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India in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka’s Thilan Samaraweera plays a shot against India in Colombo on Tuesday. — Reuters |
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Pitch drier than expected: Samaraweera
CWG: Charlesworth paints gloomy picture
IHF plans merger with IWHF, ready to follow govt guidelines
Santosh Trophy: Goa, Punjab in semis
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Middle order to Lanka’s aid
 Hosts
293 for 4 at stumps Tendulkar
becomes most-capped player Ojha
gets two wickets Sangakkara
continues hot form, scores 75 Jayawardene,
Samaraweera chip in Yuvraj
raises middle finger towards fans
Colombo, August 3
Spinner Pragyan Ojha took two of the four wickets to fall, dismissing the well-set Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara (75) and his deputy Mahela Jayawardene (56). Sangakkara could not make full use of a dropped chance when he was on 23 and missed out on his third successive century. But his innings helped Sri Lanka recover from an early jolt after he put on an 87-run stand with Tillakaratne Dilshan (41) Thilan Samaraweera (65) and Angelo Mathews (26) were unseparated in a 52-run partnership for the fifth wicket, guiding the hosts to early stumps due to bad light.
The match also saw Sachin Tendulkar become the most capped player in the game as he surpassed former Australian captain Steve Waugh's record of 168 Tests. Unlike the first two matches, that saw bat dominating the ball, the track here had something to offer both bowlers and batsmen. India, after suffering another injury blow in the form of spin spearhead Harbhajan Singh, began well by removing both the openers in the first session and added one wicket each to their tally in the following sessions. The pace duo of Ishant Sharma and Abhimanyu Mithun did extremely well in the seaming conditions and stifled the Lankans early on. Ojha relishes bounce and turn
After coming a cropper in the first two matches, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha rediscovered some of his lost touch on the opening day of third Test against Sri Lanka today and he attributed it to the bounce and turn that the wicket was offering. Ojha picked up a couple of wickets today as India did reasonably well to restrict Sri Lanka to 293 for four on the first day. "Because it (the wicket) bounces and turn, it really excited me and I thought if I don't do anything silly and I do my basics right and keep it there, I think I will get my reward," Ojha said after the day's play which ended early because of bad light. But Ojha had his problems with the run-up, sending down four no balls. “I think it was a problem for me initially. I took the wrong run-up and changed my run-up. Then it was alright and after that I was doing better,” he said. Asked if he prefers bowling with SG balls to Kookaburra, Ojha said, "SG (ball) does something. Throughout the day it does something. Kookaburra after initial 20 overs, when the seam gets older, I think it does not do as much as SG
does.” Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh, who was left out of the playing eleven, today lost his cool and showed his middle finger at the Sri Lankan fans who jeered him with "water boy" chants during the third cricket Test here. The incident happened during the opening day of the final Test when 12th man Yuvraj entered the ground and made his way towards his team-mates with water bottles and some drinks in hand.
— PTI |
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Pitch drier than expected: Samaraweera
Colombo, August 3 Samaraweera, who was unbeaten on 65 in Sri Lanka's 293 for four at stumps on first day, said the P Sara Oval pitch was drier than before and more spin-friendly than normally expected. “The pitch has much less moisture than expected. So it is much drier and it will start spinning after Day two. So we have to score runs tomorrow and we are in a good position now,” said Samaraweera, who averages above 50 in the 60 Tests he has played so far. He said the pitch was not easy to bat on but felt his side's batsmen had done well on the opening day. “The pitch was not easy to bat on and some balls from fast bowlers were stopping before reaching the bat. So it was not easy to play shots straightaway, you need to settle down. But we had done well so far,” he said.
