Scoreboard

South Africa

de Kock c Dhoni b Kumar 6

Amla b Ashwin 22

du Plessis b Ashwin 58

Duminy not out 45

de Villiers c Rohit b Ashwin 10

Miller not out 23

Extras (b 1, lb 3, w 3, nb 1) 8

Total (4 wickets; 20 overs) 172

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-44, 3-115, 4-129

Bowling

Kumar 4-0-33-1

Mohit 3-0-34-0

Ashwin 4-0-22-3

Jadeja 2-0-8-0

Raina 4-0-35-0

Mishra 3-0-36-0

India

Rohit c du Plessis b Hendricks 24

Rahane c de Villiers b Parnell 32

Kohli not out 72

Yuvraj c de Villiers b Tahir 18

Raina c du Plessis b Hendricks 21

Dhoni not out 0

Extras (w 9) 9

Total (4 wickets; 19.1 overs) 176

Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-77, 3-133, 4-167

Bowling

Duminy 3-0-29-0

A. Morkel 2-0-17-0

Steyn 3.1-0-36-0

Hendricks 4-0-31-2

Parnell 3-0-33-1

Tahir 4-0-30-1

Mumbai, April 4
The Federation of International Cricketers' Associations wants the under-fire N Srinivasan to stand aside from all ICC functions after being forced out as BCCI president owing to the IPL betting scandal.

Srinivasan has been forced to step aside following the Supreme Court's direction that former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Shivlal Yadav perform split duties as BCCI president in his place. While Gavaskar has been made in-charge of the IPL, Yadav has been directed to look after non-IPL related issues.

FICA Executive Chairman Paul Marsh today said it was imperative that the ICC Board also acted strongly in response to the situation involving Srinivasan who is scheduled to take over as the first chairman of ICC Board in June.

Marsh called on the ICC Board to take note of the Supreme Court's recent orders and apply the same principles to ICC activities.

"Serious allegations of betting and spot fixing in IPL 2013 have been made against Gurunath Meiyappan as the alleged Team Principal of Chennai Super Kings and these remain the subject of proceedings before the Indian Supreme Court," said Marsh in a media release.

"While we are pleased that Srinivasan, at the behest of the Supreme Court, has agreed to step down from his duties as BCCI president, we are of the firm belief that he should not be exercising any functions on behalf of the ICC either, while any investigations concerning his conduct or that of his company are pending or unresolved."

"The cricket world has been told time and again by the ICC that corruption is the game's biggest issue and that the game has a zero tolerance approach to it," Marsh added.

"For our game to survive we need it to be not only free of corruption but free of any suspicion of corruption. The ICC needs to put the reputation of the game and confidence in its procedures first. The players, and other stakeholders in the game, are entitled to expect this from the ICC's Executive Board.

"Under the current circumstances, the prospect of Mr Srinivasan taking the highest posting in world cricket while these matters are unresolved, is an impossible one," he added. — PTI

London, April 4
Graeme Smith believes South Africa are in safe hands, despite his retirement as captain and the recent departures of coach Gary Kirsten and all rounder Jacques Kallis, because the squad are still brimming with experience.

Smith told a news conference with his English county team Surrey at the Oval on Thursday that the top-ranked Test side in the world had nothing to worry about.

"There have been a lot of positive changes in South African cricket in the past 11 to 12 years," Smith said.

"Structure and systems are now there to help the next generation to be better. It's now more professional than ever before. You've got six or seven guys that are groomed to move into that senior player role." — Reuters

Mirpur, April 4
Perhaps conditions are overrated in cricket. That rings true at least in women’s cricket. While the men’s teams from Australia and England struggled to come to terms with the typical subcontinental conditions and made hasty exit from the T20 World Cup, the women’s teams from the two countries have entered the final.

While defending champions Australia edged past the fighting West Indies on Thursday, England thrashed South Africa by nine wickets on Friday to set-up a summit clash. Incidentally, Australia had beaten England in the final of the last World Cup.

