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Pakistan bury the ghost with stunning win From Ashish Shukla COLOMBO, July 25: Pakistan buried the ghosts of the recent home series loss against India and strengthened their chances of entering the final with a stunning 59-run victory over the arch rivals in the super league match of...........more Rajinder’s removal could prove costly: Dhindsa JALANDHAR, July 25: Terming the removal of chief coach Rajinder Singh just before the Athens Olympics as "unfortunate", former Sports Minister S ..............more Pakistan
to visit India KOLKATA, July 25: Pakistan cricket team will tour India early next year to play a full series, BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said here today. ..........more Cricket team symbolises unity in diversity, says Mukherjee KOLKATA, July 25: Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee today hailed the Indian cricket team saying it symbolised the country’s underlined principal of ‘unity in diversity. Mukherjee said the team was "led from the front" by a Bengali Brahmin Sourav Ganguly while the pace attack was . . ..........more |
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Love struck Irfan VADODARA, July 25: The Haryana-based girl, who had created quite a stir by her marriage proposal to Indian speedstar Irfan Pathan, was taken home by her parents from the women’s welfare centre here.............more Serena,
Davenport CARSON (California), July 25: Top seed Serena Williams overcame an erratic Elena Dementieva 6-3 7-6 in their semi-final at the JP Morgan Chase open to set up a title showdown against the in-form Lindsay Davenport. ...........more Indo-Pak
clash draws COLOMBO, July 25: Over 3,000 tickets were sold for the clash between arch rivals India and Pakistan in the second phase league match of the Indian Oil Asia Cup cricket tournament at the R Premadasa Stadium here this evening. ..........more Anand
draws third DORTMUND (Germany), July 25: World No 2 Viswanathan Anand tackled at will Aeroflot Open champion Sergei Rublevski of Russia drawing their third round of the preliminaries of the Dortmund Sparkassen chess championship here. ....more |
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Pakistan bury the ghost with stunning win From Ashish Shukla COLOMBO, July 25: Pakistan buried the ghosts of the recent home series loss against India and strengthened their chances of entering the final with a stunning 59-run victory over the arch rivals in the super league match of the Asia Cup one-day cricket tournament here today. Piloted by a scintillating hundred from Shoaib Malik, Inzamam-ul Haq’s men defied form and odds to post a mammoth 300 for nine before restricting the Indians to 241 for eight in a tense day-night encounter at the Premadasa Stadium. The emphatic win has reversed Pakistan’s fortune after their humiliating loss to hosts Sri Lanka in their first super league match. India, however, just managed to deprive Pakistan of a crucial bonus point by going past the 240-mark in the final over and need to defeat the hosts Sri Lanka with maximum points on Tuesday to edge out Pakistan from the final of the six-nation tournament. Pakistan’s victory has assured Sri Lanka, who are at the top of the table with 12 points from two matches, of a berth in the final while the second spot will be decided by the India vs Sri Lanka match on Tuesday. The 22-year old Malik played a key role for his team’s success as he not only notched up his second century tournament with a 127-ball 143 but also chipped in with two wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh to derail the Indian run chase. The man of the match was the dominant partner in the 103-run second wicket partnership in which Yasir Hameed (31) played the supporting cast to perfection. Malik then was associated in another vital stand with skipper Inzamam as the two added 66 runs for the third wicket. Inzamam, 34 from 48 balls, kept the scoreboard ticking as the youngster seemed to slow down while approaching the hundred. Sourav Ganguly made a brave and surprise decision to go in with five specialist bowlers including two spinners on a batting friendly track. But an off colour Balaji, who conceded 61 runs in seven overs and 26 from the first three, meant the move backfired. Ganguly then had to rely on Sachin Tendulkar whose three wickets did not allow the Pakistanis run away with an even bigger total. However, Yousuf Youhana (29) and Abdul Razzaq (22) ensured the team sustained the momentum in the slog overs and set up the Indians a daunting target. The Indian chase never took off although Shoaib Akhtar’s opening over cost 12 runs. Virender Sehwag lasted only five balls before edging Shabbir Ahmed to wicketkeeper Moin Khan. Ganguly was severely tested by Akhtar initially but from the moment he executed an inside out six off Shabbir, the Indian captain was at his best. He had the Pakistani attack by the scruff of the neck when, the very next ball after slashing Mohammad Sami to the point fence, he was bowled around the pads. Ganguly’s 39 contained struck five fours besides the six off Shabbir and took the pressure off Sachin Tendulkar as 62 runs were added for the second