Southampton, September 6
Ajinkya Rahane and Suresh Raina played stellar knocks as India posted a challenging 187 for 8 in their 23 overs in the second ODI here today. Because of rain the match was reduced to 23 overs a side. Rahane score 54 and Raina 41 as India reached a strong total. Earlier, play could not start on time because of rain and after a long wait a truncated game was decided upon. Manoj Tiwary was included in the Indian side while Graeme Swann and Ravi Bopara came into the England side for this shortened match.

Earlier, rain had played spoilsport in the first ODI in Durham too, and once again it came pouring down here today to prevent any chance of a timely start.

The 50-over match had been scheduled to start at 6.30 pm (IST). There was good news in the England camp with Graeme Swann being available for selection after he shook off the virus that saw him miss the first match of the series in Durham.

But India, who have had eight players injured this summer, will have to do without Sachin Tendulkar, who will miss the rest of the series with a toe injury.

In the first ODI, India had posted a score of 274 with opener Parthiv Patel leading the way with a gritty knock of 95. Useful knocks also came from the blades of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane. In reply, England were struggling at 27 for two with both openers -- captain Alsatair Cook and Keiswetter, back in the pavilion before rain came to frustrate the Indians.

Both England wickets in that game had been claimed by Praveen Kumar, who had looked particularly impressive with his swinging deliveries.

It has been a dismal tour for the Indians so far with comprehensive defeats in all the four Test matches and also with more than half a dozen players lying low with injuries and they had been hoping to end the tour on a bright note with some much-needed wins. But rain has spoiled their chances so far in the ODIs.

Teams: England: Cook (capt), Kieswetter, Trott, Bell, Morgan, Stokes, Bresnan, Broad, Swann, Anderson, Dernbach, Patel, Bopara, Finn India: Dhoni (capt), P Patel, Rahane, Dravid, Kohli, Raina, P Kumar, Ashwin, R Vinay Kumar, M Patel, M Tiwary. — Agencies

Colombo, September 6
Australia’s vice-captain Shane Watson has cautioned his teammates about the ‘second Test syndrome’ as they prepare to meet Sri Lanka in Kandy on Thursday. Australia put on an efficient and confident display despite a poor pitch to post a 125-run victory in Galle, taking a one-nil lead in the three-match series, Fox Sports reports.

But Watson sounded a warning note not to read too much into that result, pointing towards Australia's recent record in second Tests of a series.

"Sometimes in previous years, our second Test of a series hasn't been that good," Watson said.

"There's no doubt we have to step up again even from this game as a batting and bowling unit… Our goal is to win this series," he added.

In their past 10 series, Australia have lost five of their second Test matches, with one draw and four wins- and most of those wins are hardly noteworthy, the report said.

In fact, in their past 10 series, only the convincing win over South Africa in Durban in 2009 stands out as a second Test performance to be fondly remembered for Australia, it added.

Speaking about the sub-standard pitch prepared in Galle for last week's first Test, into which the International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced an inquiry, Watson said: "Two days leading into the (first Test), I had never seen anything like it (the Galle pitch) in my whole career… I had never seen anything so dry, so I knew potentially it would do what it did and it certainly did." Watson said that he was looking forward to getting back to the venue for the second Test. — ANI

London, September 6
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain feels the highly-lucrative Indian Premier League will entice and exhaust players unless it is carefully handled by cricket boards across the world.

"I have seen IPL and I know what it means to the Indian public, they love it, British Indians love it. It's a good tournament, but it will exhaust cricketers," Hussain said.

"There's no doubting it helped their one-day game. I think they wouldn't have been world champions if it wasn't for IPL. I think it has massively helped.

"But it is now going to hinder them - as we have seen here - in Test match cricket. Because you need young bowlers to be fit and raring to go, and the IPL is death for bowlers," he added.

The 43-year-old cricketer also believes that England players will be in demand for IPL after their 4-0 victory over India and the onus would be on ECB to ensure that they don't allow cricketers to play in the cash-awash twenty20 event.

