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Clinical Aus thump kiwis
Bangladesh squeeze past Ireland
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Sri Lanka look for first Cup win over Pakistan
India train hard as Sehwag survives injury scare
Dutch revel in media circus
Indian trio miss British Open
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Nagpur, February 25 Ricky Ponting's boys raised their game and proved to be a far superior side in each and every department. This was Ponting's 24th consecutive victory as Australian captain in World Cups. With a modest target of 207 to chase, Australian openers Shane Watson (62, 61 balls, 6x4, 1x6) and Brad Haddin (55, 50 balls, 8x4) sent the Kiwi bowlers on a leatherhunt during an opening partnership of 131 in just 18 overs. This was after the Aussie pacers, led by Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait, produced a hostile spell of fast bowling to decimate the opposition in only 45.1 overs at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground. Both Tait (3/35 in 7 overs) and Johnson (4/33 in 9.1 overs) bowled with pace and accuracy which made lives difficult for the opposition batsmen. The New Zealand team, still disturbed due to the tragedy back home, never looked like competing in the first place. Their bowlers, especially Hamish Bennett, sprayed all over the place as Watson and Haddin took them to cleaners. Haddin's innings was a contrast to his painstaking 29 against Zimbabwe on Monday as he blasted his way to a half century in only 39 balls. This was the wicket-keeper batsman's 12th half century in 78th ODI. Watson, who started off slowly after getting reprieve due to Umpires Review (Tim Southee was the bowler), got into the act and literally toyed with slower bowlers like Daniel Vettori and Nathan McCullum. Watson produced some typical slogs with great effect on the way to his 21st fifty. By the time Haddin holed out in the deep off Hamish Bennett, and Watson played on, the writing was on the wall for New Zealand. Ponting (12) again failed to deliver but victory was just a formality then. Earlier, Nathan McCullum stood tall amidst the ruins with a fighting half century. Courtesy Nathan's (52, 76 balls, 3x4) rearguard action, New Zealand were able to cross the 200-run mark after Aussie bowlers blew away the top-six within 17 overs with 73 on board. He shared 48 runs for the seventh wicket with Jamie How (22) and 54 with Vettori (44, 43 balls, 5x4). After overnight rain, Ponting elected to field as conditions were bit overcast. Ideally, he would have liked his speedsters to extract all the help available from the strip. — PTI Scoreboard Australia:
207 (34 overs)
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Bangladesh squeeze past Ireland
Mirpur, February 25 A tremendous display of swing bowling from Shafiul Islam who picked up four for 21 from his eight overs helped Bangladesh scrap past Ireland with five overs to spare amidst a sell-out crowd at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. Shafiul, in a late spell, took the wickets of Kevin O'Brien (37), Andre Botha (22), Trent Johnston (6) and the last wicket of Boyd Ranking (3) to help Bangladesh avenge their previous two losses to Ireland. Shakib Al Hasan and Bangladesh's surprise package Mohammad Ashraful took two wickets each while Naeem Islam and Abdur Razzak picked up one each to help the team cause after their opening match defeat against India. The victory means Bangladesh would join India in the top of Group B with a single victory as they approach their March 4 encounter against West Indies with a buoyant mood. Electing to bat, Bangladesh found the going tough against Ireland as the European team bundled out the test playing nation for 205 in 49.2 overs. — PTI Scoreboard Ireland:
178 (45 ovrs)
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A TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE
The tournament has hotted up a bit over the last couple of days and some delectable games are coming up tomorrow and on Sunday. Coming up first is the Sri Lanka-Pakistan game. This will be a great test for Sri Lanka, who have had an easy game. I have a lot of regard for the Pakistan team, who have a fine combination of experienced batsmen like Misbah ul Huq and Younis Khan and youngsters like Umar Akmal.
