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India can bounce back
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World Cup team on Jan 17
Ranji Final
Finch stars in Aus victory
India, Pakistan dominate in SAF Games
JCT seek win
Bahrain beat India
5-2
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India can bounce back
Johannesburg, January 14 The Indians did well by drawing the Test series 1-1 and then winning the only T20 game on Sunday, but the humiliating 135-run defeat in the first match came as a big blow for the visitors who have to regroup before its too late. Already plagued by injuries to key players, nothing seemed to have gone right for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men in Durban as both the batting and bowling left much to be desired. The Indians have a track record of not doing too well in the first match on tours and Dhoni and his men will be looking to bounce back and level the five-match series 1-1 at the New Wanderers ground which is likely to aid the pace bowlers. Already missing key players such as Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, the injury list has only grown longer with paceman Praveen Kumar also returning home because of an injury. Paceman S Sreesanth is also recovering from an elbow injury, which forced him to sit out of the first match, and it remains to be seen whether the Kerala speedster is fit enough to take the field on the morrow. Batting has been India's strength but the top order collapsed like a pack of cards to be reduced to 43 for four in the first match, and the team could never really recover from that jolt. Sachin Tendulkar, returning to the Indian one-day fold after close to a year, has a big role to play and the champion batsman has to take up the responsibility of giving India a competitive total on the board. The Indian line-up has a number of young but talented players such as Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina but they have to fire when it matters most. Kohli was the only batsman to score a half century in the last game unlike the South Africans who had three batsmen coming up with substantial contributions. The failure to build partnerships made India's chase all the more difficult. For the off-colour Yuvraj Singh, it is the final chance to convince the selectors that he is the same destructive force which won India many a matches before the stunning slump in form. Unlike the Indians, the South Africans put up a clinical show but captain Graeme Smith cautioned his teammates not to take the visitors lightly.
— PTI Teams (from) South Africa: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers (wicketkeeper), Jean-Paul Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Colin Ingram, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe. |
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Mumbai, January 14 "The selection committee is to pick the World Cup squad on the 17th at Chennai," a Cricket Board source told PTI today. The selection panel, with Krishnamachari Srikkanth at the helm, has picked a preliminary squad of thirty members for the mega event, and the list would be pruned to the required number as per ICC regulations for the tournament. The list of probables already picked by the selectors is as follows: M S Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, M Vijay, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Sourav Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Parthiv Patel, R Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha, Dinesh Karthik, Shikhar Dhawan, Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Cheteshwar Pujara, Pragyan Ojha, Praveen Kumar. The World Cup is to be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from February 19-April 2. India are placed in Group B in the preliminary phase along with co-hosts Bangladesh, England, South Africa, West Indies, Ireland and Netherlands. — PTI
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Ranji Final
Vadodara, January 14 Rajasthan are now 234 runs ahead with six second innings wickets in hand. Rajasthan were 11 for 3, then 61 for 4 and could have slipped to 71 for 5, but Baroda dropped Menaria twice in successive overs, and the former India Under-19 captain, along with Parida, made them pay. Menaria's assault on left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt signalled the decisive change in the pattern of the game. He stepped out and lofted him for three sixes in an over, Rajasthan went from 95 to 113, and Baroda wilted after that. Earlier, Rajasthan gained a crucial first innings lead of 33 runs when they dismissed Baroda for 361 in their first innings. This first innings lead will most likely decide the match in favour of Rajasthan. — Agencies
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Melbourne, January 14 After Australia battled to 147-7 thanks to an unbeaten half-century by second-gamer Aaron Finch, England looked set to cruise to victory when they were 58-0 after six overs, with opener Ian Bell on song. But England's quest to extend their record unbeaten T20 streak to nine matches, having defeated Australia on the last ball of Wednesday's game in Adelaide, came unstuck as their middle order failed to deliver. As was the case in Australia's lone win during the Ashes series, in the third Test at the WACA Ground, it was paceman Mitchell Johnson (3-29) who turned the match on its head. Johnson claimed the vital wicket of Bell (39) when the right-hander dragged a ball onto his stumps in the seventh over to end an opening stand of 60. The left-hander then followed up by having Kevin Pietersen caught for one three balls