S P O R T S

Resurgent India face Bangladesh

Mirpur, March 15 India would look to continue their recovery from the horror tour of Australia while Sachin Tendulkar would aim to the get the burden of a 100th international ton off his back when the team squares off against Bangladesh in an Asia Cup league match here tomorrow. Sachin Tendulkar prepares before going in to bat during a training session in Dhaka on Thursday. India play Bangladesh in the fourth match of the Asia Cup on Friday. — AP/PTI

Misbah shines as Pakistan add to Lanka’s woes
Mirpur, March 15
Pakistan added to Sri Lanka’s losing spree as they humbled the island nation with a convincing six-wicket win in the Asia Cup cricket tournament here tonight.

Pakistan's wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed (2L) congratulates Aizaz Cheema (L) after the dismissal of Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (R) at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday. Pakistan won the match by six wickets. — AFP

Ranji experience helps on Bangladesh wickets: Vinay
Mirpur, March 15
India seamer R Vinay Kumar feels that while bowling on a flat deck at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, the experience of slogging hard in the Ranji Trophy helps while trying out subtle variations.

Sania-Vesnina in semifinals of Indian Wells Indian Wells, March 15 Sania Mirza and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina entered into the semifinals of the WTA Indian Wells Premier event after registering a straight-set victory over the Argentine pair of Gisela Dulko and Paola Suarez here. The second seeds Indo-Russian pair took just over an hour to get the better of Argentina wild card entrants 6-2, 6-3. Sania Mirza (pic) and Elena Vesnina beat Gisela Dulko and Paola Suarez 6-2. 6-3.

IPL schedule changed due to Delhi MC polls
New Delhi, March 15
The Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers have tweaked the schedule of the fifth edition of the Twenty20 tournament because of the upcoming Municipal Elections in the Capital in mid April.

Sourabh, Kashyap lose in Swiss Open
New Delhi, March 15
Indian challenge ended in the men's singles competition with Ajay Jayaram, P Kashyap and Sourabh Verma losing their second round matches at the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold in Basel, Switzerland.

48 players named for junior hockey camp
New Delhi, March 15
Hockey India has selected 48 probables for the junior men’s hockey camp in preparation for the 7th Junior Men Asia Cup to be held at Malacca, Malaysia, from May 3 to 13.

PHF sack foreign hockey coach
Lahore, March 15
The Pakistan Hockey Federation has sacked foreign coach Michel Van Den of The Netherlands and appointed former Olympians Khawaja Junaid and Akhtar Rasool as the coach and manager of the national team.

Chelsea edge Napoli in extra time
Paris, March 15
Chelsea made sure of an English presence in the Champions League last eight after roaring back to defeat Napoli, while Real Madrid swept aside CSKA Moscow 4-1 to take their place in the quarter-finals.

East Bengal look to swell IFA Shield tally
Kolkata, March 15
A record 27-time winners East Bengal would look to swell their tally when they take on United SC in the 116th IFA Shield final at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan here tomorrow.

Resurgent India face Bangladesh
Aim to continue winning run
Batsmen finding their feet
Sachin looking for 100th ton
Hosts rely on Tamim, Shakib

Virat Kohli has proven to be India’s batting mainstay over the past few months. Match Starts 1.30 pm

Mirpur, March 15
India would look to continue their recovery from the horror tour of Australia while Sachin Tendulkar would aim to the get the burden of a 100th international ton off his back when the team squares off against Bangladesh in an Asia Cup league match here tomorrow.

The 50-run victory over Sri Lanka was just the kind of start India needed in the continental tournament after being quite literally thrashed during an over-three-month-long tour of Australia.

The team's batsmen, who were hopping about in misery on the pacy tracks Down Under, found comfort in the familiar sub-continental environs and made enough for their bowlers to come through despite leaking runs early on an unhelpful pitch.

But one man, whose woes seem unending is Tendulkar. The 38-year-old right-hander, who has almost every international record under his belt, has been without a hundred for over a year now.

