivanovic, the champion of 2008 now ranked 42, looked a shadow of her former sparkling self in a 6-3 6-0 defeat by Russian 28th seed Alisa Kleybanova. At 39, Date Krumm became the second oldest women's player to win a singles match here with her first-round triumph over last year's runner-up Dinara Safina but her challenge ran out of steam in a 6-0 6-3 rout by Australia's Jarmila Groth. Five women's singles matches were completed during the brief respite from the weather. Forecasters say the rain is likely to continue intermittently for the rest of the day and plummeting temperatures have also been predicted over the weekend. Spectators will get a 50 per cent refund if there is less than two hours of play, thanks to special insurance taken out by the French tennis federation. The scenes in the walkways underneath Court Philippe Chatrier resembled a refugee camp with miserable spectators sporting coloured waterproofs sat beside rain-soaked umbrellas and bags hoping for any break in the Parisian murk. Serbian fourth seed Jelena Jankovic lifted the gloom when she walked on the main court wearing a buttercup yellow dress to open play against Estonia's Kaia Kanepi. They were tied at a set all and 1-1 in the decider when the covers were rushed on once again. That match was due to be followed by a match interrupted amid remarkable scenes in the near darkness of 2200 local time on Wednesday night with French 13th seed Gael Monfils and Italian Fabio Fognini locked at 5-5 in the fifth set of a heated clash. Fognini was docked a time penalty point and missed three match points as players and officials had angry exchanges over whether the match should continue in such dismal light. British fourth seed Andy Murray had time for only more game before the rain returned, Juan Ignacio Chela holding serve for a 4-3 lead in the second set after the Scot had clinched the opener in Wednesday night's gloom. American sixth seed Andy Roddick was a set up and tied at 5-5 in the second against Slovenia's Blaz Kavcic on Court Suzanne Lenglen. — Reuters
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London, May 27 Andrew Strauss, returning as captain after taking a break from the game during the away series against the same opponents this year, took 14 balls to get off the mark. His second scoring stroke was a six over mid-wicket off debutant medium-pacer Robiul Islam and, although his timing was sometimes awry after his slow start to the county season, he was was still at the crease at the interval with 40. Jonathan Trott, whose place is under pressure after he first struggled in his native South Africa and was then tied down by the spinners in Bangladesh, played with authority from the start. He steered his third delivery for four behind point and moved confidently on to the front foot to drive two further boundaries through the off-side. At lunch he had scored an even half-century with five boundaries. — AFP Scoreboard England (1st innings): Strauss batting 40 Cook lbw b Shahadat 7 Trott batting 50 Extra: (NB-8) 8 Total: (for 1 wkt, 27 overs) 105 Bowling: Shahadat 8-2-28-1; Robiul 6-1-31-0; Shakib 6-1-18-0; Rubel 6-0-27-0; Mahmudullah 1-0-1-0.
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The FIFA World Player of the Year in 2008 and a winger who plundered an unbelievable 42 goals across all competitions in 2007-08, Ronaldo will be expected to do what he has yet to do - and light up an international tournament. After winning all there was to win with the Red Devils, Ronaldo finally earned his dream move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2009 for a world record fee of £80 million as part of the new era of galacticos at the Bernabeu. The tricky winger made his debut for Portugal in a 1-0 victory against Kazakhstan in 2003 and was named in the squad for Euro 2004, held in Portugal, and was named in the team of the tournament. He had the chance to come of age at the 2006 World Cup, though one of the memorable images of the tournament was his wink at the bench after Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney was sent off in a game against England. He only scored one goal at Euro 2008, but after former Manchester United assistant coach took over with Portugal, Ronaldo has been named captain, though some would argue he is not their most influential player.
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Aussies first to reach South Africa
"Between the New Zealand game and our next game we will have got a lot of rust out. A lot of players will have had a good couple of weeks training under their belt," Neill told reporters after the team's first training session. "We will get a lot more passing going, a lot more flowing and a lot more consistency in our possession, and we want to create a lot more chances." Australia, ranked 20th by FIFA, scraped a scrappy 2-1 win against the 78-ranked All Whites on Monday thanks to a late winner by Brett Holman, a performance that was slammed by coach Pim Verbeek. Neill said tough training ahead of the friendly may have contributed to the team's sluggish performance. "But also we were not quite sharp enough or fit enough but that was a result of probably training really hard," he said. "As we keep going, two training sessions a day and get used to the altitude, I'm sure you are going to see a lot more attractive football team on the field." Good preparation and fitness could make the difference in leading the team through a tough group. "I think we are going to have to try take any advantage we can in this competition and if that means doing better in adapting to altitude or being a fitter team than the next, then that might be the difference in the games." — Reuters
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The Twenty20 World Cup debacle still fresh in mind, a new-look Indian team would look to test its bench strength when it faces Zimbabwe in the opening match of a triangular ODI series, also involving Sri Lanka, here tomorrow.
Australia have put an average performance against New Zealand behind them and should show a big improvement in the World Cup warm-up against Denmark next week, team captain Lucas Neill said on Thursday. The Socceroos were the first team to arrive in South Africa for the June 11-July 11 showpiece tournament and hope the early start to training at high altitude in Johannesburg will give them a step up on group stage rivals Germany, Ghana and Serbia.
Bulawayo, May 27
But what might work in Raina's favour is that he will lead a bunch of young, fresh and fit players who are eager to perform at the international arena and be in the reckoning for a place in the Indian team.
Other rookies who will be looking to make a mark are off-spinner R Ashwin and aggressive wicket-keeper batsman Naman Ojha.
A much-vaunted prodigy when snapped up by Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon in 2003, Ronaldo is now perhaps, apart from David Beckham, the best-known player on the planet.
Johannesburg, May 27
Born October 23, 1940, best known as
Pelé. He is a retired Brazilian football player. While his birth certificate shows his first name as Edison, it is as Pelé that he has become a sporting legend. He is widely regarded by polls among football experts, former players and fans as the greatest footballer of all time.
Karachi
London