Sri Lanka face record chase to win final Test vs Pak

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Colombo, July 23 (AFP) Sri Lanka will need to set a world record to sweep the Test series against Pakistan 3-0 after the tourists piled up the runs in the final Test here today.

Shoaib Malik made 134 as Pakistan amassed 410-9 in their second innings by lunch on the fourth day at the Sinhalese Sports Club, an overall lead of 476 runs with one wicket in hand.

Pakistan are expected to declare soon after resumption to leave themselves with enough time to bowl Sri Lanka out and earn a consolation win after losing the first two Tests.

The highest successful fourth innings chase in history is by the West Indies, who scored 418-7 to beat Australia at St John's, Antigua in 2003.

The most runs scored in the fourth innings to win a Test at the SSC here is 326-5 by Sri Lanka against Zimbabwe in 1998.

Pietersen out of remaining Ashes Tests after surgery

LONDON: England batsman Kevin Pietersen will miss the remaining three Ashes Tests against Australia after undergoing surgery on his Achilles tendon, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed on Wednesday.

Pietersen has struggled with the problem throughout the opening two Tests of the Ashes series and, after being assessed by a leading specialist on Wednesday, it was decided that surgery was the best option.

The 29-year-old has been ruled out for six weeks and he admitted it was massive blow to be sidelined while England, who lead the series 1-0 after winning the second Test at Lord's, try to regain the Ashes.

"As an England cricketer the Ashes are the pinnacle of the game so I'm absolutely devastated to be missing the rest of this series," Pietersen said.

"Up until now the Achilles injury has been manageable but it recently reached the point where we needed to look at other options in terms of treatment.

"I hate missing matches for England and especially during an Ashes summer but now that the decision has been made to undergo surgery I'm confident I can return to the England team injury-free following a course of rehabilitation."

Pietersen, whose top score in the series was just 69, had hoped to play through the pain barrier for the rest of the series, but ECB Chief Medical Officer Nick Peirce admitted it was impossible to expect him to produce top-class performances while he was in so much discomfort.

"Following a consultation, involving scans and testing, with the world's leading Achilles specialist Kevin Pietersen underwent surgery on his right Achilles tendon," Peirce said in an ECB statement.

"Kevin will look to undertake a comprehensive rehabilitation programme to ensure there is no risk of recurrence. This is expected to be approximately six weeks but will be taken at an appropriate pace following constant review.

"Despite conventional conservative treatments to the tendon with trial periods of rest and rehabilitation, Kevin continued to be in significant discomfort and is currently unable to run or even walk comfortably.

"He had a strong desire to get through the Ashes series but despite this he has recently been unable to achieve a maximum level of performance.

"A number of short-term measures were considered but having been reviewed by the specialist, who flew into London from Sweden specifically, it was felt that anything else would put the tendon at risk and jeopardise his long term recovery."

Although Pietersen, who originally suffered the injury against the West Indies earlier this year, played in the 115-run victory over Australia at Lord's, he spent lengthy spells off the field and was clearly in pain when running.

He needed pain-killing injections to get through the match but the problem has got even worse after the heavy wear and tear of a five-day Test.

"I was pleased with the previous course of treatment as it allowed me to take part in this Ashes series but unfortunately the injury has recently deteriorated," Pietersen said.

"To leave a winning dressing room at this time is heartbreaking but it wouldn't be fair to the team or myself to continue given the severity of the injury.

"I'll be supporting the team closely and wish them the best of luck as they look to build on the brilliant win at Lord's and reclaim the Ashes."

Pietersen's absence is a massive blow to England's hopes of holding onto their series lead. Andrew Strauss's side are already keeping their fingers crossed that all-rounder Andrew Flintoff can make it through the rest of the series.

Flintoff is struggling with a knee injury that has forced him to announce his retirement from Test cricket at the end of the Ashes.

Warwickshire batsman Ian Bell is likely to come into contention as one of the main contenders to replace Pietersen.