With the same two teams making the final for the second time in a row, it may suggest that women’s cricket is dominated by these two countries, England seamer Anya Shrubsole, adjudged woman of the match for her brilliant exhibition of swing bowling, doesn’t quite agree with the assumption.

“You could say we are a little ahead of others but to say we are dominating isn’t correct perhaps. West Indies are a very good team, they are playing really well. South Africa have made the semis, they are improving fast. So I think the standard is improving overall,” she said.

While we are on the subject, the pacer, who swung the ball really well and struck two vital blows at the outset to restrict South Africa to just 101, said she watched West Indian pacers like Malcolm Marshall and Michael Holding while growing up. Though she said she hasn’t modelled her action on anyone, it’s easy to identify the source of her inspiration after she brought up the names of the legendary West Indian fast bowlers.

With just 102 runs to get, England knocked off the target in the 17th over, with nine wickets to spare.

“We are pretty satisfied with what we have done in the tournament. We came in as underdogs into the tournament, and going ahead to play the semis from that position is an achievement for us. I am sure it’s going to inspire many girls back home to take up the game and come back as a better team in future,” said South Africa skipper Mignon du Preez.

Brief scores: South Africa Women 101 in 19.5 overs (Tryon 40; Shrubsole 2/12, Grundy 2/22); England Women 102/1 in 16.5 overs (Taylor 44*, Edwards 36)

Mirpur, April 4
He looked a little surprised. Perhaps just to make sure he had heard it right, he repeated the request put to him, aloud, "You are from India and you want to talk about hockey?" he said, putting as much stress as possible on every word he spoke in a strange mix of Bangla, English and Hindi. "Not cricket?" he asked, checking one final time.

It's easy to understand where the middle-aged assistant manager of Abahani Sports Club, one of the two top sports clubs in Dhaka, the other being Mohammedan Sporting Club, was coming from. It's the club which Raman Lamba, the Indian cricketer, played for in the 90s; it's the same club where he died when he was struck on the head while fielding.

Ever since, a visit to the club has become almost a must for every visiting Indian sports journalist. The club, even though it's tough to talk about the tragic incident time and again, accommodates as many requests as possible, but not without an obvious discomfort. It does it with a sense of obligation to the deceased cricketer rather than anything else.

But mention hockey, and every face in the vicinity lights up, that's of course when they are convinced that one actually wants to talk about hockey. "We had several great Indian players playing for our club in the 90s… (Dhanraj) Pillay, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Riaz, Baljeet Dhillon… but Pillay was class apart, he was more popular here than he was perhaps back in India" says Ahsan Rana, a former Bangladesh captain and Abahani player. "Pillay was a great player, a great human being too. For him, the association with our club wasn't just for money, he gave his heart and soul to the club. He was our mentor, and it was a matter of pride for everyone to play alongside him."

There's a bigger reason why hockey buffs remember Pillay so fondly in Dhaka. From mid 90s to a couple of years after the turn of the century, club hockey was at its best in Dhaka, with rivalry between Abahani and Mohammedan Sporting, the passion.

"At that time the rivalry between the two clubs was at its peak. While the likes of Pilllay, Mukesh played for Abahani, the legendary Shahbaz Ahmed and Tahir Zaman from Pakistan played for Mohammedan. The stadium would be packed and the environment was similar to that you see during the India-Pakistan cricket match, perhaps even more exhilarating," said Mohammed Sikander, another former national hockey player. "And mind you, it wasn't religion based. It was about who liked which club and which players."

The mercurial Pillay, known as much for his fiery temper as for his skills back home, was his usual self in Dhaka too. While he had crowds marveling over his stick work and dazzling runs on the field, he wasn't averse to throwing tantrums here too. "During one particularly heated game, some Mohammedan supporters abused him. He was so infuriated that he stormed out of the stadium and drove straight to the airport. And before anyone could do anything, he was back in India," chuckled Rana. "But everyone still adores him here, we are still in touch with him."