They are also dangerous because they have been through a lot as a side and indeed as a nation. Very often, a team tries to alleviate the troubles faced by a nation, by playing their hearts out. I remember this happening in my career, when we would hear about the troubles and hardships of our countrymen, and it would strengthen the determination of the team. Pakistan are a dangerous side when they are determined and pushed to the wall. I am keeping an eye on them. This match would also be the first one between two strong bowling attacks, with both sides boasting of varied attacks. The match will be played on a newly-laid wicket at the Premadasa that is as unfamiliar to the Sri Lankans as it is to the Pakistanis, thus negating the home advantage to a great extent. The game between India and England make up the other half of the high-voltage weekend. It will be interesting to see how India fare against the top-quality England pace attack. The England side were given some anxious moments in their game against the Netherlands, and they must have worked hard at their bowling over the last couple of days. I would be interested in MS Dhoni’s gameplan against an England side that might just struggle against quality spin bowling. The England middle order is pretty inexperienced against leg-spin, and the Indians might consider bringing in Piyush Chawla. I like the look of the young lad and he has been utilising the opportunities that come his way rather well. I strongly believe that cricket must be encouraged and developed outside the traditional areas, but at the same time, four minnows are two too many. It is also important to monitor how these sides are structuring their domestic cricket so that development work is not restricted to playing at a major tournament every now and then. — Gameplan (Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka’s only World Cup-winning captain, is famously remembered as the man who revolutionised the island nation’s cricket |
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Sri Lanka look for first Cup win over Pakistan
Colombo, February 25 With paceman Lasith Malinga set to return for tomorrow's Group A match at the R Premadasa Stadium, Sri Lanka would fancy to make amends of their awful record against Pakistan. Both teams recorded thumping wins against Associate Members in their opening games in Hambantota. While Sri Lanka won by a massive 210 runs against Canada, Pakistan beat Kenya by 205 runs. "It's time for us to change that I suppose. If we do the basic things right, we have a great chance for tomorrow," Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said. Since 1992, Sri Lanka have won the World Cup (in 1996) and they have become a much better side since then. The last time Sri Lanka met Pakistan in an ODI was during the Asia Cup in Dambulla and the hosts had won on that occasion also. Malinga on that occasion picked up a five wicket haul and he's expected to play a key role on tomorrow's game. Playing at home conditions and in front of a sell-out crowd, it would be a perfect setting for Kumar Sangakkara's men to make amends of their woeful World Cup record against Pakistan. Sri Lanka Cricket has announced that the reserved tickets were sold out two months before the game. The non-reserved tickets were put on sale a week before the game and finished within a couple of hours. Malinga is the only change the Sri Lankans are expected to do with the fast bowler coming in. "He was feeling a bit stiff ahead of the Canada game. We have a long World Cup campaign and didn’t want to take a risk. He should be okay for tomorrow once the physio clears him," Sangakkara said. — PTI
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India train hard as Sehwag survives injury scare
Bangalore, February 25 Sehwag, who hit a magnificent 175 in India's opening victory over Bangladesh in Dhaka, was struck in the lower portion of his rib cage and immediately dropped his bat and fell to his knees. He was attended to by a medical staff on the practice arena for about 20 minutes before walking off, while his team mates continued their practice at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. An Indian team spokesman said later that Sehwag's injury was not serious enough to require a trip to the hospital for scans but added that he was being kept "under observation" in the stadium and being treated with ice. "He will take no further part in the training today. It's just a precautionary measure. I don't know about tomorrow," Indian team manager Ranjib Biswal told Reuters. An Indian cricket board (BCCI) statement said later that it expected the batsman to be fit to play against England. Sehwag had already been struggling with a knee injury which forced him to play with a runner for a major part of his innings against Bangladesh in the tournament's opening match last Saturday. Sehwag had skipped practice for two straight days after the knee injury. — Reuters Have to bowl better in India match: Broad England pacer Stuart Broad today said his team will have to put up a vastly improved bowling performance, especially in the death overs, to thwart India in their much-anticipated Group B encounter of the cricket World Cup here on Sunday. England's bowling was all at sea against minnows the Netherlands, who notched up a competitive 292 in their opening group match. England chased down the target successfully but the pathetic bowling performance left even their captain Andrew Strauss "shell-shocked". Broad promised an improved show on Sunday. "Mentally we know where we have to bowl. In the last game against the Netherlands we didn't execute our plans. We were very expensive than what we would have liked. We have got good plans to bowl on these kind of wickets. We just need to execute those plans. Our bowlers didn't hold their hands up in the last match. We have to go back and practice hard," Broad said after practice here. On coping with the spinning tracks in the sub-continent, Broad said, "We will have to see how the pitch is developing. KP has played a lot of cricket and he has said the ball comes through nicely here. But there will be couple of patches out there and if they are there, we will play two spinners. But we will see on Sunday morning how the pitch is and we will see how to go about it." "We are enjoying the tour. Coming Sunday is going to be a huge game for us in this world cup. Obviously each game is Important for us to get through the group stage. We are looking to get some momentum in the world cup and progress to the next stage. Obviously we cannot do that before winning our match on coming Sunday," he added. — PTI
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A TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE
Well that wasn’t a good game for West Indies at all. They didn’t have the bowling to beat South Africa. In fact, it looks like they don’t have an attack to bother many Test playing nations. Their best chance of winning is with their batting leading the way which means getting lot of runs.