Soruce:TOi

Sachin top taxpayer among Men in Blue

NEW DELHI: There has been much talk of late about M S Dhoni being more sought after by advertisers than Sachin Tendulkar.


But if payment of income tax is any indicator, the little master is still way ahead of all other Indian cricket stars when it comes to earnings. Dhoni is a distant second, though catching up, in terms of tax paid, while Virender Sehwag is third.

Data on income tax paid by cricketers shows that Sachin has maintained a steady level of over Rs 8 crore for the last three years, 2006-07 to 2008-09. Behind him, there's been a reshuffle in the batting order.

Dhoni has moved up from third spot in 2006-07 to second last year with a Rs 4.7 crore tax bill. Rahul Dravid, who was Sachin's closest competitor in 2006-07 and a close third behind Dhoni in 2007-08, has dropped to fifth spot.

Heaviest Scorers

(Income tax paid in Rs crore and figures in brackets indicate last year's rankings)

Years 2008-09 2007-08
1. Sachin 8.1 8.7 (1)
2. Dhoni 4.7 3.4 (2)
3. Sehwag 3.1 1.9 (5)
4. Yuvraj 2.6 2.0 (4)
5. Dravid 2.4 3.1 (3)

Source:TOI

Pietersen ruled out of rest of Ashes

London, July 22: England’s Ashes hopes suffered a severe blow as Kevin Pietersen was ruled out of the rest of the series following a surgery that rules him out of cricket for six weeks.

“As an England cricketer the Ashes are the pinnacle of the game, so I’m absolutely devastated,” said Pietersen. “Up until now the injury has been manageable but it recently reached the point where we needed to look at other options in terms of treatment. I hate missing matches for England and especially during an Ashes summer but I’m confident I can return to the England team injury-free following a course of rehabilitation,” he was quoted as saying in the English media.

Misbah, Malik boost Pakistan’s lead in final Test

COLOMBO, July 22: Former captain Shoaib Malik hit an unbeaten 106 today to put Pakistan on course for a face-saving victory in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka here.

Pakistan, who lost the first two Tests to hand Sri Lanka a decisive lead in the series, finally flexed their batting muscle to pile up 300-5 in their second innings by stumps on the third day. Kamran Akmal returned unbeaten on 60 after adding 114 for the unbroken sixth wicket with Malik as Pakistan established an overall lead of 366 runs with five wickets in hand.

Strauss leading the way

LONDON, July 16: England captain Andrew Strauss made the most of some poor Australia bowling with a century on the first day of the second Ashes Test here at Lord’s on Thursday.

England at tea were 255 for two with Strauss, who’d won the toss, exactly 100 not out on his Middlesex home ground and Kevin Pietersen unbeaten on 22 as the hosts pursued a first Test win over Australia at Lord’s in 75 years.

Strauss, together with fellow left-handed opener Alastair Cook (95), shared a record-breaking first-wicket stand of 196 before completing his 18th Test century and fourth at Lord's off 178 balls with 15 boundaries.

Mallya seeks salvation in Hungary after heartbreak in Germany

NURBURGRING: Taking positives, and not points, has been the recurring theme in Force India's F1 story so far but chairman Vijay Mallya still manages

It's just a shame that after such a great weekend performance we don't have any points to show for it. But that's motorsport, these incidents happen," Mallya said after the team's heart-wrenching German Grand Prix campaign.

"The next race is only in a couple of weeks so we'll refocus on that and try to finish the job in Hungary," he added.

Force India made all the right noise going into the German Grand Prix with both Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella posting top six times in Friday's practice sessions. Sutil sprang another surprise by gate crashing into Q3 and booking himself the seventh slot on the starting grid, his and the team's best position ever.

Sutil's fairytale home race, however, met a sad end. In a repeat of last year's Monaco Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen crashed with Adrian Sutil's VJM02 which, was exiting the pits after running a fairytale second, claiming the front wing and necessitating an emergency pit-stop that put paid to all point hopes.

