Mumbai, February 8
Sachin Tendulkar tuned up brilliantly for the upcoming Test series against Australia by hitting a record equalling 81st first-class century but couldn't prevent Mumbai from conceding first-innings lead to Rest of India on the Third Day of the Irani Trophy match.

Tendulkar looked in fantastic touch as he hit a sparkling unbeaten knock of 140 off 197 balls as he touched Sunil Gavaskar's Indian record of 81 first-class hundreds. In the process, the 39-year-old also completed 25,000 runs in first-class cricket.

However, Tendulkar ran out of partners as Mumbai were all out for 409 thereby conceding a sizeable first innings lead of 117 runs. In the second essay, Rest of India were 27 for one at stumps which enhanced their lead to 144 runs and they have nine wickets in hand.

Nightwatchman S Sreesanth batting on seven is giving company to Murali Vijay, who is undefeated on 18. Opener Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed for a duck.

The day belonged to Tendulkar, who send a strong message to the Australian team about his intent, as he struck 18 boundaries and two sixes during his five hour and 43 minutes of stay at the crease. He played some shots around the wicket and none of the Rest of India bowlers barring S Sreesanth, who dug a few short ones could ask any probing questions.

Having arrived at the crease in the second over of the day, Tendulkar was hardly troubled by the Rest of India bowlers and his most productive partnership was with Ankeet Chavan (49) that yielded 103 runs for the seventh wicket.

Tendulkar also added 73 runs with the talented Ajinkya Rahane, who missed out on a deserving century as he was trapped leg before by Harbhajan Singh. The senior offie was the most successful bowler for the Rest of India grabbing three for 64 from 21 overs as he also dismissed Rohit Sharma for a duck. Tendulkar warmed the cockles of the good turn-out at the Wankhede Stadium by batting right till the end of the Mumbai innings after coming to the crease in the second over itself at the fall of night watchman Thakur's wicket.

Watchful in the beginning against the swinging ball and the short-pitched stuff dished out by Sreesanth, Tendulkar opened out later with a string of drives, mostly through the off-side cordon and straight, for fours to reach the landmark 100 in 139 balls with 12 fours and a six. — PTI

SCOREBOARD

ROI 1st inngs: 526

Mumbai 1st inngs (overnight 155/2)

Jaffer c Rayudu b Sreesanth 80

Tare c Tiwary by Pandey 6

Rahane lbw Harbhajn 83

Shardul c Tiwary b Pandey 4

Sachin not out 140

Rohit c Ojha b Harbhajan 0

Nayar c Vijay b Mithun 1

Ankeet c Saha b Mithun 49

Dhawal c Vijay b Ojha 10

Javed c Mithun b Harbhajan 8

Vishal lbw Ojha 0

Extras: 28

Total: (all out; 114.1 ov) 409

Fall of wickets: -14, 2-146, 3-161, 4-234, 5-254, 6-257, 7-360, 8-399, 9-409

Bowling: Sreesanth 21-3-80-1, Ishwar 24-6-76-2, Abhimanyu 21-1-73-2, Pragyan 26.1-1-103-2, Harbhajan 21-4-64-3, Tiwary 1-1-0-0

ROI 2nd innings

Shikhar c Nayar b Kulkarni 0

Vijay not out 18

Sreesanth not out 7

Extras: 2

Total: (1 wkt; 5 ovs) 27

Fall of wickets: 1-0

Bowling: Dhawal 3-1-10-1, Nayar 2-0-17-0

Mumbai, February 8
Eager to make an India comeback after being laid low by injuries and lack of form, temperamental pacer S Sreesanth said he has adopted a self-centred approach towards the game to reclaim his place in the national side.

“I am bowling in very good rhythm and enjoying my cricket. I am playing for myself. Previously I used to play for my parents and country. If you do well for yourself it will also help the team,” said the Kerala bowler.

Sreesanth bowled a few testing overs to senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar but picked up just one wicket for 80 in 21 overs as Rest of India bowled out Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai for 409 in reply to their massive first innings tally of 526.

Sreesanth tested Tendulkar with a few short balls which the senior batsman either ducked or tried unsuccessfully to swat away over the slips.

“I got him (Tendulkar) out in my mind,” said Sreesanth about the 39-year-old centurion who made 140 not out and equalled Sunil Gavaskar's national record of 81 first class hundreds.

Asked about the upcoming team selection for the Test series against Australia, Sreesanth said it was not in his hands. “I look forward to being picked against Australia but it's up to the selectors. I was not even sure of being selected to play in the Irani Cup. I am thankful that seven weeks after my toe surgery I am able to play here. “If I am not selected (for Australia Test series) I would go and play in the (South Zone) Subbiah Pillay (one-day) tournament (in Goa),” he said. — PTI

Chennai, February 8
Australian spinner Nathan Lyon wants the selectors to go with a two-spin attack against India in the upcoming four-Test series, which gets underway with the opening Test here on February 22.

"It will be big challenge for all of us in different conditions. We have seen India playing four spinners in the last Test against England. So hopefully we will have the opportunity to play two spinners for Australia," Lyon said.

Lyon said he followed the English spinners during their exploits during the India-England Test series late last year and hoped to pick some tricks to tame the Indian batsmen. "I certainly watched (Monty) Panesar and (Graeme) Swann.

They bowled quite well. I did watch Swann very very closely and I hope to take in a few things and put the same method in practice against India," Lyon said.

Australia have named four spinners in their 17-member squad, including 19-year-old Ashton Agar in a development capacity and Lyon said it would be a good challenge for them to get a berth in the Test squad.

“It is great to have four spinner with Steve Smith, Xavier Doherty, Glenn Maxwell, and myself. So it is a good challenge for all of us for pushing each other along for a spot in first Test side," he said. “It exciting to see Agar coming in with the Australian side. He is a talented bowler." Lyon and seven others have reached India last night to get acclimatised to the playing conditions and the 25-year-old spinner said it would be a good challenge.

“It was a long trip last night. All the boys are well rested. It would be a pretty lazy restful day today. The boys will get training tomorrow and get ready for test," Lyon said. — PTI

New Delhi, February 8
Fair trade regulator Competition Commission on Friday held that the Indian cricket board indulged in anti-competitive practices and slapped a penalty of Rs 52.24 crore on it. Observing that BCCI abused its dominant position, the Competition Commission of India directed it to “cease and desist” from any practice in future denying market access to potential competitors, including inclusion of similar clauses in any future agreement.

“...the abuse by BCCI was of a grave nature and the quantum of penalty that needs to be levied should be commensurate with the gravity of the violation,” CCI said in an order on Friday.

The fair trade regulator has imposed a penalty of Rs 52.24 crore on BCCI. The complaint was filed by a city-based individual, Surinder Singh Barmi against BCCI in November 2010. His allegations were based on issues related to IPL and a professional cricket league tournament conducted by BCCI.

Among others, the complainant had alleged irregularities in the grant of franchise rights for team ownership, media rights for coverage of the league and award of sponsorship rights.

Noting that BCCI's economic power is enormous “as a regulator that enables it to pick winners”, the regulator said the cricket board has gained tremendously in financial terms from the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket format.

“Virtually, there is no other competitor in the market nor was anyone allowed to emerge due to BCCI's strategy of monopolising the entire market,” the order said. The policy of BCCI to keep out other competitors and to use their position as a defacto regulatory body has prevented many players who could have opted for the competitive league, it added.

“The dependence of competitors on BCCI for sanctioning of the events and dependence of players and consumers for the same reason has been total. BCCI knowing this had foreclosed the competition by openly declaring that it was not going to sanction any other event,” CCI said.

The Commission observed that BCCI undermined the moral responsibility of a custodian and defacto regulator.

However, it said that BCCI in their submissions have claimed that the funds of IPL have been re-ploughed in developing the game. On account of this, the regulator said that it considers “appropriate that the penalty of six per cent of average annual revenue of BCCI for past three years”. Thus, the penalty amount works out to Rs 52.24 crore, which is to be deposited within a period of 90 days from the date of receipt of this order.

The complaint against BCCI was referred to the Commission's Director General (DG) in December 2010. DG is the investigating arm of the fair trade regulator. During investigation, BCCI contended that it is a 'not-for profit' society for the promotion of sport of cricket and its activities is outside the purview of the Competition Act, according to the order.

Besides, BCCI had submitted that its commitments are neither driven by nor conditional upon commercial considerations. However, the DG concluded that BCCI’s activities related to IPL are contrary to it’s stated objectives.

Rawalpindi, February 8
Pakistan's cricket chief on Friday blamed the women's flop in the World Cup on security fears in host India, claiming the players were "overwhelmed".

Pakistan finished last in the eight-team event after losing all four matches, which were moved to the eastern city of Cuttack when the right-wing nationalist Shiv Sena party threatened to disrupt Pakistan's matches in Mumbai.

The International Cricket Council decided to house Pakistan at the club house of the Barabati stadium instead of a hotel for security reasons.

“The situation was uncertain for the women's team and players were overwhelmed by fears as no hotel was willing to give them security,”said Zaka Ashraf, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after talks with Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

Pakistan team manager Ayesha Ashar said at the time that the squad was happy with the arrangements made at the Barabati stadium. But Malik said he would raise the issue with India.

“Not giving security to our women's team is a concern and I will raise this issue with the Indian government,” Malik said. Nine Pakistani players were also withdrawn from the Hockey India League over threats from Shiv Sena last month, after clashes killed five soldiers along the de facto border in the disputed region of Kashmir.

But team says ‘we return with sweet experiences’

Pakistan women's cricket team today returned from Odisha with "sweet" personal experiences even as their journey in the ICC World Cup was not "so pleasant" as was expected of them.

Mumbai, February 8
Australia unearthed a new teenage star and maintained two streaks over England with a thrilling two-run win in an enthralling World Cup cricket Super Sixes match in Mumbai on Friday.

Meanwhile, New Zealand rode on their bowlers lethal performance to crush Sri Lanka by eight wickets in their first Super Six match

A 31-run last-wicket stand between Holly Colvin (16 off 17) and Anya Shrubsole (13 not out off 20) threatened to earn England their first World Cup win over the Southern Stars since 1993 and their first one-day win over Australia in a neutral country in 15 attempts.

With 15 balls left, Australian wicketkeeper and captain Jodie Fields claimed a thin edge from Colvin off spinner Erin Osborne (1-15 off 5.3 overs) to dismiss England for 145.

Pace bowler Holly Ferling, 17, (3-35 off 10 overs) playing just her second ODI, made a big contribution after she replaced spearhead Ellyse Perry. Ferling, Julie Hunter (2-15) and Megan Schutt (2-37) dragged Australia back into a game in which both sides suffered a major batting collapse. Sent in, Australia were 5-32 in the 13th over but fought back to score 147. The only substantial stand was a sixth-wicket partnership of 82 between Lisa Sthalekar and Sarah Coyte (44 off 81). — PTI

Patiala, February 8
The tussle to continue at top sporting posts in the country’s premier sports bodies could pose a serious threat to Indian sportspersons in the near future as despite repeated instructions by the International Olympic Committee, the working of the suspended IOA continues unabated. With the shooting body debarring those who are part of the suspended body, many other sporting federations could follow suit to avoid de-recognition by their respective world bodies.

However, the suspended IOA officials are adamant on sticking to their stand and promise to get the matter resolved soon.

The functioning of the IOA can cause serious trouble to the country’s sportspersons as the IOC and Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) are adamant “not to deal with the present set of office bearers of the suspended IOA.”

The IOC has already made it clear to all sporting bodies affiliated to it to not assciate with officials from the suspended IOA headed by Abhay Chautala. Chautala’s IOA has 38 office bearers and the IOC has already written to the national Olympic committee department (in its Jan 14, 2013 letter) that if any “federation associates itself with these individuals, in violation of the IOC’s decisions and the Olympic charter, the IOC will immediately ask the international federation concerned to take necessary action.”

Sources confirmed that following the IOC letter, it will be difficult for all who participated in the 2012 elections of IOA to continue their association with other sporting federations. “Sample this: N. Ramachandran is the president of the world squash federation and is trying hard to get his sport into Olympics, but at the same time he is opposing the IOC dictat and is presently the treasurer of the suspended IOA body. Similarly, Anurag Thakur, who is the National Rifle Association of India member, is also the president of the Himachal Pradesh Olympic Association and continues to hold the vice president’s post in the suspended body,” a source says. Perturbed, IOC, Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and OCA clearly told Vijay Kumar Malhotra (acting IOA president before the elections) that they will only deal with the IOA headed by him. “I have informed all the National Sports Federations and State Olympic Associations,” Malhotra said.

Interestingly, despite the suspension, the IOA has been operating all its accounts and using its funds. “We can use these funds as we are only using our funds (IOA, and not that of IOC), which is totally legal,” said IOA joint secretary Rakesh Gupta. “As far as the suspension issue is concerned, the NRAI cannot debar anyone from voting or attending their office as all members are IOA office bearers by virtue of holding posts in other sporting federations.”

