Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 19 runs

LONDON: Sri Lanka kept their composure to beat Pakistan by 19 runs in their opening Super Eights match in the World Twenty20 at Lord's on Friday.

Defending a total of 150 for seven, Sri Lanka remained unbeaten at the tournament as they held Pakistan to a total of 131 for nine. Fast bowler Lasith Malinga took three wickets for 18 runs.

Pakistan captain Younus Khan made 50 and put on 66 for the fourth wicket with Misbah-ul-Haq. But the repair work the duo had carried out after Pakistan had been 35 for three was quickly undone by the loss of three quick wickets.

They lost two wickets in as many balls to be 101 for five in the 16th over with Misbah caught sweeping in the deep against Muttiah Muralitharan and the dangerous Shahid Afridi going the same way for a first ball duck.

Earlier, leg-spinner Afridi had kept Pakistan in the game as Sri Lanka, who had been 81 without loss, were restricted to 150 for seven.

But when Younus skied Malinga to wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara, the captain holding the catch despite colliding with Murali, Pakistan were 108 for six. Younus faced 37 balls with four fours.

Pakistan had still to score their first run when left-hander Salman Butt was clean bowled off the third ball of their innings by Angelo Mathews.

They then lost two wickets for one run in three balls in the sixth over to collapse to 35 for three.

Shoaib Malik, who'd hit five fours in his 28, was undone by Malinga's slower ball and chipped to Nuwan Kulasekara at mid-on.

Kamran Akmal was then run out after failing to beat Chamara Silva's throw.

At the end of the powerplay, Pakistan were 36 for three - and that was before Murali and fellow spinner Ajantha Mendis had bowled a ball between them.

Pakistan went 34 balls without a boundary before Younus swept Mendis for four and soon afterwards the captain handed out similar treatment to the more experienced Muralitharan.

Another swept four by Younus off Murali saw the skipper post a fifty stand in 47 balls with Misbah.

Sri Lanka were 81 without loss before Afridi (two wickets for 23 runs off four overs), took two for three in six balls to reduce them to 89 for two.

Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal (two for 26) took the key wickets of Sri Lanka captain Sangakkara, stumped by Kamran Akmal, and Mahela Jayawardene, caught in the covers by Afridi.

Openers Tillekaratne Dilshan (46) and Sanath Jayasuriya (26), aided by wayward pace bowling, got Sri Lanka off to a flyer before they fell to Afridi. Left-arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir endured a nightmare start as he conceded 29 runs, including six wides and three no-balls, in his two overs.

Pakistan next face New Zealand at the Oval on Saturday while Sri Lanka are back at Lord's on Sunday for a match against Ireland.


Soruce:TOI

West Indies stun India by 7 wickets

LONDON: Let down by their much-vaunted top order, defending champions India flunked their first Super Eight test and sunk to a seven-wicket defeat More Pictures
against the West Indies in the Twenty20 World Cup on Friday.


Dwayne Bravo scalped four Indian wickets with the ball and then returned to hit an unbeaten 36-ball 66, studded with three sixes, to seal the match.


Earlier, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision to bat first boomeranged as the Indian top order crumbled and it required Yuvraj Singh's (67) 43-ball blitzkrieg and Yusuf Pathan's (31) cameo to reach a competitive 153 for seven.

Bravo (4/38) and Fidel Edwards (3/24) shared seven wickets between them while laying bare India's frailty against short-pitch bowling.

India play England in their next Super Eight match here on Sunday.

Leading West Indies' chase, Chris Gayle (22) hit Zaheer Khan for two fours in the first over but had to exercise some caution when Irfan Pathan claimed the scoreless Andrew Fletcher with his second delivery.

Harbhajan Singh began with a maiden over to further straitjacket Gayle and the left-hander decided to go after Yusuf Pathan, only to manage a top edge and Zaheer positioned himself perfectly under the skier at short fine leg.

While Gayle featured prominently in India's scheme of things, few spared a thought about Bravo. But in the end, it was Bravo who hurt India most, adding 58 runs with Lendl Simmons (44) and then completing the formality in Shivnarine Chanderpaul's (18 not out) company.

Earlier, Yuvraj celebrated the news of his elevation as vice-captain with an electrifying innings to turn an utterly miserable Indian innings into a respectable score.

India were reeling at 66 for four in the 13th over when Yuvraj and Yusuf Pathan (31 off 23 balls ) combined to put on 64 runs off 35 balls for the fifth wicket to bring about a complete turnaround to the innings.

In all, 87 runs were scored in the final eight overs. Harbhajan Singh provided a thrilling finish with three fours off the final three balls to finish with 13 not out from four deliveries.

Yuvraj fell in the 18th over, becoming third victim of Fidel Edwards, but such was his influence on the game that West Indies were left ruing a dropped chance off him when the left-hander was on 32.

Yuvraj had then flicked Dwayne Bravo to deep square leg where Andre Fletcher made a mess of a simple chance and from then on the West Indians were made to pay a heavy price.

Most of Yuvraj's big hits were in his preferred onside area but none better than a little scoop of a hit off Bravo which cleared the midwicket fence for six. In all, he hit six fours and two sixes in his 43-ball electric knock.

India were helped in their mission by Yusuf Pathan. Pathan had hurt his shoulder badly when he dived to survive a run-out chance off only the second ball he faced. But a little help from physio and pain-killer spray and the right-hander played a critical innings for India.

Earlier, India's top batsmen had found the West Indian new-ball bowlers too hot to handle as they were peppered by searing pace and lifting deliveries.

