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Baseball was, is and always will be to me the best game in the world. — Babe Ruth
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SPORTS
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Wednesday, 28 August, 2013
pakiStan bLoW taiWan aWay 13-0 IPOH
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AGENCIES
AKISTAN proved way too strong for Taiwan, handing them a 13-0 thumping and sealing the top place in Group A of the 2013 Asia Cup. The Greenshirts, who need to win the title to earn a spot in next year’s World Cup in the Netherlands, are likely to face South Korea in the semifinals who are currently place number two in Group B. Shakeel Abbasi started the rot for Taiwan, dribbling past the defenders to finish a brilliant goal in the 13th minute before
skipper Muhammad Imran sent his drag-flick clattering into goal ten minutes later. Muhammad Rizwan also got on the score sheet through a field goal in the 26th minute as the stunned Taiwanese players failed to cope with the pace of the game. Any hopes of a comeback by them were soon dashed by the Pakistani forwards, who added another two goals as soon as the second half got underway, Rizwan for his second and Shafqat Rasool for his first. Goals from Muhammad Dilber (45) and another by Rasool (46) added to their opponents misery but the rampant Pakistani team were out for more. Imran’s second (52), a super hattrick by rising star Abdul
Haseem Khan (54, 56, 69) and one each by Muhammad Tousiq and Muhammad Irfan added the final touches to what may have seemed like a never-ending nightmare to the Taiwanese players. The result gave Pakistan a perfect record in the group stages but Imran’s men
will have to put all of this behind them when the semi-finals start. Japan, Malaysia and Taiwan have been harmless opponents but rest assured the lightning-fast Koreans will take some beating. Pakistan’s veteran defender Waseem Ahmed said of his team’s performance,
“The team is working really hard and if we can keep on doing the same thing throughout the tournament, I think our chances of becoming champions here and booking a spot in the World Cup is very bright.” The semi-finals commence from August 30.
india avoid pakistan in seMis IPOH: India rode on goals from Raghunath (6th minute) and Mandeep Singh (65th) to get the better of South Korea in an Asia Cup pool B league match in Ipoh on Monday evening. The 2-0 win takes India to the top of their group with six points from two matches. India had pumped in eight goals without reply in their first match against Oman on Saturday. Monday’s win guarantees India a berth in the semifinals. The two-time former champions are scheduled to play minnows Bangladesh on Wednesday and a victory will mean India will avoid a semifinal meeting with arch-rivals Pakistan, who became the first team to make the round of last-four after beating hosts Malaysia 4-1 on Sunday. India must win the Asia Cup to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in The Hague. With at least five top stars missing from their line-up, a young team under Dutch coach Roelant Oltmans is under pressure to deliver. At Ipoh’s Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium on Monday, India were lucky to come away with full points against a rampaging Korean side who did all but score. Goalkeeper Sreejesh had an outstanding day, making at least five wonderful saves to earn the Man of the Match award. AGENCIES
kumar, iSHant and yadav to undergo fitneSS training at nCa SPORTS DESK India’s pace trio of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav has reported at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bangalore. The trio will undergo a fitness program. The three pacers had reported to Ashish Kaushik, the NCA’s physiotherapist. There was a physical assessment that took place. This is being done with a view of the long season that is going to commence in a few months time. In the recent past, we have seen numerous Indian pacers battle fitness issues. A need of a program was there and perhaps the board has taken this view with that in mind. India need the three to be fit in the months ahead. They had played a crucial role during the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 victory and have shown their value to the side.
