Posts for 'Sports' Category

South Africa A Through To Tri-Series Final: But the breakthrough came too late for Pakistan with the opponents requiring only 16 more runs to win their second match of the tournament. It was not all easy sailing for the Proteas, who were reduced to 11 for three after Mohammad Talha’s double strike in his first over. Junaid Khan backed up his new-ball partner with another dismissal as South Africa looked in deep trouble. But Elgar and Miller ensured that their team remained unbeaten in the tournament and securing a place in the final.

Earlier, a familiar batting collapse saw Pakistan managing only 191 runs in 50 overs. Thandi Tshabalala and Rusty Theron shared three wickets between them as Pakistan looked down and out at 119 for eight. But Yasir Shah and Junaid offered some hope as they added 64 runs to take Pakistan close to 200. Pakistan now take on Sri Lanka ‘A’ on September 2 in a virtual semi-final that will knock the hosts our of the tournament if they lose.

Even as a hysterical crowd gradually melted away from the Roop Singh Stadium, shouts of `Sachin, Sachin' rented the air.

Fireworks lit the night sky. Fans scrambled for another look at the legend as he neared the team bus. All of Gwalior, all of India, was awash with emotions.

Minutes earlier, Sachin Tendulkar had been calm and serene at the press conference. Despite twenty long and glorious years in international cricket and a mountain of achievements, he has remained the same.

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After spending the past two weeks in India preparing for the Indian Premier League in March, I am staggered at the recent treatment of the Pakistan players. I agree with Shahid Afridi that he and his countrymen were humiliated in the IPL auction in Mumbai last week.

It was common knowledge to all involved that the Pakistan players would not be bid for, due to the security concerns still lingering in India after the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Eleven Pakistan players nominated for the auction and made the final list of 66 players. Unbelievably, the world Twenty20 champions received no interest from any of the franchise owners.

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In a pulsating Group B match of the Airtel Champions League T20, South Africa’s Diamond Eagles edged past Sussex Sharks of England in the Super Over to qualify for the Super Eight stage, at the Kotla on Tuesday. New South Wales Blues are the other team to qualify from this group.

After both teams finished on 119, the Super Over too saw some dramatic moments. Eagles batted first and scored nine runs with Man of the Match Rilee Rossouw alone accounting for eight. His partner Ryan McLaren scored just one.

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Ricky Ponting flew home from England after the Ashes this summer a deeply disappointed man, but the Australia captain believes that time away from the game helped him to lead his side to victory in the Champions Trophy.

Monday's six-wicket victory over New Zealand completed a fine tournament for the 34-year-old, who was named player of.

The series having scored 288 runs in five matches – only Shane Watson, who scored tons in the semi-final against England and the final, came within 80 of the Tasmanian.

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World recognition of Australia's new breed of pacemen has captain Ricky Ponting convinced his side can regain their mantle as the undisputed best in the world.

The gap between Australia and their rivals has narrowed over the past year, underlined by defeats in three Test series - to India last year, South Africa at home last summer and England this year.

While Australia have slipped to No.4 in the world Test rankings, they hold a narrow lead at the top of the one-day table.

A win in the Champions Trophy tournament would put Australia clear of their closest rivals, India and South Africa.

While Australia no longer carry the aura they did when Ponting took over the Test captaincy from Steve Waugh in 2004, he is encouraged for the future given the impact his younger players are having.

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They made Marcus North the man of the match and, on the face of it, there can be no real quibble with that. His hundred, and another large stand with Michael Clarke, perhaps Australia's most aesthetically pleasing batsman since Mark Waugh, drove home the advantage created by the bowlers on the first day. His was an innings of meticulous construction, mindful of the situation every inch of the way. North is an unobtrusive workman who has served a lengthy apprenticeship and learned his trade, and is a man modest in success.

But then there was his catch. England had won a toss that, whatever hindsight tells us, Australia would have liked to. They needed early impact and it came when Andrew Strauss – the batsman with the double responsibility of being captain and, in the absence of Kevin Pietersen, best player – drove at Peter Siddle and skewed the ball away at head height wide to the right of third slip. It flew like a missile but North plucked it from the air one-handed after it had gone past him.

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More than 11 million Britishviewers watched Roger Federer's epic five-set victory over Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon men's tennis final Sunday, giving the BBC its best viewing tally for the championships in five years.
The final scored even more viewers than the semifinal between Roddick and hot-favorite British contender Andy Murray, which drew 10 million viewers two days before.
The Wimbledon final saw Federer lift the coveted All England Club trophy for a record sixth time, but the 4-1/4-hour match played havoc with BBC schedules.

From his front row seat in the Royal Box, Pete Sampras watched as Roger Federer broke his record for most Grand Slam singles titles in men's tennis history.
After Federer overcame Andy Roddick in a marathon, five-set serving duel Sunday for his sixth Wimbledon title and 15th Grand Slam championship, Sampras was left with no doubt about who is the greatest male player of all time.
"I have to give it to him," said Sampras, a seven-time Wimbledon champion who never thought his record of 14 major titles would be surpassed so soon. "He's won all the majors. He's won 15 now. He's going to win a few more here. So in my book he is (the greatest)."
The issue will always generate debate and argument, especially in trying to compare players of different generations, such as Rod Laver and Bill Tilden. But there is no denying that Federer has firmly cemented himself as the finest player of the generation and, at age 27, the favorite for other major titles to come.
"It's not really one of those goals you set as a little boy, but, man, it's been quite a career and quite a month," said Federer, who completed a career Grand Slam by winning his first French Open a month ago. "It feels amazing, but this is not why I'm playing tennis to break all sort of different records. But it's definitely one of the greatest ones to have."

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THE faithful Buffalo Park crowd had their first taste of the Indian Premier League cricket on Friday, loved it, and are sure to return in droves to watch the second of three IPL matches at the ground today.The match between log-leaders, the Deccan Chargers and the Chennai Super Kings starts at 4.30pm.

Supporters will be hoping that Border’s favourite son, Makhaya Ntini will turn out for the Super Kings, who have a powerful team despite losing England allrounder Andrew Flintoff early on in the competition to an injury.

With smiters of the ball of the calibre of South Africa’s Albie Morkel and New Zealander Jacob Oram, they are capable of scoring at an explosively fast rate.

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