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India beats Oz 4-3 to top pool

Monday, May 10, 2010 6:24 AM abhi2810
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Boosted by a brace from Tushar Khandker, defending champions India overcame a major scare before edging out a fighting Australia 4-3 in an exciting clash at the Sultan Azlan Shah cup here today.

Tushar Khandker (19th, 32nd min), Rajpal Singh (21st min) and Shivender Singh (61st min) scored for India while Trent Milton (36th min), Christopher Cirello (37th min, PC) and Mark Paterson (70th min) reduced the margin for Australia.

India, who are now leading the pool with two wins and a draw, were leading 3-0 at half-time.

The defending champions dominated the early exchanges although Australia almost grabbed the lead in the second minute.

The Indian forward line was displaying their characteristic lack of precision and wasted a couple of sitters before Khandker scored the opening goal.

Arjun Halappa and substitute Danish Mujtaba combined well to set up a nice pass for skipper Rajpal Singh who doubled India's lead.

A speedy run by Mandeep Antil saw the Australian custodian intercept the ball. Khandker pounced on the rebound to give India the third goal.

The Aussies struck back after the break with back to back goals from Milton and Cirello.

If the first half saw the Indians display their class, the second session was dominated by the Aussies as the men from Down Under went all out for the equaliser.

Australia came up with wave after wave of attacks but the Indian defence held firm.

However, it was the Indians who pushed home their advantage as Khandker set up Shivender for India's fourth goal.

Paterson managed to score a consolation for Australia with just 33 seconds left as India emerged winners.



Copyright www.mynews.in 

Pole-Sitter Goes Wire to Wire at Spanish Grand Prix

6:21 AM abhi2810
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Mark Webber of Australia secured a comfortable wire-to-wire victory at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday in Barcelona, while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Webber’s Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel filled out the podium after Lewis Hamilton crashed with one lap remaining.

Vladimir Rys/Bongarts — Getty Images
Mark Webber was the 10th straight driver to win the Spanish Grand Prix from the pole position.
Webber was the 10th straight winner from the pole position at the Circuit de Catalunya after he drove a flawless race for a 24-second victory over Alonso.
“It was a crucial pole,” said Webber, who celebrated his third career victory by throwing his helmet into the stands. “I controlled the race.”
Hamilton, driving for McLaren, was second for most of the race before he blew a tire and crashed into the wall shortly before the finish. Vettel took advantage to finish third despite running into the gravel after one of his brake pads blew out.
“Like it or not, I think it was a very lucky day,” Vettel said. “Third is not a disaster, it’s good points, but the result is difficult with how it came together. We were just lucky to bring the car home, to be honest.”
The seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher of Mercedes was fourth after holding off McLaren’s Jenson Button. It was Schumacher’s best finish since his comeback to the sport this season.
Button, the defending series champion, has 70 points to lead Alonso by 3 in the standings. Vettel has 60 points, and Webber 53.
None of the teams can relax with the calendar’s iconic street race in Monaco being raced next Sunday.
“Everyone’s pushing to the limit,” Webber said. “Unfortunately I can’t get too drunk tonight because we have to be at the track on Wednesday.”
A moment of silence was observed for Juan Antonio Samaranch before the start of the 66-lap race. Samaranch, the former International Olympic Committee president, died last month at 89.
WINNING IS THERAPY FOR HAMLIN Denny Hamlin has found the perfect way to rehab his surgically repaired knee — winning Nascar races.
Hamlin became the first driver in 17 years to sweep the Sprint Cup and Nationwide events at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, an achievement even more remarkable since he was on the operating table on March 31 to fix a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Still, less than two weeks later, Hamlin was back in his No. 11 Toyota and barely missing a shift. Hamlin said the racing helped with the knee’s recovery.
“It really is like a physical therapy session in there,” Hamlin said of the driver’s cockpit.
At Saturday’s Showtime Southern 500, Hamlin outpaced the pole-sitter Jamie McMurray in second, Kurt Busch in third and Jeff Gordon in fourth.
The series points leader Kevin Harvick extended his margin over Jimmie Johnson to 110 points with a sixth-place finish. Johnson got caught up in two wrecks and did not finish.
A version of this article appeared in print on May 10, 2010, on page D2 of the New York edition.

India still have a chance to make the semis

6:18 AM abhi2810
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Two heavy defeats in the Super Eight stage against Australia and West Indies have put the 'Men in Blue' on the brink of ouster from the World T20. But all is not lost for Dhoni's men as there exists still a mathematical chance for them to gatecrash into the semi-finals after Australia's 81-run thrashing of the Lankans.

But for India to make it through, they not only have to perform out of their skins against Sri Lanka, but would also have to depend on the rampaging Aussies to do them a favour by defeating West Indies. Here is a look at the current position of the teams and what do they need to do right, to make the semis.

