Mohali, October 19
The English team could not have asked for better conditions even if they were back in Manchester or some such familiar place. The weather here is pleasant, even cool. A gentle breeze starts to blow across the stadium towards the evening, when the lights come on.

There’s a hint of green on the pitch and the outfield too is something like what you get on English grounds when Premiership matches are on. Most things here seem to suit the England cricketers.

But there’s a catch — this English team is playing way below par. The PCA Stadium here, where the third ODI will be played on Thursday, offers them their best chance to get back into the series. But so far England’s batting has been a big let-down, as has the bowling.

And the fielding too has been uninspiring. England have lost the first two games without putting up a fight and they need to change all that fast.

Fast, of course, will be the catchword for the English. Pacers Steve Finn and Tim Bresnan will love to bowl on this track. But more than anything else, it’s their batsmen who will have to get the runs at a fast clip. Opener Craig Kieswetter (a lot was expected of him) has failed to click. Kevin Pietersen can take the game away but so far he has only succeeded in throwing his wicket away.

Trott, Bopara, Cook, Patel and Bairstow have all looked good in patches. None of them has played a big knock. Unless England bat first and put up at least 300 on the board, there’s little hope for them against this rejuvenated home team.

The Indian bowlers (both spinners and pacers) have made life difficult for the English batsmen. Even part-timers like Virat Kohli have been made to look menacing by this ordinary batting display of the England team. Their batsmen need to rediscover their touch tomorrow and they need to do that collectively.

Another defeat here will mean a series loss and conditions will only get worse for them in the remaining games in Mumbai and Kolkata.

If England’s lacklustre show has been a dampener so far, India’s performance has been quite dominating. It almost looks like a role reversal from the recent series in England where India were the ones putting up a listless show and England were dominating the headlines with some outstanding cricket.

India will look to retain the same XI that won the first two ODI’s in Hyderabad and New Delhi while England will have to make some changes, none more obvious than the inclusion of Ian Bell. But it appears that most of all England are missing James Anderson and Stuart Broad, whose absence has left a big hole in their side.

Ruing the absence of these players will bring no balm. The present bunch will have to show more fight tomorrow or this series will end up being as lopsided as the one recently played back in England. Only this one will turn out to be in India’s favour.

Chandigarh, October 19
Ace Indian shooter, Chandigarh’s Abhinav Bindra, added to his list of achievements as he won a silver medal at the 4th Asian Airgun Championships in Kuwait today.

Bindra, India’s sole individual Olympic gold medallist, shot 103.6 in the final round to secure second place. The championship that started on October 17 saw more than 42 nations taking part, with 47 shooters vying for top honours in the 10m Air Rifle category. Abhinav had qualified for the final in third place but he pushed his performance in the final as the final difference between him and the gold medal-winning Chinese team being just two points.

Speaking about his win, Abhinav’s mental trainer Dr Amit Bhattacharjee said, “Abhinav was under some pressure going into the final but as we had seen in Munich, our work on the bio-mechanics of the nervous system played a massive role in helping him attain peak performance at a crucial juncture.”

Bhattacharjee, a pioneer in the field of bio-mechanics, further added, “We had been working on these particular scenarios over the past week and when the situation demanded, he was able to shoot a score of 103.6, which won him and the team a silver medal.

“I am confident that he will be able to repeat such performances in the time to come and also be in top form, come the London Olympics.”

Another Indian, Satyendra Singh won Bronze while Gagan Narang finished seventh.

Mohali, October 19
There’s a hint of relish and a gleam of satisfaction in the eyes of R. Vinay Kumar when he talks about his superb spell at the Kotla in the last ODI, where he picked up four wickets and led the Indian team’s bowling attack with his nagging accuracy.

“Actually, I have not being doing anything different here,” said the Karnataka pace bowler while speaking to mediapersons at the PCA Stadium here today. “Back in England the ball used to get quite wet in the outfield and gripping a wet ball can be difficult. But here I have had no such problem. A different ball at each end has also helped. I’m glad to be among the wickets.

“This is the plus point of our team. Even after losing, we never lose hope,” says the 27-year-old fast bowler.

A lot has been written about this being a grudge series for India with revenge on their minds. But Vinay does not agree with this theory. “We are only taking it one match at a time and just want to give our best. I do not take it as revenge.”