wicket. Tendulkar consumed 103 balls for his 78. He also seemed to suffer from fatigue and took tablets midway through the innings. After the cheap dismissal of Rahul Dravid (5), Yuvraj Singh sustained India’s hopes with a cracking 28 off 29 balls but, trying to turn it on the on-side, the left hander top edged for a simple return catch to Malik. India’s hopes seemed to evaporate after Yuvraj’s fall, and although Tendulkar was at the crease, at 151 for five, it was more a question of whether the team could cross the 240-run mark to rob Pakistan off the single bonus point. Malik lived up to the faith his skipper had reposed in him at number three by collaring the Indian attack with 18 fours and a six. Malik rebuilt the innings after opener Imran Nazir (1) was gone in the first over. He understood his role perfectly and played orthodox and not-so-orthodox strokes in raising his hundred. Specialists notwithstanding, India still struggled to go through its fifth bowlers quota as Laxmipathy Balaji had a horrid outing in the middle. The Indians also had problems in containing the extras as the bowlers conceded 11 wides and four no balls. The fielding too left much to be desired with Sehwag dropping three catches besides a number of fumbles from other fielders. Pakistan batsmen clearly looked to play to a plan and swept the spinners often though it resulted in the fall of captain Inzamamul Haq (34) caught at square leg off Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan and Anil Kumble did a decent job in the middle overs, sending down their spinners fairly economically on a vast ground but the Indians were being stretched thin all the time. Kumble took two wickets, those of Yasir Hameed and Yousuf Youhana (29) but Pakistan always had reserves in batting to blast out in the final overs. Malik was finally out in the 46th over, holing out in the deep off Sachin Tendulkar and then India struck again with Pathan getting past the defences of Abdul Razzaq (22). (PTI) SCOREBOARD Pakistan: I Nazir lbw b Pathan 1 Y Hameed b Kumble 31 S Malik c Kaif b Tendulkar 143 Inzamam-ul Haq c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 34 Y Youhana c Kaif b Kumble 29 A Razzaq b Pathan 22 Moin Khan c Harbhajan b Pathan 14 Younis Khan b Tendulkar 4 Md Sami c Kaif b Tendulkar 1 S Akhtar not out 0 Extras (lb-6, w-11, nb-4) 21 Total (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 300 Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-105, 3-171, 4-234, 5-277, 6-286, 7-296, 8-300, 9-300. Bowling: Pathan 10-0-52-3, Balaji 7-0-61-0, Nehra 8-1-54-0, Harbhajan 10-0-50-1, Kumble 10-0-49-2, Tendulkar 5-0-28-3. India: V Sehwag c Moin b Shabbir 1 S Tendulkar c Nazir b Malik 78 S Ganguly b Sami 39 R Dravid lbw b Razzaq 5 Y Singh c and b Malik 28 M Kaif run out 3 I Pathan c Nazir b Akhtar 38 H Singh c Younis b Shabbir 2 L Balaji not out 5 A Kumble not out 4 Extras (b-2 1b-13 w-10 nb-13) 38 Total (for 8 wkts, 50 overs) 241 Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-79, 3-94, 4-139, 5-151, 6-214, 7-223, 8-233 Bowling: Akhtar 10-0-51-1, Shabbir 10-0-38-2, Sami 10-0-57-1, Razzaq 10-2-38-1, Malik 10-0-42-2. (PTI) |
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Rajinder’s removal could prove costly: Dhindsa JALANDHAR, July 25: Terming the removal of chief coach Rajinder Singh just before the Athens Olympics as "unfortunate", former Sports Minister S S Dhindsa today apprehended that the move could prove costlier for the country. "Coach as well as the players, who were removed, were performing well for the last few years and I do not understand how will it benefit the team by removing them at this juncture when the Olympic games are just a couple of weeks away," Dhindsa told reporters here. Asked on his comments on the allegation made by some of the former Olympians that the IHF was working in arbitrary and dictatorial manner and was ruining Indian hockey, Dhindsa sidesteped the query and said "since IHF is an autonomous body, I do not want to comment on the functioning of it." (PTI) |
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Pakistan to visit India next year KOLKATA, July 25: Pakistan cricket team will tour India early next year to play a full series, BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said here today. Dalmiya, however, told PTI that the final itinerary was yet to be decided. But a BCCI source said that the tour would take place in coming March-April and include three Tests and five one-dayers. Dalmiya, who has taken over as Asian Cricket Council president, told newspersons that following the resumption of the Indo-Pak bilateral ties, the ACC was now chalking out a detailed programme for the development of the game in the continent. "For sometime the ACC could not function well because of the non-existence of bilateral cricketing ties between India and Pakistan. But now that the ties have resumed, we will draw up a detailed plan for the game’s development in Asia," he said. The matter would be discussed at the general body meeting of the ACC, scheduled to be held in Colombo on August 1, Dalmiya said adding that the ICC was paying a part of the expenses incurred by the Asian body for the programme. "Spreading the game extensively in Asia is part of the efforts for the globalisation of the game," he said. To buttress his point, Dalmiya referred to his experience of seeing a Japanese team in action. "All the boys in the team were of Japanese origin. And I was pleasantly surprised to watch a Japanese bowler dismiss a batsman with a right arm delivery, and then bowl the very next ball to the new batsman with the left hand," he said. "Despite coming from a nation from where we hear much about games like golf and football, and little about cricket, I was impressed by his confidence. Efforts like this, strengthen our belief that this game can be truly globalised," he added. (PTI) |