If they bat first they have to bat well and put a big total. That attack, apart from Kemar Roach and Suleiman Benn, doesn’t look like bowling sides out so they need the pressure of runs on the board to force the opposition batsmen into trying forcing shots and making mistakes. If the asking rate is not very high, the batsmen will not be under too much pressure against that bowling attack. I don’t see any other way of West Indies winning many matches against the test playing nations. The only batsmen to do anything were the Bravo brothers, who are very good cricketers. That was the only positive for West Indies, that innings from young Darren Bravo. Nothing else to talk about. As for Kieron Pollard, when I hear that he’s being kept too low down the order, I have only one thing to say - he shouldn’t even be in the team. Kieron Pollard has played 33 one-day internationals and averages 18 per innings. When you average 18 runs an innings how can you then argue that you should bat higher. Pollard is a prime example to show people that Twenty20 is not cricket. He commands a high salary in Twenty20 because he can hit the ball out of the ground, and in Twenty20 cricket that is fine. In Twenty20, if you score 40 off 20 balls you are a star. It’s a different story in ODI’s, they are 50 overs and require you to spend a bit of time at the crease. I liked South Africa’s tactic to play three spinners. They have two front line fast bowlers who get the job done, and this allowed them to explore their options. They have Dale Steyn, an excellent fast bowler, and Morne Morkel, followed by Jacques Kallis who even though is getting on in age is a handy bowler to have in the attack as your third seamer. Playing three spinners was a bold move but it gives them more options and it paid off on the day, they had people to turn to when Kallis had an off day. Johan Botha is a restrictive bowler but the leg-spinner, Imran Tahir, is a very good addition to that team. He looks a proper spinner who will bowl batsmen out, not a bowler who has to rely on pressure of runs on the board to take his wickets. He will get wickets even when batsmen are looking to defend. This has given South Africa so much more depth and strength. Looking at the weekend’s games, we have two good matches in store. I hope Pakistan win the toss and bowl because Sri Lanka have a very strong batting order. Men like Umar Gul and Shoaib Akhtar and Saeed Ajmal are key for Pakistan and if they click and get wickets at the top, Gul and Akhtar in particular, Sri Lanka are going to be vulnerable. Otherwise I think the hosts are definitely a stronger side. If they get too many runs it’s game over, but I still expect a pretty good game. As for Sunday’s big fixture, if India play to form I expect them to win quite comfortably. Their batting is just too strong. England will do better in the field than against Netherlands, that was an off day but they have a tough job. I am particularly interested to see how England bowls at Virender Sehwag, especially Stuart Broad. We saw against Bangladesh that Sehwag ducked under a succession of short balls from Bangladesh pacers who didn’t have a lot of pace. I expect Andrew Strauss to give Broad and Co. full license to go at Sehwag. Sehwag has had troubles against the short balls from really fast bowlers, so he can expect a bouncer barrage from England. Should be fascinating to watch.
