Mills, Butler back in Kiwi One-Day squad

Wellington: Fast bowler Ian Buttler's impressive showing in the just-concluded Twenty20 Internationals has earned him a place in the New Zealand One-Day team after a hiatus of five years for the first three games of the five-match series against India starting March 3.


Apart from Buttler, Kyle Mills, who had strained his Achilles tendon, also made a comeback to the ODI squad after a two-week injury lay-off to augment an already lethal Kiwi pace battery, led by Iain O'Brien, Butler and Tim Southee.


The Black Caps have more seam bowling options in Jesse Ryder and Jacob Oram, who missed the Chappell-Hadlee Series earlier this month because of injury but played the two Twenty20 matches against India. They returned in place of Brendon Diamanti and Peter Fulton.


However, Nathan McCullum and Ewen Thompson failed to make the move up to New Zealand's ODI team. Offspinner Jeetan Patel was also left out of the squad which has a lone regular spinner in skipper Daniel Vettori.


Assessing that Indian batsmen are sound players of spin, New Zealand's chief selector Glenn Turner said the squad was a strong one, which reflected the sizeable pool of players in consistent good form at international and domestic levels.


"Knowing the way the Indians play spin bowling in limited overs cricket, we think the attack will benefit from having an extra seamer," Turner said.


"We're fortunate that Kyle Mills is back to fitness after injury. His recent form with the new ball in limited overs has been outstanding," he added.


Turner made it clear that the squad had been named only for the first three matches, so as to give other players a chance to find their form in the next round of the domestic championship.


The ODIs will be be played at Napier (March 3), Wellington (March 6), Christchurch (March 8), Hamilton (March 11) and Auckland (March 14).


The Team: Daniel Vettori (captain), Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Iain O'Brien, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.

Source:http://cricketnext.in.com/news/mills-butler-back-in-kiwi-oneday-squad/38665-13.html

Mills, Butler back in Kiwi One-Day squad

Wellington: Fast bowler Ian Buttler's impressive showing in the just-concluded Twenty20 Internationals has earned him a place in the New Zealand One-Day team after a hiatus of five years for the first three games of the five-match series against India starting March 3.


Apart from Buttler, Kyle Mills, who had strained his Achilles tendon, also made a comeback to the ODI squad after a two-week injury lay-off to augment an already lethal Kiwi pace battery, led by Iain O'Brien, Butler and Tim Southee.


The Black Caps have more seam bowling options in Jesse Ryder and Jacob Oram, who missed the Chappell-Hadlee Series earlier this month because of injury but played the two Twenty20 matches against India. They returned in place of Brendon Diamanti and Peter Fulton.


However, Nathan McCullum and Ewen Thompson failed to make the move up to New Zealand's ODI team. Offspinner Jeetan Patel was also left out of the squad which has a lone regular spinner in skipper Daniel Vettori.


Assessing that Indian batsmen are sound players of spin, New Zealand's chief selector Glenn Turner said the squad was a strong one, which reflected the sizeable pool of players in consistent good form at international and domestic levels.


"Knowing the way the Indians play spin bowling in limited overs cricket, we think the attack will benefit from having an extra seamer," Turner said.


"We're fortunate that Kyle Mills is back to fitness after injury. His recent form with the new ball in limited overs has been outstanding," he added.


Turner made it clear that the squad had been named only for the first three matches, so as to give other players a chance to find their form in the next round of the domestic championship.


The ODIs will be be played at Napier (March 3), Wellington (March 6), Christchurch (March 8), Hamilton (March 11) and Auckland (March 14).


The Team: Daniel Vettori (captain), Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Iain O'Brien, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.

Source:http://cricketnext.in.com/news/mills-butler-back-in-kiwi-oneday-squad/38665-13.html

Dates for Pak-Aus ODI series revised again

LAHORE: The itinerary of the Australia-Pakistan One-Day International series in United Arab Emirates has been revised again.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that the series, which is to be played at a neutral venue, United Arab Emirates (UAE), will be played from April 22 to May 7.

"Now the series will be played from April 22 to May 7 as we have pushed backed the date of the first match by two days," PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said.

Butt said the changes were made as the Australian team management had asked for some breather after its South African tour.

According to the new itinerary, the Kangaroos will be arriving in the UAE on April 18. The first two matches will be played in Dubai on April 22 and 24.

Then teams will move to Abu Dhabi where the remaining three matches of the series will be played on April 27, May 1 and 3 respectively. Pakistan will then take on the Aussies in a Twenty-20 game on May 7, The Nation reports.

The PCB was compelled to shift the series to a neutral venue after the Australian government refused to send its team to Pakistan citing security concerns. Australia last toured Pakistan in 1998.

Source:http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Dates-for-Pak-Aus-ODI-series-revised-again/articleshow/4204098.cms

Playing for England more important than IPL: Flintoff

LONDON: After a nagging hip injury forced him to return home mid-way from the Test series against the West Indies, England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff hinted he may skip the lucrative Indian Premier League to stay fit to take on the Australians in the Ashes series.

