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The King Of Clay
Champions back on the field
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Chance for India to close in on Australia in ODIs
SA job a massive honour: Kirsten
SA’s goal is to topple India from Test top spot: Smith
Dilshan keeps Lanka on top
‘Rebel’ Li Na turns national idol after French Open win
Six Indians in last
four of Cuba meet
Gay lays down challenge with 9.79 seconds
Fans get ready to welcome Afridi
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The King Of Clay
Paris, June 5 Top seed Nadal, who was also champion in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010, took his overall Paris record to 45 wins against just one defeat and victory also meant he hangs on to his world number one spot. It was the 25-year-old Spaniard's 17th win over Federer in 25 meetings and fourth in a Roland Garros final. But unlike the pair's 2008 clash, when Federer managed to win just four games in the most one-sided final in 30 years, Nadal was made to work harder for his sixth Paris title. He had to come from 2-5 in the opener, saving a set point, and then squandered a 4-2 lead in the third as 29-year-old Federer, the 2009 champion and bidding for a 17th Grand Slam title, threatened to launch a stunning comeback. In the end, he was undone by a combination of Nadal's claycourt prowess and his own 56 unforced errors. In a final played in heavy, muggy conditions in the French capital, Federer raced to a 3-0 courtesy of two confident service games and a break in the second game on a fourth break point when Nadal netted a simple running forehand. The Swiss, playing in his 23rd Grand Slam final, was soon 5-2 ahead wth Nadal's problems compounded by having to call for treatment on a blister on his left heel at the changeover. But Nadal regrouped and saved a set point in the seventh game, albeit by the smallest of margins when a Federer drop shot just missed the target. The Spaniard went to 3-5 with a thumping backhand crosscourt winner before he retrieved the break in the ninth game with a sweeping, low forehand which the approaching Federer could only volley into the net. Nadal held for 5-5 and broke to lead for 6-5 by winning a thrilling eye-to-eye duel at the net with a reflex volley before a rattled Federer netted a simple forehand. The Spaniard clinched the set after 62 minutes when he swept a killer forehand crosscourt with Federer hopelessly out of position. It was Nadal's fifth game in a row and that soon became seven with a break and hold to lead 2-0 in the second set as Federer wilted. Federer had to serve two aces on his way to saving three break points in the fifth game, but then broke to level at 4-4, for once breaching Nadal's impeccable defences. But he handed the advantage straight back in the next game, skewering a backhand wide having saved two break points. Nadal missed a set point at 5-4 before rain brought a 10-minute halt. He squandered another on the resumption before Federer made him pay to hit back for 5-5. The top seed dominated the tie break. A weak approach from Federer allowed Nadal to fire back a backhand pass to carve out four set points and he was two sets to the good thanks to a another searing, forehand crosscourt winner. — AFP |
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Champions back on the field
India are without the services of Sachin Tendulkar, regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who have all been rested, in addition to the ill Yuvraj Singh, and the injured duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam
Gambhir. But led by Suresh Raina, the Indians have made a confident start to the tour by easing past the hosts by 16 runs in the lone Twenty20 match
yesterday. Raina, who claims to have learnt a lot about captaincy from Anil
Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Dhoni, marshalled the young side well and they hardly showed any nerves while outplaying the Caribbeans desperately missing a certain Chris Gayle. The man who set the IPL alight with his lusty hitting is a pariah in West Indies cricket right now due to his outbursts against the Board, reduced to a mere spectator at least for the first two
ODIs. Gayle's absence takes the zing out of West Indies' already brittle batting line-up and the Indians couldn't have asked for more. "West Indies have players like Gayle missing," Raina has already pointed that out. But facing a depleted West Indies also means the added pressure of not just winning but winning big and Raina is well aware of it. "There's always pressure and we have done well under pressure. It's for us as players to execute the plans of the coach well. We have to play our natural game," he says. A look at the two rival line-ups reveal that even without
Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir and Dhoni, the Indians have the batting to take the attack to the hosts' camp. During the Twenty20 win, the Indians were at a precarious 56 for four by the ninth over but Subramaniam Badrinath and Rohit Sharma stayed put for 71 runs and the launch-pad helped later batsmen to plunder 72 runs in the final five
overs. India has rather unproven openers in Parthiv Patel and Shikhar
Dhawan, who failed to click in T20 game, but it would take more than a Ravi Rampaul or Dwayne Bravo or Andre Russell to stop this extremely formidable array of young Indians manning the middle order. Led by Munaf Patel, Indian pace bowling is not the strongest but the spinners spearheaded by Harbhajan Singh would be expected to do well on a track on which the ball turns quite a bit. West Indies have a reasonable batting line-up on paper with Darren Bravo being the pick of the lot but it hasn't quite translated into enough runs on the board in recent times.