— PMG |
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New Delhi, February 25 The Oranje brigade's impressive show against England in the opening match of the ongoing World Cup has done a world of good for the game back home and the cricketers too are enjoying every bit of media limelight they are getting here. "It is unbelievable and we are not used to it. Cricket gets just 10 minutes of TV time a year in Netherlands and that too if there are any controversies like the match-fixing scandal, Bob Woolmer's death etc," the Netherlands team manager Ed van Nierop said with a smile. "We get just a few millimeters space in papers but now the interest has grown. Just before our first match, Studio Show, the most watched sport show in Netherlands aired a 50 minute documentary on the team and it was widely accepted by the people," he said. Riding on Ryan ten Doeschate's all-round heroics, the Netherlands gave a scare to England in their tournament-opener by piling up 292 for six. If not for an inexperienced bowling attack, the Dutch would have created the first upset of the World Cup in Nagpur on Tuesday. Considering the fact they play most of their cricket indoors and boast of only four professional players, it is a huge achievement for a small nation. The players also know that impressive outings in a big event like the World Cup can generate interest for the sport back home. It was a massive performance from the boys when you take into consideration that they play most of their cricket indoors. We last played outdoor in September last year and since then it has been all indoors because you can't imagine playing in sub-zero temperatures," Nierop said. "People are not crazy about cricket in Netherlands. Soccer, hockey, swimming and tennis are the main sports there. We have only 5,000 cricket players out of which four — ten Doeschate, Alexei Kervezee, Bas Zuiderent and Tom Cooper — are professional and 25 are there in the top league," he said. "We have only one indoor practice facility in Rotterdam and most of the players practice only four times a week. Coming into the World Cup, we just played four practice matches," he added. — PTI
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Ranchi, February 25 After surviving a flurry of attacks from the hosts, Ravi Pal and Sarvanjit Singh struck in the 55th and 64th minutes against the run of the play to give Punjab the gold medal, much to the disappointment of a capacity crowd. Ravi Pal latched on a ball deflected from Jharkhand goalkeeper Dinesh Ekka following a penalty corner hit, and flicked into the post from the left side to put Punjab in lead. Nine minutes later, Sarvanjit got all the time in the world to reverse flick one into the net to consolidate Punjab's position. Jharkhand came close to scoring in the 59th minute when Mathias Minz gave a cross to Inocent Kullu, but the latter failed to make contact. The match began on a pacy note with the ball switching ends with breathtaking regularity as Punjab defence survived some harrowing time from Jharkhand forwards. The Lakra brothers — captain Bimal and Birendra (jr) — and Kullu kept the Punjab defenders busy. In the 33rd minute, Bikas Toppo spectacularly moved into the rival defence hoodwinking two players before a defender warded off the goal-bound move. A minute later, the home team came very close to take the lead when Kullu played a centre, but a well positioned Bikash Toppo failed to connect. Punjab also had their chances in the first half when forward Dharambir Singh moved through Jharkhand defence, but he shot straight on to the pads of goalkeeper Dinesh Ekka, who had also saved Akashdeep Singh's blistering goal-bound shot. Chief minister Arjun Munda gave away the gold and silver medals to both the men's and women's hockey finalists. — PTI Haryana grapplers win 3 Gold
Haryana grapplers Amit Kumar, Vinod and Nirmla won the top honours medals in their respective categories to make it a golden dozen for Haryana in the three-day wrestling competition of the 34th National Games here today. Haryana’s Kumar overpowered SSCB's Pankaj Rana in the final of the men's 66kg weight freestyle category. |
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Chonburi, February 25 Thailand's Prom Meesawat earned his maiden appearance at The Open Championship after winning the qualifying. Prom, a one-time Asian Tour winner, fired a superb second round seven-under-par 65 for a two-day aggregate of 12-under-par 132 to lead Japanese veteran Tetsuji Hiratsuka, Singapore's Lam Chih Bing and American Jason Knutzon into The Open at Royal St George's in July. Hiratsuka, whose three victories in Asia last season included two titles in Thailand, earned his second trip to the Open with the day's best of 64 at the Amata Spring Country Club, while Lam secured his third appearance with a bogey-free 67. — PTI
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Nagpur, February 25
A TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE
A TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE
Nagpur: