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Umar puts Pakistan back on track after win over Australia
Old men at sea: Oz have six in their boat
Our fielding was shoddy, says Bailey
dhaka
diary
Rafa takes aim at elusive title
PBA felicitates players, coaches
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coverage Kohli, Rohit hit half-centuries as Men in Blue register 7-wicket victory over West Indies Subhash Rajta in Mirpur
It’s almost unbelievable. How could an attack that had been the butt of ridicule until a few days back change into a potent force almost overnight? But that has happened, even if this transformation from being the weakest weak link to a match-winner is scarcely believable. Having seen the Indian attack struggle against almost every team, except on the tailored pitches at home, one might have felt tempted to brush aside their fine performance against Pakistan in the opener on Friday as a lucky fluke. But a day later, they just not repeated it but improved it even further, restricting the explosive West Indies, packed with power hitters of the calibre of Chris Gayle, to mere 129. And the result was the same, another easy win for India, with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma hitting half-centuries to see the team home. While the lion’s share of the credit goes to the bowlers again, the young batting duo too deserves praise for chasing down the target with considerable ease. A tentative Yuvraj Singh, who looked desperate to stay not out, caused some panic by playing two dot balls and falling on the third in the final over with India needing one run for victory. Raina, however, finished off the game in the very next ball. With two wins from two difficult games, India’s chances of qualifying for the semifinals are as bright as the sparkling floodlights at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium. That India managed to restrict West Indies to this below-par score despite dropping the dangerous Gayle twice early on shows how well they bowled. It appeared it wasn’t going to be India’s day when R Ashwin dropped the left-hander at slip off Mohammed Shami, and then Yuvraj Singh grounded a skier in the deep when Gayle was on 18. The big hitter threatened to make the most of India’s initial generosity when he smashed Shami for a six and a boundary in his very next over. That, however, turned out to be a false alarm, what with the Indian pacers, spinners and fielders — except for those two dropped catches — putting up a grand show. As Suresh Raina had predicted on the eve of the game, the West Indian batsmen found it extremely difficult to rotate the strike. That every bowler, except for Raina, bowled dot balls in double figures show how they stifled the Caribbean six-hitters. And with singles difficult to get, the big hits too dried up, except for the last over in which Ravindra Jadeja went for 21 runs. There was a possibility of the defending champions launching a late charge with Gayle, though struggling to middle and find gaps, hanging around. But when he was run out for an uncharacteristic 33-ball 34, the hope began to fade. And then Amit Mishra, who was named Man of the Match second game in a row, dealt two quick blows, removing Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo in quick succession, to snuff out any hopes of recovery for the defending champions. The leg-spinner, like in the game against Pakistan, was brilliant in the middle overs. His clever mix of leg-spinners and googlies left the batsmen confounded, and was deservingly adjudged man of the match again. He was well supported by Ashwin and Jadeja. Although Jadeja was a little expensive, he picked up three wickets to peg the West Indians back. Howzzat, scorer!
A bizarre confusion about the West Indian total led to a delay of 10 minutes at the start of the chase. The scorers, who had initially put the total at 130, changed it to 129, thus giving India a target of 130 instead of 131. As the scorers searched for the mistake and corrected it, it was already 10 minutes past the scheduled start. Scoreboard India |
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Umar puts Pakistan back on track after win over Australia
Mirpur, March 23 No doubt what Akmal did was brilliant, but what Glenn Maxwell did was simply incredible, so out of this world. The Australian power-hitter simply tore apart Pakistan's lethal four-pronged spin attack with a hurricane 33-ball 74, studded with seven hits to the fence and six over it, to give Pakistan a serious scare. It's a shame, though, that a knock as brilliant as his couldn't take the Australians home, falling short by just 16 while chasing a mammoth 192-run target. It was difficult to imagine an Australian win after Pakistan, riding on a remarkable 94 from Umar Akmal, posted a challenging 191 on the board, especially in view of their heavy-duty spin attack. The target, for all practical purposes, slipped into the realms of the impossible when Australia lost David Warner and Shane Watson in the very first over. But then came the awe-inspiring counter-attack from the Australians, with the Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch stitching together a 118-run partnership for the third wicket in just 64 balls. Maxwell led the charge, unleashing a torrent of boundaries and sixes to all corners of the ground, off every bowler who was unfortunate enough to bowl to him. And just like that, he raced to his 50 off just 18 balls (54, to be precise), with 50 coming through boundaries — five boundaries and five sixes. Australia looked firmly on course of a fabulous victory until Maxwell was out in the middle, hammering pacers and spinners alike. Incidentally, he took 30 runs off one over from Bilawal Bhatti. And when he finally fell for 74, caught by Ahmed Shehzad off Shahid Afridi inches off the ropes, he had put Australia on the threshold of what looked an improbable win at one stage — Australia needed just 66 off 50 balls with seven wickets. His fall, however, shifted the momentum, as skipper George Bailey put it later, and they fell short of the target by 16 runs. His departure offered Pakistan a window of opportunity, and they did well to crawl back and eventually seal the victory. Earlier, Pakistan did extremely well to post the total they did after losing two wickets, including that of skipper Mohammed Hafeez, with just 25 runs on the board. But then the Akmal brothers came together and put on 96 runs for the third wicket. While Kamran held up one end, Umar went on the offensive at the other and made a mockery of the Australian attack. In the end, Shahid Afridi smashed a quick 20. Brief Scores: Pak: 191/5 (Umar 94) bt Australia 175 (Maxwell 74, Finch 65) by 16 runs.
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Old men at sea: Oz have six in their boat
Mirpur, March 23 Chances are that a bulk of that 30 per cent response came in from Australia, for the Aussies have eight players over 30 in their squad, Hogg being the oldest and Brad Hodge closing in on 40. The third Brad in the side (Brad Haddin) is 36. Just for the record, India have just three on the wrong side of the 30s. On Sunday, with six of the 30-plus in the playing XI, including Hogg and Hodge, the Australians weren't half as sharp as they normally are on the field. They dropped catches, fumbled quite a few times and there weren't many of those spectacular dives on view either. Two of the three drops were by Hogg, a straightforward chance at mid-wicket of Umar Akmal and, and Hodge, who couldn't hold on to a sharp catch from Afridi at point. This further strengthens the case against old men in this format, at least as far as fielding is concerned. Age, of course, has never been a consideration for Australia; they have always picked their players on form and fitness. But then, it's T20 — a catch taken or dropped here could actually decide the fate of the game. It probably did today. Had Hogg held on to that Umar Akmal catch when the batsman was on just 22 — he went on to make a brilliant 54-ball 94 — the result could have been different. Australian captain George Bailey later admitted that the fielding was a problem. “Batting and bowling go either way, but fielding was in our hands and we've set high standards and we didn't do well today,” he said.
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Discussed taking players off due to lightning: Broad
Chittagong, March 23 Heavy rain forced the players off after 5.2 overs of New Zealand's innings, with McCullum's side winning the game on the Duckworth-Lewis method, and both sets of players had been concerned about lightning strikes in the previous over. Umpires Aleem Dar and Paul Reiffel had kept them out on the field before the rain forced them off in the Group 1 match. The Duckworth-Lewis method only comes into play in Twenty/20 if both sides had faced a minimum of five overs. “To be as polite as I possibly can be, I think it was distinctly average decision making, keeping us out there after the first lightning strike,” Broad said. “It's not sour grapes because I think both sides were uncomfortable about being out there with such heavy lightning around. “I asked the umpires for a bit of clarity on the decision making at the end of the game and they didn't see the lightning and didn't think it was a threat." Broad added that he and McCullum, who was batting at the time, had discussed the possibility of ignoring the umpires and taking their teams off. “When the umpires got together and kept saying it was fine, Baz (McCullum) and I had a discussion about taking our players off the field because we didn't agree (with them),” Broad said. “At the end of the day it's a game of cricket and I don't think the crowd and players should be under threat. “Personally, if I'd have been in their shoes I would have had the players off the field but that's not the way its worked.” The two sides remained on the field and McCullum belted the final ball of the fifth over, off Broad, for a six that took New Zealand past the Duckworth-Lewis target score. Veteran New Zealand swing bowler Kyle Mills, who said he was “cowering in the dressing room” during the lightning strikes, felt McCullum's six-ball innings of 16 had been crucial. Broad fined
Stuart Broad has been fined 15 percent of his match fee for criticising the officials after his side's rain-affected T20 defeat to New Zealand, the ICC said on Sunday.— Reuters |
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Our fielding was shoddy, says Bailey
MIRPUR, March 23 “It was something that we spoke about, that we thought in this tournament could be a point of difference. It's something we've done very well in the last few games, and it just wasn't to the standard that we set ourselves. I am not as disappointed with the bowling as the fielding. I wasn't too disappointed with the bowling. There is always things you can improve, but I think they were two for 40-odd after about seven overs, which was a really good start for us. Certainly there are things to improve on, but I am not too disappointed,” he added. Bailey said the third-wicket partnership between Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell should have been capitalised on by the batsmen who followed them to the crease. But the captain himself had a hard time handling the spinners. “It was just a shift in momentum,” Bailey said. “I certainly found it pretty hard to get going, whether to take that risk and knowing they had probably, as most teams do, five or six overs from their best bowlers left; Afridi, Ajmal and Gul all bowled really well, he said. — Agencies