The much-awaited 100th international ton has proved so elusive that it has raised concerns as to whether the stat is hampering Tendulkar's form to an extent and the seasoned cricketer would be desperate to get the monkey off his back.

Tendulkar's determination can be gauged from the fact that he turned up for an optional net session yesterday where only three of India's 15-member squad turned up. Tendulkar has gone 33 century-less innings, which is just one less than his longest barren spell ever.

Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli have successfully carried their good one-day form from Australia to this tournament as well and both scored their 10th international centuries to make that point against Sri Lanka.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni also got some much-needed feel of the conditions when he pushed himself up the order against the islanders to fire an entertaining 46-run knock.

Suresh Raina too seemed to be recovering from the disaster Down Under in the batting-friendly conditions here.

It will be interesring to see if Manoj Tiwary, who did not play a single ODI in Australia, gets a chance to play.

On the bowling front, the growing confidence of comeback pacer Irfan Pathan, who grabbed four wickets against Sri Lanka, is a massive plus for India. But given that express pace is missing from the attack, the bowlers would have to rely on their willow-wielding counterparts to bat oppositions out of the game.

Despite being overwhelming favourites, India cannot afford to be complacent given Bangladesh's past record of being giant-killers.

They gave Pakistan a scare in the tournament-opener, showing they are quite a handful in front adoring home fans.

Tamim Iqbal and all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan batted well against Pakistan but the home team would expect stronger performances from the likes of skipper Mushfiqur Rahim and Nazimuddin. Their top bowler Mashrafe Mortaza would also be expected to tighten up against a formidable Indian line-up. — PTI

Misbah shines as Pakistan add to Lanka’s woes

Mirpur, March 15
Pakistan added to Sri Lanka’s losing spree as they humbled the island nation with a convincing six-wicket win in the Asia Cup cricket tournament here tonight. Chasing a modest 189 for their second win in the tournament, Pakistan were guided home by their captain Misbah-ul-haq with a fine unbeaten 72, while flamboyant batsman Umar Akmal also played a vital innings of 77, before being dismissed when the target was withing touching distance.

Earlier, Aizaz Cheema led a disciplined bowling effort with four wickets as Pakistan bundled out Sri Lanka for a paltry 188.

Kumar Sangakkara (71) and Upul Tharanga (57) hit fighting half centuries but there efforts were not enough to guide the Lankans to a respectable total at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.

As far as the bowlers were concerned, Cheema was the most successful of the lot as he picked four wickets for 43 runs from nine overs, willy off-spinner Saeed Ajmal accounted for three wickets while Gul snared two on what appeared to be a decent surface for batting.

Sangakkara and Tharanga waged a grim battle, adding 96 runs for the fifth wicket, but the Lankans needed more, which they could not, against the pace and spin combo of Cheema, Gul and Ajmal.

Electing to bat, Mahela Jayawardene (12) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (20) gave Sri Lanka a flying start as both accumulated 33 runs off the first five overs. Cheema, before his remarkable comeback, was clobbered for 17 runs in his very first over.

While Jayawardene blasted pacer Cheema for three fours in the second over, Dilshan joined the party with two consecutive fours in the fourth over off the same bowler.

However, Cheema had the last laugh as he lured Jayawardene into attempting the aerial route, which led to his dismissal. The Lankan skipper was caught by Mohammad Hafeez at extra cover.

Cheema soon took his revenge on Dilshan with a short-pitched delivery. The opener went for a pull even as the ball reared at him quickly from back of a length, resulting in a top-edge, which Ajmal managed to hold around mid-wicket.

Sri Lanka slumped into more misery as Dinesh Chandimal guided a sharp delivery from Gul to the slip cordon where Younis Khan completed a brilliant diving catch to his left.

Pacer Hammad Azam made the Sri Lankan scoreline read 65 for four in the 15th over of the innings when he accounted for Lahiru Thirimanne (7), who was caught by Umar Akmal at point.

