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Tiger out of the Woods
Modi loses libel case to Chris Cairns
Jayawardene thwarts England in first Test
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Dhoni, Ashwin climb up in ODI rankings
ACC rejects Bangladesh’s appeal
Philander on fire as Kiwis struggle
Australia level series
Gayle signs agreement with WICB
Ritu Rani to lead women’s hockey team
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Tiger out of the Woods
Orlando, March 26 “It’s not like winning a major championship or anything,” Woods said yesterday. “But it certainly feels really good.” Woods drained a short par putt on the par-four 18 to complete his round of two-under 70 and post a 13-under 275 total at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge course. “It was just pure joy,” Woods said. The 14-time major winner, wearing his Sunday red and black pants, celebrated his 72nd PGA Tour victory with a fist pump then the customary shaking of hands with runner-up McDowell, who finished at eight-under 280. “Today was unbelievable. The conditions were rough and those pins,” he said. “I don't know what the average score was today, but it certainly wasn’t anywhere near par. It was a very tough day. It was a day of attrition. There weren't going to be a lot of birdie opportunities out there.” England’s Ian Poulter finished in third, seven shots behind Woods, while South Africa’s Ernie Els was part of a group of seven golfers who tied for fourth at the $6 million event. Woods had been on a win drought since revelations of his secret sex life in November of 2009 left his reputation in tatters, put his marriage on the path to divorce and sent sponsors fleeing. Amid the uproar, Woods’ game suffered and his struggles continued in 2011 as he battled to cement swing changes despite injuries that limited his playing time. “I am thankful for a lot of people helping me out. You all know who you are. It has been tough,” Woods said. Host and golfing icon Palmer missed the end of his tournament after he was taken to the hospital with a blood pressure problem. It is the custom at this event for Palmer to greet players just off the edge of the 18th green as they finish their rounds but he couldn’t do that Sunday. He was also supposed to be part of the trophy presentation to Woods. “Nobody is overly concerned about the prognosis,” said Alaistair Johnston, vice chairman at IMG and Palmer's longtime business manager. Woods did post a win in December, but that came in the limited-field Chevron World Challenge in southern California, an invitational tournament that he himself organises to provide funds for his charity foundation. Sunday's official PGA Tour win was the largest margin on the Tour since Rory McIlroy won the 2011 US Open by eight shots. Now with the Masters just a couple of weeks off, Woods heads to Augusta where he will try to continue his march towards Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors. “I am excited no doubt,” Woods said. “It is always fun to play it. I am looking forward to the momentum I have built here and the things I have worked on with my game. It is all coming together at the right time.” Woods entered the final round with a one-shot lead on McDowell then seized command on Sunday with a flurry of birdies on the front nine. He compiled a four-shot lead midway through the round by making four birdies on the front. “It does feel good,” Woods said. “It feels really good. A lot of hard work. I’ve gotten better, and that’s the main thing. I’ve been close for a number of tournaments now. And it was just a matter of staying the course and staying patient, keeping working on fine-tuning what we’re doing. And here we are.” Woods, who has a formidable record as a frontrunner, is familiar with the Bay Hill course having lived in the area previously. He has a stunning 38-2 record on the PGA Tour when taking an outright lead into the fourth round. “It was incredible to have that type of support,” he said of the friends who came out to watch him this week. “I used to live here for so long.” He was paired in the final group Sunday with McDowell. — AFP
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Modi loses libel case to Chris Cairns