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dhaka
diary Sunday evening had a strong forecast for rain and thunder. Yet, one couldn’t notice a single spectator in the packed house who had come with an umbrella or any other paraphernalia to deal with rain. The rain forecast, it seemed, was the last thing on their minds as they watched two back-to-back blockbuster games, without even a hint of rain or thunder. Guess, certain things don’t change at all, no matter wherever you go in the world. Good time
A group of schoolchildren trooped into the stadium for the Australia-Pakistan match in a single, straight line and headed straight to their designated place. The kids, looking a disciplined lot, watched the game quietly from their seats, occasionally applauding a boundary or the fall of wicket. Their teacher, perhaps responsible for cultivating this acute sense of discipline amongst them, started pushing the kids out of their seats to enjoy themselves. Soon, the kids were doing what they are supposed to do — shouting, screaming and dancing and having a good time. |
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Anand takes sole lead after win
The hard-earned victory proved crucial for the five-time World Champion Anand as he took his tally to a six points out of a possible nine. The equations went for a toss in the ninth round as Shakhriayar Mamedyarov defeated top seed Levon Aronian of Armenia and Vladimir Kramnik suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Russian teammate Sergey Karjakin. The other game between Russian duo of Dmitry Andreikin and Peter Svidler ended in a draw. With five rounds still to come, Anand now enjoys a full point lead over Aronian who remained on five points after the debacle. Kramnik was joined by Karjakin and Mamedyarov on 4.5 points for joint third spot while Andreikin and Svidler are now joint sixth on four points apiece. Topalov is on the last spot on 3.5 points. To sum things up, Anand is on a roll and will fancy his chances a great deal now. It was Anand’s day all the way. Up against Topalov’s pet Sicilian Najdorf, Anand did not give much away in the opening as white and retained a minuscule advantage as the game entered unchartered territories. Topalov decided to go for exchanges at regular intervals while his position remained slightly worse and this was not a good strategy as Anand continued to exert pressure when the game reached queen and minor piece endgame. The Indian picked up a pawn when Topalov erred and handled the remaining technicalities of the queen and pawns endgame in masterly fashion to script his third victory in the tournament. Mamedyarov played the spoiler for Aronian and continued with his roller-coaster ride in the tournament. After blundering his way against Kramnik in the seventh round when he mishandled a won position and lost, Mamedyarov made sure he held on to his own after attaining an advantage against Aronian who was out of sorts in this ninth round game. Mamedyarov won in 44 moves. Karjakin continued with his comeback act and defeated Kramnik for his second straight victory. Starting with an ultra-safe approach in the opening, Karjakin capitalised on some erroneous play by Kramnik in the middle game to win a handful of pawns. The technicalities thereafter were not difficult to handle. — PTI
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Rafa takes aim at elusive title
Miami, March 23 The Spaniard has won 62 titles but a victory on the Miami hardcourts is not among them. Three times Nadal has made it to the final and the Spaniard served notice that he plans to be back there again after disposing of Hewitt in just over an hour. Novak Djokovic, a three-time winner in Miami, did not play on Saturday but became the first player through to the fourth round when his scheduled opponent Florian Mayer pulled out with a groin injury. Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka survived a rollercoaster start to his campaign, advancing with a bumpy 6-0 3-6 6-3 win over Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver. Serena battles on
Serena Williams battled her way into the fourth round with a 6-4 4-6 6-4 win over Caroline Garcia. Fourth seed Maria Sharapova, a five-time runner-up in Miami, was more up beat about her performance coming out on top in a tough three-hour, three set battle with Czech Lucie Safarova 6-4 6-7 (7) 6-2. In other action, Angelique Kerber raced into the fourth round with a 6-0 6-2 demolition of Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova while Sara Errani was stopped 6-3 2-6 6-4 by Ekaterina Makarova. — Reuters Bhupathi-Anderson crash out