— PTI |
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CWG: Charlesworth paints gloomy picture
New Delhi, August 3 He expressed his apprehension that even if the competitions venues were completed, other preparations would not be completed on time. “Forget about the venues, we have to live in the village. My experience says that it won't be finished,” the Austrlian hockey great was quoted as saying. “My concern is that we will get there and have people stuck on the 15th floor with no working lifts, no air conditioning, electricity going on and off, no water in the taps and poor sewerage,” Charlesworth said. Australia's Commonwealth Games chief Perry Chrosswhite was reported to have said the flaws in the construction of the stadia were likely being inflamed by political rivalry, although he was preparing his athletes for what to expect. The Australian media and officials have taken note of report of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), highlighting irregularities in the games projects and construction of the various stadia. Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Mike Hooper had written to Kalmadi yesterday, asking him in light of the CVC Report, to seek from the government agencies a guarantee that the venues were safe and fit for the games. “This is important given the Commonwealth-wide media attention this matter has received as we must reassure athletes and officials that the venues are safe,” Hooper noted. He stressed that the OC should be “concentrating on delivering the games as there was no plan B”. Kalmadi has called a meeting of the OC's Executive Board on Thursday, to take up the issues raised by his colleagues Randhir Singh, Anil Khanna and Archery Association of India president Prof VK Malhotra, regarding the corruption charges and negative reports appearing the media. Randhir is the vice-chairman of the OC while Anil Khanna is the treasurer. |
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IHF plans merger with IWHF, ready to follow govt guidelines
The HI, who are set go to polls on August 5, had refused to adhere to the ministry guidelines before announcing the much awaited elections, saying they are ruled by their own constitution. IHF president KPS Gill said they had already adopted steps to unify men's and women's hockey. “We are in talks with the IWHF. We held a meeting with the IWHF officials to discuss the unification of two bodies. We are more than willing to form a single body in the country,” Gill said. “We have already said we have no problems with the government guidelines. We will give our reply to the ministry within the stipulated time,” he said. The Sports Ministry had yesterday issued showcause notices to both the HI and the IHF, asking the two bodies to clarify their stance on guidelines of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the Indian government. The ministry had given the IHF 14 days time to reply and demanded an explanation from the HI before the Thursday's elections as to why it should not be derecognised in the wake of the federation's declaration before the Delhi High Court that it is a private body. HI secretary general Narinder Batra said the polls would be held as per schedule and they would answer to the ministry's showcause notice within the given time. “Some of the matters in the notice are subjudice so I won't like to comment on it but we will definitely reply to their notice before the elections. The elections are on,” Batra said. Incidentally, the much-awaited HI elections were postponed four times earlier, most recently on July 28 after the Delhi and Bombay High Courts stayed the poll process. While the Delhi High Court stayed the polls following the failure of the Central government to clarify its legal position regarding the HI and the IHF, the Bombay High Court did the same on a petition filed by the Maharashtra Hockey Association. The HI, however, moved the Supreme Court against the orders and managed to vacate the stays on July 30 and obtain a green signal from the apex court to hold its elections. — PTI
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Santosh Trophy: Goa, Punjab in semis
Kolkata, August 3 Goa (nine points) thus ended on a high with an all-win record in the quarterfinal league. Punjab thrashed Karnataka 5-1 Goa in the first quarterfinal league match of the day to finish second behind Goa in Group A. Gurpreet Singh (4th and 5th) and Parveen Kumar (65th and 90+3rd) struck twice each, while substitute Rohit Kumar swelled their tally in the 87th minute. RC Prakash scored the solitary goal for Karnataka in the 42nd minute as their campaign ended with three losses on the trot. The formidable Goans looked promising in defence of their title with Milagres in fine touch. In the fifth minute, Milagres spotted an Adil Khan through pass and shot it on the rise to find the back of Services net for Goa's first goal. Eight minutes later, Milagres was equally effective from 25 yards for his second goal. The Goans were equally clinical at the backline as Mathew Gonsalves made a goal-line save from a shot of Services striker Sochungmi Raleng in the 18th minute. Milagres was denied a hat-trick in the 21st minute when his shot was saved by Services custodian Binu Purushthaman as they enjoyed a 2-0 first-half lead. Adil struck from a cross by Fulgancio Cardozo six minutes after the break to swell the tally of the Goans, while Clifton scored from the right of the box in the 69th minute. Earlier, Gurpreet gave Punjab a dream start with back to back goals to give their side a 2-0 lead by the fifth minute. Gurpreet opened account in the fourth minute scoring from the top of the box with a powerful rightfooter that was way beyond Karnataka goalkeeper Nagendra's reach.
— PTI |
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Indian bowlers finally struck some form but a slow and steady Sri Lanka still had the upperhand, reaching 293 for four on the opening day of the series-deciding third cricket Test at the P Sara Oval here today.
Former Olympian and national hockey coach of the Australian team Ric Charlesworth has added to the woes of the organisers of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi as he was quoted as saying in the Australian media that the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) was “very naive” if they continued to believe the Organising Committee's assurance of a glitch-free games.
He expressed his apprehension that even if the competitions venues were completed, other preparations would not be completed on time. “Forget about the venues, we have to live in the village. My experience says that it won't be finished,” the Austrlian hockey great was quoted as saying. “My concern is that we will get there and have people stuck on the 15th floor with no working lifts, no air conditioning, electricity going on and off, no water in the taps and poor sewerage,” Charlesworth said.
New Delhi, August 3
Yousuf
unlikely to play 2nd Test
‘Unsure when will I get first title’
Kaneria wants to win back place