Sutil was in tears after last year's Monaco mishap but the young German seemed to have matured this time as he took the setback in stride.

"We shouldn't be that disappointed with this result as we have had a good weekend and the next one will come very soon," Sutil said, putting behind the disappointment.

Recalling the accident, Sutil said, "When I went out of the pit lane I saw Kimi coming on the outside of the corner and I just tried to hold my line but he went to the outside and I touched him and lost part of my front wing.

"That's really when I thought the race was over for the points as I had to come back in," he said.

"Overall I think we've learnt a lot. It's the first time starting in the top 10 and it's a different race up there. It's been a good push for everyone in the team to get some more development so we can finally get some points," Sutil added.

Fisichella too was not overtly gloomy and sounded happy with the pace of the car.

"After the qualifying I had, I thought it would be a difficult race but I really enjoyed it and again got close to the points," said the Italian who finished 11th.

"I think we can be quite happy with this weekend, even if again we didn't get any points. We've taken a step forward and with some more developments coming through I think we could really have some more great races," he said.

SourceZ:TOI

2nd Test: England elect to bat against Australia

LONDON: England captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and chose to bat against Australia in the second Ashes Test at Lord's on Thursday.

England fast bowling all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who announced on Wednesday his intention to retire from Test cricket at the end of this series, was passed fit following a knee injury.

Star England batsman Kevin Pietersen also retained his place despite a longstanding Achilles injury.

England made one change to the side that drew the first Test at Cardiff last week with fast bowler Graham Onions replacing Monty Panesar despite the left-arm spinner's efforts part in a last-wicket stand at Sophia Gardens that denied Australia victory in the opening contest of a five-match series.

Durham quick Onions, who made his Test debut against the West Indies at Lord's earlier in the season, beat county colleague Stephen Harmison for a place in the team as an extra pace bowler.

Ashes-holders Australia were unchanged from the team that played in the first Test.

Australia have not lost a Test at Lord's since 1934.

Teams

England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior (wkt), Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Graham Onions, James Anderson

Australia: Phillip Hughes, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Marcus North, Brad Haddin (wkt), Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus

Umpires: Billy Doctrove (WIS) and Rudi Koertzen (RSA)

TV umpire: Nigel Llong (ENG)

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

Soruce:TOI

Gambhir replaces Yousuf to become No. 1 Test batsman

DUBAI: Gautam Gambhir became the number one batsman, replacing Pakistani run-machine Mohammad Yousuf in the latest ICC Test Player rankings issued on Wednesday.

Incidentally, Gambhir reached the top when the ODI batting chart is also led by an Indian, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Yousuf, who had returned to the batting table last week in number one position after his century in the first Test at Galle, flopped in the second Test to drop to fifth position. Accordingly, Gambhir became the sixth India batsman to lead the batting table in this version of the game.

The 27-year-old left-handed opener is the first Indian batsman after former captain Rahul Dravid to top the batting chart. Dravid had briefly become the number-one batsman after hitting centuries in each innings (110 and 135) of the Kolkata Test against Pakistan in March 2005. Dravid had first achieved the top batting ranking in January 1999 and has been number-one for 36 Tests between 1999 and 2005.

Sachin Tendulkar is the other India batsman in the last 15 years who has topped the batting chart. He first led the table in November 1994 while last time he occupied the number-one position was in August 2002 after the Leeds Test against England. Overall, Tendulkar has been the number-one batsman for 125 Tests between 1994 and 2002.

The other India batsmen to have achieved number-one positions in their careers are Gundappa Viswanath (seven matches in 1975), Sunil Gavaskar (46 matches between 1978-80) and Dilip Vengsarkar (17 matches between 1987-88).

Pakistan captain Younis Khan was able to retain his second position in the Test batting rankings but fell nine points behind Gambhir who, without hitting a ball, has gone ahead of both the Pakistan batsmen for the first time in his 25-Test career in which he has scored 2,271 runs at an average of over 54.