Mahesh Bhupathi and his South African partner Kevin Anderson went down fighting in a thrilling three-setter against Alexander Peya of Austria and Bruno Soares of Brazil to crash out in the first round. Bhupathi-Anderson lost 4-6 6-4 6-10. Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi defeated the Italian duo of Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-3 6-2 in the first round. — PTI |
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Air India defend National title
Lucknow, March 23 Air India was high on confidence from the start as Gaganpreet Singh pounded the ball into the net from a penalty corner in the 14th minute. Gaganpreet converted another penalty corner in the 29th minute as Air India led 2-0 going in the break. In the second half, Air India did not give CAG any opportunity to take over. In the 39th minute, Air India scored their third goal with Gaganpreet notching up a hat-trick. In the 59th minute Dhyan Singh converted a penalty stroke for CAG, but Air India added another goal to complete a well deserved win. Earlier, hosts Uttar Pradesh overcame Railway Sports Promotion Board 4-2 to claim the third position in the championship. Railways women beat Haryana in final Bhopal: Railway Sports Promotion Board shocked defending Champions Haryana 4-0 to clinch the senior women’s National Championship (Division A). Railways kept attacking the opponents in the entire first session. Their consistency saw results as Vandana Katariya scored in the 25th minute. Just before going into the break, captain TH Chanchan scored the second. Within three minutes into the second half, Poonam Rani scored the third and five minutes later, Katariya scored her second to seal the win. In a one-sided match, Jharkhand beat Punjab 5-0 to finish third. — PTI Haryana girls win third successive title
Mysore: Defending champions Haranya won their third consecutive title as they defeated Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 2-0 in the summit clash of the junior women’s National Championship (Division A) here today. Harayna started strong, scoring just eight minutes into the game through Narinder Kaur. This was the only goal for the session. Haryana started the second session with a quick goal in the 40th minute. Captain Neha Goyal’s goal proved enough as Haryana easily defended their title. Meanwhile, Jharkhand defeated Hockey Odisha 3-1 via penalty shootout to finish third in the championship. Both the teams kept attacking in the entire match but failed to score any goal in regulation time. While Jharkhand failed to score from the first two attempts, Rajni Soreng, Kanti Pradhan and Sitamani Topno converted the remaining three attempts. On the other hand, Odisha were unable to keep their nerves and missed their first three attempts. Sarojini Ekka scored the lone goal which was not enough. |
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Rooney wonder goal sets United up for another win
London, March 23 The two goals moved Rooney above Jack Rowley into third place on United’s all-time scoring chart, with 212, behind Bobby Charlton (249) and Denis Law (237). The England forward struck his astonishing first goal in the seventh minute from just inside West Ham’s half after winning a battle for a loose ball with central defender James Tomkins. Rooney, skippering the side, glanced up and saw Spanish goalkeeper Adrian off his line before blasting his shot high into the air and watching it bounce before landing in the net. The result puts United within 11 points of fourth-placed Arsenal and they will face neighbours Manchester City in Tuesday’s derby at Old Trafford in far better spirits. Yaya Toure scored a hat-trick, including two penalties, as City wrapped up a punishing 5-0 victory over 10-man Fulham and Luis Suarez’s prolific run continued with a treble as Liverpool twice came from behind to thrash Cardiff City 6-3. — Reuters
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PBA felicitates players, coaches
Ludhiana, March 23 Cash incentives worth Rs 12 lakh were given out at a function organized during the Punjab State Inter College Basketball League at Guru Nanak Stadium here today. The players who represented the senior team in the last three Nationals — one of which Punjab won, and reached the finals in the other two — were given a total of Rs 5 lakh. The players who were honoured included former captains Talwinder Singh and Jagdeep Singh (Sr.) and youngsters, Palpreet Singh, Satnam Singh Bhamra and Loveneet Singh, who are part of the current team. The coaches who were given the cash awards are Ashwani Kumar, Lakhwinder Singh, Gurkirpal Singh, Harjinder Singh and the current senior team coaches, Devinder Pal Singh and Jaipal Singh.
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Mirpur, March 23
KHANTY MANSIYSK (RUSSIA), March 23