London, March 26 Neither party was present when the verdict — which is open to appeal — was announced in the High Court in London. Modi had accused Cairns of being involved in match-fixing during the rebel Indian Cricket League in 2008. The embattled administrator will now have to cough up a part of the damages within the next 28 days and has until April 20 to file an appeal. "Your client is a man of some means, you'll need to persuade me on a stay," the court said when Modi's lawyer asked for a stay on damages. Cairns was captain of Chandigarh Lions in the Indian Cricket League but his contract was terminated in October 2008, during the third edition of the tournament. The official reason given was that Cairns had breached the terms of his contract by failing to disclose an ankle injury. In his capacity as IPL commissioner at that point, Modi had made these allegations on twitter in 2010 while justifying the decision to keep Cairns out of the league. Cairns, 41, then sued Modi, stating that "the claim was untrue and therefore libellous, and had damaged his reputation." After hearing the arguments from both sides in a nine-day trial, Justice David Bean of the London High Court ruled in favour of Cairns. Modi's legal team told the court Cairns was corrupt but the Kiwi insisted his ICL dismissal was due to an ankle injury which he did not declare. Cairns said the match-fixing allegation put a strain on his marriage as well. "It had a profound effect on my personal and private life," Cairns told the court. In his four-hour closing summary, Cairns' lawyer Andrew Caldecott QC had stated that his client had been made "a scapegoat of convenience". — PTI
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Jayawardene thwarts England in first Test
Galle, March 26
Jayawardene hit an unbeaten 168 as the hosts recovered from a disastrous 15-3 by the fourth over to move to 289-8 by stumps at a Galle International Stadium packed with some 8,000 English supporters. Fast bowler James Anderson claimed two wickets off successive balls in his second over and new-ball partner Stuart Broad chipped in with the third after Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat. Jayawardene retrieved the situation by adding 52 for the fourth wicket with Thilan Samaraweera (20) and 61 for the fifth with young batsman Dinesh Chandimal (27). Tailender Rangana Herath contributed just five runs in an eighth-wicket stand of 62 with his captain, who reached his 30th century with a paddle sweep off Graeme Swann for a boundary. As the bowlers wilted under the hot sun, England were left to rue three dropped catches — two by Monty Panesar and one by Anderson — that reprieved Jayawardene. The Sri Lankan captain has so far hit 20 boundaries and three sixes. Jayawardene surpassed Australian legend Don Bradman's tally of 29 Test hundreds and moved to fourth place among those still playing at the top level behind Sachin Tendulkar (51), Jacques Kallis (42) and Ricky Ponting (41). Number 10 Chanaka Welegedara kept Jayawardene company at stumps on 10, the pair having added 36 valuable runs. Anderson, who had a review for leg-before wicket against opener Lahiru Thirimanne turned down in his first over, removed the left-hander in his second over to make Sri Lanka 11-1. Thirimanne hung his bat out to edge an easy catch to Swann at second slip and give Anderson his 250th wicket in his 67th Test. — AFP Scoreboard Thirimanne c Swann b Anderson 3 Dilshan c Strauss b Broad 11 S’kara c Prior b Anderson 0 M J’rdene batting 168 Samaraweera run out 20 Chandimal c Bell b Patel 27 P J’rdene lbw b Anderson 23 Randiv run out 12 Herath lbw b Patel 5 Welegedara batting 10 Extras: (lb-6, nb-4) 10 Total (8 wkts, 90 ovrs) 289 Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-11, 3-15, 4-67, 5-128, 6-170, 7-191, 8-253. Bowling: Anderson 17-5-56-3, Broad 18-1-66-1, Panesar 23-11-42-0, Swann 23-3-92-0, Patel 9-1-27-2.
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Dhoni, Ashwin climb up in ODI rankings
Dubai, March 26 Dhoni has gained a place in the batsmen list, while Ashwin climbed up four places to reach his career-best ranking of sixth in the bowlers ranking, following his five wickets in three Asia Cup matches in Dhaka. Indian batsmen, who are outside the top-10 but heading in the right direction are Sachin Tendulkar in 27th spot (up by two) and Suresh Raina in 32nd position (up by four). The Indian team, meanwhile, has retained its pre-series rating of 117 points to be at third spot in the Teams Championship table. Australia have dropped four ratings points after their five-match ODI series against the West Indies ended in a 2-2 draw but they managed to maintain the numero uno spot. The West Indies, in contrast, gained seven ratings points and joined New Zealand on 86 ratings points at number 7. Sri Lanka have dropped behind England in fifth position after losing all its matches in the Asia Cup, while Pakistan gained a ratings point for its victories over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and are sixth in the table. South Africa retained the number two position. — PTI
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ACC rejects Bangladesh’s appeal
Dhaka, March 26 But the complaint was rejected as the ACC claimed that the incident was not reported by on-field umpires. "We had received Bangladesh's complaint but since the incident was not reported by the on-field umpires nothing can be done," Ashraful Huq, Chief Executive of the ACC, told AFP. Ashraful, himself a Bangladeshi national, also said that the ICC had also turned down the complaint. — PTI |