Women’S aSHeS to Start in auStraLia on january 10 MELBOURNE: The Ashes rivalry will continue into the New Year with the women’s Ashes series in Australia, it was announced on Tuesday. Australia and England will compete across all three formats in the Ashes which begin on Jan 10, 2014 in Perth. The fixtures features one Test in Perth, three OneDay Internationals (ODI) — two in Melbourne and one in Hobart — and three T20 Internationals. The winner of each match accrues points based on a weighting-system to determine which team will claim the women’s Ashes trophy at the end of the Series. Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive James Sutherland said: “This will be the first time the women’s Ashes series will be played in Australia according to the new points format, so each match will be vital in determining who will claim the trophy.” AGENCIES
CAPE TOWN AGENCIES
Faf du Plessis has admitted that his ODI form must improve if he hopes to take over as the ODI captain in the future. Du Plessis already leads South Africa’s Twenty20 side, and has been widely tipped to eventually succeed AB de Villiers, who has been burdened with the role of skipper, senior batsman and wicket-keeper. However, du Plessis does not see himself as a suitable candidate just yet. “My performances need to be better if I want to be considered as ODI captain. In Sri Lanka, I was under pressure to score runs and I knew that,” he said. In the last 12 months, Du Plessis has managed only two half-centuries in the 21 matches he has played - an unbeaten 62 against Netherlands in May, and a 72-ball 57 against New Zealand in January. His lean patch extended to the shortest format of the game as well, but du Plessis ended the drought with an assured 85 in the last T20 on South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka last month. “It meant a lot for me to score runs in that last T20,” he said. “I needed them badly.” His own showings aside, du Plessis achieved something bigger when he became the first captain to take South
du plessis targets more odi runs Africa to a series win in Sri Lanka. After a below-par ODI showing in which they were defeated 4-1, South Africa clinched the three-match T20 series 2-1. A notable difference in the two series was in the leadership. While de Villiers struggled in his decisionmaking and was often behind the over-rate, du Plessis made crucial bowling and fielding changes, appeared in control most of the time, and admitted that he was enjoying his job. “I love captaining and adding value in that way,” he said. “I like giving the talks that a captain gives and dealing with the high pressure times. I even like taking the flak of making decision myself, like when it comes to bowling changes. The captain needs to make tough decisions and I don’t mind making them.” Du Plessis was a captain at school level and occasionally in the domestic setup. So despite his relatively young age when he was promoted to T20 captain in November last year, he was deemed to have had the required skills to cut it at the top. He had only played four T20s when he was handed the role, but immediately
set about trying to establish a style of leadership and earn the confidence of his team. “If you’re honest with players, they respect you,” he said. “everybody knew we were experimenting a bit and we will try a experiment a little more because we need have our best combinations.” The World T20 and 2015 World Cup are only six and 18 months away respectively, but South Africa are still toying with new combinations and strategies under the new coach Russell Domingo. Through the process of settling on a line-up, du Plessis is hopeful that his own ODI showings will get better, if only because he will have some stability to get into a rhythm. Currently, he has been stationed at No.4 in the line-up, between JP Duminy and de Villiers, and Domingo has indicated he will keep those positions, even as Kallis makes himself available for more ODI cricket.
Cook aMong engLand pLayers rested LONDON AGENCIES
england have rested Alastair Cook, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad for the ODI series against Australia after their involvement in the 30 Ashes victory. In Cook’s absence, eoin
Morganwill captain the side. Kevin Pietersen, who returned from a knee injury shortly before the Test series, is also included in the 14-man squad. england will play five ODIs against Australia after a one-off fixture against Ireland next Tuesday. Pietersen, Joe Root and Jonathan Trott will not travel to
Dublin for that match, during which Morgan will again lead the side. Chris Jordan and Jamie Overton receive senior call-ups for the first time, while Michael Carberry, capped once previously in Tests, is now in both limited-overs squads. Boyd Rankin, the former Ireland fast bowler who made his england debut during the T20 series against New Zealand earlier in the summer, and Luke Wright, whose last ODI appearance came during the 2011 World Cup, are also included. Gary Ballance, Danny Briggs and James Taylor are the three players replacing Pietersen, Root and Trott in the 14 to take on Ireland, with Yorkshire batsman Ballance in line for a potential debut. In all, five players yet to play ODIs for england have been included. Of the XI who played in england’s defeat to India in the Champions Trophy final in June, five will be missing against Australia - in addition to Cook, Bell, Broad and Anderson, Tim Bresnan is absent through injury. Jonny Bairstow and Chris
Woakes, who were part of the Champions Trophy squad, have also been omitted, possibly to allow them more red-ball cricket with their counties during the Championship run-in. “Following a very intense period of cricket this summer we have decided to rest a number of senior players, which will allow them to recover from a heavy workload over the last three months and to prepare for the tour of Australia which begins in eight weeks,” england’s national selector, Geoff Miller, said. “This creates an excellent opportunity for players who have impressed in county cricket and for england Lions recently to test themselves at international level as we continue to build a squad ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup, which is less than 18 months away. There are a number of very experienced one-day players in the squad alongside players who are new to international cricket and we are expecting a very tough challenge both from a strong Ireland side and then from Australia in what will no doubt be a very competitive NatWest series.”