Gambhir's 847 points is relatively low for a number-one position in modern times as usually a batsman nearer to the 900-point mark goes to the top, which reflects that he has benefited from some of the other top batsman being off their peaks.

With only 10 points separating Gambhir from third-placed Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka, the top order is expected to change again, of course depending how the Pakistan and Sri Lanka captains perform in the third and final Test which starts in Colombo from July 20.

The only big movers in the latest rankings are Pakistan opener Fawad Alam, who has entered the table in 52nd position after his 168 on his Test debut, and Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal whose century in the second innings has helped him rocket 22 places to 62nd spot.

There is also a change at the top of the bowlers' chart for the first time in more than three years with Muttiah Muralitharan handing over the baton to South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn.

Steyn had briefly joined Muralitharan in number-one position after the second Test against India in Ahmedabad in April 2008. However, Steyn had failed to go top of the table on his own after a disappointing third Test in Kanpur.

For Muralitharan, it is the first time that he has dropped to second position since February 2006. This is because he missed both the Tests of the ongoing series due to injury and a player loses one per cent of his ratings for every match he misses.

Source:TOI

Soumyajit, Sathiyan in Indian squad for Asian Jr TT

New Delhi, July 16 (PTI) Promising paddler Soumyajit Ghosh and G Sathiyan have been included in the 16-member Indian squad for the 15th Asian Junior Table Tennis Championship to be held in Jaipur from July 22.

Both Soumyajit and Sathiyan will be competing alongside Raj Mondal and Harmeet Desai in junior (U-18) boys' category, while Ankita Das, Mallika Bhandarkar, Shreya Ghosh and Charvi Kavle will be vying for top honours in the junior girls' section.

In cadet (U-15) boys' category, India will be represented by Sandipan Dey, Rajeeb Sarkar, Abhishek Yadav and Utkarsh Gupta.

Mallika Bhandarkar, T R Rishiya, Camila Sil and Monika Batra will lead the hosts' challenge in the cadet girls' section.

Sunil Babras, V K Agrawal and Mantu Ghosh will accompany the team as coaches for the five-day tournament to be held at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

Bitter-sweet B'desh eye series victory over Windies

St George's (Grenada), July 16 (AFP) Bangladesh will carry bitter-sweet feelings into the second and final Test against the West Indies starting tomorrow at the Queen's Park Stadium Complex.

Bangladesh need only to draw to fulfill a long-held dream of their first Test series victory after they took a 1-0 lead with a 95-run victory in the opening Test at St Vincent.

But celebrations have been tempered following a knee injury to their new captain Mashrafe Mortaza which appears likely to sideline him for the match.

Mortaza fell clumsily on his right knee when bowling during the first Test, and spent the last two and a half days off the field.

He underwent a medical scan on Tuesday, and though the results of the test are not as bad as initially feared, the visitors do not want to risk long-term injury to their main fast bowler.

Flintoff on Queensland's radar for T20 Big Bash

Melbourne, July 16 (PTI) Andrew Flintoff's decision to quit Test cricket after the on-going Ashes series has brought him under the radar of Australian domestic side Queensland, which is eyeing to sign the English all-rounder for the December-January slated T20 Big Bash series.

Queensland Cricket chief Graham Dixon has admitted that they are seriously thinking of roping in Flintoff, who will end their search for a quality T20 player for the domestic event.

"For the last few months we've been talking to a well credentialed international player and we're down the track with that person but we haven't finalised things and are not expected to do so soon," Dixon said.

