Hussey leads Australian fightback in Ashes opener

BRISBANE (Australia): Mike Hussey anchored a mid-innings revival to push Australia towards England's first innings total when rain ended play on the second day of the opening Ashes Test at the Gabba on Friday.

The veteran left-hander dispelled doubts over his place in the team after a lean trot to spearhead Australia's fightback following the loss of four wickets in the post-lunch session.

When rain forced play to be abandoned at 4:45 pm (0645 GMT), Australia were 220 for five with Hussey unbeaten on 81 and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin not out 22.

Hussey showed the beneficial effects of his restorative 118 for Western Australia in the leadup Sheffield Shield game last weekend to carry on his form renaissance with an enterprising knock of 13 fours and a six off 144 balls.

The 35-year-old campaigner survived a near catch in the slips off his first ball to share in an unbroken 77-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Haddin to refuel Australia's charge after England's first innings 260.

Hussey blunted the English push after Australia had been rocked by the loss of four wickets after lunch to slump to 143 for five.

Pacemen Steve Finn and James Anderson were England's heroes bowling the tourists back into contention straight after lunch.

Anderson claimed the prized wicket of master batsman Ricky Ponting for 10 with the second ball after lunch.

Ponting attempted to glance down the leg-side only to get a fine edge to Matt Prior.

It was a massive wicket for England with Ponting averaging 66.44 in his 14 Tests at the Gabba and who set up the last Ashes series down under four years ago when he scored 196 in the first innings of the corresponding Test.

Finn produced a spectacular return catch to dismiss opener Simon Katich off his bowling for 50.

The young Middlesex quick flung his giant frame to the ground to take a sprawling return catch in the 37th over.

It was Katich's 25th half-century in 55 Tests and his fourth against England.

Michael Clarke struggled for fluency throughout his 50-ball stay at the crease before his fitful innings came to an end on nine when he attempted a pull shot off Finn only to top edge a catch to Prior.

Clarke had been suffering back trouble before being cleared to play in the Ashes opener.

It was Prior's 100th Test dismissal -- 96 catches and four stumpings -- in his 36th Test match.

The inconsistent Marcus North lasted just eight balls for one before he prodded forward and edged offspinner Graeme Swann to Paul Collingwood at slip leaving Australia at 143 for five in the 53rd over.

It was the fourth time Swann had taken the wicket of the West Australian left-hander in Tests.

At stumps, Finn had 2-61 off 15 overs and Anderson 2-40 off 21 overs.

Australia only lost the wicket of Shane Watson in the morning session after resuming at 25 without loss.

Watson beat off an England referral for lbw but he was out to Anderson's next ball when he edged to Andrew Strauss at first slip for 36.

England have not won the Brisbane Test since Mike Gatting's team prevailed by seven wickets six tours ago, on the way to their last Australian series victory in 1986/87.

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Kirsten can prove 'too costly' for CSA

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa is keen to avail Gary Kirsten's services after his contract with India expires next year but the country's cricket board (CSA) might not be able to afford the former Protea left-handed batsman in the wake of a sponsorship row, according to a report.

Kirsten's contract with India is till next year's World Cup in the sub-continent and according to a report, even though the CSA is interested in the left-hander, the board might have to do way with him as long-time sponsor Standard Bank has stopped its sponsorship.

Ironically, the bank, taking financial strain and facing retrenchments of staff, announced the end of its sponsorship on the same day the CSA had set up a panel to find a replacement for current coach Corrie van Zyl, who will return to his position as head of CSA's High Performance Programme in Pretoria after the World Cup.

Rapport said it had reliably learnt that CSA had already been in discussion with Kirsten but is likely to be paid much less in comparison to what he used to get in India unless another major sponsor comes comes in.

Kirsten is believed to be receiving a basic package of USD 1m in India.

Having led India to the top of the world Test rankings in February, Kirsten is the current favourite to take over as the new Proteas coach, even though he said that he has not committed to anyone yet.

With current assistant coach Vincent Barnes also in the running, CSA insiders said they would cast the net wider, including abroad, if Kirsten was not available.


Read more: Kirsten can prove 'too costly' for CSA - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournaments/Kirsten-can-prove-too-costly-for-CSA/articleshow/6993298.cms#ixzz16ORZVKb9

Asian Games: India beat Iran to win record 6th kabaddi gold

NEW DELHI: Indian men's kabaddi team continued their golden run by winning record sixth Asiad kabaddi gold after beating Iran 37-20 in the finals.

With the addition of this gold medal, India have so far won 12 golds, 15 silvers and 32 bronze medals at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China on Friday.

The indomitable Indian kabaddi team dished out a brilliant performance right from the start as they outwitted their opponents to take a convincing lead of 24-3 at the lemon-break.

However the Iranians bounced back strongly in the latter half and fetched some crucial points to reduce the margin.

In the semifinals on Thursday, Indian men registered a convincing win over Japan. India did not let Japan score much in the game with the final score read as 52-17.