Flintoff, who was bagged by IPL's Chennai Super Kings side for a record $1.55 million, has insisted that representing England is of utmost importance to him and is currently eying the forthcoming ODI series against the West Indies to stage a comeback.

"It seems that, at the minute, everybody is going on about the IPL. It's a hot topic. But I want to play for England in this upcoming One-day series.

"The IPL is still a few weeks away and my goal is to play for England and, after that, the IPL will take care of itself. It's something I want to play in, but my ultimate goal is playing for England," the 31-year-old all-rounder was quoted as saying in the 'Daily Telegraph'.

Flintoff will now undergo a rehabilitation programme and is scheduled to reunite with the team on March 10, if fitness permits.

"I just want to get home, do my work and then get back out here as soon as I can. When you're injured, you're always a little bit flat and you don't know where to put yourself in the dressing-room. Everyone you bump into is asking you about your injury," Flintoff said.

The all-rounder revealed his hip injury first came to light during the first Test in Jamaica.

"I felt a bit of a niggle there. but it was more tightness than anything else. I was then in discomfort all the way through the (third) Test in Antigua.

"Whether I made it worse, I'm not quite sure. It was very frustrating, though. For the first time in a long time,

Soruce:http://ipl.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4204625.cms

Ishant likely to miss first ODI due to injury

WELLINGTON: India's pace sensation Ishant Sharma is likely to miss the first One-Day International against New Zealand due to injury.

The sinewy fast bowler had hurt his shoulder while fielding in the second Twenty20 international against New Zealand at the Westpac Stadium last night.

An MRI scan carried out on his shoulder on Saturday revealed a bruise.

The impact of falling on the ball is said to have aggravated an old injury.

"The MRI scan has disclosed that there is a bruise. We will watch him over the next two days. But it is likely that Ishant may miss the first ODI against New Zealand," said administrative manager Niranjan Shah, who is accompanying the Indian side.

Source:http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ishant-likely-to-miss-first-ODI-due-to-injury/articleshow/4204422.cms

Bopanna-Niemenin in Delray Beach quarters

NEW DELHI: Rohan Bopanna and Jarrko Niemenin advanced to the quarter-finals of the $5,00,000 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships in the United States after a hard fought 6-4, 7-5 win against Paul Capdeville and Evgeny Korolev.

The unseeded Indo-Finnish pair took a little over one hour to carve out the victory and set up a clash against fourth seeded American Eric Butorac and Brazilian Bruno Soares.

Bopanna and Niemenin saved all six breakpoints in the first set apart from converting one of the four chances that came their way.

In the second set, they dropped their serve twice but were successful in breaking their rivals thrice to seal the issue.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/?frm_TOIHome_top

Anand held by Grischuk at Linares Chess

LINARES: (Spain): World champion Viswanathan Anand played out a draw with Russian Alexander Grischuk to remain in joint fourth spot after the end of the seventh round of Magistral Ciudad de Linares Chess tournament on Friday.

At the half way stage of the eight-players double round robin tournament, the Indian ace has 3.5 points.

Grischuik remained atop the tables on five points out of a possible seven and remained a full point clear of Norwegian prodigy Magnus Carlsen and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine who scored a win over Levon Aronian of Armenia.

Anand shares the fourth spot with Aronian whose double defeat in last two rounds have severely dented his chances in the tournament.

The sixth spot is held by Lenier Dominguez of Cuba while Wang Yue of China and Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan share the seventh spot on 2.5 points each.

Grischuk held on to his own against Anand whose experiment with the queen pawn opening continued.

After coming out with a minor surprise on move three when he decided to avoid main lines of Grunfeld defense, Anand settled to play the Samisch attack against the King's Indian defense.

Interestingly, the King's Indian has been enjoying immense success in this tournament and this game was another attestation to that.

Anand tried to make a foray on the king side but the Russian was quite up to the task in finding the right manouvres. After Anand castled on the king side it was clear that the game was headed towards a draw.

The peace was signed in 32 moves. Ivanchuk scored a thrilling victory over Aronian in another King's Indian of the day. Aronian went for a topical structure but found Ivanchuk well-armed in all departments of the game.

The complexities turned in favour of Ivanchuk after an erroneous plan by the Armenian in the middle game and there were no chances to recover as the game progressed.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Anand-held-by-Grischuk-at-Linares-Chess/articleshow/4198870.cms

Djokovic beats Simon to reach Dubai final

DUBAI: Novak Djokovic reached his first final of the season when he beat third-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 at the Dubai Championships on Friday.

Djokovic repeated his semi-final victory over Simon at the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai last November, where he went on to claim the title. The top-seeded Serb now faces either fourth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer or unseeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

"I think I fought my way through in the match, really believed till the end, and mentally this is a very important win for me," Djokovic said. "If I want to stay on top of the men's game, I have to win these matches, because Simon is certainly one of the best players in the world. He plays a very unique game. He's very solid from all sides, and playing with a very small number of unforced errors, which...when you see him, you don't think that physically he's that strong and he has great endurance."