So, how's hockey doing now? "It's almost dead. Cricket has killed it. Every influential person and sponsors want to be seen associated with cricket." The refrain sounds all too familiar. "Besides, where are the players like Pillay and Shahbaz who could pull crowds to the stadium?"

Perhaps that too is true, to a large extent.

New Delhi, April 4
Even before the men’s singles quarterfinal could begin at the Siri Fort Sports Complex, India’s Parupalli Kashyap knew he was very much the underdog against world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei.

But after the match, to say that Kashyap crashed out of the India Open Super Series would be too harsh on the world No. 24, who would be happy with the effort he put in against the two-time champion. Kashyap went down 21-15 21-13.

Kashyap had upset world No. 7 Chinese Zhengming Wang in the first round. That caused hopes of another upset today. Kashyap started the proceedings on an attacking note and matched his celebrated opponent stroke for stroke, smash for smash.

The Hyderabadi shuttler showed relentless energy in retrieving Chong Wei’s strokes and had his moments but that proved inadequate in the final analysis.

“I had few winners, but also committed few mistakes in the first game. I knew, I had to be really quick against him to finish it off. My smashes were good, but he was too fast. I played better against him this time. In the second game, I couldn't match him at the net. He was quite sharp at that,” said Kashyap after his defeat. “In the first game, the score was 15-14 in his favour. I had a chance there. I hit the smash out from the centre of the court, so that was very crucial. After that, he played tight, but that was only my best chance.”

In the women’s singles quarterfinals, India’s best bet in the tournament, Saina Nehwal, tried her best to upset former world champion and world No. 2 Yihan Wang, but could not succeed as the host nation’s challenge came to an end.

Eighth seed Saina went down 16-21 14-21 in one of the most anticipated encounters of the day.

Saina adapted an aggressive approach from the start and tried her best to control the pace of the rallies, but Yihan made the most of her height advantage and combination of drops and smashes to always keep her nose ahead in the encounter.

“I was confident but wasn’t taking her lightly. I was feeling good about myself and played to my strength,” Yihan said after the match.

In the women’s singles semifinals, it will be an all-Chinese affair with top seed Li Xuerui, second seed Shixian Wang and unseeded Liu Xin also making the last-four stage.

Busan, April 4
Somdev Devvarman had to dig deep into his reservoir of experience to tame a fighting Hyeon Chung but Sanam Singh lost the second singles to Yong-Kyu Lim, leaving India and Korea locked at 1-1 on the first day of their second round Asia/Oceania Group I tie on Friday.

Devvarman was severely tested by a player who was making his Davis Cup debut and ranked 289 placed below him before prevailing 7-6 (4), 7-6(3), 6-4 after three hours and thirty minutes of intense tennis in the opening singles.

The 17-year old Korean, last year’s Wimbledon juniors runner-up, showed that he was progressing well but ultimately fell short against a player who didn’t give up.

Chung had Devvarmangasping in the marathon rubber as he led 4-1 and 5-2 in the first two sets but the Indian saved his side from major embarrassment with a stunning comeback.

Sanam, chosen ahead of tall and big-serving Saketh Myneni, though could not make it an all-win day for India as he lost 6-7 (5), 4-6, 4-6 to Korea's number one player Lim in the second rubber, which lasted two hours and 45 minutes.

Sanam, who was originally drafted as a reserve, got the chance to play after Yuki Bhambri pulled out of the tie due to a foot injury.

India could have been in a very embarrassing position had Devvarman not regrouped after falling behind twice at Spo1 Tennis Courts. — PTI

Chandigarh, April 4
Gurbaj Singh made a comeback two the Indian team after two years even as Sandeep Singh was not included in the national hockey team for this month's preparatory tour to Europe.

Gurbaj, who has been out of the team since the 2012 Olympics, was called back for the month-long national camp by chief coach Terry Walsh after playing a key role in Delhi Waveriders' title win in the Hockey India League.

"It feels good to be back after two years. The camp was a good experience for me; training with a new coach and adjusting to his style of coaching," said Gurbaj. Gurbaj is part of the 21-member team, which will depart for The Netherlands on April 9 to play five games, including two against the Dutch and one against Belgium.