Claiming that the players would not be hurt in this entire process where the tug of war is in between the federations and their office bearers, Secretary General of the suspended IOA, Lalit Bhanot, told The Tribune that very soon the matter would be resolved.

“We would never want that Indian players are left out of any international competition. Very soon we will resolve the issue,” he stated.

Sydney, February 8
Australia maintained their dominance over West Indies, cruising to a five-wicket victory to lead the One-day International series 4-0.

Only a belligerent unbeaten century from Man of the Match Kieron Pollard gave the West Indies a respectable score of 220 after they were 55 for six at one stage.

But it was easily run down by the Australians, who secured victory with 31 balls to spare and will now go after a series clean sweep in Melbourne on Sunday.

If not for Pollard’s 109 off 136 balls, it would have been an even more emphatic victory for Michael Clarke’s team who always had control of the run chase under lights.

Shane Watson followed up his 122 in Wednesday’s 39-run series-clinching win in Canberra with 76 off 84 balls and skipper Clarke hit 37 off 65 balls before he was out with the scores level.

Glen Maxwell came in and hit the winning run with Matthew Wade not out 13.

Yet despite Australia’s dominance the towering Pollard was named man-of-the-match for preventing his team’s innings from falling apart after it had tottered at 55 for six before a series of late partnerships gave his side something to defend. It was Pollard’s third ODI century and his second against Australia and he had to curb his usual aggressive batting style as the West Indies threatened to repeat their total of 70 in the first ODI of the series in Perth. — Reuters

Scoreboard

West Indies

Powell c Maxwell b Johnson 9

Charles b Johnson 0

Darren Bravo c Finch b Johnson 4

Dwayne Bravo lbw b Maxwell 3

Pollard not out 109

Deonarine c Finch b Cutting 10

Thomas c Finch b Cutting 7

Sammy c Clarke b Cutting 25

Russell c Maxwell b Faulkner 18

Narine c Wade b McKay 23

Best run out 1

Extras: (b 1, lb 1, w 9) 11

Total: (all out; 49.4 overs) 220

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-17, 3-17, 4-22, 5-45, 6-55, 7-98, 8-133, 9-197

Bowling

McKay 10-2-41-1, Johnson 10-1-36-3, Maxwell 10-0-34-1, Cutting 10-1-45-3, Faulkner 9.4-1-62-1

Australia

Watson c Thomas b Best 76

Finch lbw b Narine 25

Hughes c DJ Bravo b Narine 23

Clarke c Thomas b Best 37

Voges c Sammy b Russell 28

Wade not out 13

Maxwell not out 1

Extras: (lb 8, w 8, nb 2) 18

Total (5 wkts; 44.5 overs) 221

Fall of wickets: 1-53, 2-115, 3-145, 4-198, 5-220

Bowling:Best 9.5-0-38-2, Russell 6-0-40-1, Sammy 2-0-16-0, Narine 10-1-34-2, Dwayne Bravo 4-0-25-0, Deonarine 8-0-38-0, Pollard 5-0-22-0

Man of the Match: Kieron Pollard

BRIEFLY

Edfors, Gangjee fire as Delhi secure GPL lead
Aamby Valley: It turned out to be a field day for Delhi Darts as Johan Edfors and Rahil Gangjee’s 1-2 finish gave the team a one-shot lead over UP Eagles on the opening day of the inaugural franchise-based Golf Premier League, here today. Sweden’s Edfors was at “home” as he carded a fine six-under 49 for the par-55 14-hole round to take a one-shot lead over his Delhi Darts teammate Rahil Gangjee. Maharashtra 59ers were lying third at eight-under while Tamil Nadu Pullees and Witalsee Punjab Lancers finished the day at tied fourth position.

AITA writes to rebels in effort to end impasse
New Delhi: In its last ditch effort to break the deadlock, the AITA has written to the rebel players. The promises that were verbally communicated to players on January 10 ahead of the selection committee meeting for the Korea tie include business class airfare for Asia/Oceania Group ties, a squad of six players and appointment of team physiotherapist in consultation with the players. AITA CEO: Hironmoy Chatterjee said “Whatever we had committed, we have written all that to Somdev today. We have also asked for their availability. We are in a catch 22 situation. Whatever was possible we have given them.” — Agencies