It took Djokovic two hours 44-minutes to edge his opponent as both players struggled to produce their best tennis in the afternoon heat. Djokovic was especially unstable during the first set and into the second as he failed to find any consistency.

Simon, though, was under early pressure as he fought off two break points at 1-1 before breaking to lead 4-2 when Djokovic made a forehand error. Both players held break point opportunities in the second set, before Djokovic broke in the final game with a forehand winner.

Simon then made a bright start to the final set, breaking for 1-0 and conceding just two points in the first two games. But Djokovic levelled at 3-3 when Simon made a backhand error, and the Frenchman had to fight off another break point before holding for 4-4.

Djokovic then held for 6-5 on his third game point, and broke for the match after Simon set up match point by netting a low forehand volley. The relieved Serbian closed out the match with a smash.

"I was one set up, I was playing far better than him, because he made so many mistakes from the baseline," said the frustrated Simon. "I had enough chances to win this match, and finally I lost it, so that's why it is a very bad match."

Soruce:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Djokovic-beats-Simon-to-reach-Dubai-final/articleshow/4201906.cms

McIlroy stays on winning track in Arizona desert

MARANA (Arizona): British teenager Rory McIlroy underlined his credentials as one of the best players in the world by easing into the quarter-finals of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship on Friday.

The 19-year-old from Holywood, Northern Ireland, competing in his first tournament as a professional on US soil, outclassed South African Tim Clark 4&3 in the third round at Dove Mountain's Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.

McIlroy birdied four of the first eight holes to take charge against the player who stunned world number one and three-times champion Tiger Woods in the previous round.

"It's fantastic," the long-hitting Northern Irishman told reporters after booking his place in the last eight against 2006 champion Geoff Ogilvy of Australia.

"Tim didn't play his best golf today. Understandably he was probably a little flat after all that happened yesterday. I came out and got off to quite a fast start, got an early lead and I was able to hang on and get the win."

McIlroy, who dominated a world-class field to win his maiden European Tour title at this month's Dubai Desert Classic, was in two minds as to whether he would have preferred to have taken on Woods in the third round.

"Yes and no," he said. "I probably would have found it very difficult to play him with him being a hero of mine for the past 10 years.

OWN GAME

"So it would have been difficult but you've got to just go out there and try and play your own game. You can't control what the other guy does, so yeah.

"It's match play, it's very fickle and you never know what can happen," McIlroy added, referring to Clark's surprise 4&2 win against Woods on Thursday.

"Tim caused a bit of an upset yesterday and I was lucky enough to play well enough today to win."

McIlroy has swiftly risen to 17th in the world rankings since turning professional in 2007, well ahead of his initial target.

"I don't want to say I always expected to get to this point but I always hoped that I would," he said. "But I am surprised how quickly I've done it.

"In the world rankings, one win can jump you up quite a few spots. I've just got to keep going with it, keep playing and try to get a few more wins. If you can do that, then the rankings and everything else will take care of itself."

Soruce:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/McIlroy-stays-on-winning-track-in-Arizona-desert/articleshow/4203629.cms

Singles are the priority for me: Sania

MUMBAI: Asserting that singles matches were her priority, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza on Friday said that she may miss out some doubles matches in order to prolong her singles career.

"Singles are the priority for me. Since I'm young enough I will try to prolong my singles career till my body holds up", said Sania who was here for a promotional event for Cadbury's.

"I've been playing quite well in singles so I'm trying to balance it out between singles and doubles matches. I might as well skip a few doubles' events here and there", she said.

The 22-year-old Hyderabadi, who won the mixed doubles crown at the Australian Open with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in January this year and made it to the singles final of the Pattaya Open earlier this month, said she was happy with the way her career was shaping up and has set herself new goals.

Sania, who had to withdraw from the Fed Cup earlier this month due to a wrist injury, said she was happy with her fitness after her injury woes in 2008.

"I have been practising in Hyderabad for the past one week and my wrist has held up very well. We do have a few niggles here and there but overall I'm happy with my fitness," she said.

Sania, who will head to Los Angeles next week to train at the Gil Reyes' training centre for one week, said she was excited about the training stint.

"Gil is probably the best trainer in the world having trained players like (Andre) Agassi and (Fernando) Verdasco. I'm hopeful of a great experience and am going there with expectations of working very hard," she said.

"One week is too short a time but this is just the beginning. I might consider having stints there before crucial tournaments," she added.

Asked about her views on the new anti-doping rules adopted by the ATP, Sania, who has been ranked 75th in the latest WTA rankings, admitted having little knowledge about the issue but said she had no reservations on the same.

On the current tennis situation in the country, she said with the arrival of new players like Yuki Bhambri and Somdev Devvarman it was at its "healthiest best" today.

"Yuki is our biggest talent right now. Let's hope he can make it a successful transition from junior to senior tennis. With Somdev also doing well, Indian tennis is at its healthiest best today," Sania said.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Singles-are-the-priority-for-me-Sania/articleshow/4202132.cms