Sydney, February 25
Their survival in the series at stake and reputation hit by speculation of discord in the camp, India are a team on the brink as they prepare to take on world number one Australia in a crucial tri-series league match on Sunday.

A defeat for India would leave them just a solitary match against Sri Lanka and a must-win with a bonus point situation to harbour hopes of a berth in the final. In such a scenario, the net run rate will come into play as both teams will be tied on 15 points (assuming that Sri Lanka lose their last match against Australia).

A defeat for Australia would lift India on equal points with a shoot-out situation between the two sides - win the final league match or perish.

Interestingly, Sri Lanka - top of the charts - could also find a spot in the final slip out of their grasp if any one of Australia and India win both their remaining matches while the third team win at least one.

The final three league matches of the agonisingly close the series are between India and Australia on Sunday; India and Sri Lanka on February 28 and finally an Australia-Sri Lanka tie on March 2.

Presently, India have 10 points to Australia's 14 and Sri Lanka's 15 on the charts. Among the three, India's situation is most dire as they appear the lightest in the competition.

The Indians haven't been able to bat their quota of 50 overs in three of their six matches and haven't succeeded in bowling out any other either. It's been made worse by hardly two medium-pacers being fit for the match on Sunday.

Zaheer Khan is not available due to a calf injury and Vinay Kumar, India's leading wicket-taker, has a hamstring problem. Praveen Kumar is fit but apparently his pace has gone down considerably.

Umesh Yadav is seen as a strike bowler but after three wickets from four matches at an average of 68.00 and an economy rate of 6 per over, it's a case of taking a rather optimistic view of his ability.

His issue is not pace or movement but the lack of a consistent line and length.

Thus presently, the new ball can only be manned by Umesh and Irfan Pathan. If perforce, India seek a third medium pacer, they have no option but to go back to Praveen. Or else, leg-spinner Rahul Sharma would come into the picture.

India's other main problem stems at the top where three batsmen, despite the rotational theme played between them, haven't provided a substantial opening stand.

The best opening stand for India in the series has been 52 between Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag against Australia in Adelaide and it was the platform on which India's successful chase of 270 runs under lights was managed.

The figures reflect the vacuum amply as Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag have a mere 90 and 30 runs respectively from the series.

Gambhir has been a relative success with two successive scores in the 90s but has little to show otherwise in his six matches.

The virus of inconsistency extends to the middle order where Virat Kohli has played a couple of redeeming knocks but otherwise hasn't done justice to his talent or form. Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina are failures with 79 and 134 runs against their names.

With India's batting being a mere shadow of its former self, it has been skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has lived up to his reputation as a peerless finisher in modern one-day cricket.

India's best score in the six matches has been a chase of 270 runs. Twice they struggled to reach the score of 230s set by Sri Lanka. In Brisbane last week, they could muster only 178 runs against Australia.

In the light of batting non-performance, Dhoni must pull a trick or two from under his hat to bring about a turnaround.

It might not be a bad idea to send someone up the order as a pinch hitter and allow the big guns to man the middle order.

Sri Lanka have been mighty successful with this method as skipper Mahela Jayawardene has scores of 61, 45 and 85 from his last three innings as an opener.

Irfan is a good option to have for India since the left-hander can hit big and was impressive during the powerplay in the match against Sri Lanka earlier this week.

However, indications are that India would play all their three openers - Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gambhir - in Sunday's match. That would rule out any pinch hitter promoted at the top of the order. It also more or less signals the end of tour for the talented but inconsistent Rohit Sharma.

Australia, on the other hand, are battling issues of their own. They have lost three of their six matches, the last two to Sri Lanka. Their problems are no different to India as their top order hasn't produced runs and their bowlers haven't breached the defence of rival batsmen often.

Left-handed openers David Warner and Matthew Wade haven't fired together at the top. Warner has a mere 121 runs from six matches at 20.16 average and has been a complete flop so far.