India (Played: 2, Won: 0, Lost: 2, RR: -1.575)

India have presently conceded 63 more runs than they have scored and thus they have a run rate issue at their hands. Sri Lanka after their heavy loss to Australia now have a deficit of 24 runs. So for India to make the grade, they would have to beat the 'Islanders' by a margin of 20 runs or more for them to get ahead. In case India chase in their final match and Sri Lanka scores a par score of 160 runs, then M S Dhoni's boys will have to reach their target in a little more than 17 overs.

Sri Lanka (Played: 2, Won: 1, Lost: 1, RR: -0.600)

Sri Lanka were looking good after their win over the Windies, but a terrible loss at the hands of the Aussies mean they have their task cut-out against India. The best possiblity for them is if they beat India and West Indies is beaten by Australia. In that case Australia and Sri Lanka go through on points. But if they lose to India by a margin of more than 20 runs, then their run-rate goes under India's.
Presently Sri Lanka is ahead of West Indies on net run-rate as they have conceded 24 runs more than they have scored , while the Windies have given away 43 more runs. So if West Indies are able to beat Australia by a margin that upsets the the present scenario, then the hosts will be through.

Australia (Played: 2, Won: 2, Lost: 0, RR: +3.250)

The best team in the group, Australia have scored massive wins against both India and Sri Lanka and that has virtually put them through to the semis. Only a disastrous performance against the Windies and a big win for the Lankans against India can put them out of the semi-finals. They have scored 130 more runs than they have conceded and only if they lose to West Indies by 87 runs and Sri Lanka beats India by 68 runs, that the Aussies will have an inferior run-rate than the above two.

West Indies (Played: 2, Won: 1, Lost: 1, RR: -1.075)

The hosts are back in contention after their win over India but Chris Gayle and company have an inferior run rate than that of Sri Lanka. They will go through directly if they beat the Aussies and Sri Lanka lose. But if Sri Lanka win, then they would have to beat Australia by a margin that puts them ahead of the Lankans. Irrespective of any scenario, they can't lose their match against Australia, or else they will not make it to the semis.

Anand's missed opportunity

6:16 AM abhi2810
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Anand and Topalov go into the 12th game of their match today with scores level. If drawn, tie-break rapid games will be played on Thursday. Topalov's declaration before the match that he would neither offer nor accept a draw has clearly had a liberating effect on both players, resulting in one of the most entertaining world championship finals we have seen in years. All the games have been long and hard-fought, so it's hardly surprising that tiredness is affecting play. Anand missed several chances to win in game 9, Topalov had a promising endgame in game 10 but allowed Anand to slip out, and game 11 was looking like the dullest of the match, but suddenly exploded into life after inaccuracies from both players.
If Anand loses this match, it is the ninth game that will haunt him. He prepared an excellent opening, achieved a winning position out of the complications but, unusually, ran short of time with Topalov rushing his moves to try to unsettle the Indian. Anand had a couple of minutes to play his last move before the time control and the position was complicated, but two rooks should be superior to the queen, particularly with Black's king in such an exposed position. Unable to find a clear continuation, Anand played 1 Rh8+, thinking that he would be able to repeat the position after 1...Ke7 2 Rh7+ forcing the king back to e8. With the time control reached he would have an extra hour to work out the win. Instead, Topalov played 1...Kd7! 2 Rh7+ (2 Rd1+ Nd3! is probably what Anand missed, and the rook on h8 is inconveniently threatened by the queen) 2...Kc6, slipping away to the queenside and putting the win in doubt.
Instead, in the starting position Anand should have moved his threatened rook to a safe square: 1 Re4. With the king still trapped on the back rank, Black will not be able to survive: 1...b4 2 Rxa7 b3 3 Rb7 b2 4 Kh2 Qc1 5 Ra4, and the mate threat on a8 is too much.


©  chess@guardian.co.uk

Dhoni, Tendulkar rested; Raina to lead new-look India in triangular series

6:14 AM abhi2810
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Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar were among a swathe of experienced players rested as selectors picked Suresh Raina to lead a new-look India squad in a limited-overs cricket series starting later this month in Zimbabwe.
Opening batsman Gautam Gambhir, fast bowlers Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and all-rounder Yuvraj Singh were the other notable absentees for the May 28-June series which also involves Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
Players who performed well in the recent Twenty20 Indian Premier League were given a chance in the one-day international arena, with fast bowlers Pankaj Singh and Ashok Dhinda, wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha and offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin all making the India squad.
Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla will join the Indian team for two subsequent two Twenty20 internationals against Zimbabwe on June 12 and 13.
____
Squad: Suresh Raina (captain), Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Pankaj Singh, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Naman Ojha.

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