All the first three batsmen - Gautam Gambhir (14), Rohit Sharma (5) and Suresh Raina (5) - were never entirely comfortable and India were clearly gasping for breath at 29 for three.

Edwards picked two of these scalps in his first two overs. Rohit was late on a hook shot and spooned it over at square leg and then Raina edged one to wicket-keeper.

Gambhir made it only worse for the Indians when his pull was brilliantly picked by Lendl Simmons who ran at least 30 metres backwards to claim the catch.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni struggled during his 23-ball stay to score 11 runs and it took Yuvraj and Yusuf Pathan not only to stem the rot but also to counter-attack.


Source:TOI

Saina Nehwal , Anup out from Singapore Super Series

NEW DELHI: India's campaign at the Aviva Singapore Super Series came to an end on Friday after both Saina Nehwal and Anup Sridhar lost their respective quarter-finals.

Tournament sixth-seed Saina went down 21-19, 19-21, 14-21 to China's Wang Lin in the women's singles while qualifier Anup's dream run was cut short 11-21, 8-21 by Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana.

Anup, who had upset world number two Peter Gade of Denmark yesterday, could not quite bring his game to the same level as he was waylaid by the Thai with relative ease.

Anup, ranked 39th in the world, offered some resistance in the first game, keeping things level till 12th point.

Thereafter, he lost the plot and the Thai world number 19 opened up a four point lead which he steadily improved to walk away with the first game in 13 minutes.

The Indian failed to show the spirit that made him upset Gade and allowed Boonsak to open up a five-point lead at 5-10. The unseeded Thailand shuttler gave Anup no chance and wrapped up the second game and match in 14 minutes.

Source:TOi

Sania in semis of Aegon Classic

BIRMINGHAM: Sania Mirza's impressive run at the Aegon Classic continued as the Indian ace sealed a semi-final berth by beating 16th seed Hungarian Melinda Czink in straight sets on Friday.

The unseeded Indian survived some anxious moments in the dying minutes of the match before pulling off a 6-1, 7-6 (4) in the quarter-finals of the $220,000 WTA event being played in the build up to the Wimbledon.

Sania will next face winner of the other quarter-final match between 13th seed Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova and unseeded Polish Urszula Radwanska.

Sania went ahead by breaking Melinda at love in the fourth game. The Hungarian double faulted and the Indian pounced on the first chance and held next game to surge to a 4-1 lead.

Melinda struggled with her serve and a flurry of double faults again helped Sania's cause as the Indian capitalised on her rival's error to get one more break in the sixth game and served out the set in the game.

The double fault bug bit the Indian too in the second set as she committed two in the fourth game to hand a 3-1 lead to the Hungarian.

Sania though returned the compliment in the next game when she converted the second breakpoint and held her serve in the next to make it 3-3.

The Hyderabadi broke Melinda in the ninth game to create that little vital gap but squandered a match point in the next game to let Melinda draw parity.

Again she survived few anxious moments in the 12th game before stretching it to a tie-breaker, where she outplayed her rival to make the next round.

With this win Sania also equalled the win-loss record against Melinda 1-1 as she had lost her first match against the Hungarian when the two had clashed in Kolkata in 2005.

Soruce:TOi

Suranjoy ends India's 15-year gold drought in Asian boxing

New Delhi, June 13 (PTI) Suranjoy Singh gave India its first Asian Championship gold in 15 years while Thokchom Nanao Singh and Jai Bhagwan settled for silver medals as the country's boxers rounded off a 27-year-best performance in the elite event in Zhuhai, China today.

India ended their campaign with a gold, two silver and four bronze medals, which went to Jitender Kumar (54kg) Vijender Singh (75kg), Dinesh Kumar (81kg) and Paramjit Samota (+91kg). The team was placed third in the overall standings behind hosts China and Uzbekistan.

The performance this time is a marked improvement from 1982 championships held in Seoul where the country's boxers notched up two gold, an equal number of silver and a bronze medal.

The last gold medal for India in the Asian Championship came in the 1994 edition in Tehran where Rajkumar Sangwan finished on top in the super heavy weight category.

And today, it was a fly weight (51kg) boxer who broke the 15-year jinx. Suranjoy, a junior World Championship bronze medallist in 2004, beat Li Chao of China 9-8 in a thrilling encounter.

"It was certainly not one of my best performances because my opponent came very close to upstaging me but I am thrilled to win India's first gold medal here in 15 years," an elated Suranjoy told PTI. PTI

Bengal look to end 10-year title drought, Goa eye revenge

Chennai, June 13 (PTI) An upbeat Bengal will be looking to end their 10-year title drought when they face former champions Goa in the final of the 63rd National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, here tomorrow.

Bengal have never lost a final against Goa in the Santosh Trophy and have remained supreme in all of their five meetings so far.

History would also be on 29-time champions Bengal's side after they won their last title at the same venue 10 years back. That time also Goa were at the receiving end, humiliated 0-5.

Since their last triumph, things have only headed south for Bengal football after the domicile rule for national championship came into effect. Their campaign, barring a final appearance in 2007 when they eventually lost to Punjab, have been dismal.

However, things look promising this time. They have done well so far, playing as a unit and using the width of the pitch to good effect. The midfield too has combined well and PC Lalwmpuiya's work ethic has been outstanding.

Bengal coach Raghu Nandy promised to stick to an attacking brand of soccer which has borne them fruit so far in their campaign.

"We will play attacking football to regain the title," said Nandy. PTI