"He (Flintoff) is keen but obviously the challenge we have is the timing of his national commitments and our tournament. However, we have been down the track with Andrew Flintoff 12 months ago through Stuart Law," he added

Indian team returns with 14 medals

NEW DELHI, July 14: The Indian team returned home on Tuesday after winning 14 medals at the three-day junior Asian Wrestling Championship in Manila.he team arrived at the international airport here this morning. Raj Singh, vice president, Wrestling Federation of India, who accompanied the team, said that this was the teams' best performance at the Asian Wrestling Championship."Its our best performance so far. Before this, we have not won so many medals in the Asian Wrestling Championship, in freestyle, Greco Roman style and Female Junior Wrestling Championship," said Singh.The participants were also jubilant on their performances."I am very happy, I have won gold at the Championship. It was a good performance and everyone has done well," said Navjot Kaur, one of the participants. India collected five gold, four silver and five bronze medals during the three-day competition. (Agencies)

West Indies go down to Bangladesh

KINGSTOWN, July 14: Bangladesh claimed just their second ever Test victory with a 95-run win over a makeshift West Indies side in the first Test on Monday.

Debutant off-spinner Mohammed Mahmudullah did the damage with figures of five for 50 as West Indies collapsed to 181 all out with just over 40 minutes of play remaining.

My double-bogey helped me win

Bethlehem, July 13: A double-bogey midway through the final round inspired Ji Eun-hee of South Korea to win the US Women’s Open on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Ji dropped to three shots off the pace after the par-four 10th, but from there she made three birdies, including a 20-footer at the 18th that gave her a first major championship.

Enigmatic Pakistan bounce back in second test

COLOMBO, July 13: Debutant Fawad Alam scored an unbeaten century as Pakistan produced a remarkable turnaround to claw their way back in the second Test against Sri Lanka on Monday.

The tourists, who were bowled out for 90 in their first innings, hit back to dismiss Sri Lanka for 240 and then cruised to 178-1 in their second knock by stumps on the second day.

Left-handed Alam led the way with a determined 102 not out to give Pakistan a lead of 28 runs with nine wickets in hand on a dry pitch that appeared to have eased out under the hot sun.

Ponting has got it right, says Benaud

Cardiff (Wales), July 12: By closing his side’s first innings with a lead of 239, Australian captain Ricky Ponting has set his England counterpart Andrew Strauss a task that will test his leadership as well as his batting ability, feels former player and noted commentator Richie Benaud.

"I was disappointed in England’s bowling attack because I’ve been singing its praises of late.Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Andrew Flintoff were in the form of their lives and I rate Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar highly," Benaud says in his article for News of The World. "Neither the England off spinner nor the left hander bowled a tight line and length and their changes of pace were virtually non-existent. Ponting, Simon Katich and Michael Clarke handled them superbly, but I give top marks to Marcus North," Benaud says.

Holden stunner gives US late draw

Massachusetts, July 12: A spectacular injury-time equaliser from Stuart Holden saved the United States' blushes as they drew 2-2 with Haiti on Saturday to clinch a quarter final berth in the Gold Cup.

The result put the United States top of Group B with seven points from three games. The draw was also enough for Haiti, on four points, to progress to the quarter finals.

In other Group B action, Honduras thrashed Grenada 4-0 to finish second and advance to the last eight.

‘Tendulkar not fit for T20’, says Buchanan in his book

NEW DELHI, July 9: Former Australian coach John Buchanan has taken pot shots at some of India’s great cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, in a new book which is likely to ruffle many feathers.

Apart from Tendulkar and Gavaskar, the controversial coach has also taken swipe at Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and business tycoon Vijay Mallya.

Katich and Ponting hold firm against Flintoff

CARDIFF, July 9: Simon Katich and Ricky Ponting survived a ferocious burst from Andrew Flintoff after the all-rounder had dismissed Phillip Hughes on the second day of the first Ashes Test on Thursday.

At tea, Ashes holders Australia were 142 for one in reply to England's 435, a deficit of 293, with left-handed opener Katich 53 not out and captain Ponting 44 not out at Sophia Gardens.

Ponting's innings meant he'd joined an elite group of batsmen who'd all scored more than 11,000 Test runs in Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and former Australia captain Allan Border.