"The tour will give us a chance to experiment with the team. Obviously we won't be exposing our strategy for the World Cup. Personally I will try to play my best and impress the management," he added.

Drag-flicker Sandeep was not included in the squad. Danish Mujtaba also made a return, while defender Gurinder Singh, midfielder Devindar Walmiki and striker Lalit Upadhyay are the new names in the squad.

While Sardar Singh will lead the side, drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh has been named the vice-captain. 

Squad

Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh, HarjotSingh.

Defenders: Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh (vice-captain), VR Raghunath, Kothajit Singh, Gurinder Singh, Gurbaj Singh

Midfielders: Sardar Singh (captain), SK Uthappa, Dharamvir Singh, Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Danish Mujtaba, Devindar Walmiki

Forwards: SV Sunil, Nikkin Thimmaiah, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Yuvraj Walmiki, Lalit Upadhyay.

Mohali, April 4
Harbhajan Singh, displaying what he’s capable of doing with the bat, came in at No. 3 and hit 78 off 50 balls to propel Punjab to a nine-run win over Services in their Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy match here today. Harbhajan was aided by Himanshu Chawla’s 50 off 34 as Punjab ended up with 154/6.

Leg-spinner Rahul Sharma then took 4/21 as Punjab kept Services down to 145/9 in their 20 overs. Services lost three wickets to run-outs.

Punjab were down to 35 before Harbhajan and Himanshu added 99 for the fourth wicket.

Results

Punjab (154/6) beat Services (145/9) by nine runs

Haryana (140/7) lost to Delhi (142/1) by nine wickets

Himachal Pradesh (127/8) beat J&K (110/10) by 17 runs

BRIEFLY

SL Cricket offers big money if team wins final
Colombo: Sri Lanka Cricket has offered an incentive to the national team players as a reward for reaching the final of the World T20. SLC said that a further $1500 would be made available to them if they emerged winners. This will be in addition to the $1500 the players have already become eligible for after winning the semifinal against West Indies. SLC last month announced performance-based incentives to players after a major pay row. The players had refused to sign new central contracts and demanded more share of revenue from ICC events.

Sri Lanka's prayers were answered, says Sammy
Mirpur: Divine intervention may have been partially responsible for Sri Lanka's World T20 semifinal victory on Thursday, according to West Indies captain Darren Sammy. Chasing 161 for victory, holders West Indies were 80 for four in the 14th over when a hailstorm lashed the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. Sammy felt that batting greats Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, who are playing in their final Twenty20 tournament, were perhaps destined to taste World Cup glory at last. "We know God normally answers our prayers but today I guess two gentlemen who have played for Sri Lanka, given a lot not only to Sri Lanka cricket but cricket as a whole, I guess the Almighty wants them to leave on a high." — Agencies

Schumi showing moments of consciousness
Paris: Seven-times Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher, who suffered serious head injuries in a December skiing accident, is making progress and showing signs of waking from an artificial coma, his agent said. "Michael is making progress on his way. He shows moments of consciousness and awakening," Sabine Kehm said in a statement.

Odisha, SAI join Haryana and Punjab in Jr hockey semis
Chennai: Hockey Odisha and Sports Authority of India have joined Haryana and Punjab in the semifinals to be played this Saturday. Haryana will take on Punjab while SAI will clash against Odisha in the semis. In a Pool B match, Hockey Odisha beat Mumbai 4-0 to enter the last four, while SAI beat Hockey Bhopal 5-0 to progress.

No bias in giving RR games to Ahmedabad: Gavaskar
Mumbai: Interim BCCI-IPL President Sunil Gavaskar said the uncertainty over Jaipur's status to host the T20 league games and Rajasthan Royals' willingness to play in Ahmedabad led to the franchise's home ties to be shifted to the Motera Ground in the Gujarat city. "We have scheduled the matches according to the okays that we have received from various associations. And because there was that little bit of uncertainty about Jaipur," Gavaskar said.