Tharanga then joined hands with former skipper Sangakkara to steady the Lankan ship. Both batsmen were happy to score in singles and doubles as they took Sri Lanka past the 100-run mark in the 26th over. — PTI

Scoreboard

Ranji experience helps on Bangladesh wickets: Vinay

Mirpur, March 15
India seamer R Vinay Kumar feels that while bowling on a flat deck at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, the experience of slogging hard in the Ranji Trophy helps while trying out subtle variations.

"Most of our cricket is played in these conditions in India and subcontinent. The tracks Down Under were helpful for seamers as it had a lot of bounce but here it is different. We will have to remember how we used to bowl in Ranji Trophy.

"On sub-continent, compared to other countries you have to mix it up more, bowl more slower deliveries and use subtle variations," Vinay said on the eve of his team's match against Bangladesh.

Vinay feels that use of two new kookaburra balls from both the ends has been a help for new-ball bowlers but at the same time the batsmen also have a few things going their way.

"Two new balls is a real help for the seamers. The kookaburra ball doesn't swing much. With new balls at both ends, the hardness remains. But again, the batsmen can also go for their shots on these flat pitches." For Vinay, batting second on the Sher-e-Bangla strip has been more advantageous.

"It's a batting track. In the first innings, the ball comes on to the bat slightly slower than under lights when it's better conditions for batting." With two new balls, the reverse swing hasn't been a potent weapon for the bowlers in recent times, but in Mirpur, the roughness of the wicket has helped the bowlers.

"In the past, there was much more reverse swing compared to now. However, in the last game, the ball did reverse as the wicket was rough. If you get a good wicket, then it is very difficult," said Vinay. — PTI

Sania-Vesnina in semifinals of Indian Wells

Indian Wells, March 15
Sania Mirza and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina entered into the semifinals of the WTA Indian Wells Premier event after registering a straight-set victory over the Argentine pair of Gisela Dulko and Paola Suarez here. The second seeds Indo-Russian pair took just over an hour to get the better of Argentina wild card entrants 6-2, 6-3.

Sania and Vesnina proved to be too good for their opponents as they managed to break the Argentines five times in the match. Besides winning 19 out of 25 points, Sania and Vesnina could also convert five out of nine break points they got.

They will now take on the third seeded Czech combo of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, who had defeated fifth seeded Italian duo of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in their quarterfinal encounter.

Paes-Radek out

Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek's campaign in the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament came to an end after they lost 6-3 7-6(5) to Spain's Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez here.

The Indo-Czech pair had come to this match after defeating Juan Monaco and Kei Nishikori in the previous round yesterday.

The Spanish pair took one hour and 43 minutes to knock out the Australian Open men's doubles winners. Paes and Stepanek were poor on serve as they won just six points from their second serve. — PTI

IPL schedule changed due to Delhi MC polls

New Delhi, March 15
The Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers have tweaked the schedule of the fifth edition of the Twenty20 tournament because of the upcoming Municipal Elections in the Capital in mid April.

"The match schedule of the DLF IPL 2012 has undergone a change on account of the Delhi Municipal Elections in mid April 2012," the BCCI said in a statement.

According to the new schedule, Delhi Daredevils will now lock horns with Deccan Chargers on April 19 instead of April 14 at the Ferozh Shah Kotla stadium here. Another match between the two teams scheduled on April 19 (4:00 pm) in Cuttack has been moved to May 10 in Hyderabad at the same time.

Also, Deccan will no more play Pune Warriors on May 1 in Hyderabad. Rather, the two teams will face each other in Cuttack at 4:00 pm on the same day.

Among other changes, the play-off match to be played on May 22 has been shifted from the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru to the MCA Stadium, Pune. — PTI

Sourabh, Kashyap lose in Swiss Open

New Delhi, March 15
Indian challenge ended in the men's singles competition with Ajay Jayaram, P Kashyap and Sourabh Verma losing their second round matches at the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold in Basel, Switzerland. Jayaram lasted a little over half an hour as Pedro Martins notched up a 21-16 21-16 win last night, while P Kashyap also went down to seventh seed Tien Minh Nguyen 13-21 18-2.