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Cricket team symbolises unity in diversity, says Mukherjee KOLKATA, July 25: Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee today hailed the Indian cricket team saying it symbolised the country’s underlined principal of ‘unity in diversity. Mukherjee said the team was "led from the front" by a Bengali Brahmin Sourav Ganguly while the pace attack was spearheaded by two Muslim youths - Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan - and a Tamil Brahmin Laxmipathy Balaji. "The team is ably aided by the electric fielding by a Muslim youth from Allahabad - Md. Kaif - while the spin bowling department was in the able hands of a Sikh Harbhajan Singh," he said. Continuing in the same vein, he said the team was trained by three Christians - coach John Wright, physio Andrew Leipus and physical trainer Gregory Allen King. "So I think that the Indian team rightly exemplifies our underlined principal of unity in diversity and it should be feted for this". Referring to India’s recent tour of Pakistan, Mukherjee said the Indian team had not only returned triumphant, but also won hearts of the people of the neighbouring country. "This tour has definitely helped in bettering Indo-Pak relations. Not only the Indian team received hearty welcome wherever it went, even the thousands of people who went to witness the matches, were moved by the friendship extended by the masses in Pakistan. Though the teams fought very hard in the field, the national flags of the two countries fluttered side by side in the gallery," he said. Mukherjee, speaking at the annual prize distribution ceremony of Cricket Association of Bengal, described cricket as a ‘passion’ in India. "Beside cinema, it is the most popular family entertainment in the country," the minister said. Speaking on the occasion, CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya referred to the centre of academic excellence set up at the CAB headquarters in Eden Gardens and said it was an attempt to help sport researchers in their work. Dalmiya, also the president of Indian cricket board, said Boria Mazumdar had been appointed the director of the centre. On the occasion, CAB presented the first Kartik Bose lifetime achievement award to former Bengal skipper P B Dutta. Dutta was presented a memento, a cash award of Rupees one lakh and a Bengal blezer along with a citation acknowledging his unparallel contribution to Bengal cricket. (PTI) |
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Love struck Irfan fan sent back home VADODARA, July 25: The Haryana-based girl, who had created quite a stir by her marriage proposal to Indian speedstar Irfan Pathan, was taken home by her parents from the women’s welfare centre here. Laxmi (20) had fled along with her younger sister Seema (15) from their Yamunanagar house in Haryana and taken shelter in the women’s welfare home, Nari Sanrakshan Gruh, for the last 24 days pretending to be orphans from Punjab. The duo had completely misled the local authorities with their fake identities of ‘Payal’ and ‘Komal’ and address as Ludhiana with the hope that their family would not be able to trace them until they personally met and proposed to Irfan after the cricketer returns from the on-going Asia Cup tourney being played in Sri Lanka. Their parents, who were desperately searching for the missing daughters in their neighbourhood, finally saw the duo on a private television news channel and rushed to Vadodara yesterday along with a dozen of relatives. According to their father, Suresh Kumar Sukhpal Valmiki, a fruit vendor, the girls had fled home with four thousand Rupees. The two girls had earlier lied that they had to flee from home as their elder brother was putting pressure on Laxmi for her marriage with their brother-in-law after the death of their parents and a sister in a road accident near Ambala. Earlier talking to newsmen, Laxmi, had identified herself as Payal and a native of Joginderpura in Ludhiana. She said that she had fallen in love with Irfan after watching him on tv during the recent Australian tour. After reaching Vadodara, the two girls visited Irfan’s old house in the Juma Masjid but with the bowler away. They decided to stay at the welfare home till the cricketer returned home from Sri Lanka. Laxmi, who reportedly agreed to return home with her worried family after a lot of persuasion by their relatives, said she still loved Irfan and would certainly meet him. (UNI) |