Wade is a little better with 149 runs at 24.83. Their best opening stand in the series has been of 70 in Brisbane against India and again, it helped their side to win. It's more or less though certain that Warner would make way for the now-fit Shane Watson in the playing eleven.

Australia's batting is completely reliant on its middle order. Peter Forrest was a remarkable success in Ricky Ponting's place at number three in the last match and skipper also Michael Clarke made a welcome return from his injury in the.

The two Hussey brothers, Michael and David, have been a tower of strength in the middle order. Yet it's a significant point that Forrest's century in the last game was the first hundred by an Australian in last 14 matches.

Australia's main problem, ironically appear to be their bowling. Ben Hilfenhaus, Ryan Harris and Brett Lee couldn't defend 280 runs on an admittedly benign Bellerive Oval pitch on Friday.

Their pace attack was the reason for their success in Test series against India but in one-dayers, despite the presence of two new balls at two ends, their bowlers haven't been a threat, especially to the Lankans. Left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty alone has held his head high with seven wickets from six matches at an average of 27.57 and an economy rate of barely four runs an over. — PTI

Sydney, February 25
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday asserted that there was neither any dissension nor any communication gap in the dressing room but conceded that such reports at times create a brief awkwardness among the players.

"If you listen to the press conference on tape, you would get the answer yourself as to what actually I said and what I meant," said Dhoni on the eve of the India-Australia tri-series match.

"You can't particularly see the same question, it might be a build up to the first question and often what we don't answer, because of the first part of the question we answer, it actually is the answer to the second or third question," added Dhoni in his typical long-winding manner.

Dhoni, while denying the reports of rift between Sehwag and him and asserting that the dressing room atmosphere was perfect, admitted it still caused uneasiness between the players.

"You feel a little awkward initially. You may sometimes think the person is actually believing (what's been reported). And the second person thinks may be he said it. But once you go through the talks, it gets back to as it was.

"It doesn't even by 10 per cent affect our performance or has any effect in the dressing room," insisted the captain.

The 30-year-old Dhoni defended Sehwag's assertion that he didn't need to clarify with his skipper on the comments that the seniors were slow in the field.

"He's right, why should he have a chat? If there's nothing why we need to have a chat. When we don't have a problem, why we need to solve it? There's nothing negative in it. He is a senior player. We don't need to clarify. We all have belief in each other as to what was said and what happened. It's not the first time it has happened. "The best thing is to get the most out of it. And what's the most important is to have fun," said Dhoni.

Dhoni said the atmosphere has always been very good in the dressing room.

"It's always been there. It's not this series or the previous one. It's been perfect. It's talk of the dressing room, we try and take positive out of it."

During the 2009 Champions Trophy in England, Dhoni decided to quash the word on dissension within the team, parading all the 15 players in front of the media. But he did not see a reason to do the same in the present situation.

"(I haven't done it) because it was not projected in a nice way. There were 15 players and if A is fighting B, both are now standing on the table (in front of media), both of us could be asked why it's so.

"It was not projected in the right way so (I said) maybe leave it. What's the point in fuelling something which is not there," said Dhoni.

On Sunday's match against Australia, Dhoni dropped a hint the rotation policy would be dispensed at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

"We are not looking to rotate. It's injuries which are now rotating the players. It's not in our control. I had said we would rotate in the first half of the tournament because then you could rotate,” Dhoni added. — PTI

New Delhi, February 25
South Africa played an encore to shatter India's Olympic dreams when they shut out the hosts 3-1 in the final match to book the lone slot from the Olympic Qualifying Women's Hockey Tournament here, at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium, tonight.

The tall, well-built South African girls, only a slot better than the Indian eves at 12th position in the International Hockey Federation (FIH) ranking, proved more than a handful for the hosts, as they yet again asserted their class to make the Olympic grade. South Africa had beaten India 5-2 in the league clash, and though their goal tally remained low today, they still were far superior in every department.