"They are going to be enticed by IPL money. Come and play, come and play. All of this cricket would have been on (television) in India. (Graeme) Swann, (Stuart) Broad and (Chris) Tremlett ... they'll all be offered decent money. And they need to be looked after by the board to make sure that they don't go. So that they are ready for Test matches in the future," he said.

"We don't need the players coming straight from that exhausted. When you get a bowler, it's like gold dust. You do not just let him go. You don't just say, 'oh fine, we can lose Anderson.' Because before you know it, they're all gone. And you're left scratching your head again.

"Look at India, look at Australia. Looking after this bowling unit and keeping them together is crucial for England at the moment," he added.

Hussain also believes that the IPL would pose a big challenge for both India and England coaches in the future. "It's going to be (Andy) Flower's biggest challenge now. All this cricket (the Test series) Flower will have to say, 'come on, we need you to be bowling in Test matches'," he said.

"It's going to be another one of (Duncan) Fletcher's biggest challenges. If India carry on with IPL, I believe it will hurt.

"It is now going to hinder them - as we have seen here - in Test match cricket. You need young bowlers to be fit and raring to go and the IPL is death for bowlers. It is noticeable that none of the England bowlers have played IPL," he said. — PTI

Ordos, September 6
A young Indian team showed fantastic temperament in vanquishing South Korea 5-3 thereby setting up a strong possibility of making it to the final of the Asian Champions Trophy being played here.

India now are on top of the group with seven points from three matches followed by Pakistan and Korea.

Michael Nobbs's bravehearts played at blistering pace scoring the first four goals in less than half an hour's time.

India scored through Rupinder Singh (4th), Gurwinder Singh Chandi (5th), SV Sunil (7th), Rajpal Singh (24th) to make it four for the Indians. In the meantime, Lee Nam Yong (8th, 26th) struck twice to make it 4-2 during the first half.

It was Yuvraj Walmiki's strike in the 62nd minute that ensured that Indians will end up with full points although Nam Hyun Woo pulled one back two minutes from final hooter.

On a day when the FIH decided to take away the rights of hosting Champions Trophy from India, the victory would certainly act as a big morale booster.

Indian coach Michael Nobbs said,"It's a great win and coming from a young side augurs well for hockey in India." India's blitzkrieg in the first seven minutes when they scored three goals broke the back of the Korean side. Their strategy went up in smoke as they desperately tried to recover from the damage done by the Indian forwards.

The Indian forwards stretched the Korean defence on both the flanks though the goals came mainly from the left. In the third minute, India earned their first penalty corner but the Korean goalkeeper Young Moon took it on the pads as the rebound hit a Korean defender's feet. — PTI

New York, September 6
Roger Federer and Serena Williams beat the weather and their opponents to storm into the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open on Monday and send an ominous warning to the current world number ones about their intentions for the last grand slam of the year.

It was just likes old times for the greatest players of their generation as they turned in masterful displays on a day when Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki both toiled but survived.

Patiala, September 6
Visa problems have often forced Indian athletes to stay away from many international tournaments. Not just lesser known players, even world-class athletes have faced this situation due to one reason or the other. The recent example of denial of Ukrainian and Kazakh visas to the Indian women’s boxing squad has sparked a new controversy, as such instances before the qualifying tournaments for the London Olympics might affect the players.

The 10-member squad was supposed to take part in the Nikolaev International boxing tournament scheduled to be held at Nikolaev, Ukraine, from September 5 to 11 and International Boxing women’s tournament at Astana, Kazakhstan, from September 13 to 17.

Despite the fact that Indian pugilists are the most sought out in world these days, the embassies of Ukraine and Kazakhstan denied visas to the boxers saying that the Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) did not get proper support letters from the host nation.

Interestingly, the Kazakhstan embassy asked them to take visa on arrival but did not ensure it, which meant that in case they did not get the visa on arrival, they would have to return.

Talking to the Tribune, IBF Secretary-General Col. PK Muralidharan Raja stated that the IBF did everything it could to get the visas but could not arrange it. “We did everything on our part to be certain of the team’s participation in both events. In fact in case of the Nikolaev tournament, I personally went to the Embassy of Ukraine to facilitate the procedure, but they had a certain protocol to be followed and I am afraid that the Ukraine Boxing Federation hasn’t been able to provide us with the required document.