Earlier in the day, the Indian women fashioned a comprehensive 28-14 victory over Thailand to clinch the inaugural women's kabaddi gold of the Asian Games.

The Indian women led 17-7 at half-time after Thailand failed to secure a single lona against India's two. The Indian women team also got a couple of bonus points in the opening half.

The second half followed a similar script and India once again dominated by securing a couple of lonas and getting 20 outs to emerge triumphant.

Read more: Asian Games: India beat Iran to win record 6th kabaddi gold - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/16th-asian-games-2010/india-news/Asian-Games-India-beat-Iran-to-win-record-6th-kabaddi-gold-/articleshow/6994617.cms#ixzz16ORLwHAE

Asian Games: 4X400m relay women's team wins 13th gold for India

NEW DELHI: Indian women's 4X400m relay team scripted history by winning the 13th gold for India at the ongoing 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

The quartet of Manjeet Kaur, Sini Jose, Ashwini Akkunji and Mandeep Kaur clocked 3min 29.02sec, with Kazakhstan taking silver (3:30.03) and China claiming bronze (3:30.89).

Earlier in the day, the men's and women's kabaddi teams expectedly maintained their supremacy by clinching the gold as India created history by recording their best-ever medal tally in the Asian Games by adding six more medals on a productive 14th day of competitions on Friday.

While the kabaddi teams did not sweat much to keep their reputation intact in rather lopsided finals, long distance runners Preeja Sreedharan and Kavita Raut had their moment of glory by winning the silver and bronze medals respectively in the women's 5000 m event.

Indian men's team also fetched bronze in the chess event.

Roller sports fetched India a couple of unexpected bronze medals with Anup Kumar Yama bagging one in men's single free skating before combining with Avani Panchal to finish third in the pairs skating event.

With the addition of this gold, India's medal tally climbed to a record 13 gold, 15 silver and 33 bronze (total 61), the biggest ever haul in the Asian Games so far.

India's best medal haul till date was recorded in the 1982 Games in Delhi when they had won 13 gold, 19 silver and 25 bronze for an overall tally of 57.

With a few more gold medals expected in the second session, particularly from the boxers, India will be looking for a top-five finish in the Games. India had finished tenth on the medals table in the last edition of the Games in Doha with a tally of 10-17-26.

Much was expected from the kabaddi teams to provide the boost to the gold haul and they did not disappoint.

The men's kabaddi team maintained their impeccable track record by winning the gold medal for the sixth time on the trot, demolishing Iran with a facile 37-20 margin what turned out to be a lop-sided contest.

The script unfolded on expected lines for the women's kabaddi team also as they completed a memorable Asian Games debut by clinching the gold medal with a comprehensive win over Thailand in the final.

The Indians beat Thailand 28-14 in a dominating performance to clinch the inaugural women's kabaddi gold of the Asian Games.

The Indians led 17-7 at half-time after Thailand failed to secure a single lona against India's two. The Indian team also got a couple of bonus points in the opening half.

It turned out to be a relatively good day for India in the athletic arena as Preeja and Kavita clocked their personal bests to clinch the silver and bronze respectively in the women's 5000m race.

Preeja, who earlier clinched the 10,000m gold, returned a timing of 15:15.89.

Kavita, who bagged a silver in 10,000m, could not get past her compatriot yet again but managed a personal best of 15:16.54 to win the bronze.

Bahrain's Mimi Belete Gebgregeiorges clinched the gold medal with a timing of 15:15.59, which was incidentally her personal best as well

Two bronze medals came from rollersports with Anup Kumar Yama bagging one in men's single free skating before combining with Avani Panchal to finish third in the pairs skating event.

Anup totalled 244.2 in his singles routine for which he fetched 123.6 on technical merit and 120.6 for artistic impression.

In the pairs event, Anup and Avani combined for a score of 222 which included 112.5 points on technical merit and 109.5 for artistic impression.

Despite suffering an elbow injury, Indian woman grappler Suman Kundu reached the semifinals of the 63kg freestyle before exiting from the hunt for the gold medal, but is still in with a chance to bag the bronze on the final day of wrestling event.

Suman edged out Vietnam's Luong Thi Quyen 3-1 in her opening bout by making a strong comeback after being outclassed 5-0 in the first period, by clinching the next two narrowly despite sustaining the injury to her joint.

She then fought on bravely and again rallied after losing the first period to Kyrgyzstan wrestler Nestan Kiiazova 3-1, but then won the next two with handsome 5-0 and 2-0 margins.

However, the injury hampered her from giving her best in the semifinal bout and she lost 0-3 to Mongolia's Nasanbyrmaa Ochirbat.

Apart from Suman, it turned out to be another disappointing day for India on the mat as two other wrestlers in fray -- Geeta (55kg) and Gursharanpreet Kaur (72kg) -- crashed out in their respective quarterfinal fights in freestyle event.

TOI