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Philander on fire as Kiwis struggle
Wellington, March 26 Philander, 26, reached the milestone in only his seventh Test as New Zealand folded for 275 in their first innings in reply to South Africa's 474-9 declared, avoiding the follow-on by just a single run. At stumps on the fourth day, South Africa, who hold a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series, were 75 without loss in their second innings, leading by 274 runs with one day remaining. First innings centurion Alviro Petersen is not out 38 with captain Graeme Smith on 34 as the tourists look to bat New Zealand out of contention. New Zealand's fading hopes of levelling the series received a severe setback when captain Ross Taylor was hit on the left forearm by paceman Morne Morkel. He was taken to hospital where an x-ray confirmed a broken bone and team management said he was unlikely to take any further part in the game. With the senior batsman out of action, Philander made the most of the short route to the New Zealand tail, finishing with six for 81 and tightening South Africa's grip on the Test. New Zealand were 160-3 with Taylor on 18 when he was hit. They slumped from 263-5 to 263-8, leaving tailenders Mark Gillespie and Chris Martin needing to add 12 runs to avoid the follow-on. — AFP Scoreboard New Zealand 1st innings (overnight 65-0) Flynn c Boucher b Philander 45 Guptill lbw b Philander 59 McCullum c Boucher b Steyn 31 Taylor retired hurt 18 Williamson c Boucher b Steyn 39 Brownlie c Steyn b Philander 29 Vettori c Rudolph b Philander 30 van Wyk c sub b de Lange 7 Bracewell b Philander 0 Gillespie c de Villiers b Philander 10 Martin not out 2 Extras (lb-2, nb-1, w-2) 5 Total (9 wkts, 96 ovrs) 275 Fall of wickets: 1-86, 2-136, 3-145, 4-219, 5-242, 6-263, 7-263, 8-263, 9-275. Bowling: Steyn 23-8-41-2, Philander 22-4-81-6, Morkel 20-6-54-0, De Lange 21-1-74-0, Duminy 10-0-23-0. S Africa 2nd innings Petersen batting 38 Smith batting 34 Extras (w-2, nb-1) 3 Total (no loss, 15 overs) 75 Bowling: Martin 6-0-24-0, Bracewell 5-0-29-0, Gillespie 4-0-22-0.
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Gros Islet, March 26 Scoreboard Watson c Samuels b Russell 66 Warner c Dwayne b Narine 69 Forrest c Roach b Russell 53 Bailey c Russell b Roach 19 Lee b Narine 12 Mike c Pollard b Russell 25 David c Baugh b Russell 0 Wade c Darren b Roach 26 McKay c Darren b Roach 0 Doherty not out 1 Hilfenhaus not out 0 Extras: (b-2, lb-1, w-7) 10 Total: (9 wkts, 50 ovrs) 281 Fall of wickets: 1-118, 2-161, 3-193, 4-212, 5-241, 6-241, 7-279, 8-279, 9-279. Bowling: Roach 9-0-53-3, Dwayne 6-0-40-0, Narine 10-0-55-2, Sammy 6-0-29-0, Russell 9-0-61-4, Samuels 10-0-40-0. West Indies Charles c and b Lee 0 Barath c Bailey b Doherty 42 Samuels c Wade b Lee 0 Darren c Wade b McKay 3 Dwayne c Bailey b Watson 19 Pollard c Mike b Watson 33 Baugh c Hilfenhaus b Lee 13 Russell lbw b Doherty 41 Sammy c Mike b Hilfenhaus 84 Narine c Wade b McKay 7 Roach not out 2 Extras: (b-1, w-6) 7 Total: (all out, 47.2 ovrs) 251 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-5, 3-37, 4-63, 5-76, 6-111, 7-118, 8-219, 9-232. Bowling: Lee 9-0-42-3, Hilfenhaus 8.2-1-36-1, McKay 10-0-68-2, Watson 10-0-44-2, Doherty 10-0-60-2.
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Gayle signs agreement with WICB
Jamaica, March 26 "Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves (of St Vincent) provided a copy of Gayle's 'side letter'. The matter was discussed and the Board will respond to the Prime Minister shortly," a WICB release said. Gayle and WICB are at loggerheads since last year when in an interview the left-handed batsman criticised the Board and coach Ottis Gibson. The Board had asked Gayle to retract his statement or apologise for his remarks. — PTI |
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Ritu Rani to lead women’s hockey team
New Delhi, March 26 The team: Goalkeepers: Yogita Bali and Sukhmani Virk; Defenders: Th. Pinky Devi, Joydeep Kaur and Kirandeep Kaur; Midfielders: P Sushila Chanu, Asunta Lakra, Mukta Prava Barla, Deepika, Ritu Rani and Kiran Dahiya; Forwards: Poonam Rani, Rani, Vandana Kataria, Chanchan Rani, Devi, Th. Anuradha Devi, Anupa Barla and Navneet Kaur.
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Tiger Woods snapped the longest winless drought of his career with a dominating five-shot victory over Graeme McDowell at the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
London, March 26
Dubai, March 26
South African pace sensation Vernon Philander became the fastest man in 116 years to reach 50 Test wickets today as New Zealand struggled to stay alive in the third Test.