“As far the participation of the men’s squad in training-cum-competition in France from September 10 is concerned, I am hopeful that they would get the visa,” Raja added. “I have been assured by the Sports Ministry of the Government of France that they were doing their best to provide us the visas and even if our players would reach there on September 9, it would be fine. We are just keeping our fingers crossed.”

This is not the first time that athletes have been denied visas. Two women wrestlers of the Indian squad, Babita and Sakshi, were denied visas by the Uzbekistan Embassy due to which India had to enter the Asian Championship at Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from May 18 to 22, with only five wrestlers. Both are wrestlers of international fame. Babita is a silver medallist at the World Junior Wrestling Championship and Commonwealth Games and Sakshi too is a bronze medallist at the World Junior Wrestling Championship and have been travelling abroad quite often.

BRIEFLY

India win three more silver
New Delhi: India added three more medal on the second day of the Asian Youth Weightlifting Championships with woman lifter Pramila Krisani bagging three silver in 53 kg category at Pattaya, in Thailand today. Pramila won a silver each in snatch (68kg), clean and jerk (89 kg) and total lift (157 kg). She missed out on a gold as her total lift was the same as that of eventual winner Thailand’s Naruephon Saenchek. — PTI

Simpson rallies to win
MASSACHUSETTS: Webb Simpson sank a nine-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to defeat fellow American Chez Reavie and capture the US PGA Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday. Simpson, whose only prior PGA title came two weeks ago at Greensboro, birdied his last three holes to take the crown, dropping a 26-footer at the 18th in regulation and a 15-footer on 18 in the playoff to set up the winner. "It was great," Simpson said. "To finish the way I did, birdies on 18 and then birdie 17, it was awesome.” — AFP

Tendulkar, Dravid move up
DUBAI: Senior batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid gained a place each in the latest ICC player rankings for Test batsmen, which is being headed by South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis. While Tendulkar improved from fifth to fourth, Dravid rose a rung to ninth from tenth position. Among Indian bowlers, pace spearhead Zaheer Khan gained a place to be at sixth despite being ruled out of the recently concluded four-match Test series between India and England. — PTI

Ramsey keen for Britain
LONDON: Wales captain Aaron Ramsey has declared his interest in playing for a British soccer team at next year's London Olympics even though his national association opposes the idea. "If given the opportunity, it's one that I'd like to take," the Arsenal midfielder told British media ahead of his country's Euro 2012 qualifier against England at Wembley on Tuesday. — Reuters

Pak cyclists to race in Delhi
Islamabad: An eight-member squad from Pakistan is all set to cross the Wagah border on Friday to participate in the Delhi Cycle Race on September 11. "The Indian ministry gave clearance to our cyclists yesterday to chip in the Tour de Delhi Cycle Race, while our government has already allowed them to take part in the event," Idris Haider Khawaja, Secretary Pakistan Cycling Federation (PCF), said. Besides Pakistan and hosts India, cyclists from Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Korea will also feature in the one-day race, spanning 105 kms. — PTI

Swapnali fourth in Fiji swim
Mumbai: Mumbai school girl Swapnali Yadav has successfully completed the 19-km Fiji Swim in just over seven hours to finish fourth among women and eighth overall in the Denaru Island to Beachcomer Island competition. The 12-year-old Swapnali, finished the long distance race in seven hours, five minutes and 39 seconds, according to information available here. — PTI

Roger Federer’s wife Mirka Vavrinec watches the action in the US Open in New York on Tuesday.— AFP

Galle: ICC launches probe
Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced an inquiry into the dusty, sub-standard pitch prepared in Galle for last week's first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia. The ICC announced that the pitch for the Galle Test “has been rated as poor” by Chris Broad, the member of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees who officiated in the Test. — ANI

Nadal in Davis Cup team
MADRID: Spain have picked world number two Rafa Nadal in their team to face France in this month's Davis Cup semi-final as they bid for a third title in four years, captain Albert Costa said on Tuesday. The 25-year-old former number one, who was absent for last year's 5-0 quarter-final loss to the French, will join regulars David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez for the September 16-18 tie in Cordoba, Costa told a news conference. — Reuters