Vinay is grabbing this chance with both hands and with senior bowler Zaheer Khan out of the team due to injury, he has his task cut out. Asked if the two-ball format is helping him, Vinay said, “It is definitely helping me as the ball can now retain its pace and shine and I have a chance to produce more swing.”

Vinay, who had made his ODI debut last year during India’s tour to Zimbabwe, is confident about his style and does not intend to change it. “In England, we faced some difficult conditions and hence could not give our best. But now that we are at home, and also this pitch is well-suited for fast bowlers, I am confident of doing well in terms of both economy and wickets.”

Vinay also said that the support of Praveen Kumar and Umesh Yadav, both of whom have bowled with a lot of heart in the two ODI’s, has given a great boost to him and the three of them are having a great time in the middle. That spells more danger for the English batsmen in the matches ahead.

Jalandhar, October 19
Holders Government Model School, Jalandhar, stormed into the semi-finals of the ongoing 8th All-India Balwant Singh Kapur Hockey tournament after beating V.S. Agriculture School, Delhi, 5-0 at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium here today.

Both teams displayed good hockey but the initial minutes of the play remained goal-less. The Jalandhar team took the lead in the 21st minute when Simranjit Singh sounded the board off a penalty corner 1-0.

In the 24th minute of play, Harjit Singh scored a field goal steering the score to 2-0, which was the score at half-time. The second half also saw both the teams mounting pressure, following which the Jalandhar boys consolidated their lead in the 54th minute when Harjit posted a field goal.

The dying minutes of the game saw the best hockey from the stick of Lovepreet Singh, who struck twice in the 69th and the 70th minutes to secure his team’s berth in the semi-finals.

In another match, BSNV Inter College, Lucknow, defeated Government Raj School, Sangrur, 4-2.

Milan, October 19
Wayne Rooney helped Manchester United to a nervy 2-0 win over Romania's Otelul Galati in the Champions League, despite playing over 20 minutes with 10 men, while Real Madrid cruised to a 4-0 victory over Lyon.

Rooney broke the deadlock when he fired home a penalty in the 64th minute, only for captain Nemanja Vidic to be sent off for a dangerous challenge on Gabriel Giurgiu two minutes later. Rooney secured United's first victory in Group C yesterday with another penalty in injury time.

There were no such nerves for Madrid, which maintained its 100 per cent record this season with goals from Karim Benzema, Sami Khedira, Mesut Oezil and Sergio Ramos.

A last-minute strike from substitute Sergio Aguero saw Manchester City beat Villarreal 2-1, earning the Premier League leaders their first victory in Group A. Bayern Munich dropped its first points in the group, as it was held to a 1-1 draw at Napoli.

Inter Milan moved top of Group B, with a 1-0 win at Lille, Giampaolo Pazzini scoring the game's only goal in the 22nd minute. Earlier, CSKA Moscow beat Trabzonspor 3-0.

Elsewhere, Dinamo Zagreb and Basel both lost 2-0 at home to Ajax and Benfica respectively, while CSKA Moscow beat Trabzonspor 3-0. — AP

Mohali, October 19
England pacer Steven Finn today put up a brave front in the face of adversity and said that the visitors are confident of turning things around in the five-match ODI series against India, despite trailing 0-2.

Whitewashed in all formats of the game in England earlier this summer, India came out as wounded tiger in the return series, billed as 'Payback series', and defeated Alastair Cook's men with consummate ease in the first two ODIs in Hyderabad (by 126 runs) and Delhi (by eight wickets).

"India played well in the last couple of games. We were probably outplayed. We are 0-2 down in the series. We were in the same position against Sri Lanka earlier this summer but we came back to win the series 3-2. So there is belief in the camp that we can come back and win this series," Finn said ahead the third ODI between the two sides at the PCA stadium here tomorrow.

“We are confident that we can win these three games,” he added. — PTI

Bathinda, October 19
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said today that all 18 teams participating in the international kabaddi tournament in Punjab shall have to undergo dope tests. The tournament that would showcase Punjab will be inaugurated here on November 1 and thereafter matches would be played in 20 districts of the State.

Sukhbir said that 14 teams men’s and four women’s teams from various countries will participate in the tournament. The women’s teams would be from Iran, the US and Britain, besides India.

The semi-finals would also be held here on November 14. He said that a total budget of about Rs.15 crore will be involved in organising the tournament and of this a sum of about Rs.6 crore would be the prize money.