Allrounder Kieron Pollard, who wasn't included in the Twenty20 side having not played in the most recent Caribbean Twenty20 tournament, is back in the side for the first two ODIs and that would bolster the brittle line-up. Bowling, however, would be a big concern for skipper Darren Sammy. The skipper himself did well to pick up four wickets yesterday but the rest of the attack let him down by conceding late runs. Given these shortcomings, it would be quite a task for the Caribbeans to tame India, despite it being no less depleted. Teams (from): India: Suresh Raina
(capt), R Ashwin, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh (vc), Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Amit
Mishra, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel (wk), Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Manoj
Tiwary, Shikhar Dhawan. West Indies: Darren Sammy (capt), Carlton Baugh (wk), Lendl Simmons, Kirk Edwards, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh
Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Anthony Martin, Devendra
Bishoo, Ravi Rampaul. — PTI |
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Chance for India to close in on Australia in ODIs
Dubai, June 5 Failure to win the series in the Caribbean will, however, dent India's ambitions. With 121 points, second-placed India trail Australia by eight points. In fact, only a 5-0 result can help India in their march towards the number one spot as West Indies are ranked several places below the world champions and currently trailing them by 49 ratings points. After the series against West Indies, India, world number one in Tests, also play five one-dayers against England. The series in the Caribbean islands also provides the youngsters from both sides an opportunity to make a mark and rise up in rankings. Stand-in skipper Suresh Raina will look to improve on his 32nd position and join some of his teammates who are already in the top 20. Virat Kohli, in eighth position, is the highest-ranked India player in ODIs and, in the absence of Gautam Gambhir (in 12th position), Virender Sehwag (13th) and Yuvraj Singh (17th) through injury and illness, the Delhi lad has a chance to widen the gap. — PTI
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SA job a massive honour: Kirsten
Cape Town, June 5 Kirsten, 43, played in 101 Tests and 185 ODIS for the Proteas in a career spanning a decade. "I would love to coach the South African team -- it's my people. It will be a natural progression," Kirsten said. "I'd consider it a massive honour," the former left-handed, who guided India to a World Cup triumph in the sub-continent two months ago, said. According to the 'Beeld', Kirsten would be appointed as Coorie Van Zyl's replacement, with AB de Villiers likely to be named captain in all three forms of the game in a meeting on Monday, when Cricket South Africa is expected to make a slew of announcements. As far as CSA is concerned, its only consideration is whether Kirsten will be able to juggle his family life with the demands of being a full-time national coach. Come November, Kirsten will be awaiting the birth of his third child and that was reason he was initially reluctant to coach South Africa. Also in the running for the job is former Pakistan coach Richard Pybus, but Kirsten's record as an international player and his highly successful stint with India, give him the edge. Under Kirsten's guidance India rose to become the number one Test team in the world, besides winning the World Cup. — PTI
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SA’s goal is to topple India from Test top spot: Smith
Johannesburg, June 5 India are top-ranked Test side with 128 points, followed by South Africa (117) and England (115). Smith spoke to media for the first time after South Africa's failed World Cup campaign, which ended with quarter-final defeat against New Zealand in March. South Africa are scheduled to play a two-Test series against Australia in November and a three-Test series against Sri Lanka in December-January at home. "I remain extremely positive about the Proteas as we set about challenging India for their number one Test ranking," Smith said at a press conference here. For that to happen, Smith said his side's top order need to sort out batting problems, which was a major factor in their unsuccessful World Cup campaign. "Our top order did not bat as well as expected (at the World Cup) and it is something -- myself included -- that we need to work hard to address as we prepare for tough series against Australia and Sri Lanka. "As soon as the new national coach is named I will work out a programme with him to get my game back to the level I expect of myself. The commitment and pride I feel for representing South Africa is still very close to my heart," he said. Smith's first public appearance after the World Cup also set at rest the speculation that he might step down from Test captaincy after having relinquished the top job in ODIs and Twenty20 earlier. — PTI
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London, June 5 Dilshan's 187 not out led Sri Lanka to 344 for two in reply to England's 486, a deficit of 142 runs, at lunch on the third day of the second Test. It also left Dilshan in sight of the highest Test score by a Sri Lankan at Lord's, 190 by Sidath Wettimuny in the islanders' Test debut at 'the home of cricket' in 1984. Meanwhile Mahela Jayawardene, both of whose two previous Lord's Tests had yielded hundreds, was unbeaten on 25. Kumar Sangakkara was the only batsman dismissed in Sunday's first session after fast bowler Chris Tremlett made an early breakthrough with the new ball. Sri Lanka resumed on 231 for one -- a marked contrast to their previous innings of 82 all out that led to England's innings and 14-run win in Cardiff in the first of this three-match series. Dilshan was 127 not out and Sangakkara 13 not out as they set about closing in on an England first innings total where Matt Prior made 126. England, in the absence of injured swing specialist James