South Africa's two goals in the first half virtually sounded the death-knell of India, and they doubly ensured their victory by slotting home one more goal on resumption. Though India pulled one back late in the second session, it was all over bar shouting, for the hsots.

The Indian girls had their chances, but as usual, they bungled and fumbled while going for the final finish---a failing which has been their undoing in this tournament, though coach C.R.Kumar deserves some credit for taking the girls to the challenge round of the Olympic qualifiers. Only once before India played in an Olympics---the depleted Moscow-1980--when the Western nations boycotted the games due to Russia's invasion of Afghanistan.

India seemed to revel in wasting opportunities, and the South African tally too could have been bigger, had they made full use of their penalty corners as they could convert only two off seven. South Africa made their intententions clear four minutes into the match when Shelly Russel dodged past Joydeep Kaur to home in from a narrow angle.

New Delhi, February 25
India's Anirban Lahiri endured several anxious moments before pulling off a stunning victory over Thailand's Prom Meesawat at the first play-off hole to lift the SAIL-SBI Open golf title on Saturday.

The home favourite was lucky to pip Prom to the title after he had ended regulation play with his week's highest score of one-over par 73 at the Delhi Golf Club.

An upset seemed to be on the cards when Prom overcame a three-shot deficit to take a share of the lead with Lahiri from the 16th hole in regulation play.

The Thai closed with a 70 for a 14-under-par 274 total and headed to the play-off brimming with confidence.

Prom's tee shot at the first play-off hole, however, found the bushes on the right.

He had to take a penalty because of an unplayable lie and played the third shot to the left of the fairway from where his fourth shot just found the green, which left him with a 40-footer putt for par.

Lahiri, meanwhile, had a good tee shot and managed to reach the green in three. He came within three feet for his birdie putt. Prom then decided to pick up his ball and concede defeat.

"My consolations go out to Scott Barr and Prom as they played brilliantly today and I'm just fortunate that I managed to pull it off," said Lahiri.

"I'm disappointed with the way I hit the ball as I've hit it much better the last three days. I found two bushes today which I had to chip out and that was something I haven't done all week. I also dropped five shots which is not something you can get away with at this golf course, especially on the final day," added the Indian.

Prom remained upbeat despite narrowly missing out on his second Asian Tour title. "I'm very happy with my two-week stay in India despite losing in the play-off today. When I got out there for the play-off, I thought I could win it," said Prom.

"I tried to put my ball onto the fairway with my tee shot but it found the bushes. I managed to hit all the fairways during regulation play but unfortunately I had to miss my only one on the play-off today," added the Thai.

Australia's Scott Barr looked set to for a grandstand finish until a disastrous triple-bogey six on the 17th hole put paid to any hopes of a maiden win.

The Singapore-based Australian had to settle for third place on 275 while Ben Fox of the United States closed with a 278 to take fourth place with Bangladesh's Siddikur a further shot back in fifth place on 280.

Wellington, February 25
South African captain AB de Villiers compiled a superb century to lead his side to an easy six-wicket win over New Zealand in the opening one-day international at Westpac Stadium on Saturday.

De Villiers, in deft touch, was not out for 106 with Faf du Plessis on 66 as South Africa overhauled New Zealand's 253 for nine with 28 balls to spare.

On a ground with a history of favouring the side batting second, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum won the toss, elected to bat first and never seriously threatened from there as his batsmen failed to gain momentum.

Although the target was not immense, South Africa wavered at the start of their innings with Hashim Amla (8), Graeme Smith (9) and Jacques Kallis (13) falling in quick succession to be 35 for three by the 10th over.

But from there de Villiers steadied the run chase and they slowly and surely reeled in the New Zealand total.

He combined with JP Duminy (46) in a 90-run stand for the fourth wicket which was broken when Rob Nicol tossed up a full delivery and was rewarded with a simple caught and bowled opportunity.

South Africa were then 125 for four in the 31st over when Faf de Plessis joined his skipper and they dismantled the New Zealand bowling attack with apparent ease, compiling 129 runs over the next 14 overs.

They poked and prodded for singles when the field was spread and then effortlessly found the boundary when the fielders were brought in.

De Villiers came to the wicket in the fifth over with South Africa at 17 for two and faced 151 balls for his 106 which included three fours and four sixes.

He reached his century with a single off Doug Bracewell at the start of the 44th over and du Plessis marked the occasion with a six and two fours off the next three balls. Du Plessis' 66 in 72 balls included nine fours and a six.

The New Zealand innings was built around a 79-run stand by McCullum and Kane Williamson for the third wicket after the hosts had started slowly, creeping to 75 for two in the first 20 overs.

The next 75 runs took less than 13 overs but the loss of McCullum, and the quick departure of big-hitting Jesse Ryder (6) soon after put the brakes on the New Zealand charge.

McCullum had a charmed life and was saved three times by television replays on his way to 56 off 67 balls.

Williamson, who was content to look for the singles, appeared intent on batting through the innings and reached his 55 in 69 balls when he had an uncharacteristic slash at Lonwabo Tsotsobe and was caught behind.

Opener Rob Nicol made 30 while James Franklin added 32 in the middle of the innings.

Tsotsobe was the most economical of the South African bowlers with two for 41 and Peterson and Kallis both finished with two for 45. — AFP

Marana, February 25
Rory McIlroy on Friday delivered his best performance this week to reach the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship quarterfinals and set up a meeting with the tournament's surprise package.

The Northern Irish world number two booked his place in the last eight with a 3&1 win over pony-tailed Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez and will next face in-form South Korean Bae Sang-moon.

While McIlroy stayed on track to become the youngest ever winner of the elite event, PGA Tour rookie Bae added Australian John Senden to a list of victims that also includes 2010 winner Ian Poulter and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.

"He's been very impressive this week taking down Poulter and Charl, two of the best players," US Open champion McIlroy told reporters after another day of blazing sunshine at Dove Mountain's Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.

"So he's had a great week so far and we'll see what happens tomorrow."

Bae, who topped the Japan Golf Tour order of merit last year after winning three times on the circuit, edged Senden one up after a tight tussle on Friday.

The 22-year-old McIlroy, who would become world number one for the first time should he go on to win Sunday's final, has vivid memories of Bae from when they played together at the 2009 Korean Open.

The duo held a share of the lead after 54 holes and Bae went on to triumph after closing with a 67.

"He ended up winning," McIlroy recalled of their final round together. "I was really impressed with him. He's a very good ball-striker and he played very well then. That's the only time I've played with him."

McIlroy, who won his first major title by an astonishing eight shots at last year's US Open, has yet to clinch a prestigious World Golf Championships (WGC) crown. — Agencies

Patiala, February 25
When one talks about Olympic performances, one cannot forget the well calculated moves of Olympic bronze medalist Vijender Singh and fearless fighting style of Akhil Kumar which made boxing a rage in the country. While all eyes were pinned on these two boxers for repeating their success, destiny had separate plans.

Struggling with injury and unable to manage his weight, Akhil Kumar, who seems to have a very close association with injuries, could not take part in the final trials for the last Olympic qualifying tournament that will be held in April as a result of which his London Dream has come to an end. Akhil while talking to The Tribune said he had a tear in his calf muscle and could not exert much to cut down his weight. "I had been playing in 61 kg lately and tried really hard to come in 56 kg weight category but the physiotherapist told me that I needed rest otherwise the injury could get aggravated. I had almost reached 58 kg but in the end could not manage to get the desired weight," added Akhil.

“Though the association had informed us well in advance about trials, I again got injured on Feb 2 and that's what turned the tables on my dreams,” Akhil said.

This is one of the many initiatives of Amity to impact social development amongst all its students. — TNS