Sukhbir described the tournament as a “historic event” for Punjab. He inspected the renovation works of the stadium and held a meeting with the deputy commissioners of the area.

New Delhi, October 19
Indian shuttler Anand Pawar kept his hopes alive of reaching the main draw of Denmark Open Superseries but it was all over for compatriot RMV Gurusaidutt at Odense today.

Pawar defeated Russian Vladimir Ivanov 21-10, 21-14 in the opening round and would take on Daren Liew of Malaysia in the second qualifying round of the men's singles. Gurusaidutt, however, lost 18-21, 17-21 to Mohammad Arif Abdul Latif in the first qualifying round to crash out of the tournament.

India's best men's doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas also failed to cross the qualying round as they suffered a 19-21, 13-21 loss to Zakry Abdul Latif and Fairuzizuan. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Bopanna-Qureshi in quarters
Stockholm: India's Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi advanced to the men's doubles quarterfinals of the 600,000 Euro Stockholm Open tennis. The top-seeded India-Pakistan pair defeated Julian Knowle of Austria and Poland's Lukasz Kubot 6-4, 6-4 in the first round. They now await the winner of the opening round match between Germany's Michael Kohlmann and Alexander Waske and wildcard pair of Martin Emmrich of Germany and Andreas Siljestrom of Sweden. — IANS

U-16 schools’ cricket tourney
New Delhi: Top 64 Delhi school teams will participate in the U-16 Inter-School Cricket Tournament, to be played across seven venues in the Capital, from October 21. Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) sports secretary Sunil Dev said the tournament will give a platform for the schoolboys to display their talent and catch the attention of the selectors. Former India players Chetan Sharma, Saba Karim, Vinod Kambli and former Delhi captain Vijay Dahiya were present at the launch of the tournament. Sunil Dev said the winning team will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 50,000 while the runners-up will be presented Rs 30,000. He said the matches up to the quarter-final stage will be 40 overs a side whereas matches thereafter will be 50 overs a side. — TNS

Barca’s first foray in India
New Delhi: World's premier football club FC Barcelona today announced its foray into grassroot development of the game in India with an ambitious talent scouting project that will start early next year. In its first sporting venture in India, the European and Spanish champion side will conduct a week-long football camp in the National Capital Region in January next year for youngsters of 6-14 years of age by FC Barcelona coaches. The camp will be open to all interested children on first-come-first-serve basis. FC Barcelona coaches will also train Indian coaches so that the method of training and style of play of the famous club is imparted to the youngsters in the country. — PTI

Golf: Gurbani, Gauri second
Kandy: Indian girls Gurbani Singh and Gauri Monga were lying second at the end of the first round of the Sri Lankan amateur golf championships here Wednesday. The Indians were trailing leaders Malaysia by four shots. Playing at the par-73 Victoria Golf and Country Resort, Gurbani carded the day’s second best of 74, but Gauri had problems on the putting green and ended with an 80. — IANS

FIFA rankings: India move up
New Delhi: India jumped three places to be placed at 163rd in the latest FIFA rankings issued today. India has 115 points in its kitty. In last month's list, the country was ranked 163rd, just five places better than India's all-time lowest - it was ranked 165th in March 2007. India is now thirteen places above neighbours Pakistan (173) and 17 places ahead of Sri Lanka. World champion Spain heads the list with 1624 points while runner-up The Netherlands is second with 1425. — PTI

Umar guides Pak into lead
Abu Dhabi: Taufiq Umar hit his sixth Test century and fellow opener Mohammad Hafeez scored 75 as Pakistan took a firm grip on the first Test against Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi stadium here today. The left-hander made an undefeated 109 and added 118 for the opening wicket with Hafeez and another unbroken 141 for the third wicket with Azhar Ali (60 not out) as Pakistan reached 259-1 by stumps, a lead of 62 with eight wickets intact. — PTI
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 197; Pakistan 259/1.

Super Cup: East Bengal win
New Delhi: Saikat Saha Roy kept his nerve at undoubtedly the most crucial moment of his life on a football turf as East Bengal prevailed over Salgaocar 5-4 in sudden death to lift the Super Cup here today. After Irungbam Meitei's attempt to hit the crosspiece, it was Roy's strike that helped East Bengal extract revenge of their loss to the same opponent in the final of the Federation Cup last month. The match went into the tie-breaker after both teams failed to break the deadlock in regulation time. Thanks to today's triumph, East Bengal became the first team to win the tournament on three occasions. — PTI