National champion Sourabh also found the going tough and suffered a 10-21 9-21 defeat to 13th seeded Korean Wan Ho Shon in 30 minutes.

India ace and defending champion Saina Nehwal and men's doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas are the only survivors in the tournament now. The third seeded Indian will take on Judith Meulendijks of the Netherlands in the third round match later in the day.

Rupesh and Sanave will fight it out with fifth seeded Indonesian pair of Alvent Yulianto Chandra and Hendra Aprida Gunawan. — PTI

48 players named for junior hockey camp
Tribune News Service

PHF sack foreign hockey coach

Lahore, March 15
The Pakistan Hockey Federation has sacked foreign coach Michel Van Den of The Netherlands and appointed former Olympians Khawaja Junaid and Akhtar Rasool as the coach and manager of the national team.

The decision was taken at the executive committee meeting of the PHF held today at the National hockey stadium.

PHF President Qasim Zia announced that the issue of whether to ban the players taking part in the unofficial World Series Hockey had been handed over to the disciplinary committee of the federation.

"We want to give an opportunity to the players who have gone for the World Series Hockey to give their point of view before the disciplinary committee before any action is decided against them," Zia said.

He also made it clear that any decision on the players would be taken in accordance with the guidelines of the International Hockey Federation. — PTI

Chelsea edge Napoli in extra time

Paris, March 15
Chelsea made sure of an English presence in the Champions League last eight after roaring back to defeat Napoli, while Real Madrid swept aside CSKA Moscow 4-1 to take their place in the quarter-finals.

Trailing 3-1 from the first leg in Naples, Chelsea saw Frank Lampard level the tie with a 75th-minute penalty yesterday and then secured victory through defender Branislav Ivanovic in extra time to complete a nail-biting 5-4 aggregate success.

The 4-1 victory on the night made it three wins from three for caretaker coach Roberto di Matteo, who replaced the sacked Andre Villas-Boas between the two legs of the last-16 tie. It also meant that England avoided the ignominy of failing to provide a quarter-finalist in Europe's top club competition for the first time since 1996.

Meanwhile, former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho's dream of becoming the first coach to lift the trophy with three different sides remains on track after Madrid overwhelmed Leonid Slutsky's CSKA in the Spanish capital.

Following a 1-1 draw in the first leg, a first-half goal from Gonzalo Higuain put Madrid ahead in the tie and the nine-time champions then took full control with further goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. — AFP

East Bengal look to swell IFA Shield tally

Kolkata, March 15
A record 27-time winners East Bengal would look to swell their tally when they take on United SC in the 116th IFA Shield final at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan here tomorrow.

The tournament lacked some sheen this year after heavyweights like Mohun Bagan and Goan teams including last year's champions Churchill Brothers pulled out because of a poor timing.

Botafogo though added the Brazilian flavour this season, they failed to make much of an impact, having lost to United SC in the semifinals yesterday.

Fresh from their extra-time win over the Brazilian outfit, the Sanjoy Sen-coached side would be keen to push the local giants to the brink.

With Ghanian Yusif Yakubu in his old silken touch and the team fielding a creative midfield, United SC is expected to give the Trevor Morgan boys some hard time.

After practice, Morgan said that the team has a fighting midfield in Lalkamal Bhowmick and Denson Devadas but the former did not figure in their match against Botafogo.

In the East Bengal line-up, Australian Togay Ozbey and Robin Singh will lead the attack, while Orji Penn would man the midfield in absence of Mehtab Hussain.

The red and gold brigade has injury worries to Harmanjot Khabra and Sushant Matthew even as the former appears to be fit for tomorrow.

"It will be a competitive match. They have a good midfield and in Yakubu they have a dangerous striker. But we are keen to be on the winning side," Morgan said. — PTI