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1/5/2011
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Match drawn after Pakistani fightback
SPORTS
New Zealand. New Zealand Cricket XI, a shadow New Zealand Test team, have come out of the tour match against the Pakistanis in Whangarei with the psychological advantage of having taken a 97-run first-innings lead. The match ended in a draw after both teams decided to end the third and final day's play early, with New Zealand having reached 111 for 4 in 32 overs in their second innings. Misbah-ul-Haq, the visitors' captain, completed his century on the third day as his team added another 53 runs to their overnight total of 234 for 8. Misbah, who has scored half-centuries in
each of his last three Test innings, remained unbeaten, finishing on 126, but New Zealand will be satisfied that he was the only Pakistani batsman to go past fifty. The New Zealand Cricket XI bowling attack was similar to the one expected to take-on Pakistan in the first Test, which starts on Friday, with Chris Martin, Daniel Vettori, Tim Southee and Brent Arnel all featuring in the tour match. Martin and Vettori had already taken three wickets apiece on the second day. On Tuesday morning, James Franklin picked up his second wicket of the match, dismissing Sohail Tanvir for a duck.
Pakistan's last-wicket pair put together 51 runs, with Tanvir Ahmed scoring 25 and sticking around for 52 balls to support Misbah. Southee finally took the last wicket, getting Tanvir Ahmed out caught by Tim McIntosh. Umar Gul was able to prevent Brendon McCullum from building on the confidence he earned with his first-innings doublecentury, bowling him for 18. Gul dismissed Kane Williamson two balls later for a duck to leave the home side at 25 for 2. McIntosh and James Franklin spent some time at the wicket, getting 26 and 30 respectively.
potentially dangerous matches if he is to reach the final and defend his title, with Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis seeded to meet him in the quarterfinals and Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the semis. In other matches, Poland's Lukasz Kubot beat Germany's Daniel Brands 6-2, 6-2, Michael Berrer of Germany downed Israel's Dudi Sela 1-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2, and Santiago Giraldo of Colombia beat France's Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-3. Top seed Robin Soderling of Sweden, who arrived in Australia only on Monday morning, opens his campaign against US qualifier Ryan Harrison on Tuesday.
Batting icon Sachin Tendulkar and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni were among the four Indian cricketers who found a place in former Australia captain Ian Chappell's '2010 World XI', which did not feature a single Aussie. Dashing opener Virender Sehwag and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan were the other two Indians in the XI, which features five South Africans. "Four years ago the Australian cricket team was cock-a-hoop. They'd regained the Ashes and had accentuated their superiority by smashing England at the MCG on the way to an eventual 5-0 series victory. Now the team is in tatters and it's best illustrated by a comparison of World XIs chosen at the end of the calendar year," Chappell wrote in his column for 'The Daily Telegraph'. "In 2006, Australia had six players in the XI, with Brett Lee 12th man. In the 2010 side, no Australian made the XI and Shane Watson is the 12th man," he pointed out. "It's been a slippery dip for Australia since the retirement of bowlers Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. The ride gathered pace when Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden called it a day. They have now hit the sand pit because of the struggles of the one player who kept the brake on the downhill ride, Ricky Ponting," he further explained. Chappell described Sehwag as the most dangerous batsman in the world right now. "A dashing opener who can win a game
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Roddick opens Brisbane Tendulkar, Dhoni in Chappell's '2010 World XI' defence in style
Andy Roddick opened the defence of his Brisbane International title in style when he thrashed Australian wildcard Marinko Matosevic 6-3, 6-2 in Brisbane on Monday. The secondseeded American overcame some early resistance from Matosevic to cruise away with the match and set up a second round clash with Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov, who earlier accounted for Russia's Igor Andreev 6-4, 6-2. Roddick had too much class for the 25-year-old Australian, who fought hard but couldn't handle the power and consistency of the former world number one. Matosevic but made too many errors to trouble Roddick, who was always able to rely on his booming serve for easy points whenever he was in trouble. "It was alright, I thought the second set was probably better than the first," Roddick said later. "The first match is always a little anxious, but I was able to work my way into the match, and it wasn't a bad start. "I was able to put him into some long points and make him produce something," he added. "He was able to do it early but it wore on him as the match went on and I think he got a little bit more impatient and that was to my benefit." Roddick faces a couple of
Yuvi in list of players with egos
Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh finds himself in a rather unflattering list with a British newspaper naming him as one of the 'top 10 sporting egos' of recent times. Yuvraj, who has failed to find a place in India's Test squad for some time, was described as a talented cricketer whose ego has been inflated by the moolah from the Indian Premier League. "The Twitter biography says it all, really: 'Cricketer, Celebrity, Entrepreneur, budding Philanthropist aka Yuvi'," 'Daily Telegraph' said. "Wonderfully talented teenager got lost in the 'tamasha' which accompanied the Indian Premier League. Ego, bank balance and waistline have all swollen in recent years, but his perfor-
in the opening session of a Test. The most dangerous batsman in world cricket," he said. Chappell lavished praise on Tendulkar, saying the 37year-old, who recently became the first batsman to notch up 50 Test hundreds, seems to be getting better with age. "Unlike Ponting, Tendulkar defied the advancing years and enjoyed a tremendous resurgence. He even rediscovered the art of dominating bowlers," Chappell said. Explaining the reasons for picking Dhoni and Zaheer, Chappell said both have been consistent in their respective roles. "Dhoni has batted consistently, scoring runs when India need them and doing an adequate job with the gloves. He's a calm leader with some flair," Chappell said. "Zaheer is a left-armer who has developed into a dangerous bowler
with both the new and old ball. He performs well against good opposition," he added. Among others who found a place in the XI were South African captain Graeme Smith, their middle-order mainstay Hashim Amla, prolific all-rounder Jacques Kallis, the aggressive AB de Villiers and tearaway pacer Dale Steyn. "Smith is a solid opener who has the knack of making the tough runs when they're really needed. Hashim Amla is a player who really blossomed in 2010. He mastered the knack of scoring centuries and at an improved run rate," he said. "Kallis's churned out runs with his usual efficiency, displayed a safe pair of hands and bowled with some of his old pace and fire," he added. "De Villiers came of age. His ability to accelerate the scoring rate stood out like a beacon in a predominantly average-conscious South African team," he added. Chappell picked England's Graeme Swann as the spinner in the XI, the pace attack of which is spearheaded by the feisty Steyn with England's Jimmy Anderson for company. "A most improved attacking bowler who confirmed his progress with another successful year. A probing and accurate spinner. "Dale Steyn bowls at a good pace and swings the ball away from right-handers. A proven formula for dismissing good batsmen," he said. "Anderson swings the ball both ways at a respectable pace and has greatly improved his accuracy.
win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, I can clearly feel and sense the tremendous excitement which is gripping the cricket fraternity," he said. Commenting on his side's preparations for the World Cup, the wicket-keeper batsman said: "I'm happy with our preparations so far as we have gelled well, we have backed each other all the way and have played some excellent cricket lately. "But we are also aware that we need to peak at the right time and maintain a winning momentum as the competition will be tough and every team will enter the event fancying its chances." "Each team and match will bring a fresh challenge and we will have to play to our potential every time we take the field," he added.
To ensure spectators at matches that do not feature the host nations, tournament director of next year's cricket World Cup in the sub-continent, Ratnakar Shetty, has said the ticket prices would be kept nominal. "The Central Organising Committee (COC), which is headed by Mr Sharad Pawar, who is also ICC President, has taken several decisions in trying to make this event a memorable one and to ensure that the non-India, non-Sri Lanka and non-Bangladesh games also have good spectator attendance," Shetty said in an ICC release. "What we have also impressed upon the venues is to keep the ticket rates at the minimal and affordable so that people come to stadia, and to look after the spectators, media and players facilities.
Dhoni eager to win 2011 World Cup under his captaincy
With the Twenty20 title already in his kitty, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday said he wants to lift the upcoming ICC World Cup in the sub-continent as the coveted trophy is the ultimate dream of every cricketer. Dhoni, under whose leadership India won the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2008, said his burning desire is to see India capture the trophy for its fans. "Every one of us in the India dressing room wants to lift that cup, not only for ourselves, but also for the billions of fans we have around the globe. It is not a surprise to me as it doesn't get any bigger than the World Cup. "It is the ultimate dream of every cricketer to represent his country in this competition and win the trophy at least once in his
"It is the ultimate dream of every cricketer to represent his country in this competition and win the trophy at least once in his career.
career. It will require a lot of hard work, self belief and also a positive approach which Team India is capable of displaying at the highest level," Dhoni said during a promotional ICC event to mark the 50-day countdown celebrations of the mega-event starting next month. With little more than a month to go for the tournament, Dhoni said he can feel the buzz around him. "With just 50 days remaining before we launch our campaign to
World Cup ticket prices to be nominal: Ratnakar Shetty