Colombo, August 4
Virender Sehwag led a strong Indian fight-back with a blistering unbeaten 97, as the visitors restricted Sri Lanka to 425 to more or less restore balance in the third and final cricket Test here today.

Sehwag batted with his customary flourish and was just three runs short of what could be his 21st century as the visitors reached a comfortable 180 for two in their first innings at close on the second day. Sehwag ran away with honours on day two, which also saw Sri Lankan Thilan Samaraweera (137) hitting a century, with a scintillating show of stroke-play on a sporting pitch at P Sara Oval.

The dashing Indian opener, who sent the home team bowlers for a leather hunt in the final session, consumed just 87 balls for his 97, hitting 17 fours.

Giving company to Sehwag at stumps was milestone man Sachin Tendulkar (40), who has become the most-capped Test player, surpassing former Australian captain Steve Waugh's 168 appearances. Murali Vijay (14) and Rahul Dravid (23) were the two batsmen dismissed. India now trails Sri Lanka by 245 runs with eight first innings wickets intact. Coming together at 92 for two, Sehwag and Tendulkar have shared 88 runs for the unfinished third wicket stand. It turned out to be a productive day for the Indians, who were trailing 0-1 in the series, as their bowlers came up with a decent performance by taking the last six wickets in less than two sessions to bowl out the home side for 425.

Sehwag then led a strong Indian reply with a typical aggressive innings. The opener, who was dropped on 52 by Angelo Mathews, gave Chanaka Welegedara with special treatment hitting boundaries off the Sri Lankan bowler almost at will.

Welegedara bled 59 runs from his first spell of eight overs before he was taken off. Out of the 11 fours he conceded in his first spell of nine overs came from Sehwag's blade. — PTI

Scoreboard
Sri Lanka (1st innings): Overnight 293/4
Samaraweera not out 137
Mathews lbw b Ojha 45
Jayawardene lbw b Ojha 9
Randiv c Dravid b Sehwag 8
Malinga c & b Mishra 4
Mendis c Raina b Ishant 3
Welegedara c Dhoni b Ishant 4
Extras (b-8, lb-4, w-7, nb-16) 35
Total (all out, 138 overs) 425
Bowling: Mithun 22-2-78-0, Ishant 23-6-72-3, Mishra 42-3-140-1, Ojha 46-10-115-4, Sehwag 5-0-8-1.

India (1st innings):
Vijay c Mendis b Malinga 14
Sehwag batting 97
Dravid lbw b Mathews 23
Tendulkar batting 40
Extras (lb-1, w-1, nb-4) 6
Total (2 wickets, 35 overs) 180
Bowling: Malinga 11-1-52-1, Welegedara 9-0-65-0, Mendis 7-1-32-0, Mathews 4-0-13-1, Randiv 4-0-17-0.

Colombo, August 4
Virender Sehwag today became the sixth Indian batsman to score 7,000 Test runs during his unbeaten knock of 97 on the second day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka here.

Sehwag reached the milestone during the final session, when he scored a single off Sri Lankan paceman Lasith Malinga to mid-off area to bring up his 70 at the P Sara Oval. The dashing Indian opener is the 38th batsman overall to have scored 7,000 runs. 31-year-old Sehwag, who made his debut against South Africa at Bloemfontein in 2001, was playing in his 79th Test.

Sunil Gavaskar was the first Indian to complete 7,000 runs in Test cricket years ago, while the other Indians in the list are Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly.

Sehwag remained unbeaten on 97 at the end of second day's play. During his 87-ball stay at the crease, Sehwag cracked 17 fours. — PTI

New Delhi, August 4
The embattled Commonwealth Games Organisers today received a strong rebuke from CGF chief Michael Fennell who said that the image of the Games "could not be damaged by corruption charges". “We cannot allow the Games' image to be damaged by these allegations. I think we want to have good Games but we need to clarify these (allegations) and ensure that there is full investigation and full transparency,” Fennell said in his first reaction to the corruption allegations on Games' organisers.

“We will ask for a full report on what has been alleged and we want an urgent report. I understand an urgent meeting of the executive board of the OC has been called and I will be visiting Delhi on August 18. I myself would be wanting to look at all these things because we cannot have the Games damaged by these allegations,” he added.

Asked if he would want an inquiry by the CGF, he said, “No. We don't support, neither do we feel that corruption should be or ought to be a part of any Games or events such as these. But we are not familiar with the facts and that is a matter for Indian authorities to sort out. I am monitoring all the aspects very carefully and it does cause quite a lot of concern because we don't want to have corruption whatsoever. It is something which is very disturbing and do feel that the matter needs urgent attention by Indian authorities,” he told NDTV from Jamaica.

On CGF Chief Executive Officer Mike Hooper writing a letter to the OC after the corruption scandal broke out, he said, "We had asked for some clarification of the news reports but we have not had any response from the OC." Caught in a web of corruption charges, Commonwealth Games Organisers today formed a three-member panel to probe the allegations of irregular financial transactions. The panel comprises of Jarnail Singh, OC Chief Executive Officer, G C Chaturvedi, Special Director General- Finance, and Gurjyot Kaur, Chief Vigilance Officer. — PTI

Chandigarh, August 4
Five international medals including a gold in boxing and as many in national games do not seem enough for Punjab cop Ram Singh to get departmental promotions. Pugilist Ram Singh, who joined Punjab Police in 2003 as a constable, is still serving on the same rank despite his commendable performances in sports.

“I am disappointed as I am not getting what I deserve from the department,” said Singh while talking to The Tribune. “I think five international medals are enough to get promotion. I have met the officers concerned many times, but in vain,” he rued.

Also supporting Ram in this matter is Olympian Vijender Singh. Vijender, who is currently the world’s number one boxer, has taken up his case with Punjab Police officers repeatedly. Talking to The Tribune Vijender said, “I have been meeting the authorities concerned over Ram’s case, but we got nothing but false assurances every time.” A close pal of Ram, Vijender has seen him grow up as a boxer. “We are training together at NIS, Patiala for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. I have high hopes from Ram and the department giving him his dues would boost his morale,” said Vijender.

In the international arena, Ram bagged a gold in the 1st International A.K. Mishra Boxing Championship last year besides winning a silver at YMCA International Boxing Tournament in New Delhi (2006). He has won three bronze medals, one each in Green Hill Cup held in Pakistan in 2006, Grand Prix Cup at Czech Republic (2007) and in international boxing meet in Kazakhstan in 2008. Apart from that he has won six gold medals in various All India Police Sports Meets.

Ram, who hails from Naina Akot village near Patiala, entered the ring in 1999. “That time boxing was unknown in our village,” claimed Ram, who has become a source of inspiration for the youngsters in the area. “Now in my village about 25 pugilists are undergoing training, out of which two have already made it to the international level. Several others are national and state level players,” he added.

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LS lauds Sachin
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