later. Johnson also removed the dangerous Eoin Morgan for 14, while Shane Watson backed up his brilliant effort in Wednesday's match with a frugal 2-17 from four overs. With 13 runs needed off the last three balls from Brett Lee, young England all-rounder Chris Woakes threatened to repeat his heroics on Wednesday when he lofted the paceman into the stands to leave seven needed from two. But Lee got the job done as Australia snapped a run of five successive losses in T20 internationals. Man of the match Finch, playing in only his second international, hit 53 not out from 33 balls in a crucial performance with the bat for th Australia side got off to a quick start and were 57-1 after six overs, but lost 4-17 as Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy wreaked havoc, the two spinners recording identical figures of 2-19 from their four overs. The two sides now meet in a seven-match one-day series and Australian captain Cameron White was hopeful the home side finally had some momentum. "It's going to give us some confidence hopefully," White said. England skipper Paul Collingwood said he thought his side was going to steal the win when Woakes hit his last-over six. — AFP
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India, Pakistan dominate in SAF Games
Auli, January 14 India clinched gold and silver in Alpine in the Men’s Giant Slalom. Arif Khan clocked two minutes, 21.60 seconds to claim the first place, followed by Jamiang Nabgyal (India, 2.21.74) in the second position while Pakistan’s Mir Nawaj Junior put up good fight for the third place. In the women’s 1200-metre Alpine Giant Slalom, the Pakistan girls performed better. They bagged gold and silver while India got bronze. Pakistan’s Iffrawali won gold by finishing the event in 2.51.93 and her sister Aminawali took silver clocking 2.52.2. India’s Preeti Dimri bronze with the timing of 2.57.2. The girls from India won the 5km cross-country, claiming all three positions. Bhavaneshwari ( 21.37 minutes) grabbed the top place while Phunthog and Mehjageen got the silver and bronze medals respectively. The snowboard contest were declared a non-event no country as other than India participated. The events at the Auli Ski resort will include Alpine Skiing Slalom (men’s and women’s), Giant Slalom men’s and women’s), Nordic Skiing (men’s 10km, 15km, 4x10 km relay and women;s 3km, 5km, 4x 10km relay). Earlier in the afternoon Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ officially opened the skiing events. Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, who was to open the second part of the event could not arrive owing to incriminate weather. Performance by folk artists from Pauri was the main attraction of the opening ceremony. Sufi singer Kailash Kher will be performing at Joshimath tomorrow.
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Madrid, January 14 In a highly charged city derby at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas tripped up Sergio Aguero inside the area in the seventh minute but the ball trickled on for Diego Forlan to slot home the opener yesterday. Atletico keeper David De Gea kept the visitors close with a number of outstanding saves but was helpless in the 14th as Sergio Ramos headed home Angel Di Maria's corner kick to equalise. Ronaldo's first score against Atletico proved the winner as he stabbed Mesut Oezil's bouncing cross in at the far post in the 61st. Oezil scored the third goal in the 90th to ensure Madrid maintained its 11-year unbeaten run against its crosstown rival, which has gone 19 games without a Spanish capital derby win. All of those games were in league play until Thursday's first-leg match. "All games should be like this one — fast, without breaks," Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said. "We played better in the first half than the second half but what's important is to win. Between 2-1 and 3-1 there's little difference. We're a little more calm, but not much." Earlier, Knut Rindaroy's 35th-minute own-goal gave Almeria a 1-0 victory against Deportivo La Coruna. The winner of that series is likely to face record 25-time champion Barcelona, which beat Real Betis 5-0 on Wednesday. Both coaches started full strength squads with winger Juanfran Torres making his Atletico debut a day after signing from Osasuna. Atletico took advantage of its only first-half scoring opportunity when Jose Antonio Reyes played Aguero clean into goal. "I think we've showed we're a super competitive team and that there are no deficits that are out of reach,'' Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores said. — AFP
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JCT seek win
Ludhiana, January 14 Football pundits anticipate keen contest as both teams are fighting against odds and are at the tail of the league rankings and are desperate to consolidate their position. JCT, who have has so far played eight matches, are at the 10th spot with just two wins, two draws and four defeats. On the other hand, Air-India’s position is worse. With four draws and fours losses, the Mumbai outfit are at the last slot of the league table in as many outings and are facing relegation. Talking to The Tribune, JCT coach Parminder Singh said that Gurpreet Singh is back from the Asian Football Championship and will be seen in action against Air-India whereas Balwant Singh is a doubtful starter for this encounter. Air-India coach Joseph Ansari expressed a little wary of JCT, who he said had always performed well in Ludhiana. However his boys are rearing to go all out against the local lads.
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Johannesburg, January 14