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Serena, Davenport advance to California final CARSON (California), July 25: Top seed Serena Williams overcame an erratic Elena Dementieva 6-3 7-6 in their semi-final at the JP Morgan Chase open to set up a title showdown against the in-form Lindsay Davenport. Earlier yesterday, Davenport advanced to her eighth final at this event when Venus Williams was forced to retire from their match with a wrist injury early in the second set. Davenport was leading 7-5 2-0 before she was handed a passage into her second straight final. Last week, she won the Stanford title with a three-set victory over Venus. Playing in front of a record crowd of 7,963 fans at the home depot center, Serena raised her game when it mattered to see off the fourth-seeded Russian. Despite spending a fair amount of the evening retrieving in the one-hour, 39 minute contest, Serena benefited from a more aggressive approach during the big points. However, the six-time Grand Slam champion was less than impressed with her performance. "I’m really rough around the edges but hopefully by the time the US Open comes, I’ll be better," said Williams, who registered 36 winners to her opponent’s 18. "I’m playing to around 30 percent of my potential. You’d be shocked at what I could do." French Open finalist Dementieva, who has been plagued by serving problems through most of her career, double faulted the entire third game away to give Serena the break and a 2-1 first set lead. Cracking her first serve and sending her groundstrokes deep, Serena was able to fight off spirited charges from the Russian, who frequently attacked the net and won 14 of her 19 approaches. But Dementieva’s serve let her down again when she coughed up another one of her 15 double faults to hand the Williams the first set.(AGENCIES) |
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Indo-Pak clash draws good crowd COLOMBO, July 25: Over 3,000 tickets were sold for the clash between arch rivals India and Pakistan in the second phase league match of the Indian Oil Asia Cup cricket tournament at the R Premadasa Stadium here this evening. The crowd turn out for the matches have been poor throughout the tournament. The clash, because of the intense rivalry between the two teams, was expected to attract more crowd. The turnout today was probably the biggest in the fortnight-long tournament. According to Sri Lanka cricket officials nearly 25 per cent of the seats in the 35,000-seat capacity stadium, the biggest in the island nation, have been given as complimentary passes to various sections. The officials hoped that the turnout would grow as the match progresses as it was Sunday. There were, in any case, a lot of Indian and Pakistani supporters waving the flags from the stands ahead of the commencement of the match. While captain Sourav Ganguly had said that the pressure will always be on the teams irrespective of the venue, Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer felt otherwise citing the fact that it was as it was a neutral venue. Sourav had admitted that the scene here was quiet compared to centurion during the indo-pak clash in the World Cup match. Tourism has been picking up in the Emerald Isles in the wake of prevailing peace owing to the cease-fire between the LTTE and the government. A large number of Indians also have turned up to watch the match. Hotels here have been receiving healthy bookings and the rates were also being jacked up in view of the heavy arrival of tourists. According to hotel industry sources, the bookings have off late been very decent. (UNI) |
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Anand draws third game, remains in lead DORTMUND (Germany), July 25: World No 2 Viswanathan Anand tackled at will Aeroflot Open champion Sergei Rublevski of Russia drawing their third round of the preliminaries of the Dortmund Sparkassen chess championship here. Getting an easy draw against a super GM with black is normally a tough task but the Indian stalwart proved otherwise in his 22 move-contest against Rublevski. Anand, maintaining his half point lead with the draw, is now on two points from three games in this competition being played under new double round-robin format between eight Grandmasters divided into two groups. Top two from each group will qualify for the semifinals stage while the rest have to battle it out for 5-8 places. In the three rounds while most games have been drawn, once again only the ‘A’ group provided the lone decisive game of the day with Russian champion Peter Svidler striking against local hope Arkadij Naiditsch. The group ‘B’ continued to be bloodless for the third day in succession as both the games ended in draws. The group, headed by braingames champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, now seems to be moving towards the tiebreak stage which will come into effect if two or more players tie for the top two places. All the four players in
this group — Viktor Bologan of Moldova who drew with
Kramnik and Peter Leko who settled for a similar result
against teenaged Ukrainian Sergei Karjakin — share
the lead with an identical scoreline of 1.5 points from
three games in this group. (PTI) |
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