Anderson, had opted for three 6ft 5in plus pacemen in Tremlett, Stuart Broad and the recalled Steven Finn The trio, and indeed off-spinner Graeme Swann, endured a frustrating Saturday, with the seamers unable to find a consistent line on a good pitch. Sunday though offered overcast, swing-friendly skies. But Dilshan, before the new ball was taken, cut Swann and next ball drove him through the covers for successive fours. A single off Swann then saw Dilshan to 150 in 192 balls with two sixes and 15 fours. England took the new ball as soon as it was available, after 80 overs, with Sri Lanka 285 for one and four balls later Tremlett struck when Sangakka edged a delivery angled across him to wicketkeeper Prior. The left-hander managed just 26 in nearly two hours but the run-rate climbed quickly after his exit. Dilshan pulled Broad for four to go to his Test-best score, surpassing the 168 he made against Bangladesh in Colombo in 2005. Then Jayawardene, ominously for England, got off the mark with a leg-glance boundary off Tremlett before helping Dilshan put on fifty at better than a run-a-ball — AFP
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‘Rebel’ Li Na turns national idol after French Open win
Beijing, June 5 Li had walked out of China's powerful tennis establishment in 2008, brushing aside objections from officials to marry her coach Jiang Shan. "Li Na is hailed nationwide as an idol on a par with NBA superstar Yao Ming, following her historic victory in Paris that made her the first Asian tennis player to lift a grand slam singles title," a commentary in the state run Xinhua news agency said today. Li Na, who struck a lonely burrow after rebelling against tightly controlled tennis establishment, started gaining national admiration for not simply for her powerful stroke- play but also for her free style comments mincing no words, a rare character among current lot of Chinese. While there was no official encomium from the top leadership for her extraordinary feat of becoming the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam, the state television telecast her matches live while the official newspapers praised her to the sky. Early this year, Li Na had ruffled many feathers by yelling back at some of the Chinese supporters for asking her to change the coach when she played a poor shot at the finals Australian Open where she lost to Kim Clijsters. At the end of the match she made it a point to make an emotional complement to her husband saying "It doesn't matter if you are fat or skinny, handsome or ugly, I will always follow you, always love you,"she said while Shan wiped his moist eyes." Her request to umpire "can you tell the Chinese spectators not to teach me how to play tennis?", provoked a rally of abuse among the some of the nationalist Chinese over the internet questioning her attitude, saying that she spoke against her compatriot spectators like an 'outsider'. "This time however she conquered all Chinese hearts. On the Chinese Internet, home to more than 470 million users, followers of Li' s microblog rose roughly 200,000 overnight to 2.07 million," the Xinhua commentary said. "Major portals were flooded with messages of congratulations, with someone writing that "the victory belongs to Li Na as well as to the country" and a few saying that "I was excited and burst into tears. "However some had dig at her saying that the final victory came to her after she replaced Shan as a coach with Danish Michael Mortensen. "Li has never been poorly skilled. She made a wise decision when firing her husband Jiang Shan as coach and the new coach from Denmark breathed new life into her team," Xu Feng, who claimed to have become Li's fan since 1999. Li Na paid special gratitude to Shan after the match saying "although he (Jiang) is not my coach any more, I want to give many thanks to him. He always understands me and tolerates me. Thanks for accompanying me all the time." — PTI
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Six Indians in last
four of Cuba meet
New Delhi, June 5 Nanao who is coming back after injury was into his first international assignment. The 20-year-old ousted Elsi of Peru 32-9 in a completely one-sided light flyweight encounter. Nanao will now meet Muzaparov of Kazakhstan in the semi-finals. Commonwealth Games gold medalllist Suranjoy better known as 'Chota Tyson' thrashed his Venezuelan opponent Jesus 27-9 to set up semis date with J Neto of Brazil. In the same weight class, Santosh continued his winning streak against Artur Cremildo of Mozambique beating him 32-8. He will lock horns with Cuba Main team boxer Ramirez. There were a couple of disappointing results in the form of defeats for Amandeep Singh (49kg) and Shiva Thapa (56kg). — PTI
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Gay lays down challenge with 9.79 seconds
Oregon (USA), June 5 Gay posted his time in a heat in the National Training Center Sprint Series and did not compete in the final, results showed. He had a legal wind of 1.1 m/sec for the run. Gay battled injuries after winning the 100m and 200m world titles in Osaka in 2007. He missed out on the Olympic final in Beijing the following year and pulled out of the 200m. — AFP |
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Fans get ready to welcome Afridi
Karachi, June 5 The billboards, put up by a hitherto unknown "Pakistan cricket lovers forum", display a picture of Afridi in the green Pakistan kit and declare him as the "pride of Pakistan" and urge the people to reach the Karachi airport to welcome Afridi when he returns today at 8.00 PM. "It is a big sign that Afridi has geared up himself up for a long legal and otherwise battle with the board in order to come out of the ongoing controversy with his reputation unharmed," a former Pakistan captain said. He pointed out that Afridi and his supporters wanted to ensure a big turn up at the airport. — PTI
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Paris, June 